Stark's history and guide to Barbados and the Caribbee Islands

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STARK'S

HISTORY AND GUIDE
TO

BARBADOS
AND THE

CARIBBEE ISLANDS,
CONTAINING
A DESCRIPTION OF EVERYTHING ON OR ABOUT THESE
ISLANDS OF WHICH THE VISITOR OR RESIDENT
!AiY DESIRE INFORMATION,
INCLUDING THEIR

HISTORY, INHABITANTS, CLIMATE, RGRI-
CULTURE, GEOLOGY, GOVERNMENT
IND RESOURCES.

Fntllg |Illsteratta
WITH MAPS, ENGRAVINGS AND PHOTO-PRINTS.

BY
JAMES H. STARK.

BOSTON:
PHOTO-ELECTROTYPE CO., PUBLISHERS.
BARBADOS: BOWsN & SONS.

COPYRIGHT, 1893.

By JAMES H. STARK.

PUBLISHED AND ILLUSTRATED BY THE
PHOT"-ELECTROTYPE CO.,
275 Washington Street,
BOSTON.

PREFACE.

My purpose in writing this book has been to
introduce to the notice of those unacquainted with
the Caribbee Islands and Barbados, some of the
many attractions to be found there, how to reach
these beautiful islands, their resources and produc-
tions; and a brief history of their discovery and
settlement; also the manners and customs of the
inhabitants, and a complete index and guide to all
points of interest.
These islands are now passing through a transition
state, what their industrial and political future will
be, it is impossible to tell. I have related, however,
what in my opinion, (based upon my observations
there and elsewhere), would be the result if the
Snegroes were allowed to rule.
In compiling this work, every authority that it was
possible to obtain on the subjects contained therein,
has been consulted, and the information embodied in
this work. Much of the matter is compiled from
such authorities as Ligon's and Schomburgk's,
histories of Barbados, Moxley Guide to Barbados,
Froude's English in the West Indies, Paton's Down
S the Islands, Black America, and many other works
too numerous to mention. The author also takes
pleasure in acknowledging his indebtedness to Mr.
James Howell of Barbados, and Mr. George S. Locke,
Supt. of the Quebec Steamship Co., and others, for
the many courtesies extended to him during his visit
to these islands.

Coittntnts.

CHAPTER. PAGH.
I. THE VOYAGE TO SANTA CRUIZE, I
II. ST. KITTS AND NEVIS, 9
III. NEVIS, ANTIGUA AND MONTSERRAT, 18
IV. GUADALOUPE AND DOMINICA, 27
V. MARTINIQUE AND ST. LUCIA, 42
VI. BARBADOS, ITS FIRST APPEARANCE, EARLY
HISTORY. 56
VII. CIVIL WAR IN BARBADOS, 72
VIII. WARS WITH FRANCE, ABOLITION OF SLAVERY, 83
IX. INHABITANTS, WHITES, COLORED, AND NEGROES, 101
X. BARBADOS AS A HEALTH RESORT, AMUSEMENTS
AND RECREATION, 110
XI. SEASIDE RESORTS, THE CRANE AND BATHSHEBA,
RAMBLES IN SCOTLAND HILLS, 18
XII. CAVES AND RAVINES, -. 127
XIII. OISTIN'S BAY, CHRIST CHURCH, REMARKABLE
OCCURRENCE, 140
XIV. HACKELTON'S CLIFF, ST. JOHN'S CHURCH,
PALEOLOGUS, INDIAN ANTIQUITIES, 148
XV. AGRICULTURE AND INDUSTRIES, 1 53
XVI. RELIGION AND EDUCATION, 161
XVII. THE GEOLOGY OF BARBADOS, 176
XVIII. WASHINGTON'S VISIT TO BARBADOS, BARBADIAN
HOSPITALITY, 184
XIX. THE FUTURE OF BARBADOS AND THE CARIBBEE
ISLANDS, 191
XX. NEGRO RULE IN HAYTI, 198
XXI. NEGRO RULE IN THE UNITED STATES, 206

INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS.

Carlisle Bay,
Alter the Hurricane, Martinique,
A Negro Beauty,
Antigua,
Basseterre Park, St. Kitts,
Boiling Lake, Dominica,
Boiling House,
Botanical Gardens, Martinique,
Bowen, Dr. Residence,
Bridgetown Harbor,
Broad Street, Barbados,
Carr. ing Pottery to Bridgetown,
Codringion College,
Curiosity Shop,
English Harbor, Antigua,
Entrance to Farley Hall,
First West Indian Regiment,
Going to Market,
Hot Springs,
Infantry Camp, Gun Hill,
Joe's River Plantation,
Ligon's Map of Barbados 1647,
Lord's Castle,
Map of Barbados,
Map of the Caribbee Islands .

Frontispiece.
S 42
132
S24
6
33
55
S 46
112
S 84
194
124
S170
S 178
26
S150
S 114
S131
S 48
94
S134
158
. 158
118.
.214
II

Alap showing location of the Caribbee Islands,
Marine Hotel, Hastings,
Market, Guadaloupe, .
Market Place, Dominica,
Mount Pleasant Plantation,
Mountains of Dominica,
Nevis, .
Parliament Buildings, .

3
S 58
29
S 36
164
39
18
68

INDEX.

Point A. Petre, Guadaloupe.
Public Square, Basseterre,
Public Buildings,
Ready for Market..
Repairing the Road,
Roadside Scene,
Roebuck Street, Barbados,
Seashore, Bathsheba,.
Shot Hill, .
Sonfriere, St. Kitts,
St. John's Church, Antigua,
St. Kitts, .
The Bridge Bridgetown,
The Coffins,
The Pitons, St. Lucia,
The Tomb, .
Three Natives,
Trafalgar Square,
View in front of the Ice House,
Where Lord Nelson was Married,
Windmill, Mt. Pleasant,
Windmill and Boiling House,

28
14
S 76
157
129
122
202
120
104
16
22
12
64
145, 146
50
141
gIo
9
S 58
20
S154
154

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE
-TO--

BARBADOS
-AND THE-

CARIBBEE ISLANDS.

CHAPTER I.
THE VOYAGE. SANTA CRUZ.

To the tourists and invalids desirous of escaping
the rigors of a northern winter, a new and enchant-
ing field is opened up by a trip to Barbados by
way of the Windward Islands, known also as the
Caribbees or Lesser Antilles.
A trip from New York to the Caribbee Islands
occupies six days each way at sea. The direct dis-
tance fr,:om New York to St. Croix, the first island in
this group at which the steamer stops, is 1465 miles,
and from there to Barbados 400 miles: the actual run
to, and among the islands is about 2,000 miles.
The visitor has the choice of two lines of steamers
running from New York to Barbados. The Quebec
Steamship Co. dispatches a steamer every two weeks,
stopping at St. Croix, St. Kitts, Antigua, Guada-
loupe. Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, and Barba-
dos; and sometimes at Montserrat and Nevis.
A day or two is spent at each place, discharging
and taking in cargo, thereby allowing ample time for
the passengers to go ashore for a drive or walk about
the island, the run between the islands being made
by night

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

The U. S. and Brazil Mail Steamship Company
dispatches a first-class vessel every, two weeks for
Brazil, stopping at St. Thomas, Martinique and Bar-
bados. It is a good plan for tourists to take a
steamer of this line from New York to Barbados, and
to return by the Quebec line, unless he desires to see
the Caribbee islands both going and coming. Of
course the Brazil line makes the quickest passage by
several days, as they do not stop at all the islands
at which the other line does.
The writer decided to take passage on the steamer
Caribbee of the Quebec Steamship Co. line. We
left the dock at New York at 3 P. M., Wednesday, in
the early part of January, during a driving northwest
snow storm, and the dock as we went aboard was
slippery with snow and ice. There was the usual
crowd and confusion before departure. Those going
could not be distinguished, till the bell rang to clear
the ship, from the friends who had accompanied
them to take leave.
It was bitter cold as we proceeded down New York
harbor. The steamer discharged the pilot at Sandy
Hook, and encountered at once heavy seas, which
speedily drove all the passengers to the seclusion of
their state rooms. Very few appeared at the table the
next morning, and taking it altogether Thursday was
a very uncomfortable day. Friday morning we were
in the Gulf Stream, the weather was mild and pleas-
ant, the passengers all on deck enjoying the mild
balmy air, and it was a sudden transition from winter
to spring.
The delightful change in the weather had a pleas-
ing effect upon the spirits of the ship's company;
passengers whom we had not before seen, came from
the retirement of their stateroom to the deck, wraps
and overcoats were discarded, and there was no need
to pace the deck to keep warm. By noon, under the
genial influence of the sun, we became more and

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BARBA60S AND THE CARiBBEL
i5LANDS

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

more affable. In a surprising short time we made
ourselves at home, striking up acquaintance with and
confiding in one another, in the manner of old
friends.
We entered the Gulf Stream 60 miles south of
Cape May, when 190 miles out, and for 150 miles
were crossing its axis; passing, midway between
Charlestown, S. C. and Hamilton, the capital of the
Bermudas, where the current runs the strongest.
The southern limit of the Gulf Stream was reached
250 miles further, about sunrise Saturday morning,
Cape Hatteras having been passed about Io o'clock
Friday night. Sunday the sea was calm and smooth
in the morning ; in the afternoon the northeast trade
winds were felt, and the next day, Monday, large
quantities of gulf-weed from the Saragasso Sea were
passed. Tuesday, the sixth day out, flying fish was
noticeable, and in the evening Culebrita Light was
sighted; later, the curious Sail Rock, resembling
a ship, was passed. Porto Rico with the adjacent
Culebra and Crab Islands was in sight to the west;
and St. Thomas, with St. John's and other of the Vir-
gin Islands, to the east. At 9 P. M. the anchor was
droppedin the harbor at Frederickstaed, St. Croix.
Now we are in the Caribbean sea among the islands
of the Caribs and the Cannibals. What memories of
the past and strange scenes, come floating before our
vision. As we look back into the history of these
islands, a shadowy procession of great figures pre-
sents itself. Columbus and Cortez and Las Casas,
the millions of Indians exterminated by the Spaniards
who formerly occupied these islands, the black swarms
who were poured in to take their places, the frightful
story of the slave trade, the thousands of white slaves
sent here to their death, the papal bull bestowing on
Spain all the countries within the tropics west of the
Atlantic. The English and French Protestants who
took to the sea like water dogs and challenged their

