Dominica

Dominica (Fr. Dominique), the largest and most southerly British island in the Leeward group of the Lesser Antilles, lies in 15° 20'—15° 45' N. lat., and 61° 13'—61° 30' W. long., midway between the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, and has an area of 291 sq. m. The population (in 1881, 28,211; 1891, 26,841) is mostly negro, but includes 300 Caribs, and 370 whites. The Caribs, who occupy a large reserve on the Windward side of the island, are gradually becoming so intermixed with the negroes that the pure Carib, the 'Franc Carib,' will soon be non-existent. They are very peaceable and retiring, and live on fish, and vegetables and fruits which they cultivate. Dominica is of volcanic origin, with many hot and sulphureous springs. In 1880 there was a great eruption of volcanic ash from the 'Boiling Lake' at the southern extremity of the island. The temperature is cool and even chilly in the mountains, but sultry on the coast, where the yearly mean is 89° F.; rain falls nearly every month, and the annual rainfall is 83 inches. Nearly one-half of the surface consists of wooded mountains and deep ravines, and at one point the surface attains an elevation of 6234 feet. Attractive as it is to the artist and traveller, the rugged, broken, and precipitous character of Dominica is very disadvantageous to the settler, and has confined agriculture to a narrow strip along the coast. The pathless forests of the interior are practically as much a terra incognita to-day as when Columbus first sighted the island. The principal product is sugar, but fruit, cocoa, and timber also are exported, and the fisheries are valuable. The annual value of imports and of exports has decreased, and is now, in either case, about £50,000. The capital of the island is Roseau, a port on the west coast, with a pop. of 4500. Dominica is a member of the Leeward Islands colony, and sends representatives to the general legislative council; but it has its own president, treasury, and local legislature. The majority of the inhabitants are Roman Catholics; religious equality now prevails, but till recently the clergymen of the Church of England were paid from the public funds. Dominica was discovered by Columbus, on his second voyage, on Sunday (whence its name Dominica—i.e. 'the Lord's Day'), 3d November 1493. It was a source of strife to French and English until 1648, when it was formally declared by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle a neutral island; but in 1759 it was captured by England, and in 1763 ceded by France, who, however, held it again in 1778–83, and in 1802–14, when it was finally restored to England. See Froude, The English in the West Indies (1888).