C R U 



438 



CRY 



Crux. CRUZ, Santa, or St Croix, is one of the three Ca- 



—-Y"" w ' ribbee Islands which formerly belonged to Denmark, 

 but which was taken by the British in December 1807. 

 This island is about 20 leagues long, and four broad, 

 and is intersected by several small rivers. The soil is 

 extremely fertile, but the climate is unhealthy at par- 

 ticular seasons of the year. The island is divided into 

 350 plantations, by lines drawn at right angles to each 

 other, and each plantation contains 150 acres of 40,000 

 square feet. About two-thirds of the land is fit for su- 

 gar, and the other kind is employed in a less lucrative 

 manner. Nearly forty years ago a gold mine was 

 discovered in this island. Sixteen pounds of ore fur- 

 nished eighty Danish rix dollars of gold, finer by two 

 carats than the purest gold of Holland. The vein was 

 about 10 feet deep, and 10 feet thick. It is said that a 

 copper mine has likewise been discovered near the 

 embouchure of the river of Santa Cruz. 



This island is said to have supplied Denmark with 

 five-sevenths of its colonial produce. It produces about 

 35,000 hogsheads of sugar annually, besides tobacco 

 and fruits ; about 8000 puncheons of rum, and 150 cwt. 

 of cotton. 



The official value of the exports and imports of this 

 island, in 1809 and 1810, were, 



Imports. Exports. 



1809 ... . L. 435,378 L. 84,964 



1810 .... 422,033 89,949 



During the same years, the following were the prin- 

 cipal articles imported into Great Britain: 



Years. 



Coffee. 



Sugar. 



Rum in 



Gallons. 



Cotton 

 Wool. 



British 

 Plant. 



Foreign 

 Plant. 



British 

 Plant. 



Foreign 

 Plant. 



1809 

 1810 



Cut. 



297 



31 



Cwt. 



1479 



Cwt. 

 280,21 1 

 290,933 



Cvet. 



374 



181,594 

 236,307 



lbs. 

 610,903 

 174,294 



/ 



The island of Santa Cruz was first occupied, in 1643, 

 by the English and the Dutch ; but jealousies having 

 soon arisen among them, the Dutch were driven out, 

 after a very obstinate engagement, in 164-6. In 1650, 

 the English were attacked and defeated by 1200 Spa- 

 niards, who arrived in five vessels ; and the Spaniards 

 had not possessed the island a single year, when they 

 abandoned it to the French, who were sent out from 

 St Christopher's for the purpose of seizing it. In the 

 year 1696, the colonists, to the amount of 147 men, 

 with their wives and children, and 623 blacks, left the 

 island, after demolishing its fort6, and went to St 

 Domingo. Santa Cruz continued without colonists, and 

 without cultivation, till the year 1733, when it was sold 

 by France, to a company of Danish merchants, for 

 1,611,000 rix dales. It continued in the possession of 

 this company till 1801, when it was taken by the Eng- 

 lish, by whom it was restored to Denmark in the same 

 year of the battle of Copenhagen. The English again 

 took it in 1807, and it has since continued in our pos- 

 session. 



The following was the state of the population in 1796. 



Whites 2223 



Free Negroes 1 1 64 



Negro slaves 25,425 



West Long, of the harbour 64° 48' 29". North Lat. 

 1 8° 28' 40". See Oxholm's Account of the Danish West 

 India Islands. (:*-) 



CRUZ, Santa, a seaport town in the island of Tene- 



riffe, is pleasantly situated, and has a tolerably hand- C*uz 

 some appearance. The streets are narrow, but well W 



paved, and the houses are large and roomy. Upon the ^^ °" 

 beach there is a handsome alameda, or mall, about a 

 hundred fathoms long, shaded with several rows of trees, 

 and formed at the expence of the inhabitants, by the 

 late governor, the Marquis de Branciforte. A centinel 

 stands at the entrance to prevent persons from enjoy- 

 in o- it, and we are informed by Krusenstern, that Mi- 

 Barry, a merchant, pays one hundred piastres annually 

 for the privilege of walking upon it. In the great 

 square there is a well sculptured marble pillar, adorned 

 with emblematic figures, and erected in honour of the 

 Virgin Mary de la Candelaria. Opposite to this pillar 

 is the fort of St Christopher's, where Lord Nelson lost 

 his right arm in his attempt to take the town. There 

 is also a well built pier stretching into the sea, and 

 several level and agreeable walks and rides in the 

 neighbourhood of the town. 



Krusenstern found here abundance of grapes, peaches, 

 citrons, oranges, melons, onions, and potatoes. He paid 

 90 piastres for a pipe of TenerifFe, seven for a moderate 

 sized sheep, one for a fowl, and eightpence the pound 

 for beef. " The general misery of the people," says 

 this intelligent navigator, " the depravity, in the high- 

 est degree, of the other sex, and swarms of fat monks, 

 who stroll about the streets as soon as it is dark ; these 

 are the characteristics of Santa Cruz, and strike the 

 stranger, unaccustomed to such sights, with pity and 

 disgust. There is no place in the world where so many 

 horrid objects are to be seen. Beggars of both sexes, 

 and of all ages, clad in rags, and afflicted with every 

 kind of disgusting complaint, fill the streets, together 

 with lewd women, drunken sailors, and lean and de- 

 formed thieves. I am almost tempted to believe that 

 the lower class of inhabitants here have aU an equal 

 propensity to stealing. A person might fancy himself 

 transported to one of the islands of the South Seas ; for 

 he is robbed in spite of the greatest attention and pre- 

 caution. Whenever a boat came along side the ship, 

 some theft was infallibly committed in the presence of 

 the whole crew, and I was at last obliged to prevent 

 any body from coming on board." See Krusenstern's 

 Voyage round the World, in the years 1803, 1804, 1805, 

 and 1806. Lond. 1813, vol. i. p. 45 — 50. See als© 

 Teneriffe. (j) 



CRUZITA, a genus of plants of the class Tetrandria, 

 and order Digynia. See Botany, p. 127- 



CRYPSIS, a genus of plants of the class Diandria, 

 and order Digynia. See Botany, p. 91. 



CRYPTOCARYA, a genus of plants of the class 

 Enneandria, and order Monogynia. See Brown's Prodr. 

 Plant. Nov. Holl. &c. p. 402, and Botany, p. 208. 



CRYPTOCEPHALUS. See Entomology. 



CRYPTOGAMIA. In the article Botany, we re- 

 ferred to the present article for an account of the plants 

 which compose this class, but after the greatest exertion 

 to procure the foreign works which have been recently 

 published on this subject, and without which an original 

 article could not have been written, we are under the ne- 

 cessity of again referring our readers to another part of our 

 work. See Filices, Fuci, Fungi, Lichen, and Musci. 

 CRYPTOLEPIS, a genus of plants of the class Pen- 

 tandria, and order Monogynia. See Wernerian Trans- 

 actions, vol. i. p. 58, and Botany, p. 178. 



CRYPTOSPERMUM, a genus of plants of the class 



Tetrandria and order Monogynia. See Botany, p. 131. 



CRYPTOSTOMUM, a genus of plants of the class 



Pentandria, and order Monogynia. See Botany, p. 14fi. 



