Mustique

Mustique is a small private island that is one of the Grenadines, a chain of islands in the West Indies, and like most of these it is part of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The island is located within Grenadines Parish, an administrative area of the country. The closest nearby island is Petite Mustique, located 1 mile south of Mustique, which is uninhabited and was the centre of a real estate scam in the early 2000s. Ferry service is provided to the island from St. Vincent on the M/V Endeavour.

The island covers 5,7 km² and it has several coral reefs. The land fauna includes tortoises, herons, iguanas, and many other species. Its year-round population of about 500 mostly live in the villages of Lovell, Britannia Bay and Dover. The population rises to 1.200 in peak season.

The island is owned by the Mustique Company, a private limited company which is in turn owned by the island's home owners. The island has approximately 100 private villas, many of which are rented out through the Mustique Company. In addition, there are two hotels. The Cotton House with 20 rooms and Beach Café is owned by the Mustique Company. The seven room, privately owned guest house, Firefly, has a restaurant and a bar. A separate restaurant also operates, the Veranda.

The history of the island of Mustique, and of the Grenadines in general, dates back to the 15th century, when Spanish sailors first sighted this more or less linear group of small rocky islands and named them "Los Pájaros" or "the birds", because they resembled a small flock of birds scattered across the sea in flight. During the 17th century the islands were renamed the Grenadines by pirates, who used the sheltered bays to hide their ships and treasure.

The Islands were originally inhabited by people who probably arrived from South America, and later by the Arawaks and finally by the Caribs. They were ousted by European planters in the 1740's who found they could grow sugar there in abundance. The Grenadines passed from France to the British in 1763. The British built three forts.

The name Mustique comes from the French moustique, "mosquito". The sugar industry lasted until the 19th century. Mustique's seven plantations were abandoned. The island was mostly abandoned in the 1800s but in 1835, two plantations were reopened after ownership of the island passed to the Hazell family. They grew crops and raised sheep and goats on two plantations; they maintained a school for the island locals. In 1865 the two were merged into one estate by the family.

Mustique was purchased from the Hazell family in 1958 by Colin Tennant. He initially planned to start farming, "sea island cotton, beef and mutton" but then decided to develop the island into a hideaway for the wealthy, after forming The Mustique Company in 1968. Significant improvements would be made over the subsequent years. In 1979, Mustique Island was transformed into a private limited company with the 104 homeowners as shareholders.

For this envelope I bought a Mustique souvenir sheet from 2011 from the Birds of the Caribbean series on eBay. I took the stamp out and sent the envelope to the Mustique post office. After 39 days it came back with two beautiful postmarks.

Date sent: 16 May 2017

Date postmark: 30 May 2017

Date received: 24 June 2017

Number of days: 39

Envelope in collection: 194