S a$~ t ' 9 9 / S h l//j \ \ / Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding frpm Getty Research Institute i \ \ https://archive.org/details/historyofbarbadoOOscho WjmtoMt lOWGMA'N.BROWU.Grp.EEN AUD L0UG-MA2I5 PATEE.NOSTEB. ROW 1847 . - -m ■ THE HISTORY OF BARBADOS; COMPRISING A GEOGRAPHICAL AND STATISTICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND; A SKETCH OF THE HISTORICAL EVENTS SINCE THE SETTLEMENT; AND AN ACCOUNT OF ITS GEOLOGY AND NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. BY SIR ROBERT H. SCHOMBURGK, PH.D., KNIGHT OF THE ROYAL PRUSSIAN ORDER OF THE RED EAGLE; OF THE ROYAL SAXON ORDER OF MERIT; OF THE ROYAL FRENCH ORDER OF THE LEGION OF HONOUR. Corresponding Member of the Royal Geographical, the Zoological, and the Entomological Society of London ; Member of the Imperial Academy Leop. Carol. Nat. Curios., &c. Honorary Member of the Barbados General and of the St. Philip’s District Agricultural Society. LONDON: LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN AND LONGMANS. 1848. PRINTED BY RICHARD AND JOHN EDWARD TAYLOR, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE RIGHT HONOURABLE SIR CHARLES EDWARD GREY, KNIGHT GRAND CROSS OF THE GUELPHS OF HANOVER, GOVERNOR AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF JAMAICA. THIS HISTORY OF BARBADOS IS, WITH ESPECIAL PERMISSION, VERY RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY HIS EXCELLENCY’S MOST OBEDIENT SERVANT, ROBERT H. SCHOMBURGIv . ' . PREFACE. It may excite some surprise that I should have selected so small a portion of the globe as the island of Barbados as the field of my researches, and filled so many pages with their result. It might be supposed that the history of that colony could scarcely offer any incidents of general interest; but I believe that the events recorded in the following pages will prove that such a supposition is incorrect, and that the history of Barbados is by no means barren of events which have materially affected the British Empire. If the naviga¬ tion laws led to England’s supremacy on the seas, that small island was the cause which led to the navigation laws. But this is not the only point of importance attached to its history ; it was here and in St. Christopher’s that England founded its first colonies in the southern part of America; it was here that the first sugar-cane was planted upon the soil of the British dominions; it was here that many of those attached to the royal cause, during England’s civil wars and the in¬ terregnum which ensued, sought and found an asylum, until the chivalric opposition of that small spot to the mandates of Cromwell roused his ire and vengeance. Moreover the History of Barbados has been chiefly written for its inhabitants, and for such as are attached to the island by birth, ties of blood or otherwise. The rose or the forget- me-not growing in his own garden has more charms for him who raised it, than the stately palm in the princely conser- VI PREFACE. vatory ; and thus it is in history : the incidents which occur in our birth-place raise a higher interest than the great events in neighbouring countries, though forming an epoch in the history of empires. During my sojourn in Barbados I saw much that excited my interest in a scientific point of view, and much that I ad¬ mired in its social constitution and political economy; all this, combined with the wish I felt during my wanderings to carry away with me a lasting recollection of what I witnessed, have been the principal motives for the present undertaking. I was confirmed in my resolution by feeling the want of a work, which, besides being a narrative of historical events, should give the resident in the island, and the stranger who visits its shores, an account of its insti¬ tutions and natural productions. When I undertook the task of writing this History, I was fully aware that many difficulties awaited me which would increase during my progress, and experience has shown me that I was not mis¬ taken ; I confess that these difficulties have proved greater than I had expected. I found the path trodden before me ; several histories of the island were published in the eigh¬ teenth century, among which the account of Barbados in Oldmixon’s ‘ British Empire in America,’ and the ‘Memoirs of the First Settlement of Barbados,’ deserve to be particu¬ larly mentioned; at the commencement of this century also followed Poyer’s ‘ History of Barbados.’ Instead of faci¬ litating my task, the existence of these publications only in¬ creased its difficulties. I found events variously stated in the different histories, motives misinterpreted, and frequently judged of according to party spirit or personal feelings. 1 therefore resolved to confine myself to a plain statement of facts, leaving the reader to form his own judgement. Ap¬ proaching our own times, I have inserted official documents in greater detail than in the earlier part of the history ; and this has spared me the necessity of giving my own narrative, PREFACE. VI1 where this might have been viewed in the light either of panegyric or censure. The early history of the island is involved in uncertainty, and the events of the settlement are variously related. Frere, in his ‘ Short History,’ the author of the account of Barbados in the Universal History, and Poyer, seem to have merely copied from Oldmixon and the ‘ Memoirs of the First Set¬ tlement,’ without consulting contemporary writers. Among the latter is included Captain John Smith, so famed in the history of Virginia, who, in a work published in 1630, gives an account of Barbados, which he asserts he had received from Captains Wolferstone and White. This has induced me to consider Smith’s account the more correct, and I have assumed it to be so in my historical narrative: although un¬ acquainted at that time with the existence of Smith’s history, I quoted in the First Part the account of the number of settlers from the Memoirs. I have employed much time in searching for information among the treasures in the library of the British Museum, and though that success has not crowned my labours which I promised myself, I have had the satisfaction of discovering that the island of Barbados was already known to geographers in the early part of the sixteenth century. I have generally referred to the publications from which I have derived the accounts related in my historical sketch. Poyer’s history no doubt contains the fullest information regarding the events that occurred in the latter half of the last century, and I have had frequent occasion to refer to it. The Annual Register, the Naval and other chronicles, and histories of modern times, the periodical press and the minutes of the House of Assembly of Barbados printed by authority, have respectively furnished me with the necessary materials for the history of the island since the commencement of the present century. Historians of the British West Indies can now investigate vin PREFACE. with much more satisfaction the occurrences of the colonies, since that great evil slavery no longer throws obstacles in their way. In by-gone days, from whatever side this painful subject was viewed, the historian was sure of incurring the displeasure of one or the other party then existing in the colonies. Thanks to a philanthropic age and the magna¬ nimity of the British nation, unrestricted freedom has been granted to the slave population in the British dominions; and such is the result, that even “ the shadow cast behind ” by that evil is rapidly disappearing, and we see at the present period the former slave population converted into a happy peasantry. I acknowledge with great satisfaction and sincere thanks the readiness with which many gentlemen of the island, official and others, have assisted me with statistical information. It gives me particular pleasure to render publicly my thanks to the Venerable the Archdeacon and others of the Clergy of the Established Church, to the Superintendent of the Missionary Stations of the United Brethren, and to the Warden of the Jewish Synagogue, for those materials which enabled me to compose the comprehensive tables on the state of religion and education, and the number of baptisms and burials. I feel equally indebted to the Colonial Treasurer, Benjamin C. Howell, Esq., and to B. H. Jones, Esq., for the information contained in the Commercial and Agricultural Statistics; and to J. Hampden King, Esq., for information respecting the constitution of the island. Indeed where almost every per¬ son from whom I solicited information has been most ready to give it me, it becomes difficult to particularise. In other respects the statistical tables contained in the annual official returns called the “Blue Book” have been consulted. I am indebted to the Editor of the Colonial Magazine for the account of the newspaper press in Barbados. The Third Part contains a sketch of the Geology and natural productions of the island. When, in the course of PREFACE. IX my labours, I arrived at this part of my history, I found that the work had already far exceeded its intended size. Never¬ theless I unhesitatingly resolved rather to sacrifice pecuniary considerations than to curtail this part materially. Nor could I be satisfied to give merely a dry catalogue, without dwelling, at least in general terms, upon the science which the different objects of natural history served to illustrate. I hope therefore that these introductions may not be con¬ sidered superfluous ; they cannot teach the science, but they may awaken in the reader a desire to make himself ac¬ quainted with it. It was a favourite plan of mine to treat the Botany of the island in a more detailed manner, and in place of the usual dry scientific descriptions, to give a po¬ pular account of the plants, their uses and properties. My preparations had already far advanced, and the first sheet was printed, when I found that a continuation in that manner would alone fill about twenty sheets, and I was reluctantly obliged to abstain from a task which I considered one of the most delightful connected with my projected work. Still I trust that, if the Subscribers, satisfied with the execution of this History, give me their further assistance, I may execute my former scheme and publish a Flora of Barbados as a sequel to the present work. The catalogue of plants in the Third Part contains the scientific and vernacular names of a much larger number than are enumerated in Maycock’s Flora, and to a person unacquainted with the Latin language, it will serve the same purpose as that work, which is now very scarce. The descriptions and lists of the other objects of organic nature will explain themselves. I may be allowed to repeat also my acknowledgements—which I have had occasion to express in several parts of this work—to Professors Muller and Rose, Dr. Troschel of Berlin, Charles Darwin, Esq., Pro¬ fessor E. Forbes, F.R.S., and Adam White, Esq., F.L.S., for their kind assistance. The lists of Crustacea and Mollusca comprise those generally met with in the seas of the West X PREFACE. Indian archipelago ; for the first I am indebted to Mr. Adam White. The topographical Map has been based upon Mayo’s ori¬ ginal survey, which I unhesitatingly adopted when I found how closely the configuration of the coast agreed with Captain Barrallier’s trigonometrical survey. Mayo’s map has the advantage of delineating the boundaries of the parishes cor¬ rectly, which is not the case in Barrallier’s map. By con¬ structing a series of triangles with an excellent theodolite of Troughton and Simms, it became comparatively easy to me to insert the changes which have taken place since these maps have been published. The size of the map is double what I intended when I issued my prospectus : it contains every sugar-estate possessing a windmill; and the churches and chapels, a number of detached houses, the police-stations, and main roads with the principal branches, have all been laid down. No person can be more aware of the insufficiency of his work than the author himself. With all my precautions, I find that in several instances I have been misled. I do not wish to claim the reader’s indulgence upon the plea that no history is free from error, even where more materials have been at hand to guard against it, but prefer throwing myself unconditionally upon his candour. Wherever I have discovered an error, I have taken the earliest opportunity to correct it. It has been my endeavour to state the events in the fol¬ lowing pages in as plain language as the circumstance of my being a foreigner would permit. If the reader should observe peculiarities in the style, I hope he will excuse them, as arising from the difficulty of writing in a language not ac¬ quired in early childhood. Surbiton, Surrey. November, 18-17. LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. [Where no other locality is mentioned the Subscribers are residents in Barbados.] Abrams, M. M., Esq. Allder, John C., Esq. Allder, William H., Esq. Alleyne, the Hon. Henry, M.C. (the Map only). Antigua Library Society, the. Anton, Colonel James. Archer, Edward J., M.C.P. Archer, J., Esq. Archer, W., Esq. Armstrong, W. H., Esq. Ashby, Alexander, Esq. Atwell, Robert H., Esq. Atwood, John, Esq. Austin, William H., Esq. Bailey, W. C., Esq. Baker, Charles, Esq. Barbados, the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of. Barrow, Robert G., Esq. Barry, James, Esq. Bascom, James S., Esq., M.C.P. Bascom, Joseph S., Esq. Batson, Richard S., Esq. Bayley, Haynes G., Esq. Bayley, Joseph, Esq. Belasco, Henry, Esq. Belgrave, Thomas, Esq. Bend, James D., Esq. Berkeley, his Excellency Lieutenant- General Saville H. Best, James P., Esq. Best, Thomas, Esq. Bishop, Charles Kyd, Esq. (3 copies). Bishop, J. Harris, Esq. Bland, Thomas, Esq., Jamaica. Bonyun, John W., Esq. Bourne, London, Esq. Bovell, Benjamin T., Esq. Bovell, Rev. H. B. Bovell, John, Esq. Bradshaw, John, Esq. Branch, Thomas M., Esq. Brandon, J. L., Esq. Brathwaite, John H., Esq. Brown, John,Esq.,F.R.G.S., London. Browne, George, Esq. Browne, James T„ Esq. Bruce, Samuel Barwick, Esq., M.D., Ripon, Yorkshire. Bruce, W. Downing, Esq., K.C.J., F. S.A., London. Buhot, John, Esq. Byar, W. S., Esq. Bynoe, Samuel, Esq. Carew, John, Esq. Carrington, George, Esq., Missenden Abbey, Bucks. Carrington, J. W. W., Esq., M.D. Carrington, N. W., Esq. Cavan, Brothers and Co., London. Chaderton, Edward C., Esq. Challenor, Robert, Esq. Chapman, Peter, Esq. Clairmonte, Frederick A., Esq. Clark, Sir James, Bart., M.D. &c. &c. London. Clarke, his Honour Sir R. Bowcher, Chief-Justice (2 copies). Clarke, Samuel F., Esq. Clarke, Rev. Thomas, B.A. Clarke, William, Esq., M.D. Clarke, J. W., Esq. Clawson, Edward G., Esq. Clinckett, Rev. G. M. ' Codd, William T., Esq. Codrington College Library. Collymore, H., Esq. Combermere, Lord Viscount, G.C.B. G. C.H., Combermere Abbey, Che¬ shire. Connell, Joseph, Esq. (2 copies). XU LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Connell, John, Esq. Connell, John Taylor, Esq. Conway, J. H., Esq., Demerara. Cooper, Bransby, Esq., F.R.S., Lon¬ don. Corbin, Michael T., Esq. Cox, Charles, Esq. Cox, John C., Esq. Cox, Thomas F., Esq. Crichlow, Henry, Esq., M.C.P. Croney, Langford, Esq. Cross, Thomas F., Esq. Cutting, John H., Esq., M.D. Da Costa, D. C., Esq. Davis, Charles, Esq. Dean, George H., Esq. Deane, Richard, Esq. (2 copies). Dodgin, Captain H. D., Inspector- General of Police. Donnelly, James H., Esq. Douglas, Daniel, Esq. Drayton, George, Esq. Drayton, Henry, Esq. Drayton, Rev. Philip. Drinan, Andrew G., Esq. Drumm, William, Esq. Elder, James, Esq. Elkin, Benjamin, Esq., London. Elkin, Moses, Esq. Ellcock, Miss. Ellis, John T., Esq. Evans, William, Esq. Evelyn, George James, Esq. Evelyn, T. B., Esq. Evelyn, W. T., Esq. Eversley, Edmund, Esq., Master in Chancery. Eversley, John C., Esq. Eversley, William, Esq. Famum, William M., Esq. Fenton, John, Esq., London. Fletcher, Miss Louisa, London. Foderingham, Nathaniel, Esq., M.C.P. Frost, James, Esq. Garner, James A., Esq. Garraway, Joseph, Esq. Garrison Medical Library of Barba¬ dos. Gaskin, his Honour John S., Presi¬ dent of her Majesty’s Council. Gaskin, Law, Esq., M.C.P. Gibson, John, Esq. Gill, Howard, Esq. Gill, Rev. Thomas, Grenada. Gittens, the Hon. and Rev. John II., M.C. Gittens, Rev. G. D. Gittens, John, Esq. Gittens, Thomas P., Esq. Goding, the Hon. Francis, M.D.,M.C. Goodman, Samuel, Esq. Goodridge, Henry, Esq. Goring, Thomas, Esq. Grannum, Henry, Esq. Grant, John G., Esq., M.C.P. Greenidge, Richard, Esq. Greenidge, T. W., Esq. Grey, his Excellency the Right Hon. Sir Charles, &c. &c. &c.. Governor of Jamaica (10 copies). Griffith, Thomas, sen., Esq. Griffith, Thomas, Esq. Griffith, William B., Esq. Griffith, W. H., Esq. Griffith, W. H., Esq., of St. Andrew’s. Hall, Thomas, Esq. Hamilton, Joseph, Esq. Hereford, R. D. Hampden,D.D., Lord Bishop of. Hampden, Renn, Esq., Little Marlow, Bucks. Hampden, John, Esq., Leamington. Hampden, Rev. John Hinton, Martell, Dorset. Harding, J. S., Esq. Hardy, Robert, Esq. Hargreaves, William, Esq., II.M. Col¬ lector of Customs, St. Vincent. Harper, George, Esq. Hart, Edward P., Esq. Haselwood, John H., Esq. Haynes, Joseph, Esq. Haywood, James, Esq., the Willows, Birmingham. Heath, Josiali, Esq., M.C.P. Hebeler, Bernhard, the Chevalier, his Prussian Majesty’s Consul-General, London. Hedges, W. Smith, Esq. Hendy, James P., Esq. Hendy, P. G., Esq. Herbert, Thomas, Esq. Ileyes, John, Esq. Higginson, Jonathan (2 copies). Hill, Henry, Esq., Loudon. BIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. xiii Hill, J. W„ Esq. Horsham, John, Esq. Howard, Anthony, Esq. Howard, William M., Esq. Howell, Benjamin C., Esq., Colonial Treasurer (2 copies). Howell, Conrad A., Esq. Howell, Rev. Hinds, M.A., Rural Dean of Cadbury. Howell, William, Esq. Hunte, James, Esq. Hunte, R., Esq. Husbands, Samuel, Esq. Hutchinson, W. H., Esq. Hutson, Rev. John. Ifill, Benjamin, Esq., London (2 copies). Ifill, William, Esq., M.D. Innis, Samuel, Esq. Inniss, John, Esq., Surveyor-General of Roads. Inniss, Richard, Esq. Jones, Benjamin H., Esq. Jones, Thomas, Esq. Johnson, JohnS., Esq., Trinidad. Johnson, J. T., Esq. Johnson, R. P., Esq. Johnson, Samuel L. G., Esq. Jordan, W., Esq. Kellman, John, Esq. Kilkelly, Patrick, Esq. King, Eyare, Esq. King, Francis, Esq. King, James W., Esq. King, John, Esq. King, John E., Esq. King, Rev. R. F. King, J. Hampden, Esq. King, Robert, Esq. Knowles, Thomas, Esq. Lansey, W., Esq. Lawson, the Venerable Charles, Arch¬ deacon of Barbados. Lawson, James F., Esq. Leach, William P., Esq. Library Association of Barbados (2 copies). Literary Society of Barbados (2 copies). Lobo, D. M., Esq. Lord, Miss Elizabeth S. Louis, Thomas, Esq. Lyall, Charles, Esq. Lynch, P. J. D., Esq. M c Chlery, James, Esq. Maddock, Thomas, Esq., Liverpool. Manning, James, Esq., M.D. Marshall, Thomas C., Esq. Marshall, W. T., Esq. Martindale, D., Esq. Maycock, James D., Esq. Mayers, Henry J., Esq. Mayers, J. P., Esq., Colonial Agent of Barbados, Brasted, Kent (4 copies). Mayers, John, Esq. Mayers, Joseph, Esq. Mills, Edward W., Esq. Moody, S. B., Esq. Morton, Charles S., Esq. Murray, William, Esq. Murray, William, jun., Esq. Nelson, H., Esq., London. Nightingale, George A., Esq. Nurse, Joshua B., Esq. Nurse, Thomas, Esq., M.D. Nurse, William J., Esq. Officers’ Garrison Library of Barbados. O’Neal, J. W., Esq. Owens, Philip, Esq. Oxley, William, Esq. Packer, the Hon. Charles, Solicitor- General, M.C.P. Packer, Edward, Esq. Parkinson, Rev. Henry. Parks, W. F., Esq. Parris, James W., Esq. Parsons, Rev. Daniel, M.A., Pale Bar¬ ton Cottage, Tiverton, Devon. Perch, George, Esq. Perch, Thomas, Esq. Phillipps, Sir Thomas, Bart., M.A., F.R.S., F.S.A., Middle Hill, Broad¬ way, Worcestershire. Phillips, Arthur, Esq. Phillips, Henry Brown, Esq. Phillips, John R., Esq. Phillips, Tobias, Esq. Piggott, Rev. Joseph T. Pile, Conrad, Esq. Pile, Conrad, jun., Esq. Pile, Nathaniel John, Esq. Pile, Thomas G., Esq. Pilgrim, T. Foster, Esq. Pilgrim, Francis F., Esq. XIV LIST <>T SUBSCRIBERS. Pinheiro, Edward H., Esq. Preston, Plunket, Esq. Prettijohn, Charles, Esq. Redwar, Rev. Henry R. Reid, his Excellency Colonel William, R.E., &c. Governor of Barbados. Richards, John, Esq. Roach, Joseph W., Esq. Robarts, Thomas P., Esq. Rock, Joseph, Esq., M.C.P. Rogers, James T., Esq. Russell, Richard, Esq. Sainsbury, John S., Esq. Saintjohn, C., Esq. Sealy, the Hon. John, Attorney-Gene¬ ral, M.C.P. Senhouse, the Hon. Captain E. II., R.N., Provost-Marshal (2 copies). Seon, William, Esq. Shanahan, W., Esq. Sharp, George, Esq., M.C.P. Sharpe, his Honour H. E., Chief- Justice of St. Vincent. Simmons, John, Esq. Simpson, William, Esq. Sinckler, J. W., Esq., jun., M.D. Skeete, Rev. H. B. Skinner, John T., Esq. Smith, Rev. Edward P. Smith, Richard W., Esq. Smith, S. B., Esq. Smith, Thomas, Esq. Speed, Thomas, Esq. Spencer, George H., Esq. Stokes, Edward, Esq. Stutchbury, J. S., Esq., Demerara. Taylor, Arthur, Esq. Taylor, the Hon. George N., M.C. Taylor, Richard, F.S.A., F.L.S., London. Taylor, Samuel, Esq. Thomas, the Hon. Grant E., M.D., M.C. Thomas, the Hon. John, Speaker of the House of Assembly. Thompson, William, Esq. Thorne, Joseph, Esq. Torrance, John, Esq. Trimmingham, Nathaniel J., Esq. Waith, John H., Esq. Walcott, the Hon. Robert J., M.C. Walcott, R. B., Esq., M.B. Waley, Samuel J., Esq., London. Walker, James, Esq., Colonial Secre¬ tary of Barbados. Walrond, Benjamin, Esq. Walrond, C. A. II., Esq. Walton, George O’D., Esq. Walton, Samuel W. T., Esq. Ward, William, Esq. Warren, John, Esq. Warren, Richard W., Esq. Warren, William L., Esq. Watson, John M., Esq. Watts, Frederick, Esq. Webb, Samuel, Esq. Welsford, J., Esq. Went, Rev. James K. West, John, Esq. Wiles, Richard, Esq. Wilkins, Valentine, Esq. Wilkinson, J. L., Esq., M.D. Williams, H. W., Esq. Wilson, John, Esq. Wilson, John, Esq. Yearwood, John R., Esq. Yeamood, Joseph, Esq. Yearwood, Obed B., Esq. Young, Bryan Taylor, Esq., M.C.P. Young, John G., Esq. LIST OF PLATES AND WOODCUTS. Frontispiece, View of Bridgetown. Vignette, Trafalgar Square in Bridgetown. View of St. John’s Church and Hackleton’s Cliff... page 9 View of Codrington College. Ill View of St. Anne’s Garrison . 195 ^ View of St. Philip’s Church and Moncreiffe. 217 Facsimile of a portion of a MS. Map of the World in the British Museum 255 Configuration of Polycystina from Barbados (2 Plates). 561 Fig. 1. Eucyrtidium Ampulla, front view. Fig. 2.-, seen from below. Fig. 3.-, seen from above. Fig. 4. Rhopalocanium ornatum. Fig. 5. Podocyrtis Schomburgkii. Fig. 6. Anthocyrtis Mespilus. Fig. 7- Lychnocanium Lucerna. Fig. 8. Haliomma Humboldtii. Fig. 9. Astromma Aristotelis. Fig. 10. Stephanastrum Rhombus. WOODCUTS. Vignette on the Title-page, the Colonial Seal of the Island of Barbados.. Figs. 1 and 2. Diagrams. 534 Fig. 3. Map of the Central Ridge. 535 Fig. 4. Fissures near Jerocarne in Calabria . 536 Fig. 5. Diagram.. 539 Fig. 6. Astrsea at Two Miles’ Hill. 540 Fig. 7. Astraea at Sandy Lane . 541 Fig. 8. The Rock . 542 Fig. 9. Cliff near Pico Teneriffe . 547 Fig. 10. Chalky Mount. 548 Fig. 11. View of the North-eastern Point of Chalky Mount. 549 Fig. 12. View of Sandstone Strata. 549 Fig. 13. New Fossil Shells. 565 Projection of Barometrical and Thermometrical Curves. 687 ERRATA. The reader is requested to make, before the perusal of the succeeding pages, the following corrections:— Page 52, line 13, for is read was. — 63, — 32 ,for its read their. — 94, — 15, omit were raised, and, after Sir James Leith, add, some attempts were made to raise. — 94, — 27, for prosecution read persecution. — 102, — 14, after dependencies add St. Lucia. — 125, — 6, for Burskin read Benskin. — 125, — 10, omit a solicitor and. — 126, — 11, for Sukins read Perkins. — 126, — 10 from bottom, for advertisments read advertisements. — 144, — 9 from bottom, for nineteenth read seventeenth. — 158, at the heading, for 1847 read 1845. — 178, line 18 from bottom, for Oistine’s read Oistin’s. — 200, — 11, for Modiford read Modyford. — 260, — 5, for Dean read Deane. — 288, — 18, omit his. — 293, — 8 ,for 1668 read 1666. — 293, — 29 ,for his Lordship read their Lordships. — 293, — 30, for to him read to them. — 304, — 4 ,for 1689 read 1690. — 304, — 25, for 1690 read 1691. — 332, — 4, omit and 1767. — 381, — 20, for Beccles read Beckles. — 399, — 3 from bottom, for thirty-four read seventeen. — 422, — 18, 23,38 ; 450, line 18, and 460, line 35, for Hamden read Hampden. — 439, — 15, for P. L. read J. P. — 486, — 7 from bottom, for 1835 read 1825. CONTENTS PART I. Geographical and Statistical Description of the Island. Pa g e Chapter I. Introductory Remarks on the West Indian Archipelago in general. 1 Chapter II. Geographical Position of the Island of Barbados. 5 Chapter III. General Outline and Aspect . 7 Chapter IV. Introductory Remarks on Climate in general. 13 Chapter V. Climatology and Meteorological Phenomena in Barbados.. 28 On hurricanes in general, 37 ; hurricanes in Barbados, 45; thunder-storms, 63; waterspouts, 64; great waves, 65; landslips, 67; earthquakes, 68; May dust, 69; influence of the climate on the human health, 73. Chapter VI. Civil and Social State of Barbados. 79 Population, 79; religious and public instructions, 92; public education, 104; Codrington College, and the Foundation School, 111; literature, and the public press of Barbados, 124; hospitals and benevolent in¬ stitutions, 127; learned and literary societies, 132; jails and prisons, statistics of crime, 134; agriculture and commerce, 140; external com¬ merce, 161; coins, 169; taxes, import and export duties, revenue, and expenditure, 170; the port and careenage of Barbados, 178; the mole- head, 179; the proposed lighthouse, 180; the market-place, 182; average prices, 183; public roads, 183; projected railway, 185; West India mail service, 188; militia and military defence, 190; the past and present state of the island, 196. Chapter VII. Political Geography . 198 Historical sketch of the chief features of the administration since the settlement, 198; the present constitution, 205. Chapter VIII. Local Geography. 215 Division of the island into parishes, 215; heights in Barbados, 216; parish of St. Philip, 217; Christ Church parish, 219; parish of St. George, 221; parish of St. Andrew, 222 ; parish of St. Lucy, 225; parish of St. John, 227; parish of St. Thomas, 234; parish of St. Peter, 236; parish of St. James, 238; parish of St. Joseph, 239; parish of St. Michael, 240. win CONTENTS. PART II. Narrative of Events from the Settlement of the Island to the Year 1846. Page Chapter I. Period from the Settlement of the Island to the Insurrection of Slaves in 1649. 255 Chapter II. Period from the Death of the Earl of Carlisle to the Ad¬ ministration of Colonel Modyford in 1660 . 268 Chapter III. Period from Lord Willoughby’s restoration, as Governor, to his death in 1674 .. 286 Chapter IV. Period from the appointment of Sir Jonathan Atkins as Governor in 1674, to the return of the Barbados Regiment. 295 Chapter V. Events from the appointment of Colonel Russel as Governor in 1694 to the death of President Barwick in 1733 . 307 Chapter VI. Occurrences from Lord Howe’s arrival in 1733 to the death of Governor Spry in 1772. 320 Chapter VII. Period from the Administration of President Rous in 1772 to the departure of Major-General Cunninghame in 1783 . 333 Chapter VIII. Period from the Administration of President Dotin in 1783 to the arrival of Lord Seaforth in 1801 . 348 Chapter IX. Period from the Peace of Amiens in 1802 to Lord Sea- forth’s departure in 1806... 357 Chapter X. Period from the Administration of President Spooner in 1806 to the instalment of Sir James Leith as Governor. 369 Chapter XI. Period from Sir James Leith’s New Expedition to the French Islands in 1815 to the appointment of Lord Combermere as Governor in 1817. 393 Chapter XII. Events during Lord Combermere’s Administration, from his arrival in 1817 to his departure in 1820 . 401 Chapter XIII. Period from the Administration of President Skeete in 1820 to the death of George the Fourth in 1830 . 411 Chapter XIV. From the renewal of the commercial intercourse between the United States and the British West Indies to the departure of Sir James Lyon in 1833 . 431 Chapter XV. Administration of Sir Lionel Smith as Governor-General of the Windward Islands, from 1833 to 1836. 451 CONTENTS. XIX Page Chapter XVI. Occurrences during the Administration ot Sir Evan John Murray MacGregor as Governor-General from 1836 to 1841 .. 475 Chapter XVII. The Administration of Sir Charles Grey as Governor of Barbados from 1842 to 1846 . 493 Chapter XVIII. The Sugar Question, and the probable influence of the admission of sugar produced by slave labour upon the prospect of the British Colonies in the West Indies. 520 PART III. Remarks on the Geological Structure of Barbados, and a Sketch of its Natural Productions. Chapter I. Geological Description. 531 Coralline limestone, 534; Scotland formation, 546. Chapter II. A Description of Fossils found in Barbados. 557 Polycystina, 558 ; list of fossil shells, 562; description of some new fossil shells, 565. Chapter III. The application of the Mineral Products of the Island of Barbados, and the composition of its Soils. i . 568 Chapter IV. A Sketch of Organic Nature as developed in Barbados .. 573 Systematic arrangements, 575; Cryptogamous or flowerless plants, 580; flowering plants, 583; vernacular names, 621,629; index to the genera, 631; marine sponges, 633. Chapter V. Animated Nature as developed in Barbados. 635 Radiata, 635; Insects, 639; Arachnides, 654 ; Crustacea, 654; Mollusca, 658; Fishes, 665; Reptiles, 679; Birds, 680; Mammalia, 682. Appendix. No. I. Governors and Commanders-in-chief of Barbados. 684 No. II. Half-hourly Meteorological Observations. 687 No. III. Radiating Thermometer. 688 No. IV. A Chronological List of Hurricanes and severe Gales in the West Indies, from their discovery to the year 1846 . 689 No. V. Recapitulation of the nnmber of persons killed, wounded, those who died of wounds, and those missing, in consequence of the hurricane of August 1831 . 696 XX CONTENTS. Appendix. Page No. VI. Names of Students who Matriculated at Codrington College, with the place of their birth, and the year of their admission. 699 No. VII. A description of the Lines or Boundaries of the several parishes in the island of Barbados, as they are by law established. By William Mayo, 1721. 703 No. VIII. Limits of Bridgetown. 704 No. IX. Size of the Parish Churches and principal Chapels in Barbados, and cost (in pounds sterling) of those which were erected or rebuilt after the hurricane in 1831. 705 No. X. A Declaration of Lord Willoughby and the Legislature of the Island of Barbados against the British Parliament. 706 Index. 709 HISTORY OF BARBADOS PART 1. A GEOGRAPHICAL AND STATISTICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND. y * r* v HISTORY OF BARBADOS PART I. GEOGRAPHICAL AND STATISTICAL DESCRIPTION. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON THE WEST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO IN GENERAL. THE West Indian Archipelago consists of a group of islands which ex¬ tend from the Gulf and Straits of Florida to the Gulf of Paria. They are situated between the tenth and the twenty-eighth degree of north latitude, and between the fifty-ninth and eighty-fifth degree of west longitude from Greenwich. Their general direction is from the coast of East Florida, south¬ east to Cabo Engano, which forms the eastern point of Hispaniola or St. Domingo; from thence they describe a curved line, first eastward, and then southward. On the east and north they are bounded by the Atlan¬ tic ; on the south by the Caribbean Sea, which separates them from the northern coast of the republic of Colombia; and on the west, the Gulf of Mexico intervenes between these islands and Mexico. The south-east¬ ern group, or those which extend from the Gulf of Florida to the south¬ east, contain the largest; they are Cuba, St. Domingo, Jamaica and Porto Rico; the others, which stretch from north to south, are smaller; the principal islands of this group are Guadaloupe, Martinico, Barbados, and Trinidad. Without entering into a disquisition as to whether America was not known previous to its discovery by Columbus, I would only observe here that the great navigator landed on the 12th of October, 1492, on St. Salvador, one of the Bahama Islands, where he erected a cross and took possession of it in the name of his catholic majesty. The southern point 2 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. of this island is called to this day Columbus Point. The Archipelago received its name under the erroneous impression, that the great dis¬ coverer landed at Cipango, bordering on the eastern shores of Asia, and lying in the neighbourhood of the rich countries of which Mandeville and the Poli had given such glowing descriptions. Prom this error the new discoveries received the name of the West Indies, an appellation by which they are recognised in the titles of the Spanish Crown, and which has been adopted generally. Some geographers of the fifteenth century called this group Antillia. The first trace of this name occurs in the ‘ Oceanica ’ of Peter Martyr d’Anghiera 1 . Bartholmeus de las Casas observes 2 that the Portuguese preferred calling Hispaniola by the name of Antillia. At that time the new discoveries were divided into the Islas de Lucayos and Islas de Bar- lovento, or Islas de los Caribes and de los Canibales; however, a consider¬ able period elapsed before the name of Antilles was generally adopted. A more advanced state of geographical knowledge rendered local di¬ stinctions necessary, and the broad expanse of sea which is surrounded by the chain of islands between Florida, the river Orinoco and the coast of America, was divided into three distinct parts, the Gulf of Mexico, the Bay of Honduras, and the Caribbean Sea. The earlier Spanish naviga¬ tors divide the chain of islands into the Islas de Barlovento and Islas de los Caribes ; at a later period the latter were likewise called Islas de So- tavento, from whence the name Windward and Leeward Islands arose. In strict propriety, the islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola and Porto Bico, constitute the Leeward Islands, and those which extend from Porto Rico to the Gulf of Paria, or the Islas de los Caribes of the discoverers, the Windward Islands : English mariners however have adopted a differ¬ ent division, and they have applied the term of Windward and Leeward Islands exclusively to the Caribbee chain, and subdivide these islands according to their situation in the course of trade, into Windward and Lee¬ ward Islands; consequently the Windward Islands commence with Trini¬ dad and terminate with Martinico, and the Leeward commence with Do¬ minica and extend to Porto Rico. The division of the continental geographer into the Greater or Lesser Antilles is no doubt preferable. The Greater Antilles constitute the Lee¬ ward Islands, and the remainder, excluding the Bahamas, the Lesser An¬ tilles, which are subdivided into Windward and Leeward Islands. The first compose the Caribbee Islands, the second the small islands which extend from the Gnlf of Maracaybo to the coast of Paria. According to this system we have the following great division :— 1 See the first book of the Decades of the Ocean in the famous History of the Indies hy Hackluyt, 2nd edition, p. 9 (6); and for an able disquisition, Histoire de la Geographic du Nouveau Continent, par Alexandre de Humboldt, Paris, 1837, 8vo. vol. ii. p. 195. 3 Hist. Gen. de Indias, lib. i. cap. 164. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 3 THE WEST INDIES. I. Lucayos or Bahama Islands. The number of islands, islets and rocks which extend from the Gulf and Straits of Florida, and along the northern coast of Cuba, to the sixty-ninth degree of longitude west of Greenwich. II. The Greater Antilles. Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Porto Rico. III. The Lesser Antilles. 1. The Windward Islands or Caribbee Islands 1 : the Virgin Isles, Santa Crux, Anguilla, St. Martin, St. Bartholomew, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Christopher, Nevis, Redon da, Montserrat, Anti¬ gua, Barbuda, Guadaloupe, the Saintes, Deseada, Mariagalante, Dominica, Martinico, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Vincent, Bequia, the Grenadines, Grenada, Tobago, Trinidad. 2. The Leeward Islands : Oruba, Curajao, Buen Ayre, Los Roques, Orchilla, Blanca, Tortuga, Salada, Margarita, Cabagua and Coche. The four latter are sometimes excluded from the Leeward Islands, as being too close to the coast of Venezuela; but if this be adopted, Trinidad must be excluded for similar reasons from the Caribbee Islands. These islands are in the possession of six European nations; Hayti constitutes an independent state, and the island of Margarita and its de¬ pendencies is annexed to the republic of Venezuela. The Archipelago contains an area of 86,548 square miles, and a population of about 3,399,683 souls, of which Square miles. Population. France possesses 2 — A part of St. Martin, Guadaloupe, with the Saintes, Deseada, Ma- riegalante, &c. . 631 . . 134,544 Martinique. 380 . . . 121,145 1011 255,689 1 If we cast a glance over a chart of the West Inches on a large scale, the Caribbee Islands, from the Island of Grenada to the Virgin Isles, and including Porto Rico, form a remarkable regular curve, the chord of which from the south point of Grenada to the south-western point of Porto Rico extends in the direction of north 41^° west, 470 nautical miles. Barbados lies separate and isolated to the east of this curve, the extent of which amounts to about 750 miles. According to the general chart of the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico, published by the Hydrographical Office of the Admiralty, a north-eastern line drawn from the semidiameter of the chord passes close to the small island Aves, and strikes Barbuda. 2 Tableaux de Population, de Culture, de Commerce, &c. sur les Colonies Fran- ?aises pom- l’aunee 1841. B 2 4 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Square miles. Population. Great Britain possesses— The Bahamas. 5,424 . . . 26,491' Jamaica. 4,256 . . . 377,433 Virgin Islands. 94 . . . 6,689 Anguilla. 29 . . . 3,600 Barbuda. 72 . . . 509 Antigua. 107 . . . 36,178 St. Christopher. 68 . . . 23,177 Nevis. 38-5 . . . 9,571 Montserrat. 47 . . . 7,365 Dominica. 277 . . . 22,469 St. Lucia. 275 . . . 21,001 Barbados. 166-3 . . . 122,198 St. Vincent. 131 . . . 27,248® Grenadines. 30"| Grenada . 109/ 29,002 s Tobago . 120 . . . 13,208 Trinidad. 2,030 . . . 59,815 British Possessions in theWest 1 India Archipelago . . ./ 13,273-8 . . . 785,954 Spain possesses— Cuba, with its dependencies . . 43,412 . . . 900,000 Porto Rico, with Culebra . . 2,970") non and Crab Island .... 55 j Denmark possesses— 46,437 1,280,000 St. Crux, St. Thomas, St. John, and a number of small islands 164 . . . 41,490 4 Holland possesses— St. Eustatius. 24 ... 2,500 Saba. 10 . . . 450 St. Martin (a part of) 80 . . . 4,000 Cura^oa, and its dependencies . 280 . . . 10,000 Sweden possesses— 394 16,950 s St. Bartholomew. 25 . . . 1,600 1 See Parliamentary Papers, West Indies and British Guiana, No. 426, June 30th, 1845. The census of the Bahamas and the Virgin Islands was taken in 1841; the others in 1844. 2 This includes 278 Caribs. 3 Cariacou has 3825 inhabitants. 4 This number is too low. It is specified in the Penny Cyclopaxlia as St. John, 24!)0; St. Thomas, 7000; St. Crux, 32,000. It is considered that the town of St. Thomas by itself has a population of 12,000 inhabitants. 5 These numbers respecting the populatio a are merely assumed ; the areas are more correct. GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION. Square miles. The Republic of Venezuela possesses— The island of Margarita, and ad¬ jacent islands. 243 The independent State of Hayti or His¬ paniola, including the adjacent islands Samana, Tortue and Go- nave, is supposed to contain. . 25,000 Population. 18,000* 1,000,000 CHAPTER II. GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF THE ISLAND OF BARBADOS. Barbados is the most windward or the most eastern of the group of islands which are known to English geographers under the name of the Caribbee Islands. It is comparatively removed from that chain, and occupies an isolated position, the nearest island being St. Vincent, which is about seventy-eight miles distant from it. The geographical position of the Engineer’s wharf near the Fort of St. Anne, in Bridgetown, is, according to Lieut. Raper’s ‘ Maritime Posi¬ tions,’ in latitude 13° 4' north, and longitude 59° 37 ' west from Green¬ wich. It is to be regretted that this position is not well determined; Lieut. Raper considers that there may be a difference of a mile or two in the longitude. As Barbados is the principal station of the military com¬ mand of the Windward and Leeward Islands, and as its position, in a nautical point of view, is of such great importance, an astonishment naturally arises that there should still exist such uncertainty. The late Dr. Nevil Maskelyne communicated the latitude of St. Michael’s church, the present cathedral of the See, as 13° 5 ' 30 " north; the longitude has varied between 59° 37 ' and 59° 43' west. I have adopted Lieut. Raper’s position, and according to it, and dis¬ carding the seconds, I deduce the following data for the most remarkable points, namely— The Cave or North Point, latitude 13° 19' north, longitude 59° 37' west. The South Point, latitude 13° 2' north, longitude 59° 32' west. Kitridge Point, the most eastern point of the island, latitude 13° 8'north, longitude 59° 26' west. Harrison’s Point, the most western point of the island, latitude 13° 17' north, longitude 59° 39' west. The exact date of the discovery of Barbados is hidden in obscurity, but 1 See Humboldt’s Personal Narrative, vol. vi. pp. 133, 160. 6 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. the observation which we find in most of the modern Geographies and Encyclopaedias, that no mention of it occurs prior to 1600 is perfectly erroneous, and has been copied from one work into another without in¬ vestigation of the truth of the assertion. I shall give the proofs which I possess in another part of this work, and will here only observe, that the island occurs under the name of Baruodo in the Map of the World by Michaelis Tramezini, in 1554, and there is great probability that it was known as early as 1518. The derivation of its name has been ascribed to the number of a species of fig-tree (Ficus laurifolia, Lam.), from the branches of which great mats of twisted fibrous roots hang down, which have been compared to luxuriant beards. It is conjectured that the Portuguese, who, in their voyages to Brazil, were the first Europeans that landed on the island, gave it the name Las Barbadas from this circumstance. The derivation of the name is no doubt ingenious, and there is every probability of its being the correct one; only it ought to be Barbudos, instead of Barbadas; and we find that in the earlier maps it is called Baruodo, Baruodos, Barbudos. Bolognini Zaltery, who published his map of Nova Franza in 1566, calls it S. Barduda: Barbudo signifies in the Portuguese language one that has a thick beard. In the French maps which were published about the middle of the seventeenth century it is called La Barboude, at present it is generally named La Barbade. Ligon, in some parts of his text 1 , and after him Oldmixon, calls it Barbadoes. For the proper orthography of this derivation no reasonable grounds can be assigned, and it should be strictly avoided. In all documents emanating from the government offices it is called Barbados. Ligon has given the first map of the island. He tells us 2 that a Captain Swann had executed an exact plan of the whole island, which he was commanded to deliver up to Sir Henry Hunks, then Governor, who carried it with him to England in 1641, where it was lost. It appears that Ligon received a copy of it from Captain Swann, as far as his memory and loose papers assisted him to give such a document. It must have been considered of great interest at that time, as it was published in France under the title of ‘ Description Topographique de Flsle de Barbade 3 / The description of Barbados in Oldmixon’s ‘ British Empire in Ame¬ rica 4 /is accompanied by a map of the island by Hermann Moll, geographer. 1 “ A true and exact History of the Island of Barbados, by Richard Ligon, Gent., London, 1657.” On the map, on the title, and in his dedication, Ligon writes it Barbados, but in the text it is written Barbadoes. s Ligon, p. 26. 3 A copy of this map is preserved in the King’s Library in the British Museum. 4 The British Empire in America, containing the history of the discovery, settle¬ ment, progress and present state of all the British Colonies on the Continent and Islands of America. London, 1708, vol. ii. p. 1. GENERAL OUTLINE AND ASPECT. 7 This map, on a larger scale, is in the library of the British Museum. The legislature of Barbados commissioned Mr. William Mayo to make a map or plan of the island, and to tix the parish lines, which when finished should be considered the true and real boundaries 1 . An act passed the legislature under the administration of Governor Robert Lowther on the 21st June, 1720, declaring Mr. Mayo’s map legal evidence in all disputes respecting the bounds of the parishes. At a later period Captain Barrallier surveyed the island of Barbados upon trigonometrical principles, which occupied him, according to his own statement, seven years. The survey was finished in June 1818, and it was subsequently published. It is much to be regretted that this map, which is otherwise so exact in its positions, should be so erroneous in the names of the estates and in the division of the parishes, which faults can be only ascribed to oversight. These are the principal maps which exist of the island; the others are mostly spurious, and without authenticity. CHAPTER III. GENERAL OUTLINE AND ASPECT. It has been already observed that Barbados appears quite detached from the Caribbean chain, its nearest approach to St. Vincent, which island lies due west from it, being seventy-eight miles. On the north stretches the mighty ocean to the eastern point of Newfoundland and Davie’s Strait; to the east it extends to the west coast of North Africa; to the south are the mouths of the Orinoco and the west coast of Guiana 2 . 1 This map, of which a copy is to be found in the King’s Library, is entitled “A new and exact Map of the Island of Barbados, from an actual Survey made in 1717-1721 by William Mayo.” 2 In the charts of the eighteenth century, appeared an island under the name of Fonseca, about eighty leagues to the eastward of Barbados. As far as I have been able to ascertain, it appeared first under that name on a chart published in 1722 by Delisle. In another edition, published in Amsterdam in 1739, the observation “ Selon quelques-uns ” is added to the name. However, already in Hondius’s map, entitled ‘ America novissima Descriptio,’ an island occupies a similar position as Fonseca with the designation Y. de S. B° attached to it. M. Rocliette exhibits on his chart a rock nearly in the same situation, in about 12° 20' north, and 54° 49' west, which he calls Galissioniere’s rock. It is said to have been seen again by the Rainbow, a man- of-war, and by another vessel as recently as 1822. It is more likely that the dis¬ coloured water which has been frequently observed about seventy to eighty leagues to the eastward of Barbados, and which has been attributed to the stream discharged by the Orinoco, has given rise to the fancied existence of Fonseca, and later to the Vigia of M. Galissioniere. 8 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. The outline of the island forms almost an irregular triangle; its greatest length, running from the South Point to Cave Point in a direction north by west half west, is nearly twenty-one English miles; the points of ex¬ treme breadth in a direct east and west line are between Kitridge Point and a point above Bat-rock on the lee-coast, a distance of about fourteen and a half miles. There is however no point from which a similar breadth could be car¬ ried across, and as the coast extends north-west by west from Kitridge Point, it decreases rapidly ; and the parish of St. Lucy averages scarcely four miles and a half in breadth. The circumference of the island is 55 English miles, excluding the sinuosities of the bays; and it contains, ac¬ cording to Mayo, a superficial area of 106,470 acres, or about 166 square miles. I cannot give a better idea of Barbados, both in size and in some measure in its outline, than by comparing it to the Isle of Wight, which is about 21 miles in length, and 13 in breadth. It is almost encircled by coral reefs, which in some parts, as in the parish of St. Philip, extend for nearly 3 miles to seaward, and prove very dangerous to the naviga¬ tion. The shore rises boldly to a height of from 30 to 50 feet on the northern point, and on the south-eastern part of the parish of St. Philip, but otherwise we find long lines of sandy beaches, which are pro¬ tected against the encroachments of the sea by coral reefs. Although no very high summits are to be found in Barbados, the term flatness applied to the island would not convey a proper idea of its aspect. We find perhaps in no other island so many instances, on a small scale, of the geographical denominations of valley, hill, table-land, cliffs, gorges and ravines, as in Barbados. The low-lands are of compa¬ ratively limited extent, and are restricted to the northern, southern and south-eastern part of the island. Mount Hillaby is the highest elevation; its summit is, according to Captain Barrallier, 1147 - 55 feet above the sea 1 . If we choose this point as our station, we observe clearly two structures well-defined and geologically different from each other. A narrow strip of land runs parallel to the west, with the coast from north to south. We may easily trace it from Bridgetown to almost the extreme end of the island, where in the neighbourhood of Harrison’s a bold bluff point ends it, from whence the coast assumes the rugged outlines which cliffs of soft material generally present, where encroached upon by the battering power of the breakers of a stormy sea. From the west or lee¬ ward coast, the ground rises in very distinct successive terraces to the 1 I measured Mount Hillaby in June 1846 by means of an excellent mountain barometer of the late Troughton, and likewise trigonometrically from a base line near Long Pond. According to the barometrical admeasurement, the height of the summit was 1145 feet, according to the trigonometrical operations I received 1141 feet as the result. The necessary allowance for the curvature of the earth, terrestrial refrac¬ tion. &c. are included in my calculations. S T JOHN S CHURCH AND HACKLE TON'S CLIFF GENERAL OUTLINE AND ASPECT. 