 Welcome To AntiguaA Brief about the Island and it's history
Antigua once described as the heart of the Caribbean, boasts an impressive beach for every day of the year. With its white soft sand from the leeward side of the island, to the Caribbean on the other, set against the panoramic views and wonderful back drop, it is an eastern Caribbean paradise. A sun worshipper's heaven, a beach lovers dream, just lay back and think of England. There is plenty for sea lovers too, clear coral reef waters ideal for scuba diving, plus the hectic yacht racing calendar.
Back on land, green hills and irresistible bays and coves make Antigua ideal for your first trip to the Caribbean.
All sounds great, but what about some brief History.
Lookout point at Shirley's Heights is a fortified barracks with breathtaking views overlooking the dockyard. As shown in the photograph below, the lookout itself was built in the18th century and named after General Sir Thomas Shirley governor of the Leeward Islands between 1781 to 1791. Our next stop is Nelsons dockyard built in the 1600s. The dock yard as mentioned on the Antigua main page, was reconstructed in the 1980s and is now a museum which has a lot more on the man himself and other naval buildings in English Harbour. The harbours narrow opening to the bay and fortresses made it difficult for anyone foolish enough to attempt an invasion, and with the dock yard now a well established British Naval stronghold and the arrival of one Horatio Nelson (second in command of the British fleet), who's warship was equipped with enough fire power, assured the islands protection and that they were never invaded again.
Lord Nelson’s stay in Antigua was not a happy one, he was fearing for his life because of the resentment felt towards his appointment, due to the fact he had been appointed to stop the illegal exporting of goods from the plantation to America. He spent a lot of time on board his ship and on the island of Nevis, where he met a widow, the Lady Magda, and got married before becoming ill. His departure on the long journey back to England almost killed him, as we all know he recovered and went on to take charge of his most famous battle at Waterloo.
Back in Antigua the boom in the sugar plantations went bust, and the landowners made a hasty retreat and left the slaves to figure it out for themselves. Imagine what an impact this must have had on Antigua, with the only help coming from the church, mainly in the way of shelter and merely a lot of sympathy. The country went down hill faster than the Wall Street crash in the 1920s, and they remained in the wilderness for many years.
Fort George
Is one of the first fortress's occupied by the free slaves. Built in the late1600s and intended for the safety of the women and children in case of an attack. It had high walls, cannons around the grounds, and was situated near Liberty.
Fort Barrington
Built heavily fortified in the1700s, and probably the most battle worn out of all the forts in Antigua.
It was named after Admiral Barrington, who successfully recaptured St Lucia from the French earlier. If you are visiting the fort go up to the roof for great panoramic views of the area, and on a clear day you can see St Kitts and Nevis where Lord Nelson met his wife. |
Welcome To The Dominican RepublicA Brief about the island and it's History.
The Dominican Republic originally known as Hispaniola, the gate way to the new world. The island is divided into two parts, with Haiti occupying the other half. A popular holiday destination with all year round Caribbean weather, great beaches, plenty of all inclusive hotels, and lot's of things to do. Very good value for money, its a favourite destination for all inclusive holiday makers, especially amongst the British.
All sounds great, but what about some brief History
The island of Hispaniola was the name Spain gave to it's first colony inhabited by the Taino Indians, who were also known as the Arawaks. A friendly tribe living along the coast line and growing crops.When Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492 he decided this gold coast would make a good first settlement, however after several attempts to establish this colony at La Isabela on the North coast, he failed.
This was mainly due to rampant disease, the heat, and most importantly it was very difficult to defend.So finally the present day capital, Santo Domingo, was chosen and the new settlement began.
However the whole island was also known as Santo Domingo, which was now under spanish rule and was the gateway to the new world (i.e. the caribbean and South america). Most of the new comers were opportunists only interested in the gold, which could be bought from the indians or taken from the deposits found on the island.
