482 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. 



counter- currents to the trade winds. Great, therefore, was the amazement of 

 the inhabitants when they heard that the black rain had come from St. Vincent, 

 ejected through the trade zone to the counter-zone of aerial currents setting 

 north-eastwards at an altitude of 16,000 or 17,000 feet. 



Several species of birds, supposed to have been exterminated or regarded as 

 fabulous, still survive in the caverns of La Soufrière ; amongst them is the whistler 

 {sibilans myadestes). 



Throughout the sixteenth century St. Vincent was left to its native Carib 

 inhabitants. During the following century the English and the French con- 

 tended for its possession, without, however, making any permanent settlements. 

 Even so late as 1660, after the wars which had been waged against the Indians 

 in most of the Antilles, it was decided to leave both St. Vincent and Dominica 

 to their original owners, all English and French settlers as well as other whites 

 being excluded, except the French priests, who were allowed to maintain the 

 missions at their own expense. 



But the terms of the treaty were not observed, and in 1765, when St. Vincent 

 was definitely ceded to England and the coast districts occupied by British 

 planters, the intruders were again attacked by the Caribs. The war lasted ten 

 years, and broke out again in 1778, and during the French Revolution. The 

 natives had all the more reason to fear the settlers that they were no longer all 

 "red," that is, full-blood Caribs, exempt by custom from servitude. Most of 

 them had, in fact, become " black " Caribs, that is, descendants of maroon negroes 

 and native women. As many as 500 of their ancestors were even said to have 

 been negroes from Guinea, who had escaped from a vessel wrecked on the coast of 

 St. Vincent. Hence they were liable to loss of freedom as well as of their lands. 

 They accordingly fought with the energy of desjDair against the British forces, 

 but had to surrender at discretion in 1796, and next year nearly all the survivors, 

 numbering 5,080, were transported to the island of Roatan, on the Honduras 

 coast. There still remain nearly 200, highly valued by the settlers as boatmen 

 and tide-waiters. Nor do they betray any of the ferocity attributed rightly or 

 wrongly to their forefathers. Some of the rocks in their district are covered 

 with rude carvings. 



The St. Vincent planters soon grew wealthy b}^ the sugar industry. But 

 after the emancipation they found themselves suddenly abandoned by their 

 former slaves, who went off to cultivate on their own account the unoccupied 

 lands of the interior. Most of the old plantations were abandoned, and nearly 

 all the English planters left the island. 



At present the chief agricultural industry is the production of arrowroot 

 (maranta iudica), which is elsewhere unrivalled for its strengthening properties 

 and exquisite flavour. Some attention has also been given to the cultivation of 

 tea, but without much success, though the shrub thrives well in the shade of the 

 damp forests. Alimentary plants of all kinds are raised in sufficient quantities 

 for the people of colour, who occupy numerous villages in every part of the 

 productive districts, and who appear to be gradually acquiring the ownership of 



