speaks excellent English. One is almost startled on hearing
Barbadian negroes speaking English with a strong Old Country
accent Without seeing the speaker, you could scarcely believe
such English uttered by black lips; and the commonest negro
laborer about the port pronounces as well as a Londoner. The
purity of Barbadian English is partly due, no doubt, to the fact
that, unlike most of the other islands, Barbadoes has always
remained in the possession of Great Britain. Even as far back as
1676 Barbadoes was in a very different condition of prosperity
from that of the other colonies, and offered a totally different
social aspect--having a white population of 50,000. At that time
the island could muster 20,000 infantry and 3000 horse; there were
80,000 slaves; there were 1500 houses in Bridgetown and an immense
number of shops; and not less than two hundred ships were
required to export the annual sugar crop alone.

But Barbadoes differs also from most of the Antilles
geologically; and there can be no question that the nature of its
soil has considerably influenced the physical character of its
inhabitants. Although Barbadoes is now known to be also of
volcanic origin,--a fact which its low undulating surface could
enable no unscientific observer to suppose,--it is superficially
a calcareous formation; and the remarkable effect of limestone
soil upon the bodily development of a people is not less marked
in this latitude than elsewhere. In most of the Antilles the
white race degenerates and dwarfs under the influence of climate
and environment; but the Barbadian creole--tall, muscular, large
of bone--preserves and perpetuates in the tropics the strength
and sturdiness of his English forefathers.