The Spanish treated the indians who had welcomed them, with unrelenting cruelty, which would become their trade mark throughout the Caribbean.
This included stealing their food and raping their women. When the indians finally rebelled, they were mercilessly crushed by 1495.Columbus who was governor of the island until 1499, tried to help the indians by amending the law, to read that any settler granted a piece of land with indians living on it, had to allow the indians to stay in exchange for their labour.
Unfortunately this was open to so much abuse that it single handedly killed off the Taino indian population, as the settlers had over worked them to such a degree that depression and degradation quickly followed. By 1548 there was estimated to be only 500 Indians remaining, from the original count of around 1,000,000 that existed when Columbus first arrived in 1492.
Meanwhile the gold rush had been short lived and had ran out of steam by the 1515s.Hispaniola was soon abandoned by the adventurers, for the South American and Mexican gold mines in particular, thereby introducing sugar cane as the new money spinner.
But with the demise of the Indians, more labour was needed urgently, and from the early 1500s slaves were brought in from Africa to work the sugar cane fields.
Meanwhile on the north west side of the island pirates and French Buccaneers took full advantage of this unoccupied area, and they resisted all attempts to drive them off the island. During this stale mate situation France seized the opportunity and laid claim to this part of the island, and finally in 1697 a treaty between France and Spain was agreed dividing the island into two.
The French called their part Saint Dominique, which turned out to be the most profitable and made it the richest sugar plantation colony in the caribbean for over a century.The Spanish on the other side of the island did not do as well with their smaller plantations, as there was a law passed which allowed any slave to buy his freedom and all of his family as well.
This took it's toll on the labour force as many slaves did manage to buy their freedom and left the plantations. In fact there were more freed slaves than Spanish settlers around the 1700s. In the french owned Saint Dominique, with its larger proportion of african slaves, there was no such luxury and inevitably caused deep resentment.Eventually in the 1790s a small plantation owner named Toussaint L'Overture led a slave uprising against the French which was backed by Spain in their efforts to abolish slavery.
This uprising succeeded in 1794, and when the bad news of the French soldiers being massacred by the black rebels reached Saint Dominique, it sent a chill to the Spanish settlers on the other side of island, who suddenly all wanted to leave in case they were next.Napoleon Bonaparte who was so shocked by the treachery of Toussaint L'Overture, that he sent in a task force to arrest him and take back control of the island. They were however, driven out by the slave rebels, and in 1804 the Republic of Haiti was born, and Saint Dominique was no more.Meanwhile the Spanish recaptured the eastern side of the island from the rebels in 1809 but were fort back by the settlers, who won the battle and their independence in 1821.
This was however short lived, as they were invaded by the haitians in 1822 and they in turn were now in control of the whole island, which continued for the next 22 years. After this time an underground movement called La Trinitaria, who were steadily gaining strength for some time now, finally siezed control in 1844.
The Dominican Republic was established and stayed settled until the 1900s, when the political sea saw began between the democratic Diettorishus' and the dreaded General Rafael Leonidas Truillo, who's reign of terror during 1930-1961 is still remembered today.In the Dominican Republic sugarcane is still harvested mainly by Haitians workers and their civil rights are still being exploited even today. Gold and silver is still mined, which still contributes to the world reserves.We have only touched briefly on the island's history, but for more details please visit the Dominican Republic web site which can be found on our links page in the menu above. |
Welcome To BarbadoesA Brief about the Island and it's history
Welcome to Barbados
With its beautiful white sandy beaches, Barbados is well known as the little England of the Caribbean. It is the most popular holiday destination in the West Indies, attracting mainly European visitors, with the majority from the U.K. Almost half the island is bordering the Atlantic ocean, where you will find the spectacular Bathsheba. Its eerie feeling and strong currents make here a Mecca to many surfer's
The Bajans as they are called, have been receiving tourists for many years and are very experienced and extremely helpful in making your stay as delightful as possible. A calmer way of life makes Barbados an ideal choice for the first time Caribbean holiday, and the British influence here is very evident in all aspects of every day life.