TO BARBADOS AND THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 5

enemies in their own special domain, here met the
Spainards gorged with plunder and wading in blood.
Here Drake and Hawkins interrupted the golden
stream which flowed from Panama into the exchequer
of Madrid, and furnished Philip with the means to
carry' on his war with the Reformation. It was not
the Crown or the Government which fought these
battles, it was the people of England with their own
hands and their own resources. Buccaneers, pirates
or privateers, whatever we may call them, they were
the sea-warriors of the Reformation, when the nations
of the earth were breaking the chain in which king
and priest had bound them, uncommissioned, un-
recognized, fighting on their own responsibility, liable
to be disowned if they failed, while the outlawed
pirate of one year was promoted the next to be a
governor. The Caribbean Sea was the cradle of the
Naval Empire of Great Britian; in these waters men
were formed and trained who drove the Armada
through the Channel into wreck and ruin. Had the
Armada succeeded there would have been no United
States today. North America would have been
Spanish and French. In these waters in the cen-
turies which followed, France and England fought
for the ocean empire,-and England won it; and that,
too. on the day when her own politicians' hearts had
failed them, when she had lost thirteen of her richest
and nmust prosperous colonies, when all the powers
of the world had combined to humiliate her. It was
then that Rodney shattered the French fleet in the
Caribbean sea, saved Gibralter, and avenged York-
town.
From the time the steamer enters the Gulf Stream
the weather is all that could be desired ; for the first
two da\ s of the voyage the clothing worn aboard of
the vessel at New York is needed then middle weight
with ut overcoats; on reaching the islands the lightest
summer garments with shade.hats or sun umbrellas

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

are a necessity for comfort, the mercury ranging at
808 or above.
The steamers stop long enough at each port to
allow one to see most of the sights, giving a very
satisfactory glimpse of each island; the tourist how-
ever cannot take all the long excursions, the run
between the islands being made by night.
SANTA CRUZ.
At Santa Cruz or St. Croix (Danish, 19 by 5 miles;
84 square miles area, 42,000 population) the ship
anchors I mile from shore at West End, official name
Frederickstaed. Boats put off from shore and land
passengers for 25 cents each. The post office is to
the left on landing, a daily news cablegram is bullet-
ined here; the telegraph office is in the old fort, just
beyond. Cable rates by W. I. and Panama Tel. Co.
are very high throughout the islands ; rate within the
island is 20 cents. The currency is Danish West
Indian, reckoned by cents. American gold and silver
pass with little difficulty cent for cent. There are
no livery stables; private parties however let their
carriages, buggies, and two-seated carriages, and
riding ponies can be had; the charge is eight dollars
or so for a double team across the island ; for shorter
trips in single buggies, a dollar or so an hour, 6r by
distance. Excellent meals to order and room accom-
modations are obtainable at Mrs. Du Bois. In the
town, (picturesque with yellow -and pink arcaded
buildings and with the ruins from the insurrection of
the blacks, Oct. Ist, 1878) see the old fort, the
Roman Catholic church, the market, the shell heap
on the beach, the fishing boats with strange fishes
of brilliant color.
Opposite Mrs. Du Bois's the U. S. frigate Monon-
gahela, was left high and dry in the town, so it took I
months to get her off, by the tidal wave 60 feet high
accompanying the earthquake of Nov. 18. 1867.

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TO AL.RBADOS AND THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 7

The drives to Mt. Victory, (returning by Annerley,
under tropical foliage with fine views, six miles
around), to the shell beaches at Butler's bay and Ham
Point, (four miles and return), and its neighboring
sugar plantations, are interesting. Across the island,
fifteen miles along a good road lined with cocoanut
and cabbage palms, is Bassin (Christianstaed), the
capital -of the Danish West Indies, halfway across is
the Carson's plantation. Bethlehem, probably so
called from an early Moravian settlement, is one of
the three vacuum-pan sugar factories of 'the island.
At Bassin, a picturesque Italian-looking town, see
the Governor-General's residence, with superb view
from stone terrace; and if Mrs. Prentheny is tele-
gaphed to from West End, she will prepare a delight-
ful lunch or dinner. The best bay rum, guava jelly,
limes, the "peanut" shaped baskets from Tortola,
and calabashes, may be bought at this island. Eng-
lish is spoken here almost as much as Danish. The
present Frederickstaed is but the ruins of a much
more substantial town. During the uprising of the
blacks in 1878 the island was swept by incendiaries,
scarcely a building or a plantation being spared;
many of the plantations are abandoned, and will in a
few year. be covered with wood. The island is of
little use to Denmark. There are but two Danish
planters on the island, most of the planters are Eng-
lish, Scotch, American, and Irish. Danish authority
is represented by thirty-five soldiers in the fort.
About midnight the clank of the cable in the hawse
pipe announces the weighing of the anchor. Land is
hardly ever out of sight in this cruise among the
Caribbees. one island no sooner turns gray in the
distance than another reveals itself with a repetition
of the waving palms and volcanic mountains steeped
in every ,hade of green. The Caribbee Islands are
like stepping-stones cast into the sea. The English
apply tlic name, West Indies, to all the islands which

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

separate the Atlantic Ocean from the Caribbean Sea
and the gulf of Mexico, and divide the group known
as the Windward Islands into two lesser groups;
naming the islands between Porto Rico and Martin-
ique, the Leeward, and those between Martinique and
the Orinoco, the Windward Islands. The archipel-
ago, thus subdivided, is also known as the Caribbee
Islands; and by the Americans the whole group is
called the "Windward Islands."
Leaving Santa Cruz, the ship after some hours
sights Saba (Dutch, 2j miles diameter, 2,820 feet
high, 2,000 population including two policemen) the
striking rock whose inhabitants reach their tiny vil-
lage by steps cut in the rocks and who build in The
Bottom of the crater boats which they let down by
ropes. Then she nears St.Eustatius,or Statia (Dutch,
4 by 2 miles, 1,950 feet high,2,884 population) also evi-
dently a volcanic island, and presently approaches St.
Kitts with its great volcanic peak, Mt. Misery, 4,314
feet high, with an accessible crater 800 or more feet
deep, its crevices still emitting sulphur fumes. The
ship passes Sandy Point and Old Roads, between
which rises the curious Brimstone Hill, the Gibralter
of the West Indies, dismantled in "1851, which hill,
the natives say, was thrown bodily from the crater of
Mt. Misery.

TO BARBADOS AND THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS.

CHAPTER II.

ST. KITTS AND NEVIS.

St. Christopher's (English, 23 by 5 miles, 68
square miles area, 28,470 population) is reached at
Basseterre in twelve hours run, 128 miles, from West
End, Santa Cruz. The island was named by Colum-
bus in 1493, after his own patron saint. Numerous
boatmen ask one shilling each to go ashore, and take
less for parties. Landing at the Custom House wharf,
you reach a tiny "circus or plaza with palms and
clock; along the street to the left are the post office
and the hotel, and at the end the very interesting mar-
ket place. The street directly back from the water leads
to St. George's Church, (called the finest in the West
Indies), to the Moravian Church, and to out-lying
plantations. Mr. Lyons, the photographer, is near
this street. The street to the right brings one to
the really fine public garden; with its noble banyan
tree. Carriages are to be had at the livery stable at
moderate rates.
The currency is English money, which can be had
for 20s. 6d. or more to $5.oo, at the bank at the cor-
ner of the circus. At each end of the town are Half-
moon Battery and Fashion Fort. Either Monkey Hill
or the ravine up the mountains beyond the Elosia
plantation affords an interesting walk. Captain Pog-
son is pleased to show his fine sugar estate at Old
Roads to travellers. The drives are, across to the

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

windward side of the island to Cayon, or south to
Frigate Bay, or north to Brimstone Hill; but these
can be better reached from Sandy Point or Old
Roads, if the ship stops at either: there is a long
drive of thirty miles circling the greater part of the
island. The white peacock of St. Kitts may be seen
at Captain Rogers' near Old Roads, Mr. Wigley's
near Frigate Bay, or at houses nearer town. Cocoa-
nuts, limes, cassava bread, and calabashes are to be
bought here.
Basseterre, the capital of St. Kitts, is a town of
about sixteen hundred dwelling houses and seven
thousand inhabitants. Some of the dwelling houses
of Basseterre stand in the middle of gardens shut in
from view by high unsightly stone walls, after the cus-
tom prevailing in England, and which is provokingly
imitated in many West Indian town by those most
hospitable people in the world, the British West
Indians. The palms rear their graceful crowns high
overhead; mangos, tamarinds, Ceibas and an endless
variety of beautiful tropical trees lift their branches
above the enclosures; the broad leaves of bananas and
plantains wave like banners in the air; 'here and
there flamboyant trees in full bloom, covered with
magenta blossoms, present a startling contrast to the
net work of green foliage that surrounds them.
Through gateways, sometimes through spaces left by
falling walls, one can occasionally catch glimpses in
these wonderful gardens of fruits and flowers, of ferns
in bewildering and beautiful variety, and of roses and
lilies, rare plants to be seen only in greenhouses of
grand domains or public gardens, at the North.
Nothing can exceed in loveliness and grandeur, the
views to be obtained from the road that runs from
Basseterre in a southeasterly direction as it climbs a
gentle ascent to the crest of the island, where the
Atlantic is to be seen stretching away as far as the eye
can reach. Thence the highway gradually descends

MAP OF
THE

ErLgra~ed For-
STARKS HISTORYANDGUIDE
TO
BARBADOS AN D *-a-
-m CARIBB[E ISLANOS

M 1~~
C. Vme#

STARA"S HISTORY AND GUIDE

to the windward shore, and trends towards the north,
continuing along the east coast of St. Kitts, with the
ocean on one hand and the forest and mountains on
the other. Thus it completes the circuit of the island,
re-entering Basseterre from the north, on the western
or leeward shore.
From this road, at its highest elevation, can be
seen a plain, dotted with dark cool groves and great
sugar plantations, gardens of orange trees and flower-
ing shrubs. Picturesque planter's houses and negro
cabins, half hidden beneath the shade of palm and
evergreen trees, are scattered along the road or are
approached through lanes walled in by hedges of
prickly pear and tangled rows of bushes: From the
midst of them the agave,or sisal plant, shoots uphere
and there, its pole crowned with flowers.
The two men to whom the English colonization of
America is chiefly due are Thomas Warner, the son
of a Suffolk yeoman and a John Winthrop of Groton, a
Suffolk Squire. These were the great leaders who
lured men from the Old to the New World, and
planted them in the latter by the hundreds and
thousands.
The first settlement by the English in the West
Indies was under the leadership of Thomas Warner,
who landed at Old Roads, St. Kitts, in January, 1623.
Barbados is sometimes mentioned as the oldest Eng-
lish settlement in the West Indies; but this is an
error, as the first attempt to plant Barbados was
made by Sir William Courteen's party at the close of
1624, nearly two years after.
Englishmen who were venturesome enough to
make settlements in the West Indies in the early
part of the seventeenth century did so at their peril,
for the Spanish still continued the claim of an exclus-
ive right to the continent and islands of the New
World, which they had set up at the time of the
discovery, and which had been confirmed to them by

.-

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S TO BARBADOS AND THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 13

