XII.—ST. KITTS.—NEVIS. 
357. The three islands of St. Christopher, Nevis, and Anguilla, 
lying West of Antigua, form a group of the Leeward Islands, 
Anguilla was not visited ie Hh Royal Commission. A note e on 
this dependency is sada late 
358. St. Kitts contains 68 square miles. The area of the main 
ob sehen the appearance ag a long oval, with a _ narrow 
oa s 
soil, composed of a fine loam, easily worked, with a substratum 
of gravel or disintegrated volcanic rock. he —— slopes and 
alleys present a cultivated appearance The cane ee ies 
on all sides to the sea, and up to a hei ight of oe 1,000 fe 'The 
houses and sugar works, usually penaik by trees, iae Sued 
over the country, and relieve the monotony of the cane lands. 
Above the sugar estates are eSa sin of pasture lands, and visible 
under the clouds T Mount Misery are summits covered 
with forest. St. Kitts is, on the whole, one of the pleasantest 
and healthiest ener? in the West Indies. The heat is tempered 
by refreshing breezes, and rain is fairly abundant. An excellent 
Main road, 30 miles long, is maintained round the island. There 
is no Pias The pi ey at Basseterre is chiefly used by 
shipp 
e The area of St. Kitts is 42,000 acres; of this 13,000 acres, 
or 30 per cent., are re turned as useless land. All except 150 acres 
r cent 
apna “with any prospect of paying” is already utilised for 
this pur 
was 10,718, or or more than one-third of the total population of 
the island. There is according to the evidence of the committee 
of the Agricultural Society, “an ample supply of native barman ; 
“no difficulty is experienced in obtaining as much as is te 
_ quired.” _ The rate =d ita ca is from 10d. to 1s. Rai day or 
task iwi when setae a man may earn rs om 
per day. While the rA of wages has not been gen een 7a re- 
duced, empl nt i w less regular than formerly, owing 
© economies eesti rd by the low price of sugar. i ia 
comparatively few proprietors in St. Kitts, in fac 
labouring class owns “no land except in towns or villages for 
“ house-spots. ” Land is, however, let on estates for provision 
