The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1908-04-10
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A STRANGE ISLAND.
Americans Should Be interested in
This Place.

Bub0 VI0CSs
While Americans and Canadians
have been running over the world in
search of novelty, exploring the ma
larial jungles of Africa and the frozen
regions of the north, looking for
strange peoples and customs, they
have overlooked a very strange coun-
try close at hand The island of
Anegada is one of the strangest of all
the strange places in the world.
First of all, where is Anegada? It
is one of the Virgin islands, and it
lies northeast of Porto Rico, one of
the Great Antilles, and it's first pc
culiarity is that it is fiat and low, the
neighbcring isles all being steep and
mountainous. It 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 portions
OF it, whence it's name-fcr anegada
is the Spanish for drowned island"
Next We come to it's strange history.
In 1851 it had only 719 Inhabitants, of
whom but three were white people.
Its population is noted for idleness,
and the main occupation for many
years was wrecking-for an extensive
and very dangerous coral reef sur
rounds the island and once gave it
very melancholy notoriety. But since
the establishment of the lighthouse on
the island of Sombrero (47 miles to
the eastward), there have been few,
II 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 peo-
pie in the West Indies, although that
is saying great deal.
Anegada used to be covered with
Internationally of the kind called
seaside grape, which here is particu
larry rich in the valuable gum known
as Jamaica kino. Anegada is the home
Of very numerous and singular tropical
plants, but it is perhaps rather more
noteworthy for It's immense numbers of
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 fla
mingo is enc of the most numerous
species, and most of the ponds are the
abode of ducks which, on the approach
dangerous 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 disap-
pointment 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 intolerable stencil;
and the same ponds in the wet season
fill up with singular rapidity and flood
a considerable portion of the island.
AS we may infer from the name,
Anegada Is pretty frequently flooded.
Whenever hurricane comes sweep
ing along the waves roll completely
over the island, and the people have
to look out for their safety.
When Schomburgh. German trav-
Weller, was in Anegada many years ago
there was one morning great outcry
that all the north part of the island
was flooded; and so to all appearance
it was; but on examination it was
found that the supposed waves of the
sea were in reality only a low-lying
fog which was rapidly sweeping along.
Another curious thing is the aerial
refracion, and this often brings into
view other islands which lie below the
horizon and which, according to the
ordinary operations of nature, ought to
be invisible.
A part OF the surface is composed of
sand dunes, but there is a considerable
proportion of calcareous, or coral land,
with belts Of fertile loan, and if the
soil were intelligently 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
natural wells of fresh water, some of
them rs feet across the top.
1t would be hard to find anywhere a
hotter, wetter, worse smelling, or more
generally disagreeable place to live
than 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 In
dams used to come hither in their
canoes; but no Indian could ever
bring himself to make a permanent
home in Anegada, with it's steaming
fogs, it's squalls, it's sea foods, it's
fresh-water foundations, it's strong
smells and it's dense swarms of in
sects; and no American could be per.
suaded to spend more than "a hours
on the island, in spite Of it's strange.
ness.