Here's the reply from Travel Docs. ----- Original Message ----- From: Support To: 'Richard Allicock' Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 12:09 PM Subject: RE: Joseph Banks Introduced Nutmegs Grenada 1782 The source is US Department of State Background Notes. Regards -----Original Message----- From: Richard Allicock [mailto:richwyn@idirect.com] Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 6:00 PM To: support@traveldocs.com Subject: Joseph Banks Introduced Nutmegs Grenada 1782 Dear Sir/Madam, I would really appreciate hearing from some-one about the source of the information in the paragraph below. Most of the websites state the same "word for word" so there must be a written source some-where. Looking forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely, Richard Allicock, Toronto, Canada During the 18th century, Grenada's economy underwent an important transition. Like much of the rest of the West Indies it was originally settled to cultivate sugar which was grown on estates using slave labor. But natural disasters paved the way for the introduction of other crops. In 1782, Sir Joseph Banks, the botanical adviser to King George III, introduced nutmeg to Grenada. The island's soil was ideal for growing the spice and because Grenada was a closer source of spices for Europe than the Dutch East Indies the island assumed a new importance to European traders.