512 
Grenada. and 11° 58’ North Lat. and between 61° 20’ and 
History. 
It is twenty leagues north-west 
of T. , and the same distance from the nearest 
int of the American continent. It is about twenty-. 
ve miles in length, from north to south, and fifteen at 
its greatest breadth, contracting gradually towards both 
extremities. A chain of mountains traverse the whole 
island from north to south, and give rise to a t. 
number of small rivers ; and in the highest ground is a 
circular lake, called Grand Etang, from which several 
of these streams derive their source. There is a bay 
on the north-west coast, (which has been recently for- 
tified at great expence, ) so capacious and. secure, that 
sixty men of war may ride in it: safely almost. without: 
casting anchor. The air is salubrious, and the soil 
fruitful in the productions of the climate, 
Grenada was. discovered by Columbus.in 1498, and 
was. at that. time inhabited by a warlike people called 
Charaibes or Caribbees. The Spaniards do not,appear to 
have made any attempt to form a settlement on the coast, 
and the natives remained free and undisturbed till the 
year 1650. At this period, the French governor of Mar- 
tinico, Du Parquet, landed on the island with.200 adven- 
turers, who seem to have been resolyed upon a wanton 
destruction of the unoffending inhabitants, andian un- 
warrantable possession of the country; but, being hos- 
pitably received by. the unsuspecting objects.of his un- 
justifiable attack, they pretended to make a purchase of 
the island for a few knives and. hatchets, a quantity of 
glass beads, and a barrel of brandy to the chief, Im- 
mediately assuming the sovereignty, and having roused. 
the natives to resistance by their tyrannical proceed- 
ings, they took measures to extirpate the whole race as 
lawless rebels. ‘Tltis they are said to have speedily ac« 
complished by a course of atrocious massacres; and a 
few wretched survivors of their butcheries having 
thrown themselves headlong from a steep rock, rather 
than fall into the hands. of such merciless enemies, the 
French settlers, with characteristic levity, gave to the 
spot the name of Le Morne des Sauteur, the Hill of the 
Leapers. The perpetrators of these enormities soon 
began to quarrel among themselves, and to suffer, in 
their turn, the oppressions of tyrannical governors. By 
a succession of calamities and revolutions, the narra- 
tion of which would interest few readers, the prosperi- 
ty. of the settlement was so much impaired, that, in the 
year 1700, more than twenty years after the sovereign- 
ty had been vested in the crown of France, there were 
found on the whole. island only 151 white inhabitants, 
53 free negroes or mulattoes, 525 slaves, 64 horses, 569 
horned cattle, 3 plantations of sugar, and 52 of indigo. 
Above fourteen years afterwards, however, an active 
commercial intercourse was opened with the island of 
Martinique, cultivation was rapidly extended, and, not- 
withstanding the interruption which these improve- 
ments stistained by the war in. 1744, Grenada was 
found, in 1753, to contain 1262 white inhabitants, 175 
free negroes, 11,991 slaves, 2298 horses or mules, 24.56 
horned cattle, $278 sheep, 902 goats, $31 hogs, 83 su- 
gar plantations, &c.; and in 1762, when it surrendered 
to the British arms, it is said to have yielded annually, 
together with its dependencies the Grenadines, a quan- 
tity of clayed and muscovado sugar, equal to 11,000 
hogsheads of 15 ewt; each, and 27,000 Ibs. of indigo. 
Having been finally ceded to Great Britain by the trea: 
ty of in 1763, a duty of 44 per cent. upon all ex- 
ported produce was ordered to be levied in place of all 
61° 35’ West Long. 
* ‘The currency of Grenada, or rate of exchange, is commonly £ 65 per cent. worse than sterling 
i 
GRENADA. 
customs,and duties formerly paid to the French king ;. 
a measure which gave rise to a t constitutional 
question, in which, after a long and elaborate law dis- _ 
cussion, judgment was given by Lord Mansfield agai 
the crown, and the duty: was abolished in Grenada and) 
the other ceded islands. Great commotions and divi- 
sions also, were excited in the island, respecting the 
election of Roman Catholic inhabitants as members of 
assembly. By these party-contentions, the colony con< 
tinued to be disturbed till its recapture by the French, 
in,1779;:and they were again renewed with additional 
violence, after its restoration to Great Britain in the 
general pacification which took place in 1783, 
The island of. Grenada is divided into six parishes, . 
viz. St George’s, St David’s; St Andrew’s, St Ba 
St Mark’s, and St John’s; and, since its restoration to. 
Great Britain in.1783, a Protestant clergy have been 
established by law. Four clergymen are cloned to the 
whole, and each is provided with an annual sti of 
£ 330 currency,* £60 for house rent, and a considerable 
ortion of the valuable glebe lands which-had formerly. 
n appropriated to the support of the Romish clergy, 
for whose benefit a part of the amount is still reserved, 
The capital of Grenada, formerly named Fort Royal, 
but now St George, is situated close to the s s 
bay on the west coast, already described, and is Vivided 
by a ridge into two towns; the Bay-town,; in which is 
ahandsome square and’ market-place ; “and the Caren- 
town, where the principal merchants reside. On 
e ridge, between the two towns, stands the church; 
and on the etter 6 above it is. an old fort built of 
stone, and capable of accommodating an entire regi- 
ment. The other towns are only villages or hamlets, 
which are generally situated at the bays or shipping 
laces. : : 
R The governor of the island is.also chancellor. ordina- 
ry and vice-admiral, and his salary is £3200 currency Gover 
annum, which is raised by a poll-tax on all slaves. 
he council consists of twelve members, and the assem- 
bly of twenty-six. A freehold or life estate of fifty 
acres inthe country, and of fifty pounds house rent in 
the capital, qualifies for a representative. A’n estate of 
ten acres in fee, or for life, or a rent of ten pounds in , 
any of the country. towns, and a rent of sia pounds 
out of any freehold or life estate in the capital, gives a 
vote in the election of the representatives. The law 
courts, besides those of chancery and ordinary, in which 
the governor presides, are the court of grand sessions of 
the peace, held twice a year, in which the person first 
named in the commission of presides; the court’ 
of common pleas, in which a-professional judge, with a. 
salary of £ 600, presides ; the court of exchequer, late-. 
ly fi into disuse; the court of admiralty, and. the 
court of error, composed of the governor and council, 
for trying appeals. In all cases the common. statute 
law of England is the rule of justice, unless where par« 
ticular laws of the island interfere. 7 
The white population of Grenada has decreased con- 
siderably since it came into the possession of: the Bri- 
tish. In 1771, their number was-above 1600 in 1777, 
they had diminished ‘to 1300; and in 1791, they were 
not supposed to exceed 1200. Of these about two-thirds 
are able to bear arms, and. are.incorporated into five re- 
giments of militia, with a y of free blacks, or 
mulattoes, attached to'each. There are likewise about 
500 regulars from Great Britain, for the defence of the 
island. The negro slaves, also, which, in 1779, were 
, 
Di 
atrick’s, and 
to 
*” Popul 
a ee 
