148 SOILS AND AGRICULTURAL CONDITIONS 



bus mentioned some of their articles as made of cotton thread. He speaks, 

 too, of orchards, but does not mention the kind of fruit. 



In any event, their agriculture must have been of the very simplest kind. 

 They were doubtless able to supply their wants easily, having the indigenous 

 fruits of a subtropical region, in addition to what they produced. They were 

 also able to supply themselves with fish, which were no doubt plentiful. Their 

 only domesticated animal is said to have been a kind of dog, remarkable for 

 the fact that it did not bark. 



For over two hundred years after their discovery, agriculture cannot be 

 said to have existed in the Islands. No stable government could be estab- 

 lished during this period, as the Islands were the rendezvous of pirates. About 

 1670 the Bahamas were occupied by the English, and settlements were 

 made soon thereafter, which remained permanent, though subjected to fre- 

 quent Spanish attacks. It was not until about 1718, however, that the pirates 

 were completely subdued. Following the restoration of order in the Islands 

 settlers began to come in, among them some German refugees. These all 

 turned their efforts to agriculture, and to the Germans is due the introduction 

 of pineapples. From that time agriculture may be said to have begun its 

 growth, and the foundations of commerce were laid. Development, however, 

 was slow, for as late as 1770 only New Providence, Eleuthera and Harbor 

 Islands were inhabited. These had a total population of a- little over 3000, 

 about one-third of which were negro slaves. By 1800 the town of Nassau 

 alone had a population equal to this. 



Agriculture received further impetus at the close of the Revolutionary 

 War in America, when many of the fugitive Royalists from South Carolina 

 and Georgia took refuge, first in east Florida, and finally in the Bahamas. 

 These, like the earlier settlers, turned their attention to agriculture. They 

 took up land, and finding it easily cleared, and apparently well suited to 

 cotton, they began the cultivation of this crop on an extensive scale. It is said 

 that fifteen years after their arrival 40 plantations, with between 2000 and 

 3000 acres in cotton fields, had been established on Crooked Island alone, and 

 that on Long Island, which was settled at an earlier date, and which had been 

 more extensively improved, there were in 1783 nearly 4000 acres in cultiva- 

 tion. The combined yield from Long Island and Exuma for one year was 

 estimated at over 600 tons. The seed came chiefly from Georgia and was of 

 the Persian variety. Later Anguilla cotton was introduced. The labor was 

 performed by slaves. About five or six acres were allotted to each working 



