History

Historically the islands are of interest, because one of them San Salvador (see SAN SALVADOR, THE LANDFALL OF COLUMBUS), was the first land of the New World discovered by Columbus, 12 October, 1492. The Spanish never made a permanent settlement in the Bahamas, but shortly after the discovery they carried off many aborigines to the mines of San Domingo, and ere long the whole population, never perhaps very large, seems to have disappeared. The statement made in some of the recent guide books, that 40,000 souls were supposed to have been carried to the mines of Hispaniola by the Spaniards, is evidently overdrawn. Had the Bahamas ever been so thickly populated, there would remain the evidence of ruins of buildings or of soil cultivation. There are few if any fruit trees whose introduction cannot be traced, and there are no food-animals on the islands. Whatever population there was, must, therefore, have subsisted on fish, corn, yams, and on a very few small wild fruits. There is nothing to warrant the supposition that the Bahamas ever had more than a very sparse aboriginal population. So little is known of the original inhabitants that they cannot be definitely classified. They may have been of Carib stock or of the race that inhabited the adjoining mainland of Florida. The brief description which Columbus gives of them, and the formation of the few skulls discovered, seem to favour the theory that they were either one with the aborigines of Florida, or a mixture of the latter with the Caribs of the West Indies. The fact that they were very mild-mannered, and not cannibalistic, favours the opinion that they were kin to the Seminoles of Florida. Excepting a few skulls, stone idols, and implements, a few of which are to be seen in the public library at Nassau, there are no aboriginal remains, and there are no ruins of any description, a fact which points to a North American, rather than to a West Indian, or Central American, origin.
In 1578 Queen Elizabeth conferred upon Sir Gilbert Humphrey all lands not already occupied by some Christian power, and finding the Bahamas neglected, he annexed them; but no settlement was established. The enmity existing between England and Spain afforded adventurers, chiefly English and French, an excuse to make them a vantage ground from which to make depredations on Spanish shipping to and from the New World, and the natural formation of the Bahamas furnished them an excellent hiding place. During the seventeenth century the islands were the rendezvous of the famous buccaneers. When, at the treaty of Riswick, in 1697, comparative peace was restored among the European nations, England withdrew her protection of the buccaneers, and some returned to more peaceful avocations (thus Morgan, a chief among them, retired to Jamaica, and subsequently was appointed governor of that island), while many others raised the black flag of piracy against all nations, and made the Bahamas a by-word for lawlessness and crime. In 1718, England began the extermination of piracy, and soon established law and order. Since then England has been in almost undisturbed possession. On 2 March, 1776, Captain Hopkins, in command of the first American Navy, took possession of Nassau, in quest of ammunition, and on 17 March departed, carrying with him Governor Brown. In 1781 the Spaniards took possession and organized a government. At the treaty of Paris, in 1783, the Bahamas reverted to England. During the early Spanish possession and depopulation nothing was done for religion, and the periods of buccaneer and pirate rule precluded religious activity. With English rule came gradually the Church of England, and in the first years of the nineteenth century, the Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians made foundations in Nassau. In 1861 the Bahamas were made a bishopric of the Church of England. The inhabitants of the Bahamas are all nominally Christians, and claim allegiance to some one of the denominations named. The Baptists, served almost exclusively by native coloured preachers, are numerically the strongest. There are no reliable religious statistics.

Climate

The Bahamas has a sub-tropical climate, friendly people and – according to astronauts – the clearest waters in the Caribbean region. Not surprisingly, tourism is the largest industry. Diverse vacation experiences abound on each island. Nassau and Paradise Island combined have about 26 beaches. Pink Sand Beach on Harbour Island is named for the pale pink powder that stretches for three miles. Eleuthera is famous for its pineapples and Abaco for sailing. The sportfishing capital is Bimini, just 50 miles off the coast of South Florida; and Grand Bahama Island is the country’s centre of eco-tourism, offering nature tours, kayaking, horseback riding, national parks and botanical gardens.

The Bahamas

The Bahamas is an archipelago of 700 islands and 2,500 cays. Its colourful history includes a diversity of characters – from the notorious pirates Blackbeard and Calico Jack to the Loyalists who fled the American Revolution to rebuild their lives on what was then British soil.The Bahamas gained independence from Great Britain on July 10, 1973.