Papal Bull. The Spaniards had neglected to settle
on the smaller islands ; for the empire which Cortez
and Pizarro had conquered in Mexico and Peru, to-
gether with the islands of San Domingo, Jamaica,
and Cuba, had greater attraction for them than the
islands of the savage, man-eating Caribs
If the way was not clear for the English colonists
to settle in the West Indies, it had at all events been
found by many a hero who had fought against the
Armada, that the Caribbean Sea was a happy hunting-
ground for Spanish treasure ships. They resorted to
these islands from time to time for wood and water,
or as a mustering place.
The old methods of the treatment of the Indians by
the whites were again repeated at St. Kitts. The set-
tlers were welcomed by the Carib chief, Togreman,
as the Pilgrims were at Plymouth by Massasoit, three
years before, and the same result followed. Having
learned or imagined that the natives had prepared a
scheme for their destruction, the settlers fell upon
them and slew one hundred and twenty of their stout-
est men. Then, having selected a few of their come-
liest women for slaves, they drove the remainder of
the aboriginal population off the island: this affair
took place in 1626. After a short interval the ban-
ished Caribs returned with reinforcements from dif-
ferent islands, in the belief that they could conquer
their enemy in fair battle. They estimated their
power too highly. A most sanguinary battle ensued,
the conflict being sharp and decisive. The settlers
lost upwards of one hundred soldiers,and the unfortu-
nate Caribs lost thousands. Henceforth the ancient
possessors of the island left the intruders in undis-
puted possession of it.
For some years no ship sailed from England with-
out emigrants to St. Kitts. The number of these
adventurers was so great, that, having fairly settled
the English district of St. Kitts, Warner began to

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

settle Nevis in 1628, and Antigua and Montserrat
in 1632.
In 1625 Warner was granted a commission, to be
the "King's Lieutenant of the Caribbee Islands"
and during his visit to England he was knighted by
Charles I. in 1629.
In 1625 a French brigantine arrived at Kitts in a
crippled condition; her commander, D'Esnambuc,
having gallantly engaged a Spanish war vessel of
greater strength. The English, having first driven
the warlike Caribs off the island, felt sure they would
return again to avenge themselves. Warner wel-
comed the French to make a settlement; and they,
liking the idea, the island was divided between them,
the French settling at Basseterre and the English at
Sandy Point and Old Roads. For the prevention of
disputes, the island was divided between them ; when
on May 3, 1637 by the "Treaty of Partition," (with
the exception that they had equal rights to certain
common roads, and shared other privileges), the two
colonies were distinct communities. Each had its own
governor, parliament and army; each had its own
laws ; and in some particulars the laws of one settle-
ment differed greatly from the laws of another. In
fact, the allied colonies were two distinct nations,
dangerously near, and it was not long before the
English bitterly repented of their former generosity.
This mutual distrust and jealousy often broke out
in war of the most bitter and vindictive kind. The
English were driven out by the French and Dutch
in 1665 and again in t689; but eight months later
General Codrington gained a signal victory over the
French, and transported eighteen hundred of their
people to Martinique and Hispaniola. Again in 1705
the estates of the English planters were laid waste by
the French soldiers: but by the treaty of Utrecht, in
1713, the whole island was secured to Great Britain.

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B

STO BARBADOS AN/I THE CARIRBEE ISLANDS. 15

At the time of Sir Thomas Warner's death, in
1648, the English population of St. Kitts was esti-
mated at thirteen thousand. The astonishing success
of this colony was the source of fierce and vindictive
jealousy to France and Spain, and unamiable morti-
fication to the English settlers in Virginia and New
England, who saw themselves so greatly surpassed
by their countrymen on this and the adjoining
islands.
Before the introduction of negro slavery into St.
Kitts, the planters were forced to depend upon white
servants for labor on the plantation. The supply
was obtained from two sources : indentured servants
who had sold their services for four years, and con-
victs who were sold for a term of eight years. The
settlements on the mainland obtained their servants
from the same sources. A recent publication, con-
taining letters from the first settlers of St. Kitts
throws much light on this subject. One of the
writers says :* For a taylor, a carpenter, a joynor,
a smith, which are the trades most necessary here,
I would allow to such a one, when a good workman,
a thousand pounds of sugar wages for each year that
he should serve me, with what must be paid for their
passages, tools or instruments. For one that can
handle his pen-he may deserve as much, but we
seldome give it because such men are plenty and
have other advantages. As for labourers and menial
servants, their passages being payd, they must
expect only food, raiment and lodging, until their
terme (which is never less than four years) be
expired, and thereby the laws and customs of the
island they are to have four hundred pounds of sugar
to begin the world with. And if Newgate and Bride-
well should spew out their spawne into these
islands, it wonld meete with no lesse encouragement;
*" A Young Squire of the Seventeenth Century. From the papers of Christo-
pher Jefferson, 1676,-i686." London, 1878,

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

for no goale-bird can be so incorrigable but there is
hope of his conformity here, as well as his prefer-
ment."
"I believe you may find Scotch and English that
would willingly change their clymate upon the
aforementioned terms. Scotchmen and Welchmen
we esteeme the best servants, and the Irish the
worst, many of them good for nothing but mischief."
The planters were under .ioo bonds for the safe
delivery and custody of each convict for eight years.
The following interesting description of a shipment
of them is from the same source: Upon Easter
Eve I went to Newgate to receive the malefactors.
So we had delivered to us thirty-eight prisoners, viz.,
twenty-nine men (most of them sturdy and rugged
fellows), and nine women (likely to make good serv-
ants.) There are about seven of them which have
followed sea-affairs, and will make Captain Foster
watchful in the voyage, and the masters of the shal-
lops careful of their boats when they are upon the
island. Captain Foster will inform your Honor of
their names, but if he should talk of it on the island
it might hinder the sale of them, for nobody, I sup-
pose, will be desirous to buy a servant that has that
convenience of freeing himself by the first boat he
can steal. John Walker says he is a shoemaker.
Silvan Morris was a soldier, condemned for killing
his comrade, Henry List is a weaver, Francis Abrams
is a cook. These, with the mariners, are all the men
with professions I know. But Captain Foster may
discover more of their good qualities on the voyage.
But they certainly are a parcel of as notorious vil-
laines as any transported this long tyme. As they
went down to the water side, notwithstanding a
guard of thirty men, they committed several thefts,
snatching away hats, perrewigs, etc., from several
persons whose curiosity led them into the crowd.
They were all searched when they came aboard, but

ig

4f~i

-~~ '9~4r :s
~3 ER i

TO BARBADOS AND 7HE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 17

what the captain found about them he best knows."
The name of Sir Thomas Warner, the first gov
ernor of the Caribbee Islands stands forth the most
prominently of any in West Indian history. His
descendants in the twelfth generation continue to
flourish in the West Indies, where the old English
family has made itself a home for more than two
hundred and seventy years. He lies buried in St.
Thomas' churchyard in St. Kitts. No public monu-
ment has been erected, and what is legible is on a
shattered tombstone. The neglected condition of
his grave reflects the utmost discredit upon the
inhabitants of St. Kitts.

STAR'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

CHAPTER III.

NEVIS, ANTIGUA AND MONTSERRAT.

Nevis (English, 7 by 6 miles, 37 square miles area,
highest land Ben Nevis 3,596 feet, I i,ooo population,
mostly black) almost adjoins St. Kitts; the ship in
il hours (15 miles) from Basseterre, reaches the
Roads of Charlestown, anchoring a mile from shore.
There are a few boats that take passengers ashore
for a shilling each. The town everywhere shows
signs of past greatness, and the island is studded with
ruins of noble country-houses. The white popula-
tion at one time amounted to 4,000; now there are
scarcely 0oo. Once the total population was 2o,ooo;
now it is 12,000, including a few hundred coolies.
As you go from the wharf, the road to the left leads
to St. Paul's Church and school ; that to the right,
passes a tiny square, the post office, and a hotel.
About a third of a mile out is a fine sulphur bath and
the superb ruins of a great stone edifice,(built in 1803
for a hotel at a cost of 40,ooo, and sold a few years
since for 40), with fine views from its terraces.
To this grand establishment used to resort a gay
company of pleasure seekers and such as desired to
make trial of the healing waters which boil up in the
midst of the garden. Long ago in its palmy days,
Nevis was the Bath and Saratoga of the Caribbees,
and to it annually came the youth and beauty,
the crabbed and gouty old age, and the wealth and
fashion of the West Indian world. In those days

N F~'IS.
~--;-1. . ~ ...~r~-r- .-UY~li~;;~~;I**.-.* UIII Lill*-.-i*ii*il IYI*-*ir.EI-CIIj~*Y~Wli~LUi~iYilI~i

TO BARBADOS AND THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 19

sugar was king ; his courtiers, the planters, derived
the income of princes from grand estates. Nevis was
also one of the principal slave marts of the Wind-
ward Islands, and consequently before the days of
emancipation and beet sugar there was abundant
wealth and luxury, and a high degree of magnificence
at the court of King Sugar whose summer palace the
old ruin used to be.
The hotel, squarely and solidly built, two hundred
feet in length by one hundred in width and several
stories high, was surrounded on each floor by ver-
andas. The ceilings were more than twenty feet in
height, and the chambers of grand proportions;
a wide hall opened through the middle of it, and flights
of easy stairs led from story to story. The glory of
it has departed, its verandas have fallen, its windows
and casements have been long since used for fire-
wood, the stairs are broken, the roof admits the rain
in many an opening chink, it is a picture of desola-
tion and decay-one's footsteps echo dismally through
the empty habitation. Here was the ball room, here
the dining hall, and that old tumble-down out build-
ing the kitchen. Down the bank in front of the
main structure had been an Italian garden, with its
rose and flower beds, its ferneries and stucco stat-
uary; yonder is the dry and cracked basin of what
was once a pond swarming with gold fish. Near the
wine cellar are the ruins of a turtle crawl; at the
side door is a moss grown-stone block where the
young ladies mounted their ponies and gaily rode
away. Down in the ravine through which flows the
little stream concealed in a thicket of tamarind and
mango trees is the bath house, a substantial building
two stories in height and still in a good state of
preservation. The upper floor is a toilet room clean
but bare of furniture; in the lower story is the hot
bath, a great tank twenty by thirty feet in size, filled
with crystal clear water of a temperature of about

STARIKS HISTORY AND GUIDE

Ioo degrees Fahrenheit. Here on paying a small
fee to the attendant the visitor partakes of one of
the greatest luxuries to be had in the West Indies.
The water is soft and soothing in its effect, warm
enough to cause one to set foot in gingerly. It holds
in solution a little sulphur, possessing a property that
renders the use of soap unnecessary, and is very
mollifying to the skin. It is said to be good for
rheumatism, gouty complaints and cutaneous dis-
orders, and is used with great benefit by a few visitors.
About two miles from the town on the left-hand
side of the road as you go up the mountain, is the
church in which it is incorrectly stated that Admiral
Nelson married the widow of Dr. Nisbet, the daughter
of Mr. Herbert the President of the island. As a
matter of fact, Admiral Nelson was married very
quietly, not to say privately, in a house a short distance
from the church on March I 1807.
Nevis is the birth-place of one of the greatest men
of the Revolution; whom John Marshall ranks next
to Washington, as having rendered more conspicuous
service to the United States than any other man of
his period. A great orator, a talented lawyer, a good
soldier, "master of every field he entered," the ablest
political teacher of his day, Alexander Hamilton was
the deviser and establisher of the government of the
United States; the precocious youth who framed the
Constitution, who urged and secured its adoption by
the original States at a time when but a rope of sand
bound them together. He lived long enough to see the
nation to which he gave political stability submitting
itself in entire respect and confidence to the declara-
tions contained in the most remarkable document
ever written, which, had it not been for his study
and foreknowledge, would have taxed the skill of the
wisest of all his contemporaries to formulate. Be-
yond question this native of Nevis was one of the
greatest men who ever saw the light in the western

-

WHFRF LORi) \FI-SON \"9S MIARRTIFO.

