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In this brief overview of Utila's historical background, several points crucial to this study are introduced. First of all is the fact that the original settlers of Utila found abundant land for farming. Secondly, farming of tropical fruits was done on an individual basis (a single man or his immediate family worked a given plantation), and for commercial purposes. Utilian planters were oriented toward production for a market--often as far away as the United States--to the end that they and their families could prosper from cash sales of their goods. Thirdly, the experience of islanders during their agricultural phase entailed fairly extensive seafaring in order to market agricultural goods and engage in subsistence fishing. The disappearance of market outlets for their bananas, coconuts, etc., destroyed a local prosperity geared to commercial agriculture. Whatever investment in capital goods there may have been previously (specifically in land or boats) was no longer economically sound and a society oriented basically toward consumerism was totally frustrated in attempts to achieve--or maintain--the good life. Shipping suffered concomitantly with the decline of commercial farming. Overall, Utilians were reduced to a subsistence level economy wherein few people were emotionally or otherwise prepared to labor for so little reward. Nor, in the midst of economic disaster, did individualistic Utilians appear to have become more cooperative with one another. The commercialism connected with agricultural production was an indicator not only of motivations behind economic activity, but reflected the fundamental non-cooperative orientation of islanders. As Utilians conducted their economic affairs, so too they conducted social and political ones. Thus, while there was strong identification with the island and one's loved ones therein, there was not a tightly knit social and political organization. Opportunities in Utila during the first four decades of the twentieth century were, empirically, few; many Utilians--as will be discussed in Chapter IV--appraised the local situation, found it untenable, and permanently migrated to the United States. Those individuals who stayed were given another economic option when the merchant marine began recruiting at the start of World War II. Utilians who reappraised their own position at this time found the option attractive: going to sea is an individual endeavor, and individualism was typical of islanders. The very fact that many Utilian males had spent long periods of time on boats, in connection with shipping and fishing, meant that wives and families had already come to terms with this aspect of a potential remittance economy. Organizational features, then, enhanced Utilian entrance into remittance economics since community functioning would not be hampered by requisite absenteeism. In terms of production factors, men had only to provide their labor; no investment in land, trees, and so forth would be necessary to enter the service which meant that anyone of age and having passage money to catch a ship in the United States could obtain gainful employment. The fact that men would catch their ships in the United States provided further opportunities to contact an area that had long held important cultural associations. The additional contact with the United States bolstered islander self-image as Anglo-American, rather than Latin American, and reinforced islander separateness from the mainland of Honduras. Utila had already experienced considerable autonomy, even as a British colony, and this plus a sense of superiority to mainland Hondurans (as amicably as this superiority was usually expressed) precluded very close ties with non-island society or culture. The possibility also exists that the very trait of consumerism, which would be reinforced by more frequent contacts with the United States, had become as pronounced as it was due partly to its function in demonstrating island autonomy and uniqueness within the Honduran state. In sum, there were both organizational and emotional preadaptations in Utila for emergence of the remittance economy. It is necessary, however, to understand the genuine limitations of the locale in order to appreciate the wisdom of the Utilian decision. In the following chapter describing the physical setting, further support is given to the argument that a remittance economy was the rational choice for islanders to make in order to again achieve the good life.
CHAPTER III PREADAPTATIONS FOR A REMITTANCE ECONOMY: THE PHYSICAL SETTING AND ITS LIMITATIONS The primary thrust of the preceding chapter was to outline some of the traditional aspects of Utilian society and culture that would enable people to take up a remittance system should that opportunity be available and appear to be the best economic alternative at the time. The following pages demonstrate the shortcomings of the physical setting within which Utilians have had to operate. The purpose of the description is to reinforce the idea that Utilians had little economic opportunity on the local scene at the beginning of World War II. Secondly, through that description it becomes evident that making Utila's economy a dependent one (cf. Brown and Brewster 1974, quoted above) was the best option that islanders could have chosen. Department of the Bay Islands In the year 1872, the assorted Caribbean maritime possessions of Honduras were organized into the Department of the Bay Islands. Constituting this department are three major islands, three minor islands, sixty-three cays (pronounced "keys"), and two small ancillary cays named the Cayos Cochinos. The largest of the major islands--both in terms of area and in terms of population--is Roatan, and at Coxen Hole the administrative headquarters of the Department is located. Another major island is Guanaja (also known as Bonacca), which boasts the second largest population in the Bay
Islands. Utila is the third of the major islands in the Department and is the smallest: 8.4 miles long and 2.9 miles wide at its extreme limits. The minor islands--Helene, Barbarat, and Morat--are smaller even than Utila and have few permanent residents; they currently figure, to greater or less degrees, in development schemes that involve both Americans and native-born islanders. The Cayos Cochinos and most of the other assorted cays are either uninhabited, are only sometime residences of a few individuals (e.g., the Cayos Cochinos are used by some Utilian fishermen as a base of operations during the fishing season that ends with Good Friday), or--again--are the private domains of developers. Throughout the Department, however, several of the cays have figured as important satellites of the major population centers; the two populated Utila Cays--Aldea de los Cayitos--are two such satellites.
