GUADELOUPE AND MARTINIQUE
The French West Indian colony of Guadeloupe consists of two islands that lie in the middle of the Leeward group between 15 degrees 57 minutes and 16 degrees 31 minutes north latitude and 61 degrees 10 minutes and 61 degrees 49 minutes west longitude. They are separated by a channel from one hundred feet to four hundred feet wide, called Rivière Salée.
Basse-Terre, the western island, is twenty-eight miles long, from twelve to fifteen miles wide and its area is 364 square miles. It presents a rugged surface, broken by hills and highlands, and a backbone of mountains runs through it from north to south. It is of volcanic origin, having been thrown up by four volcanic centers, Grosse Montagne (2590 feet), Les Mamelles (2536 feet and 2368 feet), Morne sans Toucher (4855 feet), and La Soufrière (4868 feet). The last-named volcano was in eruption in 1797, and in 1843 its disturbances wrecked several towns; today, however, the only evidences of life are a few hot springs and the emission of sulphurous vapors at certain points.
Basse-Terre is watered by a number of streams that become swollen and turbulent during the rainy season.
Grande-Terre, the eastern island, is low and level, the greatest elevation being only 450 feet. It consists of a plain of limestone formation with a conglomerate of sand and broken shells. It is about twenty-two miles long from north to south and its area is 255 square miles. The population is 190,273, chiefly negroes and mulattoes. For water supply it is dependent uponponds and cisterns, as, owing to the porosity of the soil, no rivers or streams exist.
The climate is warm and humid. The mean yearly temperature is 78 degrees Fahrenheit, the minimum 61 degrees and the maximum 101 degrees. The wet season is from July to November, and on the coast the annual rainfall is about eighty-six inches, with a great deal more in the interior. Terrific storms visit the island and hurricanes have wrought much destruction.
The soil is fertile and rich and the principal crop is sugar cane, which is grown on over half the total cultivated area. The principal sugar centers are Point-à-Pitre, St. Anne and Le Moule in Grande-Terre, all of which have well-appointed usines. There is also a large usine in Basse-Terre.
Guadeloupe was discovered by Columbus in 1493. One hundred and forty-two years afterward l’Olive and Duplessis took possession in the name of a French company called the Compagnie des Iles d’Amérique. The native Caribs did not long survive the cruel treatment accorded them by l’Olive, and efforts at colonization were the reverse of successful, in fact four chartered companies were ruined in the attempt. In 1674 the islands passed into the possession of the French crown and they were governed from Martinique for a long time. In 1759 they were captured by the British, in whose hands they remained for four years. The British again occupied them in 1794, but were driven out the following summer by Victor Hugues with the help of liberated slaves. The last British occupation took place during the Hundred Days of 1815, and they finally withdrew in 1816. Slavery in Guadeloupe was abolished in 1848.
The French colony of Martinique is the most northerly of the Windward islands. It is situated between 14 degrees 55 minutes and 14 degrees 23 minutes north latitude and 60 degrees48 minutes and 61 degrees 16 minutes west longitude. Its area is 381 square miles, its greatest length from northwest to southeast 36 miles, and its extreme width 18 miles. The population, negroes and half-castes for the most part, numbered 190,000 in 1913.
The surface is mountainous, the highest peak being Mt. Pelée, which rises 4428 feet above sea-level. The appalling eruption of this volcano in May, 1902, was one of the greatest disasters of modern times and cost the lives of 40,000 people. About one-third of the island’s surface consists of extensive plains, most of them occurring in the south. The soil of the northern part is of volcanic formation, while in the south it is composed of clay. There are a number of streams, some of them of considerable size.
Near the coast the average temperature for June is 83 degrees, and for January 77 degrees, the mean for the year being about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The wet season extends from June to October and the total yearly rainfall approximates 87 inches. August is the wettest month and March the driest. In the low region of the sea coast the climate is not healthful for Europeans during the hot period, but a more salubrious atmosphere and a temperature 10 degrees lower is found in the wooded uplands, 1500 feet above the sea. Fresh, dry northerly winds prevail from November to February, easterly winds from March to June, and damp, warm southerly winds from July to October. Earthquakes are frequent, but hurricanes seldom visit the island.
Martinique was discovered by Columbus on June 15, 1492, and the French Compagnie des Iles d’Amérique took possession of it in 1635. It was settled in the same year by Pierre Belain, captain-general of the island of St. Christopher, and in 1674 it became the property of the crown.
