Friday, March 15, 2013

I just added some old posts that got stuck in the storage bin and I just noticed them. I'll try to do better for a while.

I've been working on an outline of the evolution of human civilization and I'm satisfied that we will evolve into an egalitarian civilization. One of the symptoms is the election of a Pope who likes poor people. But the moneyed elite are going to fight as hard as they can to keep the poor oppressed, so I'm not at all sure about the timing.

In the meantime I'll be rewriting minor improvements in the version of the book that's hidden on the internet. To download it go to:


Book


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Originally uploaded by Karlek.
.

One of a series of (large format} books by Dr. Edgar Adams and available in his bookstore on the cruise ship dock. I'll write something about the others later.

On St. Vincent

A Caribbean Family Vacation To Saint Vincent

By: Gordon Steven | Posted: 20-01-2008
Saint Vincent, one of the British Windward Islands, is a place to be visited on its own as a Caribbean Vacation Getaway.

Saint Vincent tends to be tagged as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which includes islands like Bequia, Mustique, Canouan to name but three. What then happens is that tourists arrive at Barbados, catch a flight to Saint Vincent, and another flight or a boat to the island in the Grenadines they will be staying on, without taking any time at all to discover Saint Vincent island.

St Vincent is 18 miles long and 11 miles wide, covering around 133 square miles, so it is big enough to ensure no-one gets bored on a Caribbean family vacation because there is something for everyone, and there is no risk of getting lost provided you have a good map!!

There are lots of reasons to stay on Saint Vincent, and it is worth doing some research because it could be the ideal choice for a Caribbean family vacation.

The island of Saint Vincent is the big island of the Grenadines, and is a mixture of rugged mountains, lush forests and many empty beaches. It has an active volcano to the north of the island called Soufriere which as recently as 1979 spread volcanic ash over a wide area.

This helps the locals with their fruit and vegetable growing, meaning unlike other islands in the Grenadines they are self sufficient.

Soufriere is a great attraction if you are energetic and a bit adventurous, being just over 4000 feet above sea level.

Insofar as the rest of the island is concerned there is a small but bustling with energy capital called Kingstown down on the southwest coast With a hire car you can choose to go north on either coast and the road winds along the coastline. The eastern Atlantic Ocean or Windward side is a pretty rugged, rocky coastline with pounding waves which seem to come uninterrupted all the way from Europe. Some of the coastal scenery is dramatic.

On the other hand a trip up the West coast, which is the Caribbean Sea, or Leeward coast has most of the islands beaches and spectacular scenery. Having said that the best and most beautiful beaches on Saint Vincent are on the south coast, one in particular called Villa is only about four miles from Kingston.

The question of where to stay in Saint Vincent is easily solved because the island has a range of hotels to suit all pockets and tastes. Some would be perfect for a Caribbean Family Vacation, and other perfect for the Caribbean Vacation getaway. Amongst the latter, and almost certainly one of the best hotels in the Grenadines is Young Island a tiny and very exclusive hideaway off the south coast. Equally exclusive and definitely suitable for a Caribbean vacation getaway and only reachable by boat is the tiny Petit Byahaut only four miles north of Kingstown on the Leeward Coast.

Possibly the best value for money is The Tranquillity Beach Apartment Hotel, and Beachcombers Hotel a good choice for families.

There are a number of other hotels certainly worth doing some research on.

There is one certain fact and that is Saint Vincent is beginning to be discovered. It is beautiful and unspoilt and local people treat visitors with a courtesy and respect not always found on a Caribbean Vacation Getaway.

For more information about Caribbean Vacation Spots go to http://www.caribbean-vacationspots.com/pages/Site-Map.html

About the Author:
Gordon Steven writes for and recommends http://www.worldwidevacationspots.com as one of the best places to look before you book a vacation.

Printed From: http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/a-caribbean-family-vacation-to-saint-vincent-310726.html

The Hurricane of 1831

From SVGAncestry

THE HURRICANE OF 1831 IN ST. VINCENT; BY AN EYE-WITNESS
Edited by Mary BROWNE* (see source at end of article)

The month of August is considered one of the hurricane months, and although this island had not for half a century experienced anything of the kind (or whilst other islands have suffered materially, St. Vincent has invariably escaped) yet it is usual for all the merchant vessels to leave on or before the 1st of August, otherwise the insurance is doubled. On Monday, the 1st of August, I left Kingston [Kingstown] and at 12 o’clock wheeled my horse’s head homewards.

