one of the Caribbee islands, lying in W. Long. 61° 40'. N. Lat. 12° 0. It is the last of the Windward Caribbees; and lies 30 leagues north of new Andalusia, on the continent. According to some, it is 24 leagues in compass; according to others, only 22; and it is said to be 30 miles in length, and in some places 15 in breadth. The chief port, formerly called Louis, now St George's, stands on the west side of the island, in the middle of a large bay, with a sandy bottom. It is pretended that 1000 barks, from 300 to 400 tons, may ride secure from storms; and that 100 ships, of 1000 tons each, may be moored in the harbour. A large round basin, which is parted from it by a bank of land, would contain a considerable number of ships, if the bank was cut through: but by reason of it the large ships are obliged to pass within 80 paces of one of the mountains lying at the mouth of the harbour; the other mountain lying about half a mile distant. The island abounds with wild game and fish; it produces also very fine timber, but the cocoa-tree is observed not to thrive here so well as in the other islands. A lake on a high mountain, about the middle of the island, supplies it with fresh-water streams. Several bays and harbours lie round the island, some of which might be fortified to great advantage; so that it is very convenient for shipping, not being subject to hurricanes. The soil is capable of producing tobacco, sugar, indigo, pease, and millet.

In 1638, M. Poincy, a Frenchman, attempted to make a settlement in Grenada; but was driven off by the Caribbeans, who resorted to this island in greater numbers than to the neighbouring ones, probably on account of the game with which it abounded. In 1650, Grenada, Monf. Parquet, governor of Martinico, carried over from that island 200 men, furnished with presents to reconcile the savages to them; but with arms to subdue them, in case they should prove intractable. The savages are said to have been frightened into submission by the number of the Frenchmen; but, according to some French writers, the chief not only welcomed the new-comers; but, in consideration of some knives, hatchets, scythes, and other toys, yielded to Parquet the sovereignty of the island, referring to themselves their own habitations. The Abbé Raynal informs us, that these first French colonists, imagining they had purchased the island by these trifles, assumed the sovereignty, and soon acted as tyrants. The Caribs, unable to contend with them by force, took their usual method of murdering all those whom they found in a defenceless state. This produced a war; and the French settlers having received a reinforcement of 300 men from Martinico, forced the savages to retire to a mountain; from whence, after exhausting all their arrows, they rolled down great logs of wood on their enemies. Here they were joined by other savages from the neighbouring islands; and again attacked the French, but were defeated anew; and were at last driven to such desperation, that 40 of them, who had escaped from the slaughter, jumped from a precipice into the sea, where they all perished, rather than fall into the hands of their implacable enemies. From thence the rock was called le morne des fouteurs, or "the hill of the leapers;" which name it still retains. The French then destroyed the habitations and all the provisions of the savages; but fresh supplies of Caribbeans arriving, the war was renewed with great vigour, and great numbers of the French were killed. Upon this they resolved totally to exterminate the natives; and having accordingly attacked the savages unawares, they inhumanly put to death the women and children, as well as the men; burning all their boats and canoes, to cut off all communication between the few survivors and the neighbouring islands. Notwithstanding all these barbarous precautions, however, the Caribbeans proved the irreconcilable enemies of the French; and their frequent insurrections at last obliged Parquet to sell all his property in the island to the Count de Cerillac in 1677. The new proprietor, who purchased Parquet's property for 30,000 crowns, sent thither a person of brutal manners to govern the island. He behaved with such infupportable tyranny, that most of the colonists retired to Martinico; and the few who remained condemned him to death after a formal trial. In the whole court of justice that tried this miscreant, there was only one man (called Archangeli) who could write. A farrier was the person who impeached; and he, instead of the signatures, sealed with a horse-shoe; and Archangeli, who performed the office of clerk, wrote round it these words in French, "Mark of Mr de la Brie, counsel for the court."

It was apprehended that the court of France would not ratify a sentence passed with such unusual formalities; and therefore most of the judges of the governor's crimes, and witnesses of his execution, disappeared. Only those remained whose obscurity screened them from the pursuit of the laws. By an estimate, taken in 1700, there were at Grenada no more than 251 white people, 53 free savages or mulattoes, and 525 slaves. The useful animals were reduced to 64 horses and 569 head of horned cattle. The whole culture consisted of 3 plantations of sugar and 52 of indigo.—The island had been sold in 1664 to the French West India company for 100,000 livres.

