BARBADOS 375 



may enter a small creek; but before the city lies a beauti- 

 ful roadstead, where can be seen lying at anchor a host of 

 sailing-vessels, old-time brigs, frigates, ships, and modern 

 schooners, presenting a sight which is rarely seen in these 

 days when steam has so largely supplanted sailing-craft. 



The place is a central port of call and repair for all the 

 sailing-craft of the South Atlantic, as well as for many 

 steamship lines. Above all, it is the headquarters of the 

 Royal Mail Steamship Company. The Royal Mail is the 

 pride of every English heart in the West Indies the greal 

 artery of communication that keeps the islands in touch 

 with the mother-country. It is a glorious sight on every 

 other Saturday, when five great steamers of this line 

 anchor in the roadstead one from England, one going 

 home from Colon and Jamaica, and three supplementary 

 steamers that go up and down the Caribbees to St. Thomas 

 on the north, Trinidad on the south, and Demerara on the 

 east. They are usually crowded with English tourists, 

 who come out to see these beautiful islands and review the 

 scenes of England's past colonial and naval glories. 



Like Jamaica, the Bahamas, the Leeward Islands, the 

 Windward Islands, and Trinidad, Barbados is an indepen- 

 dent colony, with its governor and legislature and all the 

 excellent features of colonial administration. The religion 

 is chiefly that of the Church of England, although other 

 denominations are represented. There is one little railroad 

 about twenty miles long, which carries the passengers 

 through vast sugar-fields to the east coast, and then follows 

 the rocky shores of the latter into the Scotland district. 

 This road is a narrow-gage affair with a diminutive engine, 

 which is fired with a common house-shovel. Good high- 

 ways extend throughout the island. 



The economic condition of Barbados, like its natural 

 aspects, is different from that of any other colony in the 

 Wesl Indies. There is substantially but one industry, one 

 product, and one export, that of sugar; nor does the island 

 appear to be suited for the growth of any other product on 



