Bonacca by NETTIE TATUM

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 16, 1907

Bonacca

By NETTIE TATUM

NETTIE TATUM

Bonacca is the name applied to our little isle, which is the most easterly of six small islands located off the coast of Central America and washed by the waters of the Caribbean Sea. Bonacca has beautiful harbors.

The first house, built by Mr. Haylock, or “Grandpa Haylock,” as he is familiarly called, is still standing, though its builder has long since passed away. Children and grandchildren have built around the old homestead, as also have many others, making quite a community at present. The other islands near us are also inhabited. The people are mostly of English descent.

We do not have railroads, electric lights, factories, and such things as are found in most other countries. Not even a wagon travels our roads, but occasionally a bicycle crosses our path. No bridges span our lagoons and streams, but God’s wonders are greatly displayed in the panorama of earth, sea, and sky. The scenery is picturesque. We have most gorgeous sunsets, the beauty of which is indescribable to those who have not witnessed it. When the sun is sinking low, the rays of light ascend high in the sky, resembling the aurora borealis, or northern lights, in their fire-like appearance—a faint glimpse of the glory which will attend the soon coming of our Saviour.

There is always summer here, with azure sky and fleecy clouds above us. The placid harbor, which resembles a lake with its tranquil waters, is beautiful. The reef has hardly a wave, and beyond the great ocean can be seen as far as the eye can measure. At other times pleasant, balmy breezes fan the cocoanut-palms, cool the heated land, and ruffle the surface of the water. But yet there are the tropical winds, which blow in March, and cold monsoons, or seasonal winds, from October till February, intermittently coming off the Gulf of Mexico, and crossing the Caribbean Sea.

Our little isle may well be called the land of sunshine and flowers. Birds and butterflies, with their brilliant colors, flit from leaf to leaf and flower to flower. Babbling brooks find their way to the ocean from the ever-green hills, watering the valleys. On cool, calm nights the stars shine with great brilliancy. There are many beautiful shells and coral to be found on our reefs and bars, which are sometimes washed upon the shore by the waves. When gliding over the water on a calm day, we can see many beautiful things beneath us.

Most of the people are industrious, having pleasant homes and large cocoanut gardens by the sea. We travel from island to island in sloop boats and dories. Steamers and schooners from abroad visit us frequently, to get loads of bananas and cocoanuts. The first gasolene launch made in all Honduras was built by Mr. S. Haylock, of Bonacca.

There are three schools found on the island at present. One, taught by a colored man, is a public school. Brother Evans has for eight years conducted a school high on the mountainside, which is just such a one as our Heavenly Father wants, away from the noise and evils of town. The buildings are located in a beautiful little valley, with tall pine-trees around them. Below them is heard the rumble of a waterfall. Besides these, there is our pleasant little church-school at Northeast Bight, which is taught by Brother Cary. Under his patient teaching, the children improve greatly, and are growing up with a love for the Bible and the things of God taught them daily.

Many Indian relics have been found, showing that these people lived here before the Spaniards drove them from the island. While going to school on the mountain, I have passed an Indian graveyard, with large stones erected, which time and elements have left unmoved.

We have organs and one piano on the island, and nearly all the girls can play with skill, having talent for music.

We have three churches—two Methodist, the other Seventh-day Adventist. There is also another Seventh-day Adventist church at Northeast Bight.