Thursday 13 August 2015

BEQUIA - GRENADINES OF THE ST.VINCENT


Bequia is the second-largest island in the Grenadines at 7 square miles (18 km2). It is part of the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and is approximately 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the nation's capital, Kingstown, on the main island, Saint Vincent. Bequia means "island of the clouds" in the ancient Arawak. The island's name was also 'Becouya' as part of the Grenadines. As a result of the Treaty of Utrecht, which brought an end to the War of Spanish Succession and established peace between the Spanish and British Empires, Great Britain obtained the lucrative monopoly over the Asiento slave trade. Runaway and shipwrecked slaves inhabited the island of St. Vincent in the 17th century. According to an early account of the French West Indies, which considered Bequia as part of Grenada, Bequia was too inaccessible to colonize and Caribs and Arawaks used the island for fishing and farming. A few Portuguese and Dutch slave ships en route to Sint Eustatius from West Africa reportedly shipwrecked on the Grenadine reefs.

Bequia was under French control in the 18th century and during the Seven Years' War with England, the island was used by the fleets of their Spanish and Dutch allies to take on supplies, while British ships were banned. The 1763 Treaty of Paris produced a significant re-alignment in the map of the Caribbean; St. Vincent and the Grenadine islands, including Grenada, were given to the British in exchange for Guadeloupe, Martinique and St. Lucia. The name Petit Martinique comes from this era, as does Petit Saint Vincent. In 1779 the French seized the island, despite the treaty, but were forced to relinquish control to Britain again soon after.

Some historians believe that the famous pirate Edward Teach had his base in Bequia. The opening shot of the movie Blackbeard, Pirate of the Caribbean, made by the BBC, displays a replica of his first ship off the coast of Bequia in the St. Vincent passage. According to local legend, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was not only Teach's base, but also the place from which Sir Francis Drake planned his attacks on the Spanish admiralty in Don Blas de Lezo's Cartagena. Indeed, it is thought that Henry Morgan may also have anchored in Admiralty Bay, as it was then the safest natural harbour in the Eastern Caribbean during hurricane season. Bequia was used as a repair facility for ships. Beside Nelson's Dockyard on Antigua, and the Carlyle in Bridgetown, Barbados, there were no other drydocks or shipyards in the area. Wooden shipbuilding and ship-repair on Bequia was possible due to the presence of cedar trees on the island and a sufficiently deep and sheltered harbour.

Bequia is one of the few places in the world where limited whaling is still allowed. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) classifies the island's hunt under the regulations concerning aboriginal whaling. Natives of Bequia are allowed to catch up to four humpback whales per year using only traditional hunting methods of hand-thrown harpoons in small, open sailboats. The limit is rarely met, with no catch some years. Bequia has a long tradition of whaling as well as the building of whaling boats. There is a small whaling museum on the island chronicling local whaling's history. A feature of the Port Elizabeth waterfront is the Whale Boner Bar & Restaurant. This bar has an entrance onto the beach consisting of an arch of two whale ribs, as well as whale vertebrae mounted on the bar seats and a whale rib running the length of the bar.

Registered Airmail cover from Bequia Island of St.Vincent. The cover posted on July 16, 2016 and I receive din my hands on September 20, 2016. 

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