Thirteen cays lie off the west end of Utila. Informants claim that modern maps do not correctly identify all of these islets (no two maps of this area agree on place names or spellings, in fact), but Castaneda (1939:75) inventories eleven of them as follows: Little Cay 0.41 hectares Billy Eden's 0.82 Suc Suc 1.22 Sandy 0.83 Ragged 0.46 Dimon 0.82 Morgan 0.41 South West 0.83 Jack O'Neil 0.43 Water 1.24 Howell 0.82
In addition to the Utila Cays the other notable features in the island's maritime setting are encircling coral reef and extensive foreshore flats. Off the west end of Utila, particularly around the Cays, coral reef extends as much as two miles into the Caribbean. Reef also abounds in the vicinity of Turtle Harbor, Blackies Point, and Rock Harbor on Utila's "North Side;" and there are remnants of reef on Utila's south side near the population settlement at East Harbor. It teems with various forms of sea life: brain, fan, fungi and finger corals; sea fans; sea urchins; sea anemones; and myriads of small tropical fish. Human intrusion has caused the death or diminution of parts of the reef complex, as at East Harbor, where purposeful destruction of the reef has eliminated an important breakwater for the eastern end of Utila. For its part the coral reef has been a hazard to navigation, wrecking or disabling ships that come too near; sunken ships dating as far back as the period of the Spanish Main have been found nearby. Those parts of Utila's perimeter that are not bound by coral reef are touched by foreshore flat--sand and mud shallows no more than ten fathoms deep, much of which is a tangled murk of sargasso or sea grass. Foreshore flat is not uniform around the island, however; so called "white holes" punctuate the shallows where there is a total absence of sea grass and the depth may be a bit greater than the adjacent sea floor. Soundings in the immediate vicinity of Utila, as implied above, are not very deep where reef or flat exist. Beyond the near-shore shallows, however (specifically on the North Side), rapid drops in the sea floor may go to 120+ fathoms. On the south side of Utila, between the island's settlement and the mainland of Honduras, waters never drop as deep as in the north; but soundings of more than forty or fifty fathoms are recorded. It is in the waters beyond reef and flat proper that the bulk of useful marine life is found. Fishing banks two to sixteen miles distant are important in providing fish for market and local consumption alike. More than a dozen banks were identified by informants, some only a few yards in area, others as large as two and a half miles long by a mile wide and ranging in depth from nine to 180 fathoms. On the periphery of the North Side reef line, for example, is the Pumpkin Hill Bank where many food fish are found, among which are Porgies (Sparidae), Old Wife (Balistes vetula), Black Fin (Lutjanus buccanella), Wahoo (Acanthocybium solanderi), Red Snapper (Lutjanus blackfordi), Dogteeth Snapper (Lutjanus jocu ?), and Hogfish (Lachnolaimuus maxumus). Conchs and occasional crayfish (Panulirus argus) can also be found in the vicinity of the Cays or along the reef line. Turtles, notably Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and Green (Chelonia mydas), are becoming rare. Numerous bays, bights, and harbors interrupt the shoreline of Utila: Spotted Bay, Carey Bay, Turtle Harbor, Rock Harbor, Jack's Bight, Swan Neck's Bay, Big Bight, East Harbor, Little Bight. All of these locations can provide anchorage to shallow draft vessels such as dories or skiffs, but East Harbor is the only place in Utila where larger craft--such as shrimpers, goletas (passenger/cargo boats), et cetera--can safely find a berth. East Harbor has the virtues of relatively deep water (up to ten fathoms) and protection from prevailing north and east winds. Other anchorages are both shallower (three to six fathoms) and, more importantly, are exposed to winds that can easily drive a boat aground or onto unyielding reef. The Utila shoreline is also broken by entrances to the island's two lagoons: the Upper Lagoon and the Lower Lagoon. The larger of the two, the Lower Lagoon, is about a mile west of East Harbor. It abounds in oyster beds that go unused by islanders but is nevertheless important to Utilians as the entrance to a man-made canal that curves its way through mangrove swamp to the North Side. At high tide the canal can be navigated by dories to cut through the island to Rock Harbor; during rainy weather, when surrounding swamp is impassable on foot, it is the only practical route to cocals (coconut plantations) and the like that rim the island from Jack's Bight to Turtle Harbor. The Upper Lagoon lies near the eastern tip of East Harbor's deep crescent at the virtual extremity of population settlement. Unlike its lower counterpart, the mouth of the Upper Lagoon is spanned by a narrow wooden bridge that gives access to the community's airstrip and, incidentally, impedes entrance to the lagoon by any boat larger than a dory. A natural canal leads off from this lagoon, extending nearly a quarter of a mile to a private landing that served as the loading terminus for island produce during the heyday of plantain and coconut production. Geology According to Strong (1935:3) the Bay Islands chain is formed by the tops of a great submerged east-to-west mountain range around which coral reefs have formed and rich soil has accumulated. . . . The formations are for the most part limestone. . . . . In the interior valleys a rich alluvial soil occurs, the product of decaying vegetation, and the hills are covered with red clay, which usually supports a dense vegetation. There are no rivers on any of the islands. . . .
