A Winter Picnic; The Story of a Four Months Outing in Nassau, Told in the Letter, Journals and Talk of Four Picnicers (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1888. Excerpt: ... LAST PARADISE DAYS.--NORTHWARD HO. Nassau, May 10. DEAR People Of Mine: Celebrities are privileged to make countless last appearances, and may not I, though a very private individual, have the privilege of another last letter? True, I shall be obliged to take these final last words along with me, and post them in New York; but how else can you know of our winding up, or our running down rather, which I am sure will be full of incident? If we try to tell you these things at home, I fear the local coloring will be lacking. Only two weeks more in "this sceptered isle, "This other Eden, demi-Paradise." Suppose that Shakspeare like us had feasted on "The luscious fruits which of their own accord The willing ground and laden trees afford," what would he not have written? When we came from market last Saturday morning, and looked at our piles of fruit, I felt a little anxious, for there were fourteen kinds and seventy.pieces. There were oranges, a watermelon, a lemon, an eggfruit, a pomegranate, a mamee, mangoes, bananas, a soursop, and tamarinds; yet I must say that none of this fruit was wasted. Not long since I amazed the family by buying eighty-two sapodillas at once; for once in the history of Nassau, a person wanted to dispose of a basketful together, and they only cost fourteen cents. St. Agnes has just had its yearly picnic. A procession, headed by a feeble band, formed at the church, marched up to the door of the Governmental Mansion, were harangued by H. E., who stood on the steps with his children, then moved on to the garden of the Agricultural Society, which is not a garden at all, --just an open field with a few trees around its edges. On the trees were hung flags of all sorts, pieces of red, yellow, and blue cloth, and pennants, which must be publi...