A: The Soufriere Tree (spachea elegans)
Q: Who are the Black Caribs of St Vincent?
A: A mixed population resulting from interbreeding between Caribs and blacks. Among the circumstances facilitating this interbreeding was the instance in 1675 when a passing Dutch ship with European settlers and their slaves became shipwrecked between St Vincent and Bequia. Only the slaves survived and they interbred with the Amerindians.
Q: What great tragedy befell the island of St Vincent in 1902?
A: La Soufriere erupted, killing 2000 people. Two days later Mont Pelee on the island of Martinique erupted, killing 30,000.
Q: What is unique about the Botanic Gardens in St. Vincent?
A: Established in 1763, it is the oldest in the West Indies.
Q: Who is St Vincent's national hero?
A. Chief Joseph Chatoyer, the Garifuna Carib chief who headed a revolt against the British. A monument to him stands on Dorsetshire Hill, where he died in battle on March 14, 1795.
Q: What is Vincy Mas?
A: Vincy stands for St Vincent. Mas is short for masquerade. Vincy Mas St Vincent's carnival, held in the last week of June and the first week of July.
Q: Who was the first Prime Minister of St Vincent?
A: Milton Cato (1915-1997).
Q: What did the Caribs call St Vincent while they lived there?
A: Hairoun
Q: What is Hiroona?
A: An epic poem, published in 1937, concerning the 1795 Carib revolt and deportation to Roatán, an island off the coast of Honduras. Its author, Horatio Nelson Huggins, a Vincentian, is believed to have written it around 1885.
Q: What is Bequia?
A: It is the largest of the island dependencies of St Vincent. It lies nine miles south of St Vincent and is just about seven miles square.
Q: How should you pronounce Bequia?
A: Bequia is pronounced "bek-way."
Q: Of what product is St Vincent the largest producer?
A: Arrowroot starch. This product has been used traditionally as a thickening agent in cooking. More recently it has been used in the production of computer paper.
Q: Why do Captain William Bligh and his ship, H.M.S. Bounty, have a special relevance to St. Vincent?
A: The Botanic Gardens there received the first breadfruit trees brought from the Pacific by Captain Bligh in 1793.
Q: What musician and poet became Director of Culture in St Vincent?
A: Ellsworth
McGranahan Keane, widely known as Shake (after Shakepeare) Keane, born in
St Vincent in 1927. At age 6, he was playing trumpet, by age 14 he was a
bandleader. After living in London and New York and traveling a
great deal, he returned in 1972 to St Vincent as Director of Culture. He
later became principal of Bishop’s College, Georgetown. Shake Keane died
on November 10, 1997.