The Caribbean Sea - Ports of Call (L-S)

Leeward Islands
These islands are called "leeward" because the prevailing winds in the area blow from southeast to northwest. Thus, the Leeward Islands are downwind from, or in the lee of, leeward of, the southeasternmost Windward Islands, the group of islands that first meet the trade winds. They ate; the Virgin Islands, Anguilla, St. Martin/Maarten (Saint Martin (north part) and Netherlands Antilles (south part), Saba (Netherlands Antilles), Sint Eustatius (Netherlands Antilles), Saint Barthélemy, Antigua, Barbuda, Saint Kitts, Nevis, Redonda (small and uninhabited), Montserrat, Guadeloupe. The small and remote Isla Aves may perhaps be included with this group for convenience. The Netherlands Antilles, however, are divided into two groups, one group in the northeast, and one in the southwest, with different naming conventions, see Netherlands Antilles. The name Leeward Islands also designates a British colony on several of these islands analogous to one on the British Windward Islands, consisting of Antigua, Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Saint Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla and Dominica. Actually, between 1816-1833, the Leewards Islands were only divide into Antigua-Barbuda-Montserrat and Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla-Virgin Islands.

Long Island


A sixty-mile (nearly 100km) long island in the Bahamas that is split by the Tropic of Cancer. The island is only about four miles (6km) wide, but a road spans most of the length. Long Island is about 150 miles or 240 kilometres southeast of Nassau. Some of the main settlements are Clarence Town, Deadman's Cay, and Scrub Hill. The island originally was called by the Arawak name "Yuma". It was rechristened "Fernandina" by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage in 1492. Archaeological evidence shows that the Lucayan Taíno tribe settled on Long Island, as they did throughout the Bahamian chain of islands. After the demise of the Lucayans, who were carried as slaves to Hispaniola and Cuba, there was no large settlement until the arrival of the Loyalists. The Loyalists were people mainly from New England and New Jersey who fled the American Revolution. Numerous Loyalist families settled on Long Island, some setting up cotton plantations and other raising cattle and sheep. The plantations flourished for only a few years and, by the time of the abolition of slavery in 1834, most of them had collapsed and been abandoned. There are many ruins from this era today, the majority of which are overgrown by bush. There are also remains of some of the houses built after slavery, which are usually small and built of stone. Originally they had thatched roofs; today, most are shingled. The descendants of these families continue to be widespread on the island.

Margarita Island


(Spanish: Isla Margarita or Isla de Margarita) is situated in the Caribbean Sea, off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. There are also two other smaller islands, Coche and Cubagua. The capital is La Asunción, located in a river valley of the same name. In 1498, Christopher Columbus discovered Margarita Island. The local natives, named Guaiqueries, received the conquering Spaniards with open arms unaware that they later would become slaves of their own wealth. Pearls represented almost a third of all New World tribute to the Spanish Crown. Margarita Island had to be fortified against the increasing threat of pirate attacks, and several of these fortifications remain today. In 1561, the island was seized by Lope de Aguirre, a notoriously violent and rebellious conquistador who held the islanders in a grip of terror until he returned to the mainland in an attempt to take Panama from the Spanish crown.

Martinique


An island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, having a land area of 1,128 km². Its official language is French, although almost all of its inhabitants also speak Antillean Creole (Créole Martiniquais). Martinique's indigenous people were Carib Indians. Christopher Columbus saw the island in 1493, but he didn't set foot on it until 1502 during his fourth voyage. However, Spaniards did not colonize the island. The first European to inhabit the Martinique island was the Frenchman Pierre Belan d'Esnambuc who founded a settlement on the island in 1635. However the Caribs (the indigenous people of the Caribbean) were probably the first set of people to live on the island. His nephew Jacques-Dyel du Parquet bought the island and developed a rich and wealthy colony. The island became a part of the French crown in 1658. Sugar, indigo and coffee were the first crops to be grown on the island. Black slaves were brought to the island from West Africa. The island was under Britain's command during the Seven Years' War from 1762 to 1763. The last British governor was General Sir Charles Wale. Napoleon's wife, Joséphine, was born in Martinique to a family of the wealthy Creole elite. The ruins of the Habitation de la Pagerie where she spent her childhood can still be visited in Trois-Ilets, across the bay from Fort-de-France, the island's capital.

