The history of Barbados. Comprising a geographical and statistical description of the island; a sketch of the historical events since the settlement; and an account of its geology and natural productions

Front matter

tetitas etiees a

Ce a a EP at f oN

9 Nis PH, Be Wa da HN ay mee y ay cl a posh dates Vy are + 4H bei

Part I

Geographical and Statistical Description of the Island. Chapter I. Introductory Remarks on the West Indian Archipelago feta PORT a aio oT ee PER BE. PEE VA ELIROOLOS PEE HON 1 Chapter II. Geographical Position of the Island of Barbados........ 5 Chapter III. General Outline ad ASGDOT TE. ato WR tr 7 Chapter IV. Introductory Remarks on Climate in general.......... 13

Chapter V. Climatology and Meteorological Phenomena in Barbados.. 28

On hurricanes in general, 37 ; hurricanes in Barbados, 45 ; thunder-storms, 63; waterspouts, 64; great waves, 65; landslips, 67; earthquakes, 68 ; May dust, 69; influence of the climate on the human health, 73.

Chapter VI. Civil and Social State of Barbados .................. 79

Population, 79; religious and public instructions, 92; public education, 104; Codrington College, and the Foundation School, 111; literature, and the public press of Barbados, 124; hospitals and benevolent institutions, 127; learned and literary societies, 132; jails and prisons, statistics of crime, 134; agriculture and commerce, 140; external commerce, 161; coins, 169; taxes, import and export duties, revenue, and expenditure, 170; the port and careenage of Barbados, 178; the molehead, 179; the proposed lighthouse, 180; the market-place, 182; average prices, 183; public roads, 183; projected railway, 185; West India mail service, 188; militia and military defence, 190; the past and present state of the island, 196.

Chapter VII. Political Geography tesomr cane sion eer re ce 198

Historical sketch of the chief features of the administration since the settlement, 198; the present constitution, 205.

Chapter VIII. Local Geography :.......52.. cece ee te ee eee in USES

Division of the island into parishes, 215 ; heights in Barbados, 21 6; parish of St. Philip, 217 ; Christ Church parish, 219 ; parish of St. George, 221 ; parish of St. Andrew, 222; parish of St. Lucy, 225; parish of St. John, 227; parish of St. Thomas, 234; parish of St. Peter, 236; parish of St. James, 238; parish of St. Joseph, 239 ; parish of St. Michael, 240, xviii CONTENTS.

Part II

Narrative of Events from the Settlement of the Island to the Year 1846. | . Page Chapter I. Period from the Settlement of the Island to the Insurrection Ofiaved 1 hOAO el. Ly oes lke re o's 6 ele MERE Sie o> © oe 255 Chapter II. Period from the Death of the Earl of Carlisle to the Administration of Colonel Modyford in 1660 ..........-.20-- eee. 268 Chapter III. Period from Lord Willoughby’s restoration, as Governor, to his ‘death 1674.5 (345). sot gee oe ot eee cee ieee» = = 286 Chapter IV. Period from the appointment of Sir Jonathan Atkins as Governor in 1674, to the return of the Barbados Regiment ........ 295 Chapter V. Events from the appointment of Colonel Russel as Governor in 1694 to the death of President Barwick in 1733 .............. 307 Chapter VI. Occurrences from Lord Howe’s arrival in 1733 to the death of GovernorSpny in T7720 Cees eerste be es 7 OAC Chapter VII. Period from the Administration of President Rous in 1772 to the departure of Major-General Cunninghame in 1783.......... 333 _ Chapter VIII. Period from the Administration of President Dotin in 1783 to the arrival of Lord Seaforth in 1801 ................ ..- 348 Chapter IX. Period from the Peace of Amiens in 1802 to Lord Seaforth‘sideparturesin 1806. ncsnbsrare 2 ow'tt frak OaedioO. enteelow, ake, 357

Chapter X. ‘Period from the Administration of President Spooner in 1806 to the instalment of Sir James Leith as Governor... .........- 369

Chapter XI. Period from Sir James Leith’s New Expedition to the French Islands in 1815 to the appointment of Lord Combermere as Governor m0 1817000. Aa ee) RR Ek, OR eee 393

Chapter XII. Events during Lord Combermere’s Administration, from his arrival m 1817 to his departure in 1820 ..... 00.02. cease. M01

Chapter XIII. Period from the Administration of President Skeete in 1820 to the death of George the Fourth in 1830 ................ 411

Chapter XIV. From the renewal of the commercial intercourse between the United States and the British West Indies to the departure of Sir James Liyoh in 1833. .....000. wind 1d is ehoR Bases @ RAS aha bes «. 431

Chapter XV. Administration of Sir Lionel Smith as Governer-General of the Windward Islands, from 1833 to 1836.....

