5. TOBAGO.-(32 × 12 m.) W. long. 60° 12; N. lat. 11° 9'; area, 97 sq. m. or 62,080 acres. It is 120 m. from Barbadoes, 75 from Grenada, 20 from Trinidad; population, 17,054; capital, PLYMOUTH; revenue, £14,270; expenditure, £10,387; imports, £66,378; exports, £95,698. Is the most southerly of the Windward Group. (1.) This is an irregular volcanic island, very picturesque, with conical hills. The main ridge is 1880 feet high, and 20 miles long. Two-thirds of the island are covered with dense forest. Sugar, rum, and molasses form the chief exports. Sugar was first exported in 1770. In 1780 there were only 3000 hhd. shipped; but in 1805 15,327 hhd. Cotton and indigo were formerly important articles of export. In 1780 nearly 3,000,000 lb. of cotton were exported, and 27,000 lb. indigo. (2.) The Government is composed of a Lieutenant-Governor, subordinate to the Governor of Barbadoes; a Privy Council of 7; Legislative Council of 7; and Legislative Assembly of 16. It has had 59 English Governors since 1764. (3.) HISTORY.-1498. Discovered by Columbus; inhabited by Caribs. 1580. British flag planted. 1608. Sovereignty claimed for James I. 1625. Unsuccessful attempt to colonise. 1628. Charles I, granted it to Earl Carlisle. 1632. 300 Zealanders sent out by a Dutch company. 1648-54. Two other Dutch colonies. 1662. Ceded to France. 1677. Dutch expelled. 1681. Made over to a company of London merchants. 1763. Ceded to England by Treaty of Paris. 1781-3. Captured by French, and ceded. 1793. Recaptured by England. 1802. Restored to France. 1803-14. Reconquered and finally ceded to Great Britain. 4. TRINIDAD.--(65 × 49 m.) W. long. 61°-62o 4'; N. lat. 10° 3'-50'; area, 1754 sq. m.; population, 109,638, of whom 27,425 are Coolies and 1400 Chinese; capital, PORT OF SPAIN (23,561); revenue, £264,352; expenditure, £234,175; debt, £85,000; imports, £1,218,024; exports, £1,492,811. The island is separated from the South American main by the Gulf of Paria, into which fall the northern mouths of the Orinoco. Population is increasing rapidly, viz., since 1861, at the rate of 30 per cent. But it must be remembered that between 1000 and 2000 Coolies are imported every year. The soil is very fertile. (2.) Productions. The principal articles of produce are sugar, rum, molasses, cocoa, coffee, cocoa-nuts, and pitch; and these, of course, are also the chief exports. In 1870 no less than 92,000,000 lb. sugar and 1,500,000 galls. molasses were exported. There are 150 sugar estates; 800 of cocoa and coffee. Of the 77,452 acres cultivated, there are 41,639 under sugar; 16,020 coffee and cocoa; 11,209 gardens; 2604 cocoa-nuts; 6520 pasture. Coal has been recently found. (3.) Trade. The imports are cotton, linen, and woollen goods, dried fish, flour, hardware and machinery, leather, lumber, preserved and salted meat, and rice. (4.) The Towns are PORT OF SPAIN (23,561), capital—one of the finest harbours in the West Indies, and a Bishop's See; San Fernando (5006), 26 miles S. of Port of Spain, a port with good trade. (5.) Government.-Governor; Executive Council of 3; Legislature of 6-all appointed by the Crown. Between 1735 and 1783 the island had 13 Spanish Governors; and between 1797 and 1872 it has had 57 English. It is a Crown colony, like Ceylon. (6.) HISTORY.-1498. Discovered by Columbus. 1588. Colonised by Spain. 1676. French had it for a short time, but soon restored it to Spain. 1797. Taken by Sir Ralph Abercrombie and a force of 6750 men. 5. BAHAMAS. W. long. 72° 40'-79° 5' ; N. lat. 21° 42'-27° 34'; area, 3021 sq. m.; population, 39,162; capital, NASSAU, or NEW PROVIDENCE, lat. 25 N. (a Bishop's See); revenue, £41,869; expenditure, £40,662; debt, £54,161; imports, £239,190; exports, £152,410. (1.) The group extends from S. Domingo to Florida, parallel to Cuba, from which they are separated by the Great Bahama Bank, Bahama Sea, and Old Bahama Channel. There are 20 inhabited islands, and a large number (3000) of small islets, reefs, atolls, &c. The chief are, in order from N. to S.-Grand Bahama, Great Abaco, Eleuthera, New Providence and Andros, San Salvador, Great Exuma, Long Island, Acklin, Mariguana, and Great Imagua, which is about as far from the E. end of Cuba as Grand Bahama is from Florida. The islands are mostly long and narrow, and the seas between them called sounds or channels. Ten of the islands have custom-houses and ports of entry. Considerable quantities of salt, pine-apples, oranges, and sponges, are exported both to England and the United States. The northern islands feel the effects of the Gulf Stream. (2.) Government.-Governor, and Executive Council of 9; Legislative Council of 9; Representative Assembly of 28. (3.) HISTORY.-San Salvador (Guanahani) was the FIRST land seen by Columbus, 1492. 1629-41. New Providence settled by Spain. 1667-1703. In English hands. 1718. Pirates expelled, 1781. Surrendered to Spain. 