CHAPTER XIL 



THE BAHAMAS. 



HE island-studded submarine plateau whicli has preserved its 

 Indian name of Bahama is also known by the designation of 

 Lucayas ; this term, which might be supposed to be derived from 

 the Spanish word, cayos, " reefs," is also of Indian origin. Abaco, 

 one of two large southern islands, bears the name of Yucaya, 

 or Lucaya, a word which has been extended to the whole archipelago. 



The Bahamas stretch north-west and south-east between the Florida and San 

 Domingo waters a total distance of 780 miles. The English, political masters of 

 the archipelago, comprise under this designation the northern and central groups 

 alone, excluding the Caicos and Turks Islands, which stand on the southern part 

 of the coral plateau. But this arbitrary division can in no way be justified, for 

 the Bahamas, with the Caicos and Turk's ' groups, constitute a perfectly distinct 

 geographical region, all the members of which have the same general asjDect and 

 the same geological origin. 



The actual laud surface is somewhat larger than Jamaica ; but it is quite 

 impossible to determine the number of islands, which change with the storms, and 

 almost with every tide. During spring tides some of the islets become decomposed 

 into several fragments with intervening channels, while others disappear altogether 

 below the surface ; at low water the process is reversed, and whole clusters again 

 become united in continuous land. According to Bacot,* the Bahamas, excluding 

 the Caicos and Turks groups, comprise 690 islands and islets, and 2,387 rocks or 

 separate reefs, with a total area of 5,600 square miles. With the Caicos and Turl<s 

 the actual number can scarcely be less than 3,200, of which only 31 were inhabi- 

 ted in 1890, with a total population of 54,000. 



Historic Survey. 



The Bahamas were the first islands of the New World discovered by Columbus, 

 who landed at Guanahani, re-named by him San Salvador. But he did not 

 determine the position of this island with sufficient accuracy to identify it with 

 absolute certainty. The Spaniards, eager to discover treasures, made no stay 

 on these coralline rocks, and continued their route towards the " Indies " in search 

 of gold and diamonds. 



* The Bahamas, a Sketch. 