Passing the Bay of Calliaqua, and which is 3 miles from Kingston [Kingstown], I observed several of the merchant vessels getting under weigh for England. During the preceding week and up to within a short period of its occurrence, we had nothing to indicate the approaching hurricane. On the Wednesday evening it was perfectly still, calm, and serene, and we had taken a drive to Langley Park, as if to take a last look at the beautiful scenery — the luxuriant fields of canes promising an abundant harvest. We remarked on our return that the weather was close and sultry. After midnight the wind began to rise, and with the earliest dawn of the morning, about 5 o’clock, I looked

page 55
from my window and observed the sea running high, and the smaller boughs of the large almond tree near our house breaking off and falling to the ground, but as the wood is particularly brittle it occasioned me no alarm. From this period the gale increased in strength almost every moment, larger limbs were broken off, the sea began to run mountains high, and to present the grandest and most awful appearance you can well imagine; the waves rising to such an astonishing height that it appeared as if the ocean would swallow up the island, and the wind, blowing in a slanting direction across them, caused the spray of each wave as it broke to be thrown up in the air nearly twice its own height, curling, fretting, and foaming, in vain efforts to oppose the violence of the wind — a complete conflict of the elements.

But I was soon called from my brief contemplation of these sublime objects to the nearer danger which threatened us, and to my situation in these trying circumstances, with 700 individuals looking up to me for protection, amongst these the members of my own household – my wife and children — and besides, my residence, the various buildings, my horses, cattle, mules, sheep, and every living thing that might suffer from the violence of the storm, for as yet I had no suspicion that a hurricane was advancing onwards. The first thing that began to awaken my fears was on looking out of my room to observe the overthrow of the carpenter’s and cooper’s shops. I hastily threw on my clothes, and while doing so intelligence was brought me that the mule and cattle shed had fallen in upon the animals, upwards of 30 in number, and fears were entertained that many must be killed. Down the hill

page 56
I posted, through torrents of rain accompanied by one of my drivers, and on reaching the spot I observed to my surprise, but to my great relief, that the roof had given way in the centre, and as it fell the mules had fled to one end, and the cattle to the other, where they were separately cooped up, unable to move but not having suffered any injury. The sides of bamboo I ordered to be removed so as to admit of their coming out into the pasture, and a pen to be enclosed adjoining an empty megass house (where the canes after the juice is expressed are dried for fuel) that they might take shelter there, as it was composed of substantial brick-pillars, pitch-pine rafters, and a good roof; fortunately however, before my orders could be carried into execution, that building, amongst the ruins of which they must have perished, was itself hurled down by the increasing violence of the gale.

As I ascended the hill to look after the security of my own family and the house, which was a frail fabric built of wood, but in a more sheltered situation, another messenger overtook me to inform me that our magnificent wharf which was 200 feet in length and had cost L3,000, was in danger from the height at which the waves were running into the bay, and recommending that measures should be taken to secure the new iron crane placed at its extremity. I despatched two overseers and a company of negroes with directions to fasten the hawser to the crane, and to bring it on shore, and make it fast to a tree, that should the wharf give way we might ascertain where the crane fell and afterwards recover it. I stood at the window looking at this new peril, and to observe how my directions were carried into effect. I saw with an anxious

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eye a wave of unusual size rolling on majestically towards the wharf and crane on its extreme point — they were then both perfect and uninjured — onwards it rolled, mounting higher and higher — it towered far above both crane and wharf — it fell with tremendous violence upon them, and when it subsided the next instant, not one vestige was to be seen. The poor overseer had reached the spot just before, he led the way and had attained the middle of the wharf, when a shriek from the negroes who earnestly besought him to return, as it was giving way, caused him to turn round and speedily retrace his steps, and he did so most providentially, for a foot beyond where he stood the wharf separated, and was in an instant swept into the ocean. The remainder immediately after, with the two storehouses on the beach, following it into the troubled abyss of the waters.

But there was no time for reflection. I heard that no lives were lost, and my attention was drawn back to things nearer home. The cloth had already been laid on the table in our large dining-room, and every preparation had been made for our family prayers and breakfast, but the wind blowing in such gusts as to threaten to burst the windows and doors open, we thought it safest to remove all the crockery ware, glass, and other frail materials into the back rooms. We had scarcely done so before our attention was called to one of the north windows which shook violently and appeared as if it were every instant about to burst in. My wife, myself, and two eldest sons in vain exerted our utmost efforts to retain it in its place, but found it overpowering our comparatively puny strength and deemed it wise to make a timely retreat, when the whole frame, window

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and all burst in, overthrowing the sofa which had been placed against it and falling with violence on the dining-table in the centre of the room. The folding cedar doors on that side of the room then began to shake violently and, bursting the locks and bars, flew open with the greatest violence. We immediately brought two immense boxes I had made to pack my books and linen in, and we succeeded in again closing the doors and placing one box upon the other against them, which resisted the efforts of the wind as long as it continued in the direction of the north-east.