This unfavourable state of the affairs of Grenada was changed in 1714. The change was owing to the flourishing condition of Martinique. The richest of the ships from that island were sent to the Spanish coasts, and in their way touched at Grenada to take in refreshments. The trading privateers, who undertook this navigation, taught the people of that island the value of their soil, which only required cultivation. Some traders furnished the inhabitants with staves and utensils to erect sugar plantations. An open account was established between the two colonies. Grenada was clearing its debts gradually by its rich produce; and the balance was on the point of being closed, when the war in 1744 interrupted the communication between the two islands, and at the same time stopped the progress of the sugar-plantations. This loss was supplied by the culture of coffee, which was pursued during the hostilities with all the activity and eagerness that industry could inspire.—The peace of 1748 revived all the labours, and opened all the former sources of wealth. In 1753 the population of Grenada consisted of 1262 white people, 175 free negroes, and 11,991 slaves. The cattle amounted to 2298 horses or mules, 2456 head of horned cattle, 3278 sheep, 902 goats, and 331 hogs. The cultivation rose to 83 sugar-plantations, 2,752,600 coffee-trees, 150,300 cocoa-trees, and 800 cotton-plants. The provisions consisted of 5,740,450 trenches of cadda, 933,596 banana trees, and 143 squares of potatoes and yams. The colony made a rapid progress, in proportion to the excellence of its soil; but in the course of the last war but one of the island was taken by the British. At this time one of the mountains at the side of St George's harbour was strongly fortified, and might have made a good defence, but surrendered without firing a gun; and by the treaty concluded in 1763 the island was ceded to Britain. On this cession, and the management of the colony after that event, the Abbé Raynal has the following remarks.—"This long train of evils [the ambition and mismanagement of his countrymen] has thrown Grenada into the hands of the English, who are in possession of this conquest by the treaty of 1763. But how long will they keep this colony? Or, will it never again be restored to France?—England has not made a fortunate beginning. In the first enthusiasm raised by an acquisition, of which the highest opinion had been previously formed, every one was eager to purchase estates there. They sold for much more than their real value. This caprice, by expelling old colonists who were inured to the climate, has sent about £1,553,000 out of the mother-country. This imprudence has been followed by another. The new proprietors, misled, no doubt, by national pride, have substituted new methods to those of their predecessors. They have attempted to alter the mode of living among their slaves. The negroes, who from their very ignorance are more attached to their customs than other men, have revolted. It hath been found necessary to send out troops, and to shed blood. The whole colony was filled with suspicions. The masters who had laid themselves under a necessity of using violent methods, were afraid of being burnt or massacred in their own plantations. The labours have declined, or been totally interrupted. Tranquillity has, at length been restored. The number of slaves has been increased as far as 40,000, and the produce has been raised to the treble of what it was under the French government. The plantations will still be improved by the neighbourhood of a dozen of islands, called the Grenadines or Grenadilles, that are dependent on the colony. They are from three to eight leagues in circumference, but do not afford a single spring of water. The air is wholesome. The ground, covered only with thin bushes, has not been screened from the sun. It exhales none of those noxious vapours which are fatal to the hibiscus man. Carriacou, the only one of the Grenadines which the French have occupied, was at first frequented by turtle fishermen; who, in the leisure afforded them by so easy an occupation, employed themselves in clearing the ground. In process of time, their small number was increased by the accession of some of the inhabitants of Guadeloupe; who, finding that their plantations were destroyed by a particular sort of ants, removed to Carriacou. The island flourished from the liberty that was enjoyed there. The inhabitants collected about 1200 slaves, by whose labours they made themselves a revenue of near 20,000 a-year in cotton.—The other Grenadines do not afford a prospect of the same advantages, though the plantation of sugar is begun there. It has succeeded remarkably well at Bequia, the largest and most fertile of these islands, which is no more than two leagues distant from St Vincent."

In the year 1779 the conquest of this island was accomplished by D'Estaing the French admiral, who had been prevented from attempting it before by his enterprise against St Vincent. Immediately after his conquest of St Lucia, however, being reinforced by a squadron under M. de la Motte, he set sail for Grenada with a fleet of 26 sail of the line and 12 frigates, having on board 10,000 land forces. Here he arrived on the second of July; and landed 3000 troops, chiefly Irish, being part of the brigade composed of natives of Ireland in the service of France. These were conducted by Count Dillon, who disposed them in such a manner as to surround the hill that overlooks and commands George's Town, together with the fort and harbour. To oppose these, Lord McCartney, the governor, had only about 150 regulars, and 300 or 400 armed inhabitants; but though all resistance was evidently vain, he determined nevertheless to make an honourable and gallant defence. The preparations he made were such as induced D'Estaing himself to be present at the attack; and, even with his vast superiority of force, the first attack on the entrenchments proved unsuccessful. The second continued two hours; when the garrison were obliged to yield to the immense disparity of numbers who assaulted them, after having killed or wounded 300 of their antagonists. Having thus made themselves masters of the intrenchments on the hill, the French turned the cannon of them towards the fort which lay under it; on which the governor demanded a capitulation. The terms, however, were... were so extraordinary and unprecedented, that both the governor and inhabitants agreed in rejecting them; and determined rather to surrender without any conditions at all than upon those which appeared to be extravagant. On this occasion D'E斯塔ign is said to have behaved in a very haughty and severe manner; indulging his soldiers also in the most unwarrantable liberties, and in which they would have proceeded much farther had they not been restrained by the Irish troops in the French service.