Mayaguan


The most easterly island of the Bahamas. It is one of only two Bahamian islands which retain their Arawak names, the other being Inagua. It has an area of about 110 square miles. About 60 miles north of Inagua and 350 miles south of the capital of Nassau, Mayaguana is considered the halfway point between South Florida and Puerto Rico and is about 450 nautical miles off Palm Beach, Florida. Mayaguana was uninhabited until 1812, when people began to migrate from theTurks and Caicos Islands, which are located about 60 miles southeast.

Mona


(Spanish: Isla de Mona) An island of the archipelago of Puerto Rico located in the Mona Passage, a strait between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. It measures about 11 km by 7 km (7 miles by 4 miles), and lies 66 km (41 miles) west of Puerto Rico. Mona Island is believed to have been originally settled by Arawak Indians who arrived from Hispaniola (present day Haiti and the Dominican Republic). An archeological excavation during the 1980s discovered many Pre-Columbian objects on the island that helped support historians' theories of the island's first inhabitants. Stone tools found in a rock shelter have been dated to around 3000 BC. Much later the island was settled by the Tainos, and remained so until the arrival of the Spanish in the 15th century. On November 19, 1493, during his second voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus encountered the island now known as Puerto Rico, which the natives called Borinquen (or Borikén according to some historians), and which Columbus named San Juan Bautista (Saint John the Baptist). Within hours of setting foot in what is present day Guánica, Columbus and his ships headed west to Hispaniola, where he expected to meet several crewmembers who had remained behind from his first voyage. As he left Puerto Rico, he reputedly became the first European to sight the island, which was claimed for Spain. The name Mona derives from the Taíno name Ámona, bestowed by the natives in honor of the ruling Cacique or chief of the island. In 1502, Fray Nicolas de Ovando was sent to Isla Mona to keep an eye, from a safe distance, on the native revolts occurring in Hispaniola. With a group of 2,000 Spanish settlers, Ovando was left in charge of creating a permanent settlement on the island. Due to its small size and location, the island proved inadequate to accommodate such a large settlement, and food became scarce as shipments from Hispaniola and Puerto Rico were received infrequently. Juan Ponce de León, who accompanied Columbus on his first two voyages, became the first ruling governor of Puerto Rico. In 1508, de León made several visits to Mona Island to gather goods and food from the Tainos residing there. The island, which had an abundant supply of food and other products commonly used by the Tainos on both Mona Island and Puerto Rico, was considered a valuable possession to personally own. In 1509, de Leon became interested in acquiring the island, and this caused a bitter rivalry between him and King Ferdinand II of Aragon who wanted Mona Island for his own private vacation retreat. In 1515, after some wrangling, Ferdinand II was able to reclaim the island from Diego Colon, Viceroy of the Indies. By then, Isla Mona was an important point of trade between Spain and the rest of Latin America, as well as a rest stop for the crews of boats carrying slaves. With his possession of the island, King Ferdinand II gave the resident Tainos two options if they wished to continue living on the island: they could work by fishing, making hammocks and cultivating plants, or they could become miners and help in the mining of guano and other minerals. Realizing that mining would require intense labor, the majority of inhabitants chose to work as fishermen and farmers. By accepting this option, they also were exempted from paying imposed taxes, and were able to avoid the hard labor many other natives endured in mines. In time, natives from other neighboring islands were brought to Mona Island to assist with labor. After the death of Ferdinand II in 1516, ownership of the island was transferred to Cardenal Cisneros. The island changed ownership again in 1520, when Francisco de Barrionuevo became the island's new landlord. By 1524, Alonso Manso, bishop of Puerto Rico, had become interested in gaining personal wealth, and he accused Barrionuevo, among others, of various crimes under the Spanish justice system of the time. Because of this situation, Barrionuevo exiled himself to one of Spain's colonies in South America, taking many Tainos along with him, and leaving the island practically deserted. By 1522, ships from other major sea powers such as England, France, and the Netherlands began to arrive at Isla Mona to replenish supplies for their transatlantic voyages. The island also provided them and pirates with a refuge from which they could attack and plunder Spanish galleons. In 1561, during an audience held in Santo Domingo, it was recommended that Isla Mona should become a part of that colony (which at the time occupied the eastern half of Hispaniola). The reasons offered were simply that the island was closer to Santo Domingo (presently the Dominican Republic) than to Puerto Rico, and that it had a small population which could help the colony's economy in overall agricultural production. However, the petition was turned down and the island continued to remain politically part of Puerto Rico. In 1583, the Spanish archbishop of Puerto Rico received royal permission to bring Christianity to Mona Island. However, by this time most Tainos remaining on the island had either died or fled to mainland Puerto Rico due to repeated raiding by European (especially French) ships. From the end of the 16th century up until the mid-19th century the island was largely abandoned by the colonial authorities. It seems to have been sporadically inhabited, although records from this period are somewhat sketchy. It continued to be used as a refuge by pirates and privateers, including the notorious Captain Kidd who hid out there in 1699.

