THE HISTORY OF THE

Massacre of Two

Jesuit Missionaries

in the Island of St. Vincent

24^th January, 1654

D. Gualbert van der Plas, O.S.B., D.D.

"Que leux memoire y sera toujours en benedicition"

PERE PELLEPRAT S.J.

The present booklet is an attempt to pay an outstanding debt to the Memory of the first Missionaries in the Island of St. Vincent. We cannot allow the tercentennary of the heroic Life and devotedness of these holy men who sowed the seed of the Catholic Faith in these Islands to pass unnoticed. Their existence, their labours and their glorious death at the altar during the very Sacrifice of their last Holy Mass have been thus far almost forgotten. The present effort is an attempt to make them better known, in order that Pere Pelleprat's prayer "that their memory should always remain blessed", may be answered. It has been necessary to give, at some length, the historic background of the field of their labour, in order that we might better appreciate their heroic devotedness to the spreading of the Catholic Faith in these parts. Very few Islands indeed have been honoured with the blood of their first missionaries. It is for the present generation to vindicate their Blessed Memory. No monument could contribute more to their Blessed Memory than the restoration on the site of their glorious death of the Chapel in which they said their first and last Holy Mass in the Island of St. Vincent.

The Author.

The origin of the curious and intriguing rock engravings or hieroglyphs which abound in St. Vincent, perhaps more than in any other of the Windward Islands, has caused much speculation among archaeologists. We may, a priori, exclude the Caribs as authors, for it is hardly imaginable, in view of their warlike and nomadic character, that in such a short period of occupancy, they should have spread such a uniform network of intricate designs throughout these islands. At the beginning of the historic impact, the men of Columbus's colonising groups, found the dual system of language enduring in various islands. There was the language spoken by the men and that spoken by the women which, according to scanty historic records, appears to be Arrawak; This dualsystem of language is historically explained by the fact that the Caribs, after an invasion and occupation of a recently conquered territory, usually exterminated the male population, preserving the females - the most beautiful of them were usually the choicest prizes for budding warriors. Thus we find the Arrawaks in peaceful possession of the island for some centuries. Now the question to be solved by Archeologists is, whether the Arrawask or a previous race were the authors of this vast network of rock engravings

Archaeologists agree upon the fact that the original inhabitants of the West Indies were a race called "Ciboney" (1) probably derived from the Arrawak – siba - meaning rock and eyeri - meaning men, because when the Arrawaks came into contact with them, migrating from the South American continent, they found them living mostly in caves and rock shelters and not in huts and houses. (2) The term Arrawak on the other hand seems rather a nick-name meaning "meat eaters", because they ate large quantities of cassava, meat and bread - although they themselves called their race Lukkunu - meaning human beings . Each Arrawak called, himself a Luku, and spoke of the tribe and language as those of the Lukus "The People" (3). The "Ciboney" were on the contrary fish-eaters, and ate clam, conch, mussel, oyster and snail, as large sites have been found with deposits of fishbones and great quantities of shell. From these refuse heaps it appears that they did not despise land and sea crabs, manatee or sea-cow and turtle. In some of these "Ciboney" archaeological remains traces have been found of wood and stone mortars and crude milling-stones in which they probably prepared their vegetables which grew wild, because there are no extant traces or records of systematic agricultural cultivations. These archaeological remains betray no sign of fires or firesides, but only layers of ashes, from which we may conclude that they lived mostly on fruits and raw food, roasted fish or shell-food. Thus far no traces have been found nor are there historical reports of houses or other groups of dwelling places; for the most part they built aijoupa - (palm-thatched wind-breaks) - as they shifted from fishingground to fishingground according to various seasons; it is most likely that they lived in nomadic camps, their social and political life must have because of their nomadic propensities, been very primitive and, according to the early Spanish writers, they were rather independent bands, or family groups, with no inter-social or political relationship. As no "Zemis or figurines of the Arrawak type have so far been discovered, but only the ceremonial stones or "gladiolitos" and stone balls found in burial grounds, we may conclude that they believed in life after death, but had nothing of a ceremonial religion. Consequently they may be ruled out as the authors of the many rock engravings found in these islands. This leaves us with no other alternative than to ascribe them to the Arrawaks. The deleterious effects of time and weather, the great volcanic upheavals and many other factors would reasonably preclude the existence of other prehistoric inhabitants. The meaning and interpretation of these rock engravings have been the subject of contradictory opinions.

What these engravings mainly represent is a question which has often been asked. In general they apparently represent the outlines of men, women, fishes, snakes, turtles and other animals yet difficult to determine; on one rock and in one cave we find lines which may finally prove to be some primitive writing.

Again one may ask what these figures represent? Some are inclined to believe that they are crude designs of gods and goddesses, either in human or animal form, others again associate them with hero and ancestral worship. Some have advanced the theory that they represent terpsichorean scenes and personages, others again maintain that they are symbols of Sun and Moon worship, because practically all petrographs face due East and others with a few exceptions face due West.

Lastly some authors see in them meaningless scrawls, or some idle pastime, the work of native hunters. This theory may easily be dismissed when one considers not only the elaborateness of some of these pictures, but a striking similarity to similar petrographs found in other islands as well. The difficulty of holding them to be a mere idle pastime is increased when one considers that some of the rocks are almost inaccessible and that their vertical position hardly allowed any standing place for executing the carving.

Other more serious authors see in theseen gravings representations of ideas known only to the initiated, the "piaye" men, medicine men and sorcerers who were the traditional custodians of the myths of their tribes. To my mind however they represent the pictures of the protecting gods and goddesses of the locality, for generally around or in the neighbourhood of these petrographs, we find vestiges of settlements. The off-shore settlements were usually engaged in agriculture - the hunters ventured deep into tee forest while the fishermen confined themselves to the shore. They could not have been centres of public Worship as some are too inaccessible for any group to congregate there for religious ceremonies (such as Petit Bordel - Barrouallie), but others, were near enough to dominate a settlement. Practically none of cur petroglyph boulders occupy such a central position as to preside an area that could be used for congregational worship. Sacrifices may have been offered on them, or near them, but most likely only in the presence of very few. The Arrawaks, according to historic records (4) were indeed a very religious and superstitious race. In everything they saw spirits, and trees, rocks and even natural phenomena were expression of spirit activity. In order to gain control over spirits they fashioned idols of wood, stone, bone, shell, clay, as dwelling places for the spirits.

These idols were called "Zemis", and each home had a place for its own Zemis. Some were carved in caves (Buccament Valley), others on rocks in open places, usually facing East. They even painted them on their bodies and many domestic utensils carried similar engravings. Some of these engravings apparently have even the shape of known vegetables such as cassava roots, potatoes, etc., but most of them bore the shape of animals - frogs and lizards - which are by far the most conspicuous although turtles and some birds are occasionally depicted.

The outline of the human body, both male and female, assumed fantastic proportions, and one might almost assume phallicism. The possession of the Zemi caused much rivalry and it was apparently used to boast of the power of one’s Zemi. Even some went so far as to have speaking tubes attached to their zemis in order to others believe that the Zemis talked when in reality an individual hidden behind a wall or screen, prompted the Zemis. I was fortunate enough to unearth in St. Lucia at Point Canelle a few of such Zemis. The powers of outstanding Zemis were often the subject of songs and recitations at religious ceremonies. Zemis were believed to control, guide and influence not only all human activities but to favour crops, as well as hunting and fishing grounds. It is therefore quite possible that fishing villages bad their own Zemis. The agricultural settlements also had their Zemis and that is why perhaps in the depth of the forest, we find, in almost inaccessible places, and quite unexpectedly, curious rock engravings, executed perhaps for the hunters' fraternities. Even on the very edge of the seashore, almost inaccessible and invisible from the land, they carved their protecting Zemis in rocks that they might be propitious to their fishing grounds. For instance in St. Vincent at Greathead, facing the Bequia Channel, on both sides of the rocks, are lovely bays which may have served as starting places for launching their pirogues for fishing expeditions.

From the above description of the Arrawaks and their social and religious life, we may legitimately conclude that they were the authors of these manifold rock-engravings and their significance, and interpretation is a subject which is presently engaging the attention of some enthusiastic archaeologists, who are still engaged in the initial stage of collecting data from other islands, from the continent, and even from the distant Middle East and Pacific Islands (5).

Sir Walter Raleigh who, in 1595, touched at the Island of St. Vincent, reports that not only from hearsay but from practical experience of cannibalism he found that St. Vincent Caribs were "Cannibals" and Anthropophagous. Shortly before his arrival a French vessel is alleged to have been lured by the Caribs into their waters where they devoured the crew. It is not stated whether they simply murdered them and robbed the vessel, (but this they did, as we shall see later on, mainly for the purpose of supplying them with a fresh supply of alcohol) or lured them in order to have a fresh supply-of human flesh On the strength of this knowledge Raleigh and his crew were not deceived by their alluring advances. In most recorded cases, however, we know that these foreigners were the "aggressors" and the so-called Carib Cannibalism" was merely an attempt to settle an old grudge for some previous some previous action on the part of these foreigners. As we shall see later on some French missionaries were cordially welcomed, and later on cruelly put to death as a revenge for crimes committed against the Carib inhabitants by some unscrupulous Captains and crews of foreign vessels. However Raleigh had the opportunity of tasting their tobacco products and found the St. Vincent tobacco far superior to that of many other islands (6).

In an old Spanish map – "in Majores minoresque Insulae Hispaniola, Cuba, Lucaiae et Caribes in Nevus Orbis " - the Island of St. Vincent is drawn as round as a football. Another Geographer of the time Joannis de Laet in his "Descriptiones Indiae Occidentalis" Libr. XVII anno 1633 pg. 27 describes St. Vincent thus:

"Figura est pene rotunda et insula Fetro et Canaries una, non absimilis", Rochefort in his "Histoire Naturelle et Morale des Isles des Antilles de l'Amerique", published in 1685 in Roterdam, gives an almost similar account: "This Island", he says, "is the most densely inhabited of all those in possession of the Caribes, those who have ever seen the Island of Ferro in the Canaries group, say it has practically the same shape" (7).

