Chapter I: Preface

Although in the present day the writing of a preface may be considered almost a work of supererogation on the part of an author, since it is that portion of a work seldom or ever looked into, still, as custom demands the form, and there may be some among my readers who may desire to learn what first led me to undertake this work, I am induced to follow the fashion, more especially as on one or two points I am desirous of offering a few words of comment and explanation.

Not being a native of the West Indies, and visiting that part of the world for the first time at an age when all looks bright around us, the novelty of the scenes which passed before my eyes struck me forcibly, and induced me to make notes of the impressions I then received. Pursuing the same practice at subsequent visits, and during prolonged residences, in process of time my memoranda expanded to a considerable bulk. The increasing interest I took in everything relating to Antigua, led me to inquire into its early history, and to search out the origin of the numerous ancient families whose descendants have resided in the island from the period of its colonization.

Some of my friends in the island who had become acquainted with my pursuits, were gratified by the specimens of my labours, which were exhibited to them, and urged me to throw my scattered notes into form. I yielded to their solicitations, and the result has been the following pages, which, while they afford a condensed history of the colony from its earliest days, present also a record of the impressions produced on one, at first, fresh from English society, but now, by long continued residence, become almost an Antiguan; having, it is hoped, lost all relics of English prejudice, but not become so biassed by her new connexions, or blinded by the many charms of Antigua or Antiguan society, as to hold the scales of justice unevenly.

Having been resident in Antigua both before and after the passing of the Emancipation Act, and having had ample opportunity of judging of the practical effects of that memorable event, the observations I have made with relation to it may not be considered altogether unimportant.

In perusing the early history of the colony, the English reader may be surprised to find how many men of family became early settlers in the West Indies; but when the eager spirit of adventure which immediately followed the enterprises of the Spaniards, and was so eminently conspicuous in the days of Elizabeth, is called to mind--when the causes which drove the "pilgrim fathers" forth are recollected, together with the numerous emigrations which took place from England, when the Royalists, in their turn forced to become fugitives, mostly sought a refuge in the West Indies, at first a safe and sanctioned asylum, till the very amount of the fresh influx of Royalist opinions made the West Indies a thorn in Cromwell's side, and compelled him to have recourse to strong measures to secure their obedience to his will,--when all these causes are considered, it becomes no longer a matter of wonder that much of the best blood of England runs in the veins of the people, not only of Antigua, but of the West India islands generally.

In justice to the character of the country which I have learned to love, I must, although unwillingly, notice another and a most painful subject. I refer to the exceedingly harsh laws passed respecting the slaves, and the shocking executions of those concerned in the insurrection in 1736. In relation to the former point, it is sufficient to observe that such laws are almost inseparable from the institution of slavery itself, and that the stigma affected the mother country equally with her colonies, while it redounds to the honour of Antigua that she was the first to announce unbounded freedom to her slave population. With respect to the barbarous executions, they would not be tolerated in Antigua at the present day, even had she continued to be a slave-dealing colony; and they can only in justice be referred to a state of society when the practice of torture had hardly fallen into desuetude in the civil courts of Europe, when the Inquisition was in full glory, when, only a few years before, the politest capital in the world had looked unmoved on

"Luke's iron crown, and Damien's bed of steel,"

and criminals continued to be strung up by dozens in England (and for many long years after) for offences which, in the present advanced state of society, no civilized state would visit with the punishment of death. What wonder, then, that at such a period, and under such alarming circumstances, the Antiguans should have shewn themselves cruel and barbarous?

Before I conclude, I must not omit to tender my acknowledgments to the numerous friends who have kindly afforded me assistance in the course of my work, among whom let me make grateful mention of Edward S. Byam, Esq., the Rev. and Hon. Burgh Byam, Col. Byam, Dr. Furgusson, Nathaniel Humphreys, Esq., Deputy Colonial Secretary in Antigua, (to which latter gentleman I was indebted for access to the Records of the island,) to John Furlong, Esq., (who obliged me with the will of Governor Parke,) Registrar of Antigua, to ------ Edmead, Esq., to Captain George B. Mathew, of the Guards, the Rev. D. F. Warner, and others.

In conclusion, may the Great Giver of all good pour down His choicest blessings upon this beautiful and favoured little island; may her legislators be ably endowed in all true principles of jurisprudence; may her planters be blest with kindly showers, so that their golden canes may raise their "tall plumes" in luxuriance; may her merchants, the prop of every civilized state, be prosperous--her peasantry happy and good, as they are _free_; and, finally, may her ministers (of every denomination) be long spared to watch over and pray for her teeming inhabitants, that one choral song of praise may resound from every quarter and from every tongue.

The Author.

