Queen Elizabeth II 25th Anniversary Coronation First Day Cover, The Cayman Islands postmarked on June 2, 1978.
The Cayman Islands
Protected by coral reefs and equidistant from Cuba and Jamaica lie Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brae, with a total area of 100 square miles. The islands are generally low-lying, but Brae is dominated by a 140 ft. limestone bluff rising from its rocky shore.
Although once noted for its schooner building, its mahogany and opportunities for wreck salvaging, the principal industry (apart from tourism) still relies on the Green Turtle. Mariculture, a turtle farm of 10 acres, holds about 80,000 turtles, animals that are used to their maximum in the Caymans. Turtle steak is very popular, as is the soup from the fleshy parts, and the liver pate. The fat is used for cosmetic oil, the hide for shoes and bags, the shells for jewelry and the rest for pet food. The islands are also a well-known tax haven, the capital Georgetown having 193 banks for the colony's modest 11,000 population. Another source of income for the colony comes from the many Cayman sailors employed by overseas shipping companies.
Columbus was the first European to discover the islands, stopping there in adverse weather in 1503, while on his way to Hispaniola. By 1662 there were English settlers on the islands, and in 1670 the Spanish raided Cayman and Jamaica in their fury at the havoc wrought by Captain Morgan on Spanish possessions in the Caribbean. The follow- ing year Britain and Spain made peace, and the Caymans were officially ceded by Spain. Today they are a dependent territory of Great Britain, governed by an administrator, an executive council and a partly elected legislative assembly.
The Screech Owl, depicted in this Omnibus issue, is so called because of its plaintive, falling cry. It has hornlike ear tufts and blackish streaks in its plumage, which is sometimes greyish, sometimes reddish.
The issue also depicts the mythical Yale of Beaufort, first used in English heraldry by Henry IV's son, John, and passed on by Margaret, John of Gaunt's great grand-daughter, and her son, Henry VII, into the mainstream of the British Royal Family. Its origin may lie in the distant past with the Hindu 'Yali', sometimes shown as a lion with a snout and goat's horns, or the 'eale' from Africa, to be found in early bestiaries.
