THE LEEWARD ISLANDS. The LEEWARD ISLANDS, extending from the Spanish island of Porto Rico to the French island of Martinique, belong to Britain, with the exception of St. Thomas, Santa Cruz, Guadeloupe, and a few other islands. The British Colony of the Leeward Islands is a federation, formed in 1871, of the five presidencies of (1) Antigua, (2) St. Christopher and Nevis, (3) Dominica, (4) Montserrat, and (5) the Virgin Islands. Each Presidency is in charge of a Commissioner, and has its own Legislature—the whole being united under a Governor and a general Legislative Council for the whole colony. The total area is over 700 square miles, with a population of about 130,000. ANTIGUA, the second largest of these charming islands, is the seat of the general government of the Leeward Islands, and its capital, ST. JOHN'S, is the residence of the Governor-in-Chief. The soil of this island is fertile, and sugar and pineapples are grown; still only a third of its area is cultivated. The climate is healthy, and all the elements of material wealth are here, but the Antiguan negro, though quiet and orderly, is no great believer in work, and makes no effort to better himself, with the result that plantations go out of cultivation from want of labour, while the planter also suffers from frequent droughts Thirty miles north of Antigua its dependency-Barbuda-a flat and fertile island, producing corn, cotton, pepper, and tobacco, but no sugar. ST. CHRISTOPHER and NEVIS,' with ANGUILLA, form one presi dency. St. Christopher, better known as St. Kitts, is in the interior lofty and rugged, and a semicircle of hills encloses a beautiful and fertile plain-in which stands the town of BASSETERRE. The climate is healthy, the soil exceedingly fertile, and agriculture is in a decidedly advanced state. Sugar is the principal crop in St. Kitts, as also in the neighbouring island of Nevis, which is simply one circular mountain mass, rising from the sea to a height of 3,200 feet. Half the island is cultivable, and might be made a very garden. The little island of Anguilla, a dependency of St. Kitts, exports much salt and phosphate of lime and some farm produce. DOMINICA is a mountainous and picturesque island, abounding in rivers and streams, but, out of 186,000 acres, only some 20,000 are under cultivationthe rest are covered with virgin forest. It exports all the ordinary West Indian produce. The position of the island is unique-it lies between the two French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, and once belonged to France, and has remained French in speech; and its history of alternate capture and cession is most eventful. The capital is CHARLOTTETOWN or Roseau. MONTSERRAT, so widely and well-known for its healthful lime-fruit, is a small island, hilly, but fertile and healthy-the healthiest of the Lesser Antilles Besides lime-juice, sugar, coffee, cocoa, cotton and arrowroot are exported The chief town is Plymouth. The VIRGIN ISLANDS, which form an archipelago, "picturesque to view, but dangerous to navigation," were discovered by Columbus in 1493, and became partly British so early as 1666. The three inhabited British islands are Virgin Gorda, all of which have suffered severely from hurricanes." Tortola (on which is ROADTOWN, the capital of the group), Anegada, and by Columbus-the one by his own Christian name. other tree remains. The works of the few rema 1. Both these islands were discovered and named withering blast passed over it, and not a fruit or Christopher-the other from its cloud-covered peak. ing estates are all totally destroyed, two-thirds of 2. Of that of 1867, Sir Arthur Rumbold, the then the town blown down, and carcely a hut or habita standing." THE WINDWARD ISLANDS. The WINDWARD ISLANDS extend from Martinique to Trinidad, and include St. Lucia, St. Vincent, the Grenadines, Grenada, Tobago, and Barbados. Of these, Tobago is politically attached to Trinidad, and Barbados forms a separate colony; the rest are included in the British Colony of the Windward Islands, which has a total area of over 500 square miles and a population of about 167,000, not one-twentieth of whom are whites. The Windward Islands Colony has no general Legislative Council like the Leeward Islands; each of the three colonies-St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Grenada-retains its own Council and Administrator, subordinate to the Governor-in-chief, who is also Governor of Grenada. ST. LUCIA, the most northerly of our Windward Islands, is hilly, wooded, and well watered, and is famous for