Montserrat


A British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. It measures approximately 16 km (10 miles) long and 11 km (7 miles) wide, giving 40 km of coastline. Montserrat was given its name by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World in 1493, after its namesake located in Catalonia, Spain. Montserrat is often referred to as the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean, due both to its resemblance to coastal Ireland and to the Irish descent of most of its early European settlers. Its Georgian-era capital city of Plymouth. Montserrat was populated by Arawak and Carib peoples when it was claimed by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage for Spain in 1493, naming the island Santa Maria de Montserrate, after the Blessed Virgin of the Monastery of Montserrat, which is located on the Mountain of Montserrat, in Catalonia, Spain. The island fell under English control in 1632 when a group of Irish fleeing anti-Roman Catholic sentiment in Saint Kitts and Nevis settled there. The import of slaves, common to most Caribbean islands, mainly coming from West Africa, followed during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and an economy based on sugar, rum, arrowroot and Sea Island cotton was established.

New Providence


An island, and the most populous, in the Bahamas. While the first European visitors to the Bahama Islands were Bermudian salt rakers gathering sea salt in Grand Turk and Inagua after 1670, the first lasting occupation was on Eleuthera and then New Providence shortly thereafter. The attraction of New Providence was one of the best sheltered natural small vessel harbors in the West Indies. Because of the harbor, and near adjacency to the Florida Strait, New Providence became a nest of pirates preying on mainly Spanish shipping returning to Spain with gold, silver, and other wealth. The apex of piratical activity there was from 1715 to 1725, after which the British government established a formal colony and military headquarters centered on the small city of Nassau fronting the New Providence harbor.

Nevis
(see St. Kitt)

Providencia
(see San Andres)

Puerto Rico


Located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands; approximately 2,000 km (1,280 miles) off the coast of Florida. The archipelago of Puerto Rico includes the main island of Puerto Rico, the smallest of the Greater Antilles, and a number of smaller islands and keys, the largest of which are Mona, Vieques, and Culebra. Puerto Ricans sometimes refer to their island as Borikén, or the Spanish variant Borinquen, a name for the island used by indigenous Taíno people. The current term boricua derives from the Taíno name for the island, and is commonly used to identify oneself as Puerto Rican. The history of the island of Puerto Rico (Spanish for rich port) before the arrival of Christopher Columbus is not well understood. The first comprehensive book on the history of Puerto Rico was written by Fray Iñigo Abbad y Lasierra in 1786, 293 years after the first Spaniards arrived on the island. The first indigenous settlers of Puerto Rico were the Ortoiroid, an Archaic age culture. Between AD 120 and 400, the Igneri, a tribe from the Orinoco region, arrived on the island. Between the 7th and 11th century the Taíno culture developed on the island and, by approximately AD 1000, the Taíno culture had become dominant, a trend that lasted until the Spanish arrived in 1493. When Christopher Columbus arrived at Puerto Rico during his second voyage on November 19, 1493, the island was inhabited by a group of Arawak Indians known as Taínos. The Taínos called the island "Borikén" or "Borinquen". Columbus named the island San Juan Bautista, in honor of Saint John the Baptist. Later the island took the name of Puerto Rico (English: Rich Port) while the capital was named San Juan. In 1508, Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León became the island's first governor to take office. The island was soon colonized by the Spanish. Taínos were forced to work for the Spanish crown but were decimated by diseases brought by the Spaniards and the harsh conditions in which they were forced to work. African slaves were introduced as labor to replace the decreasing populations of Taíno. Puerto Rico soon became an important stronghold and port for the Spanish Empire in the Caribbean, gaining the title of "La Llave de las Americas" (The Key of the Americas). Colonial emphasis during the late 17th - 18th centuries, however, focused on the more prosperous mainland territories, leaving the island impoverished of settlers.