Sugar culture was begun in 1650, and a few years later theaboriginal Caribs were exterminated, their place being filled by negro slaves, of whom there were 60,000 in the island by 1736. Slavery was abolished in 1848.[71]
During the seventeenth century Martinique was attacked several times by the British and the Dutch. It was captured in 1762 by the British under Admiral Rodney, but restored to the French in the following year. It was held by the British from 1793 to 1801 and also between 1809 and 1814.
The capital of the island is Fort de France, on the west coast. It is situated upon a fine harbor and has 18,000 inhabitants. Besides the chief product, sugar, the colony raises coffee, cocoa, tobacco and cotton.
Sugar planting in these islands dates from 1635, the year in which they were first occupied by the French, and the industry grew apace, so that much sugar was exported to France during the latter half of the seventeenth century. The import duties levied by France in 1664 shut out foreign raw sugars from that country, while protecting raw sugars from her colonies; but at the same time the tariff laws excluded white sugar produced in the colonies. This was a death blow to the refineries of Martinique. A decree entirely prohibiting the refining of sugar in the colonies and the exportation of raw sugar to foreign countries was issued in 1669, while an export duty was imposed upon the raw sugar shipped to France. The tax upon raw sugar was removed in 1682, but the duty on refined was increased. The colonial planters then turned their attention to the manufacture of clayed sugars, which they sold in North America and southern Europe.
In 1717 France established relations with her colonies that were almost tantamount to free trade. No duties were assessedupon French goods going into the colonies, and commodities produced in the colonies entered the mother country without duty. As a result of this policy, the sugar industry grew until the production of Guadeloupe, Martinique and Saint Dominique was more than France could consume, and a law was passed permitting the sale of the surplus in other countries.
During the closing years of the eighteenth century, the war between England and France crippled the trade of the French West Indies, but when peace was finally restored the sugar industry revived and continued to flourish until the abolition of slavery in 1848.
When the slaves were freed, the planters cast about them to find laborers, and India was one of the first sources of supply. Over ten thousand Hindus were brought to Martinique between 1852 and 1862, and with very few exceptions they remained in the island after their five-year contract expired. During the twenty-two years that followed 1862, 25,500 laborers came to Martinique from Pondicherry, Yanaon, Karikal and Calcutta with the permission of the Indian authorities, but emigration from that country under government auspices was discontinued in 1885. In addition to Hindus, free African negroes, Chinese and Annamese were brought in.
The sugar plantations of Guadeloupe and Martinique are situated on the low, alluvial lands around the coast, although some are found in the interior. The hilly character of the latter, however, is not favorable to cane culture, as the heavy rains wash the arable soil down the slopes, thus interfering with the growth of the cane.
The ground to be planted in cane is first cleared and then ploughed. Furrows about two feet deep and four and one-half feet apart are then made and the seed cane is planted in holes five inches deep. Three weeks afterward the cane is banked and fertilizer applied. The soil between the canes is loosenedfrom time to time and the crop is cut after a year’s growth. As a rule, ratooning is limited to two years, one crop being produced each year. The land is then allowed to rest for a time, after which planting is begun anew.
Bourbon cane is the variety principally grown, although seedling canes have been brought in from Barbados and British Guiana of late years. The average yield per acre of plant cane is twenty-four tons; first ratoons give sixteen tons and second ratoons about eight tons. After the cane is cut it is loaded on large carts and taken to the factories. Some estates are equipped with field railways, the cars being drawn by mules or locomotives.
As mentioned in the chapter on Jamaica, the early sugar producers of Saint Dominique, Guadeloupe and Martinique excelled the manufacturers of the other West Indian islands in the preparation of the commodity. The result was that their lead was gradually followed by the others, and a brief description of the methods they employed will be of interest.
The cane juice was boiled in a series of five or six copper kettles placed over a furnace fed by bagasse and wood. These kettles were of different sizes, the largest being farthest from the fire and the size of each decreased as the furnace door was approached, the smallest being directly above the fire. The kettle next to the largest was set a little higher than the largest one, the third higher than the second and so on until the last and smallest, which was the highest of the series. Clarification was done with lime and wood ashes, and sometimes a little crude antimony. As soon as the raw juice reached the first and largest kettle the clarifying material was thrown in and the boiling began. The scum was removed as soon as it formed, and when the juice became sufficiently clear it was quickly transferred to the second kettle; a small amount of alkali was mixed with it and further boiling and skimming was done. The liquor was thenladled into kettle number three, potash lye and an extract of herbs were added, and after being boiled for a time it was passed to kettle number four, and finally concentrated in the last and smallest kettle immediately above the fire. When the required consistency was reached, the massecuite was put into vessels to cool, at the same time being kept in motion by stirring until the grains began to form. It was then placed in moulds, and after having become thoroughly cool it was dumped into hogsheads that had perforated bottoms. These hogsheads stood on racks, beneath which there was a receptacle to catch the molasses as it drained on through the holes in the bottom. The draining was allowed to continue until about one-half the weight of the contents of the hogshead was crystallized sugar. The holes were then plugged up and the sugar was ready for shipment. The molasses was manufactured into rum.
