Caribbes
I s l a n d s «
Trinidad.
ftruggles betw.een the two powers, concernipg thefe vafoab% glands,
would form too complex a narrative for thfi.prefent defrgn,- They
generally plain and fertile; being remarkably cphtrafted with the bar-
rennefs of the Bahama group.- ^ In fome there are fmali ranges of hijfe;
and in Guadeloupe there appear to have been many volcanoes, themoted
Souffrierc being a kind of folfa terra, -or vaft mafs of fulphur, emitting
continual fmoke. . Dominica alfo contains feveral volcanoes'. ^ ‘The
produas and exports of all thefe ifles a're fimilar, being fugar/ritm,
coffee, cacao, indigo, cotton,
Under this head may alfo be arrangedthe fmali group ruhrfrig^paral-
lel with the fliore of South America,- of which €urizko and Buenayre
Belong to the Dutch, who import African flaves, whom they^ell to the
Spaniards on the continent.
| Under thisdivifion may alfo be claffed the ifland of Trinidad, recently
ceded by Spain to Great Britain; This ifland is about go' Bfifes'in
length, while the medial breadth may be "about jq^fUolo'n fended Sere
iii 1498, when he difcovered die mouth of the Orinoco'; but the pof-
feffloriwas negleded till rj35- The climate is faid'to ahd
remarkably free torn hurricanes, which are dTfekd¥dl‘^^urgesf¥fMc
other American ifles.7 Heavy rains prevail from 'the middle J^lWay
till the end of October ; and there are fo many rivers*, that tSe-dryfifers
of the other half of the year is little regretted. "Sometimes'flight earthquakes
are felt, but little dangerous. In the interior are Tour groups of
mountains, which, with fome other ridges towards the flfofces, «ale-computed
at a third part of the territory ; the Ofher two Aards-are^lll rep
confift of a moft fertile foil. The fouthern coaft is weH adapted* to^the
culture of coffee; and on the weft is a largq harbour, reputed-very fe-
cure in all feafons. Here are the Spanifh fettlements, the largeft con-
taining'only about eighty huts. The cocoa trees perilhed in 1727, by
* gt Vincent’ s may be laid to be divided between the black Caribs, or defeendants of revoked
negroes, and tbe Britiih, whofe^territory is divided into, five parifhes, the chief town being ICing-
fton ; Edwards, i. 403. The cacao or chocolate nut grows oh a tree refembliug a cherry. [ The
pods, when green, are like cucumbers, and contain from twenty to thirty nuts, or rather kernels,
not unlike almonds. The cakes feem mixed with flour and Caftille £oap. Edwards, ii. 308;.
There is a confufion. of cacao and cocod in fome authors.
7 Raynal, iv. 163. die
the force as is faid of the northern winds ; and any new plantations Caribbee
ought o f courfe to be protected on that quarter by thick fences o f foreft Is,/*N0*’
trees.*
THE BAHAMA OR LUCAYOS* ISLANDS.
TpES'E iie^,< though very' numerous, and" fome; of the mi of -sbnfrder-
ableifize, are fettlfeinown. •< They-aÈe faidyq« have'heep totally defertsed
whenjih^' a few E'ngli&mennteok'poflfcflfon. of the.tifland. which
they called Providence.8 But becoming.■-a neft of pirates, a force was
ferittfrom England to Jiabdufe them f and' a fmali1 ireg’ular;.Colon y efta-
blifhed about-1720. The Enghfh ilnithe'Bahama iffentls are êbmputed'
at tloeee orfQUr-tho’ufajnd ; half feringjfefctled in 'Próvi&tó^^ïèht&ere-
is.a fort called'Naflau, ahd a fmali harbour. ' The few expiartsl^fe -cotton,
dying w-ctods;' Kvç turtle, and falii The ftibfeemk to die naturally
barren ; and the narrow length of thefe ifles, naiiefi exppfed-lfc> the heat
and thé winds, accounts for their eomparative infignifkance iiithis grand;
commercial afehipelago.
Botany of the Weft Indies.. -
WeftTndian iflands, from their tropical fitùation, and the great Î Botany.,
height af their mountains, command a large extent of temperature, and,
contain a proportional variety of native vegetables, t We are far however
from poffeflingia compleat flora of thefe ’countries«-: activity; in
fcientific refearch is not very congenial either with- the manners or; the
commercial engagements of the inhabitants^ and the-peftilfetitial exhal-
ations from the Cwamps, and the rpathlefsi'intricacies of the Thrifts,
“ ftrangled with wafte fertility,” that onalLfides gird.the mountains,,
may well difpirit the moft adventure®«, nafeiralift..
Several of thofe giant fons of the foreft that were noticed in-the botany
of India grow wild in thefe iHancfe* and equal in ftatelinefs their
* In the map of La Cruz the ifland of Trinidad appears in a very different form from that af-
flgned by D ’Anvflle, and commonly received. The length; is from N. to .Sr‘ inffead of E. and W.
nnd the chief fettlement, S. Jofef de Oruna, is in the N. W. not far from the port de Efpana, the; ’
belt harbour. The length of the ifland is given at about So B. miles, by half the breadth.
§ lb. v. 64.
oriental!