The Sardinha de Paiva, Jardine and Sousa families

The islands of St Vincent and the Grenadines lie some 200 miles north of the coast of Venezuela and approximately 90 miles west of Barbados. The main island St Vincent has a central mountain chain dropping down to a narrow coastal plain. To the north of the island is the dormant volcano la Souffriere which last erupted in 1979.
Running south from St Vincent are a chain of beautiful island making up the Grenadines which stretch nearly to the neighbouring island of Grenada.
St Vincent, originally occupied by the Ciboney Indians who were subsequently replaced by the more warlike Arawak Indians which jealously guarded their territory from invasion. Ultimately however they were defeated by the Carib Indians some one hundred years before the arrival of Europeans who were even more active in resisting claims on their territory.
The British did however take possession of the island and the Caribs were allowed to live only in the north of the island under a treaty put in place in 1773. The French briefly took the island but it was returned to the British in1783.
In 1795 the the Caribs rose up against the invaders in the form of Chatoyer on the leeward side and DuValle on the windward. Many losses were incurred on both sides including Chatoyer and the Caribs were defeated resulting in their expulsion firstly to Ballicaux pronounce (Bal-li-so) and then to Honduras. The few remaining Caribs stayed in the Sandy Bay to Fancy area in the extreme north of St Vincent. Subsequent governments have done very little to help the Carib people.

Slaves were brought into St Vincent to labour on the profitable sugar plantations as well as on other commodities such as cotton but after 1833 labour became short as slaves had been emancipated through the work of William Wilberforce. Indentured labour from India and Portugal filled this gap but also other portuguese began to arrive in St Vincent as a result of fleeing persecution in their own country.

Kingstown before 1827

Kingstown with Bequia in the distance

In the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th the Portuguese population became the primary influence on business and culture in St Vincent at a local level.
St Vincent belonged to the Windward and West Indies Federations which were short lived and in 1969 were granted self government by Britain followed ten years later by independence, the same year that the Soufriere volcano last erupted.

St Vincent main island, though developing, is not as yet a major tourist destination, unlike the Grenadines, though there are many interesting sights to see and visits to make. Access to the various parts of the island is not easy as the road system is not well developed and essentially limited to the coastal areas with the exception of roads into the Mesopotamia valley from Kingstown and from the Windward Highway. The road also does not completely encircle the island there being no road from Richmond to Sandy Bay. The difficulty in attaining some of the sites is however well worth the effort.

Cathedral of the Assumption Kingstown

In Kingstown, the capital, there are a number of things to see. The most prominent being the Botanical Gardens at Montrose which were founded in 1762 and are the oldest in the western hemisphere. Plants were supplied by Captain Bligh to this garden and a descendant of his original breadfruit tree is still to be seen here. The organisation is responsible for some commercial breeding of plants but also a centre for protection of the St Vincent parrot, Amazona guildingii.
Fort Charlotte is found on a ridge 600 feet above sea level at the top of the narrow drive from downtown and gives some great views over Kingstown and south to the Grenadines and part of the buildings house a museum celebrating the Carib culture. At one time the fort housed some 600 troops and some of the many cannon remain today.
St Marys Catholic Cathedral can also be found in Kingstown. Originally built in 1823 it was completely rebuilt in the 1930’s by Dom. Charles Verbeke a Belgian priest using a considerable amount of his own family funds his sister also contributed. I am proud to say that my grandfather Egerton Sardine, A. de Passos A. Nieves and Aug. Nieves families, also contributed toward the marble altar that was brought from Italy at this time.

Outside the capital one can travel the windward highway or branch off on the Vigie highway to Mesopotamia and Montreal or take the leeward road toward Chateaubelair and beyond.
The road to Mesopotamia can be very winding on its way past Fountain and Fair Hall to the town of Marriaqua. From here the direction is across to the windward highway near Spring or onward to Richland Park and Montreal Gardens. This is a gem of a place being 7.5 acres surrounded largely by banana plantations at an altitude of 1500 feet which renders the climate quite cool. It has every aspect of the tropical garden and rainforest including formal arrangements and is well worth the visit.

Mount Wynne Beach

On the leeward side, the position of the road can be quite precipitous at times and at others passing through lush rain forest. Passing by Layou Bay, and the black sand beach at Mount Wynne, the road continues on to Barrouallie village, Cumberland Bay and Chateaubelair bay with its 40 foot reef and the mysterious rocks with cup holes. The road continues to Richmond where a 20 minute hike will take you to the Trinity or Dark View Falls.

The windward side of the island is quite different lacking much of the forest found on the leeward, particularly in the southern half of the island and receiving the prevailing winds which are no more evident than at Argyle where the sea pounds the beach and spray whips across the road, almond trees provide the only barrier. A collection of Arawak rock carvings can be found nearby just off the road to Mesopotamia.
The highway continues north past many villages such as Biabou, Union and Colonarie (pronounced Conari) before passing through Black Point tunnel and into the second town of St Vincent, Georgetown. Just before the tunnel a side road can be taken to South Rivers and all of this land is down to banana cultivation.
North of Georgetown near the Rabbaca dry river a trail can be taken to the base of the volcano Soufriere and a 3.5 mile hike then will take you to the rim of the volcano and some wonderful views though cloud may obscure these at times. Back on the road north we come to Orange Hill which at one time was one of the biggest coconut plantations in the world and on through Sandy Bay to Owia, a Carib village with the nearby famous salt ponds.

The Grendadines consist of a string of islands running down almost to Grenada the most southerly being Petit St Vincent and the biggest, Bequia but also including the beautiful islands of Mustique, Canouan, Mayreau and Union Island, the latter being where my father was born and spent his early years.

Carnival

La Soufriere Crater Rim

The islands now are essentially given over to tourism or are being developed that way and are a haven for yachts many of which are operated out of St Vincent. Tourism in the main island is limited however except for perhaps Carnival time in July when increasing numbers of visitors, mainly from other parts of the Caribbean come to what is now the second largest carnival in the region.
The economy of St Vincent, other than the Grenadines tourism mentioned above is agriculture based and currently somewhat in decline. There was a major Arrowroot industry here up to the late 1980’s which is now much reduced due to cheaper sources elsewhere and substitution with other products and the coconut industry has now all but disappeared, the oil factory at Arnos Vale having been closed some years ago.
The major crop today is banana which was a thriving industry until the EU reneged on its responsibility to support previous colonies under pressure from US companies based in South and Central America. The situation is exacerbated by bananas being seen more or less as a ‘loss leader’ by supermarkets so the margin available to the grower is pitifully small and bears no relationship to the selling price.
It seems a shame that more of the natural resource cannot be developed. Though there is a cottage industry bottling and packing sauces and juices there must be opportunity for commercial fruit processing for juices, pulps, whole fruit and even freeze dried product. Perhaps one day.

Merle Sardine Queen of the Band