Still I entertained no idea of its being a hurricane, and, as the bursting in of the window admitted both rain and wind, we continued with great presence of mind to remove the books from the ledges round the room and bow window in front, and every article of furniture, with few exceptions, into the back room which was separated from that in front by other folding doors. In the midst of our occupation there was a brief lull in the storm for a few moments, during which on looking out I observed a kind of whirl-wind in the air and various light materials carried up to a great height with a rapid spiral motion, and then in an instant after the wind wheeled round to the opposite point of the compass — south-west. This brief lull, this sudden change — were too sure indications of a hurricane to admit of a doubt, and I became sensible of the dreadful reality; but without communicating my opinion or my fears to the rest of my family. The former wind from the north-east was a slight gale — a mere sportive breeze — compared to that which now succeeded. It blew, it raged, it raved, it roared; gust after gust, so awful and so terrific, like the explosion of cannon or the bursting

page 59
of huge waves against the rocks! The folding cedar doors on this side defied every effort to keep them closed — locks, bolts, bars; the table, side-board and sofa that were ranged against them all were swept aside, and they flew open in mockery of our puny efforts and various contrivances, the wind having free course and raging with the fury of a bursting cataract through the opening it had made. Many of my valuable books (you know what pains I took in their collection, and how carefully they have been always preserved), and several articles of furniture were still unremoved when the room began to shake violently and I perceived that all this part of the building must inevitably fall. I stood at the door between the inner and the front sitting rooms, and watching every opportunity rushed forwards, seized an armful of books, retreated to the doors and placed them in the hands of my wife and family to convey backwards and then returned. One mulatto domestic only followed me, and as I sometimes stood half way in doubt whether to proceed, I turned round and saw him trembling from head to foot with fear, and as pale as death. Again and again I darted forwards — closing the doors on my retreat as gusts rose — and thus I fortunately succeeded in carrying off every book, and most of the furniture. We then aimed for the large dining table, sofa, and remaining chairs; but it was too late. The room began to rock like a cradle, the panes and frames of the windows to crack, and we hastily drew back to the chamber doors, which opened from the inner room, and there stood for an instant at the entrance: — it shook more violently — the rafters, beams, pillars, posts, all gave way with one tremendous crash, amidst the…..

((to be continued…page 60 – 80 still under transcription)).

* This paper consists of a letter, dated St. Vincent, W. I., Nov. 13th, 1831, from a clergyman who was then the owner of "Grand Sable" in that island. It has been placed at my disposal, and edited, by Miss BROWNE, the granddaughter of the writer. — Ed.

SOURCE: Timehri: The Journal of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society of British Guiana by Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society of British Guiana, edited by Everard F. im Thurn – Volume 5, pages 54 – 78. Published December 5, 1886.

(Special Thanks to Joan Leggett for providing a copy of this article for transcription).

The St.Vincent Parrot’s Home




Posted by Rochelle Joseph in Birds,Events,Spotlight on Species
The St. Vincent Amazon Parrot (Amazona guildingii) is found on the small, volcanic, Caribbean island of St. Vincent.  The island of St. Vincent is part of the country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  Houston is more than four times the size of St. Vincent!  This small island is the only place in the world that the St. Vincent Amazon Parrot is found in the wild.

 The St. Vincent Amazon Parrot is listed as a vulnerable species, with less than 800 left in the wild.  The Houston Zoo has housed St. Vincent Amazon Parrots since 1967 and is currently the only zoo in North America to do so.

The Houston Zoo hatched Vincent Deuxieme in 2008

To learn more about this exotic species, their habitat, and their history on the island of St. Vincent, join us on Sunday, September 4th from 11 AM until 3 PM at the St. Vincent building (near Stormy the bird bank) for our Spotlight on the Species.
Keepers will be hosting fun activities about the island and the St. Vincent Parrot, including a volcano demonstration, flag creation station, face painting and more.  The keepers will also be there to answer any questions you may have about this special parrot.

This is one of the most beautiful birds, and your very own Houston Zoo is the only place they can be seen in all of North America so please mark your calendars and join us!
Written by Senior Bird Keeper Mollie Coym

Book Release 

 KINGS-SVG Publishers, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, announces the publication of
 Caribbean Short Stories: Life Long Ago by Rosa Veeta (a pseudonym or pen name). 

