222 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Sept,  i,  1892. 
about  £45,000.  [Less  than  the  revenue  of 
Colombo. — Ed.  T. .!.] 
It  was  natural  in  the  absence  of  any  great  staple 
such  as  sugar,  cocoa,  or  coffee,  that  a Governor 
should  give  a fillip  to  other  industries.  Three  mouths 
after  I arrived  I therefore  started,  or  resuscitated, 
a Board  of  Agriculture  and  appointed  “ Local  ” 
Boards  in  all  the  out-islands  which  have  continued 
in  existence  ever  since.  Amongst  other  subs. diary 
industries  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Coconuts  were 
planted,  great  attention  was  directed  to  Fibre-giving 
plants,  Fruit  of  all  kinds,  and  Tomatoes  of  the 
most  succulent  nature  were  cultivated  with  great 
success.  The  export  of  this  last-named  product  in- 
creased from  some  J2  crates  in  1876  to  upwards  of 
12,000  in  1880. 
In  the  prospectus  of  the  first  Agricultural  Show 
which  was  held  in  1876  I find  that  the  following 
prizes  were  offered  for  fibres : — 
Fibre  of  American  “ Pita  ” ..  ..  §5  00 
Indigenous  Aloe  and  other  varieties  of  Agave  5 00 
Mahi  (is  this  an//  relation  to  “ Cousin  Mahoe  ?")  5 00 
Palmetto  . . . . . . . . . . 5 00 
Pine-apple  leaf  . . . . . . . . 5 00 
In  the  absence  of  a Botanical  Garden  or  of  an 
ubiquitous  superintendent  like  Mr.  J.  H.  Hart,  f.l.s., 
we  were  sadly  ignorant  in  those  climes  of  the 
value  and  even  nomenclature  of  these  fibres.  What 
we  did  know  was  that  the  so-called  “Pita”  plant 
grew  everywhere ; that  it  was  regarded  as  a perfect 
pest ; that  its  fibre  was  nevertheless  long,  white  and 
strong,  and  that  the  fibre  of  the  pine-apple  leaf  was 
of  the  most  beautiful  silk-like  appearance  and  texture. 
Samples  of  all  these  fibres  were  sent  home  by  me 
to  the  Director  of  Kew  Gardens  and  the  value  of 
the  “ Pita,”  the  commonest  plant  of  all,  was  then 
said  to  be  3J  cents  a pound.  It  is  this  “ Pita  ” plant 
which  has  recently  come  into  such  great  notoriety, 
and  as  “ there  is  a tide  in  the  affairs  of  man  which, 
taken  at  its  flood,  leads  on  to  fortune,”  so  it  has 
occurred  that  its  value  has  recently  risen  to  11  or 
12  cents  per  pound  and  that  it  has  been  the  good 
fortune  of  Sir  Ambrose  Shea  to  take  this  t'de  at  its 
flood.  Sir  Ambrose  is  a thoroughly  practical  long- 
headed man  of  business,  and  with  his  numerous 
commercial  friends  and  large  business  connexion  has 
so  astutely  handled  this  Fibre  question  as  to  make 
it  a matter  of  certainty  that,  if  prices  are  maintained 
at  anything  like  the  present  figure,  there  is  a great 
future  in  store  for  the  charming  Bahamas  and  their 
sturdy  and  industrious  inhabitants.  He  estimates 
that  in  a few  years’  time  the  value  of  the  annual 
exports  from  the  Bahamas  will  advance  from  S60,<  00 
to  several  millions. 
There  is  one  matter,  however,  of  great  interest 
from  a personal  point  of  view  in  connexion  with  this 
subject  which  has  not  been  satisfactorily  settled  by 
the  “competent  botanists  ” and  the  experts  who  have 
had  to  deal  with  it  : that  is — To  whom  are  the 
Bahamas  indebted  for  this  magnificent,  economic 
plant?  Is  it  indigenous,  or  wras  it  introduced  by 
human  agency  ? Upon  this  point  I have  arrived  at 
a conclusion  which  I am  prepared  to  maintain  against 
Dr.  Perrine,  Dr.  Schott,  Dr.  Parry,  Mr.  Prestoe, 
and  even  Mr.  Hart. 
***** 
I think  it  is  a matter  of  considerable  importance 
when  it  is  probable  that  the  Revenue  of  those  Islands 
may  be  doubled  or  trebled  within  the  next  few  years, 
and  hundreds  of  persons  may  be  enriched  by  this 
valuable  plant.  On  the  principle  oi  palmam  qui  meruit, 
feral,  I claim  that  it  was  introduced  into  the  Baha- 
mas by  the  late  Honourable  C.  Nesbitt,  who  was 
for  many  years  Colonial  Secretary.  This  claim  I 
am  now  in  a position  to  prove  conclusively.  Mr. 
Nesbitt  entered  the  service  in  1831,  and  died  in  1876 
at  the  age  of  73  or  74.  He  administered  the  Govern- 
ment of  87.  Vincent  from  1860  to  1862.  Forty-five 
years  ago,  viz.,  in  1845,  he  procured  from  Sisal, 
“Yucatan,  a few  hundred  plants  of  this  Agave  and 
had  them  set  out  at  his  country  residence  three 
miles  from  Nassau.  He  was  not  a “ competent 
Botanist  ” but  he  was,  like  the  writer  fond  of  Agri- 
culture and  convinced  of  the  value  of  subsidiary 
industries.  Mr.  Nesbitt  was  much  struck  with  the 
vigour  of  this  plant  when  grown  in  New  Providence. 