its wild scenery, its volcanic Soufrière with crater basins in constant ebbulition, and the adjoining picturesque Pitons. Sugar, rum, cocoa-now extensively cultivated-and logwood are the chief exports. CASTRIES, the chief town, is fortunate in the possession of the best harbour in the Antilles, and is now the second naval station in the British West Indies. The port is being strongly fortified by the Imperial Government. ST. VINCENT2 lies between St. Lucia and Grenada and almost due west of Barbados, and the colony includes some of the Grenadines, a cluster of small islands between Grenada and St. Vincent. Though not so picturesque as St. Lucia, St. Vincent also boasts a remarkable Soufrière, which was in violent eruption in 1812. The undulating slopes of this fertile and comparatively healthy island are only partially utilized. Sugar is the chief crop, but rum, arrowroot, coffee, cocoa, and spices are produced; nearly one-half the tillable land is, however, still unoccupied. The capital is KINGSTOWN, on the south west coast. GRENADA is a mountainous and highly picturesque island, abounding in springs and streams, and fortunately out of the line of hurricanes, so that its bay of ST. GEORGE is the safest and snuggest of the ports in the Windward Islands, and the town itself seemed to Trollope more like a goodly English town than any other in the smaller islands. The culture of cocoa is increasing. The GRENADINES are a group of small islands between Grenada and St. Vincent, to the Governments of which they are attached. 1. St. Lucia has, perhaps, the most interesting history of all the smaller islands. "Some of the greatest names in England's naval and military annals earned their first lustre in operations connected with St. Lucia, among whom may be cited Sir John Moore, Sir Ralph Abercrombie, Lord St. Vincent, and Lord Rodney. The father of the Late Qeen, the Duke of Kent, took, as a subaltern, a distinguished part in the storming of the strong hold of Morne Fortune, on the 4th of April, 1794" -Her Majesty's Colonies. 2. Siuce its discovery by Columbus, in 198, St. Vincent has passe! through troublous times alternately taken and re-taken by French and Eng lish fleets, and at various times visited by physical and commercial disasters. 3. Grenada was discovered by Columbus in 1498, and was first settled by the French in 1650. In the northern part of the island, a lofty cliff, overhanging the sea, still preserves the memory of the brave stand made by the old Caribs against the brutal French invaders. From this cliff, called the Morne des Sauters, the remnant of the natives, finding further resistance useless, leaped into the sea. Even more horrible than the massacre of the Caribs were the atrocities perpetrated by the French setters during the insurrection of 1795 TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO. TRINIDAD,' the most southerly of the long chain of the Antilles, lies off the eastern coast of Venezuela-the Gulf of Paria separating it from the mainland — immediately north of the mouth of the Orinoco. The smaller island of Tobago, to the north, was annexed to the government of Trinidad in 1889. Trinidad has an area of 1,754 square miles, and a population of about 250,000. It is an island of extraordinary resources, and its fertile soil is admirably adapted to the cultivation of almost every tropical product. Sugar and cocoa, coffee and tobacco, are at present the chief objects of culture, and the wonderful Pitch Lake, a bituminous deposit some go acres in extent, about 30 miles from Port of Spain, is a source of considerable wealth. The seaport town of PORT OF SPAIN is the capital, about 30 miles to the south is another seaport, SAN FERNANDO, with one of the finest harbours in the West Indies. No less than 26 steamers a month call at Trinidad, and the trade amounts to over 61⁄2 millions sterling a year-imports 3% millions, exports 3 millions. But there is ample room for development-only one-eleventh of the island is under cultivation, and the coal and pitch and the numerous and valuable plantproducts only require labour and capital to double the trade of the island in a short time. TOBAGO, a long and hilly island to the north of Trinidad, is administratively attached to it. Tobago, which has an area of 114 square miles, and a population of about 20,000, is well-watered by numerous short streams, and produces tropical fruits and all the ordinary vegetables in abundance. Sugar, indigo, spices, coffee, and cocoa are produced, and the culture of cotton and tobacco has been