ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

AT THE NORTHEASTERN CURVE of the West Indies. Antigua (an-TEE-ga) is one of 11 links in the chain of Leeward Islands. Its seascape alternates rocky coves with white, sunny beaches punctuated by gentle salt breezes. Christopher Columbus' first impression adequately describes this tropical paradise:
What beautiful lands the sun lights up in the distance...
Antiguans are charming people, whose expressive English patoiswith its musical intonation enchants visitors. While engaged in daily affairs, the locals form a vivid tableau. Sitting around a warn board, taxi drivers play an ancient game while waiting for a fare. Dressed for school in distinctive uniforms that vary according to school and grade. Antiguan children add their smiles and colors to the scene. In equally vivid dress, members of Antigua's many steel bands parade during Carnival in St. John's, where the colorful activities contrast with the more traditionalist English atmosphere of the island's capital.

Christopher Columbus named Antigua after the Santa Maria de la Antigua Church in Seville, Spain. Although Columbus visited the area in 1493. it is not known whether he actually set acfoot on Antiguan soil. An attempt to colonize the island was not made until a century and half later, perhaps due to the unwelcoming population of Carib Indians.

Antigua became a British possession in 1632. when English planters from nearby St. Kitts successfully settled the area despite Carib resistance. In 1666 French raiders claimed the island, but the Treaty of Breda in 1667 restored the land to the British.

In 1674 Sir Christopher Codrington, a former governor of Barbados, established the first large sugar plantation on Antigua. Codrington's accomplishments encouraged other landowners to become involved in the sugar industry, and by the early 1700s the landscape was dotted with some 170 sugar mills; the ruins of many of these structures can be seen throughout the island. Because African slaves were imported to serve as laborers on the sugar plantations, Antigua became a key slave-trading post in the Caribbean.