Another novelty is the turtle houses, built of poles out in shallow water, in such a way that the water can get freely in and out, while the self-roofed crawlers do neither the one nor the other.
X.
The Military Church—The Zouave Costume—Sunday come again—Twilight Rambles—The Kirk—Miscegenation—A Private Misery—The Old Fort—Lazy Negroes—Wrecking—The Town Library—Shopping—The Zouave Band—The Search for Coolness—The Government House—Silver key—Buying Shellwork—Nassau grows Purgatorial—Farewell to Nassau.
Sunday, April 15th.
NE of the ladies having invited me to accompany her to the military church, we started early, hoping to arrive in time for the military music and procession, but both were over. Everybody was quietly assembled in the church, a plain, old-fashioned building, with large windows wide open, and between them numerous tablets and inscriptions. Two clergymen officiated; the English officers occupied the front pews; a few chance visitors besprinkled the body of the church, while thickly packed in the background, or blackground, were the soldiers with tall, fine forms, Moorish features, and jet-black skins. The gallery was also filled by them; the services and hymns were played by their band, and sung by their choir; all the colored people above and below responded heartily from open prayer-books during the entire service, and listened with intelligent interest to the sermon. This was a farewell discourse from their young pastor of the last year: it was appropriate in spirit, but so mouthed and mumbled that I scarcely comprehended a word of it.