introduced, but forests still cover two-thirds of the island, which is said to be one of the healthiest in the West Indies. BARBADOS. BARBADOS, the most easterly of the West Indian islands, is nearly a hundred miles distant from St. Vincent, the nearest of the Windward Islands. Though only 21 miles long and 14 miles broad, with an area of not more than 166 square miles, Barbados has a population of nearly 200,000, or considerably more than a thousand to the square mile, and is, after Jamaica, the most important of the British West Indian islands. A favourable geographical position and a healthy climate, with the industry and prosperity of its inhabitants-of whom about 50,000 are mulattoes and 15,000 whites-make this distant island one of the most valuable of our colonial possessions. There are numerous elementary schools, and secondary, and even university, education is obtainable at BRIDGETOWN, the neat, well-built capital of this productive little island, which has "the appearance of a well-kept garden." The Governor is aided by a nominated Legislative Council and an elected House of Assembly. by him proclaimed a Spanish possession, Trini-French in 1676, and in 1797 the Spanish governor 1. Though discovered by Columbus in 1498, and Ition. The island was temporarily occupied by the peaks he saw on it-made so little progress until of Amiens, in 1802, secured its possession to Great dad-so named by its discoverer from the three capitulated to Sir Ralph Abercrombie. The l'exce 1783, that a French planter of Grenada obtained Britain. 2. The imports of Barbados are about 1 milion ster ing a year, half a million from Great Brita). nations, which resulted in an extensive immigra- and the exports rather under 1 million, THE BERMUDAS. Far out in the wide Atlantic-600 miles from Cape Hatteras"the remote Bermudas ride in the ocean's bosom unespied." Of the numerous islands in this isolated group, only about 20 are inhabited these have a population of 17,500 of whom 6,000 are whites. In addition the military forces number 3,800. In these "Fortunate Islands," as old Andrew Marvell quaintly sings, "eternal spring enamels everything," and here "hangs in shade the orange bright like golden lamps in a green night, while the pomegranates disclose jewels more rich than Ormuz shows." The 300 islands and islets of Bermuda are all of coraliine formation; the climate is so remarkably equable and salubrious that HAMILTON is a favourite winter resort; the soil produces arrowroot of the finest quality as well as an abundant supply of fruits and vegetables; while the forests yield a valuable and durable cedar. The principal exports are onions and potatoes. The geographical position of the group, a number of admirable harbours, a royal dockyard' and naval establishments so placed as to be unassailable, combine to make the Bermudas one of the most important of England's "sentry-boxes' in the ocean. CUBA AND PORTO RICO. CUBA, the 'Queen of the Antilles," and Porto Rico, the "healthiest of the Antilles," which had been continuously in the hands of Spain from the date of their discovery by Columbus, were surrendered by the treaty of December 11, 1898, the latter being ceded to the United States, while the former has been declared a Republic under the suzerainty of the United States. Cuba and Porto Rico together have an area of over 40,000 square miles, or nearly one-half of the total area of the West Indies, and a population of 21⁄2 millions, or more than one-half of the total population of the archipelago. Cuba was discovered by Columbus in 1492, and was first settled by the Spaniards in 1511. An insurrection against Spanish misrule broke out in 1868, which was only suppressed towards the end of 1876. The inhabitants again revolted in 1896, and in spite of the most strenuous efforts made by Spain to restore order, the insurrection lasted till 1893, the greater part of the island being devastated. Finally the United States intervened, partly out of sympathy with the struggles of the natives against the misrule of the Spaniards, and partly because of the angry excitement raised by the destruction of the "Maine" in Manilla harbour, and in April, 1898, demanded the immediate evacuation of the island. This demand not being complied with, the war between the two countries began with a blockade of the Cuban ports by the Americans, and the investment of Santiago. Disasters speedily overtook the Spanish arms. In the Philippines a Spanish fleet was destroyed, Porto Rico was captured, and in July a squadron under Admiral