DEVAS (Fr. Raymund)
Up Hill and down Dale in Grenada. With a Foreword by the Hon'ble Gerald Smith, Colonial Treasurer, British Honduras.
A lovely copy of this scarce Trinidad imprint, the double page map was also printed on the island. After a distinguished war service, Devas settled in Grenanda in 1922 and remained in the West Indies for the rest of his life. He wrote a number of books on the Caribbean, this being the first.
In the foreword, the book is summarised as a “description of the chief scenic and other attractions of the island.” However it is more much interesting and considered than that. The opening chapter includes a discussion of three different maps of the island and their relation to the one produced here (originally produced under the direction of Alexander Gross and first printed “on a single sheet of the Victory Series by “Geographia” Ltd, London”). He then proceeds to correct some of the small inaccuracies of it from first-hand information.
Following the general format of an itinerary, Devas provides detailed descriptions of the Grand Etang, Mt Qua Qua, Concord Falls and the Blue Basin, Mt St Catherine, Victoria and Hapsack and St Patrick’s, Lake Antoine and “Fedon’s Camp” and Carriacou. Devas also discusses some of Grenada’s natural history, with lengthy notes on the iguana and some of the native birds. Inthis engaging account, he combines historical and topographical information and occasionally interleaves this with some of his own experiences.
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