ANTILLES. 



ANTIOCHKIA. 



Antigua was rwtod by an earthquake in 1843. by which most of 

 the principal building* were destroyed. The government during 

 several yean laid out considerable am* in repainng the injury done 

 by the earthquake. A cathedral capable of accommodating 2200 

 penotu was built in 1847 at St. John's, at the coat of 85,<MXW., 

 which the governor himself utatea to be an extravagant outlay, and 

 a heavy drain on the public resources. Other churches and chapel* 

 destroyed in 1843 have been rebuilt. A severe hurricane in August, 

 1848, again destroyed many of the churches and school-bouses ; the 

 inhabitants have had difficulty in repairing the disaster. A bishop of 

 Antigua was appointed in 1842 ; his diocese comprises the whole of 

 the Leeward Islands, of which Antigua is the chief. A common jail 

 and house of correction was opened in 1844 ; the prisoners are 

 employed in manufactures and in making roads. A savings bank was 

 opened at St. John's in 1847. In 1846 a causeway was completed 

 from St. John's to the small island on which the lunatic asylum is 

 built. There are schools and friendly societies belonging to the 

 different Christian denominations; in 1849 there were 43 day schools, 

 with an average attendance of 2823 children, and 23 Sunday schools, 

 with an average attendance of 6004 scholars. From the ' Governor's 

 Report,' dated April, 1851, it appears that the total number of 

 children attending day schools was 3004. Independent villages of 

 emancipated slaves are rapidly springing up in Antigua ; in 1847 there 

 were no fewer than 70, with 3300 houses, and 9300 free black 

 inhabitant*. During 1849 there arrived 132 Portuguese immigrant 

 labourers from Madeira. 



The vessels belonging to Antigua, December 81, 1851, were 

 under 50 tons, 78, tonnage, 1094 ; above 50 tons, 2, tonnage, 189. The 

 imports amounted in 1849 to 168,3242. ; in 1850 to 183,623i : in 1849 

 the exports were 189,6051. ; in 1850 they were 57,72Si The sugar 

 produced in 1846 was 102,644 cwt, and the spirit* 4110 gallons; the 

 sugar produce of 1847 was nearly double that of 1846, the produce 

 of 1848 and 1849 was less in each year than that of 1847. A severe 

 drought caused a serious failure of the crops in 1850. 



( Parliamentary Pmpen ; Journal of the Xtalolical Society, Nov., 

 1849 ; Economy of Brilitk Empire, 1849.) 



ll.l.KS. Thin term is sometimes applied to the Caribbee 

 T.l.twl. sometimes to the larger islands westward of that group, and 

 sometime* to the whole of the West Indies. Some derive the term 

 from the words Ante Illas ( Forward Islands ) ; while others assert 

 that in maps constructed before the existence of a new continent was 

 known, the name Antilla was assigned to a supposed country westward 

 of the Azores, and that when Columbus first saw the Antilles he gave 

 them that name in consequence. By a recurrence to the early Spanish 

 historians, it appears at least that the word Antilla was applied to 

 Cuba and Hispaniola previous to the discovery either of the Caribbean 

 Islands or of the continent of America ; thus Peter Martyr, who wrote 

 hi* work in Latin only eight months after Columbus' s return from 

 his first expedition, says, " he gives it out that he has discovered the 

 island Ophir, but after carefully considering the world, as laid down by 

 cosmographen, those must be the islands called Autillao ; this island 

 (of which he is speaking) he called Hispaniola." 



The Antilles are divided into Greater and Lesser, the former 

 comprehending Cuba, Hayti, Jamaica, and Porto Rico ; and the 

 latter, all the Caribbean group, with- those lying along the coast of 



With the exception of Hayti, which has established its inde- 

 thase islands are subject to the following European 



GREATER ANTILLES. England. Jamaica. Spain. Cuba, and Porto 

 Rioo. 



LESSER ANTILLES. England. Antigua, Barbadoes, Barbuda, An- 

 guilla, Dominica, Grenada, Grenadines, Virgin Islands ( part ), 

 Montoerrat, Nevis, St. Christopher, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent, Tobago, 

 Trinidad, 



VmetueU. Margarita, Testigos, Tortuga, Blanquilla, Orchilla, Rocca. 



Prance, Ouadaloupe, Martinique, Marie Qalante, All Saints, 

 Deseada, Saint Martin ( north part ). 



ffoUand. Ares, Buen Ayre, Curacoa, Aruba, Saint Martin ( south 

 part ), Saba, Saint Eustatius. 



Denmark. Saint Thomas, Saint John, Saint Croix. 



Sweden. Saint Bartholomew. 



The geographical position of the Antilles is between 10 and 23 

 30' N lat, and between 59 30' and 85" W. long. 



It is now customary to arrange the British West Indies into four 

 groups ; namely, the BAHAMAS ; JAMAICA, as one of the Greater 

 Antilles ; the LEEWARD ISLAHD* ; and the WINDWARD ISLANDS. The 

 last two ire portions of the Lesser Antilles. The islands will be 

 found noticed either separately, or tinder their principal heads. For 

 further information respecting the products, climate, Ac., wo refer to 

 the general article War IWDIBS. 



ANTIOCH. [AsnocHEiA.] 