9 central ridge. These terraces are interrupted by ravines (called gullies in the island). If we turn now to the east, an aspect of a quite different nature presents itself; we see before us a mountainous country in mini¬ ature ; hills of a conical form radiate from the central ridge, and chiefly from Mount Hillaby in a north-eastern direction towards the sea-shore; their sides are rugged and worn by the heavy rains and mountain tor¬ rents ; their colour, being generally of a dark reddish-brown, here and there tipped with whitish marl. This district has been represented as similar to the alpine country of Scotland, which name has been adopted for it. Mount Hillaby does not rise exactly from the centre of the island; nature however has formed a deep valley, which passes from the eastern part of the parish of St. Philip through the parishes of St. George and St. Michael in almost a due west direction, and ends at Bridgetown. This valley divides the island into two portions, which I will call the southern and the northern, and of which the northern is by far the larger. If we consider Mount Hillaby with respect to its northern division, it will be found to occupy very nearly the centre. The southern division is an imitation of the northern on a smaller scale, only that the line of its greatest length stretches east and west, while in the northern division it extends north and south. If Barbados, therefore, be viewed from the west, we observe the land rises through several gradations in precipitous ridges with intervening table-land; if from the south, a similar aspect is offered, except that “ the Ridge,” which forms here the highest point, does not reach a similar high elevation. Prom the north the aspect is peculiar, in consequence of the great extent of the champaign ground, and the sudden rise of Mount Gilboa and Boscobelle. Seen from the east, we have a wild irregular and picturesque country; cliffs rise almost abruptly from the sea to a height of nearly a thousand feet; and, as if to enhance the beauty of the aspect when viewed from that point, at no great distance from the shore, a church built on a rock appears close to the very verge of the precipice, and stands boldly out in relief: a solitary palm-tree, the emblem of Christian faith, overtowers it. It is the parish church of St. John, standing only a few yards removed from the precipitous cliff, at a height of 823 feet above the sea 1 . Rivers and Springs .—The calcareous nature of the greater part of Bar¬ bados does not permit us to expect a superabundance of water. In the Scotland district, where the soil is argillaceous, it is more frequent, and we find some streams which have been honoured with the high-sounding 1 I regret that the position of this church is not marked in nautical charts: it would serve during daytime as an excellent landmark chiefly for avoiding the dan¬ gerous reefs called the Cobblers, the north-eastern point of which bears from that church east-south-east. These reefs extend a considerable distance to seaward, and are but too frequently the scene of distressing shipwrecks. During calm weather there is scarcely a ripple over these sunken dangers. 10 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. name of rivers, although they are, when not swollen by rain, mere stream¬ lets. The clays which prevail in the parishes of St. Andrew and St. Joseph, form frequently the substratum, and are so impervious, that at the time of tropical torrents, no percolation takes place; the water consequently accumulates on the surface, and follows the inclination of the ground, sweeping along with it the surface-soil and whatever offers resistance to its course. It is during such torrents that it proves impossible to cross any of these streams, and many accidents have occurred where it has been attempted, and loss of life has been in some instances the consequence. The principal stream in Barbados is Scotland River in St. Andrew's ; it is joined by Haggat’s Spring, and another streamlet which receives the surface springs of the mountains, to the right and left of Bowden’s and Turner’s Hall Wood. They unite at a short distance from St. Andrew’s Church, and form rather a large extent of water in consequence of the breakers having thrown up a barrier of sand at the sea coast which stems their course, and has forced them to expand. That expansion is called Long Pond. Further southward is Joe’s River, a similar streamlet to the former, which drains the valley of St. Joseph below cliff, and assumes likewise, during severe or continued rains, the character of a torrent. A beautiful spring rises below the cliff at Codrington College, which is well-preserved, and of incalculable service to the cultivation of the sugar estate attached to the College. In the parish of St. Philip is a somewhat similar spring, which irri¬ gates three of the best estates in the parish. These estates have the use of the water alternately, and certain regulations are in force respecting it which are founded upon legislative enactments. These are called River or Watered Estates, and their produce is more certain, because in the dry season the cane-fields are refreshed from this stream by intersecting trenches. Indian River lies to the north of Bridgetown and close to Fontabelle. The tradition of the former aboriginal inhabitants is closely connected with this river. The leeward coast possesses several streamlets which make themselves a path towards the sea. The two largest are near Holetown and close to Six Men’s Bay: Pory Spring gushes from a reservoir on the roadside, which leads through the parish of St. Thomas to Mount Hillaby. It is a highly romantic spot, to which I purpose dedicating a more detailed description hereafter; nor must I forget the spring winch issues from the rocky sides of the cavern called Cole’s Cave, and which is soon after¬ wards lost in a subterraneous channel. There are, no doubt, a number of similar subterraneous channels carry¬ ing off the water which percolates from the surface through the porous rock. It is a well-known fact, that during low tide freshwater springs GENERAL OUTLINE AND ASPECT. 11 issue from the ground close to the edge of the briny ocean; and along the sandy bays in the Scotland district, fresh water may be easily obtained by digging holes in the sand from 10 inches to 3 feet deep; they are almost instantaneously filled with fresh water. At the low Coral Island of Anegada, fresh water is procured in a similar manner, and under still more surprising circumstances, as the sandy beach is frequently bordered on one side by the sea, and on the other by salt ponds 1 . The water which percolates the calcareous rock is generally of a plea¬ sant taste; wells are therefore sunk, according to the elevation above the level of the sea, to a considerable depth, in order to supply water for do¬ mestic purposes. The purest water is found when on digging a stratum of clay and gravel is reached, which generally will be found to be nearly on the same level with the sea. Some of the deepest wells are from 35 to 40 fathoms in depth. A supply of water is likewise preserved in reservoirs, which are in a great measure of natural construction, assisted by art. The surface in the calcareous or coralline part of the island is frequently broken by numerous cavities and basin-like hollows. These depressions are rendered impervious by an artificial structure of layers of clay; and during the rainy season they receive the rain-water from the adjacent fields, and are chiefly used for the cattle; but during severe dry weather, these ponds, as they are called, are likewise resorted to by man. A greenish scum may be seen on the surface of the pond-water when the weather is very dry; Hughes considers this a strong poison, and ob¬ serves that it proves fatal to the poultry, and even to black cattle. There is no doubt that the scum consists of animalcules : it requires however a stricter investigation to ascertain whether any dangerous quality is to be ascribed to them. He has given in his ‘ Natural History of Barbados/ a table of the specific weight of the water from several springs and wells in the island, which I consider of sufficient interest to insert here: I have merely slightly changed the arrangement of the original table. Table of the Specific Weight of fifteen cubic inches of the principal springs, wells, &c. in the Island of Barbados. ozs. drs. grs. 15 cub. in. from Mr. Robert Osborne’s well-water in the parish of St. Peter, weighed.8 3 12 „ from Belly-ache Hole, at the estate of the Rev. Mr. Foster. ....8313 „ from the spring at Cole’s Cave.8 3 14 „ from Pory spring.8 3 14J „ from the springs near the Bay, by percolation through the sand.8 3 llj „ from rain-water received from the eaves after long rain 8 3 14^ 1 See remarks on Anegada in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, vol. ii. p. 159. 12 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. ozs. drs. grs. 15 cub. in. from the spring at Codrington College. ... 8 3 15 „ from pond-water.8 3 19£ ,, from pond-water filtrated through a drip-stone ..83 15-J „ from a weak chalybeate water, in the estate of Mr. Richard Richards, in the parish of St. Andrew . 8 3 14 „ from Pyrmont water. 8319 There are several chalybeate waters to be found in the Scotland dis¬ trict, chiefly at Vaughan’s, the Spa and Cheltenham. The two latter places have received their name from the fancied resemblance of the water to the celebrated mineral springs of that name in Europe. I have not been able to procure a correct analysis. Hughes alludes to one on a Mr. Perry’s estate in the parish of St. Joseph, which on the application of the powder of gall, turned instantly of a deep purple, and, like the Pyrmont water, resumed its first colour after receiving a few drops of the spirit of vitriol. These springs contain chiefly iron, carbonic acid, and fixed alkali in different proportions. The waters at Cheltenham are purgative and alterative; those where the iron is more abundant, are slightly tonic. The “ Boiling Spring,” as it is called, is considered one of the great natural curiosities of Barbados. Near the side of a water-course in Turner’s-hall Wood, in the parish of St. Andrew, is a small spot, perhaps not more than two feet in diameter. From this space carburetted hydrogen escapes through the soil; an inflammable gas, which on the application of a flame, burns with a pure whitish light. If the shallow excavation which has been made by human hands for this purpose is filled up with water, the gas emanating through it causes an ebullition on the surface which resembles water in a boiling state. I need not remark that the gas does not communicate any heat to the water; on the application of a most sensitive thermometer by Bunten in Paris, I observed no change in the temperature of the water through which the gas escaped. Petroleum or mineral tar oozes from the mountain sides in the argil¬ laceous districts : it is collected in excavations and much used for do¬ mestic and medical purposes. As it is my intention to give a more detailed account of this substance in the geological sketch of the island, I must refer my reader to that portion of my work. 13 CHAPTER IV. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON CLIMATE IN GENERAL. The temperature or climate of a country depends upon its distance from the equator. Local circumstances,—as its height above the level of the sea; whether an island or a portion of an extensive continent 3 the nature of its surface, whether consisting of flats or of mountainous land, —all these combine to operate materially upon the decrease or increase of heat, and to regulate the temperature of the atmosphere. If the surface of our planet represented the same curve, if it were composed of the same material, and covered throughout with a similar vegetation, isothermal lines or lines of equal annual temperature would run parallel to the equator. It is however well-known that this is not the case 3 and lines passing through places having the same mean annual temperature are sinuous, and differ frequently from 4° to 5° in latitude. In consequence of the more equal temperature of the waters of the ocean, the climate of islands and of coasts deviates considerably from that of the interior of continents. The British Isles give an instance of this in Europe 3 and the coast of Guiana, when compared with the interior of those regions, presents an example in America. “ We find in New York,” says Humboldt, “ the summer of Home and the winter of Copenhagen 3 at Quebec, the summer of Paris and the winter of Petersburgh 3 at Pekin in China, where the mean temperature of the year is that of the coasts of Brittany, the scorching heats during summer are greater than at Cairo, and the winters as rigorous as at Upsala 1 ”. In the torrid zone, on approaching the equator from 30°, the isothermal lines are more parallel to each other. The mean temperature of the tropical regions is between 79° and 83° Fahrenheit. No difference occurs between the observations w T hich have been made at Senegal, Pondichery or Surinam. Under the equator the oscillations of the thermometer are, like those of the barometer, comparatively trifling 3 this is however not the case in temperate climates, and especially in the latitude of Paris, where the changes are much more considerable 2 . 1 Humboldt on Isothermal Lines. In order to give an opportunity for a just com¬ parison, I add the latitudes of these places, which are all in the northern hemi¬ sphere. Rome 41° 54'; Paris 48° 50'; Cairo 30° 2'; New York 40° 42 '; Quebec 46° 47'; Pekin 39° 54'; Copenhagen 55° 41'; Petersburgh 59° 57’; Upsala 59° 52'. 2 Humboldt, Memoire sur les lignes isothermes, p. 54. In Cumana Humboldt never saw the thermometer below 69° Fahr., nor above 91° Fahr., the extremes differ therefore 22° Fahr.; while at Paris the thermometer stood on the 25tli of January, 1795, 10 o, 3 Fahr., and on the 8th of January (?June), 1793, 102°'3 Fahr.; showing 14 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. The difference in the mean temperature under the tropics, when the sun reaches his maximum altitude, compared with the mean temperature when he reaches the minimum altitude, is very trifling. It has been proved, that on ascending high mountains, or during the ascent in balloons, the temperature gradually decreases. Gay-Lussac ascended on the 16th of September, 1805, in a balloon at Paris, to a height of 22,890 feet. The thermometer stood at the surface of the earth 87°-4 Fahr., and at the greatest height which he reached, he found it had sunk to 14°-9 Fahr., or about 17° below the freezing-point. This de¬ crease, to judge from the results which have been hitherto obtained, does not rest upon geometrical principles; and although certain heights have been assumed, at which on ascending the thermometer would fall a degree, much depends upon peculiar circumstances, as the distance from the equator, the season, whether during day or at night, &c. Humboldt gives the following table for the equatorial zone from 0 to 10°. Mean temperature at the level O 81-5 Fahr. O 99 99 3,195 feet 71-2 difference 10-3 99 99 6,393 „ 654 99 64 99 99 9,587 „ 577 99 7-4 99 99 12,792 „ 44-6 99 134 99 99 15,965 „ 34-7 99 9'9 These results give the following data:—On ascending, the thermo¬ meter falls 10° in the first 3100 feet, or about 1° for every 310 feet; in the succeeding 3200 feet of ascent, 524 feet are required to produce a fall of 1° in the thermometrical scale; in the third stage it requires an ascent of 430 feet for each degree; in the fourth stage, only an ascent of 244 feet for each degree; and in the last stage, or between 13,000 and 16,000 feet, it approaches again the height during the first stage, and amounts to 320 feet for each degree. The moisture which exists in the air is chiefly ascrihahle to evapora¬ tion from the water on the surface of the earth. If water be exposed to the air, it suffers gradual diminution till it is entirely evaporated. The degree of evaporation depends upon the state of the atmosphere, but chiefly upon the strength of the wind. The process of developing on the surface of the water exposed to the atmosphere small vesicles which mix with the air, is continuous, although not visible to the eye. It is accelerated by heat and wind. This evaporation or development of vesi¬ cular bodies does not restrict itself to the water; it likewise occurs from plants, and even from animals; and indeed with every appearance of a a difference of 113°, which is a variation five times greater than in Cumana (Elemens de Geographic Physique et de Meteorologie, par H. Lecoq, p. 432). During thirteen years the thermometer never rose in Vera Crux above 98° Fahr., and it stood only three times above 90°; while in Paris it is by no means unfrequent to see it as high as 97° Fahrenheit. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON CLIMATE. 15 serene and dry atmosphere, delicate investigation would prove the presence of aqueous vapours. It is generally believed that these vapours exist in a heated atmosphere in a larger quantity than when at a low temperature; and therefore, supposing the space to be saturated with vapour when the thermometer stands at 90°, the fall of 5° or 10° in the temperature would force a portion of these vapours to return in drops or otherwise to the earth, until the quantity corresponds with the new state of the atmo¬ sphere. They possess the property of adhering to bodies which are colder than the surrounding atmosphere, and appear then in drops of water. There is however no necessity for the intervention of a third body; and the atmosphere, as soon as the temperature falls, deposits aqueous vapours in the form of dew. Such a fall in the temperature generally takes place about sunrise and sunset; and we find therefore the atmospheric moist¬ ure adhering in drops to the grass and trees. Our knowledge of dew has been chiefly derived from the investigations of Dr. Wells. His experiments confirmed the opinion of the ancients, that dew appears most on calm and clear nights. When the nights prove cloudy and windy, dew does not occur; and if a change take place in the course of the night, from serene calm weather to a cloudy and stormy atmosphere, the dew which had been deposited in the previous state will disappear. In clear nights the thermometer will be observed universally to fall; but if the air does not possess sufficient moisture in suspension, no dew will descend; whence it is evident that the lower temperature during night is not the effect of dew. Clouds are considered to be formed by vapours in a condensed state. The modification of clouds, or that which expresses the same thing, the structure or manner of aggregation, depends upon the influence of cer¬ tain constant laws, subjected to endless subordinate diversities. My limits will not permit me to enter into details in this meteorolo¬ gical question, I must therefore refer the curious to Mr. Luke Howard’s publication on this subject 1 . It appears that electricity exercises a very marked action upon the figure and the height of clouds. The condensed vapour which composes the cloud cannot remain sus¬ pended in the air for any length of time. If the temperature increases, the cloud dissolves; but if it should fall, the vapour does not dissolve, nor can the cloud keep itself in suspension ; and an aqueous deposition takes place. That degree of temperature at which air containing some moisture is just saturated, is called the dew-point. If it should fall below this point, the vapours cannot exist any longer in the given space, for rea¬ sons which have been stated; and according as the temperature of the body of air differs considerably or only slightly from the dew-point, a fog or rain will be the result; and it depends further on the state of the atmo¬ sphere whether these aqueous deposits form fog or rain, sleet or snow. * See Philosophical Magazine, vol. xvi. pp. 97, 344; xvii. p. 5. 10 HISTORY OI' BARBADOS. Dr. James Hutton considered that the quantity of aqueous vapour which can exist in the air, varies in a higher ratio than the temperature. Hence, he reasoned, whenever two volumes of air saturated with moisture are mixed at different temperatures, a precipitation of moisture must take place, because the mean temperature is not able to support the mean quantity of vapour; but if the air before mixture was not quite saturated with moisture, then the respective relation of the two clouds will be partly or entirely adjusted, and merely a smaller quantity or none at all will be deposited. This theory has been adopted by Leslie, Dalton, and several other meteorologists. Luke Howard however is of opinion that rain is almost in every instance the result of the electrical action of clouds upon each other. A long series of observations upon the electrical state of the clouds and rain, which he instituted in various ways, only con¬ firmed him in his opinion; and he goes so far as to consider a thunder¬ storm only a more sudden and sensible display of those energies which are incessantly operating for more general purposes. Professor Dove of Berlin expresses an opinion, in his philosophical publication on meteoro¬ logical investigations, that thunder-clouds and heavy showers of rain are almost identical 1 . Rain is very unequally distributed; this remark is applicable to re¬ gions at no great distance from each other. In Kendal the annual quantity of rain amounts to 54 inches; in London, according to the average of forty years’ experience, to only something above 20 inches. In the abstract, nature has so arranged, that rain is most copious where the heat and the evaporation are the greatest. There are however exceptions, and there are places where it hardly ever rains ; such is the great desert, Sahara. In other places, where the aqueous deposits are insignificant, the rain is partly supplied by heavy dews. Rain is more copious towards the equator than towards the poles; but if the number of rainy days in regions of a higher latitude be compared with those below the tropics, it will be found that the greater number are in places remote from the equator and nearer to the poles. Among luminous meteors, the electricity of the atmosphere has been considered by many philosophers as a prime mover of all meteorological pluenomena, although the least understood. Diming warm weather and in a clear sky, the electricity of the air increases from sunrise to noon; it remains then stationary for an hour or two, and again diminishes with the declining day and the appearance of dew; it revives again about midnight, and reaches its minimum a little before sunrise. Our instru¬ ments for ascertaining the electrical state of the atmosphere are among the most imperfect which we possess for investigating meteorological phenomena. We know that thunder is intimately connected with elec¬ tricity ; but electricity itself is an element still hidden to us; we have no 1 Meteorologisclie Untersnehungen, von H. W. Dove. Berlin, 18.37, p- 66. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON CLIMATE. 17 satisfactory explanation for it. It has been asserted that the noise caused by the spark of an electrical machine stands in relation to thunder as the spark itself stands to lightning. I pass over other luminous phenomena, as falling stars, meteors or fireballs, &c., as they are more properly the subject of pure meteorology. The wind however attracts our attention, and it need scarcely be remarked that it is a current of air, occasioned by the disturbance of the atmosphere in consequence of the unequal distribution of heat. The regions near the equator are more densely heated than those near the poles. The ascending current of heated air moves in the higher atmosphere, towards the poles, and is replaced by the lower currents which flow over the surface of the earth, from the poles towards the equator. If the rotation of our planet on its axis did not influence the direction of these currents, there would prevail, from the poles to the equator, an uninterrupted current in parallel lines; but since the air is constantly moving along the surface of the planet from points (the poles) where the motion of the earth on its axis is slower to those (the equator) where it is quicker, it cannot move precisely with equal velocity eastward with the part of the terrestrial surface over which it passes, and must therefore acquire a motion somewhat westerly relatively to that surface over which it moves. This refers alike to the particles of air (molecules) which flow from the north pole as well as from the south pole towards the equator. The two currents, on meeting about the equator, destroy that part of each other’s motion which is in the direction of the meridian, leaving merely their united motion towards the west. Dr. Halley was the first who accounted for the theory of the trade-wind on this principle. At a later period he rejected it, until it was revived again by John Hadley, and it is now considered the correct explanation. The two streams of air do not meet exactly at the equator: within the regions of the trade-winds is a zone of variable breadth where calms and rains prevail, caused perhaps by the mingling of the opposite currents, and by the ascent of heated air, which is supposed to rise almost in a perpendicular direction. The masses of land which traverse the equatorial ocean, and which are in some respect covered with high mountains, tend to change and to interrupt the course of the trade-wind. Kamtz has assumed three great basins where the laws of the trade-wind are modified: the first comprises the great ocean between America and Asia, in which a north-eastern wind prevails; the second, the Atlantic between the old and the new world; and the third, the Indian Ocean with its monsoons. The trade-winds which prevail in the Atlantic Ocean are auxiliary to my present object, and I remark therefore that the trade-wind is sup¬ posed to extend in the northern tropics from 8° north latitude to 28° and 30° north latitude. The regions of the south-east trade-wind in the southern tropics have been assumed as extending from 3° south to 28° c 18 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. or 29° south latitude. The equatorial limits of the north-east trade- wind between the meridians of 18° and 26° have been found to vary con¬ siderably, even in the same month of the year. Mountains change or interrupt the course of the trade-winds—the high chain of the Andes protects the sea on the Peruvian coast; con¬ sequently the trade-winds are not felt there till a ship has sailed eighty leagues westward. In the intervening space southerly winds are pre¬ valent. Calm and variable winds prevail near the Cape Yerd Islands, and a counter-current of air from the south-west is generated under the coast of Guinea. The sea- and land-breezes along coasts and islands, as Jamaica, St. Domingo, &c., are produced by similar causes as the trade-wind. The sun’s rays render the surface of the land warmer than that of the sea— the warm and rarified air ascends upwards, and is replaced by the cooler air from the sea, which causes the sea-breeze. During night it is re¬ versed : the surface of the sea is now frequently warmer than the land, and the air rushes towards the sea, and occasions a land-breeze. Professor Dove, whose work I have several times had occasion to quote in these remarks, was one of the first who came to the conclu¬ sion that winds possessed a rotatoiy motion. Mr. Redfield of New York and Colonel Reid of the Royal Engineers were contemporaneous in the same theory, and it is very remarkable, as related by Colonel Reid in his excellent work on the ‘ Law of Storms/ (2nd edition, p. 150,) that the probability of correctness is confirmed by the circumstance that three individuals should have formed similar opinions on the subject before they had any communication with each other. Dove observes (Meteorol. Unters. p. 128), that the rotatory velocity of given points on the surface of the earth bears relation to the semi-dia¬ meters of parallel circles (circles of latitude) under which these points or places are situated; that is, the velocity increases from the poles where it is nothing to the equator where it is greatest. In a calm state the air participates in the rotatory velocity of the place over which it flows. If, therefore, the state of the temperature or other causes maintain the pro¬ pensity of the air to flow in parallel circles from east to west or vice versa, the rotatory motion of the earth will exercise no influence upon it, because the points which the current of air reaches have a similar velocity to those which it has left. But if the air is transferred by one or the other circumstance from the pole to the equator, the relation changes, and the current conies from a place the rotatory velocity of which is less than the place which it reaches. The air now turns with a less velocity towards the east than those places with which it comes in contact, and it appears as if it were flowing in a contrary direction, namely from east towards west. The deviation of the wind from its primary direction will be the greater, if the rotatory motion of the place where it originated INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON CLIMATE. 19 differs greatly from that where the wind is under observation; that is, the greater the difference of latitude between these two points, the greater will be the deviation. In the northern hemisphere, winds which, at their organization came from the north, veer in their gradual advance towards the equator through north-east into east; and in the southern hemi¬ sphere, winds which commence from the south go gradually over through south-east into east winds. If the causes which produced the stream from the poles to the equator continue, the east wind which is the effect of it will check the current, and the wind will adopt the rotatory motion of the place which it sur¬ rounds, and arrive at a state of rest if compared with its former velocity. Let us now assume, that after polar currents of air have continued for some time, they are replaced by streams from the equator. In the northern hemisphere a wind originally from the south will influence the polar stream which has become more or less easterly, and turn it by the rotatory motion from east through south-east into south; and in the southern hemisphere, the equatorial current coming from the north will change, upon similar principles, the more or less eastern stream from the antarctic pole through north-east into north. Currents of air which flow from the equator towards the poles, come from places where the rotatory motion possesses more velocity than the places which they reach in their progress. The consequence is that in the northern hemisphere a southerly wind in its progress goes gradually through south-west over into west, and in the southern hemisphere a northerly wind changes in its progress to north-west and west. A west wind checks in both hemispheres any currents coming from the equator, and produces a comparative state of rest. A similar effect is produced as long as the currents continue towards the poles, until new polar streams get the ascendency and change the west wind in the northern hemisphere through north-west into north, and in the southern hemisphere from south-west into south. Professor Dove presents upon these principles the following summary:— A. In the Northern Hemisphere. The wind veers, if polar streams change with equatorial streams of air in the centre of the atmospheric current, in the direction of S. W. N. E. S. round the compass, and the current of air veers backwards under these circumstances more frequently between south and west and north and east, than between west and north and east and south. B. In the Southern Hemisphere. The wind veers under similar circumstances in the central point from S. E. N. W. S. 20 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. round the compass, and is more apt to veer backwards between south and east and north and west, than between west and south and east and north. We have consequently— 1st. Under the tropics where polar streams prevail only on the sur¬ face, no perfect rotatory motion, but merely a deviation from the original direction, which is influenced by the distance whence the current of air has arrived. This deviation suffers some modifica¬ tion by the influence of the seasons ( vide p. 22).— Trade-winds. 2ndly. Under the tropics, where the distribution of land and sea produces only once a year a change from a southern current into a northern, one perfect rotatory motion.— Monsoons. 3rdly. In the temperate zone (perhaps likewise in the frigid), where equatorial streams continually change with polar streams, the wind veers from the centre completely round the compass, and this frequently more than once, a rotatory motion in the perfect sense of that meaning. This occurs in the southern hemisphere in a contrary way from the northern 1 .— Variable winds. There are a variety of local winds, the origin and locality of which my limits do not permit me to detail; of all these phenomena, however, the hurricane in the West Indies is the most awful and destructive. It is a tempest of the most extraordinary violence with a rotatory motion, and forming a kind of vortex around the centre of which the wind continues one unvaried path. Their origin is considered to arise from sudden changes both in the upper and lower strata of the atmosphere, by which the one rushes with violence into the other. It is my opinion that elec¬ tricity has a great share in these awful visitations. I reserve my observa¬ tions on this subject for future pages. Volcanoes and earthquakes are other causes which exercise a devasta¬ ting influence upon our globe. The agency of the former in aeras remote, is evident in Barbados, but in our own times the spark seems to slumber, or is perfectly extinct. Their distribution in America is mostly along the western part of that continent on the ridge of the great Cordillera. There are about eighty-six in the new world. It is a remarkable fact that the most active volcanoes are situated in the vicinity of the sea. The chain of islands, which in the West Indian Archipelego extend from Grenada northward to St. Christopher’s is volcanic. The volcanoes in St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Guadaloupe and Nevis are still active. This the first has proved by its eruption in 1812, and from the others, smoke rises occasionally. Our whole globe is subjected to shocks of earthquakes, which according to circumstances are felt with a greater or less force. It has been ascertained, as far as our knowledge extends, that no country is excepted, whether in its temperature it approaches the icy regions of 1 This phenomenon has been called hv Professor Dove the laws of the rotatory movement. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON CLIMATE. 21 the poles, or the burning sands of the Great Desert; whether it belong in geological series to the youngest formation or to the primitive granite. Those only who have experienced that peculiar feeling which entirely destroys our faith in the stability of the earth, apparently so solid and compact, they alone can conceive the impression which even the slighter shocks cause within our breasts. The causes of earthquakes are merely conjectured, like those of thunder and volcanoes. They have been ascribed to a central fire, to a highly overcharged state of the electric fluid, to the sudden explosion of gases in the interior of the earth, and to various other theories. Giovanni Batista Beccaria, whose whole life was devoted to practical philosophy, ascribes the phenomenon to an accumu¬ lation of electricity in the crust of the earth which produces concussions with the clouds and developes the phenomenon of earthquakes. It has frequently occurred that severe shocks of earthquakes have accompanied hurricanes, and it is generally allowed that during the great hurricane in 1831 which almost destroyed Barbados, subterranean convulsions below the surface joined with the havoc above. I considered the preceding general remarks on meteorological phseno- mena necessary in order to see how far they are borne out in Barbados. It will be requisite to observe the general changes which with certain modifications prevail in tropical regions. I have alluded to the theory which has been adopted for explaining the origin of the trade-wind. The change of the seasons under the tropics is closely connected with it. It has been assumed that a zone of variable breadth exists, situated within the regions of the south-eastern and north-eastern trade-wind, where calms and rains generally prevail, and which are only interrupted as if it were by striking contrasts ; namely, by terrible thunder and lightning, by waterspouts, and such heavy rains, that the belt has been called by mariners “the rains 1 /’ This rainy region lies between the equator and 5° north latitude; its extent is however liable to changes. Beyond its limits the winds become variable, and rain alternates with dry weather, according as the seasons of our terrestrial globe advance or recede. During the period that the north-eastern trade-wind prevails in the northern part of the tropics, the sky is serene, and the breeze generally prevents the atmosphere from acquiring the state of saturation. The stream of air from the north flows towards regions where the humid vapours which it carries are able to expand; they ascend, and are carried towards the poles, where their accumulation produces rain and changeable 1 It must not be considered that constant calms or constant rains prevail within this region. The unfortunate M. La Perouse observes in this regard, “ the trade- wind left us in 14° north latitude, and the wind then constantly blew between west and west-south-west till we reached the line. We were not a day without wind, and once only had rain, when indeed it was so abundant as to fill twenty-five casks.” 22 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. weather 1 . But when the sun approaches the northern limits of his annual course, the force of the trade-wind relaxes, and the streams of air coming from the north where now summer prevails, are warmer and charged with more humidity. The cessation of the breezes announces the season of rains; the sky loses its beautiful blue; a peculiar whitish haze veils distant ob¬ jects ; and if a change in the increase of the evaporation should take place, the vesicular vapours become visible. The hazy appearance vanishes, and distant objects are seen with a distinctness of which an in¬ habitant of a northern climate has no idea 2 ; this distinctness of distant objects is the prelude to rain. Small clouds rise in the south-eastern horizon; they accumulate in size, and become opake in the middle. The slightest breeze dies suddenly away, and a perfect calm prevails. This calm attests the confluence of the trade-wind with variable winds, and its consequences are convulsions of the strata of air, electrical phe¬ nomena, storm and violent rains. That oppressive calm which for a short period intervenes during a violent hurricane, full of hope to those who are unacquainted with its nature, as a sign of the cessation of the conflict of the elements, is a warning of deep meaning to the experienced: it betokens that two contrary volumes of air have added new fuel to the hurricane which will then break loose from another quarter. The rainy season may be considered as commencing in July, and it changes into drier weather in October. With the approach of the sun to the equinoxes, the trade-wind, which has been hitherto a point or a point and a half to the north of east 3 , commences gradually to veer to the south. The effects of the sun’s rays are more powerful when that luminary stands nearly in the zenith, than during the period when the rays reach the surface of the earth in an oblique position; the evapora¬ tion becomes therefore much stronger, and the atmosphere more humid; steel commences to rust; and leather-work, as shoes and boots, is covered with mildew. The development of the causes which produce the ascent of warmer air from the surface to the upper regions, is much more rapid at the period when the sun reaches the meridian height than when only a few degrees above the horizon. The elasticity of every stratum of air, as it 1 The most evident proof of the existence of this counter-current has been given at the period of the eruption of the Souffriere in St. Vincent, when the ashes were carried through the upper air to Barbados, which lies nearly eighty miles to the east¬ ward of St. Vincent. 2 I have seen on such an occasion the island of St. Crux from St. Thomas with such distinctness, that large buildings became visible, and the eye could distinguish what was land, and that which was under cultivation of the sugar-cane. St. Crux lies forty miles south of St. Thomas. 3 For some years past the regularity of the north-eastern breeze has very much changed. It is now more frequently to the south of east during periods where the breeze was never expected to come from such a direction. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON CLIMATE. 23 rises from the surface, is increased by this circumstance in a much higher ratio than it is in the strata which rest upon the lower. The atmospheric pressure of the upper strata decreases rapidly; and as the air during the process of dilatation assumes a lower temperature, it becomes likewise more humid ; it reaches the dew-point, and a precipitation of moisture or rain takes place. The sky is generally more cloudy during the hours when the sun passes the meridian than in the morning and evening. In Bar¬ bados a more rapid evaporation commences as soon as he has reached an altitude of ten or fifteen degrees, and it is seldom indeed that the sky is perfectly clear between the hours of eight in the morning and four in the afternoon. Every-day experience causes such observations to be lost ; we become accustomed to see the sky clouded without farther considering whether this was already the case when the sun was rising, or commenced at only a later period. It is different when an object is connected with a cir¬ cumstance which obliges us to pay attention to the slightest change in the atmosphere ; it will then become evident that the sky is seldom cloudless between the hours which I have stated. The general clouded state soon after seven o’clock in the morning, obliged me to take the altitudes of the sun for the determination of the hour angles as early as seven o’clock, if I wished to procure clear observations for astronomical purposes. It is a very remarkable fact, that during that period the zone of “ the rains ” (as the calm interval between the trade-winds of the northern and southern tropics has been called) advances gradually further northward, and reaches its furthest northern extent in August. Purdy, in his ‘Memoir of the Atlantic Ocean,’ gives a table showing the equatorial limits of the north-east and south-east trade-wind, which rests upon the comparison of nearly four hundred nautical journals. Table showing the Equinoctial Limits of the North-east and South-east Trade-wind between the meridians of 18° and 26° west. North-east Trade-wind. South-east Trade-wind. Interval between. General ex¬ tremes. Probable Mean. General ex¬ tremes. Probable Mean. Ceases in January at O 3 to 10 N. O 5 N. O 01 to o 4 N. 2f N. 21 February. 2 to 10 N. 4 N. 01 to 3 N. N. 31 March. 2 to 8 N. 4f N. 01 to 21 N. H N. 31 April. 0.1 ^2 to 9 N. 5 N. 0 to 2\ N. 11 N. 3f May. 4 to 10 N. 61 N. 0 to 4 N. 21 N. 4 June. 61 to 13 N. 81 N. 1 to 5 N. 3 N. 51 July. 81 to 14 N. 11 N. 1 to 6 N. 31 N. 71 August. 11 to 15 N. 13 N. 1 to 5 N. 31 N. 91 September . . . . 9 to 14 N. 111 N. 1 to 5 N. 3 N. 81 October. n to 14 N. 10 N. 1 to 5 N. 3 N. 7 November . . . . 6 " to 11 N. 8 N. 1 to 5 N. 3 N. 41 December. 3 to 7 N . 5 1 N. 1 to 41 2 N. 31 N. 21 24 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. In August the extreme northern limit reaches the 15th° of north lati¬ tude, from thence it recedes towards the equator and reaches its least northern limit in December, when the extremes reach only the 7th°. The interval between the north-eastern and south-eastern trade-wind increases in breadth between the solstice and autumnal equinox. The month of August is the most sultry month, replete with thunder and heavy rains, and a great number of hurricanes have taken place during that interval. After the sun has crossed again the equator and moves towards the tropic of Capricorn, the zone of calms and rains decreases, and finer weather sets in. It is evident that this zone itself does not advance or recede, but the primary causes which lead to its existence. The summer in the temperate zone corresponds with the rainy season under the tropics. The air is more heated, and the flow from the northern regions towards the equator is not so constant: nor are these currents of air so low in temperature as during autumn and winter; the southern currents acquire therefore the ascendency : in their passage from the antarctic they imbibe more humidity; and in consequence of their moist¬ ness and warmer nature, they are not qualified to act as counter-cur¬ rents, or correctives to prevent the atmosphere under the equator from reaching the point of deposition or becoming saturated. The surface of the soil becomes heated by radiation; much depends therefore upon the colour and nature of the soil. As a general mean, it has been assumed that the temperature of the surface, heated by the full effect of the sun’s rays, amounts under the tropics to 126 0- 5 Fahr. Hum¬ boldt observed the thermometer in the granitic sands at the cataracts of the Orinoco at 140 o, 5. While descending the river Corentyne in small bark canoes in October 1843, I placed a thermometer of Troughton and Simms (the scale of which reached 142°) in the sun, on one of the thwarts of the canoe, but I was obliged to remove it as the quicksilver column reached the extent of the glass tube. The calcareous nature of the soil in Barbados and its white colour operate negatively; the greatest heat which I have noted during my ob¬ servations in Barbados, by placing the thermometer flat on the coral rock fully exposed to the sun, is 124° Fahr.—the temperature in the shade was at that time 88°'5. Fahr. Humboldt found the temperature of rocky islets composed of granitic gneiss in the midst of the tropical forest of the Orinoco during night, at 9G 0, 8 Fahr., while the temperature of the air was only 78 0- 45 Fahr. There are various circumstances which may contribute towards the formation of rain, and to which I have alluded in the preceding remarks. Temperature, pressure of the atmosphere, and its electrical state are chief agents; mountain-chains and forests form local causes. The effect which forests exercise upon the condensation of vapours has been ably treated by Daniell, in his ‘ Meteorological Essays ’ (1827, pp. 230, INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON CLIMATE. 