A superior grade, calledsucre terré, or clayed sugar, was also made. In its preparation, juice from the best and ripest cane was taken and as little lime as possible was used in clarification. Antimony was excluded entirely, on account of its tendency to darken the color of the juice. As the juice was transferred from kettle to kettle during the various boilings, it was strained through a cloth each time, instead of being ladled direct from one kettle to the next. When the syrup was concentrated it was put into earthenware sugar-loaf moulds that held between thirty and thirty-five pounds of massecuite apiece. These moulds had perforations in the bottom that were stopped up before the mass was put in. In filling a mould, one quarter of its capacity was put in at one time, making four operations. Fifteen minutes after the last lot of massecuite was put in the mould, a layer of crystals formed on the surface, and this was thoroughly stirred into the mass, which was then left to cool. A couple of days later the plugs were removed so that the molasses might drain from the mould. In case it did not run offproperly, the massecuite was remelted, but if the drainage was satisfactory, the next step was the claying of the sugar. If the top of the loaves was uneven or dark-colored, it was scraped smooth and covered with a layer of crushed sugar. The surface was then hammered level and even. A special kind of clay brought from Rouen was mixed with water and the mould was filled to the top with this mixture. Windows and doors were shut to prevent evaporation of the moisture, and the water draining from the clay gradually passed down through the sugar crystals, washing the syrup from them. After ten days had elapsed, the clay, then thoroughly dried, was removed, the surface of the sugar-loaf was cleaned, another layer of wet clay was applied and allowed to remain as long as the first. When this second layer was taken off, the loaves were removed from the moulds and allowed to dry in the air for a time. Further drying was done in a drying room, heated for the purpose, and the sugar, when all the moisture had been driven from it, was crushed by wooden pestles. Refined sugar was packed for shipment in casks containing between 600 and 700 pounds. The first molasses was made into rum or boiled into second sugar, and the syrup washed from the loaves was made into a sugar calledcassonade.
This primitive method of manufacture has been entirely supplanted by newer processes and appliances. As a rule, today cane is crushed twice and maceration is often employed. The juice is treated with sulphur while still cold, and it is then pumped into defecation tanks, where powdered lime is added; after this is done heat is applied. As soon as the scum cracks, the steam is turned off and the clear juice is separated from the sediment by a siphon and run to the evaporators, while the muddy precipitate goes to the filter presses.
Concentration of the juice takes place in double, triple or quadruple effects of rather an old type, which means lack ofeconomy in steam and consequent large fuel consumption. As the quantity of bagasse available does not afford sufficient fuel to generate all the steam that is required, a considerable amount of wood and coal is used in addition for the purpose. The unwise and short-sighted policy of denuding the hillsides of their timber has had the effect of lessening the rainfall, a condition that has brought great injury to the planter.
The vacuum pans are small and of old style; the centrifugal machines, too, are of obsolete design and slow to operate. After the liquor has been boiled to grain in the pans and the sugar crystals have been separated from the mother liquor in the centrifugals, the sugar is dried and packed for the market in barrels or bags. The first molasses is reboiled and the resulting massecuite sent through the centrifugals. After this operation has been repeated three or four times, the final molasses is made into rum.
Today there are eighteen factories in Guadeloupe and fifteen in Martinique. The average extraction of sugar is 9.70 per cent of the weight of the cane, the loss of sugar in the bagasse is 2.15 per cent, the mechanical loss in manufacture is .90 per cent, and the percentage of sugar not recovered from the molasses is 1.75. This gives an average total of 14.50 per cent of sugar in the cane.
The manufacturers are dependent upon the small farmers for their raw material, and the price paid for the cane is determined by a very complex agreement, which nevertheless seems to be entirely satisfactory to both buyer and seller.
The outlook for the sugar industry in Guadeloupe and Martinique is far from bright. There is labor in abundance, but the natives are averse to working steadily, and consequently are unreliable. There are great possibilities for improvement, but little can be expected under the circumstances that prevail at the present time.
Since 1894 the production of the two islands in long tons has been as follows: