Two Years in the French West Indies

In Short

A writer arrives in the Lesser Antilles for a summer brief, falls hopelessly under the island's spell, and ends up staying for two years. What begins as a vibrant travelogue across Trinidad and the Caribbean settles into an intimate portrait of Martinique and its vibrant port city, Saint-Pierre. Through lush, impressionistic sketches, the narrative captures the daily labor, folklore, vivid colors, and terrible tropical perils—from deadly pit vipers to smallpox epidemics—that shape island life. It endures as a masterpiece of late nineteenth-century travel literature, written with painterly prose and deep empathy for Creole culture.

The Story

The journey opens aboard a vessel plying the blue waters of the Lesser Antilles during the summer of 1887. Upon anchoring, the ship is met by a fleet of homemade wooden crates bearing agile young boys who dive into the clear depths to catch thrown silver coins with fish-like grace. The initial journey winds southward through exotic ports, culminating in the dense, multi-ethnic mosaic of Trinidad, where English, Spanish, French, and East Indian populations mingle under a scorching sun. Yet no place grips the traveler’s imagination quite like Martinique—poetically named Le Pays des Revenants, the Land of the Haunted or those who return. Captivated by its volcanic contours and warm atmosphere, a brief summer voyage transforms into a two-year residency.

Settled in an old upper-story room in Saint-Pierre overlooking red-tiled roofs and the Caribbean, the narrator turns an observant eye toward the rhythm of everyday Creole life. He marvels at the tough market women called porteuses, who carry heavy loads balanced on their heads across mountain routes for miles without tiring, and he watches young men push barrels of rum through crashing ocean surf to off-load onto coastal trading vessels. He digs into local history, tracing the steps of Father Labat, a eighteenth-century Dominican friar whose solid masonry structures still dot the island long after his order has vanished.

Beneath the island's sensual beauty, however, lurk constant physical threats. The narrative details the terrifying ferocity of the trigonocephalus snake, a venomous serpent capable of striking with blinding speed, alongside the relentless presence of destructive insect swarms. The climate itself exacts a heavy toll on outsiders through fever, oppressive heat, and sudden torrential downpours.

As time passes, tragedy touches the island directly. A horrific outbreak of smallpox—la vérette—sweeps through Saint-Pierre. The narrative follows the tragic fate of Ti Marie, a gentle, hardworking teenage mother and vendor who succumbs rapidly to the disease. Despite quarantine efforts, the contagion spreads rampantly, partly because sick citizens costume and mask themselves to join the rowdy street dances of Carnival.

Excursions into the wild hinterlands offer awe-inspiring balance to the city's tragedies. An arduous climb up the slopes of Mount Pelée brings the narrator past volcanic chasms and muddy jungles to the eerie, silent crater lake at its summit. When the time finally comes to board the northbound steamer for New York, the departure is filled with sorrow. Friends and neighbors gather at the wharf to offer humble gifts—vanilla beans, orange seeds, sugarcane, and toys—leaving the traveler haunted forever by the island he must leave behind.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins Steaming through the Lesser Antilles, the traveler encounters the bright, tropical waters and energetic local harbor life of the West Indies. Naked diving boys row out in crude wooden crates, diving deep to retrieve silver shillings dropped by passengers on deck.

Arrival in Trinidad Stepping ashore into Port of Spain, the narrative takes in a sun-baked, black-swarming town populated by a fascinating mix of European colonials, African descendants, and thousands of East Indian coolies. The overwhelming heat and unfamiliar ethnic landscape create a surreal first impression.

Surrendering to Martinique Disembarking at Saint-Pierre, the visitor succumbs entirely to the island’s romantic enchantment. Though originally planning a brief stay, he commits to living there for two years to document its life, language, and culture.

Life in Saint-Pierre From a high window above red-tiled gables, the traveler observes the everyday habits of the population. He chronicles the astonishing physical endurance of the porteuses carrying goods over mountains and the brave swimmers herding rum barrels through coastal breakers.

