or Lucayas, a chain of islands stretching in a north-western direction from the N. coast of St Domingo to that of East Florida, and lying between Lat. 21° and 27° 30' N. and Long. 70° 30' and 79° 5' W. The group is composed of about twenty inhabited islands, and an immense number of islets and rocks. The principal islands of this group are New Providence, containing the capital, Nassau; Harbour Island; Abaco; Eleuthera; Heneagua, or

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1 See Wood's Songs of Scotland, vol. I. pp. 97-137, and vol. III. p. 51. Bahamas. Inagua; Mayaguana; St Salvador; Andros Island; Great Bahama; Ragged Island; Rum Cay; Exuma; Long Island; Crooked Island; Long Cay; Watling's Island; the Caicos, the Turks, and the Berry Islands.

Most of these islands are situated on those remarkable flats called the Great and Little Bahama Banks, and some out of soundings in the ocean. The Great Bahama Bank is about 300 miles in length from N.W. to S.E., and 100 in breadth; and the Little Bahama is about 130 miles long. The islands have, in general, a very flat appearance, and many of them consist of mere bleak and barren rocks. The soil in those that are under cultivation is thin, and generally light and sandy, but interspersed with occasional patches of rich mould. The substratum, so far as has been ascertained, consists of calcareous rocks, composed of coral, shells, madreporae, and marine deposits hardened into solid masses. The surface stratum is a combination of debris of the rock, exuviae, and decayed vegetable matter. Though destitute of running streams, they possess numerous springs; and by digging wells down to the level of the sea, fresh water is obtained.

The productions of the soil comprehend all the varieties of a tropical climate. Provisions—such as maize, yams, sweet potatoes, &c.; and fruits, as oranges, lemons, pine-apples, cocoa nuts, &c.—are produced in abundance. There are also several species of valuable trees, as mahogany, fustic, lignum vitae, cedars, pines, &c. Oxen, sheep, horses, poultry, and a great variety of live stock are reared; and wild hogs and agoutis are found in the woods. There are many varieties of birds, and the shores and creeks abound in turtle and excellent fish of various kinds. In the most southerly islands are salt ponds of great value.

St Salvador, one of the islands composing this chain, was the first land discovered by Columbus on his memorable voyage in 1492. At that period the Bahamas were inhabited by a mild and peaceable race of Indians, who, seduced by the arts of the Spaniards, were afterwards consigned to perpetual bondage in the mines of St Domingo, or sent to labour as divers in the pearl fisheries of Cumaná. From this period the islands continued devoid of inhabitants until 1629, when New Providence was settled by the English, and held till 1641, at which time the Spaniards expelled them, but made no attempts to settle there themselves. It was again colonized by England in 1666, and again ravaged by the French and Spaniards in 1703; after which it became a rendezvous for pirates till 1718, when these were extirpated, a regular colonial administration established, and the seat of government fixed in this island. In 1781 the Bahamas were surrendered to the Spaniards; but at the conclusion of the war they were once more annexed to the British empire, to which they have ever since belonged. At the close of the American war many of the British royalists sought refuge in these islands, and colonized the principal of them, from which period we may date their gradual though slow cultivation and improvement.

In 1848 the Turks, Caicos, and Mayaguana Islands were separated from the other Bahamas, and formed into a distinct government.