TO BARBADOS AND THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 21

hemisphere. What man ever addressed himself to a
grander labor than the inventing of a form of govern-
ment for an already great nation? What man ever
brought to his self imposed task greater abilities and
more remarkable talents? Is it any wonder then,
that when Americans set foot on the shores of Nevis
they are inspired with feelings of reverence. Alex-
ander Hamilton was born of Scottish parentage on
this island on January I 1757. His father died
while he was yet a child; his mother did not long sur-
vive her husband, leaving her boy an orphan in indigent
circumstances. In 1772 he bade a final adieu to
Nevis and sailed for Boston where he arrived in
October, thence he went to New York, where in his
sixteenth year he entered King's, now Columbia,
college. On the breaking out of the American re-
bellion he recruited a company of artillery under a
commission from the State of New York; and in less
than five years after his arrival in America he was a
lieutenant-colonel on Washington's staff, being then
only in his twentieth year. There is no need here to
follow the career of this remarkable man up to the
time of his untimely death at the hands of Aaron Burr.
The honor and renown which attach to his name are
as enduring as the grand mountain of his native
island.

ANTIGUA.

Antigua, (English, 13 by 9 miles, highest land
1339 feet, Io8 square miles area, 35,000 population)
is reached in four hours run, 40 miles from Nevis or
St. Kitts, whence it can be seen. The ship pass-
ing Sandy Island Light, comes to anchor more than
two miles from the city of St. John's, whose harbor is
barred by a coral reef only fifteen feet under water.
Boatmen charge from 2 to 3s. each to shore and

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

return, a government steam launch sometimes takes
passengers at 4s. the round trip, or 3s. single journey.
To the north of this fine harbor are the spacious leper
and insane hospitals; aside from leprosy, this island is
reputed the healthiest in the West Indies. The
boats land at a quay to the left of which is the market.
The chief sight is the fine English cathedral, rebuilt
in 1845 on the high ground at the back of the town,
at a cost of 40o,ooo. It has double walls as a pre-
vention against earthquakes, and two fine towers from
which a fine view is had. Near by are the Exhibition
Gardens, now used for tennis courts, the Episcopal
residence of the Bishop of the Leeward Islands, Rt.
Rev. C. H. Branch, and the church college. The post
office is on the main street, with public library over-
head. Dr. Edwards and others have private gardens.
The hotels are the Scotia, Globe, and Albion. Car-
riages are scarce and expensive, the favorite drive is
down. the Valley Road to the south.
The Caribbee Islands are divided into two distinct
classes, the mountainous, to which St. Kitts, Nevis
and Dominica belong, with their grand summits soar-
ing heavenward, of volcanic formation; and Auguilla,
Barbuda, Antigua and Barbados, which are largely of
coral formation, comparatively low, undulating and
flat. All the other Caribbees, with the exception
of these four, rise from the ocean in steep acclivities
and precipices, rent by gloomy chasms, divided by
valleys, most of them hiding their tops in cloudland,
whence they draw down super-abundant moisture
which might well be spared to refresh the sunny parch-
ing plains of the coral islands. Antigua was long ago
entirely denuded of primeval forests; the centre of the
island is low and flat, is exceedingly fertile, the ver-
dant meadows and savannahs alternate with cultivated
cane pieces. This low land contains petrified forests
consisting of nearly every variety of wood now grow-
ing on the Caribbee Islands. A short distance from

ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, ANTIGUA.

- ---,ry--.

TO BARBADOS AND 77HE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 23

town is a valley of petrifaction; here may be obtained
very beautiful specimens of cedar, palm, mangrove, etc.
etc, completely silicified with veins of chalcedony
and agate.
The coast of Antigua is indented by shallow coves
and land locked bays of which English Harbor is the
most beautiful.
Antigua was discoved by Columbus, who, after
giving it its name, deserted the island. It was unex-
plored until Charles I, of England, granted it to the
Earl of Carlisle. Sir Thomas Warner, the Governor of
St. Kitts, colonized Antigua in 1632 and for eight
years the colony prospered. Then it had the same ill
fortune that befell the New England colonies at the
same period and through the same causes. On account
of the ill treatment of the natives on the neighboring
island, the Caribs came in their war canoes and made
great slaughter of the settlers, carrying off in their
retreat many women and children, among them the
wife and baby of the governor. It is useless to depict
the wrath and despair of the husband, nor the details
of the pursuit he at once organized; it is stated
that he sought her out, traced her to the Carib retreat,
a cave up in the mountains of Domnica, by fragments
of clothing torn from her by cruel thorns, and event-
ually succeeded in returning with her. She had been
weeks in captivity, but had been well treated. Dur-
ing the century and a half of almost incessant war
between England and France, Antigua was often
attacked by the Caribs, who were stirred up to war by
the French in Martinique, in the same manner as
their countrymen did in Canada, when they incited
the Indians to hostility against the English. While
John Winthrop of Groton Hall, England, the first
governor of Massachusetts, was defending his colony
against the French and Indians from Canada, his son
Captain Samuel Winthrop, (the brother of Colonel
Stephen Winthrop of the Parliamentary Army, also

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

brother of John Winthrop who founded the city of
New London,) was defending his plantation in An-
tigua from the attacks of the French and Caribs.
The Carib war raged for many years and with relent-
less fury, as can be learned in the following incident
narrated by Dampier, the famous buccaneer, who
often visited these islands in his adventurous career.
He says:
"The Caribbees had done some spoil in our Eng-
lish plantation in Antigua. and therefore, Governor
Warner's son, by his wife,* took a party of men and
went to suppress the Indians,and came to a place
where his brother, Indian Warner,lived. Great seem-
ing joy was there at the meeting,but how far real the
event showed, for the English Warner, providing
plenty of liquor and inviting his half-brother to be
merry with him, in the midst of the entertainment
ordered his men when a signal was given to murder
him and all his indians, which was accordingly per-
formed." Philip Warner was tried for the murder of
his half-brother, but was acquitted and had his lahds
returned to him, and was restored to the honors of the
governorship.
What a similarity there is between this massacre
of the Indians and one that occurred in Boston Har-
bor about the same time. "After an interview with
their chief Pecksnot, Myles Standish made plans to
treacherously get all the Indians he could into his
power and then to kill them in cold blood. He ac-
cordingly invited them to meet him the next day in-
side of the stockade, which the Indians did, not
suspecting treachery. Two of the chiefs, Pecksnot
and Whituwamut, and two other of the principal
Indians met Standish and several of his men in a
room where they had a talk. Suddenly Standish gave
a signal and flung himself on Pecksnot, snatching his
knife from his sheath on his neck and stabbing him
*Probably the same as was taken captive by the Inaians.

ORS~

SLA
AN I' '

rI

TO BARRADOS AND 7'HE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 25

with it. The door was closed and a life and death
struggle ensued; finally all the indians were killed
that were in the stockade except a youth of eighteen
whom Standish subsequently hung. Standish and
his party then returned carrying with them the head
of Whituwamut to ornament the Plymouth Block
House as a terror to the Indians."*

MONTSERRAT.

Montserrat (English, 9 by 6 miles; 35 square miles
area, highest land 3,002 feet, 9,ooo population) is
reached after a run of 3 hours (30 miles) from Antigua
to the port of Plymouth. The ship anchors a third
of a mile out; boats charge a shilling or sixpence to
shore. The town is fairly picturesque, but small.
The post office is to the left of the landing; good
meals can be had at the Scotia and Albion hotels.
No carriages are to be had, but riding ponies can be
obtained. The road to the south, with good shore
views, leads to the reservoir; that to the north, to St.
John's church, just out of the village; and four miles
beyond are the great lime estates and factory of the
Montserrat Company, limes being the special product
of this island. The road direct back from the town
leads to sugar factories, and to a gap in the near hills
which can be ascended by foot path or with ponies; on
St. George's hill are the ruins of old Fort George,
from which there is a superb view of the harbor. The
population of the island is chiefly Negro-Irish, the,
island having been settled originally by "wild Irish";
by which name the native Irish was formerly known
in order to distinguish them from the English and
Scotch settlers in Ireland. It is not surprising there-
fore that the descendants of the slaves that belonged
to the Irish settlers all have Irish names and speak
*Longfellow, in his Courtship of Myles Standish," has taken advantage of the
poet's license to glorify Standish for the part he took in this murderous outrage.

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

,a jargon of Irish, English and African, in which the
brogue predominates; they are particularly noted for
their blarney, especially when they are offering their
wares, or begging, in which they are adepts.
The island of Montserrat is considered very
healthy, the daily average of the temperature is 80o,
and the average of the thermometer for the year; from
720 to 850 Fahrenheit; but the heat is never oppres-
sive even in the summer months.
The principal town is Plymouth, and on your right
hand, as you enter the town, is a small fortification,
now crumbling to ruin, which adds to the picturesque
appearance of the approach to Plymouth from the sea.
The surface of Montserrat is very rugged, and the
soil is not very fertile except in certain spots; its wind-
ward side is bold, of a wild and barren aspect, while
the leeward side slopes gently towards the sea, being
laid out in plantations of lime and lemon orchards.
There are between ten and twelve thousand acres now
under cultivation. The highest peak, La Soufriere, at
the south end of Montserrat, is over three thousand feet
in height. Centre Hill rises two thousand four hun-
dred and fifty feet in the middle of the island, and
Silver Hill, in the north, towers nearly one thousand
three hundred feet above the sea.
The island was discovered by Columbus on Sunday,
November 10, 1493; he named it Montserrat because
he fancied it bore a resemblance to a mountain of that
name in Spain.
The white population is decreasing, being less than
one hundred. The total exports from the island
amount to 32,000, and the imports are 25,000,
mostly from Great Britain and Canada.

ENGLISH HARBOR, ANTIGUA.

"*""4rs~t,
~;-1~I~.*
r:"
ISii~t~ ~, j

. Ih2qFJiR~~2~"

TO BARBADOS AND THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 27

CHAPTER IV.

GUADELOUPE AND DOMINICA.

