LITTLE KNOWN COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD — DOMINICA

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 177, 29 July 1939, Page 4 (Supplement)

LITTLE KNOWN COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD — DOMINICA

spaces; in another, the steaming • jungle. In the earliest .lays of colonisation [all roads from Europe led to this 'little land, and it later became the centre from which Spanish influence radiated throughout the western world. During the first 100 years following its discovery, the island was. used as a base by Spanish explorers, and from its shores expeditions set out to conquer greater territories for Spain on the American mainland. Later, the harbours along the coast became a place of refuge for the pirates that operated so successfully in the-Caribbean Sea. Sinister vessels flying the "Jolly Roger" slunk into these hiding places and wild drinking parties were held on the golden sand of Dominican beaches. In 1795 the French seized power in Dominica, but 13 years later the people, aided by British troops, drove out the French and the colony returned to Spanish rule. In 1821 the Dominicans, rose to the urge that was inspiring nations on the" mainland to break free from the yoke of Spain and declared their independence. Too weak to hold their freedom, however, they yielded only a year later to the neighbouring republic of Haiti.

When Columbus discovered the * island of Haiti on December (i. 1492, • lie called the island Hispaniola. He was amazed at its beauty, which was j far beyond any written description. £ Columbus, however, did his best. He ' wrote:—- j "It is a marvel; the mountains and v hills and plains and fields, and the t soil so beautiful and rich for plant- t ing and sowing, for breeding cattle of all sorts, for building towns and villages. There could be no believ- j ing, without seeing, such harbours as j are here, as well as many and great i rivers and excellent waters, many of which contain gold. I "The lands there are high and in ( it there are many ranges of hills and most lofty mountains—all most • beautiful in a thousand shapes and ' full of trees so tall they seem to i reach the sky. And lam assured i that they never lose their foliage, as ] may be imagined since I saw them i as green and as beautiful as they are ' in Spain in May, and the nightingale was singing and other birds of a ' thousand sorts in the month of November, round about the way I was going. "There are wonderful pine groves and very large plains of verdure, and there is honey and many kinds of birds and great diversity of fruits. Hispaniola is a marvel." On this lovely island are two independent republics—Haiti on the west, previously the subject of a note in this series—and Dominica. The boundary which separates these two countries does not run along anv great natural barrier. In places it is possible to wade across a creek from one country to the other, but if there were a great wall, protected on top by broken glass, it could not more clearly mark the striking difference between language and people. Although only 19,000 square miles in area, Dominica, which has a population of a little over 1,500,000, has a strange diversity of climate. It has coastal areas as warm and pleasant as the coast of Florida. It has other areas which are little more than dried-up desert. In one part of the republic are waving palms and open

Although the Dominican Republic, which occupies two-thirds of the West Indian island of Haiti, cannot be classed as a South American State, it shares in the main a common history Tfith the Republics of the mainland — civil war, assassination, short-lived governments, misrule and backwardness thai has only in recent years given way to more progressive measures. Perhaps the principal interest of Dominica is its amazing scenic beauty. Columbus, its European discoverer, tried to persuade Queen Isabella of Spain that he had, in fact, found the original Garden of Eden, mentioned in the Scriptures.

This yoke was not thrown off until 1844; but in 1861, with the United State* busy with its own Civil War, Haiti saw an opportunity to regain control of the whole island. Unhappy as the Dominicans had been under Spanish rule, the prospect of further years under the tyranny of its neighbour wa« too terrible to contemplate, and eo the country sought | annexation to Spain as a welcome alternative. Two years later a revolution was started to throw off the rule that had been accepted with eagerness in 1861, and in 1865 Spain and her troublesome daughter parted for ever. Dominica again became an independent republic, and apart from occupation by American marines between 1916 and 1924, has retained its independence. Chief centre of interest in the country is the capital city of Santo Domingo, now called Ciudad Trujillo. Columbus himself was once refused entrance here. It was while on his fourth voyage of discovery that he sought permission to enter the harbour for protection from a hurricane. His request was refused by the Spanish Governor of the colony. The reason was political. The city, although greatly modernised since the destruction of prac-

tically all its important buildings by a disastrous hurricane in 1930, still retains much of its Spanish atmosphere. It was the oldest city in the New World, and "first to be established by white men in the Americas." Of the buildings now in ruins, one of the most interesting is the castle of Diego Colon, which was the ancestral home of the Columbus family in America. The construction of the house was begun in 1509, when Diego Columbus, son of the great navigator, came to Santo Domingo as Governor of the colony. The house was occupied by members" of the Columbus family until the death of another Diego, great -grandson of the discoverer, and last of the direct line of his male descendants. • During the early period of Spanish rule the island was many times attacked by Spain's enemies. One of the most famous of these was Sir Francis Drake. This Elizabethan seaman-adventurer captured the city in 1586, and forced the people to pay him £6000 before he sailed away. Another British expedition was sent to the island by Oliver Cromwell, who wished to gain permanent possession of the colony. This venture, led by Admiral Penn, failed, and the English forces sailed away to seize Jamaica instead.

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