some lower summits to the south of this, and then
a gradual slope to the coast. On the west is a low
peninsula called the Basses-Terres, or lowlands, connected
with the shore by a sandy isthmus with
Simpson’s Lagoon in the middle of it. On the eastern
and southern coasts are narrow inlets which run
far inland; and near the middle of the south shore
is Grand Bay, at the head of which lies the Dutch
town of Philipsburg. Here is Fort William and the
centre of such authority as is exercised in behalf of
the colony of Curasao, of which this is a remote dependency.
T h e French capital is Marigot on the
west side just north of Basses-Terres, where there is
a well sheltered port. St. Martin used to be much
given to sugar raising, but since that became unprofitable
its principal salable products have been
provisions and salt. I t raises fruits and vegetables
and some cattle, and to the north of Philipsburg is
a large “ salt pan,” worked by a French and Dutch
company.
A little to the south-east of St. Martin is the
French island of St. Bartholomew, familiarly called
“ St. Bart,” and, like the French part of St. Martin,
a dependency of the colony of Guadeloupe. It is a
crescent, only six miles long from east to west, and
three miles across in its widest part, and its population
of less than 3000 consists mostly of negroes.
Though the original possessors were French, the
English language is chiefly spoken now. The island
was first settled in 1648, when the French divided
St. Martin with the D u tch ; but when the ambitious
Gustavus was trying the expansion and colonising
policy in 1784, it was ceded to Sweden. That accounts
for the name of the present capital, Gustavia,
and of Fort Gustave, which are on the western side
of the island, where there is a sheltered harbour that
will admit vessels of eight or ten feet draught. In
1877, France bought the island back for 275,000
francs. The shores are much indented and the surface
irregular, rising into a limestone ridge in the
interior about 1000 feet high. There are no streams
or springs, and the hilltops are rather barren, but
the valleys are fertile and yield good crops of sugar,
cotton, tobacco, and fruits, when cu ltivated; but
the foreign trade is slight and absorbed in that of
Guadeloupe.
St. Bartholomew is at the end of a submarine
bank, and across a broad expanse of deep water to
the south of east, forty miles away, lies Barbuda,
which belongs to the presidency of Antigua, from
which island it is separated by a stretch of thirty
miles of shallow water. I t is at the end of a submarine
peninsula reaching northward from the larger
island. While Barbuda is rated as a dependency of
the Leeward Islands colony, it is private property,
having been granted to the Codrington family about
1680. I t remained in the family until a recent
period, when it was purchased b y some private capitalists,
who have only to keep up the old obligation
of presenting a fat sheep to the governor when he
deigns to make a visit to the vassal of his sovereign.
This may be commuted to a goodly buck or green
turtle, or perhaps to anything satisfactory to the
visiting official. I t is a mere token of allegiance.
20