The USVI

As it is the first time we have visited the USVI, and as promised in the last weblog, here is a little about them. They are just across the Sir Francis Drake Channel from the BVIs, where we have spent a tremendous amount of time in the past.

They are made of three islands: St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. St. John is 19 square miles and is about 60 % parkland, and has 4300 residents. St. Thomas is 32 square miles with 52 000 people, and St. Croix is 84 square miles and has 54 000 residents.

Columbus came through here in 1493, and named all the islands, but not much went on until the Danes claimed the islands and started colonizing in 1650 or so. Apparently, by that time, the indigenous population of Carib or Taino indians were simply missing; likely killed off or captured for slavery elsewhere. The Danes took part in the slave trade to build the Danish West Indies into a thriving sugar cane and trading spot. The ruins we have looked over suggest that every plantation also made rum from the industrial waste (molasses, skimmings, and dregs) of the sugar industry. As international pressure mounted, the Danes abolished the trade in slaves in 1808, and abolished slavery in 1848, after over 200 years of it. They had their share of uprisings, as did all the islands as a result of the slaves typically outnumbering the whites by 10-15 to 1 on the islands. The Danes had a significantly vicious reputation as slave owners, but let's remember that their ancestry includes the famous Vikings, who were the fear of the European coast and often incorporated slaves in their galley ships.

When you read between the lines, however, it becomes more apparent that the true cause of the end of slavery in the Caribbean and possibly elsewhere was not moral responsibility, acts of an unhappy deity, or increasing public pressure. It was the development of the sugar beet industry which replaced the sugar cane industry. Near the end of the plantation era down here, rum's importance to the profits became larger. Unlike other islands, there seems little evidence of the industry attempting to grow other or varied crops, nor to import indentured servants. Indeed, it is apparent now, as one enters a store - no one is of East Indian descent, and not a bit of the rather expensive food is grown locally.

While hiking around St. John last week, we noticed that the hills are covered with very dry growth, and the soil looks terrible, with rocks sticking up everywhere. All drainage gulleys and streams are totally dry and quite rocky. There are interpretive plaques in some locations. These tend to suggest that the island was quite green and had a great topsoil when the Europeans arrived, but that the removal of all the forest on even the steepest slopes and the use of all surfaces for sugar cane and the servicing roads resulted in an easily eroded and ruined land. Virtually all of St. John was covered with sugar cane as early as 1733. Of course, some of the dryness in the region has to be attributed to the climate changes over the last couple hundred years. The picture of the falls and the petroglyphs from last blog would have certainly been nicer if it was taken hundreds of years ago when the stream never dried up. We understand that the other two islands presently have similar topography.

The US bought the Danish West Indies in 1917, when the Danes were happy to have the money and the US were nervous about German expansion. In 1927, all citizens became US citizens. Interestingly, it was quite soon after this, and right after the end of prohibition that the US government backed an attempt at a major rum factory in the islands to counter the poverty at the time, and that is the source of Cruzan Rum. I can say it is one of the better rums down here, but not the best. Still, the Cruzan line of rums has many flavours, and we're not finished tasting.

Finishing with St. John, one of the Rockefellers fell in love with the place in the 1950's and in 1956 bought a significant chunk to donate to the national parks. The St. John park has grown through purchases and donations since and continues to grow. The National Park Services has hiking trails, snorkeling trails, the maintenance of some of the ruins, interpretive guiding and lectures, and incorporates volunteers in a big way. We're going back tomorrow or the next day for another attack on it. We're also intending to revisit Coral Bay, which we found rather delightful, with older boats and free-spirited older individuals enjoying their time and taking up residence.

St. Thomas is one big tourist town. Indeed, we counted six giant cruise ships there in one day. Walking the streets when you are not looking for t-shirts or jewelry brings you up against hucksters and pushers who try to drag you into the stores. The cattlemarans, day charter powerboats, rental boats, etc., make the local harbours quite busy. We have investigated the hotels, and found them to be rather pricey for the most part.

St. Croix is a distant dark spot to the south, about 30 miles away, and we have not been there.

Today, we are in Christmas Cov,e watching over 100 boats in the Annual St. Thomas Regatta!