1783. Confirmed to Great Britain by Peace of Versailles. GENERAL NOTE ON THE HISTORY. The student will, of course, not attempt to remember all the dates given under the history of each island, but gather them up into some such generalisation as the following. Whenever there was war in Europe between England and France, England, owing to its maritime superiority, at once possessed itself of most of the colonial possessions of its enemies. 1. Islands mostly discovered by Columbus, 1492–8. 2. 1655.-JAMAICA captured by Admirals Penn and Venables, under the authority of Cromwell. 3. 1748.-Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, between England, France, Holland, Spain, and Austria. "A mutual restitution of all conquests." 4. 1763.-Peace of Paris, between England, France, and Spain. England to retain Tobago, Dominica, S. Vincent, Grenada. England to restore S. Lucia and some other islands to France. 5. 1783.-Peace of Versailles, between England, France, Spain, and America. England to recover Grenada, S. Vincent, Dominica, S. Kitts, Nevis, and Montserrat. England to cede to France S. Lucia and Tobago. 6. 1797.-TRINIDAD captured by Sir Ralph Abercrombie. 7. 1802. Peace of Amiens, between England, French Empire, Spain, and Batavian Republic. England to restore to France and her allies all the conquests she had made except Ceylon and Trinidad. K 8. 1814.-Treaty of Paris, between England, Russia, Prussia, and France. England to cede all the colonies taken from France except Tobago and S. Lucia and Mauritius. D. Connected with South America are- I. BRITISH GUIANA. (Map 16.) 1. Fosition, &c.-British Guiana is situated between Venezuela and Dutch Guiana, on the N.E. shore of South America. It is separated from Dutch Guiana by the river Corentyn, and from Venezuela by an irregular line along the meridian of 60 W. long. The southern extremity in the Acaray Mountains is within about one degree of the equator, but of the interior hardly anything is known. The width from E. to W. is about 30 miles. Area, 76,000 sq. m. The boundaries in the interior being very ill defined. Its exact position is between 8° 40′ and 0° 40′ N. lat. ; 57° and 61° W. long. 2. Physical Features.-The colony consists of a vast coast-plain, composed of alluvial soil, backed up by lofty mountain country in the interior. The extreme N.W. part is in the delta of the Orinoco. It is along this plain that the settled portions occur; but many parts of it are low and swampy. i. Mountains. (1.) The eastern offshoots of the SIERRA PARIMÉ, which form the watershed between the Rio Negro and the Orinoco, stretch into British Guiana. Mount Roraima, the culminating point, is just outside the supposed British boundary. The longest offshoot is called Pacaraima, which contains several lofty summits, and abuts so close on the western bank of the Essequibo as to cause the formation of rapids and cataracts. A parallel offshoot to the north is called Arimagua Mountains. (2.) The western offshoots of the SIERRA ACARAY, which separate Brazilian from European Guiana, form the southern boundary of the British territory. North of the main ridge is a parallel one nearer the coast. Indeed, the whole country may be regarded as gradually descending from this elevated interior towards the coast-plain. ii. Rivers.-The colony is well watered. Chief rivers(1.) ESSEQUIBO, which rises about 2° N. of the equator, and runs almost due N., forming several rapids and cataracts in its course. It receives numerous tributaries. The Puruni and Cuyuni join and form a large left-hand confluent. The æstuary is very large, and contains several islands, most likely the remains of a delta. (2.) Demerara, a small river with the capital, Georgetown, at its mouth. (3.) Berbice, rising in a parallel secondary of the Acaray range, and running N. into the ocean at New Amsterdam. Its course is interrupted by several falls. (4.) Corentyn, a long and broad river, forming the boundary between Dutch and British Guiana. Its mouth is exactly in 6° N. lat. 3. Climate and Productions. (1.) Climate.-The climate of a country so near the Equator is necessarily hot. The coast-plain is marshy, and, in many instances, miasmatic. (2.) Vegetable Productions.-Cultivation is confined to the sea-coast and river-banks. The remainder of the colony is covered with dense, and, in many cases, impenetrable forests. The great objects of cultivation are cotton, coffee, and sugar, which is especially good. The timber trade has developed enormously of late years. (3.) Animal Productions.-All the ordinary domestic animals are found. All kinds of wild tropical life, quadruped, bird, reptile, and insect abound. (4.) Mineral Productions.-The mineral wealth of the country is not great. 4. Population and Industry. (1.) Population.-The total population in 1871 was 197,113, made up as follows: |