WES 



West Cape, a cape on the W. coaft of Tavai-poe-nam- 



moo, the fouthernmoft ifland of New Zealand. S. lat. 45° 



54'. W. long. 193° 17'. 



West Cappel, a town of Holland, in the ifland of Wal- 



cheren ; 6 miles N.W. of Middleburg. 



West Chefler, a county of New York, containing 30,272 



inhabitants. 



The following ftatiftical table is founded upon the cenfus 



of 1810. 

 Towns. 



Bedford - 



Cortlandt 



Eaft-Chefter 



Greenfburgh 



Harrifon - 



Mamaroneek 



Mount-Pleafant 



New-Caftle 



New-Rochelle 



North-Caftle 



North-Salem 



Pelham ... 



Poundridge 



Rye - - 



Scarfdale - . - 



Somers ... 



South-Salem 



Weft-Chefter 



White Plains 



Yonkers . - - 



York-town 



It fends three members to the houfe of aflembly. It is 

 fituated on the E. fide of the Hudfon, N. of New York 

 county ; bounded N. by Dutchefs county, E. by the ftate 

 of Connefticut, S. by Long ifland found and Eaft river, 

 W. by Haerlera river and the Hudfon ; or by New York 

 county, the ftate of New Jerfey, and the county of Rock- 

 Land. Its area is about 480 fquare miles, or 307,200 acres, 

 fituated between 40'' 47' and 41° 22' N. lat. ; 3° and 32' 

 E. long, from New York. 



West Chejler, a poft-town(hip of New York, at the 

 S. W. extremity of Weft Chefter county, on Eaft river ; 1 2 

 miles from New York. Its medial extent from N. to S. 

 may be 4 miles, and from E. to W. about 5, with an area 

 of 20 fquare miles. It is a valuable traft of land, fome- 

 what ftony, with a large proportion of clayey loam, which, 

 with good huft)andry, may be rendered produftive. Weft 

 Chefter village, fituated at the head of the navigation on Weft 

 Chefter creek, contains about 25 dwellings, an epifcopal 

 church, a Friends' meeting-houfc, a fchool-houfe, a grift- 

 mill, and about 200 inhabitants. Adjoining to it are a bed 

 of marble and an extenfive common. In the townfliip are 

 feveral manufaftories, grift -mills, three houfes for worftiip, 

 one for Friends, one for Epifcopahans, and one for Dutch 

 Lutherans, and fix fchool-houfes, and many elegant coun- 

 try-feats. For its population, &c. fee the preceding article. 



West Chejler Borough, a townfliip of Pennfylvania, in 

 the county of Chefter, containing 47 1 inhabitants. 



West Creek, a river of New Jerfey, which runs into the 

 Delaware bay, N. lat. 39° 14'. W. long. 74° 57'. 



West Fallotufield, a townfliip of Pennfylvania, in the 

 county of Chefter, containing 1157 inhabitants. 



West Gothland, or Wejlrogothta. See Gothland. 



West Harbour, a bay on the S. coaft of Jamaica, formed 



WES 



by a peninfula, called Portland Ridge. N. lat. 1 7° 48'. W 

 long. 77°. 



West Indies, in Geography and Commerce, comprehends 

 all the iflands that lie in the Caribbaean fea, between North 

 and South America ; and alfo a few of the neighbouring 

 fettlements on the continent. (See li^ejl Indies.) The 

 larger iflands, or greater Antilles, are, Jamaica, belonging to 

 the Enghfti, Cuba (Spanifli), Porto Rico (Spanifli), and 

 St. Domingo (French and Spanifli). The fmaller iflands, 

 or lefler Antilles, called alfo the Caribbee iflands, are di- 

 vided into leeward and windward iflands. The former are 

 Tortola, the Saints, Barbuda, Antigua, St. Kitt's, Nevis, 

 Montferrat, and Dominica (Englifli), Guadaloupe and 

 Marigalante (French), St. Euftatia and Martin (Dutch), 

 St. Thomas, Santa Cruz, and St. John (Danifli), and St. 

 Bartholomew (Swedifli). The latter are, Barbadoes, St. 

 Vincent, Grenada, and Tobago (Englifli), Martinico and 

 St. Lucia (French). The iflands on the coaft of Terra 

 Firma are, Trinidad and Margarita (Spanifli), Curaflbaand 

 Bonaire (Dutch). The fettlements on the continent of 

 South America are, Demerara, Berbice, Eflequibo, and Suri- 

 nam (Dutch). In fpecifying the monies, coins, currencies, 

 and exchanges of the Weft Indies, we fliall avail ourfelves of 

 the arrangement of Dr. Kelly in his valuable work, and 

 clafs the iflands under the five general heads of Englifli, 

 French, Danifli, Dutch, and Spanifli; premifing, that though 

 the feveral iflands and fettlements, which we have already 

 enumerated, are fubjeft to various political changes, they 

 neverthelefs, for the moft part, retain the weights, meafures, 

 and denominations of money belonging to the European 

 nations by which they have been colonized. 



In the Englijh iflands, accounts are kept in pounds, ftiil. 

 lings, and pence currency ; the Weft India currency being 

 an imaginary money, which varies confiderably in its propor- 

 tion to fterhng, fo that it is in fome places reckoned at 140, 

 and in others 200, for 100/. Englifli, more or lefs. The 

 principal coin circulating in the Weft Indies is the Spanifli 

 dollar, and this feems to be the ftandard by which the value 

 of all other monies is regulated ; and with regard to the pro- 

 portion between fterhng and currency, it fliould be obferved, 

 that although it has been declared by different authorities, 

 yet it is chiefly regulated by the courfe of exchange with 

 London. Of the Englijh iflands, the firft we fliall take 

 notice of is Jamaica. The currency of this ifland is 140/., 

 and its proportion to fterhng is as 7 to 5 ; fo that i/. ftej- 

 ling is = 28^. currency, and lA currency = 14;. ^^d. fter- 

 hng. The price of the dollar is 6s. Sd. currency. 



The gold coins current in this ifland, with their value in 

 currency, appear in the following Table. 



Rr 2 



The 