All sounds great, but what about some brief History
Amerindian settlers had discovered the island over 3000 years ago, and it was frequently visited by the Portuguese until 1625, when Captain John Powell arrived and claimed the island for England. Some two years later his brother also came bringing more settlers and a few slaves to the island in 1627.Massive land clearing had to be undertaken and slaves were brought in urgently to clear the jungle to make way for the cultivation of cotton and tobacco.Later Dutch settlers arrived, who introduced sugarcane from Brazil in 1630s or 1640s,and proved to be such a profitable business that the land was again re cultivated and sugarcane produced instead.
Plantations were expanding so fast that more labour was needed to increase production, and as a consequence it saw the arrival of yet more slaves and settlers. The population had grown, and everybody was getting rich (apart from the slaves of course). This boom time lasted for over a century. Barbados was so profitable that after King Charles 1st execution in 1649, Oliver Cromwell sent a task force to crush any loyalties that still remained to the king after the English civil war. However it took over a year to recapture the island and a surrender was signed by the loyalist’s.
The island also escaped the constant wars between the French and the English that was waged throughout the Caribbean, making it a plantation owner's dream.Until slavery was abolished in 1834 the slaves had two choices, bearing in mind they did not own any land, they either stayed and worked for the plantation owner, or left ending up living in squalor and starvation.
A decline in the sugar industry brought about a dramatic downturn in the economy, proving a bridge too far for the ex slave workers, and in 1937 rioting began. But out of the ashes came the Labour Union Movement, and this body helped to gain Independence in 1966 after 300 years of uninterrupted British rule.
Now where Lord Nelson fits directly into Bajan history is hard to tell, other than he was second in command of the Leeward Islands and protector of the Caribbean, and as far as my research reveals, he never actually visited the island. |
Welcome to CubaA Brief about the Island and it's History
The largest island in the Caribbean, with white sandy beaches, palm trees and lush greenery.Unspolit laid back island full of history mystique and magnificent cites. This is the home of the Rumba and the Latin-American rhythms is also a big hit here as well. Ernest Hemmingway fell in love with island and lived here and wrote is famous novel, Cuba is a sub tropical all year round destination. Making it an ideal holiday island for sun and beach groupies. .Cuba the least known in the U.K is fast growing in popularity, only 110 miles to Jamaica and 90 to the south coast of Florida
All sounds great, but what about some brief History
Little is known about Cuba before the arrival of Christopher Columbus, but we are told that a primitive tribe of Indians called the Ciboney settled along the west coast of the island around 1000BC. It was later that the Arawak Indians, a more sophisticated tribe from South America, invaded around 1100AD.
They lived in huts and grew crops such as maize and tobacco, and by the end of 15th century their population had grown to over 100,000.Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492 on the north coast, stayed a few weeks looking over this beautiful land, then left for Spain.
On returning about a year later in 1493, Christopher Columbus brought a fleet of ships and an army of over 10,000, colonising the south coast and searching for gold. He also argued with his men that Cuba is too big to be an island, claiming it was a peninsula, however a man named Sebastian de Ocampo re-navigated the area and declared it an island.Around the year 1511, Diego de Valazquez a soldier and rich landowner gathered together an exploration party of some 300 men, and began to fortify the settlements from Baracoa to Havana and to Santiago de Cuba. He Killed any Indians who stood in his way, in fact the brutality was so great that only a few thousand Indians were left, although some died through diseases brought in by their conquerors, and many committed suicide.
By the 1520s the boom time they were having became an economic disaster, and in the following years the settlers began to leave in droves for more lucrative pastures, so by the 1530s less than a thousand Spanish settlers remained on the island. Fortunately for Cuba a new economic boom had started in the Americas, and ships leaving the new world laden with goods would stop off in the Havana harbour for repairs, and stock up on supplies before the arduous journey across the Atlantic to Spain.
