The West Indies
The Natural and Physical History of the Windward and Leeward Colonies

This 1837 work provides a comprehensive survey of the British West Indies, at the time of the abolition of slavery.

Andrew Halliday (Author)

9781108023108, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 25 November 2010

438 pages, 3 maps 1 table
21.6 x 14 x 2.5 cm, 0.55 kg

Sir Andrew Halliday (1782–1839) served as a surgeon in the Peninsular War, and then as a royal physician. In 1832 he was appointed Inspector of Hospitals in the West Indies until ill-health forced his return to Scotland. During his time there he collected the information for this work, published in 1837. His study of the Windward and Leeward Islands in the West Indies is comprehensive. He covers the colonisation, administration, religious, social and economic history of the islands, flora and fauna, and the climate and diseases of the region. Trinidad he judged to be the most unhealthy of the islands, with malaria being a serious problem due to the terrain and vegetation. He kept meteorological records, and commented on seasonal patterns of illnesses. He also discusses the effects of the abolition of slavery, believing that the scare-mongering of the anti-abolitionists had been proved false.

1. Voyage out
2. Barbados
3. The hurricane of 1831
4. Colonization
5. Natural history of Barbados
6. Diseases in Barbados
7. Religion
8. British Guiana
9. History of the colony
10. The present state of British Guiana
11. Civil constitution, courts of justice, &c.
12. Religion, and the church establishment
13. Commerce and finance
14. Natural history
15. Medical statistics
16. Tobago
17. Tobago
18. Trinidad
19. Trinidad
20. Trinidad
21. Trinidad
22. Climate and diseases
Appendix.

Subject Areas: Historical geography [HBTP]