BARBUDA HAS HAD A UNIQUE HISTORY

DONKEYS: Part of the fun of growing up in Barbuda is catching and taming a wild donkey. This has traditionally been a rite of manhood among island males.

While the poverty of the bulk of Barbuda Island casts contrast with the island's two exclusive coast resorts, reminiscent of A Tale of Two Cities, its unique history has given residents a strong sense of pride.

During the 1600s, habitation of the island revolved between St. Kitt settlers and Dutch pirates. In 1668 it was leased to James Winthorp and others for the annual payment of "one ear of Indian corn."

In 1685 the lease went to Christopher and John Codrington. It stayed in Codrington family control for nearly 200 years. Around 1710, about 200 slaves were brought in. They reportedly all came from one village in "Old Ghana" west of current Ghana. Over the years, few outsiders have moved to the island, leaving the natives with extremely pure bloodlines. Dr. John Ritter calls them "tall, thin, extremely attractive people." The Barbudan slaves were an independent, close-knit people, working independently, with only occasional supervision by a representative of the Codringtons. The slaves were herdsmen, hunters, tanners, saddle and shoe makers, masons, wheelwrights, coopers, smiths, shipwrights, fishermen, etc. Most of their goods went to the Codringtons' Antigua estates.

Slavery was banned in the British Empire in 1834. The former slaves were more or less abandoned on the island, left to cultivate their own culture.

Some confusion existed for decades, over the actual status of the land and the residents. While the 500 former slaves were freed, the land continued to belong to the crown and the Codrington family. The natives had certain rights of salvaging ships wrecked along the treacherous Barbuda reefs, but not the unlimited rights many thought they possessed.

The island was later annexed by Antigua, its neighboring island, 26 miles to the south and became a crown estate. A locally-elected council began governing the island internally in 1961 and in 1981 a new, independent state called Antigua and Barbuda was established. Barbuda is now asemi-autonomous dependency of Antigua, with its own elected council and representation in the British Parliament.

Barbuda has between 1,200 and 1,500 residents on the six by eight mile island. Most of them live in a three mile area, including Codrington Village.

Some 200 natives are employed by the posh resorts at Cocoa Point and the K Club, where Fortune 500 figures flee for a visit to Caribbean paradise. (Princess Di and her young sons often visited, according to the Ritters.)

Possessing "some of the most beautiful beaches in the world," in the words of Marcia Ritter, Barbuda is sustained by fishing. Lobsters have been a huge export, too, although recent hurricanes have destroyed much of the lobsters' habitat.

Hunting is allowed in the uninhabited scrub of the island (shotguns with buck shot, only), with white tailed deer, wild boar, pigeons, doves, ducks, guinea fowl and other water fowl. A game warden is on the island to enforce hunting regulations. Most of the game was brought to the island in he 18th and 19th centuries.

The island features Springview Hospital, built in 1977, and Holy Trinity School, founded in 1924. The island is a youthful one, with some 450 of the 1,200 to 1,500 residents of school age. Another 150 are under school age.

"The middle aged people leave for England or the Untied States," Ritter said. "A huge percentage of the island is children. The school needs are great."

Ritter said that only 32 percent of the island's graduating students are able to pass the standardized West Indies graduating proficiency test. The school is in great need of many things. Paramount among the needs is a library. The schools' previous library was destroyed in one of the six hurricanes that have wracked the island during the past five years.

"The future is never going to change until the children are given the opportunity to get better education," Ritter said.

Social activities are few and far between on the island, although sports are popular with the young population. Basketball and cricket are the most popular sports, as well as horse racing. The weekly races conclude with a comical wild donkey race.

Wild donkeys are plentiful on the island. Capturing and taming one is one of the rites of manhood for boys on the island.

What the future holds for the small, attractive island is uncertain. Largely undeveloped (and, likewise, unscarred) by outside civilization, the island continues to be a close-knit nation of kinsmen continuing life much as they have known it for nearly three centuries.