“It used to be Dutch,” explained the Commander, “and the Dutchmen always seem to like to build towns below sea level--sort of habit, I guess--though why they didn’t put it on high land up the river a bit gets me. You’ll find Dutch names everywhere, too, and old Dutch buildings, and if you went a hundred miles or so up the Essequibo you’d find an old Dutch fort.”
The destroyer had now drawn close to the town and a few minutes later was being moored to the government dock.
From the height of the vessel’s decks the boys could look right over the buildings. Beyond the sea of roofs and spires they could see waving palms, long avenues of green shade trees and busy, interesting streets and they were fairly crazy to go ashore.
The arrival of an American warship at Demerara was such an unusual event that a huge crowd had collected at the pier and among the multicolored throng of black, white, and yellow were the gold lace and uniforms of officers.
Knowing that his father and the others would be thoroughly occupied in the formalities of an official welcome, Tom asked permission to go ashore with Frank and Rawlins and scarcely was the destroyer moored when the three darted down the gangway and edging through the crowd came out on the noisy, busy street.
“Gee, this is some town!” exclaimed Tom as the three glanced about. “They’ve automobiles and trolley cars and everything.”
“Sure it’s some town!” agreed Rawlins. “Come on, let’s take a carriage and drive about. We’ll see it quicker and better that way.”
Tumbling into a rubber-tired Victoria driven by a grinning negro, the diver told him to drive them about Georgetown and out to the botanic station.
The boys were wildly enthusiastic over everything and Rawlins, who was almost as much of a boy as themselves, pointed out the more interesting features of the place. The picturesque Hindu men and women, who, garbed in their native costumes, swarmed everywhere, fascinated the boys. They were delighted with the shady streets, with the cool houses half-hidden in masses of strange tropical flowers, and they reveled in the calm canals spanned by Oriental-looking bridges and filled with pink lotus and water lilies.
“It’s the quaintest, prettiest place I’ve ever seen!” declared Tom. “And so foreign looking.”