"Barbadoes leg": filariasis in Barbados, 1625-1900.

About the year 1625 the Olive, a ship returning to Britain from Pernambuco and driven by bad weather, arrived at Barbados. The island was found to be uninhabited, although the presence of fruits and hogs suggested earlier visits by other ships. The ground "they found by tryalls in several parts, to be so overgrown with Wood; as there could be found no Champions or Savannahs for men to dwell in".' The crew of the Olive claimed the island for King James I by carving on a tree and setting up a cross. John Powell, the master, then reported this discovery to his wealthy employer Sir William Courteen. Sir William and others financed settlement on the island and the second expedition was successful when, on 17 February 1627, the ship William and John, captained by Henry Powell, landed 80 settlers on the island, including 10 Negro slaves captured from a prize taken during the sea voyage from England.2 The settlers made clearings and they named the settlement Jamestown. Most of the original forest remained untouched; "the place is a plaine ground, growne over with trees and undershrubs, without passage, except where the Planters have cleared". Captain Henry Powell obtained crops from the Dutch in Guiana and persuaded about 40 Indians to return with him to Barbados. A further shipload of 90 immigrants had arrived with Captain John Powell from England in May 1627, and by 1629 there were between 1,600 and 1,800 people living in the settlement founded by Sir William Courteen. With the accession ofCharles I, the lease of Barbados came into dispute and by 1630 clearing ofthe forest was not going well; "here a great timber tree halfburned". The Captains John and William Powell were in and out of captivity. Tobacco was the main cash crop and the years 1630-1 were known as "the Starving Time",3 but by 1640 cotton equalled tobacco in importance as an export crop, and Britain tried to impose helped bring this study to completion.