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wliich there is a bank of fine sand, extending a
mile into the sea, and affording good anchorage.
Lat. 1° 59' n. Long. 157° 35' w.]
[Christmas Sound, in Tien a del Fuego, S.
America. Lat. 55° 21' n. Long. 69° 48' tw.]
CHRISTOVAL, San, a
town of the government and jurisdiction of [Maracaibo]]
in the Nuevo Rey no de Granada; founded
by Captain Juan de Maldonado in 1560. It is of
•a hot but healthy temperature, produces abundance
of sugar-canes, of which are made honey, sugar,
and conserves, in immense quantities ; also a great
proportion of smoking tobacco, which is carried to
Maracaibo. It has a good church and a convent
t)f St. Augustin, which latter has fallen much to
decay with regard to its establishment. The po-
pulation of the town consists of 400 housekeepers.
It lies 20 leagues n. e. of Pamplona, from the juris-
diction of which it is divided by the river Pam-
plonilla. It is the native place of Don Gregorio
de Jaimes, archdeacon of Santa Fe, and bishop of
Santa Marta.
Same name, a settlement of the province
and corregimiento of Lipes, archbishopric of Char-
cas in Peru ; in which took place the following ex-
traordinary occurrence: The curate of this place
going to confess a sick person in the settlement of
Tahisa of the province of Paria, which was annexed
to this, sunk into a spring of water in the pampas
or llanos dela Sal, when he was drowned, and with
the two Indians who accompanied him on horse-
back, never more appeared, nor were any vestiges
ever found of them : this was the reason why the
latter settlement has since been disunited from the
curacy of San Christoval.
Same name, a capital city of the province
and captainship of Sergipé in the kingdom of Bra-
zil ; being also known by that name. It is founded
on the sea-shore, and has a fine and well defended
port. It has a magnificent parish church with the
title of Nuestra Senora de la Victoria ; two fine
convents, the one of the order of the Franciscans,
and the other of the Carmelites ; also a chapel of
devotion of the Virgin of the Rosary. The council-
house is a very fine edifice, and in the suburbs is
a hermitage of San Gonzalo, which is frequented
as a pilgrimage by this and other settlements of the
jurisdiction. In this city resides the chief captain,
who governs this province, and who is attended by
a company of troops as a body-guard. In early
times it was filled with nobility, descended from the
first families in Portugal; but it is now reduced to
600 housekeepers. in its district, towards the
part called Coninquiva, is a parish with four
chapels, and towards the river Vaza-Barris five
others. It has also 25 engines, by which abundance
of sugar of an excellent quality is manufactured ;
this article affords a great commerce w ith t!ic bay
of Todos Santos. Lat. ll°40's. Long. ST'* SO' tw.
Same name, an island of the N. sea ; one
of the Antilles, discoverctl by Admiral Christoj)her
Columbus, who gave it his name, in 149S. It is
five leagues in circumference, and is very fertile,
and abounding in productions, particularly in cot-
ton, tobacco, indigo, sugar, and brandy ; by all
of which it carries on a great commerce. Here arc
some good salines, and in the mountains are some
woods of fine timber, well adapted for the building
of ships. The English and the French both esta-
blished themselves here in 1625, holding a divided
possession, when they were driven out by the Spa-
niards. After this the former again returned and
re-established themselves in the greatest part of the
island, leaving, however, a small share to the
French, until the year 1713, when the latter, in
conjunction with the Spaniards themselves, ceded
it entirely to the English, who from that time have
held it and kept it well fortified. [St. Christopher,
situate in lat. 17° 21', long. 62° 48' ze. was called
by its ancient possessors, the Charibes, Liamuiga,
or the Fertile Island. It was discovered in Novem-
ber 1493 by Columbus himself, who was so pleased
with its appearance, that he honoured it with his
own Christian name. But it was neither planted
nor possessed by the Spaniards. It was, however,
(notwithstanding that the general opinion ascribes
the honour of seniority to Barbadoes), the eldest of
all the British territories in the \V. Indies, and
in truth, the common mother both of the English
and French settlements in the Charibean islands.
A Mr. Thomas Warner, an Englishman, asso-
ciated himself Avith 14 other persons in the year
1622, and with them took his passage on board a
ship bound to Virginia. From thence he and his
companions sailed from St. Christopher’s, where
they arrived in January 1623, and by the month
of September following had raised a good crop of
tobacco, which they proposed to make their staple
commodity. By the generality of historians who
have treated of the affairs of the W. Indies, it is
asserted that a party oflhe French, under the com-
mand of a person of the name of D’Esnambuc,
took possession of one part of this island, on the
same day that Mr. Warner landed on the other;
but the truth is, that the first landing of Warner
and his associates happened two years before the
arrival of D’Esnambuc; who, it is admitted by
Du Tertre, did not leave France until IG25. Un-
fortunately the English settlers, in the latter end of
1623, had their plantations demolished by a dread- j
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