Guadeloupe

GUADELOUPE, French colony, West Indies, between Montserrat on the N., and Dominica on the S., between 15° 59' and 16° 20' N. and 61 ° 31' and 61 ° 5o' W. It consists of two entirely distinct islands, separated by a narrow arm of the sea, Riviere Salee (Salt river), ioo ft. to 40o ft. wide and navigable for small vessels. The western island, a rugged mass of ridges, peaks and lofty uplands, is called Basse-Terre, while the eastern and smaller island, the real low-land, is known as Grande-Terre. A sinuous ridge runs through Basse-Terre from N. to S. In the north-west Grosse Montagne (2,3 7o ft.), radiates sharp spurs in all directions; near the middle of the west coast are the twin heights of Les Mamelles (2,536 ft. and 2,368 ft.). Farther south is La Soufriere (4,yoo ft.). In 1 797 this volcano was active, and in 1843 its eruptions laid several towns in ruins; but a few thermal springs and solfitaras are now its only activity. In the extreme south is the jagged Caraibe (2,30o ft.). Basse-Terre is extremely beautiful, with cloud-capped mountains clothed in lux uriant vegetation. Grande-Terre rises to only 45o ft., and has extensive sugar plantations. The plain is composed mainly of limestone and a conglomerate of sand and broken shells known as rnaconne du bon dieu, much used for building. The bay between the two sections of Guadeloupe. on the north is called Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin, that on the south Petit Cul-de-Sac Marin. Basse-Terre (364 sq.m.) is 28 m. long by 12 m. to 15 m. wide; Grande-Terre (2 5 5 sq.m.) is 22 m. long from N. to S., of irregular shape, with a long peninsula, Chateaux Point, stretching from the south-eastern extremity. Basse-Terre has several streams, which flood suddenly in the rainy season, but Grande-Terre has very few springs, and depends on ponds and cisterns.

Basse-Terre has old eruptive rocks covered by recent great volcanic cones, together with deposits derived from denudation of the older rocks. Grande-Terre has nearly horizontal limestones conformable upon a series of fine tuffs and ashes, the whole be longing probably to the Eocene and Oligocene. Occasional late Pliocene marl and limestone rest unconformably upon these older beds ; and near the coast there are raised modern coral reefs.

The mean annual temperature is 78° F, and the minimum 61 ° F, and the maximum IoI ° F. From July to November heavy rains fall, the annual average on the coast being 86 in., while in the interior it is much greater. Guadeloupe is subject to violent storms. In 1825 a hurricane destroyed the town of Basse-Terre, and Grand Bourg in Marie Galante suffered similarly in 1865. The soil is rich and fruitful, 3o% is cultivated and half of this is planted with sugar. The other crops include cereals, cocoa, cotton, manioc, yams and rubber; tobacco, vanilla, coffee and bananas are grown, but in smaller quantities. St. Anne, Pointe-a-Pitre and Le Moule and Basse-Terre have sugar usines. The forests of the island of Basse-Terre are valuable but, being difficult of access, are not worked. Salt and sulphur are the only minerals extracted, and there are factories for rum, liqueurs, chocolate, besides fruit canning works and tanneries. Exports (19 2 5) 154,8 71, 706 francs, imports 132,566,419 fr.; the commerce is chiefly with France.

Guadeloupe has a few white officials and planters, a few East Indian immigrants from the French possessions in India, and the rest negroes and mulattoes. These mulattoes are famous for their grace and beauty of both form and feature. Women greatly out number men, and illegitimate births are very numerous. Pop.

The governor is assisted by a privy council, a director of the interior, a procurator-general and a paymaster, and an elected legislative council of 3o members. The colony, a department of France, is represented in the French parliament by a senator and two deputies. Elections show the mulatto gaining power.

The seat of government, of the Apostolic administration and of the court of appeal is at Basse-Terre (9,268), on the south west of that island, a picturesque, healthy town on an open roadstead. Pointe-a-Pitre (30,465), the largest town, lies in Grande-Terre near the mouth of the Riviere Salee. Its excellent harbour has made it the chief port and commercial capital of the colony. Le Moule (15,279 in 192I) on the east coast of Grande Terre has a large sugar export, despite its poor harbour. Of the other towns, St. Anne (10,033 in 1921), Morrie a l'Eau (8, 742 ), Petit Canal (7,000), St. Francois (5,67o), Petit Bourg (5,65o) and Trois Rivieres (5,372), are the most important.

Round Guadeloupe are grouped La Desirade, 6 m. E., a narrow rugged island io sq.m. in area; Marie Galante, 16 m. S.E. ; Les Saintes, a group of seven small islands, 7 m. S., one of the strategic points of the Antilles, with a magnificent naval harbour ; St. Mar tin, 142 m. N.N.W. ; and St. Bartholomew, 13o m. N.N.W.

History.

Guadeloupe was discovered by Columbus in 1493, who named it from the monastery of S. Maria de Guadalupe at Estremadura in Spain. In 1635 l'Olive and Duplessis took posses sion in the name of the French Company of the Islands of America, and l'Olive exterminated the Caribs with great cruelty. Four chartered companies were ruined in their attempts to colonize the island, and in 1674 it passed to the French crown and long re mained a dependency of Martinique. After failures in 1666, 1691 and 1703, the British captured the island in 1759, and held it for four years. Guadeloupe was finally separated from Martin ique in 1775, but it remained under the governor of the French Windward Islands. In 1782 Rodney defeated the French near the island, and the British again took it in April 1794, but in the following summer they were driven out by Victor Hugues with the assistance of slaves freed for the purpose. In 1802 Bonaparte, then first consul, sent an expedition to the island in order to re establish slavery, but, after a heroic defence, many of the negroes preferred suicide to submission. In 181o, the British once more occupied the island, but, in spite of its cession to Sweden by the treaty of 1813 and a French invasion in 1814, they did not with draw till 1816. Between 1816 and 1825 the code of laws pecu liar to the island was introduced. Municipal institutions were established in 183 7 ; and slavery was finally abolished in 1848. Guadeloupe, with much of the West Indies and Florida, was devastated by a tropical hurricane in the middle of September, 1928. Plantations were wrecked and buildings destroyed in the towns. The French government recorded 66o deaths in the island.