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515
274
56 guns.
A landing party carried Fort Amsterdam, then mounting 60 guns, in about ten minutes, Appendix No. 9. and the remaining defences were carried or surrendered, attacked from the rear by 300 seamen and marines; but this was before the days of torpedoes.
NETHERLANDS.
Bonaire or Buen Ayre.
The Island of Bonaire lies about 30 miles to the east of the Island of Curaçao. It is shaped in the form of two sides of an angle, and is 25 miles long by 3 miles broad.
The southern part is low and sandy, with salt marshes, while the northern part is hilly and rocky. Inclosed in the angle is the fort (details unknown) and town of El Puerto.
The sides of the of the island go down into deep water, and the only anchorage is in front of the town in 17 fathoms of water, and even this is limited. Vessels usually first moor to rings, &c., at
the fort, and then seek for an anchorage.
The climate is similar to Curaçao.
The population is 4,500.
The products are salt, cochineal, and timber.
Oruba.
The Island of Oruba lies about 50 miles to the west of Curaçao, and is about half as large as that island.
The centre of the island is high and rocky, but the shores are low. The sides of the island go down sheer into deep water.
The only anchorage is very small; it is at Port Caballo.
The chief town is Orangestadt.
The climate is similar to that of Curaçao.
The products are cochineal and timber.
The population is 5,600.
In 1878 two coaling wharves were made at the island.
Dutch Islands in Lesser Antilles.
The three islands, Saba, St. Martin, and St. Eustatius.
Saba is the top of an extinct population speaks English and have that they recognize the Dutch flag.
Saba.
The
volcano, whose crater still rises 3,000 feet above the sea. their own laws and institutions, and are Dutch in nothing except
Population, 2,000.
St. Martin.
St. Martin is the most fertile of the Dutch West Indian Islands. The northern half of the island belongs to France, the southern half to Holland, an arrangement which has lasted for two centuries without any disagreement between the inhabitants. The chief town is Philipsburg, situated in a large bay. Population, 3,500. The principal forts, Amsterdam and Wilhelm, are in bad repair, and they have only left a saluting battery in an old fort close to the town (? Fort Nassau). There is a small local police force, but no troops."
"
St. Eustatius.
St. Eustatius is declining in prosperity. The chief town is Orangetown, which is defended by Fort Hollandia. Details unknown. Population, 1,800.
In 1810 the British reduced the whole of the French and Dutch possessions in the Lesser Antilles, but there was no contest for the above islands, which surrendered peaceably.
[Corrected to August 26, 1882.]
(Signed)
L. M. CARMICHAEL, Major, D.A.Q.M.G.
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