THE
WEST INDIES, THE GUIANAS,
AND BRITISH
HONDURAS
The West Indies, now divided among various
dominant nations or exercising a degree of independence, have a claim to be considered under
the general title of Latin America, since they
were discovered by Columbus and his successors
and belonged collectively to the Spanish crown
for a hundred years or more. The first landfall
of Columbus was at Watlmg', lIland in the
Bahamas, now belonging to Great Britain; a
monument was raised there to commemorate the
fact during the Columbian year of 189~when
everything connected with the great discoverer'. firat voyage wa. investigated, written up,
and photographed.
The results are preserved
in the Columbw M6morial Library of the
Pa,....AmerictJ1l Union, Washington.
Historical facts relating to the several islands or
groups of islands will be mentioned in the
proper place, but information is easily obtained, and the steamship companies supply
instructive folders describing the islands and
ports touched in their routes. Winter is the
best season to visit the so-called American
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Mediterranean.
In summer all have to bear
the brunt of the cyclonic storms or hurricanes.
The West Indies may be grouped as follows:
G..- AJdiIlea: Cuba,
San Domingo:
DomiDican Republic and
Haiti,
Porto Rico.
Jama.ica
Britiah pos •• siOll8).
<_
Bt-iNh:
Bennudu.
Leuer
Antillel:
Babamu,
Leeward laIanda aDd Windward
Caribbees:
Island ••
Barbed,*>
Trinidad,
Tobago.
FrtJfII:h:
Guadeloupe.
Martinique.
etc.
DanUh:
St. Thom ....
St. Croix.
lit. JohD.
Foreign possessions also are the Guianu and
British Honduras.
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PORTO RICO
Area, S4SIl equare mile8.
Population, 1,026,000; SOO
mileege, 200.
Oue-twelfth the _ of Cub&.
to the equare mile. Bail-.,
Fourth and least in size of the Greater Antil ..
Ies, Puerto Rico was discovered in 1498 and first
colonized by Ponce de Leon, 11509. It was &
crown colony of Spain and, under the modem
Spanish constitution, enjoyed equal rights with
the people of the peninsula. It was therefore
fairly loyal and contented until by the chance
of war it came into the possession of the United
States, 1898. It is a purely agricultural colony, formerly devoted exclusively to coffee.
Americans have increased the sugar product by
developing the neglected lowlands and by modern methods; corn also is now grown in su1Bcient quantities for export, and rice, tobacco,
and fruits are increasing in production and
quality.
The interior is mountainous (highest peak,
8680 feet), well wooded and well watered, and
hardly a point on the island is thirty miles from
tide-water. There are few good harbors on its
coast line of 860 miles. The railroads will soon
encircle the island, and there are 511 miles of
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first class macadam roads, two highways crossing the highland from north to south. Nine
steamship lines visit Porto Rico from the United
States and Europe. The rainy season is from
April to November. The climate is warm, but
it is said to be more equable and healthful than
any other in the West Indies. The best time
to visit is from January to May.
SAN JUAN, capital. Population, SIS.OOO.1428 miles from
New York. Old town on an iBland eoeneeted
with the main1an<J by bridges. Has the uaua1 MOI'TO cutle on
a rocky point toward the sea. InDer harbor a broad and beautiful bay on which the Uoited States government iB expending
"50.000.
lotereatiog fortlfications, parade groUOWl. and
house of PrmctJ tU Lwi& where hia ashes are preserved. Streets
wider than in Havana and well sbaded; ~Jaza. cathedral.
university. modern graded schools, electriCIty. trolleys. etc.
Railway terminua.
Population, 80,000. 15S9miles from New Orlean&
Situated on the south coast, 90 miles by fine Military Road &mMlI the island from the capital. It lies two miles
from its P'?rt of Playa. whicb iBspacious and deep, but not well
protected by nature. Fine residences and gardeDI and outlying
plantations.
PONCE.
Population, 20.~.
118 miles from Sao
Juan by rail. Third city in commercial importance. lies on the west coast at the foot of a well cultivated
valley. connected bUail with other parts of the iBlaDdand by
llteamer with New York.
MAYAGUEZ.
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CULEBRA,
aIoo called Itltu d8 PdltJje, IDIa!I IsIand8 I1iDI
thirteen mile. eut 01 Porto Rico. Culebra baS
bat. f"" hundred population; it F - • fine harborl .....
ia • United Statee Dayal bue.
iequell is Jaraer and DU •
populatioo of 6000. devoted to sugar growing.
VlEQUES,
Ji
BRITISH
POSSESSIONS
JAMAICA
Ana.
dO?' lQuanl miles.
Populatioa.
850,uo.
Half the size of New 1ffte1.