Cervera, seeking to escape from Santiago, was destroyed, and a fortnight later Santiago surrendered. In August a preliminary peace protocol was signed, and in December a treaty was ratified, whereby Spain agreed to give up Cuba, Porto Rico, the Philippines and Sulu Islands, and thus ceased to be a great Colonial Power. In 1901 the Island adopted a constitution, with a Republican form of government, and in the following year full control over their affairs was granted the Cubans. An insurrection breaking out in 1906, the President resigned, and the United States were forced to intervene and appoint a Peace Commissioner, who carries on a provisional government pending the restoration of power to the Cubans. 1. For the Bermuda Dockyard, a floating dock, 545ft. long and coft. wide, the largest of its kind in the world, and capable of accommodating the baggest warships. has recently been constructed at Wallsend on-Tyne. CUBA. CUBA is the largest of the West Indian Islands, and has an area of 44,000 square miles, with a population of 11⁄2 millions, of whom about 130,000 are Spaniards by birth, and 900,000 Cubans or Creoles, mostly of Spanish descent. The rest include half a million Negroes, 15,000 Chinese, and some 11,000 foreign whites. The chief physical feature of Cuba is the chain of mountains which extends through the interior of the island, culminating in a transverse range, the Sierra Maestra, in the south-east. The longest river in the island, the Rio Cauto (250 miles), flows from these mountains, and is navigable for schooners for 93 miles from the sea. There are numerous splendid harbours on the lagoon-fringed Cuban coast-the finest being the bay of Cienfuegos on the west coast, Santiago on the south, and Havana and Matanzas on he north. The tropical climate of Cuba is enervating to Europeans, especially in the lowlands which are subject to the dreaded yellow fever, but the so called winter is delightful, and even the hottest months of summer are bearable in the beautiful uplands of the south, The extensive plains on either side of the central and terminal ridges are, on the whole, well watered, and where properly cultivated, exceedingly fertile, producing sugar, tobacco, coffee, cotton, indigo, maize, &c. But not more than one-tenth of the island is under cultivation, and not less than 3,000 square miles are unreclaimed, while the forest area is about 2,000 square miles, and large tracts of the interior are still unknown. Sugar is the chief product of Cuba, 1.175,000 tons being produced in 1906, and the "vegas" or tobacco plantations annually produce abour 560,000 bales of the finest tobacco. About 300,000 bales of the "weed "are exported from Havana, besides over 200 millions of cigars. The "cafetelas" or coffee plantations are not now so extensive as formerly. Rice, cacao, coco-nut palm, and fruit trees are also largely cultivated, and great numbers of cattle and horses are reared on the rich pastures. The annual income of the inhabitants of Cuba is estimated at 16 millions sterling, but the development of the island has been considerably arrested by the state of anarchy which has existed so long. If the Americans succeed in introducing a firm government, the prosperity of the island will speedily revive. The roads are wretched, but there are about 1,500 miles of railway, and over 3,500 miles of telegraph lines. The Cuban capital of HAVANA' (236), situated on the north side of the island, is the largest city in the West Indies. It has a very large number of cigar factories, and is the centre of an extensive trade. SANTIAGO (43), an important port in the south, is the second city in the island. MATANZAS (36), east of Havana, and MANZANILLO are important ports; and PUERTO PRINCIPE (25), SANCTI SPIRITU (33), and HOLGUIN (35) are towns in the interior. PORTO RICO. PORTO RICO has an area of 3,550 square miles (about half the size of Yorkshire), and a population of 954,000, more than half of It now forms a colony of the United States. them whites. Porto Rico has had a representative government since 1901. Although the island is only one-twelfth the size of Cuba, the population of Porto Rico is considerably more than half that of the larger island. words, it is entirely colonized, cultivated, and peopled; hence the negroes are bere compelled to work or starve. are coffee, sugar, and tobacco. " In other The chief products, like those of Cuba, SAN JUAN (32) is the capital and chief port, but PONCE (28) and SAN GERMAN (30) are important towns. 1. Columbus was buried in the Cathedral at Havana. |