GRENADA AND THE GRENADINES. 245 



CHAPTER XV. 



GRENADA AND THE GRENADINES. 



BEQUIA. CONTENTED ISLANDERS. THE " BEQUIA SWEET." 

 CARIB ANECDOTE. UNION ISLAND. CANOUAN. AN ENER- 

 GETIC PATRIARCH. CARIACOU. ON THE ANCIENT CONTI- 

 GUITY OF THE LESSER ANTILLES. THE LOST ATLANTIS. 

 " WHAT IF THESE REEFS WERE HER MONUMENT ?" A GLANCE 

 AT THE MAP. AN ISOLATED GEOGRAPHICAL AND ZOOLOGI- 

 CAL PROVINCE. GRENADA. ST. GEORGE'S. MORE CRA- 

 TERS. THE CARENAGE. THE FORTS. THE LAGOON. THE 

 " EURYDICE." IGUANAS. THEIR HABITS. IGUANA-SHOOT- 

 ING. OYSTERS GROWING ON TREES. COLUMBUS AND HIS 

 PEARLS. LIZARDS. A MISSIONARY'S GRIEF. FOOD OF THE 

 IGUANA. THE MANGROVE. CACAO. ITS DISCOVERY. PRES- 

 ENT RANGE. ITS CULTIVATION. CACAO RIVER. COCOA AND 

 CACAO. THE TREE. THE FRUIT. THE FLOWER. IDLE NE- 

 GROES. CHOCOLATE. FOREST RATS. MONKEYS. THEIR 

 DEPREDATIONS. AN INSULT. 



THE GRENADINES, a great number of islets 

 forming a connecting chain between the islands 

 of St. Vincent and Grenada, extend over a degree of 

 latitude. They are small and low-lying, many of them 

 being merely rocks protruding from the water, with- 

 out rivers, little cultivated, with no communication 

 with the larger islands except by small boats, and 

 yet some of them densely populated. The largest of 

 these is Bequia, nearest to St. Vincent, which is six 

 miles in length and above a mile in breadth, with 



