St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Granada by Air
The winter maneuvers of the United States Fleet in 1924 were held in the vicinity of the island of Culebra, which lies between Porto Rico and St. Thomas. As a break in the ceaseless activities of the maneuvers, a period of two weeks was allowed for recreation of the officers and crews, and the ships of the fleet dispersed to various ports.
The aviators of the Aircraft Squadrons, Scouting Fleet, were embarked on the flagship of those squadrons, the U.S.S. Wright, leaving all but one of the planes under a guard in the sheltered harbor at Culebra. The ship then proceeded to St. Lucia. Accompanying the fleet was a new type of long-range flying boat which was to be given tests under conditions to be expected in the naval service, and this plane was flown without stop from Culebra to St. Lucia, a distance of about 400 miles, skirting that picturesque chain of islands which form the outer fringe of the Caribbean Sea.
Leaving Culebra in the plane at early dawn with a moderate trade wind against us and flying at the rate of eighty knots, we soon lost sight of St. Croix to starboard and of St. Thomas and St. John’s to port, but it was only for a brief period that we were out of sight of land. That little known and curious island of Saba, with its one town in the crater of an extinct volcano, soon hove in sight and from then on there was always one and sometimes several of in Leeward Islands visible.
Flying at an altitude of about a thousand feet and passing close to islands which rise precipitously from the sea to a height of four or five thousand feet, we lost the flattening effect so usual in views from a plane and we were able to see the real beauty of this land and ocean panorama.
In this way we passed close to the eastern side of St. Eustatius, St. Christopher, Nevis, Montserrat, Guadaloupe, Dominica, and Martinique.
The air was a little rough under the lee of these islands where the high land breaks up the steady stream of the trade winds. The sea was smooth close in to the shore but covered with whitecaps in the passages between the islands. Numerous heavy rain squalls over Dominica drifted off to leeward forcing us to steer to the westward to skirt their edges. Through these squalls the deep gorges and high mountains of this wild and beautiful island appeared intermittently.
Five hours and twenty-five minutes after leaving Culebra we glided over the point of land that shelters Port Castries, capital of the island of St. Lucia, which is one of the Windward Islands. We made a perfect landing directly below the governor’s residence and close to the excited throng of spectators who were viewing an airplane for the first time.
On account of its fine harbor, St. Lucia is much better known than the other interesting islands of this group, which constitutes one of the colonial possessions of Great Britain. The Wright, which had sailed from Culebra a day in advance, made the outer anchorage at the same hour that we landed our plane in the smooth water at the head of the bay. From that time on we were the recipients of the most cordial hospitality on the part of the officials and citizens.
St. Lucia is of volcanic origin and consequently mountainous, the central peak being over 3,000 feet high. Near the southern end of the island is the volcano of Soufriere, bordering on Soufriere Bay, with a crater three acres in extent. Though now quiescent, there are many places in the islands which show latent volcanic activity in the shape of hot sulphur springs. South of Soufriere Bay two conical mountains known as Gros and Petit Piton rise abruptly to a height of 2,600 feet and for grandeur are unequalled in that part of the West Indies.
Of all the islands of the West Indies none have seen more of historical combat than the rugged island of St. Lucia. For one hundred and fifty years it was the point in the eastern Caribbean most desired by men. Capable of being readily fortified and possessing a land-locked harbor, it lay as a tempting prize to the maritime nations of Europe. The island changed hands from British to French and back again no less than seven times during a century and a half. Now that strategic values have shifted temporarily away from this part of the West Indies, it lies totally disarmed and ungarrisoned, but the names of Rodney, Abercrombie, Sir John Moore, Victor Hugues, De Grasse, and many others are indelibly stamped on the pages of its history.
The nine-hour seaplane trip which followed was unique from two points of view. It was the inst and until now the only time that an aircraft of any kind has visited the Windward Islands of St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Granada. Also the acting governor of the islands, Lieutenant Colonel Davidson- Houston, C.M.G., accepted our invitation to accompany us on this flight, and we thereby witnessed his installation and the taking of the oath of office as acting governor and commander in chief in both the islands of St. Vincent and Granada. In both cases picturesque and impressive ceremonies marked the installation of the governor who came through the air in an American war plane to accomplish the duties and receive the honors of his outlying posts.
