Dominica

Dominica is one of the largest of the Leeward group of the West Indian Islands, lying to the south in lat. 15° 20' to 15° 45' N., and long. 61° 13' to 61° 30'W., half way between Martinique and Guadaloupe. It has an area of 291 square miles, and a population of about 29,500, chiefly negro, with a few whites, and some Carib Indianswho occupy a reservation, but are being gradually absorbed by the negroes. The Caribs are a quiet folk, living chiefly upon ifish, fruit, and vegetables. About half of the island consists of wooded mountains intersected by deep glens, rising to an extreme height of 6,234 feet, while a narrow strip along the coast is cultivated and produces sugar, cocoa, and fruit. Some timber is exported, and the fisheries are extensive. The interior parts of the island are still unexplored. The climate is agreeable, cool and even chilly in the mountains but sultry on the coast, where there is an average temperature of 89° Fahrenheit. There is much rain, the yearly fall amounting to 83 inches. Hot sulphur springs, a boiling lake in the south of the island, the scene of an eruption of ashes in 1880, testify to the volcanic origin of Dominica. Roseau, a port on the west coast, is the capital. The island is represented upon the Legislative Council of the Leeward Isles Colony, and has also a president, treasury, and a local legislature of its own. Religious equality prevails, and the majority of the people are Roman Catholics. Dominica was discovered in 1493 by Columbus during his second voyage, on Sunday, whence its name. In 1648 the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle neutralised the isle, which had been contended for by France and England; in 1759 the English captured it, but the French held it again for a short time, till it came finally into English possession in 1814.