De Laet, further describes the soil when he says: Solem est admodum fertilis, ita ut etiam Cannas Saccari sue sponte producat, multis torrentibus et anniculis riguum. "The soil is extremely fertile, so much so that sugar cane grows almost wild, and it is irrigated by many rivers and rivulets". He describes the Leeward coast with its many bays as excellent landing places, both for replenishing ships with water, for careening and for cutting wood as well for the galley. Apparently much use was made of the Leeward coast of St. Vincent for this purpose. Thus, for instance, in 1634 a Dutch expedition under Van Walbeeek sent out by the West India Co. to occupy the Island of Curacao came direct to St. Vincent "to refresh their ships ", but as they found ample time to build a few smaller landing craft necessary for the occasion, they stayed in Cumberland Bay, then called Washilabeu, for some time and the writer eaconically adds that "all along the coast they found nothing to take with them. Apparently no serious foreign settlements had yet been made along this coast (8). Did Columbus ever land, or send out some of his fleet to reconnoitre the island? We have no definite proof, but it is a matter for speculation, for the extreme point between Owia (more correctly Ouya) and the Commantewana bay is sinificante called Spanish Point or Pointe Espagnole. It appears too from Geographers of the time that Spanish gave these Islands a wide berth. DeLaete mentions that the Spanish writers hardly even mention the Islands "Hispani in suis commentariis non meminerunt et quam a nostratibus primum aditam credo" (9). So it was the Dutch who apparently explored these Islands of St. Vincent, Bequia and the Grenadines thorough1y, because he gives a beautiful and accurate description not only of St. Vincent but of the Grenadines as well. In another paper, er I hope some day to bring this to light.

However St. Vincent did not remain for too long a time a "no man's land" at least on paper. In 1627 Charles I, in one of his generous moods, granted to the Earl of Carlisle a few of these Islands amongst them St. Vincent. Every attempt to colonize however was usually met with desperate resistance by the Caribs, who jealously defended their property, Abbe Raynalds relates, in this connection, a very significant story, which deeply underlines the policy the Caribs intended to pursue with regard to foreign settlers on their soil. One day when some French settlers attempted to occupy a piece of land, they showed a Carib a piece of paper which allegedly purported to entitle them to the piece of land in question. "I know not what that piece of paper says," replied the Carib, "but read what is written on my arrow! My arrow does not lie, go away or I will burn your house tonight" (10). He meant business and thus every attempt during almost a century and a half had failed.

Many attempts were made by the French during this period to gain possession of the Island, but the English while trying to keep them from its shores, made no attempt themselves to Colonize it. The only one who during the 60 years that St. Vincent belonged to England, made a serious effort to assert the claim of the British Crown was Col. Edwin Stede, Lt. Governor of Barbados who sent a Captain Temple to prevent the French from wooding and watering; this was in 1686 (8). Contemporary writers could hence state: "The Caribs have on the Island a large number of beautiful villages "ou ils vivent delicieusemt et dans un profond repos" (10).

Elsewhere these beautiful villages are described as groups of 50 or 60 families. Along the coast, at vantage points, were usually a few huts, from which the coastline would be surveyed, for possible enemy movements. Men acquainted with the sea and fishermen were posted at these points, The bulk of the village population remained farther inland, and thus in case of an enemy invasion they could be notified inn time and retreat deeper into the forest and mountains.

These villages were placed on windswept heights, for hygienic reasons and to minimize the annoyance of mosquitoes and sandflies, etc. To the leeward of these villages we frequently find their dumping ground of kitchen refuse - shells, broken tools and pottery; these dumping grounds too served as burial grounds. When the first Jesuit missionaries arrived they estimated the population to be roughly between 9 and 10,000 Caribs, divided amongst these villages and each group was commanded by its own Captains or Chiefs - called in their native language "Cacique". St. Vincent was by far the most important of all the Carib Islands. One missionary wrote "c'est la le centre de Republique Caraibe; c’est l’endroit ou les sauvages sont en plus grand nombre". St. Vincent then was the Headquarter of all Carib activities in these islands (11). From many documents we learn that when any one of these neighboring islands was in trouble was to the St. Vincent Caribs that they appealed for assistance. Apparently they had some huge pirogues, ready to transport hundreds of warriors to any island, from Tobago to Antigua. When in 1634 the French attacked Guadaloupe there was an appeal for a total war. The St. Vincent warriors arrived on the spot at a moment’s notice. They were however badly beaten and had to return to St. Vincent. Many of the Caribs preferring freedom to slavery left the island of Guadaloupe to settle in Dominica, which was fast becoming another powerful centre, others made their way to St. Vincent. It is interesting to discover in an old document that there lived a tribe "quos ab Indis Bayabus vocant" which in the general exodus migrated to St. Vincent. Was it not they who gave the name to the locality which is at present called Baiabou - (in the old manuscript the word is spelled Bayabus - Bayabous) and settled there? This is offered as a plausible explanation (12).

When in 1635 the French invaded Martinique the Caribs mustered a powerful army of 1,500 men drawn from St. Vincent and Dominica, they were badly beaten and retreated to their islands, very much embittered against anything French an foreign. From 1636-1639 they fought guerilla warfare, made destructive attacks on any attempt at organized settlement, and neither side gave quarter. Even the missionaries were paralysed in their activities and had to reside within the forts. In another expedition against the French the Caribs of St. Vincent and Dominica landed 800 men in 15 pirogues. That gives us an idea of their pirogues, which could each hold 60 men together with all the necessary requirements of stone and wooden clubs - arrows, foodstuff, etc.

The early Navigators were astonished at the ease and keen seamanship with which these humble Islanders undertook their long voyages even direct to the Continent of South America, "mirum quod lintribus suis uniligneis ad Continentem ... trajiciunt et ad suam insulam remeant sine ulla hauticae pixidis ope", (13) without any compass. It was always with a certain "mefiance des e'trangers", a distrust of strangers that they beheld their vessels coming into their bays - they were however very kind and obliging when it came to exchanging fruits and foodstuffs for mirrors, beads and steel implements (14). When a cargo of eau de vie was suspected in a vessel they showed no scruples in killing the crew, discharging the cargo, burning the vessel and inviting their friends for a "grand vin". Of course such outrages often called for revenge on the part of the French and ended in wholesale massacre, and the devastation of entire villages.

In 1639 an alarm call for a war to the death sounded throughout the Carib islands. On this occasion the "casus belli" was provided by the English. An English pirate ship, probably on a slave-hunting expedition, had been moored in a bay on the Coast of Dominica. For some reason, better known to the Captain, they hoisted the French flag and attracted, probably with the prospect of a deal in "eau de vie"- a great number of Caribs. Once an attempt was made on board by the crew to chain them and sell them elsewhere as slaves. As soon as the Caribs discovered their evil intentions, they leaped en masse overboard and swam as best they could towards the shore - however some were captured. This vile treachery incensed them so much that an intercolonial war council decided on a bloody revenge. The St. Vincent Caribs were once more with their powerful pirogues on the war path. Antigua and Barbados known to have English settlers on large plantations, were singled out. All British colonists in these islands suffered the terrible fate of Carib revenge - plantations were destroyed and the colonists irrespective of age or sex massacred. The Vincentian Caribs returning from this punitive expedition discovered along the coast of St. Lucia a British colony engaged in turtle fishing - for good measure these innocent people too were all massacred (15).

However, the great intercolonial war started in 1654 - the massacre of the two Jesuit fathers, as we shall see in a subsequent Chapter, set the torch aflame in St. Vincent - and the fire spread to the other islands. The Caribs on this occasion lost the intercolonial battle - it was the beginning of their downfall and the end of one and a half century of initiative and freedom. They continued the struggle for another century but from then on their intercolonial power as a power was broken. One of the factors which contributed much to their downfall was that they had nurtured within their bosom their greatest foe - the Black Carib - of these we shall say more in another Chapter. The European nations were henceforth to struggle for possession of these islands at the expense of their original owners. The final blow was delivered to the Carib dominions when the last of this fighting race were shipped to Balliceaux and on the 25th of February, 1797, placed on board of transports and escorted by H.M.S. EXPERIMENT, some were taken to the British Honduras coast and some to the Spanish main.

One can never evaluate historic personalities unless their historic background is fully explored. This is the reason why I preface the event of the great tragedy of 24th of January, 1654, with some chapters on the inhabitants and the subsequent happenings, the result of the historic impact of the West upon the peaceful inhabitants of these islands. Another reason is to show that enforced solitude and retirement from all apostolic activities which circumstances forced upon our first missionaries, were not altogether void of any fruit, for some of them employed their spare time in preparing for us ethnological and linguistic data which the turbulence of the times might have left for ever in oblivion. If today we know a little about the inhabitants of these islands, we have to thank those early missionaries, and we can show our gratitude to them in no better a way than by passing on what they so painstakingly and at the risk of their lives collected for posterity. So the R. P. Henry de la Borde S.J. wrote whilst "Employe a la Conversion des Caraibes" in the Island of St. Vincent, a " relation exactede l’origine, Moeurs, Coutumes, Religion, Guerres et Voyages des caraibes – Sauvages des Illes Antiulles", published in Amsterdam in 1704.

