VII.—ST. LUCIA. 
234. The Island of St. Lucia is the Bee of the Windward 
; s an area of 233 squa e miles, rather less than 
Middlesex. The surface is very hilly. The main axis of elevation 
trends from north to south, with numerous ridges and aks 
n elevation of 3,000 feet. The scenery is bold and rugged, 
o 
ingu 
still covered with forest. The valleys are very rich and fertile, 
but the only ones at present cultivated are the Mabouya, Roseau, 
and the Cul-de-sac valleys. Two large districts in the northern 
d n portions of the island consist of comparatively 
undulating or level count There, is an abundant supply o 
moisture from frequent showers, and vegetation seldom suffers 
from drou gees decd iy was one ea rainfall 
Observations 74 abov -level, 
recorded a rainfall of RI 39 eae In 1894 the record showe 
81:55 i it indicated 113 inches olute 
October, while in the same month the absolute minimum was 
60°2° Fah. The climate in some of the valleys is not so healthy as 
elsewhere. 
225. In St. Lucia only a comparatively small extent of land has 
been under systematic cultivation. Itis estimated that not one- 
fourth of the total area is beneficially occupied at present. Much 
of it that once was cleared has since relapsed into ruinate or 
forest tr In the interior are large tracts of mountainous 
lands belon to the Crown. Some of these are at present quite 
inaccessible, eithat by roads or ädla patli: 
236. The population of the census of 1891 was 42,220 ; on the 
31st December 1895 it was estimated at 45,906, or an increase of 
3,686 since 1891. This is at the rate of 197 to the square mile, 
The death rate in 1895 was 22-4 per 1000. Immigration from 
India was resumed in 1878; there were in the colony at the end 
of 1895 721 indentured coolie immigrants. The total East Indian 
population at present in the island -is estimated at about 2,560. 
The former connection of the island with France is shown by the 
existence om a a patois almost universally spoken by the 
labouring cla 
2 Sehr products in order of importance are sugar, r 
molasses, cacao, logwood, coffee, ginger, ia black pepper, 
vanilla, and graines d’ ambrette, or vegetable m 
products; grown for local use are arrowroot, r (Cumak 
development of St. Lucia has hardly ve The par yya of 
other plants is of a partial and fitful character 
apparently an entire absence of practical heerlen respecting 
the requirements of most subsidiary industries. 
