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The British Consul, Louis Devaux, had recommended L'Auberge de la Riviere Rouge to us so that is where we went. We arrived about nightfall and were greeted by the garcon d'hotel -- in the absence of the lady who manages the place -- who showed us 5 [[insertion]] 4 [[/insertion]] rooms & gave us our pick. We chose one of the front ones facing on the road. The cottage itself is rather nice. It has a little veranda across the front of it and the place is not so very old. The toilet is inside, but shower in a separate room outside. The bathroom, with tub, has not as yet been completed. There is a decided chill in the air, and a jacket and sweater are most welcome. Dinner is at 7:30 and there being little else to do after that, we go to bed.
This morning when we were in Point-a-Pitre, I heard a drum roll, and when I looked out of our window into the street below I saw a policeman reading something aloud to the nearby gathered populace. When I

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asked the chamber maid what it was she said he was making a Proclamation. As he stopped at every corner and did the same thing, I suppose it must have been pretty important.
[[margin]] Saturday October 26 [[/margin]]
We got up by 8 and after breakfast --- without corn flakes for Dick --- we went down to get the license. It was all accomplished in good time. We also bought a map of the island. In the afternoon we took a walk up the hill behind Matouba. The scenery and vegetation are something to marvel about. Here in the garden they have several hedges of azaleas --- enough to make even a Californian's eyes pop! The countryside is full of wildflowers of many kinds.
[[margin]] Sunday Oct 27 [[/margin]]
Today we set out to circle the island, but we hadnt counted on the poorness of the roads on the West coast. We got beyond Pointe Noire and then encountered a hill too steep for our little car to climb. We only tried it once, but there was no use straining the car. After all, we had found some good places to collect. For the first time