Pere Le Pelleprat S.J., who recorded "in extenso" the massacre of his companions, also had been a frequent visitor to St. Vincent, although it is not recorded that he did actual missionary work there. In his "Relation" he says: "Those who wish to be informed about the customs of the Caribs, should not try to obtain their information from the Caribs of Martinique, but from those of St. Vincent, for thus far they have had least communication with foreigners. It is for this reason that whatever we may have to say about the Caribs in our Memoirs, all our information is culled from the St. Vincent Caribs" (Chapter IX, page 380). Pere P. Simon S.J. who too laboured for many years for the conversion of the Caribs of St. Vincent wrote a beautiful Dictionary with the rules

of a grammar, composed a Catechism in Carib and many sermons about the mysteries of our Holy Faith as well, in the Carib language for the use of his confreres who were destined for the Carib mission. If therefore from an apostolic point of view they worked there "bien inutilement" indirectly they did a magnificent piece of work both for their confreres who were to work among the Caribs and also for posterity, who may now learn something of the Carib language, etc. The knowledge therefore we have today of the ethnology of the Caribs comes from reliable sources, from men who lived amongst them, and sacrificed their lives for them.

If ever there was a nation jealous of its liberty and national status and ever ready to pay with the most cruel torture and death for its liberty it was the Carib, and particularly the Carib of St. Vincent and Dominica. The occasional show of friendship or alliance with the French, English or Dutch was merely a matter of expediency. In order to safeguard their liberty they were at a moment's notice ready to throw their weight and the fierceness of their seasoned warriors one side or the other. Nor had they any qualms of conscience in calling upon one or other nation to help them to defend the liberty they prized so highly.

The psychological characteristics of the Carib of the pre-historic impact, if they differ so pronouncedly from the characteristics of the Carib of the post-historic impact must be ascribed solely to the pernicious influence that foreigners exercised upon them. The early French missionaries who found them in their natural habitat, (for the Span. lards gave these little islands a wide berth), described them as friendly, simple without any ambition, of an easy and non-laborious existence, at least as far as the male population is concerned. Fraud, mendacity and all sign of treacherous disposition was unknown. [f later historians, some of the armchair type, describe them as treacherous, vindictive, melancholic, cannibalistic, they have in mind the Carib, who had to witness the indescribable cruelty of foreigners who plundered their homes, burned their villages, plantations and ravished their women-folk. If ,early missionaries had a prospective measure of success, and found many of them docile and even eager to accept the Christian religion, and then all of a sudden found them unapproachable, unwilling and even assuming an hostile attitude, which eventually culminated in the massacre of some missionaries, this sudden change must be ascribed solely to the fiendish approach of the foreigners, who consisted mainly of the scum of European naval powers which then infested these placid shores. These poor and helpless creatures with the bow and arrow as their only weapons became sot only the playthings of these warring nations but often had to act as buffers between opposing forces, and this of course gradually weakened them not only numerically but more so morally. Their bitterness, vindictiveness and treachery grew in proportion to the curtailment of their liberty. If in 1653 missionaries could report the existence of 10,000 Caribs living peacefull and in sole possession of the whole island of St. Vincent, with a reduced population of the previous owners of the island, the Arrawaks, historians and missionaries, 50 years later in 1700, record that then there were no more than 4,000 in the two islands of St. Vincent and Dominica, the majority of whom were in Dominica. At the beginning of the 18th century the rapid increase of the black Carib, especially in St. Vincent contributed in no small measure to the dwindling of the yellow Carib. We shall provide our. readers with further information of these later on, as they played an important role in the political life of the island. From the above it is clear that there is reason enough to believe the earlier missionaries,

as they describe the native traits of the Caribs as they found them and were able to study them. as the true psychological characteristics and the subsequent radical changes must be attributed to force of circumstances.

Etymologically various interpretations have been advanced for the word "Carib" from the time that European historians came into contact with them. I will briefly record the most important, for the correct interpretation may lead to a knowledge of their historical origin.

The word "Carib" attracted my attention for the first, long before I was interested in them at all. One day when still a university student, I had to translate some Chaldaic texts, and I came across the word Charib. On checking its meaning in the Dictionary I found it was translated as "devastator", one addicted to pillage. In fact Phoenicians who then were colonising the North coast of Africa indulged in this activity and these marauders were called "Charibs". Since then my interest ia the Carib language and history grew. in my spare time I began to collect Carib names from old maps. I compiled a few words and tested their interpretation at this source, with some measure of success. Later on when I learnt of the existence of Carib dictionaries, grammars and devotional books, the striking similarity in many instances not only fascinated me, but provided an incentive for pursuing this line of research. Unfortunately the fruits of 6 years’ study became the prey of a fire which destroyed these initial researches. Apparently I had not been the only one to work in that direction, for already in the earlier part of the 18th century a friend of Edward Bryan had discovered this striking similarity.

So the first possible interpretation of the word "Charib" may be devastator; history bears out that this interpretation has a solid background. The Caribs themselves never liked to be called Carib, but insisted that their original and right appellation was Callinago. The name Caraibes, Caribs, Galibis, etc., they claim were appellations given to them by their enemies. The Arrawaks used to call them Caribs, and subsequently the Europeans too called them Caribs, so much so that one author says: "Elle semble ete consacree par l'usage et elle est commode" (16). The missionaries apparently avoided this injurious appellation and were careful enough to call them Callinagos. Thus for instance, we read in Pete Breton's grammar; "rabouca-e nhibonam callinagoyum" i.e. bring this to the Callinagos (i.e. Caribs).

Another source relates that in prehistoric times the Caribs, (they were then a minor nation on the South American continent) were tributaries to the then powerful Arrawaks, but as they gradually grow stronger, they rebelled against their oppressors, left the continent and came to Tobago. From there they went to Dominica and spread over the whole of the West Indian Islands. On this account they say, they were called by the Arrawaks; Caribs, i.e. rebels (17). A certain Mr. Bristol, " gentil-homme anglais" holds the theory that the Caribs came originally not from the Southern continent but rather from the North - and to wit from Florida. According to this gentleman the Caribs lived for a long time amongst the Apalachites. The king of The Apalachites gave them a province called Amana; it was there that they changed their original name of "Cofachites" into Caraibes. "Ce mot de Caraibes signifie en leur langue: Gens ajoutez ou survenues subitement et a l'improviste" (18). According this version Caraibes would mean "newcomers, surprise visitors ". So far this theory has not been supported either by history, philology or archeology.

The choice remains hence between Carib, meaning "devastator" or Carib, meaning rebel. As there is no history to record that the Arrawaks were ever a superior race, capable of holding The Caribs in subjugation for a long period, the contrary is perhaps true, that the Arrawaks, the occupiers of most of the West Indian islands shortly before the Carib invasion, were massacred mercilessly by the Caribs. In my opinion the first interpretation of the word should better be able to stand the test of criticism.

The derivation or rather corruption, from Callinago, which some authors claim was effected by Columbus; Callinago - Spanish Caribales - Carib and later our cannibals, is a little too far-fetched to merit attention. The Caribs made a distinction between the Carib inhabitants of the mainland, who were called Balouebonum (continent-inhabitant) and the Carib islanders, who were called Oubaobonum (island-inhabitant). The various islands too had their specific names, so for instance Dominica is called Ouaitoucoubouli, probably from ouaitou meaning fire, oukoubou meaning heaven, the sky-fire from heaven meaning star perhaps the star Sirius which was called Icoumoubeuli, which was venerated as a Chemen, or little god. So St. Vincent was called Youlou. This appears from Breton in his grammar where he quotes the following example: Ouboutouti tariagati ouliem Youlou main bone - you the leader are regarded by the women of St. Vincent with great curiosity; in other words, you are greatly admired by the ladies (carib of course) of St. Vincent. Here too Youlou or Youlouca means the rainbow, which was venerated as one of their chemeens, little gods who relished fish, lizards, ramiers, humming-birds. This little deity was often represented as a head with a beautiful crown of feathers of variegated colours, so much so that his body was bidden by feathers. If they met this rainbow on their voyages on sea they considered it as a good omen and that their voyage and undertaking would be successful. If however it overtook them on the land they considered it as a bad sign and that this chemeen was in search of some one whom he might kill; invariably they hid themselves for its duration in their houses or karbets.

The island Caribs lived mainly on fish, which they caught either with nets or line and hook, - lines usually made from ananas leaves, with hooks carved out of turtle shell. They were wizzards with the bow and arrow, with which, they shot the fish; they attached a line with a float to the arrow, so that it could easily be retrieved. Crab hunting at night with "touli" or "flambeau" made of resinous wood was one of their few occupations. Perhaps our crab back is one of the delicacies we inherited from them, for they used to prepare it with taomali a fiery peppersauce.

Although they used to catch turtle, it was not so much for the meat which, only in case of extreme necessity, they ate, but more on account of the oil they extracted from it. There were two species in which they were interested. (a) the turtle Franche which, as we have said, was appreciated as a food only in extreme necessity. The shell was used to prepare fishing hooks. (b) the turtle called Caouanne, from which the island of Canouanne in the St. Vincent Grenadines group derived its name, probably because at a distance the outlines of this island resembled a turtle, or perhaps because it was a favourite turtling ground - (even today this island is known for its abundance of turtles). From this turtle they extracted a kind of oil, used for lighting purposes. Another species less sought after, except for its oil which was used, as early missionaries attest, for its highly medicinal properties, was called Caret (19).

The Caribs as we have seen lived mostly in villages or groups of 50 to 60 for obvious reasons. First of all for hygienic and secondly for economic reasons. We usually have to look ?or their villages in the neighbourhood of streams and windswept hill crests. As the windward or the Atlantic coasts of these islands are almost unapproachable from the sea and consequently less open to surprise attacks, it is along these coasts that most of the petrographs are found, for the Arrawaks' too had that instinctive sense of self-defence. Along the Leeward coast too there were settlements, but much smaller, as they served mostly as observation posts. Each village had its own Karbet or male community hall, where the men spent most of their time. Women could only enter to serve the men their meals.

