Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-13
ISLAND OF TOBACCO
DEFoE's BACKGROUND FOR ROB-
INsoN CRUsoE's ADVENTURES.
The Place Has Had No Native or In
digenous Population Within the
Memory Of Man.


mains. The doomed tSarib race which else
where has been absorbed or blotted out by
men OF sterner breeds. probably peopied
Tobago once. as Ii peopled 80 many Islands
of the middle western Atlantic; but since
first history, we understand IL. began
this little fragment OF rock and loan. get
eternally in the summer seas. has held no
native indigenous pop uation. Occasionally
stone implements are found proving that
in prehistoric times q people. to whose for
gotten existence these rude tools alone bear
witness, roamed along the shores and
through the forests OF Tobago. and from
Trinidad. the peaks Of whose mountains are
visible from Scarborough, wandering bands
of Caribs made occasional descents upon Its
coast. 1t was such a visitation as this
which. In 1926. caused the destruction of
the English settlement from Barbados-an
incident that probably suggested to Defoe
the arrival of the savages with their pris-
oner M&n Friday. since that author Is pop
ularly supposed TO have used descriptions
/ of Tobago as the background for his Rob
inson Crusoe.
Be this how It may, the first British nav
lgators to land In Tobago came hither In
1850. and found the Island uninhabited. No
settlement was established, though In that
year the British flag hoisted on tha
island. and James /. and his son after him,
claimed Tobago as an appanage of the Eng
lish crown. The latter sovereign made
present of the island to the Earl of Penn
broke in 1923, after the colony from Bar.
bados had come to q bloody end; but vol
unteer settlers were not. apparently, forth
coming. and the new owner was unable to
n AXE any use OF the gift. Four years later.
however, BOO people from Flushing. ignor-
ing British claims In the fashion which the
international courtesy of that day made
usual. landed in Tobago. called the place
New Walcheren." started a colony. and In
less than twelve months were ANONYMOUSLY
expelled by handful of Spaniards from
Trinidad. aided by Indian war parties The
subsequent adventures OF the men of Flush
ing are not recorded. for the three hun
dred persons dropped back into the OBJ
livion from which they had emerged but for
moment. and the waves of time close over
their heads.
A Dutch Expedition.
In 1912 the Duke of Courland-the ruler or
the Baltic state, which was at that time
practically Independent of the czar-itted
out two ships, which sailed for Tobago, and
chose as the site of a new colony the spot
on the northern coast of the island. which
retains the name of Courland bay even to
this day The colony was duly formed.
though It's success does not appear to have
been pronounced; and In 1864 second
Dutch expedition set out from Flushing
and formed a settlement upon the southern
| coast of Tobago. Although divided from
| one another by only a few miles OF forest
| covered hills, the two colonies maintained
| friendly relations for a space; but in 1858
the Dutch attacked the Courlanders and
routed them utterly. Once more the van
quished disappeared from the scene, without
a hint to indicate what was their fate or
what their subsequent adventures. Evident
iy the seventeenth century was not good
period during which to find ones self upon
the losing side--more especially IL the scene
of defeat CHANGED to be a remote island OF
the west
1t was about this time that Louis XIV as
serted claim, in the name of France, to
Tobago-the French being the fifth Euro
pean nation, IL the predatory Spanish expe
dition OF 1882 be taken into account. which
had concerned itself with the ownership or
this little island This claim appears to
have been based upon nothing SOunder than
the purely general land acquisitive princi-
pies OF that land grabbing age; but the mer-
chant OF Flushing, Adrian Lampsius. who
had sent out the expedition to the southern
coast of Tobago In 1864, thought II prudent
to acauiesce and to seek the protection of
the grand monarque, from whose hands he
received the title of Baron de Tobago.
Duke Of Courland's Demand.
Under the protection of so powerful an
overload the honest Dutch merchants prob
ably promised themselves a period of peace:
but in 1864 the Duke of Courland, who had
been held a prisoner for some years by the
King of Sweden, was released and at once
made use of his liberty to demand the res
titution of Tobago from the Dutch. This
was OF course. refused (among the pre-
hensile folk of Holland 1t is not a national
falling to surrender too easily that winch
has been once acquired and the aggrieved
duke sought redress at the hands of Charles
III of England OF all unlikely allies. Charles
promptly presented the duke with grant
of the Island OF Tobago, to which was at
tached the sole condition that II should be
colon!zed exclusively by British subjects.
Armed with this document. the duke set
to work to organize hHbustering expedl-
ton, certain merchants OF London aiding
him In his plans on purely business basis
and In 1866 four vessels left the Thames and
after slight resistance obtained posses
sion of the isiand-the Dutch commandment
and his garrison of 100 men being ta!.en
prisoners. In the same year the English
admiral Sir John Harnain. gained victory
Off the shores of Tobago over the combined
fleets OF France and Holland; Bloody bay,
so-called from the color OF the water after
the battle was ended. and its inlet. Dead
Mans bay. the shores OF which the
corpses were washed up. remaining to this
day to bear their serene and smiling testf-
mony to the ruthless fashion in which the
strife waged.
The triumph Of England in Tobago, how
ever was destined on this occasion to be
| shortlived. for before the year WIS out NJ.
Vincent. the French governor of Grenada,
sent a tiny force OF Internationally well
armed volunteers with two drums which.
by what in modern times we should call
skiilful piece OF bluff succeeded In cowing
the British commander into ignomInious
surrender. This reads like g. piece Of quite
recent history. and would seem TO show
that the gentle art of hands upping'-the
journalists notwithstanding-is by no means
wholly fin de steele requirement of our
race
The French. however, appear to have at
tached but little Importance TO Tobago. save
as means of scoring or the English.
for possession of the island was suffered to
pass once more to the Dutch. after the
French had destroyed by fire all the build
ings then existing on It's shores. Six years
later the British, under Sir Tobias Bridges,
swooped down upon Tebaeo. took it from
the Dutch, and carried away more than
400 white prisoners and a similar number
of negroes, all of whom. It is probable, ac-
cording to the gentle custom OF the time.
were distributed among the British plan
tations. there to work out the remainder
OF their lives as slaves, without. distinction
of rank or age or color.
Holland and France.
| In spite of this "regrettable incident.
however, the Dutch, with characteristic te-
nacity, speedily resettied Tobago, and tho
new colony was ftourishing apace when in
lc77 the sturdy Holla nders found that they