In the mean time admiral Byron, who had been convoying the homeward-bound West India fleet, had been sent to St Vincent, in hopes of recovering it; but being informed, by the way, that a descent had been made at Grenada, he changed his course, hoping that Lord M'Cartney would be able to hold out till his arrival. On the sixth of July he came in sight of the French fleet; and, without regarding D'E斯塔ign's superiority of six ships of the line and as many frigates, determined if possible to force him to a close engagement. The French commander, however, was not so confident of his own prowess as to run the risk of an encounter of this kind; and having already achieved his conquest, had no other view than to preserve it. His designs were facilitated by the good condition of his fleet; which being more lately come out of port than that of the British, failed faster, so that he was thus enabled to keep at what distance he pleased. The engagement began about eight in the morning, when admiral Barrington with his own and two other ships got up to the van of the enemy, which they attacked with the greatest spirit. As the other ships of his division, however, were not able to get up to his assistance, these three ships were necessarily obliged to encounter a vast superiority, and of consequence suffered exceedingly. The battle was carried on from beginning to end in the same unequal manner; nor were the British commanders, though they used their utmost efforts for this purpose, able to bring the French to a close engagement. Thus captains Collingwood, Edwards, and Cornwallis, stood the fire of the whole French fleet for some time. Captain Fanshaw of the Monmouth, a 64 gun ship, threw himself singly in the way of the enemy's van; and admiral Rowley and captain Butchart fought at the same disadvantage: so that finding it impossible to continue the engagement with any probability of success, a general cessation of firing took place about noon. It recommenced in the same manner about two in the afternoon; and lasted, with different interruptions, till the evening. During this action some of the British ships had forced their way into St George's harbour, not imagining that the enemy were already in possession of the island. They were soon undeceived, however, by perceiving the French colours flying ashore, and the guns and batteries firing at them. This discovery put an end to the design which had brought on the engagement; and as it was now high time to think of providing for the safety of the British transports, which were in danger from the number of the enemy's frigates, the engagement was finally discontinued. During this action some of admiral Byron's ships had suffered extremely. The Lion of 64 guns, captain Cornwallis, was found incapable of rejoining the fleet which were plying to windward; and was therefore obliged to bear away alone before the wind. Two other ships lay far astern in a very distressed situation; but no attempt was made to capture them, nor did the French admiral show the least inclination to renew the engagement.

Grenada was restored to Great Britain by the late treaty of peace.—George's town, or St George's, is the residence of the governor; and the present governor, general Matthew, made a present to the citizens of a clock and bells last spring (1790). The garrison consisted at that time of artillery, two regiments of Europeans, and one of blacks. As there are several small islands subject to the laws enacted in Grenada, they each elect a person to represent them in the general assembly, which is always held in St George's. As none of the Grenadines have a harbour fit for large vessels, the produce of them is conveyed in small vessels to St George's, from whence it is exported to the different places of Europe, Africa, America, &c. From the number of vessels that arrive there yearly from different places, and from its being the seat of the legislature, it has become so populous, that two newspapers are published in it. On occasion of the late prospect of a war with Spain, an act was passed here in February 1792, obliging every gentleman to give in upon oath the value of his estate, and the number of blacks upon it, in order that the general assembly might ascertain the number of slaves each should tend to work upon the fortifications on Richmond-hill, near St George's.

**GRENADINES, or Grenadillos.** See the preceding article.—It is there mentioned that the Grenadines do not afford a single drop of fresh water. A small spring however has been lately discovered in the principal island Cariacou, by digging; but being of great value, it is kept locked by the proprietor Mr Mayes. The capital of that island is called Hillborough, in which there is a small church.

a name given by the French writers to a preparation of copper, which the Chinese use as a red colour in some of their finest china, particularly for that colour which is called oil-red, or red in oil.** The china-ware coloured with this is very dear. The manner in which they procure the preparation is thus: they have in China no such thing as silver-coined money, but they use in commerce bars or muffs of silver; these they pay and receive in large bargains; and among a nation so full of fraud as the Chinese, it is no wonder that these are too often adulterated with too great an alloy of copper. They pass, however, in this state in the common payments. There are some occasions, however, such as the paying the taxes and contributions, on which they must have their silver pure and fine; on this occasion they have recourse to certain people, whose sole business it is to refine the silver, and separate it from the copper and the lead it contains. This they do in furnaces made for the purpose, and with very convenient vessels. While the copper is in fusion, they take a small brush, and dip the end of it into water; then striking the handle of the brush, they sprinkle the water by degrees upon the melted copper; a sort of pellicle forms itself by this means on the surface of the matter, which they take off while hot with pincers of iron, and immediately throwing it into a large vessel of cold water, it forms that red powder which is called the grenaille; they repeat