The shadow of nature The narrative turns to the island's inherent dangers, detailing lethal encounters with the feared trigonocephalus snake and the defensive instincts of local cats. It also records historical disasters, such as the catastrophic ant plagues that once devoured crops and threatened human settlements.

The plague arrives A smallpox epidemic ravages the town, striking down beloved local working people like the young street vendor Ti Marie. Desperate for joy, infected citizens defy safety warnings, put on masks, and carry the contagion into crowded Carnival processions.

Ascent of Mount Pelée An arduous trek leads up the steep, fern-covered ridges of the volcano, across dangerous fissures and mud holes, to the dead crater lake at the summit. The bleak, lunar landscape stands in stark contrast to the lush tropical slopes below.

Bittersweet departure With heavy hearts, local friends gather at the wharf to present small farewell tokens before the steamer's cannon signals departure. The ship sails north toward New York, leaving the magical island behind.

The People

• The Traveler: An observant, highly sensitive writer who arrives intending to stay a few weeks, only to fall completely under Martinique's spell. Driven by curiosity and a deep appreciation for local culture, he stays two years, observing both the beauty and the lethal hazards of tropical life.
• Ti Marie: A young, chocolate-skinned street vendor from Vauclin who sells coffee and syrup at daybreak. Despite her youth and gentle, childish charm, she is already a mother whose partner died of smallpox; she eventually contracts the deadly disease herself and dies in the lazaretto.
• Father Labat: An energetic, historic eighteenth-century Dominican missionary whose memory hangs over the island. Driven by a desire to organize, build, and explore, he constructed enduring sugar mills and roads, leaving a legacy that outlasts his religious order on the island.
• Cyrillia and Manm-Robert: Local women who care for the traveler during his stay, offering him domestic help, local lore, and warm hospitality. They want to ensure his well-being, bestowing affectionate farewell gifts of fruit, seeds, and advice when he finally prepares to leave.

In Its Own Voice

"During a trip to the Lesser Antilles in the summer of 1887, the writer of the following pages, landing at Martinique, fell under the influence of that singular spell which the island has always exercised upon strangers..." The author explains how a casual summer journey unexpectedly turned into a two-year stay in the West Indies.

"Seeing a snake, she at once carries her kittens to a place of safety, then boldly advances to the encounter." A description highlights the remarkable courage of house cats when defending their young against the deadly pit viper.

"And in the Rue Ste.-Marthe there are three young girls sick with the disease, who hear the blowing of the horns and the pattering of feet... and the creole passion of the dance comes upon them." During the smallpox epidemic, afflicted young women succumb to the irresistible temptation of join the Carnival street dancers.

What It's Really About

Beneath its lush surface descriptions, the book is an exploration of sensory enchantment, cultural survival, and the fragile line between paradise and peril. It examines how geography and climate shape human character, creating a resilient Creole culture that finds joy in music, dance, and colorful tradition despite living under the constant threat of deadly diseases, venomous creatures, and volcanic forces. The text asks whether a visitor can ever truly belong to a land whose beauty is so intimately tied to hardship, concluding that to love such a place is to accept being forever haunted by its memory.

Why Read It Today

This book will deeply satisfy lovers of evocative travel writing, historical sociology, and vivid landscape painting in prose. Reading it feels like being transported directly into a sun-drenched, nineteenth-century Caribbean world, smelling the tropical fruits and hearing the rhythmic Creole chatter of old Saint-Pierre—a city that would be entirely destroyed by Mount Pelée's eruption just over a decade after these pages were written.

Modern readers must navigate nineteenth-century racial classifications and colonial terminology, which reflect the prejudices and scientific assumptions of the Victorian era. The prose can also be dense with elaborate descriptions, French phrases, and local dialect that demand unhurried attention. Yet those who press on will find a remarkably empathetic, visually rich record of an island and its people. What stays with you long after reading is the author's profound tenderness for the everyday workers, vendors, and friends who welcomed him, alongside the lingering, melancholic truth that some places alter a traveler's soul forever.