Every evening， before the hour of sunset， Princess， the<br >young maidservant， starts to light the lamps in the hotel:<br >oil lamps， long glass funnels enclosed in brass containers<br >with handles. Taking one in either hand， swinging them<br >to the rhythm of her languid barefoot gait， she goes down，<br >down the steep spiralling rock path to Captain Cunning-<br >ham s bungalow. As darkness falls she is enfolded in soft<br >light， she becomes a lustrous image， a black Madonna<br >with a golden aura， borne through waist-high hibiscus<br > bushes by invisible bearers to the sea. Her black eyes<br >catch a gleam; and moths and fireflies drift to the lamps<br >and hover round her. Sometimes she has set some object<br >or other nonchalantly upon her shapely astrakhan-capped<br >head: a jug or a bowl for instance， or a roll of toilet paper，<br >or the Cunninghams clean laundry. Down she sails<br >througtl tire electric air， through the thrumming ， w)zJrrJng，<br >%~r~r~t ~k~%r~l~q~%~kr~%~k% klk" ~h t~all .~ taking~ these beautiful<br > verandah and their bridge table. This mosquito-proof<br > verandah， its wooden pillars wreathed with bougainvillea，<br > jasmine， clematis and flowering yines， is the social focus of<br > the bay. Every three weeks or thereabouts in the winter<br > months one group of visitors arrives at， another departs<br > from the modest Victorian guest house which crowns the<br > bay: British travellers mostly - stoutly upholstered<br > pair of honeymooners. But now and then appears a<br > solitary person， a retired colonel maybe， or a naval<br > captain (bachelor ? - widower ?)， spry， alert， with innocent<br > ideas and courtly manners; or maybe a woman on her<br >6<br >lr<br > own with paints and brushes; or b~<br > valescing; and self-sufficient; or a fe<br > wincing， patfi ntly cherished or tolera<br > to linger; or just now and then， and u<br > one who， though carrying a UK passp<br > around， and ~ot overtly disreputable， l<br > or ignominiously labelled， continues sile<br > to declare - b~t who notices or hears<br > or when ? who asks ? who cares ? - I h<br > to generate the miasma of failure ar<br > thereby causing social discomfort: c<br > anywhere but here.<br > All these， going concerns and other~<br > section as Miss Stay the manageress fi<br > are shepherd~，d， under her strong， le~<br > the Cunninghams bungalow， to add<br >those who have signed their Visitors <br >adding a gratefifl<br >of verse.<br > The island<br >group， not at<br >~933， it has sc<br > an~ creeper，，<br > sion， and va~<br > do not corres<br > Princess is<br > like a sudde~<br > ~g the ~)o~ng<br > mostly they<br >The more abl，<br > Mr de Pas s 1~<br >sunset with tt<br >not smiling<br >tribute， or an approI<br > one of the smallest i<br >ll fashionable. Up to tl<br >vcely begun to emerge<br > ound in immeasurabJ<br >~ty. No snakes. Idyllic is<br >ond.<br > physical exception -<br >:ose in bloom on a wast<br >:h ~]c~ren have a tender<br >~w up undernourished，，<br >bodied， men and wome<br >rotation on the hill. Th<br >ir baskets and cutlasses，<br >en they pass a white-s]<br ><br >