Rio de la Hacha


Riohacha or Rio Hacha (Ax River), is a city in the northern Caribbean Region of Colombia by the mouth of the Ranchería River and the Caribbean sea. Founded by Conqueror Nikolaus Federmann in 1535, Riohacha was named after a local legend "The legend of the Ax". The area is mostly desertic and inhabited by Amerindians, predominantly by members of the Wayuu ethnic group. During colonial times Riohacha was a very important port due to findings of vast amounts of pearls. The Riohacha area was inhabited by American Indians of the Wayuu culture, part of the larger Arawak group. The territory was "discovered" by Spanish sailor Alonso de Ojeda in 1498, though he never landed. A short time later, Juan de la Cosa, another Spanish explorer, landed on what is today called Cabo de la Vela (Cape of the Sail, so called because of its shape). In 1535, the German explorer Nikolaus Federmann founded a city with the name Nuestra Señora Santa Maria de los Remedios del Cabo de la Vela (Our Lady Saint Mary of the Remedies of the Cape of the Sail) at the place de la Cosa landed. The Spanish discovered a vast amount of pearls in the city's area, which made the city a constant target for pirates. After the city was destroyed by a pirate raid, the city government relocated the city to the mouth of the Rancheria River, in order to confuse the pirates, and hopefully give the city time to rebuild before the next attack. The new city, named Nuestra Señora de los Remedios del Río de la Hacha (Our Lady of the Remedies of the Ax River), expanded peacefully for a short time in its new location, but pirate attacks soon resumed. The next major attack, led by the famous English pirate Francis Drake, took place in 1596, when Drake pillaged the city searching for gold and pearls. In the 18th century, Riohacha was incorporated to the Viceroyalty of New Granada as part of the province of Santa Marta.

Saba


(pronounced "SAY-ba") is the smallest island of the Netherlands Antilles, located at at 17°38′N, 63°14′W. It consists largely of the dormant volcano, Mount Scenery (888 m), the highest point. Saba has a land area of 13 km² (5 sq. miles). The origin of the name "Saba" is believed by some to be a variant of Dutch for "shoe", due to the shoe like silhouette of the island from the ocean. Another, perhaps more likely theory is that the island's name is derived from the Arawak Indian word for "rock", which was "siba". Christopher Columbus is said to have sighted Saba on November 13, 1493, but did not land, as the island's perilously rocky shores were a major deterrent to Columbus and his crew. In 1632 a group of shipwrecked Englishmen landed upon Saba; they stated they found the island uninhabited when they were retrieved by others. But there has been some evidence found indicating that Carib or Arawak Indians may have been on the island. In 1635 a stray Frenchman claimed Saba for Louis XIII of France and around the year 1640, the Dutch West India Company sent people from the neighboring island of St. Eustatius to colonize the island. These settlers were then in 1664 evicted to St. Maarten by Sir Henry Morgan, the notorious English buccaneer, on one of the very few occasions that the nearly vertical rocky island was successfully invaded. Through the 17th and 18th centuries its major industries were sugar and rum, and, later, fishing, particularly lobster fishing. In the 1600s Saba was believed to be a favorable hideout for Jamaican pirate. England also deported its "undesirable" people to live in the Caribbean colonies. They too became pirates, taking haven on Saba. The most notable native Saban pirate was Hiriam Breakes, who famously quipped "Dead Men Tell No Tales." Legitimate sailing and trade later became important and many of the island's men took to the seas, during which time Saba lace became an important product made by the island's women. The remains of the 1640 settlements can be found on the west side at Tent Bay.

Saint Barthelemy


Also known as Saint Barts, Saint Barths, or Saint Barth, the collectivity is one of the four territories among the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean that comprise the French West Indies. Saint Barthelemy was first claimed by France in 1648. It was sold to Sweden in 1784, which sold it back to France in 1878. The Swedish period left its mark in the names of many of the streets and the town (in honor of King Gustav III) and leaving its national arms, the Three Crowns along with the grey heron, as well as the mural crown, in the island's coat of arms.

