WEST INDIES WEST PRUSSIA. 



17 



reigns in full glory. The heat at this time is tem- 

 pered by sea breezes, the thermometer standing, on 

 Bn average, at about 80. The nights are now 

 eminently beautiful : the moon is so brilliant that 

 the smallest print is legible by her light ; and, in 

 her absence, her place is supplied by the brightness 

 of the Milky Way, and the radiance of the planet 

 Venus, which is such as to cast a shade. In the 

 middle of August, the heat becomes excessive, and 

 the refreshing sea breezes almost entirely intermit. 

 This state of the atmosphere is succeeded by the 

 autumnal rains, which become general in October, 

 and pour down in cataracts. In the interval be- 

 tween August and October, the islands are visited 

 by those tremendous hurricanes, which effect so 

 much mischief. (See Hurricanes.) Towards the 

 end of November, a change takes place: the weather 

 becomes serene and pleasant, and northerly and 

 north-easterly winds prevail, constituting the finest 

 winter on the globe, from December to May. There 

 are some exceptions to this general description, par- 

 ticularly in the large islands, which are often visited 

 by refreshing land breezes from the interior high- 

 lands. (See the articles Cuba, Hayti, and Jamaica.) 

 The islands abound generally in all tropical produc- 

 tions, as sugar, cotton, coffee, indigo, pimento, co- 

 coa, medicinal drugs, tobacco, maize, guava, plan- 

 tain, cacao, &c. ; oranges, lemons, limes, pomegra- 

 nates, citrons, pine-apples, &c. ; manioc, yams, 

 potatoes, &c. The mountains contain great varie- 

 ties of trees, adapted for cabinet-work, ship-build- 

 ing, and other purposes in the arts, such as cedars, 

 mahogany, lignum-vitae, iron-wood, the Indian fig- 

 tree, the calabash-tree, &c. The indigenous quad- 

 rupeds are the agouti (a sort of intermediate species 

 between the rabbit and the rat), the peccary or Mexi- 

 can hog, the armadillo, the opossum, the raccoon, 

 the musk-rat, the alco or American dog, and several 

 of the smaller varieties of monkey. Most of these 

 species are now extinct in these islands. The 

 iguana, a species of lizard, and the mountain crab, 

 are also found here. The birds are remarkable for 

 the brilliancy and beauty of their plumage : among 

 them are the parrot, in many varieties, the scarlet 

 flamingo, and the glittering humming-bird, with a 

 great number of waterfowl of different kinds. Of 

 the serpent tribe there are many varieties ; but few, 

 if any, are venomous : the alligator, and the bril- 

 liant and changeable gobemouche, or fly-catcher, 

 are among the lizards. 



The West Indies were discovered by Columbus, 

 in his first voyage, in 1492 : their subsequent his- 

 tory will be found under the separate articles. 

 (See, also, Buccaneers.) The islands were inhab- 

 ited, at the time of their discovery, by two dis- 

 tinct races of natives, the Caribs, occupying the 

 Windward islands, and the Arrowauks, inhabiting 

 Hayti, Cuba, Jamaica, Porto Rico, and the Bahamas. 

 The former were warlike and fierce; the latter 

 mild and peaceful, and much more advanced in civil- 

 ization. (See Caribbees.) The languages of these 

 nations were different See Edwards's History of 

 the British West Indies (3 vols., 1807) ; T. Southey^s 

 History of the West Indies (3 vols., 1827) ; and the 

 works of Humboldt. 



The West India islands are, with the exception of 

 Hayti, still in the possession of European powers. 

 See Colony. 



I. Spanish West Indies. Spain has not retained 

 a foot of ground on the American continent. The 

 sole remnants of her splendid colonial empire in the 

 new world, are the island of Cuba, the largest and 



VII. 



finest of the West India islands, Porto Rico, with 

 several dependencies, and Passage, Serpent, and 



| Bieque or Crab islands, among the Virgin islands. 



j The Spanish part of St Domingo now forms part 

 of the Haytian republic, and the islands of Mar- 

 garitta, with Blanquilla, Tortuga, &c., belong to 

 the republic of Venezuela. 



2. French West Indies. Previously to the in- 

 surrection of 1792, St Domingo was the most valu- 

 able French colony in the West Indies ; but that 

 event resulted in the establishment of the indepen- 

 dence of that island, under the name of Hayti. 

 Having sold Louisiana to the United States, and 

 ceded other colonies to the British, France now 

 possesses only Guadaloupe and Martinique, with 

 the small islands of Mariegalante and Deseada, in 



the West Indies See Les Antilles Francoises, par- 



ticulierement Guadeloupe, by Bover-Peyseleau (3 

 vols., Paris, 1823). 



3. Danish West Indies. The Danes possess only 

 the small islands of St Thomas, St Croix, or San- 

 ta Cruz, and St John, belonging to the Virgin 

 islands. 



4. Swedish West Indies. The Swedes possess 

 only one colony, the small but fertile island of St 

 Bartholomew. 



5. Dutch West Indies. To the kingdom of the 

 Netherlands belong the islands of Curafoa, St Eus- 

 tatius, Saba, and part of St Martin, with the smaller 

 islands of Aruba, Aves, and Banaire. Cura9oa, 

 formerly important as an entrepot, has lost a con- 

 siderable portion of its trade since the South Ame 

 rican revolution, as the goods intended for the 

 continent are forwarded direct to their place o^ 

 destination. 



6. British West Indies. These are, Antigua, 

 Barbadoes, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Mont- 

 serrat, Nevis, St Kitts, St Lucia, St Vincent, To- 

 bago, Tortola, Anguilla, Trinidad, Bahamas, and 

 Bermudas. 



A great revolution has recently taken place in 

 the Avhole economy of these islands, by the total 

 abolition of slavery. In order to obtain the latest 

 intelligence of the result of this great measure, we 

 defer the subject to the Supplement. 



WEST POINT ; a village of New-York, and 

 military post, on the west bank of the Hudson, 

 where it passes through the Highlands, in the town- 

 ship of Cornwall, in Orange county, fifty-three 

 miles, by water, above New- York, and one hundred 

 below Albany. During the revolutionary war, this 

 point was strongly fortified, and deemed one of the 

 most important fortresses in America. The plain 

 that forms the bank of the river is elevated 188 

 feet ; and fort Putnam, a short distance in its rear, 

 is 598 feet. Most of the former works are now in 

 ruins. The military academy consists of the corps 

 of engineers ; of one professor and an assistant pro- 

 fessor of natural and experimental philosophy ; one 

 professor and an assistant professor of mathematics ; 

 one professor and an assistant professor of the art 

 of engineering, in all its branches ; a chaplain and 

 professor of ethics ; a teacher of drawing ; a sur- 

 geon ; and a sword-master. The number of cadets 

 is limited to 250. 



WEST PRUSSIA; previous to 1772, called 

 Polish Prussia, because it belonged to that part of 

 Prussia which the crown of Poland had reserved, 

 when it invested Albert of Brandenburg with the 

 duchy of Prussia, in 1525. (See Prussia.) Dant- 

 zic. Thorn and Elbing were the principal towns of 

 Polish Prussia. In 1772, Frederic II. took posses- 



