The fact of this private ownership and the somewhat
isolated position of Barbuda, as well as its lack
of harbours, have prevented its industrial development.
It is ten miles long by eight wide, low-lying,
and beset with reefs; but though there is a lack of
springs and of running water, the land is fertile and
would produce fine crops of the staples of sugar,
cotton, and tobacco, as well as indigo, fruits, and
vegetables. But it is little cultivated, and the entire
population is little more than iooo, mostly
connexions and dependents of the proprietors.
Much of the land is thickly wooded and in the nature
of game preserves. This is one of the few
islands in which the whites outnumber the blacks,
but that is doubtless because there has been no
systematic employment of labour in the cultivation
of land or in trade, of which there is practically
none. Sir William Codrington gave a church and
school to the little community in 1843.
Antigua, which is at the southern end of this
outer line of islands and between forty and fifty
miles from Guadeloupe, is the centre of British
authority in the Leeward Islands. The size of
the island is variously stated by different authorities,
but is perhaps twenty-five miles by fifteen. It
is approximately oval, with its longest axis nearly
east and west. T h e highest land is in the southwest,
and though the elevation nowhere attains
1500 feet, there are steep cliffs and picturesque
ravines, festooned with rank vegetation. This
limestone region would make a tolerable stronghold
at need. T he heights are wooded, and the general
surface of the island is varied with hill and dale and
covered with verdure, though subject to occasional
drought. The formation is calcareous, with marine
and fresh-water deposits in which animal and ve g e table
remains appear. There are no surface streams,
and the few springs are brackish, so that the water
supply has to be stored from the direct rainfall. In
1789, there was a prolonged drought which caused
the death of many cattle and general distress. Now
reservoirs are more liberally supplied, the capital
having one which will hold 600,000 gallons. N o twithstanding
the liability to drought, the soil is fertile
and in former times there were flourishing sugar
plantations. These have languished of late, and
little has been done to fill their place, though the
cultivation of fruit has been increased, and special
attention is given to pineapples.
Notwithstanding the generally calcareous and
coralline character of this island, there is evidence
in English Harbour, on the south coast, of the
igneous and volcanic formation that belongs particularly
to the inner line of Caribbees, which is broken
here with a gap of forty miles from Montserrat to
Guadeloupe. This harbour is in fact formed by a
group of low craters which have been invaded and
swamped by the ocean. Although there is a capacious
and sheltered port at this place, it has been so
long used for a naval station, barracks, dockyard,
and arsenal, that trade has kept away. T h e commercial
port is on the north side of the island, where
the capital of the colony, St. John, stands on an
eminence at the head of a bay, affording good