Relics and Ruins

On Sunday we decided to head back to Cabrits National Park and hike up East Cabrits. We went with another Canadian couple - Randy and Susan on NANCY DAWSON out of Halifax. They are headed to Antigua to sail in the Classic Regatta in April. A classic yacht is one that is of a design that could have been built out of wood, has a full keel and has a keel hung rudder. They have been busy cleaning up the boat for the 'beauty' part of the regatta.

We stopped briefly at Fort Shirley because Randy and Susan hadn't been there since it had been restored. Once we found the correct trail we headed towards East Cabrits. The first thing of interest we came to was the Commadore's Quarters. It was obviously a large, 2-storied building when it was built. Being the Commadore's Quarters it was built away from the fort itself, but because it was built closer to the swamp it was uninhabitable and mosquito ridden and apparently abandoned shortly after it was finished. It was amazing to see how the trees had overgrown the walls of the building. Some of the trees here have air roots as stabilizers. These roots were growing around and down the walls. Most of them were larger than a man's arm.

Walking the ruins with Susan was interesting. She is knowledgeable of what to look for by way of artifacts or relics. At the Commodore's Quarters she was finding pottery shards and pieces of clay pipe. Once I knew what to look for I was able to find a few things too - pottery, glass, a top of a jug and a couple of pieces of pipe. Susan found a half sphere about 1 1/2 inch in diameter that was quite heavy. We decided it must be 'grapeshot'. Grapeshot was a type of anti-personnel ammunition used in cannons in place of a large cannonball. It consisted of many iron balls or other materials in a canvas sack that was loaded into cannon. It was very devastating. Back to our relic hunting. After Susan found the half sphere I found a whole one. Then Griff walked into one of the rooms and the entire floor was covered with the balls to about a depth of 1 foot. The last thing I found was what appeared to be part of a musket firing pan. We found more pottery shards and pipe pieces while walking further along the path. Susan theorized that maybe the gravel used for the path came from close to a dump because it didn't make sense to find pottery shards out in the middle of nowhere.

Pottery Shards

Clay Pipe Pieces

Grapeshot

Rather than head up East Cabrits as it was getting quite warm, we chose to take the path that lead to Douglas Bay where we came upon the Douglas Bay Battery. We found some more ruins covered with tree roots and also cannon that were not refinished and painted. They were actually in very good shape, just with a green patina that old metal takes on. The other thing we saw here was a Grove Snake. It was similar in size to a Garter Snake back home, but black with yellow diamonds and much longer and slimmer.

We also saw some different trees along the path including the first mushrooms that I have seen growing in the Caribbean. Some of the trees here have interesting 'defense mechanisms'. They grow thorns just like rose stems have. On St. Kitts one is called the Monkey Cry Tree because the monkeys cannot climb it. We ended the hike at the Welcome Centre which had a sign acknowledging assistance from the Canadian International Development Agency.

Tuesday morning we went into Portsmouth for the last time before heading out for St. Lucia to meet the Perry's and Jason. We visited our friendly bread lady and bought some more of her bread and sweet breads. Hers' are unique because she bakes them in a 'stone oven'. This is an oven that uses wood for heat rather than propane. The bread has a nutty taste to it and the sweet breads are delicious. She does not have a store, but sells her wares from a stand on the street similar to the fruit and vegetable stands of the market. We also picked up some grapefuit and an apricot which is the size of a small grapefruit.

Apricots

Along Bay Street, which is the main street of Portsmouth, and the next village of Lagoon we saw examples of other ruins. Unfortunately a lot of these buildings are still being lived in. A majority of the houses we saw would be about 12 - 15 feet square, some made of wood and brightly painted, others made of corrugated metal and rusted. Most of them had colourful plants around them.

(Griff here) - thus ended our latest visit to Dominica. We had tried Rosseau, the capital, last time we were here but didn't find it that interesting so we decided to skip it this time and go straight to our next stop from Portsmouth. We spoke with Martin (Providence), our "boat boy" (actually yacht services man) at length about Portsmouth and Dominica yesterday and I mentioned that if I had the money I would certainly consider opening a marina and "Yacht Stop" in Portsmouth. As I have said before, Dominica is the most lush and verdant island that we have seen in the Caribbean, with an astounding array of plant life. It is such a strange contrast to see the abundance of the island itself compared to the harsh reality of how the people live. And yet the people are friendly and helpful and the community here has a relatively low crime rate. Oh well, perhaps our marina and "Yacht Stop", when we win the lottery, will help to bring the prosperity that the people here deserve.