This colony has lately begun to assume a state of greater prosperity than previously. According to the governor's report for the year 1851, the amount of the revenue was £36,105, and of the expenditure £25,068; the revenue of the preceding year being £25,591, and the expenditure £29,451. The unfavourable financial state of the colony in 1850 was occasioned by the repeal of the export duty on fruit, the exemption of ships engaged in the salt trade from tonnage-duty, and the diminished productivity of a new tariff. The separation of the Turks Islands—the most productive of the salt islands, and which brought a comparatively large revenue to the Bahama government—considerably affected the finances. For some years previous to that time, the income had considerably exceeded the expenditure. The governor, in his closing speech to the Bahama legislature in March 1852, said that he did not despair of Bahama seeing the day, before finally quitting the government, when the revenue will be found nearly if not quite as large as it was before the separation of the Turks from the Bahama Islands. The value of sponge exported in 1850 was, in round numbers, £5700; and in 1851, £14,000; that of fruit, which in 1849 was £8000, had increased in 1851 to £12,600; and that of salt in 1851 was £16,500. The salt-producing islands are rapidly increasing in importance. There are at present six of these islands, viz., Inagua, Exuma, Long Cay (Crooked Island), Rum Cay, Long Island, and Ragged Island. The number of vessels that cleared out from the several ports of the colony in 1851 was 373, registering 36,914 tons; and 363 entered inwards, of 36,098 tons. There are four lighthouses, viz., a fixed light on Hog Island, at the entrance of the harbour of Nassau; a revolving light, 160 feet above the level of the sea, on the S.E. point of the Island of Abaco; a revolving light, 80 feet high, at Gun Cay; and a fixed light at Cay Sal, 100 feet above the level of the sea. There are nine colonial custom-houses and ports of entry in the government, viz., Nassau, Abaco, Eleuthera, Harbour Island, Little Exuma, Rum Cay, Long Island, Long Cay (Crooked Island), and Ragged Island, principally for the exportation of salt, the chief staple of these islands, except the first three, from which a considerable quantity of fruit (pine-apples, oranges, &c.) is exported to England and the United States.

The colony is divided into 13 parishes; and the religious bodies are Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Baptist, Anabaptist, and Methodist. There are 9 Episcopal churches, besides 21 chapels; a Presbyterian church, endowed by the legislature; 4 Methodist chapels and several preaching stations; and a capacious Baptist chapel at Nassau. In 1851 £300 was voted by the legislature to assist in the erection of three Methodist chapels.

The educational system is under a board of management, composed of the governor and four members of the executive council. Besides a number of private schools, there are 21 schools supported by the legislature, with 37 teachers, besides assistant-teachers, pupil-teachers, and monitors. In 1851 the number of scholars was 1857, and the sum expended for educational purposes £1650. A museum, library, and reading-room, have been established at Nassau, and are partly supported by the legislature. At Nassau there is a public dispensary for supplying medicine and medical advice gratis; and there is also in New Providence an extensive building for the reception of poor and infirm persons, lunatics, and lepers. The number of inmates in 1851 was 62.

The climate is agreeable and salubrious, being tempered by northern breezes from the continent of America. It is well adapted for those suffering from pulmonary and bronchial affections; and Nassau is resorted to by many of the wealthy inhabitants of North America to avoid the severity of the winter there. The salubrity of Nassau in particular has recently been much improved by the draining of the neighbouring swamps. The average temperature from 1st November to 1st May is 76°, and from 1st May to 1st November 84°.

By the census taken in March 1851 the population of the Bahamas was 27,519; of whom 13,747 were males, and 13,772 females. The following are the inhabited islands, with their populations according to that census:

| Island | Population | |-------------------------|------------| | New Providence | 8159 | | Harbour Island | 1840 | | Eleuthera (including Spanish Wells and Cay) | 4610 | | Rum Cay | 858 | | Crooked Island | 1092 | | St Salvador | 1828 | | Exuma | 2027 | | Long Island | 1477 | | Abaco | 2011 | | Bagged Island | 347 | | Andros Island | 1020 | | Great Bahama | 222 | | Berry Islands | 226 | | Bimini and Gun Cay | 150 | | Watling's Island | 384 | | Inagua | 630 | | Green Cay | 7 | | Cay Sal | 11 | The number of births during the year 1851 was 1206; of deaths, 576. What is termed the "wrecking system" is a source of considerable profit to a large number of the inhabitants. These "wreckers" are licensed by the government, for the purpose of affording succour to vessels in distress, and rescuing lives and property from stranded ships. They are allowed a salvage on the property they recover; and, according to a recent enactment of the Bahama government, it is declared "that the wrecking vessel engaged in saving lives shall be awarded salvage on the wrecked property in equal proportion with vessels of the same size engaged in saving such property." (Parliamentary Papers.)