CHRISTOPHER'S, ST., or, popularly, St. Kitts, an island near the n.e. bend of the great arch of the Antilles, 46 in. to the w. of Antigua, and 2 m. to the n. of Nevis. With a very unequal breadth, it is 20 m. long from s.e. to n.w., containing about 44,000 acres, and (1871) 28,169 inhabitants. It belongs to Great Britain, and has a legislature of its own, with an executive immediately subordinate to the governor-in-chief of the Leeward group, residing in Antigua. In 1876, the revenue of the colony was £32,000, having been only £3,638 in 1834; so that, under the system of free labor, it had increased nearly nine-fold in 42 years. During the same interval, the imports had risen in value from £63,018 to £139,000, and the exports from £105,267 to £156,000. The staple exports are sugar, ruin, and molasses. The debt of the island in the year 1876 amounted to £6,000. Education is in a promising condition. In the year 1865, there were 27 schools receiving government aid, attended by 1367 pupils in all-11 of the establishments belonging to the church of England, 8 to the Moravians, and 8 to the Wesleyans.
The chief towns, both of them seaports with open roadsteads, are Basse-Terre, defended by fort Smith, and Sandy Point, protected by fort Charles and Brimstone Hill. Of fort Smith, the exact bit, and long. are 17° 17' 7" n., and 62° 48' west. The mean annual temperature of these places, and of the coast generally, is about 80° F.; but the mornings and evenings, even of the hottest days, are agreeably cool. The length of the island is traversed by a well-wooded ridge of volcanic origin, which has in its center a crater; and towards the w. extremity of the range, rises the nearly perpendicular crag of
Mt. Misery, with an altitude of 3,711 ft. above the level of the sea. Over the adjacent slopes, which gradually descend to the water's edge, this central range sends down sev eral streams—almost every plantation, in fact, receiving its rivulet in the rainy season. The springs, though numerous, are yet mostly brackish; and indeed the southern extremity of the island presents a number of salt ponds.
St. Kitts, appropriately named by the natives " the fertile isle," was discovered by Columbus in 1493, and colonized by the English in 1623, who were almost immediately joined by some French adventurers. After treacherously exterminating the Caribs, the French and English, often quarreling, occupied the island, till, in 1713, the treaty of Utrecht gave the whole to England. In 1782, during the war of American independ ence, St. Kitts was captured by the French, but restored. On July 31, 1865, a terrific fire took place at Basse-Terre.
CHRISTOP'ULlJS, ATIIANASIOS, 1772-1847; a Greek poet, the son of a Wallachian priest. He studied at Buda and Padua, and became teacher in the family of the Wallachian prince Mourousi, and, after the fall of that prince, lie assisted the hospodar Caradja in drawing up a code of laws for the nation. He wrote love ditties and drinking songs, which are very popular among the Greeks. He is also the author of a tragedy, and some philological works.