St. Croix
(see St. John)

St. Eustatius


The Quill formally known as Mount Mazinga, is a stratovolcano located on the island of St. Eustatius in the Netherlands Antilles. The summit elevation is 601m above sea-level. The name Quill originates from the Dutch term kuil, meaning pit or hole, which was used originally with reference to Mount Mazinga's volcanic crater. The Quill formed between 22,000 and 32,000 years before present to the southeast of St. Eustatius (Statia) in the West Indies. Pyroclastic flows during the initial eruption joined The Quill with St. Eustatius. The Quill has been active since its birth; the last known eruption, as determined by carbon dating, occurred between 1755 and 1635 years before present. Since volcanic eruptions from The Quill have included pyroclastic flows, and groundwater heating indicates that The Quill is only dormant, the volcano must be regarded as potentially dangerous. The crater of the Quill contains a lush rainforest populated by native and introduced tropical trees and plants. These include elephant ears, tree ferns, begonias, figs, plantains, bananas, bromeliads, trumpet wood, mahogany, seedless breadfruit, Surinam cherry, ginger bush and edible raspberries, as well as at least 17 different kinds of orchids. Resident animal species include iguanas, anoles, snakes, hermit crabs, butterflies, exotic birds, and occasional goats and chickens that have strayed from nearby Oranjestad. Hunting land crabs in the Quill crater is a somewhat popular evening pastime of islanders.

Saint John


An island in the Caribbean Sea. It is the smallest of the three main islands: Saint John, Saint Thomas, and Saint Croix. St. John is located in the Caribbean Sea about 4 miles east of Saint Thomas, and 4 miles south and west of Tortola. It is 50.8 km² (19.61 sq mi) in area. St. John was first settled by the Arawak Indians who had migrated north from coastal Colombia and Venezuela around AD 300. The Arawaks inhabited the island until around the year AD 1300 when they were driven off by the more aggressive and warlike Carib Indians. Christopher Columbus is credited with being the first European to see the Virgin Islands during his Second Voyage to the New World in 1493. He named the island group "Once Mil Virgenes", or Eleven Thousand Virgins, in honor of the feast day of Saint Ursula and the 11,000 virgins who were said to have been martyred with her. The Danish West India and Guinea Company was the first to settle the island in 1718. They are also credited with naming the island St. John (Danish: Sankt Jan). The Danish Crown took full control of the colony in 1754 along with St. Thomas and St. Croix. Sugar plantations, such as the famous Annaberg Sugar Plantation, were established in great numbers on St. John because of the intense heat and fertile terrain. The opening of sugar plantations also meant the importation of slaves from Africa. St. John was the site of one of the first significant slave rebellions in the New World in 1733, when slaves took over the island for six months. The Danish were able to defeat the enslaved Africans with help from the French in Martinique. Many Africans committed suicide by jumping off cliffs instead of returning to slavery, as it was commonly believed that upon death they would return to Africa. By 1775, it is estimated that slaves outnumbered the Danish settlers 5 to 1. The indigenous Caribs and Arawaks were also used for slave labor to the point of wiping out the entire population. Saint Croix (English pronunciation: saint croy) An island in the Caribbean Sea, being 28 by 7 miles (45 by 11 km). The island has flown different flags. It has been colonized by Spain, Great Britain, the Netherlands, France, the Knights of Malta, Denmark. Arawaks and Caribs inhabited Saint Croix prior to European colonization. Christopher Columbus visited there on November 14, 1493 at the Salt River. Columbus called the island Santa Cruz ("Holy Cross"). His initial visit led to a battle in which one Spaniard and one Carib were killed. This heralded warfare between the Spaniards and Caribs which lasted for over a century, until the Spanish abandoned the island. In the seventeenth century, Dutch and English settlers, who soon came in conflict with one another, settled the island. Eventually the Dutch abandoned their settlement. Next, the English settlement was destroyed by the Spanish, who retook the island in 1650. However, they in turn were immediately ousted by the French. The island was owned by the Knights of Malta after being bequeathed by Phillippe de Longvilliers de Poincy, governor of the French colony of St. Kitts in 1660. However, they sold it to the French West India Company five years later. Under Governor Dubois, the colony became profitable with over 90 plantations established, growing such crops as tobacco, cotton, sugar cane, and indigo. After Dubois's death, the colony declined and Europeans abandoned the island until 1733 when it was sold to the Danish West India and Guinea Company. This company placed no national restrictions on colonists and soon attracted Spanish Sephardic Jews, Huguenots, and English settlers, the last of which came to dominate the island. Sugar became the major crop. Eventually, however, the development of the sugar beet in Europe undermined the economy of the colony. Saint Thomas An island in the Caribbean Sea. The island has a land area of 80.9 km² (31.24 sq mi). The island was originally settled around 1500 B.C. by the Ciboney people. They were later replaced by the Arawaks and then the Caribs. Christopher Columbus sighted the island in 1493 on his second voyage to the "New World". The Caribs seem not to have survived the first decades of contact with Europeans, either due to disease or deportation and extermination. Pirates likely made use of the island as an occasional base over the next 150 years. The Danish established a presence on Saint Thomas as early as 1666, and by 1672 had established control over the entire island through the Danish West India and Guinea Company. The land was divided into plantations and sugar cane production became the primary economic activity. As a result, the economies of Saint Thomas and neighboring islands of Saint John and Saint Croix became highly dependent on slave labor and the slave trade. In 1685 the Brandenburg American Company took control of the slave trade on Saint Thomas, and for some time the largest slave auctions in the world were held there. Saint Thomas was known for its fine natural harbor, known as "Taphus" for the drinking establishments located nearby. In 1691 the primary settlement there was renamed Charlotte Amalie in honor of the wife of Denmark's King Christian V. It was later declared a free port by King Frederick V.