25 232, 278). Humboldt considers that forests exercise a triple influence upon climate : first, they protect the soil against the rays of the sun; secondly, they produce, by the vital activity of their leaves, a constant evaporation of aqueous vapours; thirdly, these leaves increase the radia¬ tion. These three simultaneous causes, as affording shade, evaporation and radiation, are so influential, that the knowledge of the extent of forests, compared with the naked savannahs, steppes and champaign ground, forms one of the most important elements in the climatology of a country. The active vitality of plants consists chiefly in the leaves; they are the organs of respiration, digestion, and nutrition. The great quantity of water which they perspire may be easily proved by placing a glass next the under-surface of a young vine-leaf in a hot day, and it will be found to perspire so copiously, that the glass will be in a short time covered with dew, which runs down in streams in half an hour. Hales computed the perspiration of plants to be seventeen times more than the human body; he calculated that the leaves of a single Helianthus three feet and a half in height covered 40 square feet; and comparing his former observation of the perspiration of leaves with this circumstance, Humboldt observes properly, if a plant of such a small size exercises in¬ fluence upon evaporation, how much greater must be the perspiration of the forests of the Upper Orinoco, which cover 260,000 nautical square miles ! The cloudy and misty sky of those regions and of the province of Las Esmeraldas, to the west of the volcano of Pichinche, the decrease of the temperature in the missions on the Rio Negro, and the streams of vapour which become visible on fixing the eyes on the top of the trees in the equatorial forest, must be alike ascribed to the aqueous exhalation of the leaves, and to their radiation towards the space of the atmo¬ sphere 1 . “ It is evident,” says Dove, “ that a vigorous vegetation produces its rain, which on the other hand nourishes again that vegetation; and that the senseless destruction of forests very often has destroyed the fertility of the soil. Previous to 1821, the Provence and the departement Varde possessed a superfluity of brooks and springs. In that year the olive- trees, which formed almost forests, were killed by frost, and they were cut down to the root in 1822, since which time the springs dried up, and agriculture suffered. In Upper Egypt, the rains, eighty years ago still abundant, have ceased since the Arabs cut down the trees along the Valley of the Nile towards Libya and Arabia. A contrary effect has been produced in Lower Egypt through the extensive plantations of trees by the present Pacha. In Alexandria and Cairo, where rain was formerly a great rarity, it has since that period become much more frequent 2 .” 1 Humboldt’s Fragmens de Geologie et de Climatologie Asiatiques. 2 Dove, Meteorologische Untersuchungen, p. 61. 26 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Lecoq, in enumerating the causes of rain, observes: “Enfin, on a remarque que la vegetation et surtout les grandes forets attiraient les nuages et determinaient souvent leur condensationV’ Another proof of the great influence which forests exercise upon me¬ teorological phenomena is attested by the local distribution of hail. It is well-known that insurance companies against hail demand for certain districts a higher premium than for others. Casalbero, in the Province degPIrpini in Naples, was protected towards the north-west by a forest against hail, and although occasional injury was done in the neighbour¬ hood, Casalbero was free from it as long as the forest remained standing. It was however cut down, and the ground it formerly occupied was put under cultivation. Since that time the environs suffer almost annually from hail. Trifling as the cause appears, it may be productive of great effects. A damp forest, a marshy meadow, produces cloudy vapours : they accumulate, and the moist hot air in which the cloud floats, is con¬ densed by the shade which that pigmy cloud produces. A kind of vapour resembling steam is sometimes observed to hover early in the morning over ponds, or to rest upon hill sides. The latter spectacle may be frequently observed over Gunhill, the cliffs in St. John’s, and near other rocky walls. The warmer air of the hill-side is cooled, a difference of temperature arises in the ascending current by coming in contact with the colder rocks, and the vapours become visible. I have been quite astonished to see the effects of this rapid cooling and conden¬ sation in the parish of St. John, chiefly while staying at the parsonage, where the warmer air from the sea in its ascent is rapidly cooled by the cliffs. I have repeatedly watched these fogs, which are scarcely known in the valley; and which sometimes were so thick, that it was impossible to see objects at a distance of fifty yards 2 . It is a circumstance well-known in Barbados that the estates on the cliff have more rainy days in the course of the year than those in the valley. A certain apathy which would fain pronounce all scientific re¬ searches frivolous, has hitherto prevented our possessing any data as to the amount of this difference. A different spirit appears to have spread over Barbados, and it is much to be hoped that meteorology, one of the most important sciences of physics, may likewise profit by it. I would not have it understood that I consider the quantity of rain 1 Elemens de Geographie Physique et de Meteorologie, par II. Lecoq, p. 514. 2 It must have been frequently observed during winter, in the drawing-rooms of the rich and opulent, where groups made of marble, bouquets of artificial dowel’s, &c. ornament the chimney-piece, that the glass bells which cover the first are en¬ tirely covered on the inside with moisture, while those of the artificial flowers are free from it. The warmer air from the fire ascends and finds its way into the glass bell, w'here, coming in contact with the cold marble, it is condensed to saturation. This is a picture on a small scale which Nature offers on a larger, and which, as in this instance, the cliffs of St. John’s in Barbados prove. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON CLIMATE. 27 from the same cloud is greater in the upper parishes than it is in the lower. Experience proves the contrary. If we ascend a mountain of some height during rain, it will be found that the higher we rise, the smaller become the drops. The accurate observations at the Paris Obser¬ vatory prove that the quantity of rain in the court-yard was one-ninth part more than on the terrace, which is about 92 feet above the ground. It is generally assumed that rain-drops on their descent increase in size, and this is said to be chiefly the case under the tropics. I have read of rain-drops which were an inch in diameter and produced a peculiar sen¬ sation in falling upon the skin. My experience during fourteen years under the tropics, from 18° N. latitude to about two degrees south of the equator, and under the moist atmosphere of the equatorial forests, does not give me an instance where I would have estimated the drops of rain a quarter of an inch in diameter. It is asserted that there is at present much less rain in Barbados than there was formerly, and many of the inhabitants ascribe it to the unli¬ mited clearance of forest and brushwood ; and although we have no direct reasons to prove why such clearances lessen the annual quantity of rain, we have abundant proof that it is so. In every instance, and in every part of the globe where forests have been cleared, a diminution of aqueous precipitations has been noted; and as it is a fact which remains uncon¬ tested that Barbados within the last fifty years was much more wooded than it is now, the diminution of rain must likewise be expected as the natural effect. The evidence of Humboldt, Leopold de Buch, Daniell, Dove and others, is so powerful on this subject, that I should wish to press particularly upon the attention of the reader how important the existence of wooded spots becomes to the agriculturist. I cannot do better than quote the words of Humboldt to enforce my own view :—“ By felling the trees that cover the tops and the sides of mountains, men in every climate prepare at once two calamities for future generations—the want of fuel, and a scarcity of water. Trees, by the nature of their perspiration, and the radiation from their leaves in a sky without clouds, surround them¬ selves with an atmosphere constantly cool and misty 1 .” 1 Humboldt’s Personal Narrative, English translation, vol. iv. p. 143. I would likewise draw the attention of the reader to the very pertinent remarks of Mr. Mont¬ gomery Martin, in the British Colonial Library, vol. v. p. 38. 28 CHAPTER V. CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA IN BARBADOS. The month of January is one of the most delightful in the year. The sky is of a deep azure, and the breeze which sets in at an early hour seldom allows the thermometer to rise above 81° Fahr. It is generally dry; and it may be considered to be one of the most healthful in the course of the year. February partakes of the same character; occasional showers refresh the air, and the thermometer ranges from 71° to 82°. Dr. Hillary, in his meteorological observations during the year 1755, observes that he saw Fahrenheit’s thermometer in this month, in the mornings, at 70°, which he never observed before or since during the period of eleven years. According to the observations of that author, the month is gene¬ rally healthful. March is dry. According to Mr. Young’s meteorological observations the least quantity of rain falls during this month, and a similar character is given in Hillary’s time. The thermometer ranges from 72° to 83° Fahr. Slow nervous fevers, catarrhs, &c., appear to set in towards the end of it. In April, dry warm weather prevails; occasional showers refresh the air, but the general character of the month is dryness. Sudden changes of temperature render this month less healthy than the previous one. The commencement of May is dry and warm, but towards the latter end frequent showers fall, and heavy rains set in. The thermometer ranges from 74° to 86° Fahr. In June the clouds are heavy; coruscations, lightning followed by thunder set in; frequent showers, but seldom heavy rains occur in the latter part of the month. Hillary speaks of the prevalence of putrid, bilious and depuratory fevers during this month. The thermometer ranges between 72° and 85°. July is sultry and oppressive; vast masses of clouds rise on the horizon, and the wind is frequently from the south-west and west. This month brings in its train severe lightning followed by loud peals of thunder, at other times the rain descends in torrents; the heat and stillness of the air are quite oppressive: the thermometer varies between 76° and 86°. With the change of the weather, dysenteries become more frequent, and are sometimes epidemical. This refers chiefly to the coloured labourers. Infectious hooping-coughs have likewise been known to prevail during CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 29 this and the following month. The July of 1754 appears to have been an exception; the weather was cool and healthy during this month. August is not so wet as the preceding month. There are frequent showers of rain, but they are not so heavy, and are intermixed with calm hot days, with thunder and lightning. Calms and southerly winds, if there be any breeze, prevail. The thermometer ranges from 74° to 86° Fahr. September is very wet. There may be a few intermediate days of hot and calm weather, but showers are more frequent. The wind is variable, and blows generally from the south. Dysentery and slow fevers continue. The thermometer varies between 77° and 85° Fahr. October, chiefly in the commencement, is still sultry; showers and oc¬ casionally heavy rains take place. Towards the middle it becomes drier, and refreshing breezes generally set in after some thunder-storms, which it appears close the rainy season. The thermometer stands sometimes in the mornings as low as 72°, and seldom rises above 84° Fahr. Very heavy rains have distinguished the month of November, and Mr. Young has registered as much as 1241 inches in 1845. The winds are sometimes variable, and not unfrequently blow from the south-west. The air becomes cooler, and the thermometer ranges between 72° and 85° Fahr. Dysentery and catarrhal fevers are prevalent. The last month of the year partakes much of the first; it is generally cool and dry; there are however exceptions, and it has been known to rain almost every day more or less during this month. Dr. Hillary ob¬ serves that in December 1754 as much as 11*27 inches of rain fell. The brisk and cool winds from the north-east render it healthy 1 . I much regret that a greater number of meteorological observations have not been at my command to deduce from them conclusions which, although they could not be considered infallible, might have proved of interest to the meteorologist. Dr. Hillary, in his observations on the changes of the air in Barbados, informs us that he registered every morning the thermometer and barometer at or before sunrise, and again between the hours of twelve and one o’clock at noon, and this work con¬ tains some very valuable observations from the year 1753 to May 1758. His barometer appears to have been a common portable one, and cannot be much relied on for exactness. A proof of this is given by his asser¬ tion that the mercurial column did not alter its height during a whole month 2 . Mr. Young of Fairfield, in the parish of St. Philip, has for a number of years noted with great regularity the state of the thermometer, 1 Since the above has been in print, I have seen Mr. Young’s meteorological table for December 1846. It appears it resembled much the December of 1754; it rained daily with the exception of the 30th, and the quantity which fell during the month amounted to 13*51 inches. s Hillary’s Observations on the Changes of the Air, &c., p. 51. 30 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. barometer, and the quantity of rain which fell each month; and likewise more recently the hygrometer, and the solar radiation. I have not been able to procure a perfect set of these useful observations, for which Mr. Young deserves the thanks of every person interested in meteorolo¬ gical phaenoinena, but I have been enabled to examine 487 of his obser¬ vations 1 , from which I deduce the following results. Results of 487 Meteorological Observations in Barbados. Instruments. Forenoon. Afternoon. Max. Min. Mean. Max. Min. Mean. Barometer inEn- glish inches. . Thermometer after Fahr. . .. 30-100 84° 29-690 75° 29-9734 80 o, 527 30-O2O 87° 29-740 75° 29-9177 82°-l3 Maximum . . . . Minimum . . . . Mean. General Result. Barometer. Thermometer. 30-100 87° Fahr. 29-690 75° 29-9455 81°-329 It does not appear that the temperature has changed since Dr. Hillary made his observations which furnish the following general results. Year. Thermometer Fahr. Barometer. Greatest range. Highest. Lowest. Sunrise. Noon. O O O O inches. inches. 1752. 74 to 84 78 to 86 29-90 29-70 1753. 72 to 82 78 to 86 29-90 29-60 1754. 72 to 82 76 to 86 29-90 29-65 1755. 72 to 81 77 to 86 29-95 29-70 1756. 70 to 82 76 to 87 29-95 29-75 1757. 70 to 80 76 to 86 30-00 29-75 1758. 72 to 80 76 to 85 29-95 29-75 Greatest range of thermometer during these seven years 17°, and of the barometer y^o of an inch. During these 487 days there were 252 days with more or less rain, and 235 days without rain. The whole quantity which fell during that 1 These observations comprise the months of June, July, August, September, November and December, 1843; January, February, March and April, 1844; April, May, June, July, August and September, 1846. CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 31 period amounted to 84-65 inches. Our advanced state of science rejects the ridiculous idea of the influence which the moon and stars were formerly considered to exercise upon organic beings, but men like Olbers, Arago, and others, have not denied the probability that the moon at least may act upon our atmosphere. Olbers considers that this action upon our atmosphere resembles the influence which the moon exercises upon the ocean, only in a much less degree 1 . Arago expresses a similar opinion, based upon the observations which Professor Schiibler in Tubingen made during twenty-eight years, and the result of which proved,— “ That the maximum number of rainy days takes place between the first quarter and full moon, the minimum number between the last quarter and new moon, and that it rained more frequently during the increase of the moon than during its decrease. The largest quantity of rain was at new moon and second octant; the smallest the first quarter and new moon. I have again to express my regret that I could not avail myself of a larger number of observations for my investigations with regard to Barbados, but those which were at my command give the following results. Out of 100 rainy days there occurred— Rainy days. Rain in inches. On the day of new moon . . . . 4-365 3-98 On the day following. . 4-365 3-99 On the day of the first octant . . 3-968 2-48 On the day following. . 3-571 4-68 On the day of the first quarter . . . 3-175 1-88 On the day following. . 3-175 3-32 On the day of the second octant . . 3-968 4-67 On the day following. . 3-175 6-58 On the day of full moon .... . 3-571 1-63 On the day following. . 3-175 1-86 On the day of the third octant. . . 3-571 1-88 On the day following. . 1-984 2-60 On the day of the last quarter . . . 2-778 2-34 On the day following. . 3-175 3"45 On the day of the fourth octant . 3-175 2-53 On the day following. . 2-778 2-10 The maximum number of rainy days fell therefore on the days of the new moon and the day following, and out of the sixteen new moons under my investigation there were only five without rain. With regard to the quantity of rain, the largest quantity fell on the days between the first quarter and full moon, and the least quantity between the full moon and the last quarter.” 1 Olbers in the Annuaire du Bureau des Longitudes pour 1823. 32 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. If tlie rainy days are divided according to the four phases of the moon, we have the following result:— Raniy days. Rain in inches. On and between new moon and the first quarter . . 73 22 - 47 On and between the first quarter and full moon ... 72 29'09 On and between full moon and the last quarter ... 49 13*79 On and between the last quarter and new moon ... 58 19‘30 which data sufficiently prove that there is more rain during the increa¬ sing than the decreasing moon. Dr. George R. Bonyun of Demerara has published, in the Transactions of the Astronomical and Meteorological Society of British Guiana, a very interesting analysis of the Georgetown Observatory Rain Tables in re¬ lation of the changes of the moon. The number of days observed amounted to 1063 ; the results of which are almost directly opposed to those obtained in Barbados. The conclusions which Dr. Bonyun draws are, that there is more rain in Demerara during the decrease of the moon than during its increase; the largest quantity of rain is on the day after the full moon, and the day before the last quarter; the smallest on the day of the second octant and the day of the first quarter. During six¬ teen lunations in Barbados it rained on nine days during the full moon, and it was fine weather during seven. The quantity of rain which fell amounted in no instance to more than four-tenths of an inch on the day of full moon. The results in Barbados differ therefore entirely from those obtained by Dr. Bonyun in Demerara, and resemble more the results which were obtained in Europe ; but whether this be really the case, can only be established by strict observations for successive years. It has been thought by some that the moon must likewise exercise some influence upon the rise and fall of the barometer. This does not appear to be the case; the rise and fall, or the oscillations of the baro¬ meter within the tropics, are so small and so regular, that in some places the period when the variations in the height of the mercurial column take place, might serve as an indication of the time of the day to a per¬ son accustomed to observe the barometer. The difference in the varia¬ tion amounts to only 15 minutes in Cumana. The regularity of these oscillations, which Humboldt calls the horary variations, were first observed in 1722 by a Dutch naturalist, who writes from Surinam in the Literary Journal of the Hague as follows :—“ The mercury rises in that part of Dutch Guiana every day regularly from 9 h in the morning to nearly ll| h , after which it descends till towards two or three o’clock in the afternoon, and then returns to its first height. It has nearly the same variations at the same hours of the night ; the variation is about half a line or a quarter of a line, at the utmost a CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 33 whole line.” The French academicians who were sent to Quito in 1735, made similar observations, and M. Thibault de Chanvalon in 1756 reduced the horary observations which he had made in the West Indies, into the form of tables. This naturalist observes, among other remarks on this subject, that the most considerable revolutions of the atmosphere do not alter this periodical movement of the barometer, which coincides sufficiently with the horary variations of the magnetic inclination. During the most violent rains, winds and storms, the mer¬ cury rises or sinks, if it be its time to mount or descend, as if the air were perfectly calm. Baron de Humboldt, to whom every physical science is indebted for new discoveries or contributions, observed the periods when the barometer reached its maxima and minima state in Cumana. Indeed since the publication of his remarks on this subject, this remarkable phsenomenon of the atmospheric pressure has received only its scientific value. He called the epochs of the extreme limits “tropical hours” (Wende Stunden). Within the tropics or near their limits, Baron de Humboldt observed everywhere that the barometer at¬ tains its maximum at nine o’clock or a quarter past nine in the morning ; that it descends slowly till noon, but rapidly from noon till half-past four; that it re-ascends till eleven at night, when it is a little lower than at nine o’clock in the morning; that it sinks slowly all night till four in the morning, and again rises till nine o’clock. The half-hourly observations during twenty-four hours in succession, which I instituted in Barbados on the 22nd of December 1845, the 21st of March 1846, and the 22nd of June 1846, or the winter and summer solstice, and vernal equinox, gave results somewhat different. These minute observations, which were as¬ certained with an excellent mountain barometer (by the late Troughton), according to Fortin’s construction, and which tion by myself, gave the following results :— were noted without excep- I. Maximum. h m h m Winter solstice 9 30 in the morning. . . 9 0 at night. Vernal equinox 9 45 „ . . .9 15 „ Summer solstice 9 0 „ . . .9 45 „ II. Minimum. h m h m Winter solstice 3 45 in the afternoon. . . . 4 0 in the morning. Vernal equinox 4 15 „ . . . 3 30 Summer solstice 4 15 „ . . • 4 15 Dr. Cassan asserts in a paper published in the 1 Journal de Physique ’ in 1790, that the periodical movement of rising and falling takes place no doubt twice in the twenty-four hours, but the hour of movement appeared D 34 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. to him much less regulated than is pretended. These inequalities arise perhaps from the effects of the rainy season and that of drought. The latter would refer to the observations which I took on the 21st and 22nd of March, the former to those in December and June. The differences do not amount to more than 45 minutes ; but the surprising results of my observations in Barbados prove that the maxima in the evening occur at nine o’clock, consequently two hours earlier than M. de Humboldt found it in Cumana 1 . It is likewise remarkable that a partial descent takes place again between half-past five o’clock and half-past six, and after the barometer had previously reached its minima and began to rise again. These oscillations of the barometer have been ascribed to the influence of the moon; it is however much more probable that they are owing to the sun, or rather to the heat which it produces, and which affects the state of the atmosphere. Ramond is of a similar opinion, which explains why the barometer rises when the thermometer falls, and vice versa-, this is particularly evident in the temperate zone. Dove considers that particular wiuds affect the barometer. In order to investigate how far such an influence might prevail in Barbados, I availed myself of Mr. Young’s observations. I ascertained the mean height of the barometer for each month, and compared at each observa¬ tion during which Mr. Young had noted the direction of the wind and the barometer, whether that instrument stood on that occasion higher, lower, or equal to the monthly mean. According to this method, it will be observed that the barometer stands highest with a north-east wind, and lowest with a south and south-west wind. The result of this table renders it likewise apparent that the north-east wand prevails more than any other in Barbados. The direction of the wind from east to north¬ east has been noted 314 times, while from the other points it has only been 173 times. The comparison therefore is in favour of the north¬ eastern quarter, as 16 to 9. 1 I refer the reader who is interested in these investigations to the half-hourly observations as registered in the Appendix; which contains likewise a projection of the barometric curves on those days. CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 35 Table of the direction of the Wind during 487 Observations, indicating whether the corresponding height of the mercurial column was higher, lower, or equal to the monthly mean of the barometer. Point of direc¬ tion of the wind. How many times it pre¬ vailed from that point. The barometer stood during that period, to the monthly mean, Higher. Lower. Mean. N.N.E. 3 2 1 N.E. b. N. 2 2 N.E. 114 61 45 8 N.E. b. E. 2 2 E.N.E. 78 44 28 6 E. b. N. 68 43 19 6 E. 52 27 18 7 E. b. S. 13 7 6 E.S.E. 3 3 S.E. 38 11 22 5 N. b. E. 9 5 4 N. 11 4 6 1 N.W. 2 2 S. b. E. 2 2 S. 18 6 12 s.w. 6 6 Variable. 66 14 45 7 The oscillations of the barometer in Barbados are very small; the extent of the greatest oscillation amounted during the five months’ observations which I carried on to ^ths of an inch, and this only on one occasion; but if we take all the observations which I made at the same hour during that period, it amounts scarcely to two-tenths of an inch, and on one oc¬ casion, when the barometer stood at 30 , 520, to ^ths of an inch. The result of Mr. Young’s observations give -41 of an inch, or a little more than four-tenths of an inch as the highest range. I have already alluded to the influence which a severe storm exercises upon the barometer. During the late gale in Barbados on the 12th of September 1846, the barometer, whose mean for that month at nine a.m. was 29-937, fell to 29-690, consequently very nearly a quarter of an inch ( = n^ths) lielow its mean height. The variations of the thermometer are of equal regularity. The great¬ est difference between sunrise and half-past one o’clock p.m. amounted to 24 0, 5 i'ahr. (viz. 67° — 91°"5); but if the same hour of observation be taken, the range seldom amounts to more than 9° or 10°. The time of day when the thermometer reaches the highest point, does not correspond with the time at which the sun reaches its greatest alti¬ tude. d 2 36 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. The highest temperature takes place between one and two o’clock p.m. Radiation of heat influences the diurnal changes of the temperature. Leslie discovered that bodies possess very different powers of radiating heat; metals possess this quantity in an inferior degree to vitreous sub¬ stances, and vegetable and fibrous substances are good radiators. A clear sky does not return any heat to the surface of the earth; it pro¬ duces a chilling aspect, and this is the reason that clear nights are cold, and prolific of dews ; a clouded sky does not produce any radiation, and very seldom dew. Humboldt and Bonpland enjoyed the freshness of the tropical nights on the grass-covered plains of the Lower Orinoco. Wells and Daniell found that the thermometer sunk on heath-covered plains 14° to 16° Fahr. Dr. Davy, Inspector-General of Hospitals (the brother of Sir Humphry Davy), has kindly favoured me with the numerical data of several observations respecting radiation in Barbados, which will be found in the Appendix. This radiation continues during the whole night; it therefore becomes evident that the coldest moment is the period of sunrise (or more exactly, about fifteen minutes before sunrise). The temperature acquires at sunset about the mean height of the whole year. The evaporation under the tropics is not so great as might have been supposed from the high temperature of these regions. The state of eva¬ poration depends upon three elements, namely, the temperature, the ex¬ pansive force of the vapours which the atmosphere contains, and the resistance which a greater or less density, or a more or less agitated current of air opposes to the cblatation of vapours. The quantity of water which evaporates in a given place bears an equal proportion to the masses of vapours which are really present in the atmosphere, and the quantity which the atmosphere in a state of saturation is able to support. From this it follows that the reason of the moderate evaporation under the tropics is to be ascribed to the presence of a great quantity of moisture in the air. In consequence of the heat which is carried off by the water in a state of evaporation, cold is always generated by spontaneous evaporation; hence the freshness of the air in the neighbourhood of lakes, ponds, or rivers 1 . It is assumed that the evaporation generally amounts to 36 inches in the year, or about one-tenth of an inch per day. Dalton has calculated that during a calm air, water loses in a minute about 0'9 of a grain in weight by evaporation, but a strong wind causes it to lose about l - 8 grain. 1 A wet towel or any other body is always cooled w'hen exposed to dry air or a draft of wind. This is the reason why wine is wrapped under the tropics in wet cloths and exposed to the air. For the same reason the water in a porous jug is cooler than in one which is glazed. CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 37 The highest evaporation which I have observed according to Dalton’s plan, amounted only to 30 grains per hour, or 05 per minute. This small quantity perfectly agrees with the assertion that the evaporation under the tropics is by no means greater than in Europe. The quantity of aqueous vapours in the air, its variation in quantity, and its actual quantity existing in any given bulk of air, may be ascer¬ tained by a hygrometer. But the readiest means to ascertain these points, is the following:—Take two thermometers, previously tested to be alike under all circumstances; one having been covered with a wet cloth, let both be exposed to the air, and after a short time the height of the tem¬ perature of both be noted; the greater or less difference between the dry and the wet thermometer proves a greater or less quantity of aqueous vapours present in the air. If the air be very damp, the difference will be small; if very dry, the difference will be great 1 . The difference is least in the morning; it then gradually increases until an hour after the temperature has reached its highest point during the day, namely till about two o’clock, when it gradually recedes again. The mean difference in the morning during fair weather amounts to 2° Eahr., and at two o’clock to about 8° Fahr. The greatest difference which I have noted in Barbados during my observations was on the 23rd of March 1846, at three o’clock p.m., and amounted to 13° Fahr. On Hurricanes in general. —The causes of the most awful of nature’s phenomena, and the most devastating in their effects, are unknown to us; theories have been formed which our present advance in meteorological science prove to be fallacious, and our feeble minds have not yet been able to divulge the secret workings of nature’s destructive operations. Earth¬ quakes, eruptions of volcanos, lightning, and in tropical climates the de¬ vastating effects of hurricanes, are covered with a veil which man has in vain attempted to remove. The violence of severe storms was known in the earliest periods on re¬ cord ; but the first accounts of the tropical hurricane, that phenomenon m which all the fearful devastating powers of nature appear combined, were brought by Columbus after his discovery of the New World. His ships were lost during his second voyage in a tempest, which Peter Martyr informs us occurred in June 1494, commencing from the south¬ west ; the wind blew with such violence “ that it plucked up by the roots 1 A very easy method to ascertain the dew-point with sufficient accuracy for prac¬ tical purposes is the following:—“Take the difference between the dry and wet ther¬ mometer after the latter has been swung in the air; multiply that difference by 103, and divide the result of this by the degrees of the wet thermometer; the result de¬ ducted from the degrees of the dry thermometer gives the dew-point. Supposing the dry thermometer stands at 60° Fahr., the wet thermometer at 51i° Fahr., the difference is 8v°, which being multiplied by 103 gives 875±-; this being divided by 51v (the degrees of the wet thermometer) gives 17, which being deducted from the de¬ grees of the dry thermometer, leaves 43° as the dew-point at that period. 38 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. whatsoever great trees were within the reach of the force thereof 1 .” In the Appendix to this work will be found a list of hurricanes as far as I have been able to ascertain them from records. It proves how frequent they occur in the West Indian Archipelago; nevertheless their explana¬ tion has remained a mystery. Sir John Herschel makes the following observations in a note to his e Astronomy : ’—“ It seems worth inquiry whether hurricanes in tropical climates may not arise from portions of the upper currents prematurely diverted downwards before their relative ve¬ locity has been sufficiently reduced by friction on, and gradually mixing with, the lower strata; and so dashing upon the earth with that tremen¬ dous velocity which gives them their destructive character, and of which hardly any rational account has yet been given. Their course, generally speaking, is in opposition to the regular trade-wind, as it ought to be, in conformity with this idea (Young’s Lectures, vol. i. p. 704). But it by no means follows that this must always be the case. In general a rapid transfer either way, in latitude, of any mass of air which local or tempo¬ rary causes might carry above the immediate reach of the friction of the earth’s surface, would give a fearful exaggeration to its velocity. Where- ever such a mass should strike the earth, a hurricane might arise; and should two such masses encounter in mid-air, a tornado of any degree of intensity on record might easily result from their combination 2 .” An approaching storm generally exercises some influence upon the ba¬ rometer. Baron de Humboldt, in his excellent disquisition on the horary variations of the barometer in the tropics, alludes very pointedly to this effect. He also relates, that the north winds which are so impetuous in the Gulf of Mexico, cause the barometer to rise slightly, and produce afterwards most remarkable oscillations. “ By inspecting the barometer, the proximity of the tempest, its force and duration, may be prognosti¬ cated with great probability 3 .” He adds in a note at page 749, “ The hurricanes are not in general accompanied by such an extraordinary lowering of the barometer as is imagined in Europe. I possess fifty-six barometric observations made by the captain of a ship, Don Tomas de Ugarte, nearly from hour to hour at the Havannah during the terrible hurricane of the 27th and 28th of August 1794. When the tempest was most violent the column of mercury sunk only 5 lines. Kirwan asserts however that at the island of Saint Bartholomew, the barometer has been seen to lower in a hurricane (1792) 42 millimetres, equal to 1'65 English inch 4 .” The observation that the barometer rises slightly before the violence of a hurricane is at its height, has been borne out by various observations. 1 Peter Martyr, Decades of the Ocean, 1st Decade, 4tli book, p. 26. 2 Astronomy, by Sir John Herschel, in Lardner’s Cabinet Cyclopaedia, p. 132. 3 Humboldt's Personal Narrative, English translation, vol. vi. p. 746. 4 Irish Transactions, vol. viii. p. 387. CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 39 While the originating cause is hidden in mystery, it appears to be beyond doubt that a hurricane is analogous to a whirlwind; and it is re¬ markable that the Indians in the interior of Guiana call the whirlwinds which so frequently arise on the Savannahs, Uranan*. We learn from Peter Martyr, that the dreadful hurricane which destroyed Columbus’s vessels was called by the natives Puracanes 2 . It is worthy of observation that these simple children of nature should have recognised the analogy between a whirlwind and a hurricane. The latter is no doubt a wind which gyrates around a centre. The generality of these masses of air revolve in the northern hemisphere from right to left, or they veer from east through north and north-west to south-west and south; but there are instances on record where the wind veered with the sun. Colonel Reid and Lieutenant Evans describe this motion by a comparison with the face of a watch; the dial-plate is the compass, and the hand the course of the wind; consequently the natural course of the wind would be with the motion of the hand from twelve to one, from one to two, and so on, or from east to south, from south to west, &c.; the unnatural or hurricane motion from twelve to eleven, from eleven to ten, or from east to north, from north to west, &c. Mr. Henry Davy, in his description of the voyage of H.M.S. Cornwallis from the West Indies in 1837, observes that the wind during the passage of the ship through the Gulf-stream veered in circles in a most extraordinary manner. The gale blowing from west to north-north-west, ceased at north; it then veered to north-east and east, with fine weather; blew strong at south-east-south and south-west, and commenced another gale as the wind completed its circle northward. The extraordinary quantity of electricity in the air during these violent convulsions of nature, forcibly attract our attention as one of the causes, or as others pretend, as the effect of the contending elements. The ac¬ counts of the great hurricanes in Barbados prove in every instance upon record, the existence of large masses of electricity. Hughes, in descri¬ bing the hurricane of the 31st of August 1675, observes that the lightning did not dart with its usual short-lived flashes, but in rapid flames skim¬ ming over the surface of the earth, as well as mounting to the upper re¬ gions. I could not employ better words to describe the scene I witnessed on the 12th and 13th of August 1830. I was then in the island of St. John’s, and resided at Emaus, one of the Moravian stations in that island, when the gale commenced with great fury ; it turned to the south-west, and a well-barricaded door of the house which was strongly built, was forced in by the blast. This gave me the opportunity of rushing on to the terrace, which faced Crux Bay and the ocean. The scene which pre¬ sented itself to my eyes was awfully sublime. Black masses,-—whether they were clouds, or of a more solid nature, I could form no idea,—rested 1 Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, vol. xiii. p. 67. 2 Peter Martyr, 1st Decade, 4th book, p. 26. 40 UISTORY OF BARBADOS. on the bay; the sea, lashed into foam, seemed to strike against it; and flashes of vivid fire descended as it were from heaven and were instantly engulphed in the sea. The next moment they appeared from beneath the white foam, and apparently ascended towards the sky met by other masses hovering above. The howling of the storm, and a peculiar noise as if it were the rumbling of thousands of chariots, struck me with surprise and awe. The blast carried with it numerous small pebbles which struck with some force against my face. It is strange that during these moments Schiller’s description of Charybdis flashed across my mind, and appeared realized before me. My kind friend the missionary forced me into the room : I am sure the time which elapsed from the moment the door was blown in, until the time when it was fixed again, was not ten minutes, nevertheless the quantity of water which was blown into the room had perfectly covered the floor. It must have been mostly sea-water, as the floor was covered with the efflorescence of salt next morning. The height to which the foam of the sea is carried during a hurricane is astonishing ; we must however remember that the rotatory motion of the blast would contribute in some measure towards this. It cannot be supposed that the gyrations act only on the surface of the water; they ascend, following their rotatory motion, and no doubt carry by gyration the sea-water in their course. During the severe gale which touched Tortola in 1831,1 was residing with the late President Donovan at St. Bernard’s, a hill the summit of which is about 1000 feet above the sea; the dwelling-house, however, is at an elevation only of 920 feet. The day after the gale the leaves of the trees and plants in the garden which had remained became black, from the contact with the sea-water spray; indeed the trees appeai’ed,— “As when heaven’s fire Has scathed the forest oaks, or mountain pines, With singed top their stately growth, though bare. Stands on the blasted heath and the rain-water in the cistern and vats, which was to be used for domestic purposes, was rendered brackish. During my exploring expedition in Guiana, I observed in the valley of the river Wenamu, the ravages of a whirlwind which for the distance of several miles had perfectly cleared a belt 500 yards wide of all trees, and thrown them down with their heads towards all quarters of the compass; a rather steep hill and about 500 feet in height had opposed its course, but the belt continued in the same direction up the hill as in the valley. The course was from north-west to south-east, and the angle which that line formed with the hill-side was about 27°. It only continued for a short distance downwards on the opposite side, and from thence I could not trace it any further. CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 41 Colonel Reid doubts whether earthquakes have any connection with hurricanes. I do not see the improbability of this supposition. The advance in meteorological science which the general interest felt in it leads us to anticipate, will doubtless prove the existence of a closer con¬ nection between the causes of volcanos, earthquakes, hurricanes, water¬ spouts, whirlwinds and thunder-storms, than is at present supposed. Magnetism and electricity appear to be the chief agents; but the disco¬ very of how these are developed, and how they act to produce such a de¬ vastating power which we are unable to compare with any other of the phenomena of nature, seems to be reserved for future ages ; if indeed it be the Almighty’s will that it shall be revealed to us. In the description of the hurricane in Jamaica of 1780, of which an account is given in the 1 Annual Register,’ it is expressly mentioned that a smart shock of an earthquake was felt, which lifted the Princess Royal from her beam-ends, and righted her on a firm bed. Colonel Reid observes that no allusion to this circumstance is made either in the log¬ book of the Princess Royal, or in any of the official documents from Ja¬ maica which he has inspected ; and that this information must therefore be received with caution. It is however a remarkable fact, and an im¬ portant one in the consideration of this question, that the same hurricane was also accompanied in Martinique by an earthquake and raz de maree, or mighty oceanic waves. It has been generally asserted that the awful hurricane of 1831 was accompanied by shocks of earthquakes in Barbados, which has been at¬ tested by fissures and rents in the walls. But an evident proof of the action of an earthquake is seen in the marble slabs in the chapel at Codrington College : they look “ like cracks on a broken pane of glass,” and have most probably been produced by a violent motion from below upwards. These cracks resemble in miniature the fissures near Jerocarne in Calabria, caused by the earthquake of 1783 h The following hurricanes are recorded as having been accompanied by shocks of earthquake :— The hurricane which devastated the town of Port Royal in Jamaica, on the 28th of August 1722, was accompanied by an earthquake which shook the island to its foundation 2 . A storm from the south which was followed by an earthquake, de¬ stroyed a great part of the walls of Carthagena on the 9th of December 1762 3 . The hurricane which destroyed St. Pierre in Martinique, on the night of the 13th and 14th of August 1766, was accompanied by an earthquake which took place about midnight, and laid the town in ruins 4 . 1 See Lyell’s Principles of Geology, in 4 vols., 5th edition, vol. ii. p. 223. 2 See Atkins’s Voyages to the West Indies. 3 See Annual Register. 4 Warden, Chronol. Historique, vol. viii. p. 341. Annual Register. 42 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. On the 28th of August 1772, a tempest accompanied by rain, thunder and an earthquake, committed great ravages in Porto Rico 1 . The destructive hurricane of Dominica on the 9th of September 1806 was accompanied by an earthquake, which, according to an eye-witness, was sensibly felt about midnight 2 . On the last day of July 1813, a hurricane blew with great violence in Jamaica. “During the storm a shock of an earthquake was felt, which, though a severe one, was but of short duration 3 .” In the evening of the 15th of September 1816, it blew a gale in Bar¬ bados. The gale was severely felt in Dominica and Martinique. During the height of the storm in Dominica some shocks of earthquakes were felt, and several stone buildings were shaken to their foundation. On the 17th of September, a violent shock of an earthquake was experienced in Bridgetown 4 . On the 1st of September 1821, a hurricane commenced at Guadaloupe about noon. It was accompanied by an earthquake which committed great destruction in Basse-terre 5 . I can well imagine that in numerous instances shocks of an earth¬ quake have taken place during a hurricane which have escaped notice during the general consternation. If my conjecture of a closer connec¬ tion be correct, there ought likewise to be instances in which hurricanes are connected with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions; and the fright¬ ful catastrophe occasioned by the eruption of the mountain Tomboro in the island of Sumbawa, furnishes such an instance. The sound of the explosion was heard in Sumatra at the distance of 970 geographical miles, and so sweeping was the destruction of human life, that out of 12,000 inhabitants only twenty-six individuals survived on the island. Violent whirlwinds carried men, horses, cattle, and whatever else came within their influence up into the air; tore up the largest trees by the roots, and covered the sea with floating timber 6 . Mr. Lyell’s observations bear on this question. He says, “ Many of the storms termed hurricanes have evidently been connected with sub¬ marine earthquakes, as is shown by the atmospheric phenomena at¬ tendant on them, and by the sounds heard in the ground, and the odours emitted 7 .” Light variable winds, a density of the atmosphere, low clouds, and as if they were rolling over each other advancing in detached masses and with rapid motion, arc signs which ought to be taken as a warning of ap¬ proaching hurricanes. 1 Warden, Chronol. Hist. vol. viii. p. 457. 2 Bryan Edwards’s West Indies, 5th edition, vol. v. p. 74. 3 Ibid. p. 78. 4 Barbados Mercury. 6 Warden, vol. viii. p. 409. 6 Raffles’s Java, vol. i. p. 28, as quoted bv Lyell. 7 Lyell’s Principles of Geology, in 4 vols. 5th edition, vol. iii. p. 198. CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 43 It is well known that the aborigines in every part of the world pay more attention to nature’s phsenomena, and are more versed with the probable changes of the weather than civilized man. Oldmixon no doubt goes too far, when he relates, with full faith in the assertion, that the Caribs used to foretell to the former English and French inhabitants of the islands, ten or twelve days previous to the occurrence, the probability of an approaching hurricane, and that their information generally proved true. An Indian, we are told by Oldmixon, gave Captain Langford the following prognostics as a warning. The sky has a turbulent appearance, the sun is unusually red, and the air is perfectly calm. The hills are clear of clouds and fogs, and are seen very distinctly. In the hollows of the earth or wells, there will be a great noise resembling the roar of a storm. The stars at night look very large, with a haze around them, and in the north-west the sky is very black and foul. The sea rolls upon the coast with a great swell, and emits a stronger odour than usual in violent storms. On the full moon a haze or great burr is seen around the moon, and sometimes a halo round the sun. It was considered that the storm commenced either on the day of the full, change or quarters of the moon, and Captain Langford was told that particular attention must be paid to the prognostics on those days 1 . Lieutenant Evans, who for his excellent remarks on hurricanes and for his practical hints how to avoid their greatest danger in ships, deserves the thanks of every mariner, observes that “ although it is true that the prognostics of a coming storm are in general sufficiently plain to be un¬ derstood by a spectator, from the angry appearance of the firmament, yet it is also true that there is no particular indication in any one quarter of the horizon sufficiently marked like the space occupied by the black squall panoply of the Caribbean Sea, so that an acute seaman shall say, ‘ Thence will the blast come’ 2 .” The hurricane of 1831 gave scarcely any indication of its approach. Mr. Benjamin Gittens, of the estate called Tubbs’s, appears to have been an exception; he observed about two p.m. of the 10th of August, indica¬ tions of approaching bad weather, in which surmise he was confirmed by subsequent appearances, and at six o’clock in the evening he bade his negroes not to leave their homes, as he was sure that a dreadful storm was approaching. The indications observed by Mr. Gittens were as follows:—1st. The darting forward of the clouds in divided portions, and with a fleet irregular motion, not borne by the wind, but driven as it were before it. 2ndly. The distant roar of the elements, as of wind rushing through a hollow vault. 