From the "bixa" plant they extracted oil which, mixed with roucou, served to paint their bodies, not only for decorative purposes, but certainly as a protective measure against insects, mosquitoes, sandflies, etc. Anklets made of basketry interwoven with richly dyed cotton served as a distinctive mark between native born women and slave women, captured in war and frequent raids. Figurines representing deities were worn on their chests both by women and men as a protection against Mabouya's or evil spirits. Carecoils or pendants, mostly in crescent shape, were worn on ceremonial occasions or on important missions; they were distinctive signs of important personages. These caracolis were extremely valuable as they were only obtained in the continental raids upon the poor Arrawaks. Men decorated themselves lavishly on important ceremonial occasions with gaudy feather caps and with some resinous stuff stuck feathers of the most beautiful colours on their bodies. Was this to imitate their "voulouca chemeen", or rainbow goo, which they represented as a face surrounded by a crown of luxurious feathers with the body hidden by a layer of feathers?

The main difficulty with which the early missionaries were confronted, was that there was amongst the Caribs no social, political or religious unity, except in war time. In peace time the Ouboutou or war chief had no ruling power from a social, political or religious point of view; no Carib owed him any obedience except when the war council had declared that a state of war existed.

The Tiouboutouli-authe, or the Carbet chief, was so to speak responsible only for the good order and maintenance of the community hall, and be could order the men of that particular community to be ready when called upon to repair it. Otherwise there was no particular authority responsible for any one, or to any one, in a Carib village. On account of this individualism they were not responsible to any religious authority, notwithstanding the existence of many boyez, "piaje" sorcerers or magicians, etc., who could be consulted privately. Consequently there was no particular system of national religion or social worship, except in preparation for war or for celebrations of victory after a raid or war. Another difficulty for the missionaries was that the women-folk were, so to speak, unapproachable as their social status was nothing more than that of a mere beast of burden or slave, incapable of forming an independent opinion or expressing it in any form.

Thus if a Carib was interested in religion or the teachings of Christian doctrine, for social reasons his wives had to stay in the background for some time, as the men could only be approached in their Carbets. If others in the Carbet became interested, there existed a possibility of breaking down the social barrier which existed between the sexes, otherwise it was almost a hopeless case. A missionary thus had to approach a Carib community through the Carbet. If his presence was resented by some, the tiouboutouli-hauthe had not only the right but also the duty to tell him that his presence was not appreciated. The "boyez", ever on the alert for any encroachment on their power, saw to it that his presence was in most cases not appreciated, especially since foreigners had begun to show tendencies to colonise their islands.

In St. Vincent in particular ever since the massacre of the two Fathers and their lay assistants the position of the missionaries became absolutely hopeless. It was only obedience and the spirit of sacrifice that enabled them to endure their isolation until ecclasiastical authorities realising their plight recalled them after 50 years of fruitless apostolate. To the question then, had the Carib any form of religion we must answer that individualism precluded the existence of any organized religious system. Yet they were not altogether without some system of religious beliefs which were more negative than positive. One tenet common to practically all Caribs was the belief in the plurality of souls, and the existence of an earthlike heaven. The main soul resided in the heart, which was called in the men’s language "Akamboue "and in the women's language "Opeyem"; it went after death to heaven. The other souls which resided mainly in the blood pressure points, either remained in the main bones of the human body or else had to wander in the forests or along the seashores, being separated from the main soul they became rather restless and consequently troublesome. Those who had to wander in the forest were called "mabouya ", evil spirit; those who were destined for the seashores were called "oumikou".

The Akamboue, good spirits, although normally invisible could make themselves visible only in the form of bats. Perhaps the local superstition, not to molest bats, is not altogether unfounded, as it would be persecuting a good spirit! If there was no common form of worship amongst the Caribs as there was among the Arrawaks, it was because they did not acknowledge the existence of a one and personal God, but each Carib selected for himself a personal God which he called "Icheiri". This god was never represented in the form of any image, yet, on certain occasions, the Carib placed fruits and eatables for him on a special table "matotoa" in his hut. Only evil spirits, mabouyas, had their material representations in the form of figurines, which they wore on their wrists, or in the form of idols in their homes, gardens, etc. Natural phenomena such as earthquakes, hurricanes, shipwrecks, thunder, epidemics, sickness, were malevolous activities of the irritable mabouyas, which were conveniently appeased by inviting them to an all-night dance or carousing. The mixture of domestic rather than social ritualism and animism brought about a strong form of Shamantism, in which the piaye or boyez did not forget to proclaim his preternatural power over mabouyas and his capabilities to exercise a complete controlling influence over them. Most of their activities were practised at night under the cover of darkness, for it was easy to convince a poor Carib that the mabouya being an evil spirit could not stand daylight, and could more easily be dealt with under cover of darkness. This meant of course that it was easier to fool a person in the dark than in broad daylight! The boyez could of course not influence the mabouya unless he was induced to slacken his stranglehold upon a poor victim with substantial offerings. These mostly took the form of foodstuffs, which of course, after the proceedings allowed the boyez to enjoy a comfortable existence. Not unfrequently dance-nights and orgies were demanded by these boyez to relieve the monotony of their easy existence. Some of them enjoyed not only insular but extra-insular notoriety as well. And the massacre of the Jesuit Fathers in St. Vincent in 1654, as we shall see later on, may have been planned in part, if not altogether, by the activities of a certain boyez in Dominica.

Astrology too had an important place in their nature worship and the anthropomorphistic aspect of the heavenly bodies is not alien to their mythology. It is not easy to determine whether the moon or the sun was held in greater veneration. From the nocturnal celebration of most of their feasts it would appear that the nounou (moon) being male, had a greater influence upon them than the sun, "huyeyou". according to the men’s and "kachi" according to the women’s appellation. The sun was a female and ruler of the stars which she forbade to appear in daylight as long as she was in the skies (20). Contrary to the opinion of western astronomers not the moon but the star Coumourou (perhaps Venus) was responsible for the tides. To this star they ascribed the periodical groundswells which upset their canoes and endangered them on the beaches. The constellation Corona, in their language "Akinnao", was responsible for strong winds and rain. The rainbow, "youlouca ", as we have seen, was one of their "chemeens" not to be despised. The appearance of certain constellations, whose movements were apparently observed only by the boyez, were indicative of the coming of rain and wind; the months were counted by the moon. The constellation Pleaiades, in their language "Chirities", was the only one by which they could check and reckon the passing of the years. Another important star was Savacou, which when vexed with minor star chemeens, sneezed, producing lightning, while thunder was caused by the running and tumbling and knocking about of these poor chemeens. His assistant was "Limacani", who was sent to earth to chastise those who had angered him (21).

Such then was the social, political and religious atmosphere in which the missionaries were to deploy their Christianising activities. From every possible angle they would meet with almost insurmountable obstacles. From a social point of view, individualism with a from of slavery allowing of no approach - from a political point of view, no responsible political authority to appeal to - from a religious point of view, no definite doctrine, suitable as a starting point for a religious discussion - from a hierarchical aspect, no priesthood but only an inferior substitute of "boyez", sorcerers, not only vying with one another for supremacy, but conspiring against the introduction of christianity as a threat to national liberty. Add to this the aggravating approach of the foreigners, the horrible crimes frequently committed against these poor and defenceless people, the vilest treachery of which they frequently were the victims, and you have an atmosphere in which, humanly speaking, not even the most heroic deeds of the first missionaries could successfully bring about any change.

From a remark by Pere de Ia Borde S.J. who worked for many years amongst the Caribs, especially in St. Vincent, we recall that there were three distinct types amongst the Caribs: the first was a group of nationalists who were hostile to any sort of dealing with foreigners and who were ever ready to fight this issue to a bitter end, admitting no compromise whatsoever.

The second group would be of those who were ready to treat with them in order to obtain anything which could be of use for making life comfortable, and were even ready to mix with them, and allow them to settle in their midst. This group was accused by the first group of being responsible for all their evils and sickness, hitherto unknown to them, because they no longer lived tike true Caribs. "Ouils ne vivent plus en Caraibes". In other words they had forsaken their Carib heritage for mere filthy lucre.

The third group, apparently a minority - having come into contact with them elsewhere in their travellings, had learned to appreciate the sincere intentions of the missionaries, and the beauty of the Catholic religion. It was through the instrumentality of one such well-disposed Captain of a village group, who had benefitted from the generosity of a French authority, that the first missionaries were invited to come and live amongst them.

This invitation was occasioned, as we have mentioned already, by an act of ingratitude c f a French sailor who while putting into one of the bays of the Leeward coast either for "wooding or watering", according to the expression of the time, had managed to lure two young Caribs on board in order to exchange some eau-de-vie or other attractive objects for food, or had been able to capture them during "wooding and watering" operations. General de Poincy, when he heard of this crime, and not wishing a conflict with the Caribs, as such an act could provide a casus belli, but rather to ingratiate himself and the French with the Caribs, ordered the boys who had been in the meantime sold as slaves in Tortuga, to be repatriated. This act of generosity had an effect for a time. The short visit which Pere Andre Dejan had paid them in the year 1652 must also have caused a favourable impression. This good and zealous missionary was fortunately, shortly after his arrival, recalled to Martinique as Pere Antoine Barre had been fatally bitten by a snake.

