absorbs the rain, rendering
the atmosphere dry and invigorating.

The manufactures include sugar, lime-juice and essential oils; the
exports are coffee, cocoa, sugar, limes and lime-juice, essential oils
and fruit of all kinds. The inhabitants in 1901 numbered 28,894. The
majority are negroes; the whites are of French and British descent.
There are also a few Caribs, the remnant of the aboriginal population. A
French _patois_ is the language of the peasantry, but English is
generally understood. The capital, Roseau (5764), is a fortified town
and a port; Portsmouth, the only other town, possesses the better
harbour in Prince Rupert's Bay on the north-west. In religion the Roman
Catholics predominate, and a bishop resides at Roseau, but there is no
established church. Education is free and compulsory, and the Cambridge
local examinations are held annually.

Dominica was so named on its discovery by Columbus in 1493, in
commemoration of the date, Sunday (_Dies Dominica_) the 3rd of November.
Dominica was included in the grant of various islands in the Caribbean
Sea made in 1627 by Charles I. to the earl of Carlisle, but the first
European settlers (1632) were French. They brought with them negro
slaves and lived on terms of friendship with the Caribs, who were then
a numerous body. In 1660 a treaty appears to have been made between the
French, British and the natives assigning St Vincent and Dominica to the
Caribs, but shortly afterwards attempts were made by the British to gain
a foothold in the island. These attempts failed, and in 1748 it was once
more agreed by France and Great Britain that Dominica should be left in
the undisturbed possession of the natives. Nevertheless the French
settlers increased, and the island came under the rule of a French
governor. It was captured by the British in 1761 and formally ceded by
France at the peace of Paris, 1763, French settlers being secured in
their estates. In 1778 a French force from Martinique seized the island.
Rodney's victory over De Grasse in the neighbouring sea in 1782 was
followed by the restoration of the island to Britain in 1783; in the
interval the trade of Dominica had been ruined. In 1795 a force from
Guadeloupe made an unsuccessful descent on the island, and in 1805 the
French general La Grange, at the head of 4000 troops, took Roseau and
pillaged the island--an event now remembered as the most memorable in
its history. The French were, however, unable to ma