3rdly. The motion of the branches of trees, not bent forward as by a stream of air, but constantly whirled 1 Oldmixon, vol. ii. p. 246. Purdy’s Memoir of the Atlantic Ocean, 8th edition, p. 118. HISTORY OF BARBADOS. 44 about 1 . Whilst this storm was passing over the West Indies on the 11th, 12th and 13th, objects which were of a whitish colour appeared to be of a light blue, so marked as to attract the attention of all the inha¬ bitants. This peculiar appearance was witnessed by me on the 12th of August. I was then surveying the horseshoe reef of Anegada. The whole sky was overcast, but of a decided dark bluish colour. It was of so threatening an appearance, that I ordered the sloop in which I was surveying to bear away for the North Sound in Virgin Gorda. The wind was fresh from the east-north-east, but it did not in the course of the whole day exceed a strong breeze. The 13th of August was clear, with a moderate wind; however, there was such a heavy sea on the reef that I could not con¬ tinue the survey that day, and returned to Anegada. It is seldom that a hurricane extends further to the south of the tropic of Cancer than 12° north: there are however exceptions, and Trinidad (in about 10° 30' north latitude) experienced on the 23rd of June 1831 a very severe gale. Their extent north and westward is sometimes for several thousand miles. We have an instance in the great hurricane which commenced on the 10th of August 1831 in Barbados, and was felt as a dreadful gale at New Orleans on the 17th and 18th of August. The distance between Barbados and New Orleans is about 2100 nautical miles, which would give for its progress an average of about fourteen miles an hour. Colonel Reid observes in his excellent work, that, violent as these storms are, their rate of progress, on examining the dates, will be found to be no more than the rate of the ordinary atmospheric currents, which is stated to be at from seven to fifteen miles an hour. It appears to be generally considered among the inhabitants of the West Indies, that during the interval from the end of October to the beginning of June, no hurricanes take place under the tropics. It must therefore be evident that the increased power of the sun acts not only upon the advance of the rainy belt, but likewise produces a great influence upon the developing causes of hurricanes. There are however sometimes ex¬ ceptions, where strong gales have committed serious injury at a later period, and one of these formed the gale of the 19th of December 1822. A severe gale blew likewise on the lltli of March 1822, in Montego Bay in Jamaica. It is supposed in the West Indies that the hurricane brings in its train some unknown qualities which serve to improve and invigorate the soil, and promote a more luxuriant vegetation. It has been gravely asserted to me during my sojourn in Barbados, and by one who himself has greatly suffered by these phsenomena, that the increased produce of his cane-fields compensated for the injury which his buildings had received. See Colonel Reid’s Law of Storms, 2nd edition, p. .'15. CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 45 Dr. Collyns observes that persons who held such opinions might con¬ sider them as instruments of divine wisdom to produce general and future good from partial and present evil; he adds, however, “ that those who have been exposed to the terrors and apprehensions of such an occur¬ rence will hardly be persuaded but that it is a sharp and afflictive remedy.” The awful hurricane in 1780, which proved so calamitous to many of the islands, produced in Grenada and Barbados an effect for which the Legislature of the former island had offered a reward of twenty thousand pounds, namely, the sugar-ants which committed such destruction dis¬ appeared during the storm. Hurricanes in Barbados. —Ligon, alluding to the climate of Barbados, does not mention any hurricanes; he observes only that the breeze blows always from “ the north-east and by east, except in the time of the Turnado, and then it chops about into the south for an hour or two, and returns again to its original point.” The first hurricane which I find recorded took place on the 19th of August 1667; a second followed on the 10th of August 1674. It ap¬ pears they did not cause very great injury, as it is expressly observed of the latter that it did not blow down any houses. The sufferers had not recovered from this calamity, when on the 31st of August 1675, the country was almost laid waste by the most tremendous hurricane that had visited Barbados since its settlement. The leeward part of the island suffered the most; the dwelling-houses and sugar-works were thrown down, and only a few stone mills escaped the storm. The houses in the Bay were blown down, and most of the churches met a similar fate. Eight valuable ships laden with produce sunk or were driven ashore. The houses being levelled with the ground, the planters were obliged to live in temporary huts, and it was some time before they could be in¬ duced to build large houses. The crop of provisions did not escape the general devastation; indeed the planters of the leeward part made very little sugar for two years afterwards; and this calamity had spread such terror, that for some time no person would invest any capital in land and buildings, fearing the return of a similar catastrophe. In October 1694, a hurricane appears to have driven on shore most of the ships then in Carlisle Bay. I have not been able to ascertain the exact day, but the Hannibal of London arrived at Barbados on the 4th of November with a cargo of negroes, and her master, Thomas Phillips, reported that three weeks before he arrived at Barbados a hurricane had driven most of the ships in the roadstead ashore. Oldmixon relates that the mole which ran out from James’s Fort into the sea, was destroyed by this hurricane. In 1700 several warehouses were thrown down, and two ships and two sloops were driven ashore. 46 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Hughes mentions a severe storm in 1731, the violence of which was so great that near Bridgetown it covered a shoal, at a short distance from land, nearly 200 yards long and 20 broad, with a bank of stones 4 feet thick. The shipping in the bay and some houses on shore received injury. Several hurricanes took place in the following years in the Windward and Leeward Islands, but it is not mentioned that Barbados suffered particularly. It appeared as if the elements were gathering their strength to render the devastation the more complete. On the morning of Tuesday the 10th of October 1780, slight appre¬ hensions were felt by a few persons in consequence of the unusual vio¬ lence of the wind, accompanied by heavy rains. The preceding evening had been hazy and the sun had set with a fiery appearance, but nothing serious was apprehended. The wind, which blew in the morning from the north-east by north, veered gradually to the westward. It increased, and at noon several houses in different parts of the island were blown down, and the ships in the bay began to drive. The Albemarle frigate, the only man-of-war then in the bay, slipped her best bower cable, and subsequently the hawser, and stood out to sea. As the night ap¬ proached the wind became westerly and increased in fury. It appeared to have reached its height at midnight ; but long ere that hour approached the work of destruction had commenced : an eye-witness and sufferer during this dismal night, says “ the havoc which met the eye contributed to subdue the firmest mind. The howling of the tempest; the noise of descending torrents from clouds surcharged with rain; the incessant flashings of lightning; the roaring of the thunder; the continual crash of falling houses; the dismal groans of the wounded and the dying; the shriek of depair; the lamentations of woe; and the screams of women and children calling for help on those whose ears were now closed to the voice of complaint,—formed an accumulation of sorrow and of terror too great for human fortitude, too vast for human conception 1 .” The inhabitants long ere midnight considered it unsafe to remain in their houses; they fled to the fields, to avoid being buried in the ruins of walls and roofs. The cattle had broken from their folds, and their dismal bellowing increased the scene of horror. The force of the storm surpassed all conception. Admiral Rodney stated that the heavy cannon were carried upwards of a hundred feet from the forts, and as will be observed from the letter which follows, and which was addressed by Major-General Cunninghame, Governor of Barbados, to the Secretary of State, a twelve-pounder was carried by the wind and waves from the south to the north battery, a distance of 140 yards. At daylight, October 11th, a scene of desolation was presented seldom Poyer’s History of Barbados, p. 449. 'CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 47 equalled. The face of nature seemed completely changed ; not a single house or building in the island, however strong or sheltered, had escaped damage. Bridgetown was one heap of ruins; not more than thirty houses or stores were left standing, all of which had suffered more or less. The church of St. Michael, with its lofty steeple, was levelled to the ground; the town-hall, the prison, the castle and the fortifications shared a similar fate. The mole-head, which cost the island more than twenty thousand pounds, was destroyed, and the basin filled up with sand, ledges of coral reef and timber. Had it not been for the partial protection which the pier afforded, the total destruction of Bridgetown would have been unavoidable; it broke the force of the waves, which rushed with fearful impetuosity against it. A ship was driven ashore against one of the buildings at the Naval Hospital, which by this shock, combined with the fury of the winds and waves, was entirely destroyed and swept away. Of eleven churches and two chapels, only two churches and one chapel were left standing—these were the churches of St. Andrew and St. Peter, and All Saints' Chapel. The Governor’s residence at Pilgrim, and the residence of the Commander-in-chief were blown down. The secretary of General Vaughan had his thigh broken, and the General himself received several severe contusions. The barracks and hospital were destroyed. Speightstown suffered less than Bridgetown, or any other part of the island; the Holetown and Oistin’s participated in the general havoc. The loss of human life has been estimated at 4326 souls, and the loss which the colony sustained, at £1,320,564 sterling 1 . Most of the live stock and horned cattle perished ; the canes, corn and ground provisions were totally destroyed, and famine threatened those who survived the catastrophe. As if to increase the horror of the event, the slaves were actively employed in plunder; a body of 800 prisoners of war also had been liberated by the demolition of the gaol, and it was thought that these men might join the slaves, to complete the destruction of what the elements had spared. The active measures of General Vaughan how¬ ever prevented this, if indeed it had been contemplated, and the survivors had at least the satisfaction of considering themselves safe under his pro¬ tection, aided as he was by his troops. Don Pedro de Saint Iago, cap¬ tain of the regiment of Arragon and the Spanish prisoners under him, spared no labour to contribute to the relief of the distressed inhabitants and the preservation of public order 2 . The loss which the two hurricanes that took place in October in the West Indies caused to the navy, may be conceived. The magnanimous 1 Annual Register, 1781. Foyer in his history gives the loss of property at £1,018,928 sterling, and estimates the loss of hfe to exceed 3000. Poyer’s History of Barbados, p. 454. 48 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. conduct of the Marquis de Bouille deserves to be mentioned on this occa¬ sion. The Laurel and Andromeda, two British frigates, having been wrecked on the coast of Martinique, he sent thirty-one sailors, all that were saved of their crews, with a flag of truce to Commodore Hotham at St. Lucia, declaring that he could not consider in the light of enemies men who, in common with his people, had been partakers of the same danger, and were equally entitled to every assistance and relief that could be ren¬ dered in a season of such universal calamity; adding, that he only lamented that their numbers were so small, and particularly that none of the officers were saved h Let us compare this with the conduct of Major-General Cun- ninghame, who, as we shall presently see from his despatch, had just then escaped the imminent danger of the fury of the winds; a circumstance which one would have thought should have opened his heart to compas¬ sion and humane feelings. The crew of a small Spanish launch with a few mules on board, on the 12th of October sought shelter from the winds and waves in Maycock’s Bay. The matrosses detained the vessel until the Governor’s pleasure was known; and His Excellency ordered her to be seized as a droit of Admiralty, made the crew prisoners of wax’, and converted the vessel and cargo to his own use! “ Thus what the wretched mariners had saved from the angry elements, was torn from them by the rapacity of a human being, insensible to the tender emotions of pity and compassion 2 .” Major-General Cunninghame sent the following account of the hurri¬ cane of 1780, to the Secretary of State and Major-General Vaughan. The Commander-in-chief refers the English Government to that ac¬ count for a description of it. Copy of a Journal of what passed at Barbados, from the 9th of October until the 1 6th, 1780. “The evening preceding the hurricane, the 9th of October, was remark¬ ably calm, but the sky surprisingly red and fiery; during the night much rain fell. On the morning of the 10th much rain and wind from north-west. By ten o’clock it increased very much; by one, the ships in the bay drove; by four o’clock, the Albemarle frigate 3 (the only man-of-war here) parted her anchors and went to sea, as did all the other vessels, about twenty-five in number. Soon after, by six o’clock, the wind had torn up and blown many trees, and foreboded a most violent tempest. “ At the Government House every precaution was taken to guard against what might happen : the doors and windows were barricaded up, but it availed little. By ten o’clock the wind forced itself a passage through the house from 1 Annual Register, 1781, p. 35. 2 Poyer’s History of Barbados, 455. 3 According to the “ extract from the log of H.M.S. Albemarle kept by Captain Thomas Taylor, lying in Carlisle Bay, Barbados, the Albemarle slipped the best bower cable at two o’clock and went to sea.” See Colonel Reid’s Law of Storms, p. 353. CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 49 north-north-west, and the tempest increasing every minute, the family took to the centre of the building, imagining from the prodigious strength of the walls, they being three feet thick, and from its circular form, it would have with¬ stood the wind’s utmost rage : however, by half-past eleven o’clock they were obliged to retreat to the cellar, the wind having forced its way into every part, and torn off most of the roof. From this asylum they were soon driven out, the water being stopped in its passage, and having forced itself a course into the cellar, they knew not where to go ; the water rose four feet, and the ruins were falling from all quarters. To continue in the cellar was impossible ; to return to the house equally so: the only chance left, was making for the fields, which at that time appeared equally dangerous: it was however attempted, and the family were so fortunate as to get to the ruins of the foundation of the flag-staff, which soon after giving \vay, every one endeavoured to find a retreat for himself. The Governor, and the few who remained were thrown down, and it was with great difficulty they gained a cannon, under the carriage of which they took shelter; their situation here was highly de¬ plorable : many of the camion were moved, and they had reason to fear that under which they sat might be dismounted, and crush them by its fall; or that some of the ruins that were flying about, would put an end to their ex¬ istence ; and to render the scene still more dreadful, they had much to fear from the powder-magazine, near which they were. The armoury was level with the ground, and the arms &c. scattered about. “ Anxiously did they wait the break of day, flattering themselves that with the light they should see a cessation of the storm ; yet when it appeared, little was the tempest abated, and it served but to exhibit the most melancholy prospect imaginable. Nothing can compare with the terrible devastation that presented itself on all sides ; not a building standing; the trees, if not torn up by the roots, deprived of their leaves and branches ; and the most luxuriant spring changed, in this one night, to the dreariest winter. In vain was it to look round for shelter; houses that, from their situation, it was to have been imagined would have been in a degree protected, were all flat with the earth; and the miserable owners, if they were so fortunate as to escape with their lives, were left without a covering for themselves and family. General Vaughan was early obliged to evacuate his house ; in escaping he was much bruised; his secretary was so unfortunate as to break his thigh. “ Nothing has ever happened that has caused such universal desolation. No one house in the island is exempt from danger. Very few buildings are left standing on the estates. The depopulation of the negroes and the cattle, particularly of the honied kind, is very great, which must, more especially in these times, be a cause of great distress to the planters. It is as yet impos¬ sible to make any accurate calculation of the number of souls who have perished in this dreadful calamity. Whites and blacks together, it is imagined to exceed some thousands, but fortunately few people of consequence are among the number. Many are buried in the ruins of the houses and buildings; many fell victims to the violence of the storm and inclemency of the weather ; and great numbers were driven into the sea, and there perished. The troops have suffered inconsiderably, though both the barracks and hospital were E 50 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. early blown down. Alarming consequences were dreaded from the number of dead bodies that lay uninterred, and from the quantity the sea threw up, which however are happily subsided. What few public buildings there were, are fallen in the general wreck. The fortifications have suffered very consider¬ ably. The buildings were all demolished, for so violent was the storm here, when assisted by the sea, that a twelve-pounder gun was carried from the south to the north battery, a distance of 140 yards. The loss to this country is immense; many years will be required to retrieve it 1 .” The 2nd of September 1786, threatened new destruction to Barbados; the greater number of buildings were still lying in ruins, and none of the churches were rebuilt, when anew the elements seemed to conspire against those which had remained or had been repaired. At eleven o’clock in the night the storm was at its height; about this time a meteor in the south-east issued from a dark cloud, and spreading its diverging rays to a vast circumference, continued with unabated splendour nearly forty minutes. In the morning of the 3rd, Carlisle Bay was a scene of desolation; every vessel in the Bay was driven on shore, great damage was done to the houses and crops, and several persons were killed in the ruins of their own houses 2 . It began to rain very severely on the 8th of November 1795, and the rain fell in torrents during the whole night. It increased fearfully the next morning, and continued to descend without intermission for four-and-twenty hours accompanied by the most vivid flashes of light¬ ning and loud peals of thunder. It is asserted that not two seconds elapsed during that period without vivid flashes of lightning. The ac¬ cumulated masses of water rushing towards the sea met a high spring-tide and were pressed backwards. Both bridges were carried away, and the water spread over the level ground in and about the town; and it is thought the town itself would probably have been swept away had not the gully opened over the fields a new course to the sea, in doing which it hollowed out, across the road, a gulf forty feet wide, and ten or twelve deep. The plantations were greatly damaged, the smaller houses swept away, and the fields covered with water, in some instances to an extent of several miles. The roads throughout the island were entirely broken up and became impassable. Although this destruction, which according to Bryan Edwards occurred in 1796, was not caused by a hurricane, the relation of it deserves a place among the devastating effects of nature’s phaenomena. A respite of several years followed without any of these dreadful strifes of the elements. The Leeward Islands suffered greatly in September 1804; the damage in Barbados was only slight. 1 Annual Register. 2 L’Art de verifier les Dates on Clironologie Ilistoriquc de l’Amerique, par M. D. 15. Warden, vol. viii. p. 516. CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 51 A severe gale on the 5th of October 1806, threatened imminent danger to the shipping in Carlisle Bay. Had it not been for the pier-head, over which the sea broke with the greatest violence, the town would have suffered severely. The hurricane of the 12th of August 1810, which did great damage to Trinidad, was only slightly felt in Barbados. It drove the American schooner Laura on shore, which became a complete wreck. A severe gale which commenced on the 22nd of July 1813, did great damage among the shipping in Carlisle Bay. Several vessels were stranded, and some lives lost. The gale was felt much more severely in the Leeward Islands. A gale did some injury to the shipping on the 29th of September 1815. In the evening of the 15th of September 1816, a gale commenced and continued until the next day. The incessant rain caused the river to overflow, and did great injury to many of the stores near the old and new bridges. Several vessels were driven on shore. The distressing gale of the 21st of October 1817, which did such in¬ jury to the shipping in Barbados, almost devastated St. Lucia. The wind blew in Bridgetown from various points of the compass, and whilst it prevailed from the south several vessels were driven ashore. A severe gale commenced on the 27th of September 1818, between three and four o’clock in the afternoon from west-north-west; and gradually increasing, it lasted until the 30th of that month, blowing from all the points between north-west and south-west by south, from which latter it blew the most severely. More fatal in its effects proved the gale which visited Barbados on the 13th of October 1819. It commenced on that day at ten o’clock in the morning, from the north-east accompanied by heavy rains. It shifted gradually to the south-south-east, and appeared to settle in the south- south-west. Two vessels, the ship Superior from New Brunswick, and the schooner Three Sisters from St. Vincent, attempted at that period to proceed to sea; both were wrecked on Needham’s Point. Through the exertions of Major Cuttendel and the military, the crews were saved with the exception of two persons. The gale continued to increase next morn¬ ing (14th of October). The rain fell in torrents, which brought down the gully (the natural water-course from the parishes of St. Michael, St. George, and from a part of St. Philip) with impetuous fury, sweeping before it Constitution Bridge. About nine o’clock in the evening, the new bridge, which had cost the country so much money, was demolished in an instant. The destruction continued, and the daylight of Friday morn- ing (the 15th of October) showed a scene of desolation not witnessed since the great hurricane of 1780. The water had risen in the streets to three or four feet, and in many places as high as five feet. All was con- e 2 52 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. fusion and alarm, and every person in Broad Street sought to escape the destruction which tottering houses and the rise of the water threatened. As the day advanced, the storm increased, accompanied with heavy thunder and lightning; the rain fell in torrents, and the ground tier of every store which had escaped destruction, was nearly tilled with water. The misery in the town offered only a parallel to the distressing scenes in the country; many of the sugar-works on the estates were destroyed, and a great number of the smaller houses in the country levelled to the ground. At Forsterhall several of the buildings sunk under the earth, and a wood under Hackleton’s Cliff slid down to the spot where Forster¬ hall buildings stood, and a field of young canes took possession of a spot where had been a field of sweat potatos ; whilst these in turn slid into the sea: in short, the lamentable condition of that plantation is exactly analogous to the disaster which befell Walcot’s plantation in 1786. The ground under the dwelling of Dr. Bascom in St. Thomas’s gave way, and the house was nearly buried in the earth; fortunately the family had previously left it. The water collected in the parish of St. Philip about Sober’s bottom with fearful rapidity, and threatened de¬ struction to the town, if it should make itself a way westwards to the sea; fortunately it took the direction towards the Crane, carrying away every obstacle in its impetuous course. Several negroes were drowned, and a great number of cattle lost. Speightstown suffered very severely, and a number of small houses near the salt-pond were washed away. The very unprecedented state of the weather during the week (ending December 21st, 1822), in which the wind had veered from the south and west and blown a gale, prevented all communication with the outports by means of boats. The swelling of the sea was so great, that all the vessels were in danger of being lost; but the most alarming period of this unaccountable occurrence at this time of the year was on Thursday (December 19th), when the appearance of the horizon indicated an ap¬ proaching storm; a boat in entering the pier was upset by the waves, which followed each other rapidly; and two others that went to rescue the persons in it shared the same fate, by which two lives were lost, and an¬ other nearly perished. The wind continued with unabated violence the whole of that night, but happily for Barbados it gradually subsided on the following morning, and by changing to the eastward, enabled the almost worn-out mariners to get their vessels into safer anchorage 1 . H.M.S. Priamus parted her stream-chain-cable, two vessels drove ashore, several fishing-boats were lost, and others lost their anchors and cables. The gale committed great ravages in Guadaloupe and Martinique. Several years elapsed without Barbados suffering any serious con¬ sequence from a gale, when the awful hurricane of 1831 occurred, which nearly destroyed the island. 1 Barbados Mercury of December 21st, 1822. CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOllOLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 53 The words of Sir James Lyon to one of his aides-de-camp, who was despatched with the information of the hurricane, are most expressive of the extent of the disaster :■—“ Go and give an account of our misfortunes, depict them in the strongest colours which language permits you, and you will remain far behind the sad reality.” A supplement to the London Gazette of October the 7th, contains Sir James Lyon’s official report to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in the following words:— “I have to acquaint your Lordship that, on the morning of the 11th of August, this flourishing and happy colony was visited by one of the most dreadful hurricanes ever experienced in the West Indies. “On the evening of the 10th, the sun set on a landscape of the greatest beauty and fertility, and rose on the following morning over an utter desola¬ tion and waste. The prospect at the break of day on the 11th instant, was that of January in Europe—every tree if not entirely rooted up was deprived of its foliage and of many of its branches; every house within my view was levelled with the ground, or materially ^damaged ; and every hour brought intelligence of the most lamentable accidents, and of very many shocking deaths. “The evening of the 10th instant was not remarkable for any peculiarity of appearance that I could observe, and every one in my family went to bed without the least suspicion that any atmospherical changes were likely to dis¬ turb their rest. Soon after, however, it began to rain, accompanied with flashes of lightning and high wind; it appeared to me from the north and east; towards midnight the wind increased, and was more to the westward and south-west; the rain fell in torrents, and the lightning was vivid in the extreme; at one o’clock or thereabouts, it was first suspected by me, from its extreme violence, to be a hurricane, and not long after some of my servants came running into the house, saying that the roof of the kitchen had fallen in. Several poor people in the neighbourhood also took refuge in Government House, their wooden huts having been blown down. “ From about two o’clock till day broke, it is impossible to convey to your Lordship’s mind any idea of the violence of the storm ; no language of mine is adequate to express sufficiently its horrors. The noise of the wind through the apertures formed by it, the peals of thunder, and the rapidly repeated flashes of lightning (more like sheets of fire), and the impenetrable darkness which succeeded them, the crash of walls, roofs, and beams, were all mixed in appalling confusion, and the whole house shook to its very foundation; whether this last effect was produced by the force of the wind, or by an earth¬ quake, supposed by many to have accompanied the storm, I am unable to de¬ cide ; but the rents and fissures which are visible in the massive walls of this building, would lead one to suppose that the latter cause only could have pro¬ duced them. “About this time, two o’clock, finding that Government House, which had been but recently repaired, was giving way, the officers of my staff, myself and servants, together with some unfortunate persons who had escaped from 51 - iiistory OF BARBADOS. the neighbouring huts, took refuge in the cellar, where we remained in perfect safety, thank God, until the day dawned: had we continued in the rooms above-stairs, or indeed in any other part of the house, there is little doubt our lives must have been sacrificed, from the ruinous appearance presented in the morning. “ The tempest did not entirely cease, nor the atmosphere clear up, until about nine o’clock in the morning of the 11th, and then it was we became more sensible of the calamities and heart-breaking consequences of this most awful scourge. Whole families were buried in ruins. Fortunately some of the churches were found less injured than any other buildings (although many are destroyed), and they were instantly thrown open for the reception of the wounded and maimed. Medical aid was procured with all the haste which the encumbered state of the streets and roads would permit, for many trees and houses had fallen across the public w T ays, and much obstructed our inter¬ course. “ Under these most distressing and appalling circumstances, it is wonderful with what equanimity and fortitude every one seems to bear his loss, and this affords some little consolation to my mind. But I cannot hide from my view the awful prospects of want and destitution, accompanied as it may be with pestilence, which must naturally result from such a general and wide-spread calamity. “No estimate of damage done, or loss sustained, can be at present formed with any degree of accuracy, or even surmised; suffice it to say, that there is no exaggeration to the picture I have drawn; and that as soon as any correct opinion can be formed upon the subject, your Lordship shall be duly apprised of it. “ I must not omit to add, that the barracks and hospitals of St. Ann’s are in a state of complete dilapidation and ruin; and I have been under the necessity of ordering the troops under canvas. No deaths have occurred among the officers, with the exception of one gentleman of the Commissariat Department, a Mr. Flanner, who was entombed with three of his children, a female relative, and two servants, in the ruins of his house. The number of soldiers killed, however, of the corps composing the garrison, viz. the Royal Artillery, the 35th and 3Gth regiments, amounts by this day’s return, to 36 ; and very many accidents of a serious nature have also been sustained by the troops. “I have called a meeting of the legislature for Monday the 15th instant, the earliest moment which I could hope to collect them together. In the mean time the most wealthy and influential inhabitants are making every effort to relieve the poor, houseless and destitute. The sacred work of charity has begun, and will be encouraged and assisted by every means in my power; and under circumstances of such grievous and awful calamity, I look forward with hope and confidence to the sympathies of the Mother Country. “ I will not conclude this despatch without giving your Lordship the assu¬ rance, that my determination is, as well as those who surround me, to meet our accumulated evils with resolution and fortitude, and to exert our best efforts to assuage and mitigate, to the utmost of our abilities, every distress which CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 03 may present itself. The task may be arduous, but it will be continued with unshrinking perseverance, so long as it may please Almighty Providence to afford us health and strength to do so. “ I have the honour to be, &c., (Signed) “ James Lyon.” “ The Right Hon. Viscount Goderich, $-c.” “ P.S. It has escaped me to mention that the few ships in Carlisle Bay were driven high on the strand, but fortunately no lives lost. How far this hurricane may have extended, I have hitherto had no means of ascertaining. (Signed) “ J. L.” I shall make no apology to my readers for selecting from among the materials which I possess, several other extracts 1 . The difficulty which I have experienced in finding, after the short period of fifteen years since the awful event occurred, any detailed and authentic account, induces me to devote several pages in a work on Barbados to an account of this tempest, which it is generally acknowledged was not surpassed in fury by any previous one recorded in the history of the island. The editor of the Barbadian newspaper collected all the information he could pro¬ cure, and published it in a separate form; but very few copies of this publication are left, and much additional information was procured after it appeared. 1 Mr. Bryan T. Young has been good enough to favour me with the following ac¬ count of the hurricane. “ There was nothing, save with one solitary exception, in the aspect or in the appearance of the atmosphere and weather that could indicate the impending calamity; the exception alluded to was an extreme redness of the sky on the evening of the 10th of October, which is often visible at this period of the year, so that no reasonable apprehension could have been entertained on account of that phenomenon. It is true that the heat had been oppressive and intense for some days previous, but even that was to be expected at the approach of the autumnal equinox, and moreover the rains which had set in rather early in the spring, had been very general for the three preceding months, and more especially the month of Juft 1 , which had been a very wet month; so that the weather altogether was totally unlike that which preceded the storm of 1780. “ The writer and his family were driven forth on this eventful occasion at three o’clock in the morning, shortly after a part of the mansion was blown down, to seek a precarious safety in the fields, where dangers beset them equal to those they had fled, or sought to escape from; but return was impossible : such was the fury of the wind, that the writer was fairly lifted off his feet, and carried some hundreds of yards, unconscious of the fate of all near and dear, who had quitted the mansion at the same time; for instant separation had ensued. “ The whole atmosphere at one time presented the appearance of livid flame, such was the immense body of electric matter in the heavens ; the nasal organs were even overpowered, the scent of something resembling sulphur being uppermost. This appearance in the atmosphere was quite distinct from the lightning which came in alternate sheets and forks. The hurricane lasted in its utmost fury about eight hours, from about midnight to the hour of eight o’clock in the morning; and, oh ! what a work of destruction was perfected during that brief period ! ” 56 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. “ Calamitous as were the many tempests by which Barbados had suffered, the aggregate destruction produced by the whole combined was probably un¬ equal to that effected by the blast of 1831. The hurricane of 16/5, accord¬ ing to historical account, very much resembled it in appearance, duration and fury ; hut the extent to which human life then suffered is not on record. The hurricane of 1780, fearfully tremendous as it was, is admitted by living wit¬ nesses to have been far inferior in force, and less destructive to property. But the late horrific storm, with the irresistible force of a foaming cataract, annihi¬ lating in its fall, instantaneously accomplished its direful destruction. The wind, whirling in angry tornadoes, or rushing in veins, with a swiftness which ap¬ peared to vie with that of the accompanying lightning, at one fell blast hurled the strongest buildings from their sites, and scattered them in minute and in¬ significant fragments far and near. “ On the 10th of August, the sun rose without a cloud, and shone resplen- dentlv. At ten a.m. a gentle breeze which had been blowing died away. After a temporary calm, high winds sprung up from the east-north-east, which in their turn subsided. For the most part calms prevailed, interrupted by occasional sudden puffs from between the north and north-east. “At noon the heat increased to 87° Fahr., and at two p.m. to 88°, at which time the weather was uncommonly sultry and oppressive. “ At four o’clock the thermometer sank again to 86°. At five the clouds seemed gathering densely from the north, the wind commencing to blow freshly from that point: then a shower of rain fell, followed by a sudden stillness, hut there was a dismal blackness all round. Towards the zenith there was an obscure circle of imperfect light, subtending about 35° or 40°. From six to seven o’clock the weather was fair, and wind moderate, with occasional slight puffs from the north ; the lower and principal stratum of clouds passing fleetly towards the south, the higher strata a scud, rapidly flying to various points. At seven o’clock the sky was clear and the air calm ; tranquillity reigned until a little after nine o’clock, when the wind again blew from the north. At half¬ past nine it freshened, and moderate showers of rain fell at intervals for the next hour. “ Distant lightning was observed at half-past ten, in the north-north-east and north-west; squalls of wind and rain from the north-north-east, with intervals of calms succeeding each other until midnight. The thermometer meantime varied with remarkable activity : during the calms it rose as high as 86°, and at other times it fluctuated from 83° to 85°It is necessary to be thus explanatory, for the time the storm commenced and the manner of its approach varied considerably in different situations. Some houses were ac¬ tually levelled to the earth, when the residents of others, scarcely a mile apart, were not sensible that the weather was unusually boisterous. “After midnight the continual flashing of lightning was awfully grand, and the gale blew fiercely from between the north and north-east. At one a.m. of the 11th, the tempestuous rage of the wind increased ; the storm, which at one moment blew from the north-east, suddenly shifted from that quarter and 1 The high stand of the thermometer at this hour of the night is unprecedented in my meteorological experience under the tropics.—R. H. S. CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 57 burst from the north-west and intermediate points. The upper regions were from this time illuminated by incessant lightning, but the quivering sheet of blaze was surpassed in brilliancy by the darts of electric fire which were ex¬ ploded in every direction. At a little after two the astounding roar of the hurricane which rushed from the north-north-west and north-west, cannot by language be described. About three the wind occasionally abated, but inter¬ vening gusts proceeded from the south-west, the west and west-north-west with accumulated fury. The lightning also having ceased for a few moments only at a time, the blackness in which the town was enveloped was inexpressively awful. Fiery meteors were presently seen falling from the heavens; one in particular, of a globular form and a deep red hue, was observed to descend perpendicularly from a vast height. It evidently fell by its specific gravity, and was not shot or propelled by any extraneous force. On approaching the earth with accelerated motion it assumed a dazzling whiteness, and an elon¬ gated form, and dashing to the ground in Beckwith Square, it splashed around in the same manner as melted ore would have done and was instantly extinct. In shape and size it appeared much like a common barrel shade. Its brilliancy and the spattering of its particles on meeting the earth, gave it the resemblance of a body of quicksilver of equal bulk. “ A few minutes after the appearance of this phenomenon, the deafening noise of the wind sank to a solemn murmur, or more correctly speaking a di¬ stant roar; and the lightning, which from midnight had flashed and darted forkedly, with few and but momentary intermissions, now for a space of nearly half a minute played frightfully between the clouds and the earth, with novel and surprising action. The vast body of vapour appeared to touch the houses, and issued downward, flaming blazes which were nimbly returned from the earth upward. The coruscations, for the short space of time they continued, instantly succeeding each other, this strange quivering or darting of flashes down and up may be compared to the miniature blazing produced by the rapid and irregular discharges of opposing artillery closely engaged. Whilst this remarkable phenomenon proceeded, the earth vibrated in a manner, and in time answering with the action of the lightning. Twice or more, when the coruscations were more brilliant and intense, but less rapid in succession, tjre earth received correspondent shocks. The moment after this singular alterna¬ tion of lightning, the hurricane again burst from the western points with a violence beyond conception, hurling before it thousands of missiles, the frag¬ ments of every unsheltered structure of human art. The strongest houses were caused to vibrate to their foundations, and the surface of the very earth trembled as the destroyer raged over it. No thunder was at any time heard; had the cannon of a hundred contending armies been discharged, or the ful- mination of the most tremendous thunder-claps rattled through the air, the sounds could not have been distinguished. The horrible roar and yelling of the wind, the noise of the tumultuous ocean, whose frightful waves threatened the town with destruction, if all the other elements might spare ; the clattering of tiles, the falling of roofs and walls, and the combination of a thousand other sounds, formed the most hideous din, which appalled the heart and bewildered if not alienated the mind. No adequate idea of the sensations which then 58 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. distracted the mind and confounded the faculties can possibly be conveyed to those who were distant from the scene of terror. The sheltered observer of the storm, amazed and in a state of stupor, was fixed to the spot where he stood; the sight and the hearing were overpowered, and the excess of astonish¬ ment refused admission to fear : what must have been the mental agonies of those wretched fugitives, who, destitute of a place of refuge, were the sport of the dreadful and ruthless tempest, and alive to all its horrors ! This unparal¬ leled uproar continued without intermission until half-past four, the raging blast then veering from the west and other points, to the southward of it, attended with avalanches of rain. After five o’clock the storm now and then for a very few moments abated, at which time the dreadful roar of the elements, having partially subsided, the falling of tiles and building materials, which by the last dreadful gust had probably been carried to a lofty height, the shrieks of suf¬ fering victims, the cries of the terrified inhabitants, and the howling of dogs, were clearly audible, and awakened the mind to a distressing apprehension of the havoc and carnage which had been, and still were desolating the island. “At half-past five, after a dreadful gust from the west-south-west, the wind suddenly chopped round to the east, from whence it blew a moderate gale, which in a few minutes increased, and changing to the south-east a hurricane again raged, but unaccompanied by those fatal gusts which from the western quarter had inflicted so much destruction. Torrents of rain at this time fell. At six the hurricane blew steadily and tremendously from the south, driving the sheets of rain horizontally before it. This continued till seven, when the wind, then from south-east, was more moderate ; but floods of rain still deluged the ruins of the town, and the miserable population who were now destitute of any shelter. At eight a.m. strong breezes blew from east-south-east; after that hour the dense body of cloud began to break up, and at ten o’clock the sun for a few moments darted its rays over a prospect of wretchedness and woe ; more replete with real misery and sickness to the heart than the field of battle (after a sanguinary conflict) ever presented.” A correspondent in the newspapers gives the following description of the appearance of the island after that horrific night:— “About eleven o’clock in the morning of the lltli of August, I ventured out and walked from the Careenage along the bay; not a house, not a wall, not a tree to be seen standing, until we reached the Honorable Mr. Beckle’s dwelling (part of which only is injured). Shingles, immense pieces of wood &c., knee-deep through the streets ; in one place the heads of the numberless dead were seen, in another their arms and legs in many instances severed from the body ; whilst others were carried to and fro on boards. I then went up to the garrison, and here my pen fails to describe the scene which presented itself; the barracks almost to the ground, and numbers buried in the ruins. I next proceeded to Bishop’s Court; here too was ruin and devastation—not a wall standing except the New Hall ; the Bishop, Mrs. Coleridge, and the Rev. Mr. Luckcock were in the Hall; neither his Lordship nor Mrs. Coleridge remembered my name, although I had before been an inmate of the family. They knew my person. The former had nothing on of his own CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL THyENOMENA. 59 except an old hat. I met Mr. S. at the foot of Gibraltar Hill (where his re¬ sidence was situated) with hardly a rag on his back ; to and fro was he wander¬ ing,—pitiful indeed was the sight; he from whom we had parted not five days before, in comfortable circumstances, was now reduced almost to beggary; his grandmother, mother and aunt, shocking to relate, hastening to the grave: Cavan’s house levelled to the ground; the Archdeacon’s escaped with little damage : Government House unroofed and otherwise materially injured ; the boys’ Central School slightly damaged ; the girls’ entirely gone, every indivi¬ dual within at the time buried in the ruins; but most providentially all have been dug out, and not so much as a limb broken; the King’s House and Com¬ missary quarters are standing, but the iron fence enclosing them totally de¬ stroyed 1 . Rev. Mr. Cummin’s house still erect although built of wood. Rev. Mr. Garnett’s almost to the ground; Cathedral roof half-gone ; Commissariat’s Office has sustained injury. I again reached town. Few houses I found standing uninjured except Mr. Pierce’s and Dr. Armstrong’s just opposite. Almost every merchant ruined ; few of them possess so much as a suit of clothes to walk the streets in. Every vessel thrown high up into the bay. “ Having seen the greater part of the town, I yesterday morning (the 12th) ventured to go into the country. After having crossed trees and streams of water, I reached Chaplain’s Lodge, the residence of the Rev. Mr. Watts; this was down entirely; the white inmates (Mrs. Watts excepted, who was at the Bishop’s) had escaped with difficulty and found refuge beneath Mr. Pinder’s shattered roof. The house of Mr. Hinkson (the manager of the Society’s estate) and other buildings down. “Now at the top of the hill what a scene is presented to my view ! No St. Mark’s Chapel, not a stone to tell where it stood: no Sealy Hall, and what is still worse, very little of the College was to be seen ; the new additions to each wing entirely gone; the Hall and the Chapel levelled, the foundations only remaining; the Library entirely demolished, not a vestige of a book to be seen 2 . “Were you to ride through the country you would actually be shocked; the scene generally is changed; it is with difficulty a road into the country is traced ; not a dwelling-house, not a set of sugar-works, and but few pieces of even the walls of the mills, are to be seen on the road from town to the College by the way of Kendall’s, and back again on the St. Philip’s road (two roads each 14 miles) through the heart of the country. You would scarcely credit the difference every thing presents to what we saw on our way to town on the 6th instant. Scenes of ruin and devastation are everywhere to be met with. For the last two days the living have been employed in burying the dead; this is a most distressing sight; wherever one turns, there are coffins to be met with, in each of which two poor creatures are in many instances conveyed to 1 One might ask, was this in consequence of electricity ? It is certainly remarka¬ ble that the house should remain standing, and the fence, otherwise open and not offer¬ ing much resistance, totally destroyed.—R. H. S. 2 Several of these books were afterwards recovered, and are now to be seen in the Library, according to all appearance attesting the rough usage of the merciless storm. 60 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. the grave. The cathedral, now converted into an hospital for the sick, is another most appalling sight; it is crowded with objects of pity. The Bishop’s little chapel St. Paul’s has one window remaining to show where it stood. The Governor has called a council for Monday next, to adopt speedy measures for the relief of the inhabitants generally, as well as to prevent, by application to other islands for supplies, a famine, which every individual is dreading. “August 15th. Everything still looks dreadful. Prayers yesterday morn¬ ing were offered up by the Bishop in the ground before King’s House ; by Rev. Mr. Garnett in the churchyard around the cathedral, and by other clergymen in different places. The papers give but an imperfect idea of the present state of the island ; none but a spectator can form a correct idea. That the gale was accompanied by an earthquake there is not the least doubt, from the appearance of the few walls which are left standing, being cracked from top to bottom ; also from the roofs of many houses having fallen inwards, whereas the wind in general carries the roof off entirely.” “ All is in desolation and ruin,” says another correspondent; “ our country villas are no more—our once-beautiful scenery is now also gone. No vdstige now remains of our groves and woods, and cocoa-nut trees; and even the soil which produced them is washed away, or rendered unfit to produce a crop. Where are the gay buildings now ? our splendid and magnificent garrison, barracks,stores, Government House, King’s House, Codrington College, Bridge¬ town, Speightstown, Holetown, &c. ? our Commissariat department, Custom House, theatre, schools, and other public buildings ? All are razed nearly to the ground. Where are our shipping, which rode so safe and majestically, so proudly, so gracefully in our beautiful bay ? The bay is there, to be sure; but, alas ! the beach tells the fate of many ships, brigs, schooners, sloops and other vessels ; some of them are stranded or foundered at their moorings, or drifted to sea; twelve at least are now to be seen high and dry, total wrecks.” These extracts sufficiently show the fury and devastating effects of the hurricane. A piece of lead which weighed 150 lbs. was carried to a di¬ stance of more than 1800 feet, and another piece 400 lbs. in weight was lifted up and carried a distance of 1680 feet. Rafters and beams were flying through the air with fearful rapidity, and shingles pierced in se¬ veral instances hard-wood trees and remained sticking in them. Another instance is related, that part of a child’s trumpet was driven into an ever¬ green tree, where it buried itself in the trunk. If an object so light as a piece of tin is driven into wood, the force required to bury it in the tree may be imagined. And nevertheless I have been told, that on that awful night a party amused themselves with dancing; who were so engrossed by their amusement, as to be w holly unconscious of the desolation which was going on around, until at daylight they left the house, and saw the ruins of the town and country. Several instances are know r n of children being blown out of the arms of their nurses or parents. Some perished, over others a guardian angel seemed to watch. A boy was blown down CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOKOLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 61 the cliff in the parish of St. Joseph, in the neighbourhood of Rose Cottage and Union; he was found lying stunned and wounded in a prickly bush, his head almost open; but by the kind attention shown him by the sa¬ gacious manager of the estate, he recovered 1 . Four years only had passed since Barbados was devastated, when the appearances, on the 3rd of September 1835, threatened anew the poor inhabitants with a storm. The weather was close and calm in the morn¬ ing ; but long ere it commenced to blow violently, the waves rolled with great force and of unusual height into the bay. At about nine o’clock it commenced to blow hard in the usual direc¬ tion of the trade-wind, from the east-north-east, accompanied by heavy rains; but little apprehension existed, until about ten, when the wind veered gradually to the south-east. As hurricanes are generally most vio¬ lent when they blow from the north-west, west and south-west, fears were not manifested, until at half-past eleven the violence of the storm became so terrific that persons could with difficulty keep their feet. The view from the wharf was now awful; the Carenage was crowded with schooners, sloops and flats, whose only safety was in the strength of the breakwater, the pier-head. The waves were breaking over it in masses, hundreds of tons in weight, rising into the air to the height of at least fifty feet. At two o’clock it had become comparatively calm; the wind had veered to the south, and before three there was scarcely breeze enough to extin¬ guish a taper. Several vessels were driven ashore, and a number of small craft were upset. In the town a number of the smaller wooden houses were blown down; the larger buildings however stood the storm. The cathedral was partially damaged, and the gates of the gaol were either broken open by the wind, or what is more likely, by the prisoners them¬ selves, and seventy-three out of eighty-three prisoners escaped, most of whom were however soon recaptured. “ The whole of the 9th of July 1837, the wind blew strong from north-east with occasional heavy gusts until 7 p.m., when there came a severe gale. At 10p.m. the wind moderated for a short time, when it began again with increased violence from south-east and south-south-east, until daylight next morning, when the gale abated. The schooners Myrtle and St. Andrews were driven on shore on the Pelican reef to the leeward of Carlisle Bay. The gale did some injury to the mills and houses in Barbados. “ This gale was met to the eastward of Barbados, both by the ships Trinidad and Castries. Captain Mondel, of the latter vessel, from Liverpool to St. Lucia, in lat. 15° 4' north, longitude 54° 58' west, having the wind then at east-south-east, the master being confident in his reckoning, his mate suddenly reported ‘ land on the lee bow,’ the man at the helm pointing it out at the 1 It has been my object to give here merely a description of the hurricane of 1831; for statistical information of the loss, and the means to avert the pending misery, I refer to the historical part of this work. 60 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. the grave. The cathedral, now converted into an hospital for the sick, is another most appalling sight; it is crowded with objects of pity. The Bishop’s little chapel St. Paul’s has one window remaining to show where it stood. The Governor has called a council for Monday next, to adopt speedy measures for the relief of the inhabitants generally, as well as to prevent, by application to other islands for supplies, a famine, which every individual is dreading. “August 15th. Everything still looks dreadful. Prayers yesterday morn¬ ing were offered up by the Bishop in the ground before King’s House ; by Rev. Mr. Garnett in the churchyard around the cathedral, and by other clergymen in different places. The papers give but an imperfect idea of the present state of the island ; none but a spectator can form a correct idea. That the gale was accompanied by an earthquake there is not the least doubt, from the appearance of the few walls which are left standing, being cracked from top to bottom ; also from the roofs of many houses having fallen inwards, whereas the wind in general carries the roof off entirely.” “ All is in desolation and ruin,” says another correspondent; “our country villas are no more—our once-beautiful scenery is now also gone. No vdfetige now remains of our groves and woods, and cocoa-nut trees; and even the soil which produced them is washed away, or rendered unfit to produce a crop. Where are the gay buildings now ? our splendid and magnificent garrison, barracks, stores, Government House, King’s House, Codrington College, Bridge¬ town, Speightstown, Iloletown, &c. ? our Commissariat department, Custom House, theatre, schools, and other public buildings ? All are razed nearly to the ground. Where are our shipping, which rode so safe and majestically, so proudly, so gracefully in our beautiful bay ? The bay is there, to be sure; hut, alas! the beach tells the fate of many ships, brigs, schooners, sloops and other vessels ; some of them are stranded or foundered at their moorings, or drifted to sea; twelve at least are now to be seen high and dry, total wrecks.” These extracts sufficiently show the fury and devastating effects of the hurricane. A piece of lead which weighed 150 lbs. was carried to a di¬ stance of more than 1800 feet, and another piece 400 lbs. in weight was lifted up and carried a distance of 1680 feet. Rafters and beams were flying through the air with fearful rapidity, and shingles pierced in se¬ veral instances hard-wood trees and remained sticking in them. Another instance is related, that part of a child’s trumpet was driven into an ever¬ green tree, where it buried itself in the trunk. If an object so light as a piece of tin is driven into wood, the force required to bury it in the tree may be imagined. And nevertheless I have been told, that on that awful night a party amused themselves with dancing; who were so engrossed by their amusement, as to be wholly unconscious of the desolation which was going on around, until at daylight they left the house, and saw the ruins of the town and country. Several instances are known of children being blown out of the arms of their nurses or parents. Some perished, over others a guardian angel seemed to watch. A boy was blown down CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 61 the cliff in the parish of St. Joseph, in the neighbourhood of Rose Cottage and Union; he was found lying stunned and wounded in a prickly bush, his head almost open; but by the kind attention shown him by the sa¬ gacious manager of the estate, he recovered 1 . Four years only had passed since Barbados was devastated, when the appearances, on the 3rd of September 1835, threatened anew the poor inhabitants with a storm. The weather was close and calm in the morn¬ ing ; but long ere it commenced to blow violently, the waves rolled with great force and of unusual height into the bay. At about nine o’clock it commenced to blow hard in the usual direc¬ tion of the trade-wind, from the east-north-east, accompanied by heavy rains; but little apprehension existed, until about ten, when the wind veered gradually to the south-east. As hurricanes are generally most vio¬ lent when they blow from the north-west, west and south-west, fears were not manifested, until at half-past eleven the violence of the storm became so terrific that persons could with difficulty keep their feet. The view from the wharf was now awful; the Carenage was crowded with schooners, sloops and flats, whose only safety was in the strength of the breakwater, the pier-head. The waves were breaking over it in masses, hundreds of tons in weight, rising into the air to the height of at least fifty feet. At two o’clock it had become comparatively calm; the wind had veered to the south, and before three there was scarcely breeze enough to extin¬ guish a taper. Several vessels were driven ashore, and a number of small craft were upset. In the town a number of the smaller wooden houses were blown down ; the larger buildings however stood the storm. The cathedral was partially damaged, and the gates of the gaol were either broken open by the wind, or what is more likely, by the prisoners them¬ selves, and seventy-three out of eighty-three prisoners escaped, most of whom were however soon recaptured. “ The whole of the 9th of July 1837, the wind blew strong from north-east with occasional heavy gusts until 7 p.m., when there came a severe gale. At 10p.m. the wind moderated for a short time, when it began again with increased violence from south-east and south-south-east, until daylight next morning, when the gale abated. The schooners Myrtle and St. Andrews were driven on shore on the Pelican reef to the leeward of Carlisle Bay. The gale did some injury to the mills and houses in Barbados. “ This gale was met to the eastward of Barbados, both by the ships Trinidad and Castries. Captain Mondel, of the latter vessel, from Liverpool to St. Lucia, in lat. 15° 4 ' north, longitude 54° 58' west, having the wind then at east-south-east, the master being confident in his reckoning, his mate suddenly reported ‘ land on the lee bow,’ the man at the helm pointing it out at the 1 It has been my object to give here merely a description of the hurricane of 1831; for statistical information of the loss, and the means to avert the pending misery, I refer to the historical part of this work. HISTORY OF BARBADOS. 61 killed a man named George Kennedy, and scorched his brother lying near him. In the adjoining house, it cracked the walls and burst through the door of a room in which were four or five persons, without injuring them. It destroyed also many trees, furrowed up the ground in three or four places, and greatly shattered a house. It was considered that there had not been a severer thunder-storm so late in the year since 1796, and scarcely one in the recollection of the inhabitants which had been so ex¬ clusively confined to the town. A severe thunder-storm passed over Barbados on the 20th of July 1808. It did considerable injury in St. Philip’s, as well as in St. Peter’s. Two horses were killed by lightning on the 26th of August 1811, and much injury was done to the outbuildings of the residence of Mr. Merritt near Pilgrim. More serious however was the thunder-storm which oc¬ curred on the 25th of October 1811. Nine negroes were working that day on the field at Armstrong’s in the parish of St. Lucy, when it threat¬ ened rain. The manager, who was with them in the field, proposed seek¬ ing shelter in a watchman’s box, but on second thought he hastened home, and the negroes now sought refuge therein. They had scarcely entered it, when the lightning felled them all to the ground; one man was struck dead, and the other eight severely wounded ; two died soon after they had been carried home 1 . A thunder-storm did some injury on the 30th of September 1817. Several persons were killed, and at Trents one of the mill-arms was com¬ pletely shattered, and thirteen sheep that happened to be in the mill were killed. I witnessed two thunder-storms on the 16th and 17th of July 1846, which for grandeur might have vied with many I had seen in the interior of Guiana. The lightning struck the mill at Mallard’s, and killed a boy who had sought refuge in it. The mill at Kendal’s in St. John’s was much shattered, and two oxen killed; likewise two oxen at Woodland in St. John’s. At Henly in St. Philip’s a man and his wife were forced out of bed, and narrowly escaped, the house being shattered. The mansion- house at Canefield, in the parish of St. Thomas, was also slightly injured. The lightning during these storms was almost continuous, and of a rose colour. The first storm commenced about eleven o’clock f.m. of the 16th ; the second at four o’clock a.m. of the 17th of July. Waterspouts .—Meteorologists are not agreed on the cause to which the peculiar phaenomenon of a waterspout is to be ascribed. The presence of electricity is evident, but whether that element is the cause or the effect, is a question which we have not sufficient information to decide. 1 An instance is recorded in which a larger number of persons were affected by the electric fluid; it occurred on the 11th of July 1819, in Chateauneuf-les-Moutiers, where the lightning killed nine persons and wounded eighty-two. CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. Go Professor (Ersted of Copenhagen describes this phaenomenon as a strongly agitated mass of air moving over the surface of the earth, and revolving on an axis, one extremity of which is on the earth and the other in a cloud. A whirlwind is considered analogous; and Horsburgh, the late Hydrographer of the East India Company, saw a whirlwind passing- over Canton River, in which the water ascended like a waterspout at sea ; and some of the ships that were moored near its path were suddenly turned round by its influence. After passing over the river, it was ob¬ served to strip many trees of their leaves, which, together with the light covering of some of the houses and sheds, it carried up a considerable way into the atmosphere. Waterspouts are very frequent during the hot months in the latitude of Barbados, and they are seen in various directions, and at some di¬ stance from the shore. They seldom pass over the land after having been formed over the sea, but on the occurrence of such a circumstance, they commit great damage, uproot trees, unroof the buildings, and suck up the water from the reservoirs over which they pass. This occurrence, though rare, has taken place more than once in Dr. Collyns’s recollection. A few years ago, one of these meteors passed over a plantation in the parish of St. Peter, causing some injury to the buildings, and much alarm to the family. The inhabitants consider this phaenomenon as a prognostic of rain, which generally takes place within twenty-four hours of its forma¬ tion. Whirlwinds are more frequent, especially during the months of August and September, when the sultry state of the atmosphere seems to develope more rapidly the causes in which they originate. Great Waves .—The sudden rise of the sea in the form of a gigantic tidal wave has been ascribed to submarine convulsions; and there ap¬ pears much reason in this opinion. The earthquake at Lisbon on the 1st of November 1755, has given direct proofs of it. The sea first retired, and laid the bar dry; it then rolled in, rising fifty feet or more above its ordinary level. The movement was most violent in Spain, Portugal and the north of Africa; nearly the whole of Europe, and even the West Indies felt the shock on the same day. The shock was felt at sea by several vessels, and a ship forty leagues west of St. Vincent, experienced so violent a concussion that the men were thrown a foot and a half perpendicularly up from the deck 1 . The wave rose to an uncommon height at Martinique that day three times in succession, and inundated the Bourg de la Trinite. A similar phseno- menon was observed in Barbados, as we shall see hereafter. At Tangier in Africa it rose and fell eighteen times on the coast. At Funchal in Madeira, it rose full fifteen feet perpendicular above high-water mark; and at Kinsale in Ireland, a body of water rushed into the harbour, whirled round several vessels, and poured into the market-place®. 1 Lyell’s Principles of Geology, book ii. chapter xvi. 2 Ibid. F GO HISTORY OF BARBADOS. The following is considered by the great geologist, whom I have just quoted, the most probable solution of the problem :—“ Suppose a por¬ tion of the bed of the sea to be suddenly upheaved, the first effect will be to raise over the elevated part a body of water, the momentum of which will carry it much above the level it will afterwards assume, cau¬ sing a draught or receding of the water from the neighbouring coasts, followed immediately by the return of the displaced water, which will also be impelled by its momentum, much further and higher on the coast than its former level.” The movement is considered by Mr. Micbell to have travelled at the rate of twenty miles a minute. I extract the following description of the phenomenon as it was ob¬ served in Barbados on the 1st of November 1755. “At twenty minutes after two o’clock p.m. on the former day, above an hour after it was high water there, the sea suddenly flowed and rose more than two feet higher than it does in the highest spring-tides, and in three minutes it ebbed so as to be as much lower than the usual lowest ebb; and then it flowed again as high as it did before; and thus it continued to ebb and flow, decreasing gradually in height and at a longer interval between the oscillations until nine o’clock, when the return of the usual tide put an end to this ex¬ traordinary motion of the sea. “ The day was remarkably serene with little wind from the east; the sea was calm and smooth before the swell came in. The water flowed in and out of the harbour with such a force that it tore up the black mud in the bottom of the channel, so that it sent forth a great stench, -and caused the fish to float on its surface and drove many of them on to the dry land at a considerable distance, where they were taken up by the negroes 1 .” A similar phenomenon occurred on the 31st of March 1761, at four o’clock in the afternoon, when the sea began to flow in Carlisle Bay; it appeared to ebb at eight o’clock, but at ten it increased considerably, and continued so until six o’clock next morning. Heavy ground-swells are more frequently observed. From the 9th of November to the 12th, 1818, a most extraordinary ground-swell was wit¬ nessed, during which the sea rose considerably higher than high-water mark. I have described these ground-swells or ground-seas, as they are called in the Virgin Islands, very fully in 1835 in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London. The sea approaches in undulating masses, which suddenly rise to large ridges, crested with foam, and form billows which break upon the beach with the greatest impetuosity. The operating cause of this sudden rise of the sea along shore is no doubt the effect of gales in the Atlantic, or on the northern coasts of America. 1 Observations on the Changes of the Air in the Island of Barbados, by W. Ilillary, M.D., p. 82. CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 07 The friction of the wind upon the surface of the water causes little eleva¬ tions or ridges, which by continuance of the force gradually increase, chiefly when the wind sweeps over a great extent of water. Finding no resistance and having sufficient depth to sink directly down, they pro¬ ceed in the direction of the wind until they meet repercussion from dashing against the shore, when they rise to an elevation much above their natural state 1 . A heavy ground-sea breaks up the bottom to a very great extent; and I know of an instance in which the moving power of the waves has turned up the anchors and driven the vessel ashore. Landslips in the Parishes of St. Andrew and St. Joseph. —Hughes, in his ‘ History of Barbados/ relates several instances in which large masses of soil, planted with canes, and even land with plantain and banana-trees growing upon it, accompanied with huge rocks, have glided down into the valley from the sides of the hill, or been carried to spots below. This happens mostly during the rainy season in the parishes of St. Andrew and St. Joseph, where the soil is a reddish loam and of an unctuous nature; and being of no great depth, it easily separates from the substratum and slides down in large masses. It is related that a Cabbage-palm about thirty feet tall, moved, roots, soil and all, several feet from the place where it grew, and glided in an upright posture to a spot below. This occurred on an estate in St. Joseph's. A similar circum¬ stance took place at Dr. Bascom's residence in St. Joseph during the hurricane of 1819, where several Cabbage-palms moved down a part of the hill, some in an upright posture, others inclined. The greatest landslip which is recorded took place on the 11th of October 1785, in that part of the parish of St. Joseph called Crab-hole. The in¬ habitants of that district were alarmed at the appearance of several deep fissures, which seemed to increase. Several persons were induced to re¬ move their effects, and the manager on the estate called Walcott's had just fled from the mansion with his family, when the soil was descending in large compacted masses from the neighbouring hill and partly over¬ whelmed the house. In the course of that night most of the buildings on the plantation shared a similar fate, and others sunk into deep chasms which were filled up with the mould sliding down from the adjacent hill. The aspect of the whole region from Walcott's to Crab-hole, extending upwards of a mile in length and about three hundred yards in breadth, was that of violent commotion. “ The earth, violently torn asunder, was intersected with numerous chasms, whose widely-extended jaws seemed ready to engulf whatever might be precipitated into them; while in other places it was swelled and inflated with enormous tumours, whose convulsive motions menaced the few remaining buildings with destruction. Nor was it long before they were involved in the general wreck, and sinking into the yawning 1 See Journal of the Royal Geographical Societv, vol. v. p. 23. V 2 08 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. gulf, left no traces of their former existence behind them. The face of nature was so completely changed in that district, that few of the inha¬ bitants could ascertain the spot on which many objects familiar to their remembrance had been recently placed. A field planted in Eddoes, occupied the site on which the mansion-house stood, and brought with it a long slip of the broad road, as perfect and entire as if it had not been removed. The cocoa nut-trees which grew about the house, and even the windmill, were gradually carried some hundred yards from their original situation, where the latter was completely swallowed up, no part of it remaining visible but the extremity of the upper arm 1 .” It is related that during the occurrence of this phsenomenon, the in¬ mates of a house, where on the following day a christening was to take place, had scarcely time to make their escape when the house was en¬ gulfed. The next morning no vestige of it was to be seen. Some time afterwards it was discovered through a fissure in the soil, which was en¬ larged, an opening made in the roof, and to the great astonishment of the persons who descended into it, the internal arrangements were found in the same order as before the accident took place ; even the christening cake was found unimpaired in appearance and taste. Landslips are not uncommon in Great Britain and other parts of Europe. One of great extent occurred at the back of the Isle of Wight, and another at Alum Bay. The fall of the mountain of Piz in 1772, overwhelmed three villages with their entire population ; and when part of Mount Grenier fell in 1248, five parishes were covered, the ruins oc¬ cupying an extent of nine square miles. The landslip at Crab-hole appears however to have been accompanied with phenomena which point to vol¬ canic actions, as exhibited in mud-volcanos. Earthquakes .—Barbados is happily removed from the immediate action of earthquakes, and no injury of great extent is known to have been sus¬ tained by the island. Slight shocks are occasionally felt, and of such a nature were those which occurred in 1670, 1674, 1675, 1700, 1702 and 1720. Oldmixon relates that there was an earthquake in April 1690, without doing any injury. “Two very great comets,” he continues, “ap¬ peared in those parts of the world; and in an hour and a quarter’s time, the sea ebbed and flowed, at an unusual degree, three times. This earth¬ quake almost desolated Antigua.” In more recent years several shocks have taken place, of which chiefly those in 1816 were remarkable for their greater strength. On the 22nd of December 1816, shortly after twelve o’clock at night, a shock threatened by its violence and continuance serious danger. Several dwell¬ ings, chiefly in Broad Street, were injured, and the effects of the shock were felt over the island, and on board the shipping in the bay. It ex¬ tended to Martinique and St. Lucia, and was likewise felt in Demerara. 1 History of Barbados, by John Poyer, p. 570. CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 69 From the year 1839 to 1843, the West India Archipelago was visited by three terrific and devastating earthquakes; namely, on the 11th of January 1839, in Martinique and St. Lucia; on the 7th of March 1842, in St. Domingo; and on the 8th of February 1843, in the island of Guadaloupe. The latter was felt more or less sensibly throughout the Caribbean chain, and on the adjacent continent; but the most dreadful visitation fell upon the town of Pointe a Pitre in Guadaloupe, where in an instant 5000 human beings were ushered into eternity. During this awful moment the earth heaved convulsively, and opened chasms in several places from whence dense columns of water rose to a considerable height. The damage which was occasioned in 1839, 1842 and 1843, by these earthquakes was estimated at £4,800,000 sterling. The shocks on the 8th of February 1843 were severely felt in Barbados, without however committing any injury. Who can picture to himself the scene where that earth on which we dwell opens at our feet and engulfs in its insatiable bowels the devoted victims! Flames and suffocating vapours rise from the depth, and in¬ crease the terror and confusion of such moments. The surface is in an undulating motion like a sea of boiling liquid. Stone buildings crumble to the ground or are swallowed up, and those who are spared from being drawn into the abyss, know not whence to fiy—where to find safety from inevitable ruin. The scenes connected with such phenomena it would be difficult to describe. The inherent feelings of human selfishness no doubt produce in the breast of the inhabitant of Barbados thoughts like these :—“ Thanks to a kind Providence, that our little island has not witnessed such scenes in our times ! ” Still there is a phsenomenon on record, which at the time of its occurrence produced the greatest anguish, and was no doubt considered by the multitude the forerunner of the last day. The following journal of an eye-witness gives a faithful description of the morning of the 1st of May 1812. A Journal of the Is/ of May, taken in the parish of St. Peter, bordering on the parish of St. Andrew; the time included from half-past twelve a.m. to six P.M. “At half-past twelve a.m., a heavy dark cloud obscured the heavens com¬ pletely, hanging so low as apparently to touch the ground; except in the south and north-east, where there was a fine light-blue tint, which closed in at half-past one a.m., when darkness visibly overspread this part of the island; at this period a sandy grit began to fall in small quantities. At two a.m., explosions heard to the southward and westward, resembling two frigates ex¬ changing broadsides, to the amount of eighteen or twenty: went to the top of the house, but could perceive no flashes, though the sound seemed sufficiently near, light being perceptible at a much greater distance than sound can be heard; the sandy grit converted into ashes, silently falling. From two to six a.m., low, murmuring, hollow, distant thunder, but no lightning seen; except the 70 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. vivid flashes which preceded two nearer peals. Between these periods, smart squalls with rain and ashes mixed, from the eastward, which seldom lasted above forty seconds, the ashes bearing a greater proportion than the rain in this composition. At half-past five a.m., a small glimmering in the south and south-east resembling the appearance of daylight, hut did not last ten minutes before the atmosphere was completely obscured again, and the dark¬ ness more intense, if that was possible. At half-past six a.m., heavy fall of ashes, with light breezes and a hollow low undulating noise to the northward ; expecting an earthquake, quitted the house, and retired to a wattled negro hut. From six to eight a.m., light breezes, with squalls of ashes and rain, of the same description and duration as mentioned before. During these last two hours, meteors resembling globes of fire, about the size of a 13-inch shell, appeared in the north-east and north-north-east, to the amount of ten or twelve, crossing each other in every direction, occasionally appearing and dis¬ appearing for the space of an hour and a half; so incessant a falling of ashes, as to render it impossible to face the eastward. At nine a.m. the sky to the northward assumed a purple, torrid appearance, greatly resembling a vast town at a distance on fire, accompanied by a tremulous motion resembling the Aurora Borealis; the horrid glare of this sky made the surrounding darkness more awfully dreadful; the sky to the southward, in the direction towards Bridge¬ town, had occasionally the same colour, only the tinge much fainter, attended with no motion; the sky never approached in any direction, by my calculation, nearer than seven miles ; as I have no data to go on, this is mere matter of con¬ jecture. From nine a.m. to twelve at noon, light breezes and constant and heavy fall of ashes. At ten a.m., a large flight of birds passed over the hut, flying so very low, that the fluttering of their wings was distinctly heard: the notes of these birds resembled the yelping of puppies. When daylight took place, they proved to be marine birds called Men-of-War, and Coblers; so loaded with ashes they could scarcely raise themselves from the ground. At a quarter-past twelve o’clock daylight appeared immediately over our heads ; half-past twelve, the form of the sun, obscured in clouds in the same place. At one p.m., daylight; returned to my own house. From one a.m. to half-past twelve p.m., the wind east to east-north-east; light gentle breezes, never varying above two points, but fluctuating between both ; the wind dying away nearly to calm, but never perfectly a calm. This maybe said to be the state of the weather during the whole twelve hours of total darkness, except when interrupted by the momentary squall of sand and ashes. The darkness was so impenetrable, that, with the exception of the light that was visible in the south and south-east at five a.m., at no period could anything be discerned even within reach. From three admeasurements taken in the lowest places, the fall of ashes was an inch and a half. When I left the house the thermo¬ meter was 70°, when I returned at 70°; as I left the instrument behind, I know not what variation might have taken place in my absence ; the other ob¬ servations were made with my own eyes, and the watch in my hand. It will be observed, the first two hours the sand was small in quantity and coarse in its nature; but the last ten hours were ashes, reduced to an impalpable powder, and sublimated to the highest degree. That it is a calcined matter CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 71 strongly impregnated with nitre and ferrugineous particles, does not admit of a doubt, if examined through a good microscope; and that it has come from the eastward may be supposed, from its involving in its mass the men-of-war birds, which are generally found about sixty miles to the east end of the island, seldom approaching nearer. From one p.m. to six, the fall of the ashes be¬ gan to decrease ; at six p.m., ceased altogether. At no period of the day did the light amount to more than a dull twilight; and at five p.m. the day closed altogether, and darkness succeeded until the morning.” In consequence of the report that an action had taken place between ships at sea, the Commander of the Forces, Sir George Beckwith, made personally every arrangement at the garrison of St. Ann’s, to act as cir¬ cumstances should require. They did not experience any of the darkness or fall of the volcanic substance in Dominica; but a little after midnight, in the morning of the 1st of May, not only the inhabitants of the town of Roseau, but of the island in general, were alarmed by repeated sounds from the southward resembling the distant discharge of heavy cannon, from which the general opinion was concluded that an enemy’s squadron had been engaged on the coast; this caused an alarm to be fired, the regulars were placed under arms, the militia called out upon duty, and a vessel despatched to Barbados with letters to the Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy on the station, with the intelligence. The army-ship Emma was thirty miles to the eastward of Point Saline at Martinique, when, early in the morning of the 1st of May, a dreadful explosion was heard, and the vessel was shortly afterwards enveloped in clouds of dust. His Majesty’s ship Dragon, when bearing up for Martinique, observed a thick cloud following the vessel at the rate of seven knots; and in the morning, at two o’clock, a drizzling shower of a sandy dust fell in such masses upon the deck, that during its continuation fifteen buckets were swept off the decks. The Diamond rock assumed the appearance of a souffriere emitting smoke in several places. The excitement was kept up in Barbados, and almost every arrival ren¬ dered the late phsenomenon more astonishing and of course additionally inexplicable. The captain of the ship Neptune stated that on the 3rd of May, when from 500 to 600 miles to windward of Barbados, there was a partial fall of the same kind of dust as fell in Barbados ; and most of the American vessels that arrived reported as to having observed it, some of them 200 miles distant from the island, the clouds of it going in a con¬ trary direction to that of the wind. The mystery was cleared up by the arrival of the sloop Hunter on the 6th of May, which brought the information of the eruption of Mount Souffriere or Morne Garon in St. Vincent. This volcano, which forms the most northern peak of the lofty chain which runs through the centre of that island, and had been inactive or dor- HISTORY OK BARBADOS. xnant for nearly a century, burst forth on the 27th of April 1812. A dreadful explosion from the mountain, with a severe concussion and tre¬ mulous noise in the air, was followed hy a vast column of thick smoke, mounting in the air to a great height and showering down sand with gritty calcined particles of earth and favillae. This continued with an in¬ creased rapidity, and was driven before the wind towards Wallibou and Morne Ronde. It darkened the air, and covered the ridges, woods and cane-pieces with light gray-coloured ashes. On Thursday the 30th of April, about nightfall, the flame burst pyramidically from the crater through the mass of smoke, and shoi-tly after seven o’clock the lava broke out on the north-west side. Eai-thquake followed upon earthquake, ac¬ companied by the thundering noise of the mountain; indeed the whole of that part of the island was in a state of continued oscillation. The morning of the 1st of May rendered the mountain only visible at eight o’clock; it was then enveloped in a dark gloom, and a thick haze hung over the sea with black sluggish clouds of a sulphureous cast. The whole island was covered with favillae, cinders, scoria and broken masses of vol¬ canic matter. The loss of life and property was comparatively inconsider¬ able, but it is assei’ted that about fifty souls perished in consequence of it. The theory of the existence of upper currents in the air contrary to those on the surface of the earth, was effectively established by the rain of ashes in Barbados, and as far as 500 miles to the eastward of it, as assei’tcd by the master of the ‘ Neptune.’ A similar phenomenon took place on the 20th of January 1835, when the whole isthmus of Central America was shaken by the eruption of the Cosiguina. The violence of the eruption was so great that it w as heard at Santa Fe de Bogota, a distance of about 900 English miles; and Union, a harbour on the western coast of the Bay of Conchagua, was for forty- three hours enveloped in absolute darkness by the clouds of falling ashes. The detonations were heard in Kingston in Jamaica, and the ashes which fell subsequently proved to the inhabitants that the sound of the explo¬ sion did not arise from cannon, as had been supposed. As in the instance of Barbados, the ashes could only have been carried by the upper current of air, as Jamaica is situated to the north-east of Nicai-agua. The ashes from the Souffriere in St. Vincent are still found to cover various places iix the parish of St. Thomas and elsewhere in Bai’bados. They are called Maydust; and it w r as afterwards proved that they imparted fertility to the soil upon which they were lying. It was asserted in a Barbados news¬ paper of that time, that Sir Humphry Davy had subjected these ashes to an analysis, and found it to contain silex, alumina, oxide of iron, and oxide of manganese, and he considered that it would fei-tilize the soil. Professor Ehrenberg of Berlin, to whom I sent some of the ashes, informs me that it resembles strikingly that of the Lipari Isles, and con¬ tains Phytolithari.T, organic bodies of terrestrial and freshwater formation. CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 73 Influence of the Climate on the Human Health .—Barbados is justly considered one of the healthiest islands in the West Indian Archipelago. It is open to the sea breezes, and being cultivated throughout, injurious miasmata are unknown. The peculiarity of its soil may add to its salu¬ brity ; and the natural drainage is so good, that it possesses no accumu¬ lations of stagnant waters, if we except artificial ponds ; consequently that vegetable decomposition does not take place, which in some of the less cultivated and richer islands produces poisonous miasmata, which render the residence of the European injurious to his health, and even fatal to his life. The preceding remarks have shown that there prevails a uniformity of temperature, which may be considered as one of the chief sources of the salubrity of the island. It is not the absolute degree of temperature which determines the healthfulness of a country, but the presence or absence of sudden changes of heat and cold. Tubercular consumption is almost unknown ; the distressing intermitting fevers which prevail along the coast-regions in Demerara, and in some of the adjacent islands, and which sometimes baffle the physician’s skill, are not met with among the natives of Barbados; on the contrary, those who suffer from such causes are advised to resort to Barbados for the restoration of their health. Dr. Evans, in his Treatise on the endemic fevers of the West Indies, describes the effect which the tropical climate exercises upon a person newly-arrived from Europe, or from another temperate climate, in the following words :—“ The arterial system is excited; the blood is deter¬ mined to the surface of the body ; the skin is either preternaturally warm and dry, or covered with profuse perspiration. There is a desire for cool drink, which, when taken into the stomach, increases the perspiration until the clothes become saturated with moisture. The skin then becomes irritable, and covered with a lichenous eruption, known by the name of prickly heat. 1 ” There is another eruption to which newly-arrived strangers are some¬ times subjected in Barbados. It consists of large hard lumps, which commonly rise on the hands, arms, legs, neck and face. They are of an irregular figure, and cause a good deal of irritation ; and if the patient does not refrain from scratching, little blisters rise, filled with a yellowish serum, which oozes out and causes a smarting pain. They disappear after a few days, but are soon succeeded by others in or near to the same place, and so continue successively for several weeks. These eruptions are erroneously ascribed to the stinging or biting of the mosquitos; Dr. Hillary however considers that they are efflorescences cast out by nature, and proceed from the great increased heat of the climate. Barbados is not entirely free from yellow fever; cases of this dangerous disease have occurred from time to time, but in a less frightful degree 1 Lichen tropicus. 74 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. than in the neighbouring islands. Dr. Evans’s description of the sensa¬ tion which the climate in St. Lucia produces on a European is very graphic, and may with equal justness be applied to other tropical countries. “ A European, or a native after a long residence in a temperate and healthy climate, arriving in St. Lucia, complains of a feeling of weight in the atmo¬ sphere—a something which resists the wish for exertion or exercise. Both his mind and body are oppressed; his intellect is clouded; his spirits are low and desponding, and all pre-existing love of enterprise vanishes. If his residence be protracted, he has slight febrile movements, which come on regularly or irregularly, not sufficiently severe to prevent his pursuing his usual avocations, but which, nevertheless, are sufficient to induce him to throw himself upon a sofa and require a powerful effort of resolution to combat. In this manner his body may gradually accommodate itself to the climate, but he may con¬ sider himself fortunate if he escapes so easily. In general, if he be guilty of any imprudences, he feels restless at night, and can only sleep during the cool of the morning. He feels out of sorts ; has pains in the back and extremities, as if from fatigue; he complains of headache, sickness and nausea; and if these symptoms are not attended to immediately, suffers what is vulgarly called an attack of seasoning fever.” It would he difficult to produce a greater proof of the salubrity of Barbados, than the following comparative table of the popidation and the number of deaths in the year 1844. Its correctness rests upon the re¬ turns from the rectors of the different parishes, the Superintendent of the Moravian Missions, and the Warden of the Jewish Congregation. My repeated applications for similar returns to the Wesleyan ministers were disregarded; and this omission may reduce the total result to 1 in 66, which is nevertheless a number seldom paralleled in any part of the world. A Table of the Population and the number of Deaths in 1844 in Barbados. Name of Parish. Population in 1844. Number of Deaths. One Death in every St. Michael, including Bridgetown.. 34,344 581 59-11 Christ Church . 14,089 183 76-99 St. Philip . 12,820 162 79-14 St. George. 10,174 187 54-41 St. John. 8,538 111 76-92 St. Joseph. 6,753 90 75-03 St. Andrew . 5,995 83 72-23 St. Thomas . 8,504 73 116-64 St. James. 5,704 61 93-51 St. Peter . 8,343 107 77-97 St. Lucy . 6,934 71 97-66 Congregation of United Brethren.. 75 Jewish Congregation. 1 Total. 122,198 1785 68"46 CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 75 The number of deaths amounted in England generally to 1 in 45; in the Isle of Wight to 1 in 58; in London to 1 in 39 ; in Bristol to 1 in 32; in Liverpool (parish) to 1 in 29; in the whole monarchy of Prussia in 1843 to 1 in 34-80, and in Pomerania, the healthiest province of that empire, to 1 in 44-10; in Naples the range of mortality was 1 in 34; in Wm-temberg 1 in 33; in Paris 1 in 32; in Nice 1 in 31; in Madrid 1 in 29; in Rome 1 in 25; in Amsterdam 1 in 24; in Vienna 1 in 22-5; and in Barbados it is no doubt underrated if merely assumed at 1 in 66. I have compiled from the returns which I received through the kind¬ ness of the clergy, the following table, which exhibits the ages at which, in comparison to the whole number of deaths in the course of the year, 1000 individuals died during the years 1841 to 1845, respectively. In a number of 1000 deaths which occurred in Barbados during the under¬ mentioned years respectively, there died :— Under the age of 1 Between the age of Between the age of Year. year. 1 and 10 years. 10 and 20 years. Males. Females. Total. Males. Females. Total. Males. Females. Total. 1841 147 135 282 146 168 314 25 25 50 1842 174 133 307 111 113 224 27 25 52 1843 155 327 282 122 101 223 26 28 54 1844 135 121 256 118 102 220 30 29 59 1845 148 109 257 159 148 307 18 25 43 Average. 