CONTENTS
OF
THE FIRST VOLUME.

CHAPTER I.

General Description of the Island--Appearance--Soil--
Productions--Climate--Early history--Discovery by Columbus--
Attempted settlement by Spaniards--Grant to Earl of Carlisle--
Settlement by d'Esnambuc--Williams--Governor Warner--Account of
Sir Thomas Warner, founder of the family

CHAPTER II.

History of the island continued--Sir Henry Hunks--Descent of
the Caribs--Legend of Ding-a-ding Nook--Arrival of the Ship
Nonsuch--Sir Thomas Modiford--Earl of Warwick, Captain-General
--Captain Edward Warner--Colonel Rich--Colonel Lake--Mr.
Everard--Sir George Ayscue--Colonel Christopher Reynall--
Invasion by the Caribs--Dissensions among the inhabitants--Copy
of Colonel Reynall's letter to Cromwell--Attack upon St.
Domingo and Jamaica--Major-General Poyntz--Grant of Antigua to
Lord F. Willoughby

CHAPTER III.

Rupture between France and England--War in the West Indies--
Loss of Lord Francis Willoughby--Colonel Carden--Capture of
Antigua by the French forces under M. de la Barre--Colonel
Fitche--Restoration of Antigua by the Treaty of Breda--Death of
Colonel Carden--Biographical notices

CHAPTER IV.

Governors: Lord William Willoughby, Henry Willoughby--Arrival
of Major, afterwards Lieutenant-General Byam, the progenitor of
the family of that name--Biographical remarks--Partition of the
Caribbee Islands--Sir William Stapleton--General Council and
Assembly--Colonel Philip Warner--Expedition against the Caribs
--Death of Indian Warner--Arrest and trial of Colonel P. Warner
--Acquittal--Dampier's account of this affair--Captain
Southey's History of the Indian Warner

CHAPTER V.

Governor Col. R. Williams--Biographical remarks--Towns of trade
appointed--Antigua divided into parishes--Sir Nathaniel Johnson
appointed captain-general and governor-in-chief--Colonel
Codrington--Remarks upon this family--Invasion of Antigua by a
French privateer--Attack upon Guadeloupe by the English--
Expedition to St. Christopher's--Gallant conduct of Colonel
Williams and Colonel Willoughby Byam--Sir Francis Wheeler's
expedition--Wilmot and Lillingston's expedition--Death of the
captain-general, General Codrington--Colonel John Yeamans,
lieutenant-governor--Arrival of Admiral Benbow

CHAPTER VI.

Governor Colonel Christopher Codrington--Establishment of the
first market--Accession of Queen Anne--Arrival of Admiral
Benbow--Attack upon the island of Guadaloupe, in conjunction
with the Antiguan troops--Bravery of Colonel Edward Byam--
Arrival of Captain Hovenden Walker--Second attack upon
Guadaloupe--Colonel Codrington quits the government--His death
--Sir William Mathew--Hon. John Johnson

CHAPTER VII.

Governor Colonel Daniel Parke--His birth-place and parentage--
His actions at the battle of Holchet and Blenheim--His arrival
at Antigua--Dissensions with the Antiguans--Complaints against
him sent to England--Results of the applications at the court
of Queen Anne--Tyrannical behaviour of Colonel Parke--Events of
the 7th December, 1710--Death of Colonel Parke

CHAPTER VIII.

Governor Walter Hamilton--Walter Douglas's Disturbances--
Complaints against him sent to England--Queen Anne recalls him,
and reappoints Walter Hamilton--Lord Viscount Lowther--John
Hart--Lord Londonderry--Lord Forbes--Colonel William Crosbie

CHAPTER IX.

Governor William Mathew--Insurrection of the Negroes--A Legend
of the Ravine--Punishment of the Conspirators

CHAPTER X.

Governor William Mathew--Sir George Thomas, Bart.--James
Verchild--Honourable William Woodley--Sir Ralph Payne--Hon.
Craister Greathead--General Burt--The circumstances of his
death--Sir Thomas Shirley, Bart.

CHAPTER XI.

Governors: William Woodley--John Stanley--Major-General Charles
Leigh--Archibald Esdail--John S. Thomas--Robert Thomson

CHAPTER XII.

Governors: The Right Honourable Ralph Lord Lavington--William
Woodley--James Tyson--John Julius--Hugh Elliot--Sir James Leith
--Henry Rawlins--S. Rawlins--Major-General Ramsay

CHAPTER XIII.

Governors: Sir Benjamin D'Urban--Sir Patrick Ross--Sir Evan
Murray McGregor--Mr. Light--Sir W. G. MacBean Colebrooke--Major
McPhail--Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy

CHAPTER XIV.

