Page:The British Empire in the nineteenth century Volume VI.djvu/16

 4 increase of cocoa (cacao), the quality of which comes next to that of Trinidad, among the West India islands; and the larger growth of cotton and spices, the latter including cloves and vanilla, pepper and cardamoms, and, especially, nutmegs. The export of spices, for instance, grew from a value of under £3500 in 1880, to close upon £18,000 in 1896. The fruit-trade is also becoming important in the markets of Barbados, Trinidad, and New York, and comprises coco-nuts and mangoes, with tropical fruits of almost every kind. Some products, in this line, of temperate climes have been introduced with success, including raspberries, strawberries, and apples. The plants and roots used for home-food consist of yams, sweet-potatoes, pigeon-peas, plantains, Indian corn, manioc, bread-fruit, and others. Turning to the chief commercial growths, we find that, in 1892, of the 20,418 acres under cultivation, sugar-cane was growing on only 911, while 11,115 were devoted to cocoa (cacao)-trees, 1812 to cotton, and 1343 acres to spices. In 1890, over 8 million pounds weight of cocoa were shipped, with a value of nearly £230,000, against little more than half the amount in 1880. Other exports comprise Indian corn, cotton and cotton-seed, ground-nuts, hides and skins, whale-oil, obtained from "fish" caught around the Grenadines, and live stock as above mentioned. Trade is carried on with the neighbouring islands and Venezuela, with the United States, and, very largely, with the British Isles. Timber, in great demand for new houses needed by an increasing population, bread-stuffs, and salt meat, come from the States; manufactured goods, in textiles and hardware, from Great Britain. The total exports, in 1896, had a value of £184,000, of which about £170,000 are accounted for by the United Kingdom. Of imports to the worth of over £154,000, the British Isles sent out £66,485. The revenue, mainly obtained by import duties, was £56,275 in 1896, with an expenditure of £60,523, and a public debt exceeding £127,000. St. George, the capital, as seat of government for all these Windward Isles, and also the chief port, lies on the south-west side of Grenada, in the middle of a large sandy-bottomed bay, safe from storms, with an inner spacious landlocked harbour on the eastern side. The little city of 5000 people is seen scrambling up the hillside with red roofs and church spires, among cacao and bread-fruit trees, and with garden-girt villas leading the eye up to the large and handsome Government