Saba
a small island in the Leeward group of the West Indies, a little N. of St.
Kitt's and near the island of St. Eustatia. Though a Dutch colony the Island of Saba is an independent republic. Pop. (1918) 2,229. The island rises abruptly from the sea, and is about 12 miles in circumference. On the S. side there is a break in the perpendicular rock-walls where a "ladder" of 1,000 steps and a gallery leads to the habitable part of the island. The natives raise cotton, fruit, and vegetables for export, and build boats of considerable size. A cabbage is the coat-of-arms of the republic. The Sabans are pure-blooded white people, descendants of Dutch, Swedish, and Danish pirates of the 17th and 18th centuries.