Saint Kitts (Saint Christopher)


Located in the Leeward Islands. Formerly named Saint Christopher. Nevis (formerly named: Nuestra Señora de las Nieves) lies about 3 km southeast of Saint Kitts. Historically the British dependency of Anguilla was also a part of this union, which was then known collectively as Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla. Although Saint Kitts and Nevis are geographically within the Leeward Islands, they are relatively close to a cluster of several other islands. To the north-northwest lie the islands of Saint Eustatius, Saba, Saint Barthélemy, and Saint Martin. To the northeast are Antigua and Barbuda, and to the south-east is Montserrat. Saint Kitts and Nevis has the distinction of being two of the Caribbean's oldest colonised territories. Saint Kitts specifically became the first ever British colony in the West Indies in 1624, and then became the first ever French colony in the Caribbean in 1625, when both nations decided to partition the island. Prior to European arrival, the island was settled by Neo-Indian peoples for over 5,000 years, with the latest arrivals, the Kalinago peoples, arriving approximately 3 centuries before the Europeans. It was the kindness of the Kalinago that allowed the Europeans to colonize Saint Kitts in the first place, as all earlier attempts to settle other islands was met with immediate destruction of the colonies by the Indians. The Kalinago were eventually completely wiped out on Saint Kitts in the great Kalinago Genocide of 1626. The island of Nevis was colonized in 1628 by British settlers from Saint Kitts. From there, Saint Kitts became the premier base for British and French expansion, as the islands of Antigua, Montserrat, Anguilla and Tortola for the British, and Martinique, the Guadeloupe archipelago and St. Barths for the French were colonized from it.

Saint Lucia


An island in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north of the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It is also known as the "Helen of the West Indies" because the island switched between British and French control so often it was likened to the mythical Helen of Troy. Saint Lucia is one of the Windward Islands, named for Saint Lucy of Syracuse. It was first visited by Europeans in about the year 1500 and first colonized successfully by France who signed a treaty with the native Carib peoples in 1660. Great Britain then took control of the island from 1663-1667 before going to war with France over it fourteen times. The British finally took complete control of the island in 1814. Europeans first landed on the island in either 1492 or 1502 during Spain's early exploration of the Caribbean. The Dutch, English, and French all tried to establish trading outposts on St. Lucia in the 17th century but faced opposition from Caribs whose land they were occupying. Although the French pirate Francois de Clerc (also known as Jamb de Bois, due to his wooden leg) frequented Saint Lucia in the 1550s, it was not until years later, around 1600, that the first European camp was started by the Dutch, at what is now Vieux Fort. In 1605, an English vessel called the Olive Branch was blown off-course on its way to Guyana, and the 67 colonists started a settlement on Saint Lucia but after five weeks only 19 of them remained due to disease and conflict with the Caribs, so they fled the island. The French officially claimed the island in 1635 but it was the English that started the next European settlement in 1639, which was wiped out by the Caribs. It was not until 1651 that the French came, this time from Martinique, commanded by De Rousselan, who held the island until his death in 1654. In 1664, Thomas Warner (son of the governor of St Kitts) claimed Saint Lucia for England. He brought 1,000 men there to defend it from the French, but after two years there were only 89 left, mostly due to disease. For years after this, the island was official traded back and forth between the English and the French in various treaties, as a bargaining chip in negotiations. The English, with their headquarters in Barbados, and the French, centered on Martinique, found St. Lucia attractive after the sugar industry developed in 1765.