N arne derived from the Indian "trordX tJ1JfNlctJ
(X = sh), meaning island of fountains. Superb Blue Mountain ridge of the eastern portion, highest peak 7860 feet, declines toward
the plains around Kingston and the west. The
vegetation of the island is famous, IllI is also the
scenery. Discovered 1494, and captured by the
English fleet sent out by Cromwell in 1655, by
which time all the natives had disappeared; the
Spaniards migrated to Cuba and English colonization began, since when it has remained
loyal to the British crown. These early colonists took considerable interest in the buccaneering sports of the age, and Port Royal was the
headquarters of Morgan the Conair, 1660.
Slavery was abolished in 1838, the owners being
liberally remunerated, but it resulted in the ruin
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of the plantations, as the landlords became afflicted with absenteeism and the free negroes
abjured farm labor and segregated themselves
in small villages that are hardly more than
market places. Jamaica has passed through
the disasters resulting from dependence on a
single crop (sugar) and is now diversifying and
increasing her products. The sugar is now
chiefly made into the rom which makes Jamaica
famous. Fruits, especially oranges since the
great frost in Florida, 1895-1896, and bananas,
ginger, tobacco, and Peruvian bark are successful. The island has fine roads and bridges, and
there is a railway eastward from Kingston to
Port Antonio, and westward to Montego. A
good steamer circumnavigates the island once
a week. Kingston is one of the centers for communication with all ports of the West Indies and
the Caribbean Sea, and the traveller may change
here from New York or European steamers to
almost any of the local places he may wish to
visit.
KINGSTON, capital. Population. 50,000. 1475 miles from
New York. Hot and unattractive, laces an
eDenaive harbor to tbe 8OUtb. Naval station 01 Port Royal,
moet important British strongbold in West Indies except St.
Lucia. Destro;Ved by eartbqUake in 1868, as was K.on
in 1907. City .. clean and wellligbted.
N~
barracks
011 etDiDeooe 1000 feet above, wbere are many Eogliab villu
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aad prdeu
aud the residence of the governor. We8twaId,
15 miIee, is Sf'lJftVR TOlDft, once the c:apifal, with oruate public
buildings, aod Vaudeville, a beautifullllOllDtaiD ft*ld. Con.taut Spring is aIIo a faV«ite leIIOrt.
PORT ANTONIO,
cbief town on the DOdh ClOUt, harbor
with DalTO" entrance, beautiful ~00 mouotaioside. a fiDe modem hotel aDd riIJas. ..M.aJIT.
t:-utiful drivee, ODeto Bath 00 eut rout. Coooected by rail
tiOD
with KingstoD aDd with New York dinrl.
Depeodeocies of lamaica:
TurTt, lllimd, famous few it.
II&It, lpOogea, aod pink .-ria; CaicolI.umdI, turt1ee aDd -birda' «as; aod Oapmu, ~
pho.pbatea, and truitI,
bu a "ooderiul eave enWll1er the -. but DO good
harbors.
BERMUDAS
Anla, 20 equare miles. 667 miles from New York; 580
miles eut of caul of North Carolioa.
These islands were discovered in US11S
by
Ju,q,fI
BermOOeIl and rediscovered in 1609 by Sir
George Summen, whence they were sometimes
called the Summer I,Zand" but Ben Jonson
called them the Bermudas, and Shakespeare
"the still vexed Bermoothes," They were settled by order of James I in 1612, and were made
a coaling and naval station in 1809. There are
860 islets, some 80 close as to be connected by
bridges. They are of coral formation, some
have elevations of 260 feet, covered with rich
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vegetation and much juniper used for lead pencils. There is no fresh water but rain water,
yet the precipitation is sufficient for raising
early vegetables and Easter lilies for the New
York market. Four thousand acres out of
twelve thousand are cultivated. The climate
is mild and equable with a mean temperature
of 70° F. Capital, Hamilt01l (population,
2260), strong British garrison and important
naval base. Huge iron dry dock; cable to
Halifax, Turk's, and Jamaica.
A favorite
winter resort.
Once the residence of Tom
Moore.
BAHAMAS
Seven hundred islands and innumerable rocky
islets, stretching between Florida and San
Domingo for 780 miles; they are wind-blown
piles of sand and shell, the shallow waters
round about so beautiful with sea-growths &8
to be called sea-gardens. Only 81 islands are
inhabited; some were settled by Tories and
Royalists who tIed from the mainland at the
time of the American Revolution. Watling"
bland was Columbu,' first landfall; Andro"
Great Abaco, and Harbor !llana., are the most
thickly populated, but the seat of government
is at
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NASSAU, New Pto,ideDce hIud. PopuWioo,
mae. from
1t,6OO.