My first voyage to Antigua--Visit upon deck--The booby's
welcome--Nearer approach--Harbour of St. John's--The Black
Pilot--North Sandy Island--Wreck of the mail-boat--Dangerous
navigation--Long Island--South Sandy Island--Panoramic views
from the vessel's deck--Light winds--Disappointment made
pleasing--Anchorage for the night

CHAPTER XV.

The extent of Antigua--Opinion of some planters--Want of
agricultural labourers--Emigration not always profitable to the
negroes--"Seizar's" letter upon the subject--Return of
emigrants--Soil of Antigua--Geological matters--Petrifactions--
Climate of Antigua--"Yellow fever"--Beautiful evenings--the
appearance of the heavens--Evening visitants

CHAPTER XVI.

Scenery of Antigua--Pilgrimage to "Tom Moore's Spring"--The
Goddess Mnemosyne--Fig-Tree Hill--The "Bower of Bliss"--"Old
Road"--The Strand--The cross sexton--The parochial school--Old
Road Church--Tomb of Col. Williams--Moravian settlement--Salt
ponds--Copses--"Crab Hill"--Sandy Valley--The Valley Church--
The rising moon--Arrival in town--Night, and night dreams

CHAPTER XVII.

The seasons at Antigua--Heavy rains--Long droughts--The
water-merchant--A fortunate shower--Drought in 1837--Desolate
appearance of the country--Famishing cattle--Definition of
"_fine rains_"--Anecdote--Heavy shower--Joy--Earthquakes--1835
--Meteors--Dressing for the ball--The alarm--The ball-room--
Hurricanes--Devastations

CHAPTER XVIII.

Description of the town of St. John's, the capital of Antigua--
Situation--Arrangement of the streets--Hucksters--Houses--
Springs--Small shops--Stores of the retail dealers--Grog-shops
--Merchants' stores and lumber yards--Definition of lumber--
Auction sales--Scotch Row and Scotchmen--Incongruous display of
goods--Fire in 1797--Ruins--Fire in 1841--Its devastations

CHAPTER XIX.

Description of the church of St John's--Period of its erection
--Present site--Panoramic views--Form of structure--Length and
breadth--Interior--Decorations--Monuments--Organ--Tower--Bells
--Clock--Churchyard--Tombs and sepulchral inscriptions--An
acrostic--"Adam and Eve!"

CHAPTER XX.

Court-house--Bazaar--Arsenal--Police-office--Government-house--
Barracks--House of correction--Gaol--Methodist chapel--
Methodism, its rise and progress in Antigua--Moravian chapel--
Rise and progress of the Society of United Brethren--Scotch
kirk

CHAPTER XXI.

Morning--Institutions--Daily Meal Society--Its rise and
progress--Lazaretto--Destitute Females' Friend Society--Its
origin and purpose--Friendly Societies--Bible Society--
Missionary associations--Temperance Society--Juvenile
Association--Ladies' Clothing Society &c.--Banks--Library
Society

CHAPTER XXII.

Early rising and "Jamie Thomson"--Journey to English Harbour--
Windmills and Don Quixote--Groups of negroes and their
equipages--All Saints' chapel of ease--The "Hamlet"--Village of
Liberta--Grace Hill--Patterson's and Prince William--English
Harbour market--Streets and dwellings--Commissariat's store and
government tank--Dockyard--The superintendent--Stores and
storehouses--Engineer's workshop--Blacksmith's shop and blowing
machine--Limes and roses--Recollections of England--Lieutenant
Peterson and Lord Camelford--His lordship's pranks--The
ordnance--Clarence House and Dows Hill--The Ridge and "Shirley
heights"--Fort Charlotte and Fort Berkeley--Bats Cave--The
Savannah and its tombs--Indian Creek--Return to town

CHAPTER XXIII.

Zulmiera, the Half-Carib girl, a Legend of the Savannah

CHAPTER XXIV.

Continuation of the Legend

CHAPTER XXV.

Conclusion of the Legend

CHAPTER XXVI.

Towns: Falmouth--Church and churchyard--Mangroves and acacias--
Black's Point--Bridgetown--Willoughby Bay--Its site and
decoration--The superintendent of the Wesleyan schools--
School-room--Methodist chapel--The Memoras--St Philip's church
--Beautiful views--Parham--Its derivation and site--St Peter's
church--Churchyard--The new church--Methodist chapel and
school-room

CHAPTER XXVII.

Forts and fortifications--Temporary ones--The present forts--
Fort James--Its situation and approach--Rat Island Battery, its
appellation, lunatic asylum, and flag-staff--Goat Hill--Steep
ascent--Schools in St. John's