Guadeloupe (French) contains a population of
157,ooo, and an area of 534 square miles; is reached
in four hours run from Montserrat, from which it is
distant about forty miles.
It was discovered by Columbus and named by him
Guadeloupe, he having promised the monks-of "Our
Lady of Guadeloupe to name some newly discovered
place after their convent. Landing here on the 4th
of November, 1493, he visited a village near the shore,
the inhabitants of which fled in affright, leaving their
children behind in their terror and confusion. It was
the first island in which Columbus saw the warlike
Caribs, of whom he had heard so much in Hispaniola.
The account he gives of their neat villages, of the
finding here of the fragment of a vessel, and of the
first pine-apple, is extremely interesting.
Guadeloupe is separated into two islands, one of
volcanic origin, uneven and mountainous, the other,
flat and low without even a hill; it is divided by a
shallow salt water passage called the Riviere Salde.
The banks of this creek are lined with mangroves,
and it is one of the hottest places in the West Indies.
Point h Pitre is situated at the southern mouth of this
salt water river. The town is regularly built with
broad, straight streets, with a fountain in the centre
of the market place; it contains a fine cathedral and
many good stores and houses. Here is the second

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

largest sugar factory in the world, the one in Egypt
only, excelling it in size. The city having been de-
stroyed several times by earthquakes and fire, this
resulted in the present system of construction of
buildings with strong, iron frames filled with brick or
composite.
Basseterre is the seat of government of Guadeloupe,
as Fort de France is that of Martinique; it was
chosen by these shrewd Frenchmen as a depot of
government property, that other towns like that of
Point h Pitre and St. Pierre of Martinique, may not,
by their superior advantage for commerce and trade,
draw all the population thither.
The government buildings are in the upper part of
the town, between two rivers, behind a large stone
fort. They surround three sides of a square bordered
by mighty palms, with an elegant fountain of bronze
as a center piece. North and east of the town tower
the mountains, the land commencing to rise to their
summits at its very outskirts, the upper streets lead
into the hills. The houses are built of stone but are
not large or pretentious. In the center of the town
is an open market place, in which is a fountain fed
from the mountains, around which is a row of tama-
rind trees.
The cathedral, or Basilique, is an old structure, built
of stone, dating from the time of Le Pere Labat, the
founder of this town, whose valuable book on the
Antilles published in Paris in 1722, contains the most
comprehensive account of these islands previous to
that date. The old Basilique remains, in defiance of
earthquakes and hurricanes, a monument of his
activity and zeal; its front, however, was rebuilt a few
years ago. In 1703 he founded the town of Basse-
terre, and took an active part in the defence of the
island against the attack of the English in March of
the same year. The Bellicose Pere Blanc" as he
was called by the people of the island could not pre-
vent his monastery from being burned by the enemy,

4F `F4
V;

ja

POINT A. PETRE, GUADALOUPE.

s ;-?

TO BARBADOS AND THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 29

by which disaster his valuable collection of books,
manuscripts and instruments was lost.
Beyond the government buildings is the Convent of
Versailles, where the girls of the island are educated;
and higher up, occupying a broad plateau, some fifteen
hundred feet above the sea, is the summer camp of
the governor and troops. Spacious buildings, includ-
ing a hospital, barracks and governor's house, are
almost hidden by trees, among which the palm tower
conspicuous, with its gray column and green coronet.
Guadeloupe contains one of the largest and most
active volcanos in the West Indies. The Soufriere,
as the French call it, is over five thousand feet above
the sea. A recent writer* who made the ascent, de-
scribes it as follows :
** Beyond the limits of the coffee groves we came
upon the borders of the high-woods, where one must
go to see the vegetation of the tropics in its greatest
growth and luxurience. As you set foot over the
sharply defined line of demarkation, you leave the
sun with his scorching beams behind, and enter a
gloomy arch beneath a canopy of leaves. The trail is
sinuous and slippery, overhead is a leafy vault through
which the sun cannot send a gleam, save now and
then a needle ray, and through this vaulted roof are
thrust up the trunks of mighty trees with a diameter
from buttress to buttress, of twenty feet. No sound
broke the solemn stillness of this mountain forest save
the cooing of a distant wood pigeon, and nothing
showed itself except an occasional mountain part-
ridge as it flitted like a ghost across our path. Up
and higher we ascended, the trees diminished in size,
and there came to our ears the sound of falling waters.
The wild plantain with broad green leaves and spikes
of crimson and golden cups now lined the trail, and
glorious tree ferns in majesty of beauty unsurpassed,
spread their leaves above them. We reached the
"Lamp in the Caribbees, by Fred A. Ober, Boston, i886.

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

stream, and found it warm, so hot that vapor arose on
this not too cool atmosphere, it was also sulphur im-
pregnated. The luxurience of the vegetation here
was marvelous and pen of mine cannot describe the
beauty of the ferns, orchids and parasites, arches and
bridges of tropical trees and ferns that overhung and
spanned the torpid stream. Here we plunged anew
into a depth of greenwood and commenced an ascent
that for steepness left all former paths behind. We
had to lift ourselves up by successive broad steps and
cling to roots and trees for aid. Emerging from the
darkness of this tunnel-like passage, we came upon
another zone of vegetation where the trees were
dwarfed to shrubs, and so interwined and matted to-
gether that a path had to be cut with the cutlass.
We found this path washed into deep cistern-like cav-
ities down which we descended on one side only to
climb out at the other. Emerging upon a small plain,
we looked up and saw the cone whose side we fain
would climb, the path so steep, it- seemed impossible
to ascend it. There was no vegetation now to ob-
struct the view. For an hour and a half, with many
stops for breath, we mounted upwards, then my tac-
turn guide pointed out a narrow ledge where a man
died of exhaustion, and was found at midnight by my
informant who was in search of him, on his knees
with his face covered with his hands.
We followed the narrow path over. sounding rocks
that told of caverns beneath, and reached a dark
chasm so deep that we could not see the bottom of
the dark abyss until we stood upon a narrow bridge of
rock that spanned the central space. After crossing
the bridge we scaled the opposite cliff and were
greeted at the top with loud blasts and snorts like
those of a high pressure steamer, and volumes of
vapor thrown in our faces. Following this. I found
an aperture in a mound of stone sulphurlined, through
which was forced a column of steam with noises so

M._ L

MARKL'r, GUADALOUPE.

TO BARBADOS AND THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 31

loud that we could not hear each other speak. This
aperture is in the center of a desolate area having on
its borders numerous openings whence issue blasts of
hot air that taint the atmosphere for many feet around.
I peered into one, arched like an oven, and it was like
a glimpse into the arcana of nature, for the whole in-
terior was encrusted with sulphur crystals, glistening
like yellow topaz and a small black passage led down
into unknown depths, whence issued rumblings,
groans and grumblings. Up from this black throat
came such blasts of old Vulcan's fetid breath, that I
was glad to escape with only a few crumbling crystals
for my pains. Ravines seam the sides of the cone in
every direction, some spanned by natural bridges of
rock. That by which we entered was the central
gorge, with its wicked looking throat from whence
there has been two eruptions recorded, one in 1797,
the other in 1815. Doubtless it will again at some
future time act as the vent for the internal ebulitions
of mother earth."
On leaving Guadeloupe for Dominica, the coast is
seen in all its grandeur of lofty cliffs, towering moun-
tains, curving bays and palm-bordered beaches.

DOMINICA.

Dominica, (English) 29 by 16 miles; highest land,
Mount Diablotin, 5,314 feet, the highest mountain in
the Caribbean Archipelago. Dominica .has a coast
line of over 1oo miles, and is distant from Martinique
about 30 miles. Number of inhabitants, 30,000: lan-
guage, a mixture of French and English.
There are no wheeled vehicles on the island, but
ponies can be procured at a moderate price at Roseau,
the principal town of the island; visitors should by all
means avail themselves of a ride up the mountains.
Follow the street which leads past the jail, over an

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

excellent bridge, passing under the white cliffs of St.
Aromant, following the Roseau River which flows
through a beautiful valley covered with banana, citron
and lime groves to the very base of the mountain,
then up, higher and higher, the path growing rocky
and slippery, past the lovely valley Shawford. When
a mile above, you enter a deep ravine where are the
first perfect tree-ferns on the trail; the gorge is filled
with them, and the banks along the path are covered
with smaller ones, infinitely beautiful. Here for the
first time also can be heard the melody of the
"'solitaire."
Away up among the mountains, in the interior of
the island, is the Boiling Lake, over two thousand feet
above sea level; it is one of the principal wonders of
the Caribbees, and has been visited by very few white
men. The lake is sunk in a huge basin, the surround-
ing walls being about one hundred feet in height, and
the diameter of the lake about four hundred feet. It
is usually in a wild fury of ebulition, and the basin
filled with steam from the internal fires below, the
water frequently being at a temperature of from one
hundred and eighty to one hundred and ninety-six
degrees of temperature. No bottom has been found
at ten feet from the edge, with two hundred feet of line.
The Soufriere is in a valley of desolation, contain-
ing many boiling springs and pools; it is almost im-
possible to describe this valley and wonderful Boiling
Lake, hid in the bosom of these solitary mountains
in this tropical island. The time may come when the
great attractions of these islands will be better known,
and this locality be frequented by those afflicted with
rheumatism and kindred complaints; such unfortu-
nates would no doubt derive great benefits from a
bath in these healing waters.
Dominica was discovered by Columbus on Sunday,
November 3, 1493, on his second voyage, who named
it in honor of the Lord's day.

MOUNTAIN LAKE IN DOMINICA.

"" L -- " .. ~*~,

j9 i~_;1-

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

Of all the West Indian Islands, Dominica is the
most interesting to strangers. It is the most beauti-
ful of the Antilles, and the least known. A few
Caribs, the last of their race, with the exception of a
remnant at St. Vincent, still linger in the forest, retain-
ing their old look and habits; they are skillful fishermen,
canoe and basket makers. Their home is in the least
explored mountain retreats and gloomiest valleys,
forming a reservation of a thousand acres, extending
a distance of about three miles along the Atlantic
coast, and back into the mountains as far as
they please to cultivate. They seldom come to the
settlement, and have as little as possible to do with
the whites or negroes. For hundreds of years after
the coming of Columbus, the Caribs successfully re-
sisted all attempts at invasion, and were only after
ages deprived of their inheritance. Inch by inch, and
foot by foot, the Caribs struggled for liberty in their
mad fight for existence.
The Caribs originally inhabited all the islands ex-
tending from the coast of South America as far north
as Santa Cruz; Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and Porto Rico
were inhabited by a more peaceful and gentle race.
The followers of Columbus murdered more than a
million of these happy islanders, but they always
evaded encounter with the "Pagan Cannibals." Thus
to the prowess of their ancestors are the Caribs of the
present day indebted for their existence, while not a
vestige remains of the more numerous but peaceful
tribes to the north of them.
Though Dominica is the most mountainous of all
the Antilles, it is split into many valleys of exquisite
fertility, Through each there runs a full and ample
river, swarming with fish, and yielding water-power
enough to drive all the mills which industry could
build. In these valleys, and on the rich levels along
the shore, the French had once their cane fields, and
orange, pineapple and indigo plantations.

