A Broad History of the Exumas

The view from the air when travelling south to Exuma from the capital city Nassau, is simply breathtaking, and we can also take it from the words of Neil Armstrong one of the Apollo astronauts.

The color of the water changes from crystal clear, to turquoise, to deep blue , with white sand bras dotting the seascape along the 100 miles distance to Great Exuma Island. The Exumas as they are commonly called have an estimated 365 islands and cays, one for every day of the year, and its no wonder that they are is accepted as the cruising yacht capital of the Caribbean. From November to April each year, there are no fewer than 300 or more sailing yachts anchored in Elizabeth harbor, near Exuma’s capital, Georgetown.

 Although the northern end of the Exuma chain of islands is only 35 miles from Nassau,most of the Exuma’s 4,400 residents live at the southern end on the largest land masses, Great Exuma and Little Exuma islands which are connected by a one lane bridge. Great Exuma, about 45 miles long and a few miles wide at the widest point, is home to Georgetown, the capital and the largest community in the Exumas.

To the south, across the bridge, Little Exuma extends another 15 miles. Georgetown was founded in 1793 by Lord Denys Rolle and named in honor of the reigning monarch King George 111, who lost the Revolutionary War with America but who in turn, granted lands in the Bahamas, to Loyalists like Lord Rolle who sided with England in the war.

 On great Exuma, 7,000 acres were granted to Lord Denys. He and his heir, Lord John Rolle, built five major cotton plantations on the island. In 1829, Exuma was the scene of a slave “revolt”, when slaves belonging to Georgetown’s founder, Rolle hid in the woods and refused to work because they were to be transferred to nearby Cat Island. Forty four slaves stole a vessel and made their way to Nassau to put their grievances to the English governor who halted the transfer. The action by the slaves alarmed slave holders throughout the region and although they were returned to Exuma, they were still flogged for their ambitions.

By the time slavery was abolished, five years later,Rolle’s five plantations on the island had failed due to soil exhaustion and pests. After receiving more than four thousand English pounds in compensation for freeing his slaves, Rolle deeded his holding on Exuma to his 387 slaves and their descendants who adopted their benefactor’s name.

 Today, 60 percent of all the people who live in Exuma have the last name Role. Most Exumians earn their living today from tourism, fishing, or farming. Exuma was once the onion capital of the Bahamas and although it declined over the past ten years, younger farmers are now reviving the industry.

 Exploring Great Exuma is an adventure in itself. The main highway ,the Queens Highway, runs through the middle of the island through small towns, from Rolletown on the northern end to Williamstown on the southern end, through forest and farmland and every ten minutes or so there is this glimpse of the incredibly blue/green waters of the Exuma Sound . On Little Exuma, near Williamstown, the imaginary line that defines the northern extent of the tropics, The Tropic of Cancer ,comes ashore on a white powdery sand beach, the longest on the island and the only land mass The Tropic of Cancer touches before it reaches Mexico.

 For a region with some of the most spectacular aquatic scenery in the world, it’s perhaps only natural that a visitor will find the absolutely best way to explore Exuma is by boat. One of the most popular tours takes visitors from the hotels in Georgetown and nearby areas on a fifty mile boat ride to Sampson Cay, to watch, yes, pigs swim. Legend says the porcine treats were settled on this and other islands by sailors who wanted to populate this and other islands with a supply of fresh meat for return voyages. These pigs survived and are now the darlings of passing yachtsmen and enterprising Exumians who make a nice piece of change offering tours to the area. Every April the population of Georgetown quadruples when it hosts the National Family Island Regatta .

Now in its 54th year, the regatta brings sailors and sailing enthusiasts from throughout the Bahamian archipelago for a week of sailing in hand built boats modelled on workboats of a bygone era. When it got started ,most if not all work boats that went crawfishing, scale fishing , sponge harvesting or conching, were built by hand and by Bahamians craftsmen with simple tools or drawings. Georgetown’s Regatta is the national regatta but is has spawned similar events throughout the islands throughout the course of the year and Bahamian Sloops Sailing has been designated by government as the National Sport of the Bahamas.

Brief History on Farming in Exuma

This photo of Great Exuma is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Agriculture and farming on the island of Exuma can said to have started with the arrival of the Loyalist and their slaves from the Carolinas and Georgia around 1786, in the aftermath of the American War of Independence.