 One of the captive young men was the son, as Pere Pelleprat records (22) of a man of authority "homme d' authorite" who was affectionately known as Baba - an appellation which indicates some paternal or patriarchal authority over the whole district, if not politically at least morally. So these two young men were delegated by this Baba to go and thank General de Poincy in St. Kites in his name and in the name of the population under the moral influence of this Baba, for his generous deed. How highly this generous deed was appreciated is shown in the arduous and long journey these young men undertook in their pirogues from St. Vincent to St. Kitts. It must have been a daring and courageous undertaking for everywhere the poor natives were being hunted to be made slaves, and these waters were infested with pirates ships of every seafaring nation. General de Poincy must have inquired into their modus vivendi and shown an interest in having them instructed in the Faith. Pere Aubergeon S.J. was at the time engaged in the apostolic work in St. Kitts - and was apparently well versed in the Carib language. It must have delighted these young Caribs to find a foreigner who had taken the trouble of acquainting himself with their language. They must have been thrilled at seeing the keen interest Pere Aubergeon took in them, as he conversed amiably in their tongue. This saintly missionary who was to shed his blood later on for their conversion, must have told them about the beauty of the Catholic Faith; they must also have witnessed the celebration of the Holy Mass and other devotions. This must have made a great impression upon them for they decided to invite Pere Aubergeon openly to come to St. Vincent. Pere Pelleprat records that one day they came to him and said: "Father, please come with us, to our native island, and teach our nation how to pray to God". Of course Pete Aubergeon could not take the decision of his own accord as this corner of the Lord's vineyard had been assigned to him by his religious Superiors. They approached General de Poincy and made known to him their ardent wish to have this good priest assigned to the Mission of St. Vincent. De Poincy, realising the importance of this request, immediately got into touch with Pere Aubergeon's religious Superiors, who cordially agreed to send this zealous missionary to St. Vincent where, earlier the same year, they had attempted to establish a mission. So towards the end of 1652 Pere Aubergeon said goodbye to his flock in St. Kitts and departed for Martinique probably in order to receive further instructions and prepare himself for his new field of labour. It was not until March that he embarked from Martinique for St. Vincent where he arrived in the middle of the same month in the year 1653.

We do not know exactly the date of Pere Aubergeon's birth, but we may fairly estimate that it must have been between the years 16001610, for he was 20 years a Jesuit at the time of his glorious death and as Pere Pelleprat says "in the flower of his youth ", that is in his early forties. He was a native of Chinon-on Touraine, a small provincial town well known in the history of the French nation. The Capital of the Province was known as the "Jerusalem of the West". It was in Chinon that Charles VII took up residence, when the English occupied Paris. It was in Chinon too that Charles VII received St. Joan of Arc in 1429. In spite of its glorious religious tradition, Chinon became a century later the prey of Calvinistic bigotry, which destroyed its magnificent Churches and Monasteries. Up to the present I have not been able to discover the place wherein Pere Aubergeon entered his novitiate and religious life; all we know is that he taught, previous to his selection for the foreign missions, at the great Jesuit College of La Rochelle, "the Rupella Santonum portas". These must have been very turbulent days, for at that time, the inhabitants of La Rochelle felt themselves strong and independent enough to declare it a little Republic. This movement, however, was frustrated by Cardinal Richelieu, who blocked their harbour and besieged them, and they would have died of starvation had not two English fleets managed to break through and assist them. Probably at the time Pere Aubergeon was teaching there, La Rochelle, was raised to an episcopal See. It was from this port too that most of the West Indian Company's vessels sailed for the West Indies. It was from La Rochelle that Pare Aubergeon, together with his future historian Pare Pelleprat and his confrere Pere Gueimu, who was to suffer a violent death with him at the hands of the Caribs three years later, sailed for the West Indies in 1651.

Pere Pelleprat records in his account of the Jesuit mission in the West Indies and on the South American Continent, that Pere Gueimu was born in Castel-Jaloux a little village in the province of Garonne, the Castrum Gelosum of the Middle Ages, and, if insignificant from the historical point of view, it enjoyed however some measure of celebrity because of its mineral springs. Unlike Pere Aubergeon, he was not destined for the teaching profession, but instead did apostolic work in every part of the country preaching missions. We do not know the date of his Holy Ordination, only that at the time of his departure for the Missions in the West Indies he had been only 12 years a Jesuit. They were not the first Jesuit missionaries assigned to the West Indies. The first exodus bad already begun in 1640, the RR.PP. Jacques Bouton and J. Empteau having left for that area, and from that time others left practically every year as is laconically recorded by the Chronicler of the Order "in via ad Missiones Americae" on their way to the Missions of America - or "navigent in America" - they are sailing for America - or "in itinere ad insulas " - on the road to the Islands. Thus the departure of three above mentioned missionaries "in itinere ad insulas is recorded for the year 1651. The passage from La Rochelle to Martinique if tedious and long, was not altogether without some important events. It was a heterogeneous crowd, of soldiers, sailors, colonists, adventurers, which gave our missionaries great hope for apostolic work even on the high seas. Pere Pelleprat relates that amongst them were not a few Huguenots, a religious sect which basically was the fruit of the French Reformation, known for their fanaticism. During their passage, the good Fathers were frequently drawn into religious discussions. One of the most disputed topics appears to have been the efficacy of the Sacraments. However a God-sent occasion enabled them to prove the efficacy of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction. During the voyage one of the Catholic passengers became dangerously ill, and the good Fathers thought it advisable to administer the last Sacrament to the ailing passenger. For the Huguenots this was a challenge. They pressed forward to witness with joyful anticipation, what they thought would have been a definite proof of failure. However God wanted to try and strengthen the belief of our future Missionaries, for no sooner was the Holy Sacrament of Extreme Unction administered, than the dying passenger rose completely restored to health. The reaction of all those present is not recorded, but we are told that a young Huguenot from Poitiers, soon after landing in Martinique, was instructed in the Catholic faith and baptised by Pere Gueimu - the first fruit of their short missionary life in the West Indies. That the first Jesuits did not remain inactive is shown by the fact that when our missionaries arrived in 1651 they found "la belle maison des Jesuits situee sur le bord d'une agreeable riviere, une structure qui contente l’oeil" a beautitul residence on the bank of a pleasant river, a joy to the eye! We do not know to what Mission Pere Gueimu was assigned, but Pere Aubergeon was sent to St. Christophe. From the time that d'Esnambuc took his first batch of Colonists to St. Christophe, that island has been considered the cradle of French-West Indian Colonisation. The Compagnie de St. Christophe was one of the first to develop and administer the French Colonies in the West, before they passed into the hands of private owners. Thus, for instance, Du Palquet bought the whole of Martinique, Houeil et Boisseret, Guadeloupe, and the Order of Malta St. Christophe. At the time of Pere Aubergeon's arrival there the island was flourishing, in spite of its having suffered several raids. On account of the intense colonisation both by the English and the French, between which nations the island was then divided, the Caribs had mostly emigrated to the exclusive Carib strongholds of Dominica and St. Vincent. Pere Jacques Bouton S.J. who was probably the first of the Jesuit Fathers to be assigned to the Jesuit Missions in the West Indies wrote a description of the native inhabitants, their customs, etc. This booklet must have been of valuable service to the new missionaries. We have no doubt that the good RR.PP. Aubergeon and Gueimu had, before their arrival already had excellent information about their future subjects. That they devoted themselves to acquiring a full knowledge of the Carib language is proven by the fact that in 1652, they were known for their linguistic proficiency, barely a year after their arrival. There is no doubt that on the strength of that proficiency, their religious Superiors could assign them to the sole task of converting the natives. The circumstances under which Pere Aubergeon was destined to undertake the mission of St. Vincent has been related in the foregoing chapter, in which we saw that towards the middle of March 1653 he arrived in St. Vincent. He was probably accompanied by the son of the Carib Chief, for Pole Pelleprat records that he received him with as much joy as his own son who had been freed from slavery. The Caribs of the district had been previously notified of the impending arrival of the Missionary - for everything was prepared in such a way that Pete Aubergeon had lost little time in settling himself, for everything was ready for him to start his apostolic work. The eagerness of the Baba to receive instructions was apparently shared by some other influential men. His first abode on arrival was in the Carbet or the Community hall -it appears that this place had been placed entirely at the disposal of the Missionary, for it was there that they came to see him, to make his acquaintance and to receive instructions. Not only the Carib of that particular area became interested in Pere Aubergeon's instructions but even those who lived in other centres, they used to send their canoe to fetch the Father to bring him to their district to preach the Gospel in their Carbets. He found them so eager to receive the word of God, that he was constantly occupied with their spiritual welfare; he even undertook sea journeys from village to village deep in the fastnesses of the mountains - he moved constantly from place to place, he was constantly on the go. He had with him a devoted young Frenchman, who helped him both in his journeys and in his Ministrations. If on account of the many calls be received he could not cope with the work, he would send this young lay apostole to teach them to pray, keep prayers and instruct the children not only in their catechism, but also in reading and writing. In spite of these strenuous missionary activities, he did not forget that he was a religious, so every morning, very early, he spent a full hour at his prayers and meditations. After that he lock a little stroll in the village - entered some homes and recited morning prayers with them. If at any place along the road he met a little Carib boy or girl, he would ask them a question of the catechism he had been teaching them. After this short morning stroll he would come back to his Chapel, arrange everything for Holy Mass and prepare himself to say his Holy Mass very devoutly. Some time after Holy Mass he would gather the children of the village, teach them the sign of the Cross, prayers and the Catechism. He taught them to read and to write, to sing the Psalms and the hymns of the Catholic Church. Of course this instruction was in the beginning given in the open air as the Carbet was reserved for men only. From the records extant it is clear that soon after settling there the Caribs must have built a Chapel and a Presbytery for the Father and the young Frenchman - for it is said that after the instruction of the children he would repair to the Carbet, where most of the men were idling away their time. If not employed in some fishing or hunting expedition they had first to take their ablutions in the nearby river or sea. After that their women, before bringing them their morning meals, came and annointed their bodies, by rubbing them with oil and roucou. So the good missionary had ample time to devote his attention to the children. When he arrived at the Carbet, those who were well-disposed gathered around him and listened to the explanation of the Catholic doctrine. He acquired gradually such a hold on them, that, whenever he met one, he would question him about some point of our Holy Religion to find out whether they had understood him in his lectures, and he would even make them kneel down and let them say their prayers. The progress Pere Aubergcon had made in three months time was astonishing. This we learn from a visit which Pere Meland and Pere Pelleprat paid Pere Aubergeon in the month of June. These two missionaries who were on their way to the South American continent embarked on the 20th of June in Martinique with four young Frenchmen and two female slaves, stopped off at Pere Aubergeon's place - where calm weather fortunately kept them longer than they had anticipated. I say fortunately because Pere Pelleprat has left his impression of this visit recorded in his "Relations". He says there were many who begged the good Father to baptise them, but he was a little reluctant to do this with too great haste. One of the reasons was that he could be recalled at any time to the French island, where the demand for missionaries was daily growing greater. We can realise his fears only when we reflect that the French islands at the time were not yet a national possession, and that they belonged to the French West Indian Co. and it was this Company that was solely responsible for providing these French islands with Catholic Priests. St. Vincent and Dominica were technically either independent or the private property of some English landlords. King Charles I of England in 1627 assumed the ownership of the island, which had been. given by a grant to The Earl of Carlisle, who never made any attempt to visit his property or colonise it. Later on, after the death of Carlisle, Charles I granted St. Vincent to Lord Willoughby, who perished in 1666 in a storm. In 1672 it was given to his brother who became Governor of Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Dominica. It was not until a century later that the English paid some attention to St. Vincent. So the French Missionaries in St. Vincent were only "squatters" and were left in peace as long as the West Indian Co. forgot that they existed. That was the reason why Pere Aubergeon wished first to be sure of his grounds and was in no hurry to receive them formally into the Church.

