The VIRGIN ISLANDS have been generally supposed to have derived their name from queen Elizabeth; but according to Mr. Edwards, Cohumbus discovered them in 1493, and gave them. this appellation in allusion to a well-known legend in the Romish ritual of the eleven thousand virgins. The Spaniards did not think them worthy of their attention, and no farther notice was taken of them till nearly a century after, when they were visited by the earl of Cumberland in his way to attack Porto-Rico, and the historian of that voyage calls them "a knot of little islands, wholly uninhabited, sandy, barren, and craggy.' The whole group comprehends about forty islands, which are divided at present between the English, the Spaniards, and the Danes.

The first possessors of such of these islands as now belong to the British government, were a party of Dutch Buccaneers, who fixed themselves in Tortola and built a fort for their protection. In 1666 they were driven out by a stronger party of the same adventurers, who, calling themselves English, pretended to take possession for the crown of England: and Charles II., if he did not commission the enterprize, made no scruple to claim the benefit of it; for Tortola and its dependancies were soon after annexed to the Leeward island government, and the English title has remained unimpeached from that time to this.

The Dutch had made but little progress in cultivating the country when they were expelled from Tortola, and the chief merit of its subsequent improvement was reserved for some English settlers from the island of Anguilla, who had formerly embarked with their families and settled in the Virgin Islands. Their wants were few, and their government

government simple and unexpensive. The deputy governor, with a council, nominated from among themselves, exercised both the legislative and judicial authority, determining in a summary way, without a jury, all questions between subject and subject; and when money was wanted for public use, it was raised by voluntary contributions.

Under this sort of system they continued till 1756, when the inhabitants petitioned to be put on the same footing with the sister islands, by the establishment of a perfect civil government and constitutional courts of justice among them; but in this expectation they were not gratified till the year 1773, when they pledged themselves to grant to his majesty, an impost of four and a half per cent. on all goods and commodities the growth of these islands, similar to that which was paid in the other Leeward Islands.

Such was the price at which the Virgin Islands purchased the establishment of a constitutional legislature. The chief and almost the only staple productions of these islands are sugar and cotton. The value of the exports from them in the year 1787 amounted to one hundred and sixty-seven thousand pounds nearly.

THE BAHAMA ISLANDS, AND THE BERMUDAS.

The BAHAMA or LUCAYOS, though very numerous, are but little known. They are said to have been totally deserted when in 1672 a few EngJishmen took possession of the island of Providence. But becoming a nest of pirates, a force was sent from England to subdue them, and a small regular colony was established in 1720. The English in the Bahama islands are computed at three or four thousand; half of which are settled in Providence, where

The

where there is a fort and a small harbour. only article cultivated for exportation is cotton, of which the average export is about thirty hundredweight. The soil seems to be naturally barren, which accounts for their comparative insignificance in this grand commercial archipelago.

The BERMUDAS or SUMMER Islands, were discovered by the Spaniards, but being neglected by them, they were again disclosed by the shipwreck of sir George Sommer in 1609. By Shakspeare they are described as ever vexed with storms; but Waller, who resided there some time, mentions them in different colours, as enjoying a perpetua spring. They contain about twelve or thirteen thousand acres of very poor land, nine-tenths of which are either uncultivated, or reserved in woods for the supply of timber for building small ships, &c. for sale, which is the principal employment of the inhabitants; and the vessels which they furnish being built of cedar, are light, buoy, ant, and unexpensive,

Of the land in cultivation, no part was appropriated to any another purpose than that of raising Indian corn and vegetables till the year 1785, when the growth of cotton was attempted, but with no great success. Of these little islands the chief is that called St. George, with a capital of the same name, containing five hundred houses built of freestone. The number of inhabitants in all the islands is about nine thousand. The blacks are twice as numerous as the whites, and a great part of the trade consists in carrying salt to America.

Thus have we given an historical account of all the principal islands in the West Indies. Cuba and Porto-Rico belong to Spain; and of their rise,

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together with that of St. Domingo, we have treated in the early part of this volume. To the French belong St. Domingo (unless it be completely wrested from their dominion. by the blacks, who have been long struggling for emancipation), Guadaloupe, Martinique, and some islets. The Danes possess St. Croix, St. Thomas, andSt. John, which are part of the Virgin islands. The Swedes hold St. Bartholomew, and the Dutch St. Eustatius. To our own country are attached Jamaica, and Barbadoes; Grenada, St. Vincent, and Dominica; St. Christopher's, Nevis, Antigua, Montserrat, and the greater part of the Virgin-isles: St. Lucia and Tobago have, during the present war, surrendered also to British valour. Trinidad was ceded to us by Spain at the peace of 1801.

CHAP.

CHAP. XV.

Inhabitants of the West Indies how divided, Character and Manners of each Class. Sugar, the Mode of Cultivating. Cotton. Indigo. Coffee, Cocoa. Ginger. Arnatto. Aloes. Allspice. Of the Trade on the North-West Coast.

HAVING described the islands in the West Indies separately, it remains only to enumerate such circumstances as will apply to them collectively, beginning with the population. The whole inhabitants may be divided into four great classes: 1. European whites; 2. Creole or native whites; 3. Creoles of mixed blood, and free native blacks; 4. Negroes in a state of slavery, Besides these there are many emigrants from North America, and a considerable body of Jews. About ten years ago, it appeared that in the English islands the number of white people was about sixty-five thousand, and of blacks four hundred and fifty-five thousand.

The leading feature in the character of the white inhabitants is an independant spirit, and a display of conscious equality, throughout all ranks and conditions. The poorest white person seems to consider himself nearly on a level with the richest, and, emboldened by this idea, approaches his employer with extended hand, and a freedom, which in the countries of Europe is seldom displayed by men in the lower orders of life towards their superiors. In no part of the globe is the virtue of hospitality more generally prevalent than in the British sugar islands. The gates of the planter

VOL. XXIV.