Anse Citron
Many
old maps of Saint Lucia show a place called Anse Citron where
you would expect to see Choiseul. In English that means 'Lime
Bay'. Perhaps the sailors who went ashore for food and water
found limes growing there. This would have been an important
discovery. Lime juice was a protection against scurvy, a disease
caused by being too long at sea without fresh fruits or vegetables
to eat. Until 1763, the village near the river mouth was also
called Anse Citron. In February of that year, the English and
the French signed a pact called the treaty of Paris. It made
Saint Lucia a French possession. They celebrated by remaining
the village Anse Choiseul in honor of the Duke of Choiseul,
French Minister for Foreign Affairs. This was later shortened
to 'Choiseul'. During the French Revolution, the Republican
General Richard was sent to govern Saint Lucia. He gave all
towns and villages new names. Choiseul was now called 'Le Tricolore',
like the French flag with its bands of red, white and blue.
In 1796, the British defeated the French and Le Tricolore became
Choiseul once again. Choiseul is about half way between Soufriere
and Vieux Fort on the southwest coast of Saint Lucia. To the
north is the Gros Piton, to the west the Caribbean Sea. This
part of the island is not lush and green like the countryside
behind the Pitons. It is more open and much drier. The rivers
do not flow through wide valleys as they do in Dennery, Cul
de Sac and Roseau. Instead they run swiftly between the steep
banks of deep ravines. In one place, the River Doree tumbles
along at the bottom of a canyon 150 feet deep. A bridge, barely
20 feet wide, crosses it from side to side. If you stand on
the bridge and drop a stone, several seconds go before you hear
the splash as it hits the water.
There
is a story about this bridge. People say the man who built it
made a pact with the devil. He promised that when it was finished
the devil could take the first person who walked over it. When
the bridge was completed, he was so excited he forgot his promise
and ran across. Fortunately, his little dog ran ahead and reached
the other side first. The devil must have been satisfied with
the small prize. They say the dog vanished and was never seen
again. Ever since then it has been called the Devil's Bridge.
Laborie
Islet
a Caret
The
village of Laborie lies on the coast in the South-west corner
of Saint Lucia. It is some five miles north of Vieux Fort. Two
large rivers mark the boundaries of the district of laborie.
The River Doree in the north and the Black Bay River to the
south. The Balembouche River and the piaye River also flow down
to the coast just north of Laborie Bay. Amerindian artefacts
have been found by all these rivers, even as far inland as Getrine,
Banse and Fond Berange. Laborie was probably first settled by
the French in the 18th Century. The village is not on a river
but on a beautiful bay. A large reef runs from the southern
end right up to Balembouche. It protects the beach and encourages
large deep water fish to come in to feed. It also provides a
sheltered anchorage for boats, once they can find their way
through the reef to the calmer waters inside. On Bellin's map
of Saint Lucia, drawn in 1758, there is a small island lying
off shore, close to where Laborie is today. On the map it is
marked Islet-a-caret, which is French for Turtle Island. Caretta
caret is the proper name for the loggerhead turtle. Turtles
need a sandy shore for nesting so the island may have got its
name because turtles went there to lay their eggs. It was probably
only a sandbank that built up on top of a reef. In 1763, there
were just about a dozen houses in the small community of Laborie.
By
1770, more houses had been built along with a church. By 1775,
there were 81 estates in the quarter of Islet-a Caret. Their
main crop were sugar, cotton, cocoa and coffee. Twelve years
later, in 1787, Lefort do la Tour's map still showed the village
as Rade et Anse de l'Ilet a Caret, meaning Turtle Island Anchorage
and Beach. Some time between 1787 and 1789 the village recieved
a new name. The hurricane of 1780 had destroyed most of the
houses and the church. The church was rebuilt by Baron de Laborie,
Governor of Saint Lucia from 1784 to 1789 and so the village
was renamed Laborie in his honour. Father Louis Tapon laid the
cornerstone of the present church in 1907. The hurricane did
more than blow down buildings. The little island in the bay
also disappeared about this time. Perhaps it was swept away
by the high winds and the rough seas during the storm. Anyway,
after this the small island no longer appeared on any maps.
Soon there was no one left alive who remembered seeing it.
Vieux
Fort
As
far as we know, the first inhabitants of Saint Lucia were Amerindians
from South America. They arrived in canoes after making their
way slowly north up the chain of Caribbean islands. The Arawaks
came around the year 400 AD or earlier. They probably landed
at the southern end of the island, where Vieux Fort is today.
As the steered their boats through the reefs into calmer waters,
they would have seen shores covered with a heavy growth of mangroves.
Behind them the land was flat, but in the distance it rose up
into jagged mountain peaks. From these mountains, wide sparkling
clear rivers ran down to the sea. There were fish, crabs and
shellfish in the mangroves and flocks of brightly colored birds
in the forest. Everywhere there were berries, fruits and roots
that were good to eat. Arawaks were only too happy to stay.
Unfortunately for the peaceful Arawaks, the Caribs who followed
them were reportedly less peaceful. They waged war on the Arawaks,
killing the men and taking the women and children into their
own camps. For many years they ruled the island. Then, in 1605,
some Englishmen came ashore in small boats in the area of Vieux
Fort. Their ship had been blown off course and they needed food
and water.
At
first the Caribs were curious. They went to meet the strangers
carrying fruit and vegetables that they exchanged for knives,
beads and trinkets. When they realized the Englishmen intended
to stay they were no longer friendly. They attacked the camp,
setting fire to the rough shelters that the men had built and
killing many of them. Their survivors were forced to escape
in a small boat. Once more the Caribs were in command, but not
for long. Soon other foreigners arrived, French, Dutch and more
English. Although the Caribs usually started by being friendly,
they always ended up killing the new arrivals or chasing them
away. More strangers came, they had guns and they built forts
to protect themselves from the Carib raids. One of these forts
was at Point Sables. It was built by some Dutchmen to protect
their ships when they came in to get wood and water. After a
while they abandoned it, but the ruins remained. That was how
Vieux Fort got its name, for in English Vieux Fort means 'old
fort'.