Saint Martin


(Dutch: Sint Maarten; French: Saint Martin) a tropical island in the northeast Caribbean, approximately 240 km (150 miles) east of Puerto Rico. The 87 km² island is divided roughly in half between France and the Netherlands. The southern Dutch half comprises the Eilandgebied Sint Maarten (Island area of Saint Martin) and is part of the Netherlands Antilles. The northern French half comprises the Collectivité de Saint-Martin (Collectivity of Saint Martin) and is a dependency of France. Circa 800 AD Settled by Arawak Indians who arrived from South America, given the name Soualiga, or salt Island. 11 Nov 1493 Discovered and claimed for Spain by Columbus, named Isla de San Martin. 1624 Some French cultivate tobacco on French Quarter. 1631 Dutch small colony on Groot baai to collect salt. 1633 - 1647 Spanish army from Puerto Rico builds the first military fort, but after a few years destroy it and abandon the island forever. 23 Mar 1648 Divided into French (Saint-Martin)(north) and Dutch (Sint Maarten) (south) zones (Dutch zone subordinate to Sint Eustatius until 1672). 1679 - 1689 French occupy entire island. 1689 - 1792 Dutch zone under Dutch West India Company administration. 1690 - 1699 English occupy entire island. 1699 - 1702 French occupy entire island. 24 Feb 1779 - 3 Feb 1781 French occupy entire island. In 1493, Christopher Columbus embarked on his second voyage to the New World. According to legend, Columbus sighted and perhaps anchored at the island of Saint Martin on November 11, 1493, the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours. In his honor, Columbus named the island San Martin. This name was translated to Sint Maarten (Dutch), Saint Martin (French and English). When Columbus sailed these seas, St. Martin was populated, if populated at all, by Carib amerindians. The former Arawaks had been chased by the warlike Caribs coming from the North coast of South America a short time before the arrival of the Spaniards who followed in Columbus' wake. The English word cannibal is derived from an Arawak word which referred to the Caribs. The Arawaks were a relatively cultured, agricultural people who fashioned pottery and whose social organization was headed by hereditary chieftains who derived their power from personal deities called zemis. The Caribs, on the other hand, concentrated on warfare. They killed and, allegedly, ate the Arawak men, then "married" the Arawak women. The Caribs' territory was not completely conquered until the mid-17th century when most of them perished in the struggle between the French, English, Dutch, Danes and Spanish for control of the West Indies. The Dutch first began to ply the island's ponds for salt in the 1620s. Despite the Dutch presence on the island, the Spaniards recaptured St. Martin in 1633 and, one year later, built a fort (now Ft. Amsterdam) and another artillery battery at Pointe Blanche to assert their claim and control access to Great bay salt pond. The Spaniards introduced the first African slaves to the area in the 16th century but the main influx of African slaves took place in the 18th century with the development of Sugarcane plantations by the French protestants and some Dutch jews. Slavery was abolished in the first half of the 19th century, whereupon on some of their territories the British imported Chinese and East Indians to take the place of slaves. Thus, St. Martin and the other islands are populated by a mixture of Amerindian, European, African, Indians and Asian peoples. West Indian cultures such as in St. Martin are, consequently, exceedingly rich and varied. On March 23, 1648, France and the Dutch Republic agreed to divide the island between their two nations, so they signed the Treaty of Concordia. Several versions of a legend about the division have become popular. An often repeated story is that the island was divided into two sections through a race; the French-dominated community chose one person for the race and the Dutch-dominated community chose another, a man named Menno Versteeg. The two representatives were put back to back in one extreme of the island, and made to walk along the coast in opposite directions. They were not allowed to run. At the point where they eventually met, a line was drawn across the island, connecting their starting point with their meeting point. This became the frontier which divides Saint-Martin from Sint Maarten, according to the legend. The reason for the difference in size between the two sides was said to be that the French representative moved faster than the Dutch. In one version, the explanation for the French walker's quicker pace is that he drank wine beforehand, while the Dutch walker drank beer. This is used to support the claim that wine has restorative effects and that it was the French drink of choice that enabled the French walker to move faster. In another version, the French walker is said to have gained his advantage over the Dutch walker solely by running and thus cheating.

