794 



WEST INDIES. 



a commissioner directed from Jamaica, have a 

 population of 4,322. Turtles, coconuts, and cat- 

 tle are exported. 



The Bahamas have an area of 5,450 square 

 miles, with 54,180 inhabitants. The Governor is 

 Sir Gilbert T. Carter. There is an Executive and 

 a Legislative Council of 9 members each, and an 

 Assembly of 29 members elected by limited suf- 

 frage. Nassau, the capital, situated on the island 

 of New Providence, has 11,000 inhabitants. The 

 Government schools had 5,772 pupils in 1899, 

 aided schools 952, Episcopal schools 1,647, Roman 

 Catholic schools 481, and private schools 456. 

 The sponge fisheries yielded the value of 84,003 

 in 1899. Pearls, pearl and tortoise shell, and 

 ambergris are other products of the sea. The ex- 

 port of sisal fiber was valued at 16,942; of 

 pineapples in 1898, both fresh and preserved, 34,- 

 006. The post-office in 1899 carried 218,521 let- 

 ters. 4.422 postal cards, and 118,018 newspapers. 

 The revenue in 1899 was 83,055, of which 65,- 

 500 came from customs; expenditure, 69,251, of 

 which 9,460 were for public works, 8,165 for 

 the public debt, and 5.426 for police; public debt, 

 112,826. The value of imports was 329,197; 

 exports, 169,148. The tonnage entered and 

 cleared in the foreign trade was 979,819. The im- 

 port of textiles was 60,961; of flour, 25,123. 



The Leeicard Islands have a Federal Executive 

 Council, nominated by the Crown, and a Federal 

 Legislative Council containing 8 nominated and 

 8 elected members. There were 5,070 whites on all 

 the islands in 1891, amid 23,320 colored and 99,- 

 333 blacks. The Governor is Sir Francis Fleming. 

 Antigua, with the dependent islands of Redonda 

 and Barbuda, has an area of 170 square miles, 

 with 36,819 inhabitants. Next to sugar the chief 

 product is pineapples. The representative element 

 in the Legislative Council was suppressed in 1898 

 when the Imperial Government came to the relief 

 of the treasury. The Virgin Islands, with an area 

 of 58 square miles and 4,639 inhabitants, have a 

 population of negro cultivators who own the 

 small patches of ground on which they raise 

 sugar and cotton. Dominica, which prior to 1898 

 had elective members in -the local Legislative 

 Council, has an area of 291 square miles and 26,- 

 841 inhabitants. Liberian coffee is cultivated, and 

 other products are limes and various fruits, cacao, 

 and a comparatively small quantity of sugar. St. 

 Kitts, with an area of 65 square miles and 30,876 

 inhabitants, Nevis, with an area of 50 square 

 miles and 13,087 inhabitants, and Anguilla, with 

 an area of 35 square miles and 3,699 inhabitants, 

 form one presidency, having a Legislative Council 

 of 10 official and 10 appointed members. Sugar 

 and rum are produced in the larger islands and in 

 Anguilla salt and vegetables. Montserrat has an 

 area of 32 square miles and 11,762 inhabitants. 

 Sugar, coffee, cacao, and arrowroot are produced, 

 and there are 1,000 acres planted with lime-trees, 

 the expressed juice of the fruit being bottled and 

 shipped to England and other countries, as it is 

 in constant demand, especially on shipboard. The 

 revenue of the Virgin Islands in 1899 was 2,984, 

 and expenditure 2,220; the revenue of St. Kitts, 

 Nevis, and Anguilla was 42,809, and expenditure 

 47,415; the revenue of Antigua was 42,822, 

 and expenditure 51,959; 'the revenue of Mont- 

 serrat was 6,790, and expenditure 16,608; the 

 revenue of Dominica was 26, 156, and expenditure 

 25,083. Customs produced 732 of revenue in the 

 Virgin Islands, 23,881 in St. Kitts, Nevis, and An- 

 guilla, 24,174 in Antigua, 4,792 in Montserrat, 

 and 13,700 in Dominica. St. Kitts, Nevis, and 

 Anguilla have 74,450 of debt; Antigua, 137,- 

 271; Dominica, 70,900; Montserrat, 11,500. The 



imports of the Virgin Islands in 1899 were 3,642 

 in value, and exports 3,867 ; imports of St. Kitts, 

 Nevis, and Anguilla 148,384, and exports 159,- 

 854; imports of Antigua 115,908, and exports 

 128,095; imports of Montserrat 27,204, and ex- 

 ports 15,569; imports of Dominica 70,229, and 

 exports 65,766. The imports of cotton goods 

 into the Leeward Islands were 74,876; of flour, 

 48,549; of fish, 21,430; the exports of sugar, 

 230,029; of cacao, 20,372. The imperial De- 

 partment of Agriculture has conducted experi- 

 ments with seedling varieties of sugar-cane in 

 Antigua, St. Kitts, and Nevis, as well as in Bar- 

 bados. The lime industry in Dominica and one 

 or two other colonies has increased in value. 

 Onions are successfully raised on a small scale in 

 Antigua. An attempt is being made in several 

 islands to raise early potatoes for the English 

 market. Still no reliance is placed in Antigua, 

 St. Kitts, Nevis, or even in Montserrat in alterna- 

 tive crops. Their hope of prosperity lies in the 

 restoration of the sugar trade, and in these islands 

 there is a strong desire to see established central 

 sugar factories with modern appliances which 

 would nearly double the quantity of sugar now 

 extracted by old-fashioned machinery. 



The Windward Islands, consisting of Grenada, 

 St. Vincent, and St. Lucia, with the Grenadines, 

 which are divided between Grenada and St. Vin- 

 cent, have a common Governor, Sir Robert Baxter 

 Llewellyn, but no common legislative body. Each 

 island has an administrator. In Grenada, which 

 has an area of 133 square miles and 64,098 inhab- 

 itants, the Legislative Council has 6 official and 

 7 nominated members. The number of children 

 attending school in 1899 was 9,240. Cacao is the 

 principal product, and next to that spices. Cot- 

 ton and coffee have been introduced also, while 

 the cultivation of sugar has decreased. The rev- 

 enue in 1899 was 68,757, exclusive of a grant of 

 30,000 voted by the British Parliament; ex- 

 penditure, 59,359; debt, 127,670; imports, 

 226,829; exports, 267,738, of which 234,611 

 represent cacao; tonnage entered and cleared, 

 464,048. St. Vincent has a Legislative Council of 

 4 official and 4 non-official members. Its area is 

 132 square miles, and its population 41,054, in- 

 cluding 2,445 whites. Sugar and rum are still im- 

 portant products, but cacao, spices, and arrow- 

 root are produced, and good timber is obtained 

 from the forests. The cultivated land is divided 

 between three great land owners. The revenue in 

 1899 was 32,210; expenditure, 48,119; debt, 

 10,710; imports, 103,627; exports, 33,510, 

 including sugar for 415 and arrowroot for 22,- 

 457; tonnage entered and cleared, 245,588. St. 

 Lucia has an area of 233 square miles and 48,650 

 inhabitants. The number of children in the 

 schools in 1899 was 5,735. The revenue was 71,- 

 479, and expenditure 63,821 in 1899; debt, 187,- 

 180; imports, 282,963; exports, 98,574, includ- 

 ing sugar for 56,793 and cacao for 25,734; ton- 

 nage entered and cleared, 1,279,353. St. Lucia in 

 the year ending March 31, 1900, was more psos-> 

 perous than at any period since sugar % was su- 

 preme. The cacao-crop was the largest ever ex- 

 ported, and prices for this and for sugar were 

 good. The revenue increased to 72,107, while 

 expenditures were 64,750. The debt was reduced 

 to 176,680. The imports were 403,592, more 

 than half of them coming from Great Britain and 

 a third from the United States, which has ac- 

 quired the whole of the coal trade of Castries, the 

 coaling station. The value of exports was 229,- 

 436, including 124,554 for coal. 



Barbados has an area of 166 square miles, with 

 192,000 inhabitants. The Governor is Sir Frederic 



