Travel Scholarships

6. Barbados

{ 233 B a r B a d o s seemed useless to inform them about the previous night’s incident. That one of the sailors had gotten drunk was not important. With its anchor up and its sails filled with wind, the Alert left the port of Castries, steered to the south, and headed toward Barbados. Barbados Though the exact date of the discovery of Barbados by the Portuguese is difficult to pinpoint, it is certain that a ship sailing under British colors stopped there as early as 1605. Possession was taken in the name of King James I of England. This act was purely nominal. At that time, no establishment had been founded on Barbados, and not a single colonist had settled there, even on a temporary basis. This island is, like Saint Lucia, isolated from the micro-Antillean chain. One could say that it does not really belong in it, as there are deep abysses separating them. There is a high mountain plateau that rises at about forty leagues from Saint Lucia, its neighbor to the north. Between them, the sea drops to depths of 2,800 meters. Barbados has a coralline base built by polyps that have slowly formed it and raised it above sea level. It is sixteen leagues long and five leagues wide. Solid on its unshakeable foundation, a ring of enormous reefs protects two-thirds of its circumference. In fact, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, because of its isolation, the question of who owned Barbados was less disputed than that of the other West Indian islands. It is thanks to a purely fortuitous circumstance that the European powers finally began to notice it. An English ship coming back from Brazil encountered a storm near Barbados and was forced to seek shelter at the mouth of a river on its western coast. The commander and crew, required to remain there for several days, had time to visit the island, which was almost unknown at the time. They admired its lushness, walked through the forests that covered it almost completely, and noticed that its soil, once cleared, would be extremely suitable for cultivating cotton and sugar cane. After the ship’s return to London, the concession of Barbados was accorded to the Duke of Marlborough and, after making a deal with a rich merchant from the city, the first growers came to settle on the 6 P a r t i i 234 } island in 1624. It was they who built the first city, named Jamestown in honor of their sovereign. Before that time, it is true, Count Carlisle had obtained the concession of all the Caribbean and believed it was in his right to claim Barbados as well. Hence was born a prolonged and highly contentious dispute between the two lords,1 which in 1629 finally ended in the recognition of Count Carlisle’s rights by Charles I of England. During the period of religious turmoil in Great Britain, the number of people wanting to flee was considerable, and Barbados benefitted greatly from this emigration, which enhanced the colony’s importance and prosperity. After Cromwell’s dictatorship, once the Restoration had rendered to Charles ii his father’s throne, the king was asked by the colonists to accept the island’s sovereignty, as they promised to pay to the crown a tax of four and a half percent on the sale of all island products. The offer was too profitable to be rejected. Thus, on December 12, 1667, was signed the treaty of Barbados’s annexation to the colonial domain of Great Britain. The island’s prosperity continued to increase after that time. In the year 1674, its population rose to 120,000 inhabitants, then decreased somewhat shortly after.Whites accounted for only a fifth of its residents in contrast to the enfranchised blacks and the slaves, a consequence of the governors’ greed. Nonetheless, because of its location, and the protection of its natural defenses, Barbados was never troubled by the endless battles between England and France. Therefore, while the majority of the other Antilles passed successively under various nationalities, Barbados, having become English from the first moments of its discovery, has always remained so in both language and customs. Moreover, just because it comes under the English crown, one must not believe that it does not enjoy a certain independence. Its Assembly is composed of twenty-four members nominated by five thousand eligible voters. Although it is subject to the authority of...