| CHAPTER I. | PAGE |
| Colonial policy—Union or separation—Self-government—Varieties of condition—The Pacific colonies—The West Indies—Proposals for a West Indian federation—Nature of the population—American union and British plantations—Original conquest of the West Indies | [1] |
| CHAPTER II. | |
| In the train for Southampton—Morning papers—The new 'LocksleyHall'—Past and present—The> 'Moselle'—Heavy weather—The Petrel—The Azores | [10] |
| CHAPTER III. | |
| The tropics—Passengers on board—Account of the Darien canal—Planters' complaints—West Indian history—The Spanish conquest—Drake and Hawkins—The buccaneers—The pirates—French and English—Rodney—Battle of April 12—Peace with honour—Doers and talkers | [20] |
| CHAPTER IV. | |
| First sight of Barbadoes—Origin of the name—Père Labat—Bridgetown two hundred years ago—Slavery and Christianity—Economic crisis—Sugar bounties—Aspect of the streets—Government House and its occupants—Duties of a governor of Barbadoes | [32] |
| CHAPTER V. | |
| West Indian politeness—Negro morals and felicity—Island of St.Vincent—Grenada—The harbour—Disappearance of the whites—An island of black freeholders—Tobago—Dramatic art—A promising incident | [41] |
| CHAPTER VI. | |
| Charles Kingsley at Trinidad—'Lay of the Last Buccaneer'—A French forban—Adventure at Aves—Mass on board a pirate ship—Port of Spain—A house in the tropics—A political meeting—Government House—The Botanical Gardens—Kingsley's rooms—Sugar estates and coolies | [51] |
| CHAPTER VII. | |
| A coolie village—Negro freeholds—Waterworks—Snakes—Slavery—Evidence of Lord Rodney—Future of the negroes—Necessity of English rule—The Blue Basin—Black boy and crayfish | [66] |
| CHAPTER VIII. | |
| Home Rule in Trinidad—Political aspirations—Nature of the problem—Crown administration—Colonial governors—A Russian apologue—Dinner at Government House—'The Three Fishers'—Charles Warner—Alternative futures of the colony | [75] |
| CHAPTER IX. | |
| Barbadoes again—Social condition of the island—Political constitution—Effects of the sugar bounties—Dangers of general bankruptcy—The Hall of Assembly—Sir Charles Pearson—Society in Bridgetown—A morning drive—Church of St. John's—Sir Graham Briggs—An old planter's palace—The Chief Justice of Barbadoes | [88] |
| CHAPTER X. | |
| Leeward and Windward Islands—The Caribs of Dominica—Visit of Père Labat—St. Lucia—The Pitons—The harbour at Castries—Intended coaling station—Visit to the administrator—The old fort and barracks—Conversation with an American—Constitution of Dominica—Land at Roseau | [113] |
| CHAPTER XI. | |
| Curiosities in Dominica—Nights in the tropics—English and Catholic churches—The market place at Roseau—Fishing extraordinary—A storm—Dominican boatmen—Morning walks—Effects of the Leeward Islands Confederation—An estate cultivated as it ought to be—A mountain ride—Leave the island—Reflections | [132] |
| CHAPTER XII. | |
| The Darien canal—Jamaican mail packet—Captain W.—Retrospect of Jamaican history—Waterspout at sea—Hayti—Jacmel—A walk through the town—A Jamaican planter—First sight of the Blue Mountains—Port Royal—Kingston—The Colonial Secretary—Gordon riots—Changes in the Jamaican constitution | [155] |
| CHAPTER XIII. | |
| The English mails—Irish agitation—Two kinds of colonies—Indian administration—How far applicable in the West Indies—Land at Kingston—Government House—Dinner party—Interesting officer—Majuba Hill—Mountain station—Kingston curiosities—Tobacco—Valley in the Blue Mountains | [180] |
| CHAPTER XIV. | |
| Visit to Port Royal—Dockyard—Town—Church—Fort Augusta—The eyrie in the mountains—Ride to Newcastle—Society in Jamaica—Religious bodies—Liberty and authority | [195] |
| CHAPTER XV. | |
