Grenada

GRENADA, the southernmost of the Windward Islands, British West Indies. It lies between I r° 58' and 12° 15' N. and between 61° 35' and 61° 5o' W., being 140 m. S.W. of Barbados and 85 m. N. by W. of Trinidad. In shape oval, it is 21 m. long, 12 m. broad at its maximum and has an area of 133 sq.m. It owes much of its beauty to a well-wooded range of mountains traversing the island from N. to S. and throwing off from the centre spurs which form picturesque and fertile valleys. The highest point is Mount Catharine (2,750 ft.). Lower ground in the south-east and north-west is devoted to cultivation and cattle raising. The island is of volcanic origin with raised limestone beaches in the extreme north. Red and grey sandstones, hornblende and argillaceous schist are found in the mountains, porphyry and basaltic rocks also occur; sulphur and fuller's earth are worked. In the centre, at the height of 1,740 ft. above the sea, is the Grand Etang, a circular lake, 13 acres in extent, occupying the site of an ancient crater. Near it is a large sanatorium. In the north-east is a larger lake, Lake Antoine, also occupying a crater, almost at the sea level. The island is watered by several short rivers, mainly on the east and south; there are numerous fresh water springs, as well as hot chalybeate and sulphurous springs. The south-eastern coast is much indented with bays. The climate is good, the temperature equable and epidemic diseases are rare. In the low country the average yearly temperature is 82° F, but it is cooler in the heights. The rainfall is very heavy, in some parts zoo in. a year. The rainy season lasts from May to December, but refreshing showers frequently occur during other parts of the year. The average annual rainfall at St. George is 79.07 in., and at Grand Etang 264 in. Excellent climate and good sea-bathing have made Grenada a health resort. Good roads and byeways intersect it in every direction. The soil is extraordinarily fertile, producing cocoa and spices, especially nutmegs. The staple ex ports, sent chiefly to Great Britain, are cocoa, nutmegs and mace and cotton. Barbados gets most of its firewood from Grenada. Sugar is still grown, and rum and molasses are made for local consumption.

Elementary education is chiefly in the hands of the various denominations with government grants-in-aid. There are, how ever, a few government secular schools and government-aided secondary schools for girls and a grammar school for boys. The board of education is nominated by the government, and small fees are charged in all schools. The governor of the Windward Islands resides in Grenada and is administrator of it. The legis lative council has 7 ex-officio members, including the governor, and 7 crown nominees. English is universally spoken, but the negroes use a French patois, which, however, is gradually dying out. Only 2% of the inhabitants are white, the rest being negroes and mulattoes with a few East Indians. The capital, St. George, in the south-west, is built upon a lava peninsula jutting into the sea and forming one side of its land-locked harbour. It is sur rounded by an amphitheatre of hills, up the sides of which climb the red-brick houses of the town. At the extremity of the penin sula is Fort St. George, with a saluting battery. The ridge con necting Fort St. George with Hospital Hill is tunnelled to give access to the two parts of the town lying on either side. The population in 1921 was 4,629. There are four other towns—on the west coast Gouyave, or Charlotte Town, and 4 m. N. of it Victoria; on the north coast Sauteurs; and Grenville at the head of a wide bay on the east. They are all in frequent communication with the capital by steamer. The population of the entire colony in 1931 was 78,662.

History.

Grenada was discovered in 1498 by Columbus, who named it Conception. Neither the Spanish nor the British, to whom it was granted in 1627, settled on the island. The governor of Martinique, du Parquet, purchased it in 165o, and the French were well received by the Caribs, whom they afterwards extermi nated with great cruelty. In 1665 Grenada passed into the hands of the French West India Company, and was administered by it until its dissolution in 1674, when the island passed to the French Crown. Cocoa, coffee and cotton were introduced in 1714. During the wars between Great Britain and France, Grenada capitulated to the British forces in 1762, and was formally ceded next year by the Treaty of Paris. The French, under Count d'Estaing, re captured the island in 1779, but it was restored to Great Britain by the Treaty of Versailles in 1783. A rebellion against the British rule, instigated and assisted by the French, occurred in 1795, but was quelled by Sir Ralph Abercromby in the following year. The emancipation of the slaves took place in 1837, and by 1877 it was deemed necessary to introduce East Indian labour. Grenada, with cocoa as its staple, grown principally by peasant landholders, did not experience similar depression to that which overtook the sugar-growing islands of the West Indies.

See Grenada Handbook.