one of the Antilles or Caribbee Islands, situated 20 leagues east of St Christophers, in long. 61° 45' W. and lat. 17° 6' N. It is about 50 miles in circumference, and is reckoned the largest of all the British leeward islands. This island having no rivers, and but few springs, or such as are brackish, the inhabitants are obliged to preserve the rain-water in cisterns. The air here is not so wholesome as in the neighbouring islands, and it is more subject to hurricanes; but it has excellent harbours, particularly English Harbour, which is capable of receiving the largest man-of-war in the navy. The principal trade, however, is carried on in the harbour of St Johns, the capital, situated in the north-west part of the island, and which has water sufficiently deep for merchant vessels. The island, according to Edwards, contains 59,838 acres of land, of which about 34,000 are appropriated to the growth of sugar, including those which are annexed as pasture grounds. The other staples are cotton, ginger, and tobacco.

A settlement was first attempted in Antigua by Sir Thomas Warner, about the same time with those in St Christophers and Nevis; but no establishment then took place. It was afterwards granted by Charles II. to Lord Willoughby; then governor of Barbadoes, who settled a colony upon it in the space of a few years. The imports in 1810 amounted to L285,000, and the exports to L182,000. According to Young (West India Common-Place Book), the population is 40,000, of whom 36,000 are slaves; but the free population has increased, and the negroes diminished, since his work was published. See Malte-Brun's Geography, vol. v. p. 588-9 (English translation).