West Indies
Another reason why Dr. Selgrove cannot see Sara Clayburn at Whitegates is that he had been ill and then went “[…] on a West Indian cruise […].”[1]
In general, “the West Indies” is a term that refers to a collection of islands of the Caribbean between North and South America. The whole area consists of different states and separates the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico from the Atlantic Ocean. The archipelago, also called “the Antilles” curves from Florida to the coast of Venezuela.[2] The islands are geographically divided into three subgroups:
· The Greater Antilles (Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico)
· The Lesser Antilles: (Leeward Islands, Windwards Islands, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados)
· The island groups of the North American continental shelf (Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands)[3]
Several of these islands have mountainous landscapes, including active volcanoes. Although hurricanes are fairly common in the area, the tropical seas and the warm climate have made the region a popular tourist resort. The total population of the West Indies is around 34 million people, the majority being of African descent. The background is that many slave-trading ports were in the West Indies, in particular in Jamaica. The history of the West Indies, after the European settlement, was determined by annexations through world powers. The Spanish claimed the region first after Columbus landed at San Salvador in 1492. The following centuries were characterized by fights over the region, especially by Britain, France, the Netherlands, Denmark and later the U.S. Although most of the states of the West Indies gained independence during the 20th century, the official languages are predominantly Spanish, English, Dutch and France.[4]
Islands of the West Indies:
Source: http://media-1.web.britannica.com/eb-media/05/5105-004-3EDB1039.jpg (accessed March 28, 2015).
[1] Edith Wharton, “All Souls’,” in: The Demanding Dead – More Stories of Terror and the Supernatural, ed. Peter Haining (London: Peter Owen Publishers, 2007), 201.
[2] The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed., "West Indies," encyclopedia.com. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-WestIndi.html (accessed March 28, 2015).
[3] Bridget M. Brereton, West Indies, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/640195/West-Indies (accessed March 28, 2015).
[4] The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed., "West Indies," encyclopedia.com. (accessed March 28, 2015).