Queen Elizabeth II 25th Anniversary Coronation First Day Cover, British Virgin Islands postmarked on June 2, 1978.
The British Virgin Islands
The British Virgin Islands cluster at the easternmost end of the Greater Antilles, rising in a series of rugged mountains from an underwater shelf. Temperatures average 78 F, and rainfall is moderate at 40 inches a year, but the lack of streams and rivers, combined with the rough terrain prevents widespread agriculture.
Tourism, however, is now a major industry, attracting visitors to excellent sailing, swimming from the white coral sand, tennis and fishing. (The islands hold four world fishing records including one for an 845 lb. marlin.) Underwater scenery is also among the best in the world, with diverse species of coral and sponge, vividly coloured fish and shells.
Discovered in 1493 by Columbus, the islands initially received little attention, having few natural resources and no gold. But until her dominance faded, Spain claimed that having 'discovered' the Caribbean, she had sole rights there, thus deterring settlers from other lands. By the end of the 17th century, though, the Virgins had attracted the Danes, Dutch and British. Before long, sugar plantations had been established, and the Danish West Indies of which the westerly Virgins were a part, had become the largest slave market in the world.
Resistance to slavery took many forms: some feigned illness, some committed suicide, and on one occasion in 1793, eight people cut off their own arms in protest. Sporadic outbreaks of arson and insurrection took place, most notably when the slaves succeeded in throwing the planters off one island, and ran it themselves for six months. Eventually slavery became impossible, and the economy, collapsing through the failure of the plantation system, was saved by the newly emancipated slaves through the development of peasant agriculture.
The Iguana is the largest New World lizard, reaching a maximum of 6 feet in length. It is a clumsy tree climber, swims with limbs pressed close to its body, and can run on two legs semi-upright. The other omnibus beast, the Falcon of the Plantagenets, came into heraldic use in Edward Ill's reign, and passed on through both Yorkist and Lancastrian descendants to H.M. the Queen, guarding (with nine other beasts) her entrance to Westminster Abbey at the Coronation. Edward reputedly chose the beast because of his liking for falconry.