ANT1OCHE, a utrait that separates the isle of Rd from the isle of 

 OUron, and opens eastward on the west coast of France, between 

 Rociwlle and Korhefort. Ita entrance from the west U marked by two 

 lighthouse*, on the moat western point of each of the islands. At 

 to saltern extremity a narrow channel between the isle of R<5 and the 

 mainland of Franco connect* it northward with the Breton Strait, 



which lies between the northern shore of 1W and the coast of Vendee; 

 and southward it is joined to the Bay of Biscay and the Mtuary of the 

 Gironde by the strait or Pass de Maunmiw.ni, which separates 



the coast of Charente. It was in the strait of Antiocbe that 



Napoleon went aboard the Bellerophon, in order to pan over to 

 England. The point 46 8' N. lat, 1 22' W. long., is m the Strait 

 of Antioche. 



ANTIOCHEI'A (A nlatidi), commonly called Antioch, a town in 

 Syria, situated on the left bank of the Asy (the ancient Orontes), in 

 36 12' N. lat, 86 12' E. long., 55 miles W. from Aleppo, and 29 miles 

 S. from Scanderoon. It stands in the valley of the Orontes, wlm-h 

 here forms a fertile plain, about 10 miles long and 6 or 6 miles broad. 

 On the west are the Amanus Mountains, and to the south, and border- 

 ing closely upon the city, is the northern termination of the mountains 

 called Jebel-Akra (the ancient Casius), which rises to the height of 

 5000 feet above the sea. The river at Antioch is from 100 to 150 feet 

 wide, and is crossed by a substantial "bridge. The Orontes in ancient 

 times was navigated up to the city, a distance of about 20 miles from iU 

 mouth. A large part of the walls built by Justinian still remains, and 

 they may be traced round a circuit of four miles. But the city before 

 Justinian's time occupied a much larger area. The walls, whirl 

 greatly injured by the earthquake of 1822, are from 30 to SO feet high, 

 15 feet thick, and flanked by numerous square towers. The n 

 town is a poor place of between 6000 and 10,000 inhabitants, situated 

 in the north-western quarter of the ancient city near the river. A wide 

 unoccupied space intervenes between it and the eastern gat. . which in 

 called Bab-Boulous, after St. Paul, where part of the ancient pave- 

 ment still remains. The houses are chiefly built of stone, pent-roofed, 

 and covered with red tiles. The streets are narrow, with a raised 

 pavement on each side for foot-passengers. The bazaars contain a 

 good supply of such articles as are in demand in the country about 

 Antioch. The manufactures of the place are coarse pottery, cotton- 

 cloth, silk-twist, leather, and saddlery. On the right of the road, within 

 the inclosure near the gate, are numerous caves or excavations in the 

 hill, which appear to have been the ancient necropolis or cemetery. 

 The remains of an aqueduct exist to the south of the city. 



Antiocheia was founded by Scleucus Nicator, B.C. 300, and received 

 its name from his father Antiochus. Antigonia, which Antigonus 

 had built B.C. 307, a little further up the river, sunk into insignificance 

 and disappeared before the city of Seleucus. Antioch became the 

 residence of the Syrian monarchs, and one of the largest cities of the 

 world. It probably grew still larger under Roman dominion, when 

 it was the residence of the governor of Syria, and the centre of an 

 extensive commerce. Strabo (p. 750) describes Antioch in his time 

 as consisting of four distinct quarters, each having a wall of it* own, 

 and the whole surrounded by a common wall. These quarters marked 

 the successive additions that the city received from the time of Seleu- 

 cus the founder to Antiochus Epiphanes. In magnitude it was not 

 much inferior to the city of Paris at the present day. Several of the 

 Roman emperors visited Antioch, and added to its embellishments. 

 Under Libanius, a native of the place, it became in the 4th century a 

 celebrated school of rhetoric. The Christian religion was established 

 here by St. Barnabas and St. Paul, and Antioch long ranked as a 

 patriarchal see ; and here the name of Christians was first given to 

 the disciples. Ten councils were held in Antioch from A.D. 252 to 

 380. The first domed church on record was built at Antioch by 

 Constantino the Great and his son ; it was octagonal in plan. It was 

 the same church that Julian closed and Jovian restored to Christian 

 worship. St. John Chrysostom preached in it 



Antioch continued to be a city of great importance notwithstanding 

 the frequent and terrible visitations of earthquakes, till Chosroes the 

 Persian took it and nearly levelled it with the ground, A.D. 538. It 

 was rebuilt by Justinian, and again became a considerable place, and 

 continued so till the time of the Crusades. The city with the rest of 

 Syria was wrested from the Roman empire in A.D. 635 by the Sara- 

 cens, who held it till the lOtli century, when it was recovered under 

 Nicephorus Phocaa. The Seljukian Turks took it in 1084, and on 

 June 8, 1098, it was taken by the Crusaders under Godefroy, and 

 became a Christian principality under Boemond I., son of Robert 

 Ouiacard, and his successors. The sultan Bibars in 1269 took it from 

 the Christians and destroyed its churches. It afterwards passed 

 under the Turkish dominion, but has never recovered its commerce 



Pilrcr, Brit. Man. 



and importance, which were transferred to Ale]>|>o. Antioch was taken 

 possession of by Ibrahim Pasha, Aug. 1, 1832, but was subsequently 

 restored to the Porte. 