St. Thomas
(see St. John)

Saint Vincent


A volcanic island in the Caribbean, the largest part of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is located in the Caribbean Sea, between Saint Lucia and Grenada. It was disputed between France and the United Kingdom in the 18th century, before being ceded to the British in 1783. The population resides in the five main towns of Layou, Barrouallie, Chateaubelair, Georgetown, and Calliaqua. The island's highest mountain is the 4,048-foot-high active volcano, La Soufrière, which erupted violently in 1812.

San Andrés (Saint Andrew)


Located east of Nicaragua, San Andrés Island, Providencia Island, Santa Catalina Island, plus small islands and keys around the archipelago. Many historians agree that the archipelago was discovered in 1629 by Puritans and Jamaican woodcutters and was then conquered by the Spanish in the second half of the 17th century. For 200 years control of the islands changed hands several times, falling under the domain of Spain, Britain, France, and The Netherlands at various times, lastly, Colombia took over it. The islands were visited often by pirates, among them the English pirate Henry Morgan who used them as a base of operations and, according to legend, as a hideaway for his much acclaimed treasure. Isla de Providencia or Old Providence is a mountainous Caribbean island. It is part of the San Andrés archipelago, lying midway between Costa Rica and Jamaica. Its maximum elevation is 360m above sea level. It was the site of an early Puritan colony from the 1630s to the 1640s. This colony was a sister colony to the more well known Massachusetts Bay Colony. It consists of an archipelago of islands about 775 km (480 miles) northwest of Colombia and 220 km (140 miles) from the coast of Nicaragua. One of the islands was originally known as Providence Island when it was settled by English puritans in 1630. It is possible the islands were first discovered by Christopher Columbus during his fourth voyage in 1502, although there is no evidence to confirm this. In 1630, Providence Island was settled by English puritans who found this island off the coast of Nicaragua more promising than the cold, rocky shores of New England, where the Massachusetts Bay Colony was being founded at the same time. The Providence Island settlement never succeeded in building the pious religious community that the New Englanders created, and instead began large-scale use of slaves. They also engaged in privateering, for political, religious, and remunerative purposes, as many Puritans regarded the taking of Roman Catholic prizes as a good act. This ended with the extinction of the colony by the Spanish in 1641. The Cromwellian navy attempted to contest the loss of the island, but without success. In 1670 the English corsair Henry Morgan took over the islands until 1689. In 1803, after Spain's Viceroyalty of New Granada had been reestablished in 1739, the archipielago and the province of Veraguas – covering the western territory of Panama and the eastern coast of Nicaragua – were added to its area of jurisdiction. In the later colonial era the territory was administered from the province of Cartagena.

San Salvador (Watling Island)


San Salvador Island was the first land sighted and visited by Christopher Columbus on October 12, 1492. Columbus's records indicate that the native inhabitants of the territory where he landed called the island Guanahani. The British gained control of what are now The Bahamas in the early 1700s. For some time, San Salvador was the home of John Watling (alternately referred to as George Watling), who gave the island its alternative name by which it was officially known until 1925. At that time, the name "San Salvador" was transferred from another place, now called Cat Island, and given to "Watling Island" under the belief that it seemed a much more likely match for Columbus's description of Guanahani.

Santa Catalina
(see Providencia)

Spanish Main
Spanish Main was the mainland coast of the Spanish Empire around the Caribbean. It included Florida, Mexico, Central America and the north coast of South America. In time it became a general term for the seaways around the Spanish possessions in the Carribbean. From the 16th to the 18th century the Spanish Main was the point of departure for enormous wealth in the form of gold, silver, gems, spices, hardwoods, hides and other riches. Major loading ports were Cartagena de Indias in New Granada, Porto Bello on the Isthmus of Darien and Veracruz in New Spain (with wares brought by the Manila Galleons transported overland from Acapulco), and from there they were shipped to Spain by the famous Spanish treasure fleets. This made the Spanish Main a haunt of pirates and privateers, and gave the name a notorious and romantic allure.