as for the sum of $25,000,000
obtained the three Virgin Islands known as the Danish West Indies. As
more than ninety per cent. of their 27,000 inhabitants are Negroes,
the American people, upon whom devolves the duty of shaping the
destiny of these new subjects, will doubtless be interested in
learning more about them. Searching for these islands on the map they
appear as three tiny spots lying to the east and southeast of Porto
Rico and at the extreme east of the Greater Antilles. The islands are
St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix which lies about 40 miles southeast
of St. Thomas. The area of St. Thomas is about 33 square miles; that
of St. John 21, while St. Croix is much larger, covering about 84
square miles. These islands are no less remarkable for their fertility
than for the intelligence and industry of their inhabitants. The
climate is delightful, but this is counterbalanced by the earthquakes
and hurricanes which occur at uncertain intervals.[360]

Although the discovery and settlement of the Danish West Indies by
Europeans are not of ancient date, their early history is fragmentary
and conjectural. Tribes of Caribs[361] were found on these islands by
Christopher Columbus when he discovered the group on his second voyage
to America in 1493. Judging from carvings upon the rocks and numerous
relics these people had occupied the islands from time immemorial. The
natives were decreed enemies of the state by Charles V in 1550 and
thereafter were soon exterminated. When the Earl of Cumberland touched
at the islands on his way to Porto Rico in 1596 he described them as a
knot of little islands, uninhabited, sandy, barren and craggy[362].

The Dutch and English preceded the Danes in the occupation of St.
Thomas, but as far as is known, they were at no time present in large
numbers. Nine families of them with their slaves were found there in
1666. That year a company of Danes under Erik Smidt landed at St.
Thomas and made the first Danish settlement in the Virgin Islands.
They claimed to represent the Danish Chartered Company of Guinea and
the West Indies with headquarters at Copenhagen. Before these settlers
could permanently settle here, however, their expedition was broken up
by certain Dutchmen led by one Huntman after the death of Smidt and
before the Danes had finished their fort. But this was only temporary
success for the Dutch. This company had previously acquired territory
on the Gold Coast and had built fort