The Loyalist were granted huge tracts of lands throughout the Bahamas where they attempted to recreate their cotton plantations, however in just a few years their  efforts failed due to soil exhaustion and pest Infestation, particularly the boll weevil and the chenille bug.

By the time of emancipation in 1834, slave owners and slaves were practicing subsistence agriculture, but had also converted to creating livelihoods from the sea, salt harvesting, sponging, and fairly large scale fishing, in particular.  In addition to their knowledge of growing cotton, the slaves knew how to raise corn, sweet potato, peanuts, onions cassava and  okra, as well as a wide variety of tropical fruits.

The major landowner on Exuma was Lord John Rolle, of Devonshire. England. He established five plantations on Exuma, Rolleville, Steventon, Mount Thompson/Ramsay and Rolletown.  After emancipation he bequeathed his holdings to his slaves and their descendants and today, a third of the estimated 4,000 or more population of Exuma bear the last name, Rolle.

Up to the mid -1950s, Exuma farmers enjoyed healthy incomes through the export of their crops to the capital city of Nassau, and in addition to the popular crops already mentioned, Exuma and the nearby Long Island produced most of the mutton consumed in the Bahamas.  Agricultural decline in Exuma can be contributed to several factors. In 1942, Britain and American signed a land lease agreement which granted the United States land in the Bahamas and in other parts of the Caribbean for military bases . In return, Britain received vital and necessary war material for their efforts against  Germany. Part of that agreement also allowed Bahamians to migrate to America to work on farms and factories to supplement the work force which was now diverted to the military. The “Contract” as it was commonly called, lasted until 1962 and it is estimated that over 20,000 Bahamians benefited from the program.

Many Exumians, like their counterparts across the Bahamas, never returned to their home islands. Hundreds, “jumped the contract” and stayed in the Unites States, while others stayed in Nassau which was beginning to enjoy a year-round tourism industry.

Today, agriculture in Exuma is in the hands of the old, many of whom were once farm workers in the United States. In the 1970s and 1980s the government at that time established packing houses on all major agricultural islands where farmers could bring their crops and obtain a fixed price from the government.  This practice has been discontinued but there are now tourism facilities on most islands that could accept farm produce on a large scale. Most food items to support the tourist industry in Exuma is imported once a week from Nassau and elsewhere, with “native” crops sold to small retail outlets

Exuma has the potential for large scale farming to support both the domestic and the tourist population. The prime growing season, November to May, coincides with the prime tourist season. It is also the dry season, which can be a challenging with some farmers but which could be also remedied with modern irrigation techniques.

The fresh water resources of Exuma are more than adequate, considering its relative size and low rainfall. The mean annual rainfall is 40 inches. The rainiest months are June and October. December through March are the driest months. Two major fresh water lenses exist on the island, one in the area of the western end of the island and the other to the south of the capital, Georgetown.

The Land Resources Survey of 1970 has identified some 2,000 acres(810)hectares of arable land on Exuma. Farmers can also benefit from assistance in new seed varieties, crop rotation, and harvesting and packaging techniques.

There are more than four different soil varieties on Exuma, Black Loam, Sandy, Red Soil and brackish swamp. Each soil variety supports a different form of agriculture. The soils in Exuma are also thin in most places and farmers build up planting beds with sand from the sea shore which is augmented with mulch from  the  thick coppices that cover the island and which makes an incredible growing medium. Brown mineral soils are found in more sloping hills at the foot of ridges that run the length of the island. Another important type is muck soil, which occupy wide hollows which flood during heavy rainfalls. Farmers add sand, rocks and leaves to make level planting areas. These muck soils produce excellent crops of onions and watermelons where they lie over fresh water.

Bahamian farmers also practice an often misunderstood “slash and burn” farming technique. They would identify a virgin piece of land, or a previously used parcel of land and slash the vegetation then burn it. The practice eradicates the bugs and other soil-born pest as well as adding potash to the soil. Experts say this is as close to organic as you can get.

Exuma has a rich history of producing onions. However because of traditional ways of farming, large commercial productions have not been explored. Other crops that grow well on Exuma, include, Hot Peppers, Bananas, Watermelon, Tomatoes, Cabbages, Broccoli, Eggplants, Irish and Sweet Potato, Cassava and Papayas.

Exuma has had a long tradition of livestock raising and in particular, sheep and goat, but the industry on the island has declined over the year.