| The Church of England in Jamaica—Drive to Castleton—Botanical Gardens—Picnic by the river—Black women—Ball at Government House—Mandeville—Miss Roy—Country society—Manners—American visitors—A Moravian missionary—The modern Radical creed | [208] |
| CHAPTER XVI. | |
| Jamaican hospitality—Cherry Garden—George William Gordon—The Gordon riots—Governor Eyre—A dispute and its consequences—Jamaican country-house society—Modern speculation—A Spanish fable—Port Royal—The commodore—Naval theatricals—The modern sailor | [224] |
| CHAPTER XVII. | |
| Present state of Jamaica—Test of progress—Resources of the island—Political alternatives—Black supremacy and probable consequences—The West Indian problem | [243] |
| CHAPTER XVIII. | |
| Passage to Cuba—A Canadian commissioner—Havana—The Moro—The city and harbour—Cuban money—American visitors—The cathedral—Tomb of Columbus—New friends—The late rebellion—Slave emancipation—Spain and progress—A bull fight | [253] |
| CHAPTER XIX. | |
| Hotels in Havana—Sights in the city—Cigar manufactories—West Indian industries—The Captain-General—The Jesuit college—Father Viñez—Clubs in Havana—Spanish aristocracy—Sea lodging house | [272] |
| CHAPTER XX. | |
| Return to Havana—The Spaniards in Cuba—Prospects—American influence—Future of the West Indies—English rumours—Leave Cuba—The harbour at night—The Bahama Channel—Hayti—Port au Prince—The black republic—West Indian history | [291] |
| CHAPTER XXI. | |
| Return to Jamaica—Cherry Garden again—Black servants—Social conditions—Sir Henry Norman—King's House once more—Negro suffrage—The will of the people—The Irish python—Conditions of colonial union—Oratory and statesmanship | [308] |
| CHAPTER XXII. | |
| Going home—Retrospect—Alternative courses—Future of the Empire—Sovereignty of the sea—The Greeks—The rights of man—Plato—The voice of the people—Imperial federation—Hereditary colonial policy—New Irelands—Effects of party government | [318] |
ILLUSTRATIONS.
| Mountain Crater, Dominica | [Frontispiece] |
| Silk Cotton Tree, Jamaica | [Title page] |
| Blue Basin, Trinidad | To face page [72] |
| Morning Walk, Dominica | [136] |
| Port Royal, Jamaica | [171] |
| Valley in the Blue Mountains, Jamaica | [194] |
| Kingston and Harbour, from Cherry Gardens | [234] |
| Havana, from the Quarries | [258] |
| Port au Prince, Hayti | [288] |
THE ENGLISH IN THE WEST INDIES.
CHAPTER I.
Colonial policy—Union or separation—Self-government—Varieties of condition—The Pacific colonies—The West Indies—Proposals for a West Indian federation—Nature of the population—American union and British plantations—Original conquest of the West Indies.
The Colonial Exhibition has come and gone. Delegates from our great self-governed dependencies have met and consulted together, and have determined upon a common course of action for Imperial defence. The British race dispersed over the world have celebrated the Jubilee of the Queen with an enthusiasm evidently intended to bear a special and peculiar meaning. The people of these islands and their sons and brothers and friends and kinsfolk in Canada, in Australia, and in New Zealand have declared with a general voice, scarcely disturbed by a discord, that they are fellow-subjects of a single sovereign, that they are united in feeling, united in loyalty, united in interest, and that they wish and mean to preserve unbroken the integrity of the British Empire. This is the answer which the democracy has given to the advocates of the doctrine of separation. The desire for union while it lasts is its own realisation. As long as we have no wish to part we shall not part, and the wish can never rise if when there is occasion we can meet and deliberate together with the same regard for each other's welfare which has been shown in the late conference in London.