The Isles of Guadeloupe

Abstract

WT A 7HEN one hears the French West Indies mentioned, one thinks especially of Martinique and tends to overlook the other islands. Actually, the French Antilles comprise two colonies, each with its own administration, its own governor, and even its own bank and currency. And, contrary to general belief, Martinique is the smaller of the two. Guadeloupe is larger both in area and in population; it has a wider variety of climate, soils, and resources, a larger area of cultivable land. Besides the principal island, Guadeloupe includes the dependencies of Les Saintes, Marie Galante, Petite Terre, and Desirade, which form an arc to the south and east, and, farther north, not far from the Virgin Islands, St. Barthelemy and the northern half of St. Martin. Why, then, has Guadeloupe been eclipsed by Martinique? The eclipse of the larger island by the smaller is no new thing. The Guadeloupeans seem never to have pushed themselves forward. In the seventeenth century a distinction was drawn between seigneurs d'Haiti, ces messieurs de la Martinique et les bonnes gens de la Guadeloupe, and even today the bonhommie of the Guadeloupeans instantly charms the visitor. But the fame of Martinique has been advanced by a series of circumstances in which Guadeloupe has had no share. The Empress josephine helped many of her fellow islanders to positions in the government of France as well as in the colonies, setting a tradition that has been maintained through the years. Moreover, the Martiniquians show a talent for business, and many have built up respectable fortunes on their native island; Guadeloupeans, on the other hand, often establish themselves elsewhere. Finally, Martinique has been advertised by its famous volcano, Mt. Pelee, and the eruption of I902, in which the town of St. Pierre was destroyed and some thirty thousand people perished. Guadeloupe's Soufriere has not staged any notable demonstration in a century and has attracted little scientific attention; long bibliographies are devoted to Martinique's Pelee!