San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-10-23
THE ISLAM OF ANeeADA.
A Place Noted for Its Steaming Fogs
and Fresh Water foundations.

A Place Noted for Its Steaming Fogs
and Fresh Water foundations.
The island OF Anegada is one of the
strangest Of all the strange places in the
world. 1t lies near the northeastern angle
of the main chain of the West Indies, and
differs from all the other islands near it in
being fiat and low, the neighboring isles
all being steep and mountainous. Il is
nine miles long and two miles across, and
lies so low that in heavy gales the sea
makes a clean breach over the lower por-
tons of it, whence its name, for anegady
is the Spanish for drowned island" In
1881 it had 7l9 inhabitants, of whom only
three were white people.
Its population is noted for idleness, and
the main occupation for many years was
w~recking-for an extensive and very dan
gerous coral reef surrounds the island and
once gave it a very melancholy notoriety.
But since the establishment of the light
house on the island Of Sombrero FORTY
seven miles to the eastward) there have
been few, if any, wrecks on Anegada, since
the main cause of the shipwrecks was the
constant and swift current which sets upon
the island from the east. Accordingly, the
natives are now not often aroused by the
cry of "a vessel on the reef" the only call
in the old days which would arouse them
from their almost perpetual inactivity. In
fact they are about the LATEST people in
the West Indies, although that is saying a
great deal.
Anegada used to be covered with under.
~wood-notably of the kind called seaside
grape, which here is particularly rich in
the valuable gum called Jamaica kino.
Anegada is the home of very numerous
and singular tropical plants, but it is per
haps rather more noteworthy for its i'm,
mense number of mosquitoes, gallinippers
and scorpions, not to speak of venomous
and other reptiles. The surrounding seas
are rich in scale and shell fish of many
kinds. Among its singular birds the
flamingo is one of the most numerous
species, and most of the ponds are the
abode of ducks which, on the approach of
man, rise and fill the air wi Ntheir clangor-
Gus cries. 1t is not an easy matter to reach
the island.
A few years ago an attempt was made to
open mines upon it, but nothing came OF
the effort but disappointment and loss.
Among the many disagreeable features OF
life in this hot and steaming climate is the
presence of large salt ponds, which in the
dry season give out an in~tolerable stencil,
and the same ponds in the wet season fill
up with singular rapidity and food a con.
siderable part of the island. When Schom.
burgh was on Anegada many years age
there WAS one morning a great outcry that
all the north part OF the island was flooded,
and so to all appearances it was, but on
examination it was found that the sup
posed waves of the sea were in reality only
. low lying fog which was rapidly sweep
ing along.
Another curious thing is the aerial re,
fraction; and this often brings into view
other islands, which lie below the horizon
and which, according to the ordinary oper
ations of nature ought to be invisible. 4
part of the surface is composed of sand
dunes, but there is a considerable proper
tion of calcareous or coral land, with belts
of fertile loan, and if the soil were intelli.
gently and faithfully cultivated it would
no doubt yield good returns In ordinary
seasons the fresh water supply appears to
be ample.
On the northeast side of the island there
is a singular succession Of very deep nat.
ural wells of fresh water, some of them
twenty-five feet across at the top. 1t would
be hard to find anywhere a hotter, wetter,
worse smelling or more generally disagree
able place to live in thar Anegada; but
singularly enough it appears to be for the
most part a pretty healthy %place-at least
for the natives, of whom nearly all are
black or colored. In the ante-colonial days
the Indians used to come hither in their
canoes, and they have left immense kitchen
middens or heaps of shells; but nc Indian
could ever make a permanent home in
Anegada with its steaming fogs, its squalls,
it's sea foods, its fresh water foundations,
It's strong smells and its dense swarms OF
insects.-American Notes and Queries.