The above image is looking north along St Kitts (St Christopher) to Statia (St Eustatia), the big volcano in the distance.
Colloquially known as St Kitts and Statia, Saint Kitts and Nevis are one country and Saint Eustatia is another, though they are quite close to each other. The officials in Nevis didn’t bat an eye at James’ nearly expired passport even though online it said they won’t let you in with less than six months to go. (We had decided that if all else failed, we’d go straight to the French side of Saint Martin as they don’t do any formal check in whatsoever, just self reporting online.) But that wasn’t necessary and we soon found ourselves touring the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton and where Horatio Nelson wed his wife, a local aristocrat. Nelson’s best man was Prince William Henry who later became King William IV of England, uncle to Queen Victoria who succeeded him. To keep up with our recent tradition, we hiked halfway (hah, not even) up the volcano to see the ruins of the grand Montravers plantation in the absolute heat of the day. This guy even imported a bunch of camels to see if they’d handle the heat – they didn’t. Despite the temperature, we actually caught glimpses (no photos) of a couple of African Green Vervet monkeys, thriving on island since they were brought in as pets over 300 years ago. In fact, they far outnumber the human population. That last photo shows the Montravers Estate’s prominent location. It looks close but ask James, it was not! We also found a hot river that has been used since before the Jamestown colonists documented it in 1607. The modern pools are drained daily (just before we arrived, so fairly shallow) and between 104° – 115°. It felt great on John’s broken foot recovery! Fort Charles was nearby but not much is left of it.
Ever wonder how slavery got its start among Europeans? Queen Isabella of Spain ruled in 1503 that “only” cannibals could be legally enslaved. Therefore, every native found wherever the Spanish went was deemed a cannibal. Slavery was serious business here as the English Royal African company set up its HQ on Nevis in 1675 and thereafter, all slaves destined for the English Caribbean came first to Nevis. That meant local planters had first choice but even when selecting the healthiest slaves, over 40% would die during “seasoning”, their first couple years on island. In 1626, after years of fighting with the English and French colonists on Nevis, the last 2,000 Kalinago natives were cornered and massacred at a ravine now known as Bloody Point on St Kitts. The stream in the ravine was said to have run red for three full days. One last historical tidbit: in 1706, the French captured St Kitts and Nevis and stole 3,400 slaves from Nevis, which was producing more money for England than all the other colonies combined by the early-1700’s. Thus, the English built 15 fortresses on just these two little islands, which England got it back in 1713.
After a couple days in Nevis, we sailed north to St Christopher and rented a car. The main thing here is the Brimstone Hill fortress. The largest British fort in the Americas, it took us half a day just to walk it. Situated on a standalone hill 800′ up, it was considered impregnable after 100+ years of building. But in 1782, the French invaded with 8,000 soldiers and took the rest of the island as retribution for England sacking Dutch Statia the year before, itself as punishment for trading with the Americans! (It’s hard to keep up with their grievances.) France was allied with the United States at the time. The Brits had 600 troops plus a local militia of 350. They endured a monthlong siege of constant bombardment from the surrounding hills before capitulating. However, the English got it back in the Treaty of Paris the following year. Brimstone was originally begun in 1690 when the French had captured Charles Fort, on the coast below Brimstone Hill. We enjoyed lunch at the restaurant on site and then drove around the rest of the island taking in the old windmills and high-end development on the south side. We found a fabulous restaurant for dinner called Marshall’s and had a long chat with the owner.
From St Kitts, we sailed on to Saint Eustatia, just a few hours north. In the late 1700s, the Dutch remained neutral in the American war of independence and the port of Oranjestad was “free” meaning they would trade with anyone from anywhere. As all the other European powers had wrapped their colonies in masses of red tape, traders would bring goods here from other islands, “import” them to Statia and then turn around and sell them to whomever they wanted. So, for a time, this was both the busiest port in the world (over 3,000 ships/year) and the richest island in the Caribbean. As an example, Statia produced 600,000 pounds of sugar in 1770 but exported 20 million pounds. As a result, by 1816 Statia had changed hands 22 times between the Dutch, French and English. Jewish merchants were very prominent on the island and fully accepted by the Dutch. Then, in 1776 an American ship, the Andrea Doria, sailed into the harbor and the governor decided to give it a formal cannon salute. With this act, Statia became the first country in the world to formally recognize the United States of America as a sovereign nation. (This day is still celebrated on Statia as a national holiday, November 16.) Coupled with the fact that Statia was openly selling weapons and other goods to the rebels in America, the British were very upset and sent Admiral Rodney to teach Statia a lesson about who ruled the world. Rodney seized Statia without much effort and promptly confiscated all the goods his troops could find. After a few days, he noticed that there were an awful lot of Jewish funerals happening. So the British stopped one, opened the coffin and found it full of coins and jewelry. They dug up the Jewish cemetery and found enormous riches buried. Furious, Rodney rounded up 30 Jewish men for deportation to St Kitts (without their wives and families) and had them searched. Another 8,000 pounds sterling was found on their persons. Most of this was kept by Rodney and his troops. He was promptly sued in British courts by the many British subjects on Statia who had lost property but because Admiral Rodney soon won the pivotal “Battle of the Saintes” over the French fleet, the matter was quietly dropped. He was now as famous as Nelson and a national hero. Statia soon recovered its trade influence and the Jews returned. Today, the ruins of the great sea wall have sunk just offshore and only the foundations of most of the great warehouses and piers still remain. We explored the old town, up on a cliff above the shore with its old Dutch fort, old cemeteries and did some great water exploration.
Next stop, Sint Maarten
