BARBA'DOES, the-most easterly of the caribbees, and the residence of the governor general of the British Windward islands.. Sec ANTILLES. The lat. and long. of its capital, Bridgetown, are 13° 4'n. and 50° 37'west. Its area is about 16ii sq.m., or 106,240 acres—the unprecedented proportion of 100,000 being under cultivation. Besides the capital, B. contains 3 other towns, all more or less in a state of decay—Jamestown, Speights•town, and Oistiu. B. affords no harbors, being almost encircled by coral-reefs, which here and there extend as much as 3 at. to seaward. InSide of the coral-reefs, the coast, excepting at two points, presents long lines of sandy beach—one of the most remarkable being Carlisle bay with its exposed roadstead, on which Bridgetown stands. Setting aside occasional attacks of yellow fever, the climate is healthy. In 1844, the fall of min was 72 inches; and the temperature is said to have ranged only between 7-Or and 831° F. Shocks of earthquake are sometimes felt, and thunder-storms are fre quent and severe, But hurricanes are the grand scourge of Barbadoes. In 1780, one of them destroyed 4326 persons and property to the value of £1,320,564 sterling: and in 1831, another destroyed 1501 persons and property to the value of £1,602,80esterling. Of the former of violence appears to have surpassed all belief—the winds and the waves between them having carried a 12 pounder gun a distance of 140 yards.
In 1634, tho commencement of apprenticeship under the 'imperial net of emanci pation, the pop. was 102,231;. by 1871, it had increased to 102,042, being an average of 976
inhabitants to eve ly sq,mile. The trade and the revenue bear a.sirnilar testimony to the benefits of emancipation. Between 1833-75 the revenue had increased from £20.975 to £132,123; the imports, from £481,610 to £1,187,493; the exports, from £408,363 to £1,174,010 (value of sugar exported, £976,886); the total tonnage entered and cleared in 1875 was 409.176 tons. Being universally cultivated in regular plantations, the island affords no room for the squatting of negroes on unreel aimed lands, as in Jamaca and other West-India possessions. On this account, if from no other cause, the negro pop ulation have been compelled to labor diligently for hire, and are generally in a condition most creditable to their industry and prudence, contrasting favorably with sonic of the lower classes among the whites. Altogether, however, the Barbadians are a shrewd and clever people. 13. is the see of a bishop. It contains also many well-endowed semina ies—Godrington college, in particular, having a revenue of £3000 a year. It was first colonized by the English in 1625, having previonsly been depopulated by the Spaniards. The peace of B. was seriously disturbed in 1876, by riots occasioned by the proposed confederation of the Windward islands, in which several lives were lost, and great damage done to property.