The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1855-12-09
News from the Danish West Indies.
QUE ST. THOMAS CORRESPONDENTS.

Observation-Disclosures Of Exas an ae EaJiish istaats
-Sa'ta Am~a-Vist eftAs Governor General
The unsettled state affairs between the United states
and Denmark has of attracted much attention to
tho Danah West Indies English papers assert that h
the utsrtion of the United States to take OF
xhsse islands In event OF rupture be the
In the attempt TO settle the question OF tie
Sound dues and press contends that 1t Is the day
Of government to convoy our merchant vessels
through the Sound, and to r-taHats up,n Daaish
commerce for all wrong which we may sustain At her
hands in attempt to avail ourselves Of natural
and legal right the free navigation of the Sound and
Belts which the Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic
Sea, and untaxed participation in the
the latter and Danish papers say, the subject post
poned by the intervention of the Emperor Russia
Til the conclusion Of the European However this
may b. and whatever may be the final result descrip
lion of these islands will be interesting the American
reader; in giving which, shall quote at length
from my letters, which have not however the
We Of your readers.
The Island of St. Thomas rises out Of The in lon
gitude 65 deg 20 min West and In latitude IS deg %
min., North; lies to the north of the Wndward Islands
and east of Porto Rico. On entering the mouth Of the
bay you greeted by two small sors In front you
have full view of the city of st. Thomas which
to be built three spurs of the m,untan which rises
few hundred yards from the shore, the effect is very
beautiful The houses well bailt generally OF stone,
with tiled roofs, large airy and comfortable The view
from the mountain is exquisite Looking down you
the city and placid bay dotted with ships, at your very
feet the broad expapse of the ocean, with 81. Johns
Santa CruE Porto REQ, Buck Island and sail Rock half
buried in the 'vasty deep" in the dim distan Cast
your eye the west behold hill rising upon hill and
mountain upon mountain. miniature Pehon upon Ossa,
covered with
Palms which never dis, but stand
Immortal sea marks on the strand.
Now by the aid Of the ger tie breeze bo"ng good night
to the retiring SUM- which lights up the bay and hills
nth aft varied cOOrinQ only
by tropi,s sunset But when gazing upon this beau
tifu Panoram. We exclaimed, What are mountains,
fectad from loving evesS Association is the beautfer
Of nsaysns dapey am alone and this gogs,u.
the Clouds resign tire blue of Heaven for the blues in
town which can only be Oani.hsd BY getting blue and
St. Tho mas is phaticsly emnentlya commercial
town., The average number of vessels arriving at
sand G,e hundred; it is fee port commercial depot
from which many of the windward and eeward Islands
been populated by emigration from all nations Of the
civilized world, who speak almost every language There
SEEMS to be no nstioDaty-' ch'Dg,ng movea DE cos
SnoS white to sooy.
The American, Dani-h English, German and Spanish
merchants active, enterpr siog and intelligent, have
large capital invested in their business may be
from the vast piles of merchandise hand. The stores
are re-proof buildings from Main street
to the wharf distance of from four to SIX hundred ee
and in many instao rent for three four five thou
sand dollars per areum. The city contains many beauu
full dwellings, four .urches, Jewish synagogue, two
banks Eve hotels barra ks two old frts public library
and many other public buildings, with q population OF
made recent visit to Santa Cruz; embarked at ST.
thomas board schooner and in less than six hours
stad the CAPT Cruz Christianstadt is built like
mott other West India towns and contains popolston
Tomas, and is the residence Of the Governor Gem
crxl of the ranish West India islands. Santa Cruz
, shout y miles in Ss and from ten to
productive Of the West Indies, and has aptly been
called the garden Of this archipelago the verdare of it's
groves, its beautiful Villas and gardens OF wers its
waving lakes Of groves orange and lime, to
vie with each other in elshng the island Its roads,
The Island is extremely healthy, and often the resort Ct
American nvalids There is also another city this
island situated at the end named Free
deckstsdt, but usually csued West End with popu-
laticn Of some five thousand visited every object Of
viewing this Ecen washed by the pillows aud famed by
TIE breath Of the Atlantic, teeming With the richest pro-
ducts OF the South where plant shrub ami tree
The gushing fruit that nature gave untitled,
@ fhi xssn a BY o @
called 'Caribs" whom he soon discovered TO be can
The spaua1d soon after their discovery and conquest
Of st. Coix St. Thomas and others of this group OF
islands being attracted towards the soli and silver
for richer spos About the year 1880 the West Indies
having attracted the attention Of the commercial
and one Of Enslish-were established on the two
ends of st. Croix. They not destined long
10 live frends they quarrellet and fought; the
of both colonies killed and Dutch
withdrew to neighb ,ing island The spanish returned
to st. Crox, attacked the English killed most of the in
habitan's ard drove the survivors of The Dutch
Immediately returned and shared the fate Of the English.
The French hearing Of the destruction Of the Dutch and
English colonies, sent from the island OF St. Christopher
ceachment Of troops expelled the spaniards aud took
possession of the island The cruelty of the Spanards
towards the infant onies this island caused Crom-
well to declare against Spain in 1855. The French
held possession OF the bland until 1894 when they aban
doned It, and 10 1888 soil to Denmark which govern
egsiOU Thomas
and IONS the three islands, bat to complete the
changes and revolutions watch have occurred in these
islancs, must state THAT st. Thomas ny the
English in 1901 restored in 1902 retaken in 1907 and
again restored by treaty in 1915.
character of the various nations which have 81 intervals
held possession of them They a. early cate sup
seivaion should think the negroes the islands
number 60 00O about two thirds Of the whoe ,pu.
the slaves her West sessions The result was
that the negroes abandoned the country for what they
o 1 ss
wretchednea-many Of them, from exposure, are
seen S hosSg through the rses with o. one or
to be disease peculiar to them. gentleman
sitting my window attempted to count the Of
swollen legged negro beggars who passed in hour He
counted to hundred when exclaimed, I'VE have
found a. Marcsllus suspected sms.hns rotten IL the
this Is the lan Of negroes and monkeys snakes
ggsers, scorpions and eentpedes; earthquakes hurri
Danes yellow fever yet told that in
disc. grows death to ue; and the white.
active bold and adventurous In their commercial and
maritime enterprises the blacks lazy ndolent and
worthless. We therefore
Accuse not Nature: she has done her part,
and not Responsible for the in which the
rent Of has been da kenod BY these e,ony exotics
from coast u Africa who have by mi taken policy
been thrown upon their resources which found
not 10 be adequate to them from unparalleled
misery and degradation TO which they are hurried BY
their naura Incidence and total absence Of all the ee
ments Of nature necessary to sefpreservaon and
while the negroes OF the West Indies, by this English
policy, have been thus deeased, emancipation ha in,
jured many and totally ruined Of the best and
most productive islands 81 the Antilles Nearly sll the
plantations this island abandoned TO the weeds.
81 Croix produces less than half ut the sugar she
exported previous 10 emancipation The Engish islands
are In n still worse condition.
have noticed some Of the evils growing ont of
emancipation in the West Indies, and make
ment, but simply ask the reader, would not the same
experiment in the Southern States Of America pro-
duce like result2 Would not the emancipation Of
slaves ruin the entire SOUTH Would not the ne
groes II emancipatcd be in tenfold worse condition