CONTENTS. XIX

Page Chapter XVI. Occurrences during the Administration of Sir Evan John Murray MacGregor as Governor-General from 1836 to 1841 .. 475

Chapter XVII. The Administration of Sir Charles Grey as Governor of Barbados from 1842 to 1846 ..... 1 acolyte bn Se pase lan Mata crieal neaioiael 493

Chapter XVIII. The Sugar Question, and the probable influence of the admission of sugar produced by slave labour upon the prospect of the British Colonies m the West Indies........ oO oe AE Mar ge 520

Part III

Remarks on the Geological Structure of Barbados, and a Sketch of its Natural Productions.

SIRECE L,- CrOQLOPICA) DOKCTIPTON e'e 5 a 04 «.0'e's ole viv ivid vid ynue ube eye 531 Coralline limestone, 534; Scotland formation, 546. Chapter II. A Description of Fossils found in Barbados............ 557

Polycystina, 558 ; list of fossil shells, 562; description of some new fossil shells, 565.

‘Chapter III. The application of the Mineral Products of the Island of Barbados, and the composition of its Soils...........-....-.22-- 568

Chapter IV. A Sketch of Organic Nature as developed in Barbados .. 573

Systematic arrangements, 575; Cryptogamous or flowerless plants, 580; flowering plants, 583; vernacular names, 621, 629; index to the genera, 631; marine sponges, 633.

Chapter V. Animated Nature as developed in Barbados............ 635

Radiata, 635; Insects, 639; Arachnides, 654; Crustacea, 654; Mollusca, 658; Fishes, 665; Reptiles, 679; Birds, 680; Mammalia, 682.

Appendix

No. I. Governors and Commanders-in-chief of Barbados .............. 684 No. II. Half-hourly Meteorological Observations .............0000005 687 Deere PLL TUBUIMGe E MECEIIOTIICUSE Fo cic Son's ees coe nn tee weles nap eldest 688 No. IV. A Chronological List of Hurricanes and severe Gales in the West Indies, from their discovery to the year 1846............c0ceceenes 689

No. V. Recapitulation of the nnmber of persons killed, wounded, those who died of wounds, and those missing, in consequence of the hurricane WENUPURE LOI rae tare ew crn eine eR came meee ks vont aan ees 696

CONTENTS.

XX APPENDIX. Page No. VI. Names of Students who Matriculated at Codrington College, with

the place of their birth, and the year of their admission.............. 699

No. VII. A description of the Lines or Boundaries of the several parishes in the island of Barbados, as they are by law established. By William

Mayo, 72) te sie Ga acetate seine tetanic eee lates inte ote oie ane 703° No. VID. ;Cimits or Dridpetowi i. bebe rae eee iiss a cles > 4s kone

No. IX. Size of the Parish Churches and principal Chapels in Barbados, and cost (in pounds sterling) of those which were erected or rebuilt after the hurricane’in 183 10c* cena tee a ee Ee ss eco 705

No. X. A Declaration of Lord Willoughby and the Legislature of the Island of Barbados against the British Parliament..............0005 706 LES ob ei ieee SP SA hee ba eee Rete da ne : 709

HISTORY OF BARBADOS.

Part I. A Geographical And Statistical Description Of The Island

s @

BOUAGIOAE i 7 lee ‘ el ie eesirert ie a OETA RS

. ry : ve gt?

‘ by Pat. rp.

ay bE bt DN ee,

+ PR r ite Mee DS he eer ee

HISTORY, OF BARBADOS.

PART I.

GEOGRAPHICAL AND STATISTICAL DESCRIPTION.

