The N.E. trade-wind blows for three-fourths of the year, and most of the rain comes from the same quarter. March is the driest of the months, and October the wettest; the average rainfall for the former being 1∣ inch, and for the latter 9 inches. Leprosy is not uncommon among the negroes, and elephantiasis is so frequent as to be known by the name of “Barbados leg.”

Bridgetown is the capital and port of the island, and the centre of business activity. It contains about 23,000 inhabitants. Over the creek which received the waters from the heights around the Indians had built a rude bridge. This was known for a long time after the British settlement as the Indian Bridge, but as the settlement grew, and after the old bridge had been replaced by a more solid structure, the place received the name of Bridgetown. The town was destroyed by fire in 1666, and rebuilt, principally of stone, upon a larger scale. It suffered again from fire in 1766 and 1845. It has a large town-hall. The Government buildings are a handsome pile close to the sea. The town follows the curve of the bay. Behind it the hills begin to rise, forming the first stepping-stone to the higher lands of the interior. At the southern extremity are the extensive buildings for the garrison, Barbados being the headquarters of the troops in the West Indian command.

Opinions differ as to the derivation of the name of the island. It is probably the Spanish w ord for the hanging branches of a vine which strike root in the earth. In maps of the 16th century the island appears under various names, among which are St Bernardo, Bernardos, Barl>u-doso, Baruodos, and Baruodo. The traces of Indians in this island are more numerous than in any other of the Caribbees. The first recorded visit of Englishmen was in the year 1605, when the crew of the “Olive Blossom” landed, and erected a cross as a memorial of the event, cutting at the same time uponthe bark of a tree the words “James, king of England and of this island.” This party of adventurers did not settle, but from the time of their visit the history of Barbados begins. That history has some special features. It shows the process of peaceful colonization, for the island, acquired without conquest or bloodshedding, has never since been out of the possession of the British. It was the first English colony where the sugar-cane was planted. Its colonists have almost from the beginning enjoyed representative institutions, and the full measure of English freedom. They have always defended their rights with spirit, and shown consistent loyalty to the Crown. The prominence and accessibility of the island have made it important as a military station in the wars with the French and Dutch. And its varying fortunes show the effects of the commercial legislation of England, from the stringent Navigation Laws of Cromwell down to the repeal of the sugar duties in 1874.

The first patent conveying a proprietary interest in Barbados was granted by James I. to Lord Leigh, afterwards earl of Marlborough. In 1624 a ship, belonging to Sir William Courteen, a rich merchant of London, called at Barbados. The country was found to be thickly "wooded, and uninhabited, except by a great number of wild hogs. Sir William Courteen, having received a description of the place, sent out two large ships under the authority of Marlborough’s patent. One of these, the “John and William,” commanded by John Powell, arrived in February 1625, which is therefore the date of the earliest English settlement in the island. The thirty settlers laid the foundation of a town which they called Jamestown, and chose Captain William Deane their governor. But the earl of Carlisle, having obtained from King James in 1624 the warrant for a grant of all theCaribbean Islands, twenty-two in number, agreed, in 1627, to pay the earl of Marlborough £300 a year for his right to Barbados. The patent in favour of Lord Carlisle passed the great seal on 2d July 1627; but during'his absence on a diplomatic mission soon after, William, earl of Pembroke, the Lord Chamberlain, obtained in the interest of Sir William Courteen a grant of several islands, including Barbados. Upon Lord Carlisle’s return he obtained the revocation of Lord Pembroke’s grant, and the full confirmation of his own rights, upon "which he acted in offering to sell parcels of land for an annual payment of 40 ft> of cotton. The Society of London Merchants then obtained from Lord Carlisle a grant of 10,000 acres, and they appointed Charles Wolferstone, a native of Bermuda, to proceed with sixty-four persons, and to govern the settlement under a commission from the earl. Wolferstone and his party arrived in July 1628 in the bay, know n thenceforth as Carlisle Bay. The antagonism between the earlier settlers under Courteen’s auspices and Wolferstone’s party broke out into actual fighting. Finding that the validity of his patent was still being disputed, Lord Carlisle obtained a further confirmation of it by the king in April 1629, and at once despatched Sir William Tufton as commander-inchief with a sufficient force to subdue the rival settlers. In 1645 Philip Bell became governor, and the real progress of the colony began. Good laws were passed, a judicial system was elaborated; the island was divided into eleven parishes, and a general assembly formed by two representatives of each parish, elected by a majority of freeholders. A council had been in existence since the time of Wolferstone.

The first settlers cultivated maize, sweet potatoes, plantains, and yams for their own consumption, and indigo, cotton wool, tobacco, ginger, and aloes for export. Quantities of logwood, fustic, and lignum vitae were also shipped. But the adaptability of the soil for cane becoming known, and the necessary knowledge for the manufacture of sugar being obtained, this article at once became the great staple of the colony. The value of property very largely increased. The half of an estate of 500 acres, 200 under cane, with buildings and appurtenances, was sold for £7000 about the year 1650, the labourers being slaves from Africa.