The new book is a collection of fifteen short stories fashioned around the lives of Caribbean youths, particularly in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG)  in the nineteen forties, fifties and sixties. 

The story titles are: 1. My First Day at School  2.   Holidaying with Grandma 3. Playing Truant 4. Fun with Uncle Josiah Boyd 5.Childhood Pranks 6. My Step Dad  7. Growing Up Poor 8. Nine Days Before Christmas  9. Roger’s Wishes 10. Riding on the Bus Long Ago 11. Uncle Thaddeus and His Family 12. River Side Cooks 13. Change of Heart 14. Mocked Hangings 15. Some Parables.

In “Riding on a Bus Long Ago”, you will delight in the melodrama of those who ventured on to a bus in the early days, travelling from the countryside to the city in SVG. The author has used her vivid memories and experiences to craft out aspects of her childhood years.  Each story encapsulates events that took place in and around her life. Older readers are sure to find in these pages many nostalgic occurrences from their own lives. Younger readers are in for a delightful history lesson on the Vincentian/Caribbean culture and life long ago. 
   The author, who uses the pseudonym, Rosa Veeta, was a dedicated primary school educator for 39 years. She started writing from the age of eight. She enjoys nature and is very active in her flower and vegetable gardens (her favourite hobby). She resides in St. Vincent and the Grenadines with her younger daughter and her dog, Josh.
     The retail price of the book (paperback, 133 pages, ISBN: 978-0-9889556-0-8) is US$12.95 plus shipping and handling (US$3.50 in the US, US$5.00 to Canada and US $10.00 to the Caribbean and the United Kingdom, by airmail).
    To order, please send your name, address and payment (check
 or money order payable to Baldwin King) to: Baldwin King, P. O. Box 702,
 Madison, NJ 07940, U.S.A . You may also place your order through our 
website:http://www.kingsinn-svg.com. (Click on Bookstore). email:kingba@aol.com
       BOOK WILL BE MAILED TO YOU PROMPTLY ON RECEIPT OF YOUR PAYMENT.
   The book is also available at Amazon. com and in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, books will be available after April 15, 2013. 
Give the gift of books:
Publications:
"Introduction to Chemistry and the Environment" by Baldwin King (2002)
"Michael Manley & Democratic Socialism : Political Leadership and 
Ideology in Jamaica" by Cheryl L. A. King (2003)
"Search for Identity : Essays on St. Vincent & the Grenadines" edited by:
Baldwin King, Kenneth John & Cheryl L. A. King (2006)
"Quest for Caribbean Unity : Beyond Colonialism" edited by:
Kenneth John, Baldwin King & Cheryl L. A. King (2006)
"Home Sweet Home : Musings on Hairoun" edited by:
Kenneth John, Baldwin King & Cheryl L. A. King (2007)
"Pioneers in Nation-Building in a Caribbean Mini-State"
by Sir Rupert John with a new foreword by Karl John
Published by KINGS-SVG (2009)
"Timescape and Other Caribbean Poems"
 by Dr. Lance Bannister and Marcia Harold Hinds.
Published by KINGS-SVG (2009)
"Caribbean Trailblazers: St.Vincent and the Grenadines" edited by:
 Baldwin King and Cheryl Phills King (2010) (Vol. 1 )
"Spirit-Filled and Emancipated Living" by Laura Anthony Browne
Published by KINGS-SVG (2010)
 "From Shakers To Spiritual Baptists: The Struggle For Survival of the Shakers
of St. Vincent and the Grenadines" by Adrian Fraser. 
Published by KINGS-SVG (2011)

"Caribbean Trailblazers: St.Vincent and the Grenadines" Vol. 2 edited by:
 Baldwin King and Cheryl Phills King (2011)

"Caribbean Trailblazers: St.Vincent and the Grenadines" Volumes I and 2 together edited by:
 Baldwin King and Cheryl Phills King (2012)

"Christianity and Black Oppression: Duppy Know Who Fe Frighten " by Zay Green .
Published by KINGS-SVG (2012)

"Caribbean Short Stories: Life Long Ago" by Rosa Veeta
Published by KINGS-SVG (2013)

For more information about the above publications please contact:
Dr. Baldwin King at: kingba@aol.com
"The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest "
article entitled ""Manley, Michael (1924-1997)" by Cheryl L. A. King (2009)

Visit the Kings Website at: http://www.kingsinn-svg.com