Chapter I. Introductory Remarks On The West Indian Archipelago In General

'THE West Indian Archipelago consists of a group of islands which extend from the Gulf and Straits of Florida to the Gulf of Paria. They are situated between the tenth and the twenty-eighth degree of north latitude, and between the fifty-ninth and eighty-fifth degree of west longitude from Greenwich. Their general direction is from the coast of Kast Florida, south-east to Cabo Engafio, which forms the eastern point of Hispaniola or St. Domingo ; from thence they describe a curved line, first eastward, and then southward. On the east and north they are bounded by the Atlantic; on the south by the Caribbean Sea, which separates them from the northern coast of the republic of Colombia; and on the west, the Gulf of Mexico intervenes between these islands and Mexico. The south-eastern group, or those which extend from the Gulf of Florida to the south-east, contain the largest; they are Cuba, St. Domingo, Jamaica and Porto Rico ; the others, which stretch from north to south, are smaller ; the principal islands of this group are Guadaloupe, Martinico, Barbados, and Trinidad.

Without entering into a disquisition as to whether America was not known previous to its discovery by Columbus, I would only observe here that the great navigator landed on the 12th of October, 1492, on St. Salvador, one of the Bahama Islands, where he erected a cross and took possession of it in the name of his catholic majesty. The southern point B of this island is called to this day Columbus Pot. The Archipelago received its name under the erroneous impression, that the great discoverer landed at Cipango, bordering on the eastern shores of Asia, and lying in the neighbourhood of the rich countries of which Mandeville and the Poli had given such glowing descriptions. From this error the new discoveries received the name of the West Indies, an appellation by which they are recognised in the titles of the Spanish Crown, and which has been adopted generally.

Some geographers of the fifteenth century called this group Antillia. The first trace of this name occurs in the ‘ Oceanica’ of Peter Martyr d’Anghiera!. Bartholmeus de las Casas observes® that the Portuguese preferred calling Hispaniola by the name of Antillia. At that time the new discoveries were divided into the Islas de Lucayos and Islas de Barlovento, or Islas de los Caribes and de los Canibales ; however, a considerable period elapsed before the name of Antilles was generally adopted.

A more advanced state of geographical knowledge rendered local distinctions necessary, and the broad expanse of sea which is surrounded by the chain of islands between Florida, the river Orinoco and the coast of America, was divided into three distinct parts, the Gulf of Mexico, the Bay of Honduras, and the Caribbean Sea. The earlier Spanish navigators divide the chain of islands into the Islas de Barlovento and Islas de los Caribes ; at a later period the latter were likewise called Islas de Sotavento, from whence the name Windward and Leeward Islands arose.

In strict propriety, the islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola and Porto Rico, constitute the Leeward Islands, and those which extend from Porto Rico to the Gulf of Paria, or the Islas de los Caribes of the discoverers, the Windward Islands: English mariners however have adopted a different division, and they have applied the term of Windward and Leeward Islands exclusively to the Caribbee chain, and subdivide these islands according to their situation in the course of trade, into Windward and Leeward Islands; consequently the Windward Islands commence with Trinidad and terminate with Martinico, and the Leeward commence with Dominica and extend to Porto Rico.

The division of the continental geographer into the Greater or Lesser Antilles 1s no doubt preferable. The Greater Antilles constitute the Leeward Islands, and the remainder, excluding the Bahamas, the Lesser Antilles, which are subdivided into Windward and Leeward Islands. The first compose the Caribbee Islands, the second the small islands which extend from the Gulf of Maracaybo to the coast of Paria. According to this system we have the following great division :—

’ See the first book of the Decades of the Ocean in the famous History of the Indies by Hackluyt, 2nd edition, p. 9 (d); and for an able disquisition, Histoire de la Géographie du Nouveau Continent, par Alexandre de Humboldt, Paris, 1837, 8vo. vol. ii. p. 195. | ? Hist. Gen. de Indias, lib. i. cap. 164.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 3

THE WEST INDIES.

The number of islands, islets and rocks which extend from the Gulf and Straits of Florida, and along the northern coast of Cuba, to the sixty-ninth degree of longitude west of Greenwich.

Il. Toe Greater ANTILLES.

Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Porto Rico.

III. Tur Lesser ANTILLES.

1. The Windward Islands or Caribbee Islands!: the Virgin Isles, Santa Crux, Anguilla, St. Martin, St. Bartholomew, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Christopher, Nevis, Redonda, Montserrat, Antigua, Barbuda, Guadaloupe, the Saintes, Deseada, Mariagalante, Dominica, Martinico, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Vincent, Bequia, the Grenadines, Grenada, Tobago, Trinidad.