TO BARBADOS AND THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 35

Viewed from the sea, Dominica has a singularly
bold and magnificent appearance. A dark irregular
mass of lofty mountains rises abruptly from the ocean,
as if suddenly upheaved from the deep by some
mighty convulsion of nature. The rugged grandeur
of the island is softened, on a nearer approach, by the
mantle of green that everywhere covers its surface,
from the sea margin to the tops of the highest moun.
tain. The mountains are in full sight from Guade-
loupe, from which it is distant about thirty miles. It
contains more obstacles to travel, to the square mile,
than any other island of similar size in the West Indies.
Well did Columbus illustrate its crumpled and uneven
surface, when in answer to his Queen's inquiry re-
garding its appearance, he crushed a sheet of paper
in his hand and threw it upon the table.
Roseau, the principal town, stands midway of
the western shore. The roadstead is open ; but as the
prevailing winds are from the northwest, the island
forms a very good breakwater: and except on rare occa-
sions, there is neither surf nor swell there. The land
shelving off rapidly, a cable length from shore there is
no soundings. The coasting vessels and steamers
anchor close under the rocks, or alongside one of the
jetties which are built out from the beach upon piles.
The situation of Roseau is exceedingly beautiful;
looking eastward, one can see. far into the Roseau
Valley, to the wall of mountains from which dashes
out a great waterfall, dwindled to a mere thread in
the distance. The Roseau River emerges in a
plain beneath a valley filled with cane, containing in
its centre a planter's house and buildings surrounded
with palms. It dashes over its rocky bed with a roar,
and runs at the foot of a high white cliff across
another plantation into the sea near the town.
The streets of Roseau are straight, paved with
rough stones, but never echo to the rumble of wheels.
They cross at right angles and dwindle down to three

STAR'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

bridle-paths leading out of the town; two respectively
north and south along the coast, and one, narrow and
tortuous, over the mountains to the eastward. The
houses are mostly of one story boxes of wood, with
bonnet-roofs sixteen by twenty feet, many in a state
of decay. Every street however is picturesque through
its rough style of architecture, and cocoa-palms
lining and terminating the vistas. The town is green
with fruit trees; and over broken roofs and garden
walls of roughest masonry, hang many strange fruits.
From the mountains flow the "Sweet River,"
containing the purest of water, led in pipes through
all the streets, and gushing out in never ceasing flow
from the sea wall on the shore. The market, near
the south end of the town, (a small square surrounded
by stores) is the centre of attraction on Saturdays,
when it is densely packed with country people, black
and yellow, some of them from points a dozen miles
away, each with his bunch of plantains or tray of
bread-fruit. All are chattering so that there is a
babel of sounds.
Near the market is the fort, a low, stone structure,
pierced with loop-holes, commanding from its high
position the roadstead. Near the fort is the English
Church, with a clock in its face, and four magnificent
palms to guard its entrance. At a little distance can
be seen the towers of the French Catholic Cathedral.
Adjoining is the government house, in a garden of
flowers; and near, the court house, of stone, yellow
and low. Opposite, on a bluff overlooking the sea,
is the public garden, neatly enclosed and tastefully
ornamented, containing a few large trees, many roses,
humming birds, butterflies, and a grand view of the sea.
The road leads by a broad, green savannah, near
which is a ruined cemetery, down between long rows
of lowly cabins, its bed green and grassy within a
stone's throw of the surf on the pebbly beach. White
Negro villages gleam among the palms along shore,

~-Ta~B-~b lqd,~~PT~~~r I~

2!

TO BARBADOS AND THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 37

and wooded mountains rise immediately above them.
The old fort seems an attractive, innocent, sunny
sort of place for one to spend his time in; but to
the observer of this calm scene, it is not easy to
realize the desperate battles which have been fought
for the possession of it, nor to picture the gallant lives
that have been laid down under the walls of this
crumbling castle. These cliffs had echoed the roar of
Rodney's guns on the day which saved the British
Empire, and the island on which we are gazing was
England's Gettysburg.
When England's thirteen American colonies re-
volted, the whole world combined to crush her.
France, Spain and Holland, her three ocean rivals,
determined to tear her West Indian possession from
her. The opportunity was seized by the Irish patriots
to clamor for Irish nationality, and by the English
Radicals to demand liberty and the rights of man.
It was the most critical period in later English his-
tory : if she had yielded to peace on the terms which
her enemies offered her, and the English Liberals
wished to accept, the star of Great Britain would have
set forever.
The West Indies were then under Rodney, whose
brilliant successes had already made his name famous.
He had done his country more than yeoman's service,
for he had torn the Leeward Islands from the French,
and had punished the Hollanders for joining the
coalition, by taking the island of St. Eustatius and
three million's worth of stores and money.
The patriot party in England, led by Fox and Burke,
were ill pleased with these victories, for they wished
to be driven into surrender. Burke denounced Rod-
ney as he had Warren Hastings, and Rodney was
called home to answer for himself. In his absence,
Demerara, the Leeward Islands and Eustatius, were
captured by the enemy. The French fleet, now su-
preme in these waters, blockaded Lord Cornwallis at

STAR'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

Yorktown, and caused his surrender, thereby ending
the American war.
The Spaniards had fitted out a fleet at Havana,
and the Count de Grasse, the French Admiral, fresh
from his victory at Yorktown, hastened back to re-
furnish himself at Martinique, intending to join the
Spaniards, capture Jamaica, and drive the English
out of the West Indies. One chance remained : Rod-
ney was ordered back to his station, and he went at
his best speed, taking all the ships with him. The
Whig orators were indignant. They insisted that
England was beaten, that there had been bloodshed
enough, and that peace must be obtained at any
price. The Government yielded, and a pre-emptory
order followed on Rodney's track. "Strike your flag
and come home." Had that fatal command reached
him, Gibralter would have fallen, and Hastings' Indian
Empire would have melted into thin air. But Rod-
ney knew his time was short. Gibralter was relieved
after a three year's siege; and before the order reached
him, the severest naval battle in English annals had
been fought and won under these cliffs. De Grasse
was a prisoner, and the French fleet was scattered
into wreck and ruin.
De Grasse had refitted in the Martinique dock-
yards. He himself, and every officer in the fleet was
confident that England was overcome, and that noth-
ing was left but to gather the fruits of the victory
which was theirs already. All the Antilles, except
St. Lucia, were his own. There, alone, the English
flag still flew, as Rodney lay in the harbor of Cas-
tries. On April 8, 1782, the signal came, from the
north end of the island, that the French fleet had
sailed and was becalmed under the high lands of
Dominica. Rodney had been waiting, day by day,
for this welcome sign; now the enemy was out at last
he instantly got under way and followed. In number

_--- ---. -- r- --- -

MOUNTAINS 01 DOMINICA.

L*. .;

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

of ships, the fleets were equal; in size and comple-
ment of crew, the French were immensely superior;
moreover, they had twenty thousand soldiers on board
to be used in the conquest of Jamaica. Knowing
well that a defeat at that moment would be to Eng-
land irreparable ruin, they did not dream that Rod-
ney would be allowed, even if he wished it, to risk a
close and desisive engagement. The English admiral
was aware, also, that his country's fate was in his
hands. It was one of those supreme moments which
great men dare to use and weak men tremble at.
A breeze, at last, came off the land; the French
were'the first to feel it, and were able to attack at ad-
vantage the leading English division; they kept at a
distance firing long shots, which, however, did con-
siderable damage.
The two following days the fleets manceuvered in
sight of each other; on the night of the eleventh,
Rodney made signal for the whole fleet to go south
under press of sail, the French thinking he was
flying. He tacked at two in the morning and at day-
break found himself where he wished to be, with the
French fleet on his lee quarter, in the channel which
separates Guadaloupe from Dominica. At seven in
the morning, April 12, 1782, the signal to engage
was flying at the masthead of .the -' Formidable,"
Rodney's flagship. The admiral led in person: hav-
ing passed through and broken up their order, he
tacked again, still keeping the wind. The French,
thrown into confusion, were unable to re-form, and the
battle resolved itself into a number of separate en-
gagements, in which the English had the choice of
position.
Rodney in passing through the enemy's lines the
first time,had exchanged broadsides with the Glorieux,
a seventy-four, at close range. He shot away her
masts and bowsprit, and left her a bare hull; as her
flag was still flying, being nailed to a splintered spar,

TO BARBADOS AND THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 41

so he left her unable at least to get away. After he
had gone about he came yard arm to yard arm with
the superb "Ville de Paris," the pride of France, and
S the largest ship in the world, on which DeGrasse
commanded in person. All day long the cannon
S roared, and one by one the French ships struck their
flags or fought on till they sunk. The carnage on
board them was terrible, crowded as they were with
troops for Jamaica. Fourteen thousand were reckoned
as killed- besides the prisoners. The "Ville de Paris"
surrendered last, fighting desperately after all hope
was gone, till her masts were so shattered that they
could not bear a sail, and her decks above and below
were littered over with mangled limbs and bodies.
DeGrasse gave up his sword to Rodney on the For-
midable's quarter deck. The Glorieux, unable to fly
and seeing the battle lost, hauled down her flag, but
not till the undisabled remnants of her crew
were too few to throw the dead into the sea.
Other ships took fire and blew up. Half of the
French fleet were either taken or sunk; the rest
crawled away for the time, most of them to be
picked up afterwards like crippled birds. So on
that memorable day was the English Empire saved.
Peace followed, but it was peace with honor. The
American Colonies were lost; but England kept her
West Indies, her flag still floated over Gibralter.
The hostile strength of Europe all combined had failed
to wrest Britannia's ocean sceptre from her; she sat
down maimed and bleeding, but the wreath had not
been torn from her brows, she was, and still is, sov-
ereign of the seas. The order of recall arrived when
the work was done. It was proudly obeyed, and even
the great Burke admitted that no honor could be be-
stowed upon Rodney which he had not deserved at
his country's hands.

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

CHAPTER V.

MAARTINAIQUE AND ST LUCIA.

The run from Dominica to Martinique takes three
hours, (distance 30 miles) to St. Pierre. Martinique
is French, is 35 by 16 miles, 380 square miles area,
80,ooo acres under cultivation, highest peak Mt. Pelee
4,429 feet, 154,000 population, and is one of the wet "
islands wonderful for luxuriance of tropical vegetation.
Within the fine sweeping curves of St. Pierre harbor,
the ship anchors one fourth mile from shore; numerous
boatmam ask a franc per person to wharf. The cur-
rency is French; the franc is reckoned at twenty
cents. The city of St. Pierre has 25,000 inhabitants.
The Rue Victor Hugo is the main street, with excellent
shops running parallel to the shore for a mile or so,
with a market place at each end. One lands at one of
several wharves along an extended water front. To
the right are the American consul's, the Custom
House and a fine Roman Catholic cathedral, back of
which is a public park, shaded by great mango trees,
and a characteristic cemetery. Straight up from the
wharf a street leads back to the bank, post office and
telegraph office, near which are the Hotel des Bains
and Hotel Micass, at either of which a capital dejeuner
is served from eleven to one, at five francs, and rooms
can be had. Carriages may be ordered at the hotels,
the charge being from three to five dollars for a half
a day's drive. An omnibus runs frequently from the
wharf ( 30 centimes-6 cents) two miles along shore,
passing an interesting sugar factory. To the left the

\MFFP I?[ HURRICANE, MAKlINIQUF.

~i~Y~sh.

