GRENADA  , the southernmost of the Windward Islands,

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

In the

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

Barbados is dependent on Grenada for the

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

The

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

The French, under

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