In June 1653 Pere Aubergeon had a little Church - this we gather from Pere Pelleprat's account - for he relates that a Carib from Dominica who was then temporarily residing in St. Vincent, came one morning to beg the good Missionary to have his baby baptised and to beg the favour of being baptised himself. Pere Aubergeon who was engaged at the moment, begged Pere Pelleprat to perform the ceremonies. "I went to the Chapel and I was agreeably surprised to find so many Carib children there, who asked for the same favour". The general cry in the Chapel was: "Baptise me too, Father - baptise me too". It must indeed have been the work of the Holy Ghost who had wrought such a tremendous change in these good souls in short space of three months. Pere Pelleprat attributes this extraordinary zeal and fervour to the priestly activity and the fervent prayers of his saintly confrere who daily prayed and sacrificed himself for the conversion, of these poor pagans. "I have often found him kneeling before the altar praying with hands joined, raised towards Heaven, tears in his eyes, the love of God radiating from his countenance, offering himself in union with the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ to the conversion of these poor people", says Pere Pelleprat. This gives us an insight in the deep spiritual life of this good missionary, who was six months after to sacrifice his life for their conversion. Before that his faith was to be tested by two major disasters. The vessel in which Pere Pelleprat had arrived put out to sea once more. Hardly had they left when they were becalmed and had to put into another bay where they found another French vessel. The Captain suspected that a severe storm was gathering and if caught in that bay, they would perish; so he made for the open sea. As anticipated a furious hurricane struck St. Vincent on the 13th of July, and did untold damage to the houses, plantations, etc. taking a heavy toll of life in its passage. The other French vessel burst its moorings, and was completely wrecked off the Grenadines. A few months later on the 1st of October, another hurricane more disastrous still struck St. Vincent once again. The death toll must have been very high and the material destructions caused took years to repair. It must have been a terrible trial for the good missionary - and his enemies, the Boyez, must have profited by it. The Baba however saw it in the right light, for Pere Aubergeon, when describing the effects of this disaster to Pere Pelleprat, mentions the Baba's comment in the following expressive terms: "Be not surprised, mon Compere, the Maboya (i.e. the evil spirit) cannot view with good grace that you should teach us the road to Heaven; it is he and no one else who has caused this hurricane, which shall soon cease; do not therefore be surprised."

The first missionary to arrive in St. Vincent was Pere Andre Dejan S.J. in March 1652. His activities did not last more than a few months, if not less, for soon he was recalled to Martinique where Father Antoine Barre S.J. was stationed and, one early morning, when carrying the last Sacraments to a sick person, he was mortally bitten by a snake. No mention is made as 1o where he landed or made his abode. Next year he was replaced by Father Guillaume Aubergeon S.J. who settled for good in St. Vincent to begin his apostolic labours. Again no mention is made as to where he settled. One thing is certain that they must have had a fixed abode, where they gradually built a chapel and a residence, for soon another Father arrived. We know too that they had two young Frenchmen witIl them, who helped them not only in the daily running of their domestic affairs, but also in serving daily Holy Mass and accompanying the Fathers on their visits to the various Carib centers where they met them in their Carbets.

We know that the Caribs numbered about 10,000, when the first Missionaries arrived and that they were the only inhabitants of the Island. This population was divided "en plusieurs villages, commandes par des Capitains particuliers" (23). Thus they were eye witnesses of several villages. Where were those villages? To Windward or to Leeward? As the Caribs were sailors and constantly on the go, and had to prepare a fleet at a moment's notice, manned with hundreds of their warriors, to proceed to the Northern or to the Southern Islands or even to the Continent, it is logical to assume that their activities were mainly confined to the Leeward coast. Any one familiar with the island knows that the Leeward coast possesses many magnificent bays and beaches most suitable for nautical purposes. The Windward coast on the contrary affords, and only at certain seasons, very few landing-places and therefore was less suitable as a place of residence for the greater part of the population. Communication between the Leeward and Windward across the mountains is most difficult and the only way, one would fancy, is between Buccament and Gomea to Amos Vale. Consequently we may take it for granted that the Leeward Coast was the place where most of the Carib villages were situated. Another argument in favour of this theory is that, when 50 years later the Island became increasingly the refuge of runaway slaves, they found a colony of Black Caribs already established there. It is a historical fact that a Dutch slave ship foundered off the coast of Bequia, where at the time a small and temporary colony of Caribs had settled either to work their gardens or more probably to work in their workshop which was situated, and is still partially preserved, at the extreme end of Spring Bay. The survivors were received by these Caribs as brothers and allowed to intermarry. But as this Colony had settled there only for a time, probably during the rainy season, they must have taken them across to St. Vincent. Now by the middle of the eighteenth century they were so numerous that they outnumbered the Yellow Caribs. To avoid a civil war they agreed to divide the island into two; the Northern section was occupied by the Black Caribs and the Southern half by the Yellow Caribs. Later on, when the Yellow Caribs were about to compromise with foreigners to allow them to settle in St. Vincent, the Black Caribs objected and pushed them from the Leeward coast towards the Windward coast, thus shutting them off from all communication with foreigners whose ships could land only in the Leeward bays. From this we may conclude that the bulk of Carib population settled along the Leeward coast. The next question arises, in what area, in what village did the first missionaries settle Kingstown is excluded as Kingstown was not even a settlement of the Caribs at the time, this most likely for nautical reasons. First of all the Bequia channel causes such powerful currents that for little boats, such as the Caribs had, it was difficult to manoeuvre in or out of the harbour; the land breeze too made it frequently very difficult to enter. It was more convenient in the direction of Indian Bay and Calliaqua where they had definitely established themselves. Consequently we have to seek further up the coast. There is a constant tradition that Barrouallie had a Catholic Church and a Priesthouse, in fact some remains of the foundations are still spoken of by the natives of that district. A similar tradition exists with regard to Calliaqua, but no ruins are known to exist and there is no tradition concerning ruins. Is there any ground, then, for maintaining that Barrouallie was the Headquarters of these first Missionaries? I think the description of Pere Labat's visit to Pere Le Breton S.J. on the 24th of September in the year 1700 may give us a clue from which we may deduce the possibility of Barrouallie's having been he place of residence of the Jesuit Missionaries. Pere Labat says that they anchored on the Leeward coast, "nous avions mouille a la Basterre de St. Vincent - je desendis a terre pour voir le Pere Le Breton qui y fait le Mission depuis bien de temps et bien inutilement"(24). He arrived at midday and he left at midnight for St. Lucia, where they arrived at 5 o'clock in the morning. Now Roseau is, as Pere Labor says "environ au milieu de la Basseterre de l'ile de St. Alousie". So the journey from the Leeward coast of St. Vincent to the Leeward coast of St. Lucia took them 5 hours' sailing, which, as any sailor will admit, is pretty good sailing. This is possible when one has the tide and wind in one's favour. This could not have been possible from Kingstown or anywhere in lower Barrouallie for this reason, that when leaving Kingstown to the north one has the tide in his favour up to Barrouallie and from there onwards the tide is against one or vice versa. Having the tide against one from Barrouallie in the north would make it absolutely impossible to perform the journey in 5 hours to St. Lucia - but if one leaves Barrouallie with a favourable tide and wind it may be done, not however from any lower point on the Coast - for at Barrouallie the two tides meet, the Bequia channel tide moving North and the St. Lucia channel tide moving South or vice versa (25). This theory is strengthened by another allusion made by Pere Pelleprat from which we may deduce that Barrouallie had been the likely place of their settlement. Pere Meland S.J. and Pere Pelleprat embarked at Martinique for a trip to French Guayana on the 20th June 1653. They were however obliged to put in at St. Vincent on account of calm weather and there they were the guests of Pere Aubergeon S.J. missionary on that island. It was the calm before the storm, for there was every indication of an impending tempest. When they left is not indicated but he reports that during the calm they drifted from one bay to another. If they had been anchored at Kingstown they could not have drifted "aux autres rades de cette ile", (to the other bays of that island) for they would have been in the Bequia channel. As their journey led them southwards, on leaving Barrouallie they had many a good bay in which to shelter and anchor. On an old map (26) at least eight excellent bays are indicated, and on a still earlier map, probably from the time of the first settlers, towards the end of the year 1600, the present site of Barrouallie is not marked as an important port while Port de Boucama (Buccament) is mentioned as being of some importance. From Port de Layou there is a road across the mountains called "Chemin du Port de Layou a Cannonary (or "gun emplacement", which has been corrupted to form today's Colonnary. Further South the present Calliaqua is mentioned as Port de Cariacoua". From this port too an important road is marked as "Chemin de Cariacoua a Cannonary" which seems to have been an important defence outpost. On the whole of the Windward coast no harbour is indicated, but to the North of Barrouallie, Petit Bordel seems to have been an important settlement, for from Petit Bordel an important road is marked on this map as "Chemin du Petit Bordel a Maymaouly" which is situated at the source of a little river called Warwarraa, the probable site of the Georgetown of today. A little beyond the tip of Petit Bordel is marked in a rather heavy type of letters "Port de Toilirocou" which corresponds to the present Chateaubelair.

