THE NAMES OF OUR PLANTATIONS. 
By J. oon, F.L.S. 
The estates that have been named at different times amount to about two 
thousand. I shall not attempt to enumerate them all for the majority give no 
trouble ; they are simply old world place-names transferred, as is done in every 
new country. The principle underlying this class is the memorising of localities 
connected with early associations. It is needless to give a list of such names ; 
I will however call attention to the fact that the old Dutch name for the early 
settlements in Guiana was Nova Zeelandia, equivalent to the New Zealand 
of to-day. 
There is more interest in those names which either anticipate or commemorate 
tke struggles and triumphs of the early settlers. The name was not necessarily 
given at the time of the grant, it follows therefore that some are retrospective 
and give us a peep nto the life of our pioneers. 
No doubt they thought a good name might bring good fortune; possibly 
they invoked the goddess in such names as Lucky Hit, Lucky Spot and Goed 
Fortuin. Unfortunately however their hopes were often disappointed and the 
estates went to rack and ruin ; to-day most of them are taken over by the forest. 
Successes proved failures, Good Hopes ended in despair. Freedcm (Vryheid) 
meant slavery a century ago; Paradise and the Garden of Eden were hardly 
abodes of happiness ; even Arcadia has lost its ideal position as a coffee planta- 
tion. 1 Dorado did not bring its owner gold, and notwithstanding its supposed 
strength, Gibraltar became of little consequence. 
In looking over a chart where the names are inserted we can see the course of 
settlement Until 1740 no one could get land unless he was a Dutch subject ; 
it follows therefore that the names in the neighbourhood of Kyk-over-al and 
on the upper Berbice and Canje are Dutch. After 1740 Essequebo was opened 
to all nations with a consequent influx of English from the West Indies, followed 
later by a fair number of French. The upper Demerara was largely English 
(or Barbadian), the French occupied the West Bank and the sides of the Canals, 
with a few on the East and West Coasts. Until the British conquest however 
the coast from Mahaica to the Corentyne had been neglected, then came the 
boom in cotton and a succession of English planters, who, of course, gave British 
names. Here we find Albion, Chiswick, Hammersmith, Epsom, Brighton, Clifton, 
Liverpool, etc. Dunrobin, Fyrish, Auchlyne, Kilmarnock and Tarlogie, as well as 
Carnarvon, proving that English, Scotch, and at least one Welshman were present. 
The Canals and their neighbourhood have Middlesex, Westminster, and Vauzhall 
—Versailles and Bordeaur—Ostend and Vriesland, indicating that the three 
nationalities were neighbours. Although the United Kingdem is most con- 
spicuous on the East Coast we find Chatea u Margot, La Bonne Intention, Mon 
Repos, ete., French, and Goedverwagting, Sparendaam, ete., Dutch. 
The Blstidioa system of naming estates from the owners, without any addi- 
tion, is hardly known here (Qgle is an example), but Little England is well to the 