He  knew  it  as  the  “Pitaya  plant,”  and  as  a superior 
variety  brought  to  Sisal  from  the  vincinity  of  the 
Pitaya  mountains  near  Poi  ay  a in  South  America. 
In  1851  Mr.  Nesbitt  reduced  a great  number  of  the 
leaves  of  this  plant  into  Fibre  and  placed  samples 
of  them  in  the  Nassau  Museum.  At  the  same  time 
he  sent  specimens  of  them  to  England  and  received 
very  favourable  replies  in  regard  to  their  value  from 
London.  Unfortunately  the  merchants  at  Nassau  at 
that  time,  like  merchants  and  planters  elsewhere, 
were  making  plenty  of  money  in  other  ways  and  they 
looked  with  no  friendly  eye  on  an  industry  which 
might  possibly  disturb  the  cheap  labour  which  was 
at  hand  for  sponging,  as  well  as  for  wrecking  pur- 
poses which  was  then  an  “ industry  ” in  those  waters. 
The  prevalent  idea  at  that  time  was  that  the  wealth 
of  the  colony  was  in  the  water  and  not  in  the  land. 
Mr.  Nesbitt  however  believed  thoroughly  in  agricul- 
ture and  also  in  the  necessity  of  having  two  strings 
to  one’s  bow.  He  was  convinced  that  this  fibre 
would  ultimately  be  of  great  value,  and  he  took 
every  opportunity  of  distributing  plants  all  over  the 
Bahamas  and  Turks  Islands,  fully  believing  that 
in  the  “ sweet  by  and  bye  ” necessity  would  move 
some  fortunate  Governor  to  cause  the  Legislature 
to  accept  his  importation  as  the  saviour  of  the 
Bahamas. 
That  fortunate  Governor  is  Sir  Ambrose  Shea,  and 
the  happy  Legislature  is  that  which  has  been  in 
existence  for  the  last  three  years.  It  is  quite  re- 
freshing to  me,  knowing  these  Islands  and  the  in- 
habitants as  well  as  I do,  to  hear  of  the  great 
prosperity  in  store  for  them  and  of  the  general 
buoyancy  of  the  spirits  of  the  population.  The  progress 
made  in  the  development  of  the  culture  of  this  fibre 
is  really  marvellous.  A few  years  ago  not  a dollar 
of  Foreign  Capital  was  invested  in  the  Bahamas  ; 
now  dollars  are  actually  “ going  a begging.”  Capi- 
talists in  Great  Britain,  Canada  and  the  United 
States  within  the  last  three  years  have  bought 
thousands  of  acres  of  land  which  hitherto  were  thought 
worthless.  Amongst  the  principal  capitalists  may 
be  mentioned  Messrs.  Monroe  & Co.  of  Newfoundland 
who  own  20,000  acres.  Mr.  Keith,  of  Edinburgh, 
2.000  acres,  and  three  London  Companies  with 
20.000  acres  each.  In  addition  to  these  wealthy 
capitalists  and  others  too  numerous  to  mention, 
there  are  several  local  companies  uotably  the  “ Ba- 
hamas Hemp  ” and  the  “ Inagua  Hemp  Company.” 
I tried  a year  ago  to  get  some  shares  in  the  former 
Company  but  was  unsuccessful.  About  200,000  acres 
of  land  have  already  been  disposed  of.  I reduced 
the  price  of  Crown  land  to  5s.  an  acre  in  1875 — to- 
day' it  is  selling  at  £1  and  upwards — and  applications 
for  large  tracts  are  pouring  into  the  Surveyor- 
General’s  Office  from  all  sides.  It  is  very  difficult 
for  any  one  living  in  Trinidad  with  its  luxuriant 
and  comparatively  gigantic  vegetation  to  realize  what 
the  Bahamas  are  like.  There  is  no  hill  over  120  feet 
in  height  in  any  one  of  the  Islands,  there  is  no 
forest,  and  indeed  excepting  in  Eleuthera  and  one 
or  two  of  the  Islands  chiefly  devoted  to  pineapples 
there  is  apparently  little  or  no  soil.  Four-fifths  of 
the  surface  of  the  Bahamas  are  coral  rock  with 
pockets  of  soil  varying  from  a few  inches  to  a few 
feet  in  depth.  When  uncultivated  the  land  is  covered 
with  low  bush.  Several  small  shipme  ts  of  fibre  have 
already  been  made,  and  in  a newspaper  dated  Novem- 
ber 12,  I saw  that  16  bales  of  hand-picked  fibre  had 
been  shipped  from  Harbour  Island  to  New  York. 
It  is  not  likely  that  any  large  export  will  take 
place  before  the  expiration  of  eighteen  months  or 
two  years,  but  after  that  an  enormous  increase  may 
be  looked  for. 
# * * * 
In  conclusion,  therefore,  I claim  for  Mr.  Nesbitt 
the  distinction  of  having  introduced  the  “ true  ” 
Pita  or  Henequen  into  the  Bahamas  from  Yucatan, 
and  I would  ask  whether  the  Florida  plant  has, 
or  has  not  been  identified  with  the  Ixtli  of  Kar- 
winski  and  Perrine. 