It was while the rapid progress of the colony was attracting especial attention, and many persons of family and means, adherents of the royal cause, were finding it a refuge from the troubles at home, that Francis Lord Willoughby of Parham went out as governor, with the consent of King Charles IL, who had been proclaimed in Barbados as soon as the news of the execution of Charles I. had arrived. Lord Carlisle had died, and his heir had been entrusted with the duty of paying his debts out of the revenue from the island. Lord Willoughby agreed to take a lease from the new earl of the profits of the colony for twenty-one years, to pay Lord Carlisle one-half, and to accept the governorship, including that of the other islands in the Carlisle grant. Upon his arrival in 1650, notwithstanding the active opposition of a party headed by Colonel Walrond, he procured the passing of an Act acknowledging the king’s sovereignty, the proprietary rights of the earl of Carlisle, and his own interest derived from the latter. But the Parliament despatched Sir George Ayscue with a squadron and considerable land forces, to reduce the island to submission to its authority. About the same time the famous Navigation Law was enacted, by which foreign ships were prohibited from trading with British colonies, and imports into England and the dependencies were not allowed in foreign bottoms. This restriction had a great effect upon Barbados, which depended upon foreign importation for a great deal of its provisions. Sir G. Ayscue’s expedition appeared off Barbados in October 1651. After one unsuccessful attempt, a landing was effected, and Lord Willoughby’s force was routed. The counsels of a moderate party in the island, however, prevailed, and a compromise was effected. A treaty was made declaring the authority of the Parliament, but containing provisions not at all unfavourable to the inhabitants, and reserving even to Lord Willoughby his rights in the island. During the Commonwealth prisoners of w ar were sometimes sent to Barbados. The expedition of 1655 against St Domingo and Jamaica under Penn and Venables was reinforced by a troop of horse and 3500 volunteers from Barbados. At the Restoration Lord Willoughby went out once more to Barbados and resumed his office. Several of the faithful adherents of the royal cause in the island were made baronets and knights, but the restrictions upon commercial intercourse which had been imposed by the Parliament were made more stringent. Then doubts began to arise in the minds of the planters as to the title by which they held their estates. They had created by their exertions a very valuable property, and the bare possibility of the earl of Carlisle stepping in and dispossessing them caused much discontent. The death of Lord Carlisle brought matters to a crisis. An arrangement was made in 1663 by which the different claimants were satisfied, the proprietary or patent interest was dissolved, and the Crown exercised directly its rights, and undertook the government, although it was not till 1672 that the nomination of the council was taken into the hands of the king. A duty of 4J per cent, upon the produce of the island was levied in 1663 to satisfy the claims and defray the government expenses. Lord Willoughby received a new commission, and the only practical change effected in the constitution was that all laws were thenceforward made subject to confirmation by the king. In 1665 the colony successfully resisted an attack by the Dutch; but in conducting an expedition against the French in Guadaloupe in 1666, Lord Willoughby was lost in a hurricane, and an eventful and occasionally brilliant career was thus prematurely ended. He was succeeded in the government by his brother, Lord William Willoughby, during whose governorship the division of the Caribbean Islands into Windward and Leeward was made. The hurricane of 1675 gave a serious check to the prosperity of the colony. An unsuccessful application was made to the home Government, to remit, on account of the distress that prevailed, the 4⅜ per cent, duty, which pressed very heavily upon the planters. The island had scarcely recovered from the effects of the hurricane when the supply of labour was restricted and its expense increased by the Royal African Company, at the head of which was the duke of York, receiving a charter for the exclusive supply of slaves to the West India Islands. This company had great influence in the appointment of governors; and in consequence of oppressive proceedings and depreciation of the value of property, many families left the island. A number of persons implicated in the duke of Monmonth’s rebellion were sent to Barbados and treated harshly. Duties upon sugar were imposed by the mother country, which were increased at the accession of James IL, to 2s. 4d. per cwt. on Muscovado, and to 7s. upon all sugars for common use. From the survey made by governor Sir Richard Dutton in 1683-4, it appears that the population consisted of 17,187 free, 2381 unfree and servants (prisoners of war and persons brought from England under engagements for terms of years), and 46,602 slaves. The number of acres in useful possession was 90,517, and of sugar-works 358. These figures show how rapidly, in spite of all difficulties, the colony had grown in sixty years.

