2
DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND.
On
The
an appearance of luxuriant vegetation.
country
possesses little of a mountainous character, the highest ele-
feet
vation reaching only to the height of 1210 level of the sea.
that
above the
The soil varies according to the situation ;
of the valleys and low lands consisting of
*•
rich,
black
mould, on a substratum of clay ; and unless in seasons of excessive drought, to
which
remarkably productive.
this island is
peculiarly
subject,
The soil of the high lands, on the
other hand, is a stiff, reddish clay, on a substratum of marl, and is much
less
productive, abounding, as it does, with a
species of grass extremely difficult to extirpate ; and the increase of which has even caused some lands, formerly cul tivated, to be
abandoned.
With the exception of such tracts,
and of a small part totally unimprovable, the whole island may be said to be under cultivation.
The staple production
is sugar ; a little cotton is cultivated ; but all other articles of commerce, with
the
exception of sugar, are neglected.
The
quantities of ground provisions, as yams, eddoes, sweet potatoes, &c, grown in favourable seasons, is very considerable.
The tigua is
most remarkable circumstance connected the want of fresh-watervsprings,
there
with
An*
being but two
or three of them, wholly inadequate to the wants of the population.
This want is supplied by tanks, in which the rain
water is preserved, and found to be particularly wholesome
and
agreeable, being light and pleasing to the palate.
The climate is remarkable for want of moisture, although the average fall of rain is forty-five inches.
It is considered
one of the most healthy in the West Indies. The history of Antigua may be said to commence with its discovery by Columbus, for although it was at that period, fend subsequently, frequented by the Caribs, they appeal not to have made it a place of permanent residence; the want of water, to
neglect
which caused European settlers so long
the island, deterring them also from establishing
themselves upon it.
For an account of the Caribs, and of
their probable origin, the reader is referred to the chapter