2. The Leeward Islands: Oruba, Curacao, Buen Ayre, Los Roques, Orchilla, Blanca, Tortuga, Salada, Margarita, Cabagua and Coche. The four latter are sometimes excluded from the Leeward Islands, as being too close to the coast of Venezuela; but if this be adopted, Trinidad must be excluded for similar reasons from the

- Caribbee Islands.

These islands are in the possession of six European nations; Hayti constitutes an independent state, and the island of Margarita and its dependencies is annexed to the republic of Venezuela. The Archipelago contains an area of 86,548 square miles, and a population of about

3,399,683 souls, of which Square miles. Population.

France possesses?— A part of St. Martin, Guadaloupe, with the Saintes, Deseada, Ma-

EBLATILe, 400.4. ee GSli. ise ©) 64,044 Geeteerigue ct SSO Le ae TST 4ag 1011 255,689

‘ If we cast a glance over a chart of the West Indies ona large scale, the Caribbee Islands, from the Island of Grenada to the Virgin Isles, and including Porto Rico, form a remarkable regular curve, the chord of which from the south point of Grenada to the south-western point of Porto Rico extends in the direction of north 414° west, 470 nautical miles. Barbados lies separate and isolated to the east of this curve, the extent of which amounts to about 750 miles. According to the general chart of the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico, published by the Hydrographical Office of the Admiralty, a north-eastern line drawn from the semidiameter of the chord passes close to the small island Aves, and strikes Barbuda.

? Tableaux de Population, de Culture, de Commerce, &c. sur les Colonies Francaises pour l’année 1841.

B2

Square miles. Population.

Great Britain possesses—

The Bahamas . 5,424 26,491} Jamaica . 4,256 377,433 Virgin Islands . 94 6,689 Anguilla . 29 3,600 Barbuda. 72 509 Antigua . 107 36,178 St. Christopher 68 4S Be Wy 6 bi Nevis. . 38°5 9,571 Montserrat . 47 7,365 Dominica 277 22,469 St. Lucia 275 21,001 Barbados 166°3 122,198 St. Vincent . 131 27,2482 Grenadines . behest, 30)

Grenada‘... |...” dusts ae 109 f aig etd EO RASO ‘nex nh? idsuutles asm geal W hee el sian es 13,208 4 Hh tat Ts E70 DORM prema mv AS mrmy eoNPe PS 1 ADE ae 59,815 British Possessions in the West India Archipelago \ 13,273°8 . . . 785,954 Spain possesses— Cuba, with its dependencies. . 43,412 . . . 900,000 Porto Rico, with Culebra. . 2,970 a and..Crabv Island, ) p39 nated Mp ’ deni 46,437 1,280,000

Denmark possesses— St. Crux, St. Thomas, St. John, and a number of small islands 164" Reon ee 41,4904 Holland possesses— se DAY CALE oh rh 1: PM ORE nA Pe DAS OTS. 2,500 sel rT AIDS Ne Taken ORS ye Pe lle LO ACE eo Uae 450 St. Martin (a partof) . . . SOv aes 4,000 Curacoa, and its dependencies . Be ee hee 10,000 394 16,9505

Sweden possesses— St. Bartholomew... .°. 2b eteetee ats 1,600

1 See Parliamentary Papers, West Indies and British Guiana, No. 426, June 30th, 1845. The census of the Bahamas and the Virgin Islands was taken in 1841; the others in 1844.

2 This includes 278 Caribs. 3 Cariacou has 3825 inhabitants.

4 This number is too low. It is specified in the Penny Cyclopedia as St. John, 2490; St. Thomas, 7000; St. Crux, 32,000. It is considered that the town of St. Thomas by itself has a population of 12,000 inhabitants.

5 These numbers respecting the population are merely assumed ; the areas are more correct.

or

GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION.

Square miles. Population.

The Republic of Venezuela possesses— The island of Margarita, and ad- Jacent islands gene e es thnk. BAG ines iy EO

The independent State of Hayti or Hispaniola, including the adjacent islands Samana, Tortue and Gonave, is supposed to contain. . 25,000 . . . 1,000,000