Having embarked Governor Davidson- Houston, we taxied outside Port Castries Bay and took off under the lee of Vigie Point. In fifty minutes we were on the water again in the open roadstead of Kingstown, the capital of St. Vincent. Our expected arrival having been cabled ahead, dense masses of natives lined the shores to obtain their first glimpse of an airplane. Astonishment was general. Some were alarmed, others crowded around to touch our clothes. The natives seemed to be uncertain whether we were in truth men of normal type. The official barge took the governor and the officers ashore. The police guard drawn up on the little pier presented arms and a salute of seventeen guns was fired. In military formation we walked to the council hall for the administering of the oath of office to Colonel Davidson-Houston as governor of the island of St. Vincent and as commander in chief of His Britannic Majesty’s forces thereon.
A large hall containing a most beautiful mahogany table of horseshoe shape was the scene of the ceremonies. The council of the island sat at the table in order of their rank, the governor in the center. The officials and important citizens occupied one side of the hall and dense masses of the blacks of the island filled all other available space and overflowed into the tropical glare of the streets. The oath was administered, a speech of welcome was addressed to the representatives of the American Navy present, and we adjourned to the Government House for luncheon.
The harbor of Kingstown is not so good as that of Port Castries, being merely an indentation in the coast backed by high hills. When we took off at two o’clock we had to rise from the water against a considerable swell. Like its companion islands, St. Vincent is volcanic in origin and of a wild and savage beauty. Such prosperity as it enjoys comes from the growth of sea island cotton and arrowroot.
St. Vincent has suffered from time to time by violent eruptions of its one volcano. At the time of the total destruction of the important and beautiful city of St. Pierre on the nearby island of Martinique, May, 1902, St. Vincent also suffered a devastating eruption of its volcano and the loss of 2,000 lives. Incidentally, it is a curious fact that with tremendous volcanic disturbances in the islands on each side of St. Lucia, involving the loss of thousands of lives, the volcano on St. Lucia itself remained inactive.
From Kingstown to St. George’s, the capital of Granada, is seventy miles as the airplane flies, and at three o’clock in the afternoon we circled around the point and landed on the water of the inner harbor. This was not an easy landing to make because of the strong and irregular currents of air in the harbor. The bay is said to be the crater of an extinct volcano the seaward wall of which has collapsed.
The island was discovered by Columbus, August 15, 1498. He described it to Queen Isabella as resembling a crumpled handkerchief, and there has been no change in this respect. The town is solidly built in the French style, and like so many islands in the West Indies, Granada has changed hands from French to English and back on several occasions. The ridge which forms the western protection to the harbor is pierced by a tunnel which connects the two portions of the town. Upon our arrival the crowds were on the beach outside the harbor, but as we swung around the point into the inner harbor they rushed through the tunnel, looking in their white clothes like a stream of water issuing from a gigantic hose.
On account of the security of its harbor Granada in the bad old days was a pirate stronghold. Often the buccaneers and the local officials shared in the prosperity brought about by piracy. It is said that the scene of Sabatini’s novel, Captain Blood, is laid in Granada. A fine old stone fort still dominates the town.
The ceremonies at Kingstown, St. Vincent, were repeated at St. George’s, Granada, and the official party was taken for a short drive about the island before departing. At five o’clock we taxied outside the harbor, preferring to take off in the light swell rather than in the treacherous wind currents under the land. We left our hospitable hosts with regret but the time was limited and we were due in St. Lucia by nightfall.
Passing over a charming archipelago of islands, the Grenadines, we dipped down into Port Castries harbor at just seven o’clock, after a total absence of nine hours. These hours could hardly have been more interestingly employed, and traveling in this manner recalls to mind the description of the flight of the magic carpet in the Arabian Nights:
'Tis true, O my Lord, its properties are singular and marvelous. Whoever sitteth on this carpet and willeth in thought to be taken up and set down upon other site will, in the twinkling of an eye, be borne thither, be that place nearhand or distant many a day’s journey and difficult to reach.
Had this trip been made by commercial transportation as regular steamers were scheduled at this particular time, it would have taken about three weeks.