Volcanic materials constitute another important part of Utila's geology. Near the eastern end of the island is Pumpkin Hill (also known as Conical Hill, elevation 290 feet), the greatest prominence in Utila. Judged by its size, shape and surrounding lava flows, it would seem that Pumpkin Hill is the site of ancient volcanic activity. From this supposed cone, lava spewed in all directions leaving jagged terrain in locations throughout the eastern part of the island. Volcanic activity was also responsible for the "iron rocks" (i.e., the lava flows) that jut at random into the sea from Rocky Point near East Harbor all the way to the Iron Bound on the North Side. It cannot be confirmed that volcanic activity resulted in forming Byron Cave and Brandon Hill Cave--the only caves in Utila, both natural reservoirs for rainwater--but doubtless it is due to the build-up of volcanic material along with decaying organic matter that Utila gets its gentle west-east incline. The gentle grade just referred to has resulted in the colloquialism "going up" (i.e., east toward Pumpkin Hill) or "going down" (i.e., west toward lower elevations) when walking about the island. Topography Like many Caribbean islands and cays, Utila is an insignificant speck viewed from a few miles distant: a thin green line in the ocean that barely breaks the boundary between water and sky. As noted above, however, Utila does have several distinguishing features when viewed closer on: the protuberance of Pumpkin Hill and the two lagoons. Several other slight elevations also exist in Utila, such as Stuart's Hill (elevation approximately 150 feet) but fully three quarters of the land surface is covered by lowland swamp. Several attempts have been made to alter island topography, one already referred to being the construction of the canal at the Lower Lagoon. Another exception is the landing strip east of the Upper Lagoon which was bulldozed out of a twenty-foot-high cliff area, a zone approximately two hundred yards long that can accommodate aircraft as large as DC-3s. Destruction of the reef breakwater has also been noted as a human alteration in the physical environs and in connection with that is the most ambitious and extensive modification that humans have effected in Utila: making land. Islanders have actively tailored their shoreline around East Harbor to meet demands for seaside residential property. For more than a century, islanders have continuously augmented their beach front by "making land. The original shoreline of Utila, only a few yards deep from the high water mark, has been extended in many places an additional thirty to forty yards or more by filling in fenced rectangles of water with refuse and broken coral. Houses that were poised on pilings over eight feet of water some sixty or seventy years ago now sit on terra firma and the process goes on--giving portions of the harbor a Venetian effect--even though the cost is high in money and labor. Land making in the swamp areas has been pursued in like manner, one barrio in the community being named Holland to commemorate its origin through reclamation.
