Cruising The West Indies: Nassau, 1938

the Bahamas islands of Britain's Colonial Empire stretch for several hundred miles from near the tip of the Florida coast to the edge of the Lessa antii a chain of mountainous Islands separating the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea many of the tourists who board the large tenders to go ashore meet for the first time West Indian diving boys who beg for coins to be tossed into the crystal clear waters and be retrieved by diving descendants of slaves brought to the Bahamas when the islands were bases for slave running to the United States as the tender with its crowd of Pleasure Seekers heads for sure it is remembered that in 1492 another ship approached an island in the Bahamas San Salvador and Columbus with his followers landed leading the way for the first permanent settling by Europeans of the two American continents little has changed in the Bahamas during the last centuries and only the one town Nassau has grown to a size which might justify it being called a city Nassau is situated along the channel separating New Providence from Hog Island a long narrow iset that serves as a protecting Breakwater and makes Nassau's Harbor a Haven for yacht Cruisers and small craft of all kinds the sponge Fleet tied up to the key adds a colorful touch to the quiet Waterfront [Music] one of the first things to catch the tourist eye is the handiwork Market where may be bought baskets of Palmetto and bags and hats made of brightly colored CLE a fiber grown in the Bahamas and curios are trinkets of shell and coral that tempt The [Music] Traveler [Music] [Music] Nassau's most important industry after catering to tourists is sponge fishing the fleet used in this work when tied up along the Waterfront presents a quaint picture to the stranger the small vessels which bring in the cargos are the homes of many of the sponge fishes and the decks are crowded with livestock and housekeeping equipment shells and other odds and ends for sale often the boats are piled high with the bags of sponges that are to be sold at the exchange on the king [Music] the rough sponges are taken in carts to the warehouses of the merchants nearly all of whom are greet [Music] they are spread in the sun to be completely dried and then graded and clipped before being packed for export [Music] the quiet Town centers about Bay Street the business Street of Nassau where Shoppers may find all kinds of English products at prices which appeal to Thrifty pocketbooks the well paved Street presents a quiet picture of contrast slow easygoing horse traffic and fast Modern Motors languid West Indian types and Lively people of the [Music] north because of the year round springlike climate the people of Nassau call their home the Isle of June and beautify their streets and parks with flowers and blossoming trees [Music] before nassar's post office on Bay Street stands a statue of England's Great Queen Victoria erected when she and Nassau were young set in spacious grounds among Royal Palms are the government offices of the colony and the dignified Colonial Courthouse those whose time is limited find the visit slipping by all too quickly and the ship beckoning to them from Anchorage again they board the tender and returned to their temporary floating home as the great ship slowly draws away from Bahama Shores there are those who stand by the rail for a last lingering look at a Port of Call in Tropic Seas a port which but briefly visited will long be remembered as one of the most enjoyable and restful of a cruise to the West [Music] Indies