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GRENADA

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 578 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GRENADA , the southernmost of the Windward Islands, See also:

British See also:West Indies. It lies between 11° 58' and 12° 15' N. and between 61° 35' and 61° 5o' W., being 14o m. S.W. of See also:Barbados and 85 m. N. by W. of See also:Trinidad. In shape See also:oval, it is 21 m. See also:long, 12 M. broad at its maximum and has an See also:area of 133 sq. m. It owes much of its beauty to a well-wooded range of mountains traversing the See also:island from N. to S. and throwing off from the centre spurs which See also:form picturesque and fertile valleys. These mountains attain their highest See also:elevation in MountCatharine (2750 ft.). In the S.E. and N.W. there are stretches of See also:low or undulating ground, devoted to See also:fruit growing and See also:cattle raising. The island is of volcanic origin; the only signs of upheaval are raised See also:limestone beaches in the extreme N. Red and See also:grey sandstones, See also:hornblende and argillaceous schist are found in the mountains, See also:porphyry and basaltic rocks also occur; See also:sulphur and See also:fuller's See also:earth are worked. In the centre, at the height of 174o ft. above the See also:sea, is the See also:chief natural curiosity of Grenada, the See also:Grand Etang, a circular See also:lake, 13 acres in extent, occupying the site of an See also:ancient See also:crater. Near it is a large See also:sanatorium, much frequented as a See also:health resort.

In the See also:

north-See also:east is a larger lake, Lake See also:Antoine, also occupying a crater, but it lies almost at the sea level. The island is watered by several See also:short See also:rivers, mainly on the east and See also:south; there are numerous fresh See also:water springs, as well as .hot chalybeate and sulphurous springs. The south-eastern See also:coast is much indented with bays. The See also:climate is goodythe temperature equable and epidemic diseases are rare. In the low See also:country the See also:average yearly temperature is 82° F., but it is cooler in the heights. The rainfall is very heavy, amounting in some parts to as much as 200 in., a See also:year. The See also:rainy See also:season lasts from May to See also:December, but refreshing showers frequently occur during other parts of the year. The average See also:annual rainfall at St Georges is 79.07 in., and at Grand Etang 164 in. The excellent climate and See also:good sea-bathing have made Grenada the health resort of the neighbouring islands, especially of Trinidad. Good roads and byeways intersect it in every direction. The See also:soil is extraordinarily fertile, the chief products being See also:cocoa and spices, especially nutmegs. The exports, sent chiefly to See also:Great See also:Britain, are cocoa, spices, See also:wool, See also:cotton, See also:coffee, live stock, hides, turtles, turtle See also:shell, See also:kola nuts, See also:vanilla and See also:timber.

Barbados is dependent on Grenada for the See also:

majority of its firewood. See also:Sugar is still grown, and See also:rum and See also:molasses are made, but the See also:consumption of these is confined to the island. Elementary See also:education is chiefly in the hands of the various denominations, whose See also:schools are assisted by See also:government grants-in-aid. There are, however, a few See also:secular schools conducted by the government, and government-aided secondary schools for girls and a See also:grammar school for boys. The schools are controlled by a See also:board of education, the members of which are nominated by the government, and small fees are charged in all schools. The See also:governor of the Windward Islands resides in Grenada and is See also:administrator of it. The Legislative See also:Council consists of 14 members; 7 including the governor are ex-officio members and the See also:rest are nominated by the See also:Crown. See also:English is universally spoken, but the negroes use a See also:French See also:patois, which, however, is gradually dying out. Only 2% of the inhabitants are See also:white, the rest being negroes and mulattoes with a few East See also:Indians. The See also:capital, St See also:George, in the south-west, is built upon a See also:lava See also:peninsula jutting into the sea and forming one See also:side of its See also:land- locked See also:harbour. It is surrounded by an See also:amphitheatre of hills, up the sides of which climb the red-See also:brick houses of the See also:town. At the extremity of the peninsula is Fort St George, with a saluting See also:battery.

The See also:

ridge connecting Fort St George with See also:Hospital See also:Hill is tunnelled to give See also:access to the two parts of the town lying on either side. The See also:population in 1901 was 5198. There are four other towns—on the west coast Gouyave, or See also:Charlotte Town, and 4 M. N. of it See also:Victoria; on the north coast Sauteurs; and See also:Grenville at the See also:head of a wide See also:bay on the east. ' They are all in frequent communication with the capital by steamer. The population of the entire See also:colony in 1901 was 63,438. See also:History.—Grenada was discovered in 1498 by See also:Columbus, who named it Conception. Neither the See also:Spanish nor the British, to whom it was granted in 1627, settled on the island. The governor of See also:Martinique, du Parquet, See also:purchased it in 165o, and the French were well received by the Caribs, whom they afterwards extirpated with the greatest See also:cruelty. In 1665 Grenada passed into the hands of the French West See also:India See also:Company, and was administered by it until its See also:dissolution in 1674, when the island passed to the French Crown. Cocoa, coffee and cotton were introduced in 1714. During the See also:wars between Great Britain and See also:France, Grenada capitulated to the British forces in 1762, and was formally ceded next year by the Treaty of See also:Paris.

The French, under See also:

Count d'See also:Estaing, re-captured the island in 1779, but it was restored to Great Britain by the Treaty of See also:Versailles in 1783. A See also:rebellion against the British See also:rule, instigated and assisted by the French, occurred in 1795, but was quelled by See also:Sir See also:Ralph See also:Abercromby in the following year. The emancipation of the slaves took See also:place in 1837, and by 1877 it was found necessary to introduce East See also:Indian labour. Grenada, with cocoa as its See also:staple, has not experienced similar depression to that which overtook the sugar-growing islands of the West Indies. See Grenada Handbook (See also:London, 1905).

End of Article: GRENADA

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