1

TO BARBADOS AND THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 43

Rue Victor Hugo leads past shops, a noticeable foun-
tain, an esplanade with fine view of the harbor, (nearly
opposite is the photographer Mr. Hartmann), and
the theatre, to the bridge over a river bed. Across
this, down through a poorer quarter, past queer preci-
pitous streets descending. to the water front, one
reaches the great market place, picturesque with
guady colors of the French Negroes. Turning to the
right before crossing the bridge, one drives or walks
alongside the river-bed where washer-women beat
and spread their clothes. Through the Place d'
Armes, with its old garrison building, one reaches the
Botanic Garden (a mile or more from the landing).
A fine road-way leads up and up to Mount Rouge, with
superb views on the way, and on the top a drive, pic-
turesque beyond description. Another fine drive is
to Fontaines Chauds ( Hot Springs) on the further
m.,uintain, beyond the river. The Botanic Garden
was once the principal feature of Martinique, and, in
its %ay, of the West Indies. It was destroyed in the
hurricane of 1891, and will probably never be restored
un'ler negro rule. To reach the garden, take the
Allee des Palmes to the cascade and the Allee du
Cascade in returning or vice versa, to get a full
view of the wonderful variety and richness of trees
and flowers. The high path to the Bellevue is
avoided by the natives in fear of the fer de lance
snake. Fifteen miles south of St. Pierre is Fort
Royal or Fort de France, (the name depending on
which party is in power in France), the capital of the
island, with the monument to Josephine; Martinique
being the birth-place of that empress as well as the
scene of St. Pierre's Paul et Virginie. Native pot-
tery, carved small calabashes, hats, baskets, fruit and
general shopping are the purchases. No where else
in the West Indies, except in Hayti and Santa Cruz,
are the negroes so insolent and insulting as at Guade-
loupe and Martinique. This is owing to the fact that

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

these islands are under negro rule; the governor and
all the officials, except the officers commanding the
troops, are negroes. If it were not for the presence
of the white troops at these islands, there would not
be any whites there; as it is, the whites are selling
out their real estate as fast as possible, and leaving
the island. This sad state of affairs is owing to the
fact that most of the whites were monarchists; and
when the republic was established in France, the re-
publicans, out of revenge, appointed negroes to rule the
islands, besides granting them universal suffrage.
This, of course, resulted in the election of negroes to
all the minor offices, and to make matters still worse,
when the whites move away or any of their estates
come into the possession of the "Credit Foncier,"
through foreclosure of mortgages, the large estates
are cut up into small holdings and sold to the negroes.
These, as soon as they can get possession of a few acres
of land, obtain enough to subsist on, and then are in-
dependent, and refuse to work on the plantations.
Political agitation has sown the seed of discontent;
and the spirit of false democracy, with its insubordi-
nation and arrogance, shows its forked tongue every-
where. Bare civility is the most one receives, and
even that sometimes dwindles down into familiarity
and insolence. Few of the whites venture out after
eight o'clock in the evening, through fear of being
insulted. But the climate and other natural condi-
tions of the islands are adverse to activity of all kinds,
even'to the recreation of political agitations. The
fire of discontent smoulders slowly where laziness
does not entail suffering, and though the white man
has lost his supremacy, his former bondsmen are too
indolent to take the measures which would expel him
altogether from the country. The present situation
cannot be permanent. Shall the story of Hayti be
repeated, and the people allowed to relapse into bar-
barism, or shall a strong government take hold and

TO BARBADOS AND THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 45

save the negroes from themselves? I shall refer again,
in another part of this work, to negro rule in the
West Indies and the Southern States.
The whites of French descent, born in the West
Indies, Louisiana, and South America are known as
creoless." They are fond of the appellation, and
consider the name honorable and worthy to be borne
by the best families. Yet there are very few persons
who use the term, either in the United States or Eng-
land, but applies it to those that have an admix-
ture of African blood. This is an idea wholly
unfounded, for the proper definition of the word
"creole," is "One born in South America or the
West Indies, of European ancestors." It is synony-
mous with the term Yankee," as applied originally
by the Indians of Canada to the English settlers in
New England -this being a corrupt pronunciation
by them of the French word "Anglais," or English.
The language of the people of Martinique and Gua-
deloupe, of course, is French. The negros speak a
jargon that baffles all attempts at extended conversa-
tion, although they understand French, when spoken
to them, very well. The whites speak French with
an accent that very closely resembles the speech of
the creoles of Louisiana.
The curse of Martinique and St. Lucia is the deadly
.,:r-de-lance. This reptile is found only on these two
islands and the main land. He is fearless, and will
not like most snakes get out of your way if he hears
you coming, but leaves you to get out of his. He has
a bad habit, too, of taking his walks at night. He
prefers a path or a road to the grass, and your house,
or your garden, to the forest; while if you step upon
him, you will never do it again. The mongoose has
been recently introduced, but as yet, he has made but
little progress in extirpating this deadly reptile.
Such a thing as a water closet does not exist in
Martinique or Guadeloupe. Visitors will be aston-

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

ished to see open sewers on the sides of the streets,
through which runs a rapid stream of mountain water
carrying all impurities promptly to the sea. The
primitive method of using tubs, which are emptied
every morning, at daylight, into the swift stream, is
still in vogue; and, strange to say, very few unpleasant
odors exist.
The southern coasts of Martinique are less precipi-
tous than the northern or leeward shore, and between
the bold headlands, the shore curves inward, afford-
ing anchorage in shallow water. At the head of its
commodious harbor, lies Port Royal, or Fort de
France, as the capitol of the island is alternately
called, with ready compliment either to King or Presi-
dent, whichever may happen for the time to be
installed at Paris. Near this seaport, about a mile
out, is a narrow valley running up from the sea for
about three miles. In this valley once stood the
house in which Josephine, the wife of Napoleon, was
born, in 1763. Jutting hills hide the sight until you
are close upon it, when a turn in the road discloses a
secluded vale, and a few rods farther, it brings you to
a low wooden and stone building, which recent writers
have erroneously described as the birth-place of the
Empress Josephine. The fact is, this house was not
one of the original buildings, but was constructed
of materials from the house in which Josephine
was born, and which had been destroyed by a hurricane
shortly after her birth.
The walls of the ancient building can be traced,
giving evidence of its having been one of ample
dimensions; the walls once supporting the gallery
and those enclosing the court. The only buildings
now standing which were in existence at the time of
Josephine's birth are two, the kitchen, once attached
to the dwelling, and the sugar house.
In the musty archives of Fort de France is a docu-
ment dated November 9th, 1761. This marriage

:%-

&27

. -
'I

I

TO BARBADOS AND 7THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 47

register contains the names and rank of the parents
and grand-parents of Josephine, and their place of
residence at that time, only eighteen months previous
to her birth; and this document proves how inaccurate
are the statements of her biographers. It states that
" Messire Joseph Gaspard de Tascher, chevalier, seig-
neur de La Pagerie, native of the parish of St. Jacque
du Carbet,-of said island of Martinique, lieutenant
in the artillery, son in legitimate marriage of Messire
Joseph-Gaspard de Tascher chevalier, seigneur de
La Pagerie and of Madame Marie Francoise Boureau
de La Chevalerie,-living in the town of Port Royal,
was married to "Demoiselle Rose-Claire des Very-
ers de Sannois, native of the parish of Trois-Ilets,
daughter in legitimate marriage of Messire Joseph des
Vergers de Sannois and of dame Marie-Catherine
Brown, natives of, and dwellers in the parish of Trois
-Ilets," etc.
It would seem from this document, judging from
the name, that one of the grand-parents, "Mary
Catherine Brown" was English or of English descent.
At the age of sixteen, Josephine was married to
Alexander de Beauharnais, in France. In 1788,
having separated from her husband, she returned to
her birth-place, and passed three tranquil years. With
her little daughter, Hortense,then five years old, she
rambled over the hills and valleys endeared to her by
the memory of her childhood days. Here, with a lov-
ing father and mother in the company of her youngest
sister she passed some of the happiest days of her ex-
istence.
No better description can be written at the present
time of this spot than that penned by Josephine a
hundred years ago, during her separation from Beau-
harnis. She says:
"Nature, rich and sumptuous, has covered with a
Carpeting which charms as well by the variety of its
colors as of its objects. She has strewn the banks of

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

.-- ____
... -.

HOT SPRINGS.
our rivers with flowers, and planted the freshest for-
ests around our fertile borders. I cannot resist the
temptation to breathe the pure aromatic odors wafted
on the zephyr's wings. I love to hide myself in the
green woods that skirt our dwelling, there I tread on
flowers which exhale a perfume as rich as that of the
orange grove, and more grateful to the senses."
Down the hill, within a stone's throw of the dwell-
ing, is the sugar house to which M. La Pagerie

TO BARBADOS AND THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 49

removed after the visit of the hurricane. It is of
stone, its walls very thick, at least two feet, and it is
covered with the durable brown tiles so much in har-
mony with the landscape. In the eastern half, are two
large chambers extending two-thirds the length of the
building. The roof has fallen in at one place, and you
can look into the interior of one of the chambers in
which Josephine and her parents lived during her
youth. Through these low windows how often has
the youthful empress looked out on this beautiful
tropical landscape!
At a short distance from Fort de France, the seat
of government of Martinique, rise the celebrated hot
mineral springs known as "Fontaine Chaude." These
springs are said to possess great curative properties.
They flow in large streams from the ground, and the
water is conveyed to bathing houses to which great
numbers of invalids resort. In the year 1837, while
a party of ladies were enjoying the baths, and entirely
unsuspicious of danger, the embankment at the head
.f the springs, where the waters were confined in a
large reservoir, gave way. the torrent overwhelmed the
bathing house and bore the inmates to destruction.
Among the victims was the beautiful Mlle Adele,
who was considered the most beautiful maiden on the
island.
To the south of Martinique, a mile from the main-
land, lies Diamond Rock, 574 feet high. This
stupendous rock leaps from the sea with such perpen-
dicular sides, that by their exceeding steepness it is
rendered inaccessible to man, and remained, no doubt,
unsealed from the time of its creation, until Admiral
Sir Thomas Hood, serving under Rodney, conceived
the idea of beardingg the lion in his den," by flaunt-
ing the British flag from the peak of this rock, in.the
face of the Frenchmen at Martinique. It is said that
some of Hood's sailors flew a great kite from the
deck of a sloop of war, (or as some say, fired a shot)

STARK'S IISTOR Y A ND GUIDE

to which was fastened a line which they managed to
stretch across the crag; by this line a rope was drawn
over the lofty pinancle and made fast to the vessel
below, which had been lashed alongside the rock. A
crew of brave men were then hoisted up to the top of
the pinnacle, many feet above the main truck of their
vessel; guns and provisions were sent aloft and
stowed away by the boarding party, and no time was
lost in planting the English flag in full view of the
surprised Frenchmen, who, too late, found themselves
outwitted by the English mariners When the sun
went down, H. B. M. Sloop-of-War Diamond Rock
was armed, manned and provisioned, and regularly
registered as such on the naval records. And from
their sea-girt citadel, Hood's sailors blazed away with
their long-tom at every kind of craft that came with-
in their reach. The crew was finally starved out, and
the Frenchmen took possession of the crag and have
held it ever since.