News about these merchant ships laden with goodies soon got around the Caribbean, and privateers like Sir Francis Drake and pirates soon started attacking and robbing them, in so doing the area became a free for all. To protect themselves the settlers added more fortifications to the island against invasion, but this was to no avail.The English captured Havana in 1762 and stayed for less than a year.
Although their stay was short, the English left a trade legacy, allowing Cuba to trade freely without having to have permission granted from Spain first. As I have mentioned earlier this was a brutal regime run by Spain, the life expectancy for a slave was only 7 years, as he would be literally worked to death.
Therefore uprising and mass suicides only became more commonplace. When Cuba’s sugar plantations began to prosper, more labour was needed to replace the dying Indians, so they turned to Africa. By the late 1700s to the early 1800s some 500,000 African slaves were on the island. Then in 1817 Spain and England signed a treaty abolishing slavery, but in their quest to continue the slave trade, the Crillos as they were now known had one last card to play. They were pinning their hopes on the South winning the American civil war (which was reaching its climax), as the South were in favour of the slave trade continuing.
But as we all know the south lost, and the slave trade was finally ended in 1886. The Africans now made up about 1/3 of the islands population.Around 1868 the first war of independence began with the smaller and poorer plantation owners from mainly on the eastern side of the island, calling for freedom for the slaves. One of the first landowners to free all of his slaves was Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, who also demanded independence calling it grito de Yara.
The war against Spain had started under Generals Maximo Gomez and Calueo Garcia to name a few, and included many more freed slaves in the fighting. Using guerrilla combat they controlled most of the eastern side of the island, but Spain sent an army of 100,000 and won the battle.The second attempt for independence was a success thanks to a man called Jose Marti, whose vision and organisation brought order to the rebel army, and again they took on the Spanish in a bloody war. Jose Marti was killed very early in the battle, Generals Gomez, Garcia and Maceo eventually captured most of the island, but it took 3 years.
The Spanish while retreating to the south, burnt every plantation they could find on the way. At this point you may be forgiven if you thought the end of their plight was in sight. Wrong.The American- Spanish warAmerica had always wanted Cuba, but it still belonged to Spain. However the opportunity for the U.S. came when under mysterious circumstances, the warship USS Maine blew up while anchored in Havana harbour, killing 262 American sailors. The U.S. blamed the Spanish and war between the two started.
Meanwhile the news was welcomed by the rebels, as they hoped to get rid of the Spanish once and for all, as remember most of the island was already under their control. So another 3 years of fighting began.
The U.S. won but made no mention at home that most of the island was already in the rebels hands before the war, nor was their part in the battles acknowledged accept in a negative way.U.S. Rule.However after the victory celebrations the rebels then realised they had only swapped one brutal regime for another, as the U.S. tightened its grip on the island and a military government ruled Cuba until 1902.
Prosperity did return to the island, but the investors and the chosen few reaped most of the benefits. It continued the same way until the Revolution in 1959 when Fidel Castro took power; the rest of Cuban history is common knowledge.So I will end by mentioning some of Cuba's history not previously covered. Che Guevara joined forces with Castro in 1955 and the Bay of Pigs and the missile crisis' took place in 1961 and 1962 respectively. |
Welcome to JamaicaJamaica, the third largest of the Caribbean islands and second in the popularity pole amongst a wide variety of visitors, particularly from Canada, U.S.A, and the U.K. Jamaica was the first to introduce the all inclusive concept to the Caribbean and boasts miles of white sandy beaches, picturesque mountain scenery, lush green landscapes and of course reggae music. Which makes this island truly diverse.
All sounds great, but what about some brief History
XAYMACA was the Arawak Indian name for Jamaica. These original inhabitants were a less hostile tribe of people who lived in caves, probably since 12 AD. In 1494 the explorer Christopher Columbus sailed into Discovery Bay, but finally settled on disembarking at Rio Bueno further up the coastline, due to its deeper waters.