NO
New York. RacW Uo in 1I'iDt« by
boUI from Miami, Florida (185miles). F.~
wiDIs ~
for EngIWb &lid AmericaDI; c/eaD, .Undift. witb good hotdL
P'ee-p' sports 01 aD kiDda. Cable crmm"pjcetiww witb
Pbida, Benmvl... aud H.lifex
CAR~BEES
&
Windll'tJrd tJfId Ueflldrd l,lmId,. 'I1lese form
continuous group stretching in & lemi-eircle
from the eastern end of Porto Rico to Trinidad. Thole nearest to Porto Rico were sighted
by Columbus in 1494, and the long procession
of white reefs suggested the legend of the eleven
thousand British maidens martyred with St.
Ursula at Cologne. Hence he named them the
Virgm [,landl. They now belong to Great
Britain with the exception of three which will
be mentioned as Danish pcssessions. The next
group includes Antigua, St. Kitt'" Ne'DiI(birthplace of Alexander Hamilton), Barbuda. MOftt,errat, and Dominica, followed by the French
group to be mentioned in due place. AlI these
are mountainous and exposed to the full fury of
cyclonic storms. These are known as the Leeward Islands, and are divided into five presidencies, the seat of government being at St.
J 01l.n on the island of Antigua (population
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9162). Other towns in the Leewards are Roleau., on Dominica, Bass« Terre, on St. Kitt's,
and CluJrledoflm, on Nevis. Most of the islands
are connected by cable. The Windward Islands
comprise St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Grenada.
St. Lucia (area 2S8 square miles, population
52,682), chief town Castrie», largest British
coaling station in West Indies, and has a strong
citadel on a landlocked harbor. In these waters
the British fleet annihilated the French in 1782
and established British supremacy in the West
Indies. St. Lucia is 24 miles from Martinique
and 21 miles from St. Vincent, which has a population of 50,000, 95 per cent being colored.
There were formerly many Carib Indians who
became so troublesome that in 1796 they were
deported to the Bay 1,landl of Honduras. The
chief town is Kingdon.
Grenada consists of
hundreds of reefs, rocks, and islets, locally called
the Grenadines, extending from St. Vincent for
a distance of 60 miles. The largest island
(Grenada) is a mase of wooded cones supporting a lake 8200 feet above the sea. The chief
town, St. George, is the seat of government for
the Windward group, and has a common court
of appeals, but each island has its own institutions and separate laws and tariff.
Barbadol. - Area, 166 square miles; papa158
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lation, iOO,ooo; 18i5 miles from New York.
One of the most denaely peopled 8pob on
earth. The people are mostly negroes with
& large proportion
of coolie (Ea8t Indian)
labor. Chief city and capital i8 BridgetO'ltM,
a busy trading center. Thia is a port of
call for many tranaatlantic and South American ve8aels, and lure the pauenger can ftn4
deamer, cnJiling arOUfld the We,t India I,lMatU
and to molt port» in the Caribbean Sea. It
has a delicious climate, is a favorite resort for
North and South Americans, and is the only
place outside the United State8 ever vi8ited by
George Washington.
Trinidad. - Area, 1754 square miles; larger
than Rhode bland. Distance from New York,
1945 miles; population, i90,ooo; 85 miles of
railway. Lies immediately north of the mouth
of the Orinoco. The general surface is level or
undulating, though on the north coast there is
an elevation of 8100 feet. ColunnbfU, who named
it from three peaks he noticed, Cortez, and Sir
Walter Raleigh, all visited the island. On the
southwest coast is the famous a,p1uJlt lake, 90
acres in extent, with the port of La Brea. Capital is Port of Spain on a fine harbor facing Venezuela. The government house is surrounded by
the famous Botanic Gardeas, situated 8ix miles
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from the port with which it is connected by
street-ears, and at an altitude of 400 feet.
Tobago, properly Tabaco, twenty miles from
Trinidad, much resembles that and Barbados in
geological formation. It was politically united
to Trinidad in 1899. Said to be the island of
Robinson Crusoe. Chief town, Scarborough.
FRENCH
POSSESSIONS
Guadeloupe and Martinique, with the lesser
islands of Deseada, Marie Galante, St. Bart'I,
and half of St. Martin, occupy a commanding
and central position in the West Indies. The
decline in economic conditions, due to the abolition of slave labor, has not been entirely relieved
by the introduction of coolies, but the single
crop system is now augmented by tobacco and
fruits, and people look hopeful and thrifty.
Guadeloupe, with an area of 1160 square miles,
has a population of 190,000, and is rated as a
department of France, and has therefore a representative in the French House of Deputies.
(This is the case also with Martinique, these two
forming the only portion of the foreign West
Indies not being governed as territorial possessions.] The capital is Pointe a Pitre on a fine
harbor. Martinique, area, 880 square miles,
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