As a result of the largely limestone foundation, combined with very low elevations throughout most of Utila, there is no surface water on the island. Hand-dug wells dotting the eastern part of Utila intercept a water table between ten and twenty feet below the earth's surface. Contrary to local lore, this water table and the feeding of local wells is not due to the existence of springs but to percolation of swamp water through sand and pebbles (Bradford Duncan: personal communication). (As mentioned above, water is also found in the two caves.) The water supply of the island is, therefore, provided by rainwater being caught in the limestone basins, i.e., the swamps, and then tapped off by the several wells that exist. Attempts to dig seaside wells have generally proved unsatisfactory due to infiltration by sea water; the well water has been too brackish to be used by humans and is useful, perhaps, only for irrigation, etc. Water for human consumption is in short supply during dry seasons--rainwater does not resupply the swamp--and can be a problem when tides are low. According to informants, the presence or absence of high tides is directly correlated with higher or lower water levels in the wells: tides produce drive on swamp water which is thereby forced through sand and gravel seams to the wells. During the months of Spring Tides (July, August and September), water levels in the wells are higher and more regular, easily siphoned off by the community water system. So too during February, March and April--when another set of high tides reportedly beset Utila--well water is abundant. The balance of the year, and especially from June until the end of July or middle of August, potable water can become critically short. Climate Climatically Utila is the tropical island fabled both in adventure tales and travelers' diaries. Although no scientific measure of temperature, winds, or rainfall exist for the island, informants and field observations have provided rough approximations of these aspects of the natural environment. (Comparative figures for Guanaja appear in Table 2.) Rainfall in Utila runs to approximately one hundred inches per year. During the traditional "winter"--October through January or February--the bulk of the precipitation is received; occasional squalls throughout the remainder of the year account for the balance. Temperatures normally range between high 70s F and the low 90s F for "summer" months--March through September--but during the winter months the thermometer may drop as low as the high 50s F. Traditionally, the winds prevailing on Utila have distributed themselves through the year with great regularity and, of course, have been closely tied to the other climatic factors of rainfall and temperature. The months of October through February--winter--have characteristically been marked by nor'westers which bring the largest part of the year's rainfall. March, in contrast, has generally been a hot, still month with overcast and low visibility due to fog or haze. Toward Eastertime this weather is referred to as "Good Friday Weather" and does not break until the easterly (trade) winds begin to blow. From late March or early April through August--the bulk of the dry summer months--strong easterlies sweep Utila only to give way in September to another hot, calm period that lasts until winter's nor'westers begin again.
METEOROLOGICAS DE LA REPUBLICA, POR ESTACION, 1970 (Guanaja, Departamento Islas De La Bahia)
Average yearly high 30.0 (86.00 F) Average yearly low 24.6 (76.28 F) Average monthly high--October 31.1 (87.98 F) Average monthly low--February 22.5 (72.50 F) Extreme yearly high--September 2 33.2 (91.76 F) Extreme yearly low--February 5 18.3 (64.94 F)
Average monthly high 85.2% Average annual velocity. . . . . Average monthly low 79.9% 15.9KPH (9.69mph) Maximum recorded velocity, 7/25,27- 55.6KPH (34.53mph)
Maximum rainfall in one day (24 hrs.) November 9 133.4 ( 5.25 inches) Number of days with precipitation 177 Monthly distribution of rainfall in millimeters January 167.4 (6.59") July 226.3 ( 8.91") February 152.2 (5.99") August 68.6 ( 2.70") March 38.4 (1.51") September 112.5 ( 4.43") April 28.5 (1.12") October 167.9 ( 6.61") May 200.9 (7.91") November 666.8 (26.25") June 222.3 (8.75") December 153.7 ( 6.05") In addition to their effect on agriculture, creating obvious problems for would-be cultivators with dry or wet periods out of season, winds can have other profound implications for Utila. Strong easterlies and nor'westers easily blockade the island; men do not dare to venture out in their dories which result in hardship for the several households of fishermen. More important to the community at large, however, is the weathering in of cargo boats upon which the island depends for the transport of necessary supplies from the mainland. Interruption of the weekly run to La Ceiba--Utila's closest mainland port and victualer for the island--invariably means critical shortages in basic comestibles such as flour, rice, beans, sugar, meat, coffee and like. In the past forty years, according to informants, the traditional pattern of seasons has undergone change, some of it marked. Many "old heads" claim that all the predictability has gone out of the weather and now "Utila has no seasons at all." Winds and tides, from first hand inspection, seem to abide by traditional schedules; rainfall, however, is indeed unpredictable. Fortunately for the island, Utila has through the years remained outside of the regular Caribbean hurricane path that winds its way among the numerous islands from June to October; only occasionally does Utila receive peripheral winds and rain from bypassing storms. Even then, however, great damage to plantations has occurred and many farmers have had to retire in recent years due to the destruction of their coconut, plantain, banana and other plantations.
None of the informants involved in this study could provide specific data on pre-settlement flora and fauna, but it appears certain that most of the useful food plants and animals of Utila were imported to the island from the 1830s onward. (One informant claimed, however, that Utila--like the other Bay Islands--had been stocked with goats and pigs by pirate visitors who might have occasion to use the island. No reference to wild hogs, etc., being found by early settlers has come to light, however.) At least a dozen different varieties of mango, pawpaw (Carica papaya), breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), plantain (Musa paradisiaea), two or three varieties of banana (Musa spp.), citrus (grapefruit, lime, orange), canop (unidentified), mamey (Mammea americana), mamea (unidentified), almond, guava (Psidium gujava), tomato, melon (watermelon and cantaloupe), cucurbits (collectively called "pumpkins"), casava (Manihot dulce?), cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta), and star apple (Chrysophyllum caimito), to name the preeminent cultivars, have been brought in from the Cayman Islands, the coast of Honduras, the United States, and so on. Download 0.49 Mb. Share with your friends:
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