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National Geographic : 1934 Oct
Contents
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE Photograph by Clifton Adams STRIPPED OF POWER, THE TYRANT CHRISTOPHE FELL HERE IN A PARALYTIC FIT Downhearted, deserted by most of his former followers, the Black King was stricken in this chapel at Limonade while at Mass on August 15, 1820. His head hit the floor just under the plaque which, translated, reads, "Here fell King Christophe." get out of the path of the advancing multi tude, I made my way in that direction. Scrambling across a 6-foot ditch, I climbed into the garden of the villa and stood behind a thick clump of shrub, close against the portico of the house. Draped from a veranda were a couple of British flags, which cheered me measurably. REFUGE IN A BRITISH HOME I had a feeling of being minutely scruti nized. Presently a bolt grated and a long French window swung open. A carefully groomed colored gentleman dressed in a faultless morning coat made his appearance. "Better come in, sir," he said. "We for eigners are ordinarily safe in time of dis turbance, but one cannot always be certain." By this time the head of the column, shouting and blazing away, had come abreast of us; so I did not stand on order or ceremony, but accepted his hospitality with much thanks and stepped hastily into the house. "You are quite safe here, sir," said my host. "The British flag is a firm shield and a sure defense. Allow me," he said grace- fully. "I am Ludovicus Tilghman, bar rister-at-law, late of London." I told him my name and we shook hands warmly, my admiration for the British Empire rising a couple of notches. Inside was the typical interior of a Brit ish home of the upper middle class. It might have been Chelsea. Copies of the Times and the Daily Mail were on the table. I learned that my host was a Barbadian who had spent some years in the mother country. "This sort of thing is no doubt new to you," he said. "You may perhaps enjoy a view of it. We shall see it better if you will permit me to conduct you above." Ina spacious living room on the upper floor blinds were tilted discreetly to permit a view and chairs were brought. "This," said my host, "is the fifth time this has happened in my short residence here. It is a great nuisance. Revolution, and all that sort of thing. Paralyzes busi ness. These people have absolutely no con ception of law and order. No Magna Carta, no Bill of Rights. Suffrage a ghastly sham. Trial by jury a joke. Presidents arrive one day and are exiled or assassinated the next. 442
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