A SHORT HISTORY OF ST LUCIA
St. Lucia was first named as “Rio de la Medaos do Oura” (“River of the Dows of Gold”) by the survivors of the Portuguese ship Saint Benedict.
On 13 December 1575, the day of the feast of Saint Lucy, Manuel Peresterello renamed the mouth area to Santa Lucia.
In 1822, St. Lucia was proclaimed by the British as a township.
1852
In 1852 Robert Briggs Struthers, an ivory hunter and his party sailed into St Lucia Bay. During the next few years, the hunters shot over 1000 hippos in almost every river and lake in the Zulu Kingdom.
Hippos were killed for ivory export, which was used to make false teeth and mathematical instruments. Wild areas were regarded as places to gather fish, forest and game products and were also used for sport hunting.