ST. LUCIA.

St. Lucia (English, 35 by 12 miles, highest land
the volcano Soufriere 4000 feet, 248 square miles
area, 31 ,ooopopulation,) is reached after a three hours'
run from Martinique, from which it is 24 miles distant.
The port is Casires, with a fine bowl-like harbor, an
old crater, which is to become the coaling station of
the British fleet in the West Indies. This is the only
port where we lie alongside the wharf, which is near the
market place. The town is laid out at right angles.
To the left a street leads to the post office and to the
government works. To the extreme right, separate
from the town, is the hospital, a fine building. A
small park and a Roman Catholic cathedral are
toward the back of the town. The interior of the
island is very picturesque and rich in vegetation, but
the deadly fer de lance snake is an object of dread.

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. lillmim ...,.". THE._~

S TO BARBADOS AND THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 51

S The chief objects of interest at this island are the two
Pintons, superb conical peaks rising sheer from
the sea 2,715 and 2,500 feet, which the ship passes
at the south of the island. It is only recently that
an ascent has been made ; a party of young men em-
ployed in the telegraph office at Castres, climbed the
S tallest of the Pintons and ate their luncheon on the top
of the pinnacle. Tradition says, that years ago, four
English seamen belonging to the fleet set out to climb
the loftier of the two. They were watched in their
ascent through a telescope; when half way up, one
of them was seen to drop while three went on; a few
hundred feet higher, a second dropped and afterwards
a third; one had almost reached the summit when he
fell also. No account of what had befallen them ever
reached their ship. They were supposed to have
ben bitten by the deadly fer de lance who had re-
sented and punished their intrusion into regions
wherein they had no business. Such is the local
legend; this fate, however, did not befall the late
adventurous climbers, for they all returned safely.
St. Lucia is one of the most interesting of all the
Caribbees to the student of history who delights in the
story of battles upon land and sea. The Caribs made
a desperate resistance here. In less than two months
after the first settlers landed from the English ship
Olive.Blossom, in 1605, the Caribs descended upon
the settlement and all the colonists were either killed
or driven from the island. Again, in 1639, a com-
pany of English settlers attempted its colonization.
Scarcely had they laid the foundation of their
settlement when the Caribs, stirred to hostility by
the French at Martinique, or outraged by the attempt
to make slaves of their countrymen, fell upon the
English and killed all they could lay their hands upon
expelling the survivors from the island.
In 1651 the French settled here under Chouselan,
who erected a fort, and married a Carib woman, and

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

was supposed to possess great influence with the
natives. In 166o, a treaty was concluded between
the French and English on one hand, and the Caribs
on the other. This did not continue long, for the
parties of the first part, ignoring entirely the parties
of the second part, began to contend with one another
for the possession of St. Lucia; and this warfare be-
tween France and England, for the possession of this
island continued, almost uninterruptedly, for one
hundred and sixty years. Of so great importance
was St. Lucia considered as a military and naval sta-
tion, that both nations never hesitated to make vast
sacrifices of troops and treasure for its capture or
defense.
In a report made by a French governor of the
island to the first Napoleon, he asserted that "it had
always been the intention of France to make St.
Lucia the capital of the Antilles and the Gibralter
of the Gulf of Mexico.' "
Admiral Rodney, in a letter written in 1772,
pointed out the necessity of retaining either Mar-
tinique or St. Lucia, and of the two, he favored the
latter. "Either of these islands, in the hands of
Great Britain, must, while she remain a great mari-
time power, make her sovereign of the West Indies."
This advice of Rodney's, given one hundred and
twenty years ago, is as applicable to-day as then.
The proposed Panama and Nicaraugua canal has
reminded England of the necessity of a fortified coal-
ing station at this place, and of the great natural
advantages of St. Lucia for such a purpose.
Work is already in progress, and the long-deserted
forts and barracks, which had been left to snakes and
lizards, are again to be occupied by English troops.
The island has borrowed seventy thousand pounds on
Government security to prepare for the dignity which
awaits it and for the prosperity which is to follow.
In 1664, the year in which New York was captured

S TO BARBADOS AND THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 53

by the English, the Barbadians invaded St. Lucia and
fought a bloody engagement with the French, and
held it three years, until by the Treaty of Breda, it
was given up to France.
In 1728, forces of both nations occupied strong
positions in the islands; but in order to avoid further
effusion of blood, it was decided to consider St. Lucia
neutral territory: which was confirmed by the Treaty
of Aix la Chapelle in 1748. But, as usual, little at-
tention was paid to the decision by either the French
of Martinique or the English of Barbados; for, dis-
regarding all treaties and agreements, they continually
attempted to take advantage of one another, at all
times, and in all ways, lawfully or unlawfully.
On the renewal of hostilities between France and
England, in 1756, Martinique was captured by the
English forces under General Monckton, operating in
conjunction with a fleet commanded by Admiral
Rodney. St. Lucia, as usual, was retaken by the
English, and remained under British rule until 1763,
when, by the Treaty of Paris, it was ceded to France.
The French then laid the foundation of a colonial
government there on a grand scale, establishing them-
selves more securely than ever before, and were pre-
pared, as they thought, for any emergency. When
war broke out afresh, in 1778, England at once
devoted all the resources at her command to a des-
parate attempt to drive her old enemies out of St.
Lucia. Orders were issued to Sir Henry Clinton,
then in command at New York, to send an expedition
to the West Indies.
On the same day that Admiral Rodney left Sandy
Hook, a French fleet, under Count d' Estaing, sailed
from Boston for the same destination. The "two
squadrons sailed in parallel and not far distant
courses," towards the Caribbean island; but the
British outsailed their adversaries and joined the
fleet, already on the station, under the command of

54 STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

Admiral Barrington. In December, 1778, the British
vessels entered the bay at Grand Cul de Sac, the
troops effecting a landing without meeting any re-
sistance from the French, who had shut themselves
up in their fortifications. Early in the following
year, a bloody battle was fought at the Vegie, a
fortress commanding Castries Harbor.
The French were defeated, and Count d' Estaing
sailed .away, leaving St. Lucia in possession of
the English who fortified themselves so strongly
upon the island, that, in after years, under Rodney,
Hood and other great naval captains, they bore down
on their enemies, the French Dutch and Spaniards,
in every part of the Caribbean Sea, pursuing their
fleets, capturing their convoys, storming their forts,
and blockading their ports.
It was from here that Rodney and Hood sailed in
pursuit of the French on the memorable 12th of
April, 1782, when was fought, one of the bloodiest
and most obstinately contested naval battles ever
waged between rivals. An account of this action
was given in the description of Dominica.
For this service to his country, Rodney was elevated
to the peerage, received a pension of two thousand
pounds for himself and his heirs, and a monument in
St. Paul's Cathedral at his death.
By the Treaty of Versailles, in 1784, St. Lucia
passed again under French rule. What England
gained by the sword France retook by a stroke of
the pen. In the many battles fought for the posses-
sion of this island, England always had the best of it;
but France, in the end, always secured her own again,
by treaty.
In 1794, war broke out again between England and
France and raged with redoubled fury. On March
20th, Sir John Jervis captured Martinique; and eight
days later, the Duke of Kent, the father of Queen
Victoria, captured St. Lucia; and once more the

TO BARBADOS AND THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS. 55

British flag waved on Morne Fortune. Towards the
close of 1794, Robespierre sent Citizen Goyrand in
command of an expedition to St. Lucia. So rapidly
was his movements executed, that, within a few days,
with the exception of two forts, the island was entirely
in possession of the French. In April, 1795, the
English having been reinforced, gained a temporary
advantage over the enemy, but were finally defeated
and driven from the island.
Early in 1796, Sir Ralph Abercrombie arrived at
St. Lucia with an army of twelve thousand men.
Citizen Goyrand, with two thousand men, occupied
Morne Fortune, overlooking the Bay of Castries.
A division, under Sir John Moore, effected a landing
.t Longueville Bay, a short distance along the coast
from Castries.
After several sanguinary engagements, in which
Moore distinguished himself by leading the troops
into the thickest of the fight, the French were over-
powered and surrendered.
As usual, when the Treaty of Amiens was signed,
March 27th, 1802, St. Lucia was returned to the
French. This peace lasted only fifteen months, when
war began again, the West Indies, once more, becom-
ing the battle ground, and St. Lucia, as usual, the
first object of attack. On June i9th, 1803, Commo-
dore Samuel Hood sailed from Barbados to St.
Lucia. The French shut themselves in Morne
Fortune. The English bravely stormed the works at
the point of the bayonet and captured them after a
short resistance. After a struggle of one hundred
and fifty years, for its possession, St. Lucia finally
became a British colony, and entitled to the name of
"the dark and bloody ground."

STARK'S HISTORY AND GUIDE

CHAPTER VI.

BARBADOS.

ITS FIRST APPEARANCE. EARLY HISTORY.

Leaving St. Lucia in the evening, the island of St.
Vincent, twenty-one miles to the southward of St.
Lucia, was passed during the night. The following
morning, as the sun arose, we were close to Barbados.
As we steamed along the west side of the island
towards Carlisle Bay, (the harbor of Bridgetown, the
capital of the island,) the view was very beautiful.
Long ranges of limestone terraces rose above each
other with here and there a rounded hill, covered
with fields of bright green sugar cane, and pictur-
esque windmills, and sugar works. Near by there
were the planters' houses, embosomed in groves of
mahogany, bread-fruit, and orange trees. Here and
there rose the tower of a parish church. Rows of
stately palms crowned the tops of ridges, leading in
magnificent avenues up to the estate houses; dotting
in solitary grandeur the landscape, groves of cocoa-
nut palms, bent gracefully over the water's edge;
white limestone roads, wound like ribbons through
the green fields of cane :-all these, together with
the deep blue of sea and sky, the former, rolling
in turbulent waves and dashing in white spray over

	Front Cover
	Front Matter
	Title Page
	Copyright
	Preface
	Table of Contents
	Chapter I - The Voyage. Santa...
	Chapter II - St. Kitts and...
	Chapter III - Nevis, Antigua and...
	Chapter IV - Guadeloupe and...
	Chapter V - Martinique and St....
	Chapter VI - Barbados
	Chapter VII - Civil War in...
	Chapter VIII - Wars with France....
	Chapter IX - Inhabitants, Whites,...
	Chapter X -Barbados as a Health...
	Chapter XI - Seaside Resorts
	Chapter XII - Caves and Ravine...
	Chapter XIII - Oistin's Bay, Christ...
	Chapter XIV - Hackelton's Cliff,...
	Chapter XV - Agriculture and...
	Chapter XVI - Religion and...
	Chapter XVII - The Geology...
	Chapter XVIII - Washington's Visit...
	Chapter XIX - The Future of Barbados...
	Chapter XX - Negro Rule in...
	Chapter XXI - Negro Rule in the...
	Index
	Back Matter
	Back Cover

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