How does it come about that Barrouallie is the first place where these Missionaries are likely to have settled? This may be explained in the following way. A French sailor had captured two young Caribs in St. Vincent along the Leeward coast and sold them as slaves to one of the inhabitants of Tortuga. When the French General de Poincy heard of it he ordered that they should be given their freedom and sent back whence they had come. Now it happened that one of these two boys was the son of an important Carib and probably the head of one of these villages along the coast. This Carib, reverently called Baba, on account of his paternal position in his little community did not lose time in sending the two boys to the island of St. Christophe (St. Kitts) where De Poincy resided at the time, to thank him for this generous act. They invited Pere Aubergeon, as we have seen, to come and instruct his people in the Christian religion. Both De Poincy and the Superior of the Jesuit Fathers agreed to send this good Father who was then sufficiently acquainted with the Carib language to St. Vincent. It was in this Carbet that Father Aubergeon was first accommodated. As this old Carib Baba took the keenest interest in the missionaries and even tried to prevent the massacre of these first missionaries the following year, it is clear that his village must have been the first where they settled. As he continued to show sympathy even after the massacre it is not unlikely that the following missionaries returned to the same place, as he had the custody of the Sacred Vessels and Vestments, to be handed over at the arrival of new missionaries (27). It is not unlikely that this and the arguments previously adduced strongly corroborate the popular tradition in favour of Barrouallie. One of the reasons why Pere Pelleprat and Pere Labat do not mention any specific name is that there was not as yet any foreign settlement in St. Vincent. Most of these Carib settlements and villages had names probably only known to themselves. It is only after the year 1736 that the French obtained permission to filter in and establish plantations, before that time the Caribs were the sole inhabitants of the Island.

Soon after the disastrous hurricanes the religious Superiors thought it worth while to send another Missionary to St. Vincent to assist Pere Aubergeon in his fruitful apostolate amongst the Caribs. It must have been a great source of consolation for the zealous missionary, that the eyes of his Superiors had fallen upon his former companion "in via ad insulas", his fellow traveller of two years ago on the way to the Missions. Probably Pere Gueimu had remained in Martinique and had worked then amongst the Caribs, for he too was proficient in the Carib language. Both these two good Fathers were held in high esteem by their brethren, and in France they were highly considered for their remarkable zeal and piety; moreover they were highly esteemed in these islands by everyone with whom they came into contact. The political exploitation of these islands by France, Holland and England, brought about an atmosphere in the Carib world, which made daily religious and missionary activities almost impossible. The nationalistic spirit of the Caribs was growing daily stronger, in proportion as attempts were made to encroach upon their native land. With the arrival of a group of strongly armed Colonists, the poor natives were simply pushed back into the high woods and mountains. That such actions were deeply resented, is shown by the frequent murderous and destructive raids they made upon these intruders. Punitive expeditions against some individual Carib settlements were not infrequently the cause of a national uprising against the foreigners, if any of their fellow nationals were anywhere attacked, despoiled, outraged or cruelly treated it was both in Dominica and St. Vincent, their national strongholds that the battle cry "Kaori homan" (to arms), was sounded. Within a short time a powerful force, with hundreds of seasoned warriors, left their shores to sail forward to the assistance of their injured nationals in any part of these islands, from Tobago to Antigua.

Such a national revolt led, as we shall see, to the Massacre of Fathers Aubergeon, Gueimu and their young French lay-apostles. What led exactly to the revolt in St. Vincent is difficult to determine, but various causes, which have been advanced may throw some light upon the tragedy of the 241h of January 1654.

Pere du Tertre reports in his History of the Antilles (28) that at the beginning of the year 1654 the signal for a total war against the French had been passed from island to island; it was one of the bloodiest revolts ever staged by the Caribs. The Boyez, ever at the disposal of the Carib nationalists, were continually stirring up the nationalists telling them that their idols were warning them that the French were out in force to occupy their islands. The Boyez of Dominica seems to have had an extraordinarily powerful influence. One of the Missionaries stationed in Dominica, when he heard that such a devilish meeting was taking place in his district, made all possible attempts to be present and see what it was like. He was however forcefully prevented from approaching the place by a wild band of Carib women. At the time of Pere Breton's arrival in Dominica, their Boyez made it known that he had heard it front the mouth of their Rioches, that the French had the same designs, as they had in the other islands, namely to massacre the natives. The ground was then efficiently prepared for any violent outbreak against all and everything French in general, and against the Missionaries in particular. All that was required now was but a local spark to set the whole field ablaze. The Dominica Caribs, after having massacred all the French settlers in the island of Maria Galante, and fearing a powerful punitive expedition from Martinique, sent an alarm to St. Vincent for an immediate revolt. The powerful influence of the great friend of Pere Aubergeon, Baba, apparently succeeded, for a time, in preventing the St. Vincent Caribs from joining. The Nationalists however were merely waiting for a justifiable occasion. Tension was already high, as the French had occupied a little island in the neighbourhood, which is not named, but the only one we can think of that could be a possible source of annoyance was Bequia. Although not inhabited by the Caribs themselves, it was a regular rendezvous for their turtle-fishing and probably also a meeting place, because they had hidden away there in one of the little bays, difficult of access to larger vessels from the Atlantic, a complete work-shop. If such a place were discovered by the enemy, and destroyed, it would take them years to rebuild and would retard the manufacture of their war implements. However what aggravated the situation was the report of a young Carib, who had been ignominiously treated by a French Captain. This young man found himself, by some means or the other, amongst the crew of a French vessel engaged in turtle-fishing in the Gulf of Paria.

For some unaccountable reason a French member of the crew had been killed by the natives of the island of Trinidad. Suspicion fell upon this young St. Vincent Carib, so he was accordingly given a public beating by the members of the crew. Such ignominy was not easily to be forgiven nor forgotten. As soon as this young man managed to escape and reach St. Vincent, the nationalist group of the Caribs made capital of this injury inflicted on one of their number. It happened that on that very night a Frenchman who traded with the Caribs became thoroughly drunk and in an altercation with one of the Chief Caribs, would have killed the Carib had it not been that his pistol failed to go off. In spite of the moderation of the Carib Chief shown on the occasion by the sparing of the drunken man's life, one of his friends killed the drunken Frenchman. Then the Carib fearing the punitive consequences of his misdeed thought it better to put an end to all the French at that time in the island. In his mad and murderous fury he went from hut to hut, from Carbet to Carbet, proclaiming his evil intentions. Some of them were already incensed by the occupation of Bequia, others probably by the affair et the young sailor, and last but not least by the injury that one of their Chiefs had nearly suffered at the hands of a drunken trader. All this was enough to bring together a murderous gang. So towards the early morning, the murderer and his gang of savages made their way to the "Priest House", but as it was about seven o'clock already they found Pere Aubergeon devoutly saying his Holy Mass, attended by one of the young Frenchmen, whilst Pere Gueimu was preparing himself at the foot of the altar for his own last Holy Mass, as God would demand the sacrifice of his own life instead (29). They rushed into the Chapel and whilst some clubbed Pere Aubergeon to death on the very altar another group disposed, in a most brutal manner of Pere Gueimu and the young Frenchman. The other young Frenchman who was about to assist Pere Gueimu tried to escape into the bush but be was soon caught and killed with equal brutality. One may well imagine the horror of the good old Baba and the devoted friends of the good Fathers. The bodies of the four victims were dragged to the seashore to be thrown far away in the sea, but after a time the four bodies were washed ashore as if the elements were loath to cover and bury these victims of a fanatical ingratitude. This hostile band, to show their hatred further, desecrated the bodies by scraping off their flesh and making flutes out of the bones. Pere Pelleprat wrote that generally the Carib Chiefs of the island of St. Vincent detested this horrible crime and soon after the outrage they collected the sacred vessels end vestments and whatsoever belonged to the good Fathers, to return them to their successors as soon as peace would return to the island once more.

The French authorities as soon as they learned of this tragedy sent a punitive expedition consisting of three men of war, and for eight days they overran the inhabited coast, burning and destroying village after village, laying waste their cultivated land and giving quarter to none (30). It must have been a horrible slaughter and made the St. Vincent Caribs realise for many years to come, that crime does not pay. After that very little is heard of the St. Vincent Caribs taking part in any interisland uprising. The spirit of inter-island nationalism was broken for henceforth each island was practically left to fight the intruders on its own. On the other hand any prospect of making converts apparently was completely frustrated, for if they could no longer adopt an openly hostile attitude, they certainly showed passive resistance. If before the tragedy of the 24th of January 1654 most writers of the Catholic Missions could speak in terms of the success of the missionaries with the Caribs, from that date on all complain of the futility of persevering in the attempt. Too often do we read of complaints that the missionaries had to live within the walls of fortifications as they could not venture forth for fear of being killed by the Caribs in the other French islands. In St. Vincent those who came after 1654, had hardly any contact with the natives, in fact they could hardly leave their residence. It must have been a terrible solitude - yet they remained willingly at their post for the next 50 years as we shall see - perhaps praying and preparing themselves for the glorious crown of Martyrdom.

