802 



WEST INDIES. 



it furnishes for export, and yields a slight 

 revenue to the island. Coolie immigration 

 from India is conducted under Government 

 control. Under this head, 41,526 was ex- 

 pended in 1883, besides the fixed establish- 

 ment of the department, the cost of which is 

 about 3,350* The number of Indian immi- 

 grants was as follows: in 1882, 2,629 ; in 1883, 

 1,960; in 1884, 3,147; in 1885, 1,706. The 

 Governor of the island is Sir W. Robinson, 

 who is assisted in the administration by an 

 Executive Council of three members. The 

 legislative body is a Council, including the 

 Governor, 6 official, and 8 unofficial members, 

 all of whom are appointed by the Crown. 

 Education has made considerable progress. 

 The schools are of two kinds: one secular, 

 supported entirely by the Government, the 

 other denominational, aided by the Govern- 

 ment. For higher education there are the 

 Queen's Eoyal College (secular), and its affili- 

 ated Roman Catholic institution, the College 

 of the Immaculate Conception. The primary 

 schools now number 108, of which 50 are secu- 

 lar and 58 denominational. The railway from 

 the Port of Spain to Arima, 16 miles, was 

 opened in 1876. The Conva line 18 miles 

 from the junction at St. Joseph, 24 miles in all 

 from Port of Spain was opened in 1 880. An 

 extension of 4 miles was opened to Clayton's 

 Bay on Jan. 1, 1881, and the further extension 

 to San Fernando 7 miles was opened in 

 April, 1882. There are also 7 miles of tram- 

 ways between San Fernando and Sabana 

 "Orande, and a short line at Chaguanas, used 

 chiefly for the conveyance of sugar. The 

 Guaracara Valley Extension Railway, from 

 San Fernando to Prince's Town, was opened in 

 1884. The imports in 1885 were 2,241,478 ; 

 the exports, 2,246,664. The sugar shipments 

 in 1887 included 30,617 hogsheads, 13,614 

 tierces, and 331,237 bags and barrels. The 

 cocoa shipments were 70,556 bags. 



The Windward Islands. These form a group 

 comprising Grenada, St. Vincent, Tobago, and 

 St. Lucia. Grenada is about 21 miles long, 

 and 12 miles in its greatest breadth ; popula- 

 tion on Dec. 31, 1884, 45,495. The chief pro- 

 ductions are cocoa, spices, and sugar On 

 March 17, 1885, Grenada was made the head- 

 quarters of the group, with an Executive and 

 a Legislative Council, Walter J. Sendall being 

 the Governor in-Chief. The imports in 1885 

 were 138,105; the exports, 178,178. St. 

 Vincent is 18 miles in length, and 11 in 

 breadth, containing 85,000 acres; population 

 in 1881, 40,548. Kingstown, the capital, has 

 a population of 5,593. The most striking feat- 

 ure of St. Vincent is its souffriere, or volcanic 

 mountain, celebrated for the violence of its 

 eruption in 1812. This mountain is about 

 3,000 feet above the level of the sea. St. Vin- 

 cent received the first cargo of coolie laborers 

 in 1861. There are about 500 of these on the 

 sugar plantations. There are 17 churches and 

 chapels belonging to the Established Church, 



3 Roman Catholic, 11 Wesleyan, and 1 Pres- 

 byterian. The imports declined from 158,- 

 056, in 1875, to 101,032, in 1885, and the 

 exports from 207,616 to 130,342. Tobago 

 is the most southerly of the Windward group. 

 It has an area of 114 square miles. The for- 

 mation of the island is volcanic. The Govern- 

 ment is administered by a resident Adminis- 

 trator, subordinate to the Governor-in-Chief 

 at Grenada. The present Administrator is 

 Robert B. Llewelyn. The population in 1881 

 was 18,051. Scarborough, the principal town, 

 has a population of about 1,370. Sugar, rum, 

 and molasses form the principal articles of ex- 

 port. The imports declined from 46,435, in 

 1874, to 30,758, in 1885, and the exports 

 from 45,387 to 38,436. 



St. Lucia. This island is 24 miles southeast 

 of Martinique. Its area is 158,620 acres. The 

 population in 1884 was 40,532 ; Castries, the 

 capital, has a population of 4,555. The gov- 

 ernment is conducted by an Administrator at 

 present Edward Laborde aided by an Execu- 

 tive Council. The legislature consists of the 

 Administrator and a Council composed as the 

 queen may direct. Probably no climate in the 

 world is more suitable as a winter resort for 

 invalids suffering from chest complaints. The 

 temperature from December to April seldom 

 exceeds 80 Fahr. The imports declined from 

 150,740, in 1875, to 93,739, in 1884; and 

 the exports from 159,468 to 121,262. 



Spanish. Porto Rico is the lesser of the 

 Spanish Antilles, Cuba being the greater. 

 (For area and population, see "Annual Cyclo- 

 paedia " for 1885.) The Captain-General is 

 Juan Contreras. The American Consul at St. 

 John's is Edward, Conroy. The strength of 

 the garrison in the island in 1887 was 3,700 

 men. Primary instruction being deplorably 

 deficient, the home Government has applied 

 to Porto Rico the royal decree of June 15, 

 1882, ordering that a portion of the direct 

 local taxation be spent henceforward on gra- 

 tuitous popular education. A decree of Feb. 

 13, 1886, instituted a ; ' mercantile register," 

 that is, the registering of all tradesmen, to date 

 from May 1, one register's office being opened 

 at St. John's and one at Ponce, thus complet- 

 ing the adoption of the commercial code re- 

 cently introduced into the Spanish Antilles. 

 Another reform is the formation of agricultu- 

 ral colonies and villages in the island, the rural 

 population on the plateau, mostly small plant- 

 ers and farmers, living so isolated that it was 

 impossible to get them to send their children 

 to school regularly. Henceforward "juntas" 

 are to be formed among this scattered popula- 

 tion, whose duty will be to see that the adults 

 attend divine service and the children attend 

 school. The low price of sugar in 1886 and 

 the first quarter of 1887 caused great distress 

 through the districts in which the cultivation 

 of the cane is the chief or only resource, and 

 30,000 field-hands were deprived of their daily 

 wages for several months, because planters, 