152 105 257 131 126 257 25 26 51 Between the age of 20 and 40 years. Between the age of 40 and 60 years. Above 60 years of age. 1841 68 66 134 48 56 104 38 78 116 1842 70 68 138 66 GO 126 43 110 153 1843 61 73 134 73 76 149 52 106 158 1844 71 70 141 70 76 146 57 113 170 1845 52 57 109 66 60 126 61 97 158 Average. (it) 67 133 65 66 121 50 101 151 It will be observed that the greater number of deaths occurs among children, from the time of birth to their tenth year; and this number is so disproportionate that it points to a neglect which should be remedied by legislative means. In the year 1841, 596 cases in an aggregate of 1000 were deaths of children between the first and tenth year. This number struck me as so astonishing, that I made inquiries whether it was to be ascribed to an epidemic, but I was assured by several of the clergy that no epidemic raged that year, and that it could only be ascribed to the neglect of their offspring by mothers among the lower classes. In 76 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. the year 1841, emigration from Barbados to Guiana and Trinidad had reached its height • some mothers left their children with relations who perhaps did not take much care of them ; but much more numerous in¬ stances occurred where the father of the child emigrated and left the burden of the child to the mother, who, thus abandoned to her own resources, bad not the means of providing for its sustenance or attending to its necessities. Since religious instruction has been more disseminated among the lower classes, the birth of illegitimate children has decreased; neverthe¬ less they are so numerous, that their number would be considered in¬ credible, if the church-registers did not give proof of the fact. It is ascertained by the most accurate data in Europe, that the mortality is greater among illegitimate children than among such as are born in wedlock. This circumstance prevails no doubt likewise in Barbados, and has assisted to swell the number of deaths among children, which amounts in an average of five years to more than fifty per cent, of the whole number of deaths. Out of 10,000 deaths in the county of Rutland, 3756 died under twenty years of age; in London, 4580; in Prussia, 4223; in Barbados (if we increase the number from 1000 to 10,000 deaths), 5650, taking an average of five years. Those versed in statistics are acquainted with the fact, that, compara¬ tively, more boys die in early years than girls. This is likewise the case in Barbados. If the boy has survived his third year, he has perhaps as much chance of reaching an old age as a girl. In the preceding table the column between the tenth and twentieth year exhibits very low numbers. If we take the average number of the five years, it proves that of 486 individuals who survived the tenth year, only 51 died between the tenth and the twentieth year. Between the twentieth and sixtieth year, the number of deaths are nearly equal in the two sexes; but as women reach a much more advanced age than men, the last column above sixty years of age exhibits a much larger number of females than males. The latter had died off ere they reached their sixtieth year. It appears the climate of Barbados is particularly con¬ genial to the life of the female sex after they have reached their sixtieth year. Few countries in the world can show such high numbers as 113 out of 1000 deaths, where the deceased had reached an age above sixty. If it were required to produce another proof of the healthy atmosphere, the tables of the Mutual Life Assurance Office of Barbados would afford that instance. The first quinquennial report of the Society states, that since its foundation in 1840 only two deaths occurred. At the end of 1845, seventy-four individuals had their lives assured. The consequence is that .this infant Society, which exists only five years, was able to declare a CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 77 bonus of three per cent, per annum on the snm of every existing policy. If a person newly-arrived from Europe were to expose himself to the greatest heat of the sun, and if he were to follow strong exercise, such as he has been accustomed to in Europe, his health no doubt would soon suffer, and the climate prove fatal to him. We are the slaves of fashion and custom, and though our adhesion to them may be contrary to reason and convenience, no votary of the haut ton would venture to transgress against the iron rules prescribed by custom. In lieu of seeing the inhabitants dressed in linen and light summer stuffs, I have seen them walking in heavy frock-coats of a dark colour, as if to attract the heat of the sun the more, and very frequently attired wholly in black broad-cloths. I have regretted these poor slaves of dame la Mode, when they stared at a white linen jacket with looks of contempt and surprise. I do not wish it to be understood that I would pay a formal visit in a jacket, though white as snow; nor should I wish to see that etiquette set aside which the solemn proceedings of religious ceremonies, the deep importance of courts of law and justice, or the legislative sessions render indispensable; but why should we not consult our convenience and health when among acquaint¬ ances or attending on the business of every-day life ? My experience in the West Indies, varied as it is, has proved to me, that in this respect comfort and health are least studied in Barbados. The inhabitants of the East are much more rational in the manner of dressing then’ person according to the climate. Much has been written on this subject in military reports. The En¬ glish troops in their military coats, made of broad-cloths, and, as it has been the case with fusileer regiments, their head covered with a heavy fur cap, must of course be much more subject to the influence of the heat under the tropics, than the French and Spanish soldier in the West India colonies, who is attired in a light linen dress and his head covered with a light tzshako of felt. Exercise is especially necessary under the tropics for the preservation of health. That exercise must however be moderate; and newly-arrived Europeans especially should not expose themselves after half-past six o’clock in the morning, and before half-past five in the evening. The air in the morning hours is delicious and balmy, and it appears as if the lungs expanded at that period with greater ease, and inhaled the air with greater delight. Temperance is the first rule to be observed by those who wish to keep their health in a tropical country ; next in import is to select an early hour for retiring to rest, and to rise at daybreak. There is no doubt that the early death of many is to be ascribed to intemperance ; and this refers chiefly to European troops, who have occasionally suffered in Barbados as much as in any other island. The M r est Indies were formerly more destructive to the life of the English soldier than now. 78 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. From Commissary Sayer’s regimental returns, it appears that of 19,676 European soldiers sent by England to the West Indies in 1796, before March 1802, 17,173 died of complaints incidental to the climate. The opportunities of procuring “ white rum ” are so great that it is within the reach of every soldier. In the commencement it proves so unpalatable that it is seldom relished. They soon however accustom themselves to it, and prefer it to a healthier beverage. When fresh from the still it is of a most deleterious quality, and it has no doubt received in consequence the vulgar name of “ Kill Devil.” The advice of Sir James Clark to invalids who intend to visit the West Indies for their health, may be applicable to all, and should be impressed firmly upon the memory. “ The proper means to prevent any injurious effects from the increase of temperature, is to live somewhat more abstemiously than usual, and upon less exciting food. The quantity of wine generally drunk should be diminished, or it may be advisable to abstain from wine altogether. Long exposure to the direct rays of the sun should be avoided. Attention to these circumstances, with the use of a little cooling laxative medicine, will generally be all that is necessary on arriving in the West Indies. For some time afterwards, a con¬ tinuance of the same simple unexciting regimen should be persevered in, so that the system may become habituated to the exciting influence of a high temperature, and until the increased cutaneous secretion, which appears to be one of the principal means employed by nature to enable the living body to bear the heat of a tropical climate without injury, is fully established.” It is much to be wondered at that European physicians, who are ac¬ quainted with the even temperature and absence of chilling blasts, do not recommend Barbados as a sojourn for invalids labouring under pulmonary diseases. The splendid steam-packets, which now touch at Barbados every fortnight from Southampton, render an expeditious intercourse with England quite certain. The mode of living is perhaps cheaper in Bar¬ bados than in any other island in the West Indies, and the dwellings combine so many English comforts as far as they could be adopted in a tropical country, that if it were not for the palm-trees which surround them, and the balmy air in January and February, when w r e know that nature “ at home ” lies in the icy grasp of winter, we should be inclined to ask ourselves, “ Are we in England or in a foreign clime ? ” The advantages of sea-bathing, for which many arrangements are made at Fontabelle, Hastings and Worthing, are an additional recommenda¬ tion. The roads for carriage-drives, or where the strength of the patient permits it, for horse exercise, are excellent; but the greatest advantage to be derived from a residence in Barbados, is the even dry temperature, different from the climate of Madeira and Azores, which is moist and ex¬ ceedingly variable in its temperature. 79 CHAPTER VI. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE OF BARBADOS. POPULATION. —The population of Barbados at the time of the first settlement in 1625, appears to have consisted of thirty persons, who arrived in the ship called the William and John, commanded by John Powell, and landed on the leeward part of the island on the 17th of February 1625 h In 1627, when the Earl of Pembroke obtained a grant of Barbados in trust for Sir William Courteen, the population consisted already of 1858 men, women and children, including Indians 2 . A society of London merchants sent, in opposition to the former settle¬ ment, Charles Wolferstone with sixty-four settlers to Barbados, who landed on the 5th of July 1628 3 . The relation of the contest for supe¬ riority and the ultimate reconciliation of these two parties, belongs more properly to the historical part of my description; it is however of im¬ portance to keep in view, that the nucleus of the Barbados population consisted only of thirty individuals, which by immigration and natural increase had already in 1629 increased to from 1900 to 2000 persons. The fame of the fertility of the island produced not only a larger im¬ migration from England, but the young colony prospered so well, that Ligon reports that at his departure from Barbados in 1650, consequently twenty-five years after its settlement, the inhabitants were able to muster 10,000 men on foot, and 1000 men on horse 4 . The number of whites at that time were computed to be 50,000 5 . The nature of epidemic diseases, and the manifold forms under which they appear in different countries, is a subject of the highest importance, especially when we consider the vast number of our race that are swept from the earth by such diseases. The dreadful visit of the cholera in Asia and Europe, and the millions who fell victims to it, may be taken as an example what ravages such a public calamity causes in a population. Epidemic diseases have likewise occasionally visited the West Indies, 1 Memoirs of the first Settlement of the Island of Barbados. Extracted from ancient records, papers and accounts taken from Mr. William Arnold, Mr. Samuel Bulkly and Mr. John Summers, some of the first settlers, &c. London, 1743, p. 3. s An account of His Majesty’s Island of Barbados and the Government thereof. MSS. This manuscript is apparently a copy of Sir Jonathan Atkins’s report made in 1676. 3 Memoirs of the first Settlement of the Island of Barbados, p. 11. 4 Ligon’s History of the Island of Barbados, p. 100. s Oldmixon, The British Empire in America, vol. ii. p. 13. 80 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. and although under a different form, their ravages have been at different periods so great that they have materially thinned the population. Such a disease raged in America and the West Indies in 1647; in Barbados and St. Christopher’s, between 5000 and 6000 persons died of it; and Ligon observes in bis history, that on his arrival in Barbados, the living were hardly able to bury the dead. The disease was more fatal to men than women in the proportion of ten to one. As if to in¬ crease the calamity, there was also a general scarcity of provisions throughout the island 1 . This historian is not certain whether the disease was to be ascribed to a contagion brought to the island by the shipping, or whether it originated in the island. He inclines to the latter opinion, and ascribes it to the intemperate life of the inhabitants, for which reason he thinks the women were less subjected to its effects. The mortality was much increased by their throwing the dead bodies into “ the Swamp ” or morass which partly surrounded the town 2 . From contemporary historians, it appears to have been the yellow fever which raged through¬ out the West India Islands in 1647-49, and carried off during eighteen months nearly one-third of the inhabitants in the French islands. Governor Searle, in his return of the military establishment at Bar¬ bados taken the 6th of November 1656, and sent to Secretary Thurlowe, states that there were four regiments of foot, consisting of 4500 men, and eight troops of horse, numbering 800, in all a total of 5300 men. If therefore Ligon’s estimate was correct, the disease must have com¬ mitted very great ravages to reduce the military force to half their former number; but I am of opinion that he overrated greatly the number of its inhabitants, in which I am confirmed by M. de Rochefort, who, in his description of Barbados, observes that the number of white inhabitants amounted in 1646 to about 20,000 3 . From that period however it rapidly increased. The fame of the fer¬ tility of the island, and the civil war, caused many English to emigrate to Barbados. The emigrants consisted mostly of persons of a peaceable disposition, and when the king’s affairs seemed irretrievable, many in¬ dividuals of rank followed their example. This circumstance gave a certain tone and character to the colonists, which is more evident in their general bearing and manners than in other colonies. It induced Old- mixon to say of Barbados, that there were as many good families in that island as in any of the counties of England 4 . In 1676, Sir Jonathan Atkins reported the number of inhabitants in Barbados to be 21,725 whites, and 32,473 negroes 5 . Oldmixon states 1 Ligon’s History of the Island of Barbados, p. 21. 2 Ibid. p. 25. 3 Histoire Naturelle des lies Antilles, 2de edition. Rotterdam, p. 26. 4 Oldmixon’s British Empire, vol. ii. p. 111. 5 Reports of the Lords of the Committee, Supplement to No. 15. For detailed statistical information of the population at this period, see page 82. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 81 the number of inhabitants at that time at 150,000 souls, namely, 20,000 men, and 50,000 souls, all Europeans by birth or descent, and 80,000 negroes. The contemporary historians are much at variance; but from the authentic documents which I have had at my command, I consider this number a gross exaggeration. Sir J. Atkins’s report in 1676, states the number of inhabitants to have been at that period 54,198; and, as we shall see afterwards during the administration of Sir Richard Dutton, they amounted in 1683, according to the careful official reports of that Governor, to 66,170 souls. Oldmixon observes particularly; that this large population of 150,000 souls existed during Sir J. Atkins’s time in 1676; while, in direct contradiction to this assertion, we have his report, in which the population is stated to consist of only 54,198 souls. Six years later follows Sir Richard Dutton’s report, which bears every stamp of correctness. The population amounted to 66,170 indi¬ viduals; and this gives another proof of Oldmixon’s inaccuracy, as a decrease in six years of 84,000 individuals would be for such a small community a phenomenon unparalleled in the history of mankind. 1 fear much that the exaggerated reports of the population of Barbados misled the historians of that period, and that any number would have found credit, without its truth or falsehood being investigated. Du Tertre relates that M. du Blanc was sent in February 1666, by M. Clodore, the Governor of Martinico, to Lord Willoughby, to com¬ plain of the depredations committed upon the French by James Walker, the master of an English merchant-vessel; and to know if his Lordship had ratified the treaty which had been renewed between the Governors of St. Christopher’s. M. du Blanc appears to have been much surprised at the splendour of Lord Willoughby’s establishment, and the wealth of the island; he estimated its military force at from 18,000 to 20,000 infantry, and nearly 3000 cavalry, and the slaves at upwards of 40,000. He further observes, that the town at the bridge could turn out 4000 horses mounted by the merchants, who were expert horsemen, and exercised occasionally by able captains. In Colquhoun’s ‘British Empire,’ it is stated that the population of Barbados was calculated in 1670 at 50,000 whites, and upwards of 100,000 blacks and coloured, whose productive labour em¬ ployed 60,000 tons of shipping. The two manuscripts which I have had an opportunity of examining contradict in their details these statements. The first of these manu¬ scripts is a copy of a report rendered to the Government by Sir Jonathan Atkins, in 1676, and is entitled “ An account of His Majesty’s Island of Barbados and the Government thereof 1 ;” and the second, “The State of Barbados; Official Copy prepared for the Council of Trade preparatory 1 This manuscript has been made use of in the ‘ Reports of the Lords of the Com¬ mittee, &c.’ Supplement, No. 15. O 82 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. to the Government coming under their Lordships’ control 1 this last emanates from Sir Richard Dutton, and bears the date 1683-84. The population, in 1676, consisted, according to Sir Jonathan Atkins, of— White men able to bear arms.10,000 White male children.3,030 White women and female children.8,695 - 21,725 Negro men.10,525 Negro boys.5,827 Negro women and girls.16,121 - 32,473 Total.54,198 The ample details of the following tables from Sir Richard Dutton’s report are of the greatest interest, as exhibiting the state of Barbados between the years 1683-84. Survey of Barbados in 1683-84. Sir Richard Dutton, Governor-in- Chief. Name of the Parish and division. Families and House¬ holders. Free per¬ sons. Unfree persons and servants. Slaves. Men able to bear arms. Acres of land pos¬ sessed and useful. Sugar works. St. Michael, Parish and Town. 915 3,203 451 5,663 1145 7,514 25 St. Thomas . 275 898 258 4,070 578 7,738 39 Christ Church and Oystin’s Town .. 425 1,854 305 5,605 583 12,854 39 St. John . 165 846 191 3,710 433 7,319 32 St. Peter, and Spikes- town. 577 1,977 212 4,199 818 6,528i 41 St. Lucy . 462 2,222 75 2,536 508 6,824i 16 St. Joseph. 151 815 90 3,460 357 4,829 20 St. George. 200 1,032 274 5,222 627 9,884 48 St. Philip. 510 2,365 206 5,181 802 13,400 31 St. James,and Hole- town . 204 999 210 3,582 489 6,5774 29 St. Andrew . 172 946 109 3,374 421 7,049 38 Total. 4156 1.7,187 2381 46,602 6761 90,517^ 358 1 MSS. Phillipps, No. 879/, Thorp’s Cat. 1834. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 83 Marriages, Christenings and Burials in Barbados, Anno 1683. Name of the Parish. Marriages. Christenings. Burials. St. Michael, and Town. 100 99 343 St. Thomas . 14 16 65 Christ Church and Oystin’s Town.. 12 52 51 St. John . 6 12 40 St. Peter, and Spikestown. 21 32 124 St. Lucia . 54 60 105 St. Joseph. 3 9 45 St. George. 21 40 67 St. Philip. 28 46 90 St. James, and Holetown. 8 29 60 St. Andrew . 18 12 36 Total. 285 407 1026 Abstract of the Militia of Barbados, on the 15 ih of October 1683. Horse. Troops. Commis¬ sioned Officers. Men in all The Governor’s Life Guards. 1 7 / 102' \ 60 2 1 st Regiment of Horse. 6 25 435 2nd Regiment of Horse. 6 25 408 Total of the Horse. 13 57 1005 Foot. Compa- Commis¬ sioned Men in all. nies. Officers. Col. Edwyn Stede’s Regiment of Guards.. 12 37 1231 Col. Henry Walrond’s Regiment. 10 31 916 Col. Thomas Collerton’s Regiment. 8 25 636 Col. John Sampson’s Regiment . Col. John Waterman’s Regiment. Col. Sir Timothy Thornhill’s Regiment . . 10 34 763 8 25 553 10 34 807 Total of the Foot. 58 186 4906 Total of Officers and Men. ... 6160 1 Certain. 2 Uncertain. 84 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. The inhabitants are described as consisting at that period of four classes, namely freeholders, freemen, servants and slaves. The freeholders or proprietors were those who formerly held their lands from the Earl of Carlisle, under an acknowledgement of forty pounds of cotton. To these must be added merchants and tradesmen. The free men were such persons as had arrived in the island as engages, or under indentures, and who, having served out the stipulated time, were now freed from their masters and served in the country for wages. There are numerous instances on record, in which these men, through their good conduct and industry, raised themselves to become owners of freehold property and plantations. The servants, or, as they were called for di¬ stinction, the Christian servants, consisted of persons from England, Scotland and Ireland, who, for the sake of a certain bounty and a free passage to the colony, sold their servitude for four years or more. The fate of these unfortunate beings appears in many instances to have been worse (according to the contemporary historians) than that of the negro-slaves. They were worked to excess, badly fed and cruelly treated. This cruelty proceeded from their being engaged for a stated period only, which made the planters spare the negroes rather than these poor crea¬ tures. The details respecting their treatment, which are given by Ligon, Du Tertre, and at a later period by Oldmixon, confirm these assertions, and explain the diminution of white men capable of bearing arms. It appears that the planters had, at an earlier period of the colony, an aversion to the introduction of Irish servants into the colony; among the earlier acts of the island is one entitled “ An Act for the prohibition of landing Irish persons/’ which is dated the 29th of August 1644; how¬ ever, when mortality and war had reduced their number during the years between 1690 and 1700, this aversion no longer existed, and the planters were glad to import individuals of any nation. The system of importing white servants was followed to a greater ex¬ tent in Barbados than in any other colony. After their servitude expired, they became in some instances owners of parcels of land, or tenants at will. At a later period the law of the country obliged every estate to maintain a certain number of whites, in proportion to the number of acres and slaves which belonged to the estate. The proprietors there¬ fore in many instances granted lots of ten acres to poor settlers and former servants, from whence arose the appellation of the “ ten-acres- men.” The majority of the militia was composed of these men, who in their mode of life formed their own clan in associations and inter¬ marriages. Conscious of being of the same complexion and of similar descent as the masters, they assumed a greater pride than is usual among that class of men in Europe; labour in the field would have de¬ graded them to the standing of a negro, aud they preferred therefore living in a state of idleness, or at the utmost cultivating a few acres of CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 85 land as a garden or provision-ground. Others, who were more prudent, commenced the cultivation of ginger, aloes, arrow-root, and such minor articles as did not require any great outlay, and demanded merely manual labour for their culture. Their number increased rapidly; and as land became so much more valuable after the emancipation, many were now obliged to work with hoe and bill on the sugar-plantations, and many a white face may now be seen among the gangs of negroes labouring in the fields. These poor white people are more numerous in the parishes of St. Philip, St. Joseph and St. Andrew than in any others 1 . The fourth class consisted of the negro-slaves, who apparently were chiefly brought from the coast of Guinea. On some plantations there was a house for the Indian slaves, which was called the Indian House. Oldmixon accuses the planters of procuring their Indian slaves from the continent or the neighbouring islands by stealth or violence, and always with dishonour 2 . In 1691 some forces were embarked at Cadiz destined to act against Martinique. On their arrival in Barbados a contagious fever which pre¬ vailed among them was communicated to the inhabitants, which spread over the whole island, and raged more or less for twelve or thirteen years. Oldmixon relates that it carried oft’ above a third part of the inhabitants, and destroyed most of the seamen in the merchant-vessels, as well as in the men-of-war anchored in the bay 3 . Pere Labat visited Barbados in September 1700, when he was told that the militia consisted of six regiments of horse amounting to 3000 men, and ten regiments of foot amounting to 5000 men 4 . In 1712 the po¬ pulation was officially returned at 12,528 whites, and 41,970 negroes. In 1724 the white population amounted to 18,295, amongst whom there were 4812 men able to bear arms. In an account of the strength of the British West India Islands in 1736, Barbados is enumerated as possessing 17,680 whites, and 4326 militia, horse and foot. The small-pox raged in 1738; it was considered that in March of that year 3000 persons suffered from it. Inoculation was practised with great success 5 . 1 Coleridge, in his ‘ Six Months in the West Indies,’ is too severe upon this class of people. There may be instances of idleness, ignorance and debauchery among them, but he ought not to have made such a sweeping assertion, and his description of their complexion is scarcely fit for such a work as his clever production. 2 Oldmixon’s British Empire in America, vol. ii. p. 14. 3 Ibid. p. 102. 4 Nouveau Voyage aux lies de l’Amerique, par le Rev. Pere Labat. Paris, 1742, vol. vi. p. 194. 5 Lady Mary Wortley Montague introduced inoculation into England from Turkey. In 1718 she had her own son inoculated at Adrianople. The first trial in England was made, in 1721, upon seven condemned criminals. It must have been soon after¬ wards introduced into the Colonies. 80 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. The number of negroes amounted in 1753 to 69,870, and the popula¬ tion in the subsequent years was as follows:— Population in— Whites. Free Coloured persons. Negroes. 1757 16,772 63,645 1773 18,532 68,548 1786 16,167 833 62,115 1787 16,127 2229 64,405* 1805 15,000 2130 60,000 1 2 1812 13,749 2613 69,132 1829 14,959 5146 82,902 In 1844, Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for the Colonies directed the different Governors of the British West India Islands and in British Guiana, to take the necessary steps for obtaining a census of the popula¬ tion in their respective districts. It is much to be regretted that the census of Barbados is the least satisfactory of any obtained at that period. While the returns from British Guiana possess real statistical merit and enter into every detail, a false scruple of giving offence prevented those who prepared the re¬ turns in Barbados, from dividing the inhabitants into blacks, coloured and whites. W hen will that morbid feeling cease, which affixes the mark of pride or shame to the colour of the features, and leaves the moral feeling and real worth disregarded ? Census of the Population of the Island of Barbados, taken on the 3rd of June 1841. Name of Parish. [Above 18 years of age, employ¬ ed in agricul¬ ture. Above 18 years of age, employ¬ ed in trade or other business. Above 18 years of age, having no employment. Under 18 years of age. Total. Males. Females. Males. Females. Males. Females. Males. Females. Bridgetown .. 137 90 3,553 5,308 356 2009 3,800 4,109 19,362 St. Michael 1 (Rural).... / 1,437 MO 17 1,896 2,317 241 915 3,285 3,394 14,982 Christ Church. 1,720 2,128 1,382 1,492 169 698 3,319 3,181 14,089 St. Philip .... 1,852 2,041 999 1,215 163 505 2,979 3,066 12,820 St. John. 1,329 1,141 1,445 1,107 602 638 108 529 2,032 1,855 8,538 6,753 St. Joseph .... 445 537 70 292 1,587 1,574 St. Andrew.... 1,098 1,045 323 480 72 290 1,396 1,291 5,995 St. George.... 1,522 1,539 859 901 100 517 2,346 2,390 10,1/4 St. Thomas . .. 1,566 1,369 506 563 109 504 1,905 1,982 8,504 St James .... 847 886 436 468 131 367 1,248 1,321 5,704 St. Peter. 846 1,030 1,252 929 1,263 595 157 331 1,870 1,917 8,343 St. Lucv. 1,081 418 63 260 1,574 1,691 6,934 14,576 15,429 12,348 15,777 1739 7217 27,341 27,771 122,198 1 From the Report of the Privy Council, 1788. 2 Sir William Young’s West India Common-place Book, p. 3. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 87 Sir Charles Grey, in his despatch to Lord Stanley on the subject of the census, observes that he. has reason to believe, that in consequence of the mode of taking the census not being sufficiently searching and rigid, the returns exhibiting the whole population of the island as 122,198 persons, fell short of the real number by some thousands; the Governor ventures to assert that the population is not less than 130,000, and that it is fast increasing 1 . The uncertainty and paucity of the data which are at my command prevent my entering into the necessary calculations, whether the increase of the population in Barbados rests upon similar principles to those ex¬ hibited in England, Prussia, and other European states. The population of Barbados, according to official returns in the Trea¬ surer’s Office, consisted in 1812 of 85,494 souls. According to the census of 1829, it amounted to 103,007 persons, which shows an increase of 17,513 souls during the seventeen years, or an increase of three and a third per cent, for every triennial period. The population during these seventeen years rose therefore from 100 to 120 - 48. The highest increase in the population in the monarchy of Prussia, between the years 1825 and 1843, or during a period of eighteen years, was in the district of Koeslin in Pomerania, where it had risen from 100 to 143; in the whole mo¬ narchy however the increase was only from 100 to 126. The increase therefore of the population of Barbados corresponded nearly with that of the Prussian monarchy. The period between 1830 and 1844 in Barbados offers a less satis¬ factory picture; the numbers present merely an increase of one and five- eighths per cent, for each triennial period, or the population during these fourteen years rose only from 100 to 108’ 13. The great event of the abolition of slavery and an unrestricted emigra¬ tion took place during this interval. There may be much truth in Sir Charles Grey’s assertion, expressed in his despatch to Lord Stanley (then Secretary of State for the Colonies), that the population of Barbados, as returned in 1844, is underrated by 8000 souls; but in a philosophical point of view, this assertion can only be taken as an individual opinion against official documents, and the inquirer into statistics has to regret that the census should not have been taken with greater accuracy. If the population had increased as steadily between 1830 and 1844 as it did between 1812 and 1829, the population of Barbados would have amounted in 1844 to 133,140 souls. The following table will be of interest; it exhibits the superficial area, and the population for each square mile, in 1844; and further, the popula¬ tion as divided according to per-centage between the different parishes. 1 Parliamentary Returns on the West Indies and British Guiana, No. 42(5, June 1845, p. 7- 88 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Name of Parish. Superficial area in English square miles. Number of in¬ habitants upon each square mile in 1844. Per-centage, or comparative num¬ ber of inhabitants in the parish in relation to the whole population in 1844. TC rill ge town. 15-84 St. Michael (Rural district). . 15-0 1070* 12-26 Christ Church . 22-3 632 11-53 St. Philip . 23-5 546 10-50 St. George. 16-9 602 6-99 St. John. 13-5 632 5-53 St. Joseph. 9-4 718 4-90 St. Andrew. 13-7 438 8-33 St. Thomas. 13-3 639 6-96 St. James . 12-1 471 4-67 St. Peter. 13-0 642 6-82 St. Lucy. 13-6 510 5*67 Taking the whole area of the island and its population from the census of 1844, we find 734-8 individuals upon each square mile,—a popula¬ tion which surpasses that of China. Among the European sovereignties the dukedom of Lucca is the most populous; it contains 401 persons to the square mile ; Belgium has 321 ; England and Wales 275; Scotland 88-5; Ireland 251-4; France 167-3; Prussia 145; Sweden 18-3. The population consisted in 1844 of 56,004 males, and 66,194 females; consequently there was a surplus of 10,190 females, or the number of males stood in relation to that of females as 100 to 118-19; which is a disproportionate number. In Prussia the relation is as 100 to 104-93; in France as 100 to 104-3; in Austria as 100 to 103. Among the younger classes under eighteen years of age, this relation is only in Bar¬ bados as 100 to 101-57; but if the movement of the population rested in the West Indies upon the same principles as in Europe, there ought to be a great surplus of males above females at that age. The number of females only commences to preponderate in Europe at about the fortieth year. The picture of the moral state of the lower classes is certainly not the brightest: it is however evident that some improvement has taken place since the last trace of slavery disappeared in Barbados. The increased care of a vigilant clergy, and their admonitions from the pulpit and in their pastoral visits, have no doubt produced much salutary reform. The decencies of civilized life are held in greater respect among the labouring classes than they were fifteen or twenty years ago; and, although there may still be many instances where man and wife live together without 1 Excluding Bridgetown, which has 19,362 inhabitants. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 89 the religious sanction of the marriage-tie, the marriages have been more numerous. The number of marriages compiled from the registers in the different parishes, amounted in 1835 to 634; in 1836 to 939; in 1837 to 980; in 1838 to 1471; in 1839 to 1909 ; in 1840 to 1371; in 1841 to 1120; in 1842 to 1139; in 1843 to 1047; in 1844 to 779; in 1845 to 651. The great increase after the abolition of the apprenticeship in 1838 is highly gratifying. There is no doubt that many of these marriages took place between persons who had been long living together; nevertheless it showed an improvement in their religious feeling: it would be un¬ christian to ascribe it solely to a wish of imitating their superiors, and to a false pride in a more respectable appearance. In 1844 there were married 779 couples; consequently there was a marriage for every 156 - 9 persons of the population. It is to be feared that among the younger classes of the peasantry there is still a much greater unreserved intercourse than those who take an interest in the moral and religious state of the colony would wish to see. Virtue is not estimated among the lower classes as in a Eurpoean civilized community. Influenced by climate and an innate desire, the free indulgence of passion is of much more frequent occurrence among the female sex of the lower grades than under a temperate zone, where to fall from the path of virtue entails the scorn of the world and loss of position in society, be that society ever so humble. A town large in com¬ parison to the country to which it belongs always offers a greater concen¬ tration of immorality and vice than a rural district; and this is still more increased where a seaport and military establishments are connected with it, as is the case in Bridgetown. The following table exhibits the number of baptisms of legitimate and illegitimate children in the parishes of St. Michael (including Bridgetown), St. John, and St. Joseph. The returns from the other parishes are not sufficiently detailed to allow my adding their data to the table; they however present the same features, and prove that the existence of that immorality prevails almost equally over the island. 90 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Baptisms of Children in the undermentioned Parishes. Year. St. Michael, including Bridgetown. St. John. St. Joseph. Legiti¬ mate. Illegiti¬ mate. Legiti¬ mate. Illegiti¬ mate. Legiti¬ mate. Illegiti¬ mate. 1835 146 816 85 114 187 179 183G 172 877 70 245 155 174 1837 185 874 93 215 101 177 1838 316 1137 90 202 115 179 1839 234 1119 140 208 135 170 1840 355 587 163 107 1841 271 515 87 273 164 156 1842 410 679 158 168 136 144 1843 383 727 168 175 148 149 1844 389 749 209 152 109 177 1845 456 707 217 165 126 173 In England every fifteenth child is illegitimate, in Belgium the fifteenth, in Sweden the fourteenth, in Prussia the thirteenth, in France the thirteenth, in Austria the ninth, in Bavaria the fourth; in Barbados the illegitimate children exceed those born in wedlock. The healthy state of the island has been alluded to in a former chapter ; the accompanying table exhibits the number of burials during eleven years. For reasons I have already stated 1 , those of the Wesleyan congregation are omitted. The Catholic Church has only a very few members amongst the inhabitants. Burials in the Island of Barbados during the undermentioned years. Year. Established Church of England. Under the age of 1 year. From 1 year to 10 years. From 10 years to 20 years. Males. Females. Total. Males. Females. Total. Males. Females. Total. 1835 86 93 179 205 170 375 33 27 60 1836 163 137 300 184 199 383 35 31 66 1837 274 178 452 266 289 555 43 54 97 1838 231 222 453 307 286 593 61 58 119 1839 326 317 643 356 364 720 71 79 150 1840 331 246 577 226 218 444 60 64 124 1841 475 436 911 471 546 1017 80 82 162 1842 329 253 582 211 214 425 51 48 99 1843 318 261 579 251 209 460 53 58 111 IS | 1 230 207 437 201 174 375 51 49 100 1845 420 310 730 452 420 872 52 71 123 1 See ante, p. 74. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 91 Table ( continued ). Established Church of England. Year. From 20 years to 40 years. From 40 years to 60 years. Above 60 years. Males. Females. Total. Males. Females. Total. Males. Females. Total. 1835 122 96 218 107 115 222 43 99 142 1836 162 169 331 127 118 245 57 130 187 183/ 98 168 266 97 137 234 59 157 216 1838 192 183 375 119 99 218 85 179 264 1839 230 181 411 144 157 301 110 220 330 1840 205 191 396 123 139 262 84 183 267 1841 220 214 434 154 181 335 122 253 375 1842 132 129 261 126 113 239 82 208 290 1843 126 150 276 149 155 304 106 217 323 1844 134 122 256 119 129 248 97 193 290 1845 147 164 311 189 171 360 175 275 450 Congregation of the United Brethren. Jewish Congregation. Children to 12 years of age. Adults. Children and Adults. 1835 19 14 33 6 14 20 1 1 1836 14 16 30 7 19 26 3 2 5 1837 33 25 58 12 21 33 2 2 1838 28 26 54 28 21 49 2 5 7 1839 25 25 50 12 28 40 1 2 3 1840 24 27 51 21 21 42 1 1 1841 59 56 115 27 32 59 3 1 4 1842 35 22 57 19 17 36 1 1 1843 21 17 38 21 27 48 2 ... 2 1844 24 11 35 20 20 40 1 1 1845 36 29 65 30 47 77 Year. Total. Grand Total. Males. Females. 1835 621 629 1266 1 1836 752 821 1597 1837 884 1029 1926 1838 1053 1079 2138 1839 1275 1373 2659 1840 1075 1091 2182 1841 1611 1801 3420 1842 985 1005 1999 1843 1047 1094 2143 1844 877 905 1785 1845 1501 1487 2992 1 The discrepancy in the sum total as compared with the specified burials, arises from the circumstance that the age of some of the deceased persons not being known, they have been added to the grand total. 92 HISTORY OK BARBADOS. Religious and Public Instruction .—The Church of England is the pre¬ vailing religion, and her clergy are maintained from the public revenue. If we consult the history of our colonies, it will generally be found that the first settlers were of that class of society in which morals and virtue are seldom to be met with. Ruthless and unprincipled, it was not amelioration of their Christian virtues which led them to distant climes, but the desire of enriching themselves by any means at their command. The horrors of conquest, the extirpation of the aboriginal races, in¬ ternal wars, and slavery are pictures of which history presents the West Indies as the theatre. Barbados was perhaps less prominent in the drama of bloodshed than the neighbouring islands, nevertheless the first settlers soon became dissolute in their manners; and their first minister, the Rev. Nicholas Leverton, B.A. of Exeter College, Oxford, was so disgusted with their profligate conduct, that in 1625 he resolved on leaving Barbados, where he had scarcely passed a year. An attempt being made, from Barbados, of settling the island of Tobago, he sailed as chaplain with the settlers 1 . The Island of Barbados was divided in 1629, during the administra¬ tion of Sir William Tufton, into six parishes, namely, Christ Church, St. Michael, St. James, St. Thomas, St. Peter and St. Lucy. It is how¬ ever uncertain whether a rector presided over each of these parishes. Among the early acts without date in Hall’s list of obsolete laws in Bar¬ bados, and which are ascribed to Governor Philip Bell, is one for the settle¬ ment of the minister’s dues. During his administration he provided for the uniformity of common prayer and the establishment of public worship, and the number of parishes were increased to eleven—St. George, St. Philip, St. John, St. Andrew and St. Joseph being now added to the former. Churches were built (though very indifferent ones, as Oldmixon observes), and a minister was appointed to each parish. In 1651, an Act was passed for appointing and regulating a con¬ venient salary for the maintenance of the several ministers within Barba¬ dos. This Act was repealed the following year, during the administra¬ tion of Daniel Searle, and another was substituted. It appears to have been the wish of the colonists, some years after the first settlement of the island, to avoid the disputes which so frequently occurred in England, where the rectors depended for their maintenance on tithes. As at that time there was no money in the island, and all dealings were conducted by barter, a law was passed giving the rectors a pound of sugar for every acre of land in the parish ; but this was soon found to be troublesome 1 See Dr. Calamy’s Nonconformist’s Memorial, Palmer’s edition, vol. i. p. 3/1. This attempt of a settlement in Tobago failed completely. The settlers after having landed were attacked by the Indians, a number of them killed, and Mr. Leverton was wounded in the head. A few only, and among these their chaplain, saved them¬ selves by swimming to the ship, which was lying at some distance from the shore. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 93 and inadequate. In September 1661, the ministers in their respective parishes were enjoined to keep a register of christenings, marriages and burials, for which the churchwardens had to provide a book, and certify the same into the Secretary’s Office in the month of March, yearly, on penalty of one thousand pounds of sugar. Towards the commencement of the eighteenth century, the church took a more prominent part, and was placed upon a firmer footing. The Bishop of London, as Ordinary of all the English Colonies in America, appointed the Rev. William Walker, Minister of St. Peter’s, as his Surro¬ gate. We have already observed that the island was at that time divided into eleven parishes, over each of which a minister presided, besides a curate for the Chapel of All-Saints. The former law of paying the mi¬ nister’s due in the produce of the country was repealed, and another was substituted during the Session of 1704-1705, which fixed the salary at £150 per annum; but the legislature, as if conscious that the sum was in¬ adequate, expressly permitted the vestries to give presents to their rectors. There was no material change in church affairs during the eighteenth century. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts sent out a clergyman to their estates in Barbados, which had been left to them by General Codrington, as chaplain and catechist, between the years 1712-13. His stated duties were to consist in instructing in the Christian religion the negroes and their children within the Society’s plantation, and to superintend the sick and maimed negroes and servants. The Incorporated Society for the Conversion and Religious Instruction and Education of Negro Slaves in the British "West India Islands, likewise sent out missionary clergymen in 1794,1795 and 1798, and among others to Barbados, St. Christopher, Antigua, and St. Vincent. Some of these clergymen were supplied with the assistance of schoolmasters and catechists. The instruction of that neglected class now became the subject of greater anxiety in England as well as in the Colonies. Circulars w r ere sent by the Bishop of London in 1808-1809 to the clergy in the West Indies, recommending the establishment of Sunday-schools upon Bell’s system for the instruction of negro children. The Rev. Mr. Harte, then Rector of St. Joseph’s parish, commenced on Sunday, July 24th, 1808, the laudable undertaking of instructing the negroes of his parish in the duties and principles of Christianity. A school on Bell’s system had been established on the estate of Dr. Holder, for the instruction of the negro children upon it; and the Bishop of London had sent a young man who was well acquainted with Dr. Bell’s method of teaching to superintend it. This attempt proved however unsuccessful. The inadequate salary of the beneficed clergy became the subject of a motion during the session of the Legislature in 1807. The Bill passed 94 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. the General Assembly, March 17th, 1807; and the Speaker, attended by all the Members of the House, went on the 24th of March into the Council- Chamber, and presented the Bill to the President, Mr. Spooner, who then administered the Government, addressing him as follows :— “ May it please your Honour, “ By order of the House of Assembly, and with the unanimous appro¬ bation of His Majesty’s Council, I present for your Honour’s assent a bill intitled, ‘ An Act to Increase the Stipends of the Beneficed Clergy of this Island.’ By this Bill, the sum of £150 per annum is added to the stipends of the several rectors of this island; an act of justice to that worthy and respectable class of men, which the decrease in the value of money has rendered necessary.” The President was pleased to assent to this Act, which became the law of the island. During the administration of Sir James Leith the stipends were raised to their present amount, namely £500 currency per annum. This was based upon an Act which passed the Legislature on the 27th of June 1815. The number of the clergy of the Established Church had not increased in 1812. They consisted of eleven rectors and one assistant curate; two clergymen were engaged at the Codrington Grammar School. The Quakers, with that benevolent feeling for converting the heathen to Christianity so prominent in their character, saw a wide field open for their exertion after the introduction of African slaves. Their endeavours to instruct the negroes were however considered dangerous, as promulga¬ ting a sense of equality, which might lead to insurrections, and many were obliged to leave the island in consequence of severe prosecution. Several fled to Jamaica in 1658, where they were kindly received by General D’Oyley. On the 21st of April, 1676, an Act passed the Council to prevent negroes from attending the religious meetings of Quakers: this Act only came into operation on the 8th of June 1681 h Their number decreased by emigration and otherwise, and at this time there is not a single meeting-house in the island; nor is the author aware that there is among the present inhabitants a member of that sect. In 1810, an Act which prohibited Quakers from taking negroes to their * The preamble of this Act is worded as follows:—“ Whereas of late many negroes have been suffered to remain at the meetings of the Quakers, as hearers of their doctrine, and taught in their principles, whereby the safety of the island may be much hazarded, &c., &c.” The Act prohibited the negro from attending any meeting¬ house, under penalty of being forfeited if belonging to any of the Quakers, half the money to go to the informer, the other half to the public use of the island. The same Act contained a clause which forbade Dissenters instructing any pupils or keeping schools upon the island.—Oldmixon’s British Empire in America, vol. ii. p. 38. Sewell’s History of the Quakers, p. 535. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 95 meetings was repealed, as being a dead letter, since in fact there were no Quakers in Barbados. Their place was taken by another sect, the Moravians or United Brethren, who led the way as missionaries for the propagation of the Gospel among the heathens in Greenland, America, the Cape, the East and West Indies. Their unassuming and humble conduct, a non-inter¬ ference with the political and domestic state of their field of operations, and their religious zeal, soon gained them the esteem of their fellow- men. A missionary had been sent as early as 1732 to St. Thomas, and although the commencement was discouraging, their zeal remained un¬ abated ; and at a later period missions were not only established in the three Danish islands, but likewise in Antigua, Jamaica, &c. The mission to Barbados was commenced in the year 1765. During the first twenty-five years the missionaries laboured with but little success. In 1790, the number of converted negro-slaves amounted only to about forty. From that period the Gospel-message preached by them began to find more acceptance. In 1791, the number of baptized negroes under their care consisted of forty-four adults and three children. In 1812, the congregation at Sharon consisted of seventy-four men and boys, 147 women and girls, of whom three were free. The United Brethren possess at present four missionary stations in Barbados; namely, Sharon in the parish of St Thomas, with a congre¬ gation of 2293 individuals under the care of two missionaries, one of whom (at present the Rev. John Ellis) has the superintendence of the stations; Mount Tabor in the parish of St. John, with a congregation of 490 individuals under the care of one missionary; Bridgetown, with a congregation of 519 individuals under the care of one missionary; and Clifton Hill in the parish of St. Thomas, with a congregation of 609 in¬ dividuals under the care of one missionary. Their congregations in Barbados amount therefore to 3911 individuals, under the care of five missionaries. The zealous exercise of their religious duties, coupled with their inde¬ fatigable industry and exemplary conduct, obtained for them likewise in Barbados the approbation and encouragement of numerous private individuals, who by bequests in favour of the missions, showed the sense they entertained of their pious exertions. The means for the support of their establishments have however become more precarious, since the grants from the parent Government to all denominations for educational purposes in the colonies have been withdrawn, and the support which they received from their own Society has been in a great measure re¬ duced in consequence of the want of funds. The first meeting-house of the Wesleyan congregation was built in 1789: it was sufficiently large to contain 600 or 700 people, and was opened on the 16th of August 1789. Mr. Pearce the missionary had 9G HISTORY OF BARBADOS. landed in Barbados the preceding year, and the members appeared to consist at the opening of the meeting-house of about fifty persons, of whom sixteen were whites. The establishment of their tenets in the island did not appear to meet with general approbation. Large mobs pelted the building with stones, and frequently interrupted the prayers with hideous noises. Preaching by candle-light became impracticable. The missionary succeeded in the following March in bringing these riotous opponents before some magistrates, who obliged the offenders to pay the expenses of the prose¬ cution, and dismissed them, upon their promising never to disturb the congregation again. The Wcsleyans amounted to sixty-six in society at that time 1 . Their tenets however found few adherents, and in 1796 the number of members amounted only to fifty. The following year they had decreased to twenty-one. “ This gloomy aspect,” writes one of the missionaries, “begat within us some serious thoughts of quitting the island alto¬ gether.” Mr. James Alexander the missionary was consequently re¬ moved in April 1798. Another attempt was made in 1801; a mis¬ sionary landed in Barbados, whom Lord Seaforth assured of his pro¬ tection. The Society increased but slowly, and consisted in 1804 of only forty-nine members; in 1806 of twenty-one whites, and twenty-one persons of colour. In 1807 they had decreased to thirty-four individuals; and in 1812 the Society was composed of thirty persons, eleven of whom were whites, thirteen were free persons of colour, and six were slaves. During subsequent years their number increased, and with that increase a spirit of intolerance was raised among some of the inhabitants, which manifested itself in 1823, showing an entire disregard of religious feeling and a decided contempt of the laws in those who laid hands on the sanctity of a place of Christian worship. The riots of 1789 were commenced anew; the congregation was frequently disturbed; and while assembled for the purpose of worship on the 5th of October, these wanton disturbers went so far as to throw bottles of thin glass filled with an offensive and pernicious mixture into the chapel. On the 19th of that month a riotous assembly collected at the Wesleyan Chapel, and proceeded to destroy the building. Their intention being not entirely executed that day, the finishing stroke was given the subsequent day, and the house of worship completely demolished. Sir Henry Warde, who at that time adminis¬ tered the Government, offered by proclamation a reward of one hundred pounds to any person who should give such information as might lead to the conviction of any of the perpetrators of this sacrilege. The reward however was never claimed, as the ringleaders kept their secret. Nearly a quarter of a century has passed since that wanton act, and 1 Cook’s West Indies, vol. iii. pp. 56, 398. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 97 the congregation of the Wesleyan Methodist Mission has increased in numbers, and consists at this period of 1857 members, and sixty-eight on trial. The attendants on public worship in their chapel and meeting¬ houses are estimated at 5380. They possess eight chapels and four other preaching places under the superintendence of three missionaries, and fourteen local preachers 1 . Sir Jonathan Atkins mentions, that among other sects resident in Bar¬ bados there were Anabaptists; this is repeated by Sir Richard Dutton, but I have not been able to find any further information on this subject. The Roman Catholic religion has only a few members in the island. I have not any data whereby to judge whether their number was formerly larger. On the 14th of July 1724, M. Gilmar, a Romish priest, made a public recantation in St. Michael’s church of the errors of the Church of Rome, and soon afterwards preached in the same church to a Protestant auditory 2 . A Catholic priest is located in Barbados, chiefly in consequence of the military, there being always a large portion of Catholics among the gar¬ rison : a room is appropriated in the barracks of St. Ann for the celebra¬ tion of their service. According to the best information that can be obtained it appears that the earliest settlement of the Jews in this island dates from about 1628. A tomb is at present standing in one of the burial-grounds bearing date 1658. Although they were occasionally subjected to persecution and oppression, the policy they exhibited in keeping on good terms with the powers that were, caused their civil rights to be extended in 1680; and their testimony, which had been long rejected in the courts of law, was from that time admitted in all civil suits (though not in other cases) upon an oath taken upon the five books of Moses, according to the tenets of their religion. The Colonial Act of 1 William IV. cap. 10, which passed the Legislature on the 25th of March 1831, removed any restraint or disabilities under which persons professing the Hebrew I’eligion then laboured, and subjected them like other white persons to fines and pe¬ nalties for the non-performance of duties. At one period the congregation consisted of a very large number, but from deaths, and many of the European families returning to England, the number has been reduced. The circumstance of their having so many as five burial-grounds, three of which are completely filled 3 , proves that their congregation has been considerable. Their synagogue was so severely injured by the hurricane in 1831, that it was deemed necessary to erect a new edifice, which was conse¬ crated on the 29th of March 1833. It is considered to be one of the 1 These statistical details have been obligingly communicated to me by the Secre¬ tary of the Wesleyan Missionary Society in London. 2 Caribbeana, vol. i. p. 368. 3 According to their custom, only one individual is interred in each grave. H 98 HISTORY OR BARBADOS. handsomest and most substantial buildings of its kind in the West Indies. Its size is fifty feet long by forty feet wide, and it occupies an area of 2000 square feet; its cost amounted to 14,000 dollars (about £2,920), which was met by the funds of the community without ex¬ traneous assistance from any quarter 1 . The name of the congregation is “ Kaal Kadosh Nidhe Israel,” or the holy scattered congregation of Israel. The funds at present do not allow the payment of a salary to a reader, and the service is therefore performed by three members alternately. The congregation consists of a warden, a killer and examiner of meats, an officer who has the care of the synagogue, and a total number of seventy individuals, half of whom are natives of the island. The expenditure is met by scat-rents and voluntary contributions. There is a public Sabbath-school entitled “ Shangere Limud,” or the Gate of Learning, which, between the hours of ten and one o’clock, is attended by five females and ten males. Returning now to the Established Church of England, we find that the clergy consisted in 1812 of eleven rectors and an assistant curate. The great measure which was dawning for the emancipation of our fellow- beings from a state of slavery awakened likewise the religious feeling of Great Britain. The day could not be far distant when the slaves were to become free citizens. The greater number of these beings were still walk¬ ing in heathen darkness, and the Government as well as the numerous re¬ ligious societies, with that excellent institution the Society for the Propaga¬ tion of the Gospel in Foreign Parts at their head, consulted as to the means of improving the religious state of the colonies. Government resolved 1 The following more detailed description of the synagogue is from the Barbados Globe of April 1st, 1833:—“It is thirty-seven feet high, and receives considerable strength from the rounding of the angles, which are capped with large antique censers uniting a balustrated parapet all round, the roof being so little elevated as not to be perceived. The windows are lancet-shaped, and tastefully harmonize with the propor¬ tions of the building; a double flight of stone steps on the north side, covered with a Gothic hood, leads to the gallery within ; the whole of the exterior is lightly tinged of stone-colour, and scored out in blocks, and the appearance altogether is classical and chaste; those walls which had hitherto rendered the passage to the old synagogue so dull and sombre, being now lowered so as to afford one general view of the whole at the entrance of the avenue. The court-yard around this edifice is well-drained and neatly paved, and a handsome marble fountain occupies a niche within the inner court, railed off by an iron trellis.” The interior corresponds with the outer appear¬ ance ; a light and tasteful gallery occupies three sides of the interior, supported by neat Doric columns. The reader’s desk in the body of the edifice is sufficiently elevated to give a conspicuous view of the persons officiating. From the ceiling is suspended at each corner in front of the gallery a single brass chandelier, of eight lights, and in the centre one of a similar kind containing twenty-four. The area of the building is paved in alternate squares of black and white marble; and the ceiling, painted in relief, produces a most pleasing effect, as well from the artist-like manner in which it is executed as from the chasteness of its design. It is computed to hold about three hundred persons. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 99 upon erecting the Caribbee Islands into a separate bishopric, comprising Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincent, Dominica, Antigua and Montserrat, St. Christopher, Nevis and the Virgin Islands, Trinidad, Tobago, St. Lucia and their respective dependencies, including on the continent of South America the colony of British Guiana, which diocese was to be styled the Bishopric of Barbados and the Leeward Islands. William Hart Coleridge, Doctor of Divinity of Christ Church, Oxford, was nominated and appointed the first Bishop, with the title of Right Reverend. The letters patent were signed by George IV. on the 24th of July 1824, and the Bishop was consecrated on the following day. Bishop Coleridge arrived in Barbados on the 29th of January 1825. The great and bene¬ ficial improvements which took place after his arrival are perhaps unpa¬ ralleled in the history of the colonies. I extract from ‘ The Tabular State¬ ments relating to the Diocese of Barbados/ the following comparative tables, which will bear out my statement. Comparative Statement of the number of Clergy and of Charity Schools in the years 1812, 1825 and 1834, in the Diocese of Barbados. Name of the Colony. Clergy. Schools. 1812. 1825. 1834. 1812. 1825. 1834. Barbados . 14 15 29 2 8 155 Trinidad. 2 2 2 4 Tobago . 1 1 1 ... 13 St. Lucia . . • • • 1 1 ... 3 St. Vincent . 1 2 3 1 14 Bequia . ... ... 1 2 Grenada. 2 2 4 1 18 Carriacou. 1 1 1 ... 9 Guiana . 1 7 10 2 37 Antigua. 6 8 12 8 32 Montserrat. 1? 1 2 19 Barbuda. ... ... 4 St. Christopher. 5 5 7 6 64 Nevis. 3 3 3 6 19 Anguilla... ... 1 ... 2 Virgin Isles . i? 1 2 • . . 6 Dominica . l 1 2 ... 4 Total. 37 50 81 2 34 405 1 Besides catechetical and other desultory instruction on estates. 100 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Comparative Statement of the number of Clergy and Charity Schools in Barbados in 1825 and 1834. Parish. Number of Clergy. Church 1825. Room. 1834. Average attendance, 1834. Schools. Aggregate 1825. 1834. Churches and Chapels. No. of sit¬ tings. Churches and Chapels. No. of sit¬ tings. No. Atten¬ dance. St. Michael.. .. 3 6 1 1500 4 4400 3780 31 2514 Christ Church . 1 2 1 300 2* 3001 420 7 261 St. Philip .... 1 2 1 450 2 * 320J 300 20 851 St. John. 3 4 3 570 4 * 1100$ 1300 28 1525 St. Joseph .... 1 1 1 220 1 * 200| 2 75 St. Andrew.. .. 1 2 1 100 1 300 150 2 92 St. Lucy. 1 2 1 500 1* 160J 14 421 St. Peter. 1 1 2 600 2+ 1 60 J 10 271 St. James .... 1 2 1 300 1 500 120 2 83 St. Thomas.. .. 1 1 1 200 1* 100J 14 554 St. George .... 1 4 1 290 2 850 650 24 800 Total. 15 27 14 5030 21 7770 7340 154 7447 The destructive hurricane in 1831 destroyed seven parish churches, namely, those of Christ Church, St. Philip, St. John, St. Joseph, St. Lucy, St. Peter, and St. Thomas. The sittings in these churches amounted to 2370. Of the seven chapels-of-ease erected since 1825, six were destroyed in 1831. These churches and chapels were rebuilt, partly by funds supplied by parliamentary and legislative grants, partly by private subscription, and the munificent liberality of pious societies in England, as the following statement will more clearly exhibit. Summary of Tabular Statements of the Number, Cost, fyc. of Churches, Chapels, Chapel-Schools, and Schoolhouses in the Rural Deanery of Barbados for the year 1837. Number of Parish Churches.11 „ „ Chapels.10 „ „ Chapel-schools.5 „ „ Schoolhouses.25 * The asterisk signifies that the church is still in ruins, not having been rebuilt since the destructive hurricane in 1831. t Church and chapel in ruins. + Refers to the sittings in the chapels, or temporary places of worship, the church being in ruins. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 101 Amount of accommodation in Churches. 10,650 „ ,, in Chapels. „ ,, in Chapel-schools and smaller 9,391 licensed places of worship. 1,025 „ „ in Schoolhouses, not including Sunday-schools, day and evening, scattered over every parish, of which the numbers, though con- 21,066 siderable, cannot be easily ascertained .... 6,512 Total .... . 27,578 £ s. d. Cost of building and repairing Churches. 24,602 10 4f „ „ of Chapels. 18,939 8 9f ,, „ of Chapel-schools. 1,246 13 4 ,, ,, of Schools. 10,560 7 7 .£55,349 0 Of Towards this amount the following sums were granted:— £ s. d. Parliamentary grant to St. Mary’s. 3,333 6 8 Parliamentary Hurricane grant. 4,900 0 0 Hurricane subscription fund for rebuilding churches and chapels. 9,752 0 0 West India Building-fund.3,018 18 2 Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, with aid from Government. 2,71000 „ „ from their Trust-fund, for rebuilding their chapel. 1,333 6 8 Private. 380 0 0 Total from the Mother Country . . . £25,427 11 6 £ $. d. Colonial Legislative grant to Churches . . 2,333 6 8 „ „ St. Mary’s . 3,333 6 8 Parochial taxation and private subscription 24,254 15 2f ---- 29,921 8 6f £55,349 0 Of The most evident result of the exertion of the clergy, when the slaves obtained their liberty, proves the number of baptisms of adult persons. I possess only specified returns from five parishes, and from the Moravian congregation, according to which the number of labourers who were converted to Christianity from the year 1835 to 1845 inclusive, 102 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. amounted to 10,033 persons. The population of these five parishes con¬ sisted in 1844 of 53,177 individuals'. Bishop Coleridge resigned his useful career as the head of the Bishopric in 1842. The pious zeal of this eminent prelate found a large field of exertion on his arrival in the island; and it is certain that Dr. Coleridge mainly contributed to that station which religion and her institutions now occupy, not only in Barbados, but throughout the large Diocese which was entrusted to his care. On the resignation of Bishop Coleridge, Her Majesty’s Government resolved upon dividing the former Bishopric of Barbados and the Lee¬ ward Islands into the Bishoprics of Barbados and of Antigua, and the Bight Reverend Thomas Parry, D.D., was appointed Lord Bishop of the former Diocese, which now includes Barbados, St. Vincent, Grenada and its dependencies, and Trinidad. The Ecclesiastical Establishment consists of an Archdeacon of Barbados, St. Vincent and Grenada, and an Archdeacon of Trinidad, four Rural Deans, one for each island, and five Chaplains. The number of the clergy resident in Barbados in 1846, including the Bishop and the Archdeacon, is thirty-three. There are, as formerly, eleven parish churches; but the other places of worship have much increased, namely, to thirty-two chapels, chapel-schools or licensed places of wor¬ ship. The rectors receive a stipend from the colonial treasury of £500 cur¬ rency, or about £334 sterling. There is also attached to each benefice, a portion of glebe, varying in extent and value, together with a parsonage, or an allowance for one. The fees, which are still connected with the exe¬ cution of some of their sacred duties, vary in extent according to the population of the parish. The spirit of our times renders it highly de¬ sirable that fees for burials, marriages and baptisms shoidd be everywhere abolished, and this might be done without curtailing the stipend, by an adequate additional salary. These fees are received under the authority of a local act, dated the 9th of March 1826. Perhaps for future reference, it may not be out of place to add the fol¬ lowing statement of churches and chapels in Barbados in 1845. It may serve hereafter to show by comparison, whether the religious state is 1 These specified returns give the following results:— In the Cathedral district of St. Michael were baptized .. 1,410 In the Parish Church of St. Philip. 2,338 „ „ St. Joseph. 1,622 „ „ St. John. 1,506 „ „ St. James . 1,274 Congregation of the United Brethren. 1,883—10,033 In 183!) the baptisms of adults in the above parishes amounted to 2,325; in 1845 only to 160. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 103 advancing as progressively as it has hitherto done in the island since the arrival of Bishop Coleridge, and his equally zealous successor the present Lord Bishop of Barbados. Churches and Chapels in connection with the Established Church of England, in the Island of Barbados, in 1846. Parish Churches. Name of the Parish Church. Number of per- Aggre¬ gate of sons it will con¬ tain. persons attending worship. St. Michael, Cathedral 2 .. 1700 3000 Christ Church 3 . 1300 o © O St. Philip 4 . 1200 800 St. John 5 . 1200 1600 St. Joseph. 800 2000 St. Andrew 6 . 750 700 St. Lucy . 1200 2000 St. Peter 7 . 1000 450 St. James. 550 360 St. Thomas 8 . 810 650 St. George . 900 1800 Chapels. Name of the Chapel in the same parish. It! Pau7 } in Brid g et0W11 St. Matthew "j Rural St. Stephen I district St. Giles f of St. St. Barnabas J Michael. Below Rock (a licensed Chapel-school). St. Bartholomew. Maxwell’s. St. Mathias . St. Lawrence . St. David. St. Patrick . Trinity . St. Martin. St. Catharine . Society Chapel. College Chapel. St. Mark . Little St. Joseph. St. Simon. St. Saviour (unfinished) St. Clement. St. Swithin . All Saints. Welsh Town (a licensed School-house) .... St. Alban. Westmoreland (a tempo¬ rary place of worship).. Holy Innocents . Fisher’s Pond (a tempo¬ rary place of worship). St. Luke . St. Jude . Number of per¬ sons it will con¬ tain. Aggre¬ gate of persons attending worship. 1420 1000 1 1200 1100 1 800 800 530 700 275 200 1 500 500 180 100 1 550 400 1 150 100’ 450 380 1 260 100 1 400 250 1 200 150 1 580 500 1 300 300 200 200 850 750 46 35 360 700 200 300 290 200 200 200 300 1000 500 1000 450 225 1 150 100 1 150 50 300 300 500 450 1 200 300 700 620 1 670 620 1 1 In this return, the object has been to give the aggregate number of persons ge¬ nerally attending at churches and chapels. Where this has not been obtained, the average number attending the principal service has been given. Besides the churches and chapels of the Established Church, there are three Wes¬ leyan chapels, a Moravian congregation, and a Jewish synagogue in this parish. One Wesleyan chapel. 4 Ibid. 5 One Moravian congregation, and one Wes¬ leyan Chapel. 6 One Wesleyan chapel. 7 Ibid. 6 Two Moravian congregations. 104 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. The churches and chapels as enumerated in the preceding table, contain sittings for 13,800 persons; and if we assume the number of inhabitants at 123,000, it will be observed that the churches would be filled if each ninth person of the population attended divine service. Public Education .—The schools for the education of the poor are fifty- nine in number, in which between 3000 and 4000 children are educated upon the national system, in the principles of the Established Church. They are taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, and in many of the schools the girls receive instruction in needlework. These schools are generally situated near the churches or chapels; or, in the case of the chapcl-schools, a portion of the building is appropriated exclusively for divine worship, and the remainder used as a school. This part is also occupied by the congregation on Sundays. There are also Sunday-schools attached to nearly all the churches and chapels, attended in a great measure by adults, who are prepared for baptism or confirmation under the superintendence of the clergy. The children under weekly instruction, and others who have left the schools, generally attend on Sundays. Some of the public schools are supported by parochial grants from the vestries of their respective parishes, the children being in some cases main¬ tained and clothed as well as instructed. The rest have been supported by grants from Societies in England, and by payments from the parents of the children. The payments of the parents are very variable and most irregular—a remark which applies to every parish : scarcely one-half pay the stipulated weekly or monthly sum. The grants from the Socie¬ ties in England were of late years much diminished, and ceased entirely in 1847. The Central school in Bridgetown was founded in 1819, for the main¬ tenance and education of poor white children from the different parishes of the island. The institution consists of two buildings; one for boys, the other for girls, and is supported by a legislative grant, by a grant from the vestry of St. Michael’s parish, and by voluntary contributions. There are also invested funds, the interest arising from which is applied to the support of the schools. The numbers of the children maintained and educated in 1846 were— Bovs.. .... Boarders . 45 )> • • . . .. Day-scholars.. .. 42 87 Girls. . .. . . Boarders . 35 » • • 29 64 Total of Scholars . . TsT CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 105 The expenses connected with the boys’ school in 1845-46, including the master’s and matron’s salaries, servants’ wages, feeding and clothing forty-five boarders, amounted to &2805 88 cents; and for the girls’ school, including mistress’ and assistants’ salaries, servants’ wages, feeding and clothing thirty-five boarders, 4^1965 35 cents, or both together, 4771 dollars 23 cents, equal to £994 sterling. Lord Combermere, when Gover¬ nor of Barbados, took the liveliest interest in the promotion of the Central school; he had previously shown an equal zeal for the foundation of a Colo¬ nial Charity-school, which was intended for the instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic, of such children of the coloured and black popu¬ lation as from pecuniary and other impediments were not able to avail themselves of any other resource than a charity-school. It was established on the 19th of November 1818; and the first annual report showed that the number of scholars amounted to eighty-nine of both sexes, fifty-seven of which were free, and thirty-two the children of slaves. The expenses connected with this institution amounted during the first year to £203 6s.; the voluntary contribution to £322 16s. 3d., towards which the Church Missionary Society had furnished £100 for the master’s salary. It was at a later period placed under the superintendence of Bishop Coleridge. Bridgetown possesses another institution for the education of the poor, namely Harrison’s Free School. It was founded in 1733 by Thomas Harrison, a merchant of Bridgetown, who purchased a piece of land ad¬ joining the parish church of St. Michael (the present cathedral), upon which he erected a large building, which was to serve as a public school and a residence for the master. These premises were conveyed by a deed, dated July 30th, 1733, to certain trustees, viz. the first member of the Council, the Speaker of the Assembly, the Attorney-General, the Rector of St. Michael’s parish, the Churchwarden of that parish, and two members to be chosen annually by and out of the vestry of the parish; they, or any three of their number, being empowered to elect proper masters, and to place on the foundation of the school twenty-four poor and indigent boys of the parish, to be instructed in reading, wri¬ ting, ciphering, and the Latin and Greek languages, without any fee or reward; the master or masters to have the liberty of taking into the school and teaching upon pay any other scholars for their own benefit. In 1845 there were twenty-four scholars on the foundation, besides eight private scholars. St. Andrew’s School, in the parish of the same name, was partly erected and endowed with a permanent salary of £60 currency per annum to the master in the year 1785, by Sir John Gay Alleyne, Bart., then Speaker of the House of Assembly. A bequest of £20 a-year, payable out of Blower’s plantation in Barbados, and applied to the above institu¬ tion, was left by J. Bryant, Esq., who also left £20 a-year to St. Thomas’s parish, and a like sum to the parish of St. James for a similar purpose. 106 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Codrington College, and the endowed Grammar School connected with it, are of such grave importance, that I shall devote some other space to their consideration. The private schools in the island are very numerous, but from the continual changes of situation and of their teachers, their number and character cannot be ascertained with any accuracy. Their number, ex¬ cluding the parish of St. Michael, is stated in 1845 to amount to 119, in which 2145 children received instruction. A proprietary school was founded in 1846 in Bridgetown, for the education of boys of the higher classes. It promises well, and if it should succeed, a great want would be supplied, which has been seriously felt where parents, from disinclination or want of means, did not wish to send their children to Europe. Bishop Coleridge writes, “ At the commencement of the year 1825, the number of schools in Barbados in connection with the Church (and there were few if any others) for the religious instruction of the poor, were six for white children, one for coloured, and one on Codrington College property for slaves.” In the commencement of this section, I have stated that these schools amounted in 1846 to fifty-nine, and never¬ theless their number is far from being sufficient for the wants of the rising generation. The number of schools in connection with the United Brethren or Moravians, amounted in 1844 to four, in which 182 boys and 177 girls received instruction; and the Wesleyans had four day-schools and 416 scholars, eight sabbath-schools, with 1260 scholars, including children and adults. The Wesleyan Methodist Mission has now seven day-schools with salaried teachers, and 515 scholars; and eight sabbath-schools, with 111 gratuitous teachers, attended by 1029 scholars; consequently the number of children and adults who receive instruction by the Society amount to 1275. In 1845 the grants for the support of schools in connection with the Church amounted to the following sums:— Legislative grant in support of the Central schools in Bridge- £ s. d. town. 51200 Parochial grants of ten parishes. 1,434 7 4 Grant of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. . . 485 0 8 Grant of the Society for the Advancement of the Christian Faith 135 0 0 Grant of the Ladies’ Society for the Instruction of Negroes . 52 0 0 Payment of parents for schooling of their children .... 309 9 2 £2,928 3 2 Besides this amount there are some endowments, e.y. £87 13s. 4 d. in the parish of St. George. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 107 I subjoin a comparative statement of the number of scholars who attended the parochial schools in 1844, and on the 10th of October 1845. The decrease in the attendance of the schools is very considerable, and does not show a desire on the part of the labouring population to advance the welfare of their children. Comparative Statement of the Number of Scholars attending the Parochial Schools in 1844, and on the 10 th of October 1845. Name of the Parish. Number of scholars attending the schools. Total. In 1844. On October 10th, 1845. Boys. Girls. Without specifica¬ tion of sexes in the re¬ turns. Infants. Boys. Girls. Without specifica¬ tion of sexes in the re¬ turns. Infants. 1844. 1845. St. Michael. . 563 430 255 609 436 243 1248 1288 Christ Church 323 239 127 284 199 41 689 524 St. Philip . . . 149 101 149 106 250 255 St. John. . . . 68 54 69 53 59 191 112 St. Joseph . . 98 43 43 26 141 69 St. Peter . . . 249 142 128 10 249 280 St. James . . . 111 70 84 69 30 181 183 St. Thomas. . 39 20 72 29 18 55 131 102 St. George . . 141 76 90 121 54 307 175 St. Andrew . . 69 51 46 41 40 120 127 St. Lucy. . . . 160 123 142 156 112 425 268 Sum total. 3932 3383 From other official returns which I have had at my command, I have compiled the following results for the year 1844:- Schools. Scholars. Parochial Schools. . . 58 3932 Harrison’s Free School. . . . . . 1 24 Private Schools in the parish of St. Michael, assumed at . . . . 30 600 In the other parishes .... . . 119 2145 Schools of the United Brethren . . . 4 359 Schools of the Wesleyans . . . 4 416 Jewish School. . . 1 15 Codrington Grammar School. . . . 1 6 on the foundation 218 7497 We will assume that there were 220 schools, with 7500 pupils. The census of 1844 exhibits a population of 122,198 persons. According to the more detailed returns from the other West India Colonies, the proportion of children between the fifth and fifteenth year of age 108 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. amounts to 18-25 per cent.; if therefore similar circumstances prevail in Barbados, the proportion of children of that age would be in round numbers 22,300, and of these only 7500 attended school in 1844; or, out of 100 children who were of the proper age to receive instruction, only 33-6 attended school. The average number of pupils in each school amounted to 34 - 4, and the ratio of amount paid in 1845 for the salaries of teachers for the pupils of the parochial schools exclusively amounted per annum to 17s. 10 during the year.J Of the above number were under \ eighteen years . J Above eighteen years . Prisoners who could not read. Prisoners who could read . 75 7 1241 468 1791 87 4 1163 509 1763 75 1 6 125 1116 66 402 1 86 4 181 982 117 392 4 71 7 338 903 71 397 ... 4 83 4* 828 335 304 .205 The Police department, as it exists at present, was established in 1835 by an Act of the Legislature: it was, as far as I am aware, the first attempt in the British West India Colonies to establish a force of that description upon a similar footing. This department is under the direc¬ tion of an Inspector-General who resides in Bridgetown, and the follow¬ ing numerical force divided as specified throughout the island :— 140 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Return of the Number of the Police Force employed in each District with the Salaries granted to each rank, for the half-year ending 31 st of De¬ cember 1845. Rank and Denomi¬ nation. Districts. Total. Salaries currency. Bridge¬ town. Speights- town. Iloletown. A. B. C. D. E. F. Inspector-General 1 1 £750 1 1 500 Sergeants . 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 120 ea. Corporals . 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 19 80 ea. Privates. 96 10 4 10 11 13 12 14 11 181 70 ea. Grooms. 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 14 1910s.ea. 1 1 200 2 2 Prison-Keepers... ... 1 1 2 100 ea. “ Remarks.—6 pounds of oats, 12 pounds of ha}’, or 150 pounds of green forage per day, for two horses. Ditto ditto and £75 per annum house-rent. A suit of clothing, and two pair of boots allowed yearly from sergeants down, with the excep¬ tion of grooms. “ H. D. Dodgin, Inspector-General of Police This effective force is paid out of the revenue of the island, and the sala¬ ries, maintenance and equipments amounted in 1845 to £15,081 10s. 6^. sterling. It has been proposed to detach from this number ten or twelve of the most experienced men to act as a detective force in Bridgetown ; and it is generally considered, that this might contribute materially to lessen the numerous robberies and burglaries which at present prevail in the city. Agriculture and Commerce. —Agriculture is the greatest and most essential source of the wealth and prosperity of a country; and upon the circumstance whether the products of staple commodities are for the ex¬ clusive use of its inhabitants, or raised for the sake of export, depends in a great measure its commerce. The state of commerce is consequently dependent upon agriculture; and the success of the latter is of much greater importance than that of any other branch of human industry. Barbados is indebted to the position which it occupies among the West India Islands for its former fertility. Long previous to the close of the last century the soil was exhausted, and art and industry had to replace what the soil no longer possessed. The energy of the natives of this little island, which is such a distinguished trait in their character, was not daunted by these difficulties, and a rational management replaced by artificial means the former fertility; and the returns continue, under the necessary favourable circumstances of the seasons, to sustain their high numbers. Facts resting upon extensive statistical details, which I pre- CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 141 sent to tlie reader, will prove that the colony has not undergone dete¬ rioration since Sir Jonathan Atkins’s time, when it was considered to have reached its meridian prosperity,—a period which has been styled. the golden age of Barbados. The great fertility of the soil attracted a larger number of English settlers to Barbados than to any other colony then established in the West Indies. The first settlers had to contend with great difficulties; the country was wild and overgrown with thick forest-trees, offering no other sustenance than that procured by the chase and the cultivation of the settlers. Captain Powell, who managed the affairs of the settle¬ ment, undertook, in 1627, a voyage to the South American coast or Spanish Main, from whence he brought a number of seeds and roots, and was accompanied by several Indians, whom he had engaged to in¬ struct the English in planting cotton, tobacco, indigo, maize, &C. 1 The tobacco, upon which they reckoned as a staple article in exchange for provisions and manufactures from Europe, proved however so earthy and worthless, that it yielded little or no return : fortunately, the forests gave them fustic, logwood, lignum-vitse and cedar, with which they carried on their barter with such vessels as touched at their settlement. The inhabitants had greatly increased in 1638. The settlers, who had arrived with Charles Wolferstone, held each one hundred acres of land in virtue of the contract into which they had entered, on condition of their paying to the proprietor annually forty pounds of cotton. The grants of land which had been issued from 1629 to 1638 amounted to 707, comprising 67,929 acres; and of the inhabitants there were at that time already 760 persons who possessed ten or more acres of land 2 . On Ligon’s arrival in 1647, the colony, although suffering under an epidemic disease, had greatly increased. The colonists planted for their own use maize, sweet potatoes or batatas, plantains, yams and bonavista beans; and for exports, indigo, cotton-wool, tobacco, ginger, aloes, &c. Logwood, fustic and lignum-vitse continued to form staple commodities. “ The great work of sugar-making was but newly practised by the inhabitants there;” but when the canes had been planted three or four years, they found that the sugar-plantations would prove the most remunerating branch of cultivation, and improve the value of the whole island 3 . The truth of this assertion becomes evident from the fact that Major Hilliard’s plantation, which, as Ligon observes, might have been pur¬ chased, previous to the commencement of the cultivation of sugar, for £400, though there were 500 acres, rose now to such a value, that 1 MSS. account, evidently a copy of Governor Atkins’s report in 1676. 2 Memoirs of the first Settlement of the Island of Barbados, p. 20. Captain Southey, in his Chronological History of the West Indies, says that this was in 1636; but the Memoirs state it expressly as 1638. 3 Ligon’s History of Barbados, pp. 24. 85. 142 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Colonel Thomas Modiford, who arrived about the same time as Ligon, paid for the half of it £7000 sterling. The plant had been only recently introduced by some industrious planters from Pernambuco (called Pernambock by Ligon) in Brazil, and finding that it would grow, they propagated it, till a sufficient quantity was produced to render the construction of a small sugar-mill 1 advan¬ tageous. The boiling of the expressed juice remained however for some time a secret to the Barbados planters, though voyages were undertaken by some to make themselves acquainted with the method pursued by the Dutch in Brazil: it appears they did not profit much by what they learned. Several sugar-works were set up, but the sugar which they made was bare muscovado, and only the best portion of it could be considered a market¬ able commodity : it was so moist and full of molasses, and so badly cured, as to be hardly worth bringing home to England. When Ligon left the island however, in 1650, the planters had become much better acquainted with the manufacture; they had learned to judge when the canes were ripe, and had likewise become proficient in the method of boiling and curing the sugar. When Colonel Modiford purchased the moiety of Major Hilliard’s plantation, two hundred acres were already under cul¬ tivation of sugar-cane, and the plantation possessed a boiling-house, with filling-room, cistern and still-house 2 . In a pamphlet which Sir Dalby Thomas published in 1690, he ob¬ serves —“ About fifty years ago, during the war between the Hollanders and Portuguese in Brazil, a Hollander happened to arrive from thence upon our island of Barbados, where, though there were good sugar- canes, the English knew no other use of them, than to make refreshing drinks for that hot climate, intending by planting tobacco to have equalled those of the Verinas; on which, with ginger, cotton and indigo, they meant to rely. This Hollander understanding sugar, was, by one Mr. Drax, and some other inhabitants there, drawn in to make a discovery of the art he had to make it 3 .” Oldmixon doubts the correctness of this assertion of an earlier introduction of the sugar-cane than that related by Ligon, and states as his reason, that “ if the mode of manufacturing sugar had been known already in 1640, how did it come that they were still such novices seven or eight years afterwards ?” This conclusion is fallacious; and it appears to me that Sir Dalby Thomas’s account deserves full credit, as seven years is by no means too long a period for cultiva¬ ting hundreds of acres of sugar-cane, besides erecting the necessary buildings for its manufacture. 1 Ligon calls it an ingenio, no doubt derived from the Portuguese word engenho, which name it bears in Brazil. 2 Ligon’s History, p. 83 and seq. Ibid. 22. 3 An historical account of the rise and growth of the West Indian Colonies by Dalby Thomas, London, 1690, p. 13. The Universal History, vol. xxxvi. p. 185, dates this occurrence in 1642. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 143 The author of the Memoirs of the first Settlement states in the Ap¬ pendix, that Captain James Holdip planted the first sugar-canes in Bar¬ bados, which he got from a ship from Guinea. He continues, that Sir James Drax brought the model of a sugar-mill and some coppers from Holland, and that the manufacture of sugar was much advanced and im¬ proved by the English settlers at Surinam, who with their effects and utensils to make sugar, came from thence to Barbados upon the cession of Surinam to the Dutch in the year 1668. Sugar-mills were already in existence at Ligon’s visit; it is therefore evident that Sir James Drax must have brought the model of the sugar- mill long previous to his being created a baronet, which only took place in 1661. It is much more likely, that when the Portugese had recovered from the Dutch possession of their territory in Brazil, a number of the Dutch settlers came to Barbados, and instructed the planters in the proper culture and manufacture of the sugar-cane. However this may be, Barbados was the first sugar colony which England possessed in the West Indies; and when the other colonies found that the cultivation of the sugar-cane had succeeded, it was introduced from Barbados by Sir Thomas Modiford, in 1664, into Jamaica; and by Colonel Codrington into Antigua, who removed from Barbados in the year 1674. We are informed by Ligon, that in 1650 about a hundred ships visited the island of Barbados yearly, which brought white servants, slaves, horses, cattle, donkeys (or assinigoes, as Ligon calls them), camels, utensils for boiling sugar, tools for tradesmen, iron, steel, brass, &c., cloth of all kinds, linen and woollen stuffs, wearing apparel, and pro¬ visions, as herrings, mackerel, salted meat, including luxuries and wine 1 . This account of Ligon’s proves that it was already a flourishing colony in the middle of the seventeenth century. The cultivation of the sugar¬ cane increased from that period rapidly, and this plant became in com¬ mercial importance its most valuable production. Its cultivation demanded however a large increase of labour, and the author hopes to be excused for entering somewhat at large into the various measures which were employed to procure the necessary labour. The relation in which the inhabitants of the island stood towards each other has been already alluded to; it has however not been previously mentioned that the first settlers were noted for their practice of kidnap¬ ping and enslaving Indians, who, as Ligon relates, were procured from the neighbouring islands, and the main or coast of South America. The Christian servants did not arrive solely from England and Scot¬ land. Du Tertre relates that a certain Jonas and Lantery his brother had entrapped by their artifices two hundred young Frenchmen, among whom were some of good family, kept them for three months at St. Servan, near St. Malo, and engaged them for five, six and seven years, at 1 Ligon’s History, p. 40. 144 HISTORY OK BARBADOS. the rate of 900 pounds of cotton for each, in 1640, in the island of Barbados. M. de Poincy, the governor of Guadaloupe, addressed the French West India Company on their behalf, and advised that the king should order his ambassador to the king of England to reclaim these poor children: the Company took however no notice of this recom¬ mendation, and they died from the effects of the climate 1 . The fame of Barbados as a flourishing colony must have drawn the attention of all who were engaged in the traffic of the human species to this island as a proper place for disposing of their merchandise. During the war between the Dutch and Portugese for the possession of Maran- ham, the Dutch governor sent fifty Portugese of St. Luiz in 1643 to Barbados to be sold as slaves. The governor (Philip Bell) ordered them to be brought on shore, as if intending to bargain for them, and then set them at liberty, after indignantly reproving the agent, who had insulted him by offering white men and Christians for sale. Even Cromwell increased the number of the unfortunate Christian slaves, as the engages were called. After storming the town of Drogheda, the whole garrison was put to the sword, and there were scarce thirty lives saved in the town, and “ these were by him reserved to be sent to Barbados.” This appears to have been a favourite maxim with the Protector : seven or eight thousand Scots having been taken prisoners at the battle of Worcester in 1651, “ they were sent to London, and sold as slaves to the plantations of the American isles 2 .” A number of rebels who were implicated in the conspiracy of the Duke of Monmouth were transported to Barbados. At the accession of William, the royal clemency was extended towards these unfortunate beings, and upon an order to that effect being transmitted in 1690 to the governor, an act passed the island for their liberation 3 . The unfortunate Christian servants were so ill-treated, that their num¬ ber greatly diminished, and the planters began to feel their want: an act therefore passed the Legislature in 1697 for encouraging the importa¬ tion of white servants, which act recites that they had been ill-used. So dreadfully rapid had been the decrease, that the number of white men was in 1698 reduced to 2330, while in 1683 it amounted to 7235. The constitution of the European is not calculated for labour under a tropical sun, and the prosperity of Barbados would never have reached the high station which it occupied towards the close of the nineteenth century, if the production of the staple commodities had depended upon 1 Du Tertre, tom. ii. 2 The island was considered at that period in the light of a convict establishment. Chalmers relates that four young men were in 1665 whipped through the streets of Edinburgh by the common hangman, and then transported to Barbados, for inter¬ rupting and abusing Mr. James Scot, minister of Ancram, when preaching. 3 The reader is referred for more details respecting this interesting fact to the hi¬ storical part of this work. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 145 the labour of Europeans and Indians alone. The history of the origin of the slave-trade is sufficiently well known. The African, inured to servi¬ tude and by constitution adapted to the hottest climate, proved the most effective labourer under the tropical sun. Sir John Hawkins was the first Englishman who embarked in the trade in slaves ; and an exclu¬ sive charter for establishing a regular trade on the African coast was granted by James I. to Sir Robert Rich and some other merchants in London. The profits did not answer the expectations of the speculators, and the charter was suffered to expire. A second Company was constituted by charter during the reign of Charles I., in 1631, of which Sir Richard Young, Sir Kenelm Iligby and several others were the directors. Colonization had commenced in the West India Islands, and “the year 1636 formed an important sera in the colonial history, being marked by a law authorizing the sale of negroes and Indians for life.” Negroes were therefore in great demand: the Company however was not allowed to monopolize these profits, as nume¬ rous private adventurers disputed the advantages arising from the traffic. It is very probable that the settlers in Barbados were provided with slaves by the Dutch, who carried on trade with the island at that period. After the restoration of Charles II., a third Company was incorporated, at the head of which were persons of the highest rank. The letters patent granted an exclusive right of trade to Africa to Queen Catherine, Mary the Queen Dowager, the Duke of York and several others. This Com¬ pany undertook to supply the British West India plantations with three thousand negroes annually. The war which ensued with Holland, and the numerous private adventurers in the same traffic, together with mismanage¬ ment, induced the Company to surrender their charter in 1672, and in consideration of £34,000 they gave up their effects to a new company, which was entitled “ The Royal African Company,” and had among its subscribers the King, the Duke of York, and many other persons of high rank. The capital amounted to £111,000. The revolution of 1688 changed the position of affairs. By the petition and declaration of right of William and Mary, the African and all other exclusive companies, not authorized by parliament, were abolished; and in 1698 the African trade was virtually opened to all his Majesty’s subjects, upon paying a duty of ten per cent, ad valorem on the goods exported from England or the plantations. Barbados probably made an early use of the law which permitted the introduction and sale of slaves, as even in 1650, the number of negroes was estimated at 30,000 ; according to Du Tertre there were in 1666 as many as 40,000, and Governor Atkins reported their number in 1674 at 32,473. During the administration of Sir Richard Dutton they amounted, in 1683, to 46,602. Between the years 1680 and 1688, the African Company had imported L 146 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. into the British West India Islands 46,396 slaves, and it was computed that Barbados wanted annually 4000 negroes, Jamaica 10,000, and the Leeward Islands 6000, besides those smuggled into the islands in private traffic. At the commencement of the eighteenth century, the average price of a negro was £23 8s. The numbers imported into Barbados from the 24th of June 1698, to the 25th of December 1707, amounted to 34,583. Governor Crowe computed that it annually required 3640, or about seven per cent., to keep up the stock. In the following years the importation increased very rapidly, and in 1753 the number of negroes amounted to 69,870. This, as far as I have been able to ascertain, is the highest number the island possessed from its settlement to the commencement of the present century. On the 10th of June 1806, the slave-trade was abolished by a resolution of the House of Commons. The Lords concurred in the vote, and the same day an address to the King was moved and carried, praying his Majesty to negotiate with foreign powers for their co-operation in a total abolition of the trade to Africa in slaves. Sir William Young, in his ‘West India Common-place Book/ estimated the number of slaves in Barbados at 60,000. In 1811, according to the returns to the treasurer’s office, there were 69,132 negroes; in 1817, 77,273 l ; and, according to the Registration Act, in 1829 there were 81,902, which in the course of eighteen years gives an increase of 12,770. When the last traces of slavery were removed, and the British nation voted twenty millions sterling for compensation, the number of slaves in Barbados upon which the Central Board awarded compensation in 1835, amounted to 82,807, making an average compensation of £20 15s. 8 ^d. per slave. The number valued however was 83,176, and in order to 1 The copy of a return which I possess of the slave population in 1817 gives the following details:— Under 1 year of age .... 2600 From 1 to 10 . . . . . . 20,389 From 11 to 20 . . . . . 16,669 From 21 to 30 . . . . . 14,534 From 31 to 40 . . . . . 10,561 From 41 to 50 . 6653 From 51 to 60 . . . . . 3614 From 61 to 70 . . . . . 1541 From 71 to 80 . . . . . 544 From 81 to 90 . . . . . 132 From 91 to 100 ..... 19 From 100 to 114. 7 Ages unknown ..... 10 77,273 Of these, 71,432 were Creoles, or bom in Barbados,—345 were Creoles from other islands,—and 5496 were Africans. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 147 make up tlie required amount of compensation for the increase of 369, the average was reduced to £20 14s. Q^d. 1 It has been particularly the author’s object to be as minute as possible in the enumeration of labourers. Our estimate of the produce of the island will be based upon surer ground if we know the number of hands employed in the cultivation and tillage of the soil. The rapid increase of the labouring class after the abolition of the slave-trade, when consequently no new importation could take place, is a proof that the destruction of human life, and a rapid decrease of the negro population, was not in every colony the natural consequence of the cultivation of sugar. If we return now to the earliest period of the colony, we find that Ligon estimates the number of vessels which traded with Barbados at about a hundred. Sir Jonathan Atkins, in his report in 1676, states that the number of ships which came yearly to Barbados were above one hundred and fifty sail, of from twenty to three hundred tons, and the sloops which belonged to the island amounted to about sixty, which were employed to carry merchandize from one part of the island to another. According to Sir Richard Dutton’s returns, the number of ships trading to the island in twelve months, ending the 2nd of September 1683, amounted to 338 ships of 25,774 tons. The powder duty derived from the shipping amounted to 257| barrels 4 , the value of which was received in money. Thomas Tryon, to whom we have before alluded, considered Barbados to be still the chief settlement of the sugar islands in 1700, although it had suffered much by the war and the restrictions on trade. “ It is sufficient to observe, that that little spot of ground (which you know is not above twelve miles over and twenty-eight in length) did in Charles the Second’s reign, the commodities being then free from high customs and imposi¬ tions for many years together, load between three hundred and four hundred sail of ships, and most of them of considerable burden, with the produce of it; the reason of which plenty must arise from no other than the natural goodness of your soil, and the extraordinary diligence and industry of the 1 The sum thus awarded gave the following proportions:— Head people, tradesmen, head people employed on the wharf, ship¬ £ s. d. ping or other avocations; likewise head domestics 38 17 6i Inferior tradesmen, field-labourers and inferior people of first class. employed on the wharf, shipping or other avocations . 29 3 OJ Inferior field-labourers, and inferior people of second class, employed on the wharf, shipping or other avocations ..... 15 11 0* Inferior domestics of first class ....... 19 8 84 Inferior domestics of second class ....... 7 15 5! Children under six years of age ....... 3 17 8i Aged, diseased, or otherwise non-effective ..... 1 18 101 2 Survey of Barbados, MSS. A copy of this manuscript, which have had an opportunity to quote so frequently, is at the British Museum among Sloane’s MSS. No. 2441, and is accompanied by a map on vellum. L 2 148 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. planters, and I may say slavery too. For if in the infancy of our sugar plan¬ tations their produce of sugar, indigo, ginger and cotton had not yielded a considerable price, and the duties been easy, it had been impossible ever to have settled them, or at leastwise to have brought them to any such perfection as they be, for a man must be in disburst at least £2000 or .£3000 before he can make one hundred weight of brown sugar, not worth above twelve or fourteen shillings 1 .” The principles of free trade received at that early period a striking proof of their soundness, as the only sure basis upon which the commer¬ cial prosperity of a country can rest. Left to herself, Barbados attained a degree of prosperity which may be called its golden age. The Navi¬ gation Act in 1659 imposed the first hindrance on the free operation of her commerce; it was however considered by the planters as a chastise¬ ment inflicted on them by the Commonwealth for their loyalty to their King, and they did not murmur; but when, after the Restoration, Charles the Second confirmed this act, and all governors were strictly enjoined by an oath to watch its execution 4 , the planters were filled with indigna¬ tion, and considered themselves treated with undeserved rigour and in¬ gratitude. A still heavier burden was the four-and-half per cent, duty, levied upon the produce of all the estates, of which the colonists were not freed until the reign of her present Majesty. They predicted, in consequence of these restrictions and imposts, the decline of their popula¬ tion, agriculture and prosperity. At the close of the seventeenth century the number of vessels was reduced to 250, and the number of white meu able to bear arms to 5000 men 3 . It was stated in evidence before the House of Commons in 1730, that Barbados exported 22,769 hogsheads of sugar to Great Britain, and that they were valued at £340,396. The commissioners for trade and plantations, in a representation to the House of Lords in pursuance of their Lordships’ addresses to his Majesty of the 1st and 5th of April 1734, relating to the British Islands in America, &c., report with regard to Barbados, that the general exports from Great Britain to Barbados between Christmas 1728 and Christmas 1732, according to their valuation in the Custom-House books, amounted on an average to £85,780 15s. 7 d. per annum, and the imports from Bar¬ bados to £246,599 13s. 108 Statement of Imports into Barbados in 1847, with the Name of the article imported. Quantity. From Great Britain. British West Indies. Sugar candy .... Sugar, unrefined Tea . Tobacco, manufactured Vegetables. Vegetables, fresh. Wine. Woollen manufacture .. Wood and lumber. Staves . Hoops . Firewood . Shingles. Cabinet-wood . Spars. Poles. Goods not enumerated .. Goods, British, from the ') United Kingdom .... J Paper, manufactured .... Brought forward 1 cwt. 0 qr. 19 lbs. 52 cwt. 14,11.1 lbs. / 108,272 lbs. 1_ 563,000 cigars .... 302 tierces, 502 cwt. f 3554 barrels, 151 ham- \ pers, 5201 bunches . 33,583 gallons. at value. f Hard wood 82,076 feet, < lumber 6,726,649 feet. 1,362,377 . 14,870 . 2112 cords . 23,141,000. 60,900 . 159. 1744 . at value. at value . £ s. d. 51,866 8 6 2 6 9 1,234 1 7 562 8 3 6,313 1 1 6 2 6 2,485 19 0 296,315 2 5 10 9 3 £ s. d. 18,428 0 6 64 14 0 355 15 0 216 12 7 1,264 1 8 523 16 6 56 0 0 3,137 1 0 11,081 7 9 58 0 0 Total of imports in 1845. do. in 1844. 358,795 19 338,381 15 35,185 9 0 23,558 3 7 Excess in 1845 above 1844 Comparative Statement of the Number of Ships which arrived in the Port Ships Inwards. Year. Great Britain. British Colonies. United States. Foreign States. Total. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. Men. 1841 102 25,017 407 26,089 136 20,940 93 6,255 738 78,301 1842 86 22,280 468 31,734 132 21,256 86 5,779 772 81,049 1843 116 27,166 527 33,591 219 34,280 91 8,893 958 104,506 7298 1844 98 24,490 444 22,910 174 29,382 105 9,405 821 86,187 6311 1845 92 23,965 475 24,585 199 34,098 122 11,894 888 94,542 6819 Remarks .—The great difference between the tonnage inwards and the tonnage outwards, is chiefly American, which on coming here to look for a market, and not finding one, have at once CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 159 Country from whence imported, and their value (continued). Colonies. United States. Foreign States. Total. North America. Elsewhere. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. 30,965 15 5 35,655 0 0 161,052 4 8 12,944 7 0 310,911 16 1 2 6 9 64 14 0 24 6 6 1,614 3 1 2,511 12 7 340 2 9 3,630 16 2 1,056 10 0 1,713 5 3 104 10 0 4,138 6 11 15 6 1 2,823 18 5 9,676 2 1 62 2 6 7,210 10 2 17,250 0 0 3,405 1 4 31,002 12 6 1,143 0 6 96 6 0 6,094 11 8 3,910 3 10 24,811 8 9 296,315 2 5 49 15 2 20 5 0 138 9 5 39,343 12 7 36,807 16 0 188,686 15 5 23,548 8 4 682,368 0 8 39,742 17 11 . 161,252 13 7 41,475 8 6 604,410 18 10 £77,957 Is. lOrf. of Bridgetown in Barbados during the years 1841 to 1845 inclusive. Ships Outwards. Year. Great Britain. British Colonies. United States. Foreign States. Total. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. Men. 1841 56 14,720 465 31,007 40 6,774 181 28,299 742 80,800 5792 1842 68 18,306 488 35,027 37 7,862 146 19,017 739 80,212 5741 1843 78 21,088 569 35,122 82 13,358 159 22,936 888 92,504 6820 1844 76 20,628 535 36,475 46 8,894 151 19,328 808 85,325 6280 1845 82 21,089 537 33,056 57 10,312 205 29,316 881 93,773 6679 accounted for by the fact, that in the return inwards is included the tonnage of many vessels, set sail for another port, without effecting any clearance at the Custom-house. A Comparative Statement of Exports during the years 1841 to 1845 inclusive, and their Value. — cs — QO CO — CO ~ ~ 9 ) kO " CO — H © !>. CO © © O) Ok D Ol ^ co «o »o eo im <© —• o> fi,S JIjs © o o o O 00 K CD &: 1 s -a O'O o o js % § ftl p.c 2. t *1 .a c ? ^ S -f O H e?<© — o *~ i>..© & J=JS : J - s |l - « ~ C 6C S) CS -T ‘O - o fc 8>« g J! J2 o' 0 13 w oi i •• o 5 r 5 " - - *° — ^ C-J sj o o o .9 ;5 £ Grs Ora ug=gs£ . *© » , *5 » £p-.£ 5&,£ O O us foreign sugar was part of a cargo of two foreign vessels, which put into Carlisle Bay in distress, and had their cargoes landed for exportation. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 1 G 1 The External Commerce of Barbados. 1. Trade with Great Britain .—The trade with Great Britain has always been, and continues to be, the most important, surpassing in amount the whole commerce of Barbados with all other parts of the world. The relation in which the colonies stand to the mother country, and the burden which that impious restriction to free commerce, the naviga¬ tion laws, has imposed upon them, contributes much to this great pre¬ ponderance. There is perhaps no other colony in the British dominions where British capital is so exclusively employed as in Barbados, and by an old law a foreigner is not qualified to hold real property. We are living in eventful times, prejudices fall before the rapid progress with which an enlightened commercial policy strides over the civilized world, and it becomes evident that monopolies, as well as such unjust restric¬ tions as the navigation laws, will soon be effaced from the colonial code. All British manufactures or articles of British growth are free of co¬ lonial duty. Previous to the year 1842 their value was not specified, and this explains the comparatively small amount of imports in 1841 and 1842, while in reality the sums mentioned under these years refer only to foreign articles imported in English vessels. With regard to the ex¬ ports, Great Britain receives almost exclusively the produce of the staple articles of Barbados, or of her West India colonies in general. The value of the total produce exported in 1845 amounted to £556,167 13s. 7d. sterling; of this, produce to the amount of £546,469 19s. 6d. was shipped to Great Britain, and only to the value of £9697 14s. to other parts of the world. The value of the manufactured goods, &c. of British origin, amounted that year to 296,315 2s. 5 d. sterling. The increase in im¬ ports in 1845, as compared with the preceding year, amounted to £77,975 Is. \0d., and in exports to £10,309 5s. 2d. It has been observed that “ navigation and naval power are the children, not the parents of commerce.” It is evident that the shipping interest depends upon commerce for its flourishing state, and an account of the tonnage inward and outward is generally a fair criterion of the recipro¬ cal trade between the two countries. This consideration has induced me to add the following statements of the number of ships, with their ton¬ nage, which entered and cleared in Barbados in the years 1841-1845 from all parts of the world. It is evident from these statements, that, although the value of the exports and imports from Great Britain far surpasses those from any other country, the number of vessels which enter from the United States and clear in Bridgetown greatly exceeds those from Great Britain. The number in 1845 was, from Great Britain 94, of 23,514 tons, and from the United States 189, of 23,321 tons. M 162 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Number and Tonnage of British Ships from Great Britain entered and cleared in Bridgetown. Great Britain. 1841. 1842. 1843. 1844. 1845. Ships. Tons. Ships- Tons. Ships. Tons. Ships- Tons. Ships. Tons. London . 22 6042 22 6G21 28 8455 31 9037 26 8179 Liverpool . 38 9072 36 9109 40 9109 31 7340 38 9234 The Clyde. 8 1465 7 112G 11 2127 5 667 6 973 Bristol . 5 1GG6 5 1854 8 2886 8 2767 6 1723 Dublin . 4 748 6 1383 4 930 Cork. 10 1773 10 1832 12 2310 9 1883 10 1962 Belfast . 2 349 . 4 698 3 504 1 194 Other British Ports. 1 88 2 222 5 587 2 159 3 319 2. Trade with Foreign States in Europe. —Prom wliat has been before observed, it cannot be expected that the trade with foreign European states can be considerable, as long as the British colonies stand in an unnatural position towards them. The value of imports (which includes those from the foreign colonies) amounted in 1845 to £23,548 8s. 4 d., and showed a decrease as compared with 1844 of £17,927 sterling. Wines, spirits, fancy goods, fruits and oil have been the chief articles of import. In 1845, with the exception of a few packages of pickles, succades, &c., there was no export of any produce of the island to any of the foreign possessions in Europe. The number of British vessels which arrived from foreign ports in Europe, was as follows:— From Cherbourg and Bordeaux. From the Hanseatic Towns. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. 1841 3 1515 2 296 1842 3 887 2 252 ' 1843 1 147 3 419 1844 2 445 1 126 1845 ... ... 3. Trade with the British Colonies in North America. —The importance of this trade rests upon the supply of one of the most essential articles of the common necessaries of life, namely salted and dried fish, which has become an indispensable article of food, not only among the labouring classes, but we may almost say generally. The value of the whole im¬ ports from the British Colonies in North America amounted in 1845 to £39,343 12s. Id. sterling; of this sum, imports to the value of £29,637 17s. 6d. consisted of fish. Lumber, staves, &c. are next in importance, but the British Colonies cannot compete with the United CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 1G3 States in these articles. The exports are very trifling, and amounted only to £2821 13s. 4 d. in 1845, of which molasses formed an item of £2803 18s. 4 d. The decrease in the number of vessels and their ton¬ nage is very considerable if compared with 1843, when the tonnage amounted to 12,000 tons. During the two subsequent years it decreased from 2000 to 3000 tons. • Number and Tonnage of Ships entered and cleared in Bridgetown from the British Colonies in North America. State or Port from whence sailed. 1841. 1842. 1843. 1844. 1845. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. St. Andrew’s, N.B. . . 7 1,593 9 1,609 7 1,215 6 1056 7 1710 St. John’s, N.B. 7 1,269 1 251 6 917 7 1184 4 493 St. Stephen’s . 15 3,841 11 2,106 14 4,111 7 1293 6 816 Halifax. 17 1,500 16 1,440 5 499 ll 914 9 976 Yarmouth, N.S. 2 198 11 1,122 11 1,093 8 1292 5 405 Newfoundland . 21 3,043 34 4,595 27 3,819 26 3786 26 3677 Liverpool, N.S. 3 262 3 649 3 192 4 495 Quebec . 1 155 i 155 1 155 72 11,706 85 11,772 74 12,001 66 9680 62 8727 4. Trade with the United States. —The inhabitants of Barbados are mainly dependent for the common necessaries of life upon the United States of America. The cultivation of sugar has hitherto yielded such advantages over the production of articles of food for the support of the inhabitants, that the proprietors of the land have generally preferred buying provisions from other countries to raising them upon their own soil. Previous to the year 1774, the British provinces, which now form the United States, seemed to be the natural storehouses, where the sugar colonies might procure their food in return for their produce. Their com¬ modious situation, and the circumstance that the population had the same origin and language, and that their country was an appurtenance of the same Crown, facilitated such an intercourse. Circumstances however changed when those provinces declared their independence, and the succeed¬ ing war interrupted all intercourse with the West Indian Colonies. Then it was that the Barbados planter found cause to regret his dependence for the food of his labourers upon a distant country. But the dependence did not rest there ; those very provinces which were engaged in war with the mother-country had likewise provided the planter with the necessary materials for his buildings, and staves and hoops for packages to ship his produce in; and, these resources being suddenly withheld, the planters were put to great inconvenience, and even distress spread over the island. m 2 1G4 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Upon the recognition of the independence of the United States, friendly relations were entered into, and the commercial intercourse between the colonies and the American provinces was restored. But these friendly relations were of short duration, and on several occasions the ports were shut, and the consequence was that a scarcity almost amounting to famine prevailed in Barbados for want of the usual supply of food from the United States. While I must refer for a more detailed account of these occurrences to future pages, I would here only observe that the same relations still pre¬ vail ; Barbados depends as much upon America for the supply of food as previous to 1774; and I cannot forget, when occurrences recently threatened an interruption of the friendly intercourse between Great Britain and the United States, with what anxiety the inhabitants looked to the future, being well-aware how little food their own island yielded them. It is a question of vital importance whether such a state of things ought not to be remedied. It appears to be a tempting of Providence, which is the more palpable to the eye when such suffering prevails in Ireland,—a country where assistance is close at hand. What would be the distress in Barbados under similar circumstances ? The commerce with the United States rests upon a most unnatural basis. The imports amount annually, taking an average of five years (from 1841 to 1845), to £148,538 14s. sterling, and in 1845 they amounted to £188,686 15s. 5 d., while the exports during that period cover only £1471; the excess, amounting to from £140,000 to £190,000 sterling, is carried away in specie or in bills of exchange upon London. The value of the imports from the United States in 1845, consisting of bread, flour, corn and grain, meal, rice, salted meat 1 , &c. amounted to nearly £125,000 sterling; consequently every inhabitant in Barbados contributes upon an average one pound sterling towards the payment for his food from that country. The increase in the value of imports in 1845 above 1844 amounts to £27,434 sterling; that of exports to £512 sterling. The carrying trade is naturally in the hands of the United States, and the vessels employed are generally of small burden, commonly making two and sometimes three voyages in a year. 1 For some years past a new branch of trade has been opened, which, though of no very great importance, contributes to the comfort of the more opulent, and affords a luxury which only a person who has lived under the tropical sun can duly, appre¬ ciate,—I mean the importation of ice and iced provisions from America. This will explain the nature of such items in the import table as “ fresh fish, fresh meat, fresh vegetables, &c.,” which are preserved in ice, and conveyed to the tropics; and by this means the colonists are enabled to enjoy a haunch of mutton, or a joint of beef, far surpassing that which Barbados can produce. The schooner Curlew was the first vessel which arrived in Bridgetown laden with fresh provisions packed in ice. She came from Bath in Massachuscts, and anchored in Carlisle Bay on the 17th of February 1823. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 165 Number of Ships, under the United States’ flag, which entered and cleared at the Custom-house in Bridgetown. State or Port from 1841. 1842. 1843. 1844. 1845. whence sailed. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. New York. 9 1505 3 394 14 2371 15 2251 li 1,931 Philadelphia. 52 8181 44 6840 39 6450 47 7035 60 10,515 Baltimore. 9 1582 19 31/3 14 1969 15 2554 11 1,733 Boston. 1 138 5 795 9 1271 4 757 New Haven. 18 3942 20 4378 14 1360 19 3919 23 4,570 New Orleans. 4 419 3 368 Norfolk. 10 1350 11 1761 14 2177 13 2186 15 2,490 Alexandria . 21 3145 21 3326 14 2394 14 3136 16 3,111 Charleston . 2 197 7 537 ... Savannah . • • • 1 164 1 62 4 378 North Carolina. . .. 8 804 9 681 14 1232 4 349 8 932 Wilmington, U.S... ... 11 1697 11 1630 10 1612 13 2,247 Other Ports of the 1 United States.. J 9 1199 3 495 10 1524 13 2173 25 3,767 5. Trade with the East Indies, Ichaboe and St. Helena. —Since 1843 attempts have been made to import rice from the East Indies, at least several cargoes have been landed here. Of much greater importance was the importation of manure from Ichaboe, which forms in the table of im¬ ports for 1845 an item of nearly 5100 tons, at a value of £36,961 sterling; of which imports to the amount of nearly £30,400 came from Ichaboe. The number of vessels which entered from thence and the East Indies were,— Where from. 1843. 1844. 1845. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. Calcutta.... 1 155 Madras .... • . • • < • . 1 293 1 413 St. Helena. . . • • . 2 449 1 738 Ichaboe .... ... .... 10 2327 15 3442 Intercolonial Trade with the British West Indies and British Guiana .— The trade between Barbados and the other West India Islands is upon a natural footing ; the advantage is on the side of this island. The trade consists chiefly of the manufactures and products of other countries which are mutually re-exported; but as Barbados lies in the track of all vessels which arrive from Europe and America, they generally touch there first to try the market, and consequently there is a larger stock for re-exportation in Barbados than in any other colony. This trade 166 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. adds therefore little or nothing to the revenue, whatever profit it may bring to those engaged in it. These re-exports of goods which are not the produce of the West Indies to the colonies, amounted in 1845 to £122,524 19s. 8£ sterling. Barbados receives from some of the neighbouring islands cocoa and coffee, partly for its own use, partly for re-exportation: firewood, an article which Barbados scarcely possesses, is imported from Guiana in considerable quantities ; likewise hard wood, timbers &C. 1 . The value of the imports amounts on the average of five years to £27,619 sterling, and the exports to £126,722 sterling, leaving an excess in favour of Barbados of £99,103 sterling. The imports in 1845 exceed in value those of 1844 by £11,627 5s. 5 d., but there is a decrease of £5605 5s. 2d. in the exports. Intercolonial Trade with the Foreign West India Islands and the Coast of South America. —The trade between Barbados and Martinique and St. Thomas, has much decreased since the ports in the British West Indies have been opened to the vessels of the United States. This refers chiefly to St. Thomas, which was at that period the principal depot for American produce. Since the items of the foreign intercolonial trade are not specified in the imports and exports, I can give no exact data, but the degree of its importance may be judged of from the ships and their tonnage. The vessels employed in this trade are mostly sloops and schooners of small burden. The trade with the Spanish Main, as the coast of Venezuela is gene¬ rally called, is of greater importance. It consists mostly of dry goods, which are purchased in Barbados and smuggled into the republic. From Porto Rico, Angostura and the Orinoco, cattle are imported, principally for the use of the troops. In 1845, it appears that 1337 head of cattle were imported, which were estimated at £7206 sterling. The herds of cattle grazing on the banks of the Orinoco are very con¬ siderable, and form the largest supply imported into Barbados. In con¬ sequence of the high cultivation of staple articles there is little land left under pasture, and the foreign cattle are generally slaughtered soon after their disembarkation, which does not improve the meat; moreover the cattle imported from the Orinoco are of an inferior breed. Hence the general complaint of strangers, that the beef in Barbados is not of a good quality. 1 One of the strangest importations from Guiana was in 1769, the rich soil of that fertile tract, which in some places in the virgin forests forms a stratum of manure to a depth of twelve inches, but the wood-ants committed such ravages in the vessel, that the attempt was never repeated.—(Annual Register, 1/69.) CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 1G7 Intercolonial Trade of Barbados with the British Colonies. Number of Ships, and their Tonnage, which entered and cleared at Bridgetown. 1841. 1842. 1843. 1844. 1845. Port from whence sailed. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. Demerara. 32 2544 34 3759 23 2347 58 3414 63 3655 Berbice. 13 1114 15 849 6 430 13 611 6 480 Trinidad . 27 1179 29 1323 6 288 30 1427 21 680 Tobago . 20 679 664 22 833 12 365 36 1183 50 1414 Grenada . 23 22 713 775 10 316 19 519 30 990 St. Vincent . 18 623 17 24 839 41 1232 39 999 St. Lucia . 29 962 56 1842 14 510 49 1693 58 2027 Dominica . 36 1153 53 2137 185 13 529 65 2320 59 2419 Antigua. 2 40 5 4 121 8 717 5 190 Montserrat . 1 40 8 265 St. Christopher.... 10 294 9 229 2 91 3 102 3 114 Nevis. 2 70 ... ... ... ... 1 36 Anguilla. 1 24 1 88 3 107 4 93 St. Martin . 1 25 1 53 2 58 Jamaica. 1 40 Nassau . 2 148 1 76 127 49 Turk’s Island. 2 1 18 3 157 2 160 From other Baha-1 ma Islands.. .. J ... ...... 1 1 25 Bermuda . 4 285 5 282 3 279 5 382 7 362 Intercolonial Trade of Barbados with the Foreign Colonies. Number of Ships, and their Tonnage, which entered and cleared at Bridgetown. Port from whence sailed. 1841. 1842. 1843. 1844. 1845. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. Martinique. 26 803 12 309 6 206 8 248 li 321 Guadaloupe . 2 75 4 166 1 37 4 160 St. Bartholomew .. 7 184 6 163 5 125 13 312 13 334 St. Thomas . 12 470 10 355 3 152 9 335 13 511 Porto Rico. 8 445 9 567 4 232 3 203 7 459 St. Domingo. 1 26 St. Eustatia . 7 157 6 160 Spanish Main in-1 2447 J 15 1108 15 1290 25 1907 22 1794 eluding Venezuela J 66 l 5 284 .. 1 221 Rio Janeiro . i 305 Surinam. 1 28 3 153 5 265 Cayenne. ... 4 256 1G8 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. In my remarks on the imports, I have omitted to dwell particularly on the large annual importation of horses; the number is almost incredible, were it not proved by official statements. These horses are mostly import¬ ed from the United States 1 , at a considerable expense, and the continued necessity of replenishing the stock attracted in 1842 the attention of the Legislature. The following is an extract from the report of the Finance Committee of the House of Assembly in November 1842:— “ The extraordinary and almost incredible number of horses annually im¬ ported into this island well deserves the consideration of the Legislature, with a view to the adoption of such measures as may be likely to check the heavy loss occasioned by the great mortality which takes place among them. From the 9th of April 1833 to the 30th of June 1842, the number of horses im¬ ported amounted to 8318, giving a yearly average of 924. The number of horses returned to the Treasury in the year 1841 was 4052, so that the mor¬ tality among these animals reaches the frightful amount of about twenty-five per cent., requiring a renewal of the whole stock once in four years®.” For the facility of commercial intercourse, there exist two banks in 1 The large number required by the island has excited even the astonishment of those who profit by it, namely the horse-dealers, who, as report says, could come to no other conclusion from such an unceasing annual demand, than that the Barbadians followed the Tartar custom and lived occasionally upon horseflesh. 2 The importations of horses and mules were in— Horses. Mules. 1833 (from the 9tli of April). 294 . . 87 1834. 557 . . 90 1835. 989 . .... 46 1836. ... 1149 ., 33 1837. ... 1443 ., . 37 1838. ... 1172 .. . 14 1839. 810 .. 20 1840. 728 .. 1841. 850 .. .... 72 1842 (to June 30th) . . 10 8318 409 the three subsequent years, 1843-45, 2057 horses were imported. Return of Horses and Mules made to the Treasury in the year 1841. Parish. Horses. Mules. St. Michael . _ 810 ., . 60 Christ Church. 442 , 33 St. Philip . _ 402 , 30 St. George. .... 515 .. _ 38 St. Thomas. _ 393 .. 29 St. John. _ 33 St. Joseph. .... 297 ■• _ 22 St. Andrew. . .. .. 164 12 St, James. .... 157 .. .... 12 St. Peter. .... 275 ., . 20 St. Lucy. .... 161 12 4052 301 CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 169 Barbados. The Colonial Bank, with a capital of twenty millions sterling, was established in London, and incorporated by royal charter in 1836. It has a chief branch in Bridgetown, and minor branches in almost all the islands. The West India Bank had its origin in Barbados : it was established in 1840, with a capital of two million dollars, in 20,000 shares of 100 dollars each, and has since been incorporated by royal charter. The circulation of the paper currency of these two establishments in the island itself is estimated at 150,000 dollars. The amount of Mexican and American dollars in circulation is estimated at 150,000 dollars, which sum does not include the amount in the repositories of the two banks. The following details respecting commercial transactions, coins, weights, &c., will no doubt be looked for by those who are engaged or interested in commerce. They have been copied from the official returns in the blue book for 1845. “ Coins .—The coins legally current are those included in the Queen’s Pro¬ clamation of October 1838, viz. British silver, and Spanish, Mexican and Columbian doubloons and silver: the foreign money at the rates for sterling therein fixed. These only are a legal tender; but in practice, dollars of other South American coinages, of which a few now and then appear, and their parts (i, &c.) pass current. “ British silver is not much used, there not being amongst it a coin to re¬ present the most important subdivision of the dollar, the Real or Bit; that used here being the tenth of a dollar (10 cents) or 5c?. sterling. There is a little British Colonial silver, called anchor money, representing the 4th, 8th and 16th of a dollar. No gold is in circulation, as in consequence of the over valuation of the doubloon in the neighbouring Foreign Colonies and the Main, the coin always bears a considerable premium on the legal value of ^15 36c. No British gold in use. The silver dollar is the virtual standard of value. “ Moneys of account .—By law accounts should be kept in £ s. d. currency, in which all suits must be instituted, and this money (of account) is still made use of by the Legislature in laying duties and taxes, and penalties, and other¬ wise generally. But in the recent Import and Export Act, the duties are laid in dollars and cents ; and the practice of keeping accounts in dollars and cents is almost imiversal with the merchant and trader who are largely engaged in business ; and bills and promissory notes are almost universally expressed in that currency. The banks keep all their accounts in dollars and cents. The legal value of the dollar is 6s. 6c?. currency, so that £ 100 sterling is equal to £ 156 currency. “ Course of Exchange (1845).—There are very few operations in exchange except in sterling bills on the United Kingdom, which by mercantile men are commonly drawn at 90 days’ sight. The rate during 1844 has not been under S' 468 per ,£100, or about 2{- per cent, discount for private bills, and that only for a few weeks. “ The rate for bank-bills has never been above ^485, or 1 per cent, pre¬ mium at 30 days’ sight. Bank bills generally rate from \ to f per cent, higher than private bills. Drafts on New York are not made much use of, re- 170 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. mittances being principally in sterling bills, and occasionally in specie. The banks grant such orders, and charge according to what may be the rate of ex¬ change in the States, from two per cent, discount to one per cent, premium. “ There is scarcely a transaction in exchange with the British North Ame¬ rican provinces; the value of imports from thence being generally carried away in bills on London or in specie, for the purpose of seeking another market, and a cheaper one if they want sugar. “ Army bills in these places are sold with a deduction for interest at 6 per cent, for the time they have to run, and a commission of \ per cent. The simple remittance of money from one island to the other is effected through one of the banks by draughts at about \ per cent discount. “Bills on St. Thomas’s are drawn in dollars, and are payable there in doubloons, taking that coin as equal to %\ G, which is 4 per cent, more than its legal value in the West India Colonies : the charge varies from 2 per cent, discount to par, with further variation according to sight or date at which they are drawn. They are not much used. “ Weights and Measures. —The weights used by the Inspector for regulating the weights in the island, are agreeably to the imperial weights of England, and consist of 561bs., 281bs., 141bs., /lbs., 41bs., 2lbs., lib., i and ^lb. “ Measures. —One bushel, one half bushel, one gallon, one quart, one pint, half pint, one gill, half gill. “ One cloth yard of three English feet. “ The land measure is the English acre of four roods to the acre. “ The measures used as the standard by which measures are regulated, is the original imperial measure of England. The alteration which took place by Act of Parliament in 1824 has not been adopted in this island.” Taxes, Import and Export Duties, Revenue and Expenditure. —One of the first taxes that was raised amounted to forty pounds of cotton per head for the proprietary body, but from the time of the surrender of the patent during the government of Francis Lord Willoughby, the free¬ hold properties have been held “ from his Majesty in common soccage, yielding and paying every year for the same, one ear of Indian corn, in full discharge of all rents and services whatsoever 1 .” Captain Hawley, during his government in 1634, ordered that all Dutch, French and other foreign ships which came to anchor, should pay to the Governor twenty shillings in money, or goods to that value, and seven per cent, on all the goods which they sold while in the harbour. The grants of land were encumbered with a proviso to pay to the Earl of Carlisle, to the Governor and to the Minister, their respective dues, otherwise the grant should cease and the plantation be forfeited 2 . Previous to Lord Willoughby’s arrival, an Act for levying a tax of one pound of cotton or tobacco per acre to the Governor for “ this present year,” passed, probably under the government of Mr. Philip Bell. It is one 1 The State of Barbados, MSS. Phillipps, No. 8/97. Sloane, No. 2441. 2 Memoirs of the First Settlement, p. 18. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 171 of those acts in Rawlins's collection in which the dates have been omitted, and which are ascribed to Governor Bell. Similar acts for the maintenance of the government and the adminis¬ tration of the law were annually renewed. In 1649, an Act passed in favour of Captain Burrowes, “ to have the import office for seven years," for which he promised to fortify all the landing-places, and to furnish them with such ammunition and artillery as should be sufficient to defend them. Ligon relates that Captain Burrowes did this so inefficiently, that at the time he left Barbados, they were pulling down again what he had erected. The act for “settling the impost on the commodities of the growth of this island," passed on the 12th of September 1663. This was the famous act which settled the four-and-half per cent, duty on the in¬ habitants of Barbados for one hundred and seventy-five years. During the administration of Sir Richard Dutton, the import duties and taxes, besides the four-and-half per cent, duty upon all exports, con¬ sisted of,—-1. The import duty upon strong liquors; 2. the tax of three pounds of sugar an acre upon land ; 3. ten pounds of sugar per head upon negroes; 4. another tax of two pounds of sugar for every acre ; and 5. five pounds of sugar per head upon negroes. The three last taxes were only casual and temporary. In 1670, the revenue was farmed to Robert Spencer, Sir George Wheeler, John Stroad and George March for seven years, at an annual rent of £7000 sterling. It did not prove advantageous to the speculators, and they obtained a renewal of their lease, at the end of that term, for an additional seven years at £5300. With the commencement of 1685, the revenue was managed by commissioners, under the directions of the Lords of the Treasury 1 . Oldmixon enumerates the taxes under the administration of Governor Mitford Crowe (1709-1710), as follows: he has added their computed annual proceeds:— 1. The four-and-half per cent, duty on exports,—considered to pro¬ duce £10,000 as a perquisite of the Crown. 2. A duty of four pounds of gunpowder for each ton of every ship un¬ loaded in Barbados : this duty was paid in specie, and amounted to about £600. 3. A duty on Madeira wine at £4 10s. per pipe, which produced about £7000. 4. A duty on all other liquors, which was calculated to yield about £2000. These were fixed duties, and were intended to be appropriated to the use of the Crown, and for the maintenance of stores, ammunition, and a defen¬ sive state of the fortifications. The others were such as were raised by the Assembly for the service of the colony, which was generally done by a pound-tax or poll-tax, and which annually amounted to about £20,000. 1 The State of Barbados, &c., MSS. 172 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. The Vestries raised a parish-tax for the maintenance of their ministers and the poor, and keeping the churches in due repair 1 . After the accession of James the Second, Parliament laid a duty of two shillings and fourpence upon every hundred weight of muscovado sugar, and seven shillings upon refined. These duties, which materially op¬ pressed the planter, varied in after years, and were greatly increased during the continental war, under the pretext of war-duties; they amounted ultimately to twenty-seven shillings per cwt. 2 Thirty years have passed since the peace with France was concluded, and these duties have not yet been entirely removed, although they were in more recent years reduced. The tax amounts at present to fourteen shillings, with a differential duty of seven shillings upon foreign sugar, whether produced by slave labour or otherwise. This differential duty, for the protection of sugar from the British Colonies, is levied upon the principle of a sli¬ ding-scale, and all difference between British and foreign sugar ceases in 1852 3 . The protective duties are on British sugar, for the years— 1846-47, 7s.; 1847-48, 6s.; 1848-49, 4s.; 1849-50, 3s.; 1850-51, 2s. 6d .; 1851-52, 0. Returning from this digression to the finances of the island of Bar¬ bados, we are informed by Poyer that public credit was almost annihil¬ ated in 1782; and the Commissioners for the distribution of the Parlia¬ mentary bounty to the sufferers of the hurricane in 1780, in lieu of em¬ ploying the grant exclusively for this object, appropriated a considerable portion of it to the liquidation of the colonial debt. N otwithstanding that the debt had been so recently paid, the finances were five years later again in great confusion; and, with the exception of the Governor, no one belonging to the colonial establishment had been paid for upwards of two years. A capitation tax of fifteen pence on slaves was found suf¬ ficient to restore the credit of the country 4 . During the distressing war which followed the revolution in France, and was protracted for more than twenty years, the finances fluctuated ; but still no ruinous measure was required to keep up the credit; and the revival of commerce in after years brought prosperity to the little island: even the devastating effects of the great hurricane in 1831 were got over, and at the opening of the Legislative Session in 1845, the Governor, Sir Charles Grey, congra¬ tulated the island upon the prosperous state of the finances, “ which,” he observed, “no one can doubt is in a great degree owing to the pru¬ dence with which preceding Houses of Assembly have framed their 1 Oldmixou’s British Empire in America, ii. 133, 134. 2 The evil influences of these oppressive duties were severely felt as early as 1S06-07, and several attempts were made by the West India Committee to have this Act repealed. 3 It is foreign to the author’s purpose to enter here at large upon an examination of Sir Robert Peel’s Sugar Bill. A few words on this subject will be reserved to an¬ other page. 4 Poyer’s History of Barbados, p. 575. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 173 financial enactments. The accumulations of revenue which are deposited in the two chartered banks, amounted on the 1st of September 1845 to 213,969 dollars 40 cents. 1 , on which sums, and upon all future accu¬ mulations, whether of principle or interest, a low interest of two and a half per cent, per annum is payable. The treasurer stated the balance in his hands upon the same day to be £11,709 12s. M. currency 2 .” The oppressive fonr-aml-half per cent, duty was repealed in the first year of her present Majesty’s reign. According to the Act 3 , her Majesty surrendered for her life all her interest in these duties; and all grants, pensions and annuities, which had been paid out of these duties, were thenceforth provided for by Parliament. Certain duties under the name of Crown duties were now laid upon the importation of divers articles into the colonies, which are collected by officers of her Majesty’s Customs ; and after the salaries of these officers and the expenses connected with the collection of the duties are deducted, the surplus amount is handed over to the Colonial Treasurer in aid of the payment of the officers of government. The taxes, duties, fees, and all other sources of revenue may at present be divided under two heads :— I. Such as are collected by the Queen’s Custom-house Officers. 1. The Crown duties imposed by the Imperial Act 5 and 6 Vic¬ toria, chap. 49. 2. A tonnage duty of eighteen pence sterling per ton, under the authority of an Act of the Colonial Legislature passed the 23rd of August 1834. II. Duties and taxes levied by Colonial authority, and collected by the Colonial Treasurer:— 1. Licenses for selling spirits, vegetables, fruit, and game; also hawkers’, butchers’ and bakers’ licenses: these vary from £6 8s. 3 d. sterling (for a license to sell spirits) to £4 sterling (to sell vegetables and fruit). 2. Duties on imports. 3. Duties on exports. 4. Harbour dues. 5. Market dues. The parishes of St. Lucy and St. Peter pay fourpence currency on each acre of land, which is applicable to the payment of a loan to those parishes of £2000 currency for rebuilding churches. The following statistical tables exhibit the resources and the amount of the revenue, and the usual annual expenses of the island. 1 Equal to £44,576 19s. 2d. sterling. 2 About £7507 sterling, which with the former sum amounts nearly to £52,084 sterling. 3 1 Victoria, cap. xcii., an Act to repeal the four-and-half per cent, duties, 14th of August 1838. 174 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Comparative Statement of the Public Revenue in Barbados Source of Revenue. 1841. £ s. d. Arrear of revenue from the preceding year . 83 12 1 Fixed Revenue : 3,462 16 3 Market dues. 588 17 8 Surplus tonnage and crown duties. 10,816 18 6 Duty on brandy and gin. 11,268 9 7 Exports and imports . 23,769 4 4 Colonial tonnage duty. 1,906 18 9 Tax on land, houses, mills, carriages, dogs, &c. 5,540 2 5 Tax on land under the militia act . 5,420 2 8 Incidental Revenue:— Fees and fines . 2,587 9 6 Levy collected by virtue of execution. 230 12 3 Receipts for the sustenance of soldiers confined in the 1 jail ./ Received from the Molehead. 370 12 8 Received from the Surveyor-General of roads for \ assessments collected under the Road Act . f Sundries. 135 1 10 Reserve fund from 4J per cent, duty = <£4000, and \ differences of exchange <£1615 13s. 9d ./ Receipts in aid of Revenue :— Received from the churchwardens of the parish of St. \ 254 0 10 Michael on account of the police assessment .... J Total. 66,434 19 4 Comparative Statement of the Public Expenditure 1841. Expense of civil establishment . Disbursement on account of miscellaneous civil services .... Military disbursements (including police establishment 1 during 1841—43 inclusive)./ £ s. d. 20,550 14 9 16,131 2 3 27,992 6 4 Total. 64,674 3 4 1 The amount hitherto placed under the head of military disbursements for the police establishment, and police magistrates and clerks, is now transferred to that of ordinary and fixed expenses of the civil establishment. 2 The loans and deposits consist of the following items :— £ s. d. Loan to the Molehead department. 2,114 14 8 Loan to St. Mathew’s Chapel. 