The wars in Europe were reproduced upon a smaller scale, though with equal if not greater intensity, among the different nationalities in theWest Indies. In such times the seas swarmed with privateers; and freights were so high as to induce the island Legislature to make a vain attempt to regulate them by law. The news of the peace of Ryswick was received with great joy, and matters remained quiet until the declaration of war against France and Spain in 1702 revived privateering in West Indian waters. Events in the first half of the 18th century do not call for detailed description. It was the custom of the assembly to supplement the salary of the governor (which was paid by the Crown out of the 4⅛ per cent, duty) by special grants, sometimes of large amount. But this did not prevent many constitutional conflicts between the assembly and the executive. During the war which commenced] between England and France in 1756, the West Indies witnessed much fighting, with its attendant suffering. In 1761 a determined attempt was made to break the power of France in the archipelago. Barbados entered with enthusiasm into the project. Guadaloupe had been taken in 1759, and the principal effort now, under Admiral Rodney and General Monckton, was directed against Martinique. In 1762 that island surrendered. Barbados spent .£24,000 in raising and equipping her proportion of men in the attacking forces; and in 1765 the House of Commons voted £10,000 as compensation for the expense incurred. By the Treaty of 1763, however, both these islands were restored to France. The constant wars had naturally an injurious effect upon Barbados. During the governorship of the Hon. Edward Hay, who was appointed in 1773, differences of opinion arose as to the state of the island. When the war between England and the American colonies began, the supply of provisions, upon which Barbados depended, necessarily stopped. The assembly addressed a petition to the king, praying for relief; through the interposition of the governor the relief was not immediately granted, but in 1778, when the island was in a very depressed state, the British ministry sent a quantity of provisions for sale at prime cost. With the advent of General Cunninghame as governor another series of contentious years began. In the midst of disputes as to the right of the governor to exact certain fees without the consent of the assembly, a hurricane visited the island and caused much destruction of property. Parliament in 1782 granted £80,000 for relief, but an attempt to obtain the repeal of the 4∣ per cent, duty was again unsuccess fuL The French were regaining their ascendency in the archipelago, and had it not been for the great naval victory won by Sir George Rodney, Barbados and the remaining British colonies might have fallen to the enemy. As the 18th century closed, the prospect of the great final struggle with France overshadowed the colonies. The Barbadians energetically put themselves in a state of defence, and at the same time voted and privately subscribed money to assist his Majesty to carry on the war. The peace of Amiens, in 1802, relieved anxiety for a brief interval, but hostilities were soon renewed. When in 1805 Napoleon sent a squadron to the archipelago, with 4000 soldiers, the crisis put Barbados on her mettle. The French fleet was successful in exacting large sums of money from adjacent colonies. Admiral Villeneuve, too, was on his way with a still larger fleet and stronger force. But when Admiral Cochrane arrived off Barbados the safety of the island was secured. Even amid the intense excitement of these events constitutional questions were not forgotten. The governor could only establish martial law when the enemy’s fleet was in sight. A premature declaration drew forth a protest from the assembly, and the controversy was only ended when the Home Government asserted the full prerogative of the Crown to impose martial law when necessary for the safety of the island. The most memorable event in 1805 was a flying visit from Lord Nelson in search of a French fleet. In October of the same year the battle of Trafalgar was won, and Bridgetown soon after had its Trafalgar Square and its Nelson statue. In 1809 an expedition sailed from Barbados, under Governor Beckwith, against the French in Martinique. After a bombardment of five days that place was taken. Twelve months later Beckwith similarly attacked Guadaloupe; and when that island was conquered, after some hard fighting, the power of the French in the archipelago was again reduced to its lowest ebb. When the war ended in 1810 in the West Indies, the British were supreme in that region. But danger was threatened from another source. The rupture between Great Britain and the United States in 1812 caused privateering to be resumed to an extent that almost destroyed the commerce of the island, until the abdication of Napoleon and the peace with America in 1814 again brought relief to the colonies. The military history of Barbados ceased at the close of the Peninsular War.

In the meantime Barbadian affairs had attracted notice in Parliament. In 1812 a motion was made in the House of Commons that the 4⅜ per cent, duty should be applied exclusively to local purposes. A considerable amount of this revenue had been devoted to pensions to persons entirely unconnected with the colony, and it was stated in tho House of Commons that part of the money had been appropriated to the king’s household in the reign of William III. Nor were the Barbadians themselves backward in stating their grievances. In 1813 they protested against the importation of East Indian sugars into Great Britain, and also against the system of patent offices, by which non-resident officials were able to draw large sums from the island for services which they never performed. By Act of the Parliament 6 Geo. IV. c. 114, 1825, foreign commodities were admitted into the British possessions at moderaterates of duty if the countries sending those articles would give similar privileges to British ships. As the United States refused reciprocity, the West Indian ports were closed against their vessels, and the United States retaliated by prohibiting all intercourse with British colonies. From the operation of the above-mentioned Act an important constitutional question arose. These duties, levied in tho name of the king, were to be...