From this document we may conclude (a) that a Jesuit Father was kept there at least up to the year 1679; (b) that there were some French colonists who had gradually crept in; (c) that the population of the negroes must have been at the time sufficiently large to merit attention. So henceforth the missionary residing there could extend his missionary activities beyond the Carib population, for which he had hitherto been exclusively stationed in St. Vincent. In another document the following remark has been made, which leads us to conclude that at certain times periodical visits were made, when there was no residing Priest "encurrerunt in insulas vicinas, pastoribus destitutas", (they visited the neighbouring island deprived of Pastors). Of these there are mentioned, Pere Henricus de la Borde S.J. who spent some time in St. Vincent as we know from other documents, and that must have been about the year 1660 (31). Did he go there soon after the tragedy of 1654? We cannot tell exactly, yet he wrote about the origin, manners, religion war, etc. of the Caribs and we know too that another writer who culled information from these authentic sources, states that those have laboured amongst the Caribs of St. Vincent, have the best information for they were less contaminated by contact with foreigners. Now as Father de la Borde is the only one who write about Caribs at the time, we may conclude that he resided there for some time. Another fact which strengthens this opinion is the following, to the present writer it seems to have been an appeal for help. Pere de la Borde was at the time, to be exact, the 6th of August 1665, at the Jesuit house in Martinique when a Carib from St. Vincent came with a message stating that there was a war between the English and the Caribs of that island. Was Pere de la Borde on a casual visit to Martinique and did this Carib come to advise him in time, or was it an urgent appeal from another Jesuit Father then in St. Vincent? We have already seen that, at times, the religious Superiors thought it wise that two Fathers should be there together for later on we find two priests mentioned occasionally.

In the year 1670 Pere Francois Vautier is mentioned as stationed "in Insula St. Vincentii quae ab insula Martinique dependent, Indorum conversioni vacat", so this Missionary was still in charge of the conversion of the Caribs. Pere Vaultier is mentioned as one of the Franco-Belgian congregation who left together with one Pere Charles "in itinere ad insulas". He may have been then the one who, in 1665, sent that message to Pere de la Borde in Martinique - for the following year 1671 he is mentioned as "in Insula Sta. Margaritas apud Hispanes", (to the island La Margarita off the Venezuelan coast).

He was succeeded by Pere Francois Simon as "Missionarius Indorum in insula Sancti Vincentii", (missionary of the Caribs in the island of St. Vincent), "cum Famulo" (with an servant), or perhaps a lay brother. From then on no one is mentioned up to the year of 1686. However we know from the document quoted above that the Visitor General of the order visited his missionaries in St. Vincent in 1679 and made a change by extending the sphere of activity to the Christians and negroes residing there. So in 1686 Pere Combaned, elsewhere spelt "Combault", is specifically now assigned as "missionarius indorum et nigrorum", (both to the Caribs and negroes).

In 1689 he returned to Guadaloupe where he was active amongst the French and missionary "nigritarum", (of the negroes). He was succeeded by Pere Charles Andre de Longchamp - who is mentioned in 1683 together with Pere Pierre Bernard of the Aquitanian province, as in "in via ad Missiones Americae". Pere de Longchamp had for some time a lay brother as his "coadjutor". This Brother's name was Nicolas Odot, who sailed for the West Indies in 1688 together with Pere Urban Huvee as "navigent in Americam" (sailing for the Americas). This missionary apparently stayed up to 1693 when Pere Adrian le Breton succeeded him together with Bro. Nicolas Odot. In 1697 he received a confrere by the name of Pere Antoine De Chailloux. In 1699-1700 Pere le Breton was absent for a time from St. Vincent for one Car. Thom You is mentioned as "omnium officiorum administrator". Pere le Breton came back later in 1700 for he is referred to as "Missionarius Indorum in Insula St. Vincentii" (Missionary in the island of St. Vincent).

It was towards the end of this year to 29th September 1700 - that about midday a French vessel dropped anchor in the bay where Pere le Breton resided. This time the visitor was not a confrere, but the illustrious Pere Labat, O.P. author of a monumental work "de omni re scibile et de quibusdam aliis" in which practically everything known, and a little mere besides, of the history of these islands is recorded. The reason for his "dropping in" was that the Captain had provision, etc., for the lonely missionary and messages sent by his religious Superiors. It is the last authenticated description of the mission, for next year the Jesuit Fathers were recalled. Pere Labat relates that he went to see Pere Le Breton, who had been there as a missionary for many years

(1693-1701) but that, as far as tangible success is concerned, his labour had been in vain. At the time of Pere Labat's arrival the good Father was alone, not even a "coadjutor", was there at the time as had been the practice. His only companion was a young Frenchman and two young negroes to attend to him. He lived, relates Pere Labat, daily with death before his eyes, ever ready to be massacred by the Caribs, especially when they were drunk, er when instigated by their Boyez who held the presence of these missionaries as responsible for any calamity which might overtake them. He was with him for many hours, while the Captain discharged his cargo. They had to be careful for if the Caribs had suspected that some wine or rum had been sent for the Missionary they would have come and robbed him of it. The only success he says that this Father had during all these years was that he baptised some infants in articulo mortis, (babies about to die). As far as adults were, concerned they had been taken in so often in the past, that they simply distrusted the sincerity of becoming Christians. We may well imagine how Pere Le Breton would have appreciated a more prolonged sojourn by Pere Labat, who found his existence a very sad and hard one, "plus d'admiration que d'imitation" (more to be admired than to be imitated). However he found Pere Le Breton to be a very intelligent priest, of extraordinary piety and endowed with great zeal for the Glory of God and the Salvation of Souls. He found him furthermore outstanding in the Mathematical sciences. We may well imagine how hard this departure must have been but Pere Labat took him on board and gave him a good French dinner.

From that time onwards the political situation began to change gradually. The Caribs of St. Vincent had up to that time retained their independence, but unsuspectingly they allowed the fugitive slaves from the various islands to settle in the island. This proved in the course of years their undoing, because the Caribs, on account of the inter-island warfare, had weakened in man-power while the so-called Black Caribs became stronger and stronger, gradually pushing the Yellow Caribs back to the Southern half of the island. The English too began to take more interest in their colonial possessions, with the result that the French were gradually ousted from the island. Consequently as the conversion of the Caribs had proved to be a failure and the French Colonist were leaving the island, there was no further scope for their missionary activity. So probably from the end of 1701 they were recalled to the French islands. In November 1701 we find the last note "Nulli sunt hoc anno Missionarii in Insulas Sancti Vincentii et Sta. Dominica apud Caraibs" (From this year on there are no longer Missionaries amongst the Caribs, both in the Islands of St. Vincent and Dominica). Up to that time the jurisdiction over these islands seemed to have belonged to the Bishop of Rouen - "L'eveque de Rouen avait des pretensions sur les isles" (33) (the Bishop of Rouen has some claims over these islands). In 1762 General Monckton and Rear-Admiral Rodney took possession of the island and General Melville was appointed first Governor. This political change had its repercussions in Rome for in answer to a query about the religious situation in these islands the Vicar Agostolic of London - Richard Chaloner Episc. Deborec – says in his letter of the 2nd August 1763 "At quid sit in illis religiosus status et quid regimen ecclesiasticum penitus ignoramus" (but of what is presently the religious situation or ecclesiastical government in the islands we are completely ignorant). There seems to have been none until the beginning of the XIX century when in 1812 Fray Rendon of the Spanish Main began to build the Church in Kingstown.

(1) Irving Rouse - The Ciboney - Handbook of South American Indians –

vol. IV, pg. 497.

(2)Pedro Garcia Valdez - The Ethnography of the Ciboney - ibid. pg. 503 sq.

(3) Brett - Indian Tribes of Guiana N.Y. 1868 pg. 67 - The American Race

N.Y.1891 - XVI pg. 392.

(4)I. Rouse - ibid. pg. 535 sq.

(5) Carl Schuster - Joint Marks - A possible index of cultural contact between

(6) Collection - Oost en West - Indische Voyagien - pg. 42.

(7) Novis Orbis seu Descriptio Indiae Occidentalis - Antwerp 1633 - pg. 27.

(8) W.R. Menckman - De Nederlanders in het Caraibische Zeegebied –

1942 - pg. 43.

(9) Novus Orbis sea Descriptio Indiae Occidentalis - ibid. pg. 27.

(10) Rocheford - Histoire Naturelle et Morale des Isles etc. - pg. 10-11.

(11) P. Labat - Nouveau Voyage aux Isles etc. - vol. II pg. 166.

(12) Archives of the Prop.Fid. Rome - Brevis Relatio in America –

Antilles - 1634. 1760 fol. 46.

(13) De Laet 1.c. pg. 27.

(14) Rochefort 1.c. pg. 11.

(15) P. Labat 1.c. vol. II pg. 166.

(16) R.P. in Journal de la Societe des Americanistes - vol. X pg. 694.

(17) Rochefort 1.c. pg. 328-329.

(18) P. de la Borde S.J. 1.c. Ch. II pg. 522-534.

(19) Rochefort l.c. pg. 232.

(20) P. de la Borde S.J. l.c. pg. 522-534. "Ils estiment plus la Lune

(21)P. de la Borde S.J. 1.c. pg. 522-534.

(22)Most of the following details are culled from Pete Pelleprat S.J. - "Relation des Missions des

(23) ibid. first part, ch. VII.

(24)P. Labat l.c. vol. II, pg. 167. In French West Indian nautical terminology "Basterre" is

the English equivalent of Leeward; Cabesterre - Windward. - Dictionaire Nationale par

M. Bescherelle - Paris 1865.

(25) P. Labat l.c. vol. Il, pg. 168-169.

(26) See Map on frontispiece.

(27) P. Pelleprat, part I, Ch. VIII.

(28) P. du Tertre - Establissement des Francais aux Isles de l'Amerique, vol. 170-171.

(29) P. Pelleprat, part I, Ch. VIII.

(30) P. du Tertre, 1.c. pg. 170-171.

(31) Arch. Rom. S.J. Franc. 23 f. 1660 Fol. 134.

(32) The fallowing historical notes are taken from the Archives of the

Jesuit Fathers in Rome:

Arch. Rom. S.J.

(33) J. Rennard - Baas, Blenac, ou Les Antilles francaises au XVIIe siecle –

Fort de France 1935, pg. 18-19.