NEVIS, or NIEVIS, one of the West India islands, so called by its discoverer Columbus, after a high mountain of the same name in Spain. It is separated from St Kitt's by a strait about two miles broad, and full of shoals, in latitude 17. 14. north, and longitude 63. 3. west. Nevis
is a small but beautiful and fertile spot, consisting of one conical mountain about twenty-four miles in circumference, and containing an area of twenty square miles. That this island is of volcanic formation appears evident from a crater being visible on the summit; and the prevalence of sulphur in various parts affords additional proof of the fact. It is beautifully green, perfectly cultivated, and a complete forest of ever-green trees grows like a ruff or collar round the neck of the high land, where cultivation ceases. Its natural fertility is enhanced by an abundant supply of water; and sugar, the staple product, is raised in considerable quantities. Charlestown, the seat of government, lies along the shore of a wide curving bay, and the mountain begins to rise immediately behind it in a long and verdant acclivity. The court-house is a handsome building, with a square in front; it contains a hall on the ground floor for the assembly and the courts of law, and another room up stairs for the council. The island is divided into five parishes, and it has three tolerable roadsteads. In 1831, the population amounted to 500 whites, 2000 free coloured, and 8722 slaves manumitted by the emancipation act; in all, 11,222. The shipping which entered inwards in 1832 amounted to 14,440 tons. The government is quietly and respectably conducted by its council and assembly, but is in certain respects subordinate to that of St Christophers.
The following is a statement of the commerce of this island with the united kingdom. The exports into Great Britain were, in 1834, sugar unrefined, 59,748 cwts., in 1835, 39,637 cwts.; rum, 23,286 gallons in 1834, and in 1835, 39,366 ditto; molasses, 5466 cwts. in 1834, and in 1835, 161 cwts.; arrow-root, 17,768 lbs. in 1835; and during the same year, 1267 lbs. of succades, and 3511 lbs. of cotton.
This island was originally settled by an English colony from St Christophers, and, by the wise management of the first government, it soon became very flourishing. It was taken by the French in 1706, but restored at the peace of Utrecht. In the year 1782 it was again taken by the French, but restored at the peace in 1783.