GRENADA

POPULARLY KNOWN as "the spice isle," Grenada (Gre-NAY-da) has a moderate tropical climate that ensures the success of spice production. Ba-nanas are the most plentiful crop, followed by an array of such spices as nutmeg, cocoa, mace, cloves, vanilla, cinnamon and ginger. The climate also lures travel-ers seeking an ideal Caribbean retreat. Its 133 square miles (344 sq km) of tropical landscape, encompassing volcanic mountains, lush valleys and pristine beaches, have distinguished it as one of the most beautiful of West Indian islands. Ninety miles (140 km) north of Trinidad, Grenada is the southernmost of the Windward Islands and offers a remoteness that is the essence of its appeal.

Though Grenada was discovered by Christopher Columbus on his third voyage in 1498, the island was relatively neglected until 1650, when it was purchased by the governor of Martinique. The French began their colonization with a series of skirmishes that virtually exterminated the island's native Carib population. The survivors were pushed north to Le Morne des Sauteurs, where rather than surrender they jumped off the cliff to the jagged rocks below. Today the site of the Carib defeat is known as Carib's Leaper.

Once they were in complete control, the French introduced the cultivation of cocoa, coffee and cotton. During the wars between France and Great Britain, the island changed hands many times until it was finally ceded to Britain in 1783 by the Treaty of Versailles. Slave labor and large plantation holdings brought prosperity to the island, which served as the headquarters of the British West Indies 1885-1958. After unsuccessful attempts to federate with other West In-dian islands, Grenada assumed the status of an Associated State of Britain in 1967. The island became independent from the United Kingdom in 1974 and obtained dominion status within the Commonwealth.

Following a revolution in 1979, a People's Revolutionary Government replaced the parliament of Grenada. Revolutionary rumblings erupted into a coup against the presiding prime minister in October 1983, prompting U.S. and Eastern Caribbean military intervention. Political order in Grenada was re-established with an elected representative government.

A Grenada spice basket, a handwoven pannier of palmleaf or straw filled with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, vanilla, cloves and other native spices.