In 1510 more Spanish arrived bringing more slaves. During the following years we are not sure exactly what happened to the Arawak Indians, but what is certain is that many were killed, whilst some may have escaped to one of the neighbouring islands.Port Royal is an area of land situated near where Kingston airport now stands, and is linked by a road called palisadoes. A favourite Port for pirates and cut throats from all over the world to hide, and with many merchant ships in and around the caribbean laden with booty heading to Europe, this area was easy prey for these evil cut-throats.
Who on returning to Port Royal with their spoils, soon turned this place into a lawless, debauched city with it's brothels, waterfront taverns and gambling houses.This lawless state was so bad that a clergy who had traveled for many weeks on a ship arrived in Port Royal and said “there is nothing I can do here” and boarded the same ship out.
With the large amount of Spanish ships in the Caribbean it made it difficult for the British to attack the Spanish fleet, consequently Port Royal was encouraged by the British to continue as it was, with the intention of making the pirates a constant annoyance to the Spanish. By some stroke of fate one of the most notorious of the pirates was a Captain Morgan, who not only destroyed every Spanish ship he came across but uncommonly sent a lot of his booty back to England.
In fact he paved the way for the arrival of the British who captured Jamaica from the Spanish in 1655. Ironically, many of the fleeing Spanish soldiers hid in the same caves as the Arawak Indians had.Although Port Royal was where all the main action was, the official capital in fact was Spanish Town. An earthquake in 1692, took Port Royal and hundreds of people including every ship in port, to the bottom of sea. Was it retribution or just pure bad luck, you can guess which version the church chose to believe.
All the survivors had to then go crawling back to what was left of the mainland. Those who could afford to move further uptown and rebuild did, and the others spread out around the harbour areas, hence the shanty towns began. After all the tragedy's the people had endured, a fire struck, burning down most of West Kingston causing the poor to be forced to move back around the harbour itself.
A new town was built around 1680s and they named it Kingston with the approval of King William of Orange, and from around 1688 Jamaica was now ready to trade. By the 18th century Kingston was a major player in exporting goods to the Empire, word got around like wild fire and soon merchants, landowners, brokers and more settlers were pouring into the Island. Boom time had arrived. Spanish Town (the capital) reluctantly relinquished to Kingston around 1872 as the Capital of Jamaica.The rich then started to move into and around the suburbs, and uptown Kingston was born.
The great houses which now were being built drew the dividing line between, uptown for the rich, and downtown for the poor and destitute.Now back to Rio Bueno. This beautiful village as shown in the photo, depicts one of the 1800s plantations and Georgian Caribbean style great and small houses springing up all over Jamaica.Unlike most of the Caribbean under British rule, the British did not have things all their own way.
They had not bargained for the warrior slaves called the Maroons, who after escaping from their captors ran a rebellious type campaign against the British Soldiers by taking the fight to them in a series of ambush hit and run tactics. At first the soldiers must have thought this shouldn't be too difficult to quash, but with the ability to disappear into thin air, (the cockpit country to be precise), the maroons soon proved a formidable foe, and the British soldiers were unable to contain this bunch of rebels.
This angered the Empire so much that a detachment of troops were sent from England, to put down this uprising once and for all, an action that had never been required previously. Finally after losing many men in these hit and run raids a truce was called and a treaty was signed in 1739, permitting the Maroons to have their own land in the cockpit country, on the South side of Montego Bay, and the right to self govern in exchange for capturing any runaway slaves from the plantations.
This assured that the Maroons were never enslaved, and the decree is still in force today.By the time slavery was abolished in the1800s many slaves had left the plantations and headed for the Capital looking for work, causing the ghettos to be even more populated, and leaving them between a rock and a hard place.
The great houses and estates in and around the north coast at Montego bay soon fell into neglect due to the economic downturn. Just when they thought that things cannot get worse, another earthquake struck Kingston in 1907, flattening almost every building from south parade to the harbour. Many years later up until the 1930s very little had been done, due to a new crisis that prevailed with the Banana and Sugar prices market abroad.
A trade union was formed and political voices were also started to represent the peoples aspirations. A Mr Norman Manley, who later became the first Prime Minister of Jamaica, had a hand in these new beginnings.
During this time another movement had also started up called the Rastafarian religion with the Emperor Haile Salassi as their god. As it happens when Manley visited Ethiopia, Salassi gave him a rod which Manley used many times in his political campaign, adding credibility for the first time to the Rasta movement. However, it is felt that Bob Marley is the true ambassador who brought the religion total recognition.
There is plenty more Jamaican history not covered here, but we would need a web site just on Jamaica alone to cover its entirety. Heroes like Sam Sharp, hanged in Montego Bay, has a statue dedicated to him in the town centre, and Paul Goble and Marcus Garvey, although only briefly mentioned, played an important role in Jamaican history. |
Welcome to St LuciaA Brief about the Island and it's History
St. Lucia is an island so diverse in beauty and landscape, it is truly breathtaking. Boasting nearly 20,000 acres of rain forest, waterfalls, a walk in volcano, and some of the finest beaches anywhere in the Caribbean. We believe there is something to inspire everyone visiting the island as you will discover here on this site. Although you need a guide to enter the rainforest, give it a try, you will not be disappointed.
The tropical scents and sounds are unbelievable, with some rare species of birds, including the St. Lucian parrot, snakes and lizards. Thinking of getting married? then instead of the usual conveyor belt hotel wedding, why not try one of the local church's, (which are in abundance), or the botanical gardens with its exotic setting, or even aboard a yacht, plenty of those here too. The only problem is which to choose.
All sounds great, but what about some brief History
The first inhabitants on the Island were the Arawak Indians, who lived a peaceful life here for several hundred years. A cultured and skilful tribe, their boat building, agriculture and weaving, made them an easy target for the more fierce warriors, the Carib Indians, who invaded and slaughtered all the men, and of course kept the women for themselves.
Yet for reasons unclear they tolerated the first European on the island, a wooden legged pirate called Jambe de Bois, real name Francois Le Clerc, who made pigeon Island his hide away and attacked every Spanish ship passing the vicinity.The English arrived in 1605 purely by accident, or was it fate, a storm, or just strong winds, that blew their ship, the Olive Branch, off course while on route to Guyana.
Whatever the scenario, over 60 settlers came ashore in St Lucia and tried to make the best of their predicament in an unknown land. However, within a few weeks the unpredictable Caribs had killed so many of the settlers, that the only remaining 19 fled for their lives in canoes from St Lucia. They further successfully repelled two British attempts to capture St Lucia. In 1651 the French finally established a settlement here, but again it is unclear as to what agreement if any had been made between themselves and the Caribs.Soufriere was the first established town in 1746 and was the period when plantations first began.
The French Revolution in the 18th century put an end to slavery in the French colonies in 1794, which in turn included St Lucia. Many of the freed slaves did not wish to return to the plantations to work, and the Maroons amongst them knew how to wage guerrilla war against the English, and therefore started the unrest amongst the newly freed slaves.
They used similar tactics as were successful in Jamaica against the Empire, by hiding in inhospitable parts of the Island, out of the reach of the English soldiers, who were having great difficulty coping with the heat and humidity. It got worse when the coloured slaves began arriving from nearby islands, joining their black counterparts also looking for Freedom. Many of the french Royalist and British colonial plantation owners, were forced to leave due to the unrest, abandoning their farms in the process.
Those that remained, joined forces to protect their interests, as of course there was now much to fight for.The new French Revolutionary Army also joined forces with the maroons and any other slaves calling themselves L' Armee Francaise des Bois.
There goal was then 'freedom for all', and that is exactly what happened in 1795. These Brigands drove the British out of St Lucia and abolished slavery. So the continuing battle raged between the French and the British for the Island, which was now the jewel in the crown, and it exchanged hands 14 times, before the decisive battle about a year later in 1796. It took many months until the English finally won the battle above Castries and Mourne Fortune over the Brigands.
Even though the English now firmly held strongholds in and around the Island, resistance continued by L' Armee des Bois or the Brigands as they were also known. The brigands continued using guerrilla tactics, burning farms, attacking British strongholds, and causing as much mayhem as possible, before hiding in the Mountains. Again the Empire struck back by bringing in their own malishas, a mixture of coloured and black men called the Druault's Rangers, to tackle the un- hospitable terrain.
This ploy proved a success and after many months of fighting the maroons surrendered, but refused to be returned to slavery. The British did not abolish slavery until much later, and we are told that the Maroons' bravery was acknowledged and they were returned to Africa. As for the rest of the slaves, many were killed and many were taken prisoner.
Those refusing never to return to slavery had no choice but to continue the fight from the mountains, as they consequently did.
Which brings us to another important event in the history of St Lucia, the Mamiku Farm in 1797. A large plantation under British control, in the hills above Port Praslin, and the focus of many attacks by the Brigands. Soldiers were sent but were unable to contain the troubles.The Druault's Rangers arrived in early September 1796 to help the soldiers crush this continuous thorn in the Empire's side, but with their arrival, the attacks stopped.
From then on complacency crept in, and as the weeks turned into months, a fatal event occurred in 1797.Any further references to this event came from the diary of the Governor of St Lucia, Sir John Moore. He indicates that on this fateful day, many of the soldiers were down by the river washing their clothes and bathing.
A Captain de Marchay, a Frenchman with no battle experience in charge of the men, was asleep inside the big house, while the soldiers camped out in the barns behind the farm house. The sentries that were on duty had either fallen asleep or were drunk as usual. When suddenly the farm was attacked by the brigands. Some of the soldiers were bayoneted and killed whilst still in a sitting posture.
The panic that followed was too much for the Captain who was furious to see some of his men fleeing the farm. The remaining soldiers held out for a while, but the attacks were too heavy and so the good Captain, who by now was wounded, shot himself rather face the disgrace. The Brigands then burnt the farm to the ground leaving only burnt offerings. The governor, after reading the report of what happened at the farm, referred to Captain de Marchays suicide as a 'sense of honour'.
The Brigands victory was short lived, as the British sent in a task force who raided their camps, and recaptured all the arms and ammunition stolen from the Maniku estate. Many Brigands were killed, and the rest escaped into the mountains having been beaten and never to rise again.When the British finally followed suit and abolished slavery in 1882 the plantations had to recruit Indians from places like Bahir. At the end of their contracts many returned home whilst some settled in St Lucia, adding to the multi cultural heritage.
It has become clearer as to why this Island is so pro French even after nearly two centuries of British rule, and although the English Language was declared official in 1842, patios a form of broken French, is still the preference among the locals.
The land is still producing, although the sugar cane had been replaced by banana cultivation. However the Banana trade began deteriorating after some years, due to the South Americans crying fowl play. Tourism then became the main industry.Independence was granted on the 2nd of February1979 by England.
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DisclaimerThe articles above were researched and in many cases the places were actually visited by me personally before writing about them 5 years ago, and although the history to my knowledge is accurate it is still in some cases my interpretation which generally applies to any written history.
Also some of the buildings and heritage sites mentioned in these articles were suffering from different degrees of neglect back then and some may no longer be standing.The same also applies to some of the beaches mentioned as hurricanes and adverse weather conditions the (global warming) may have also contributed to a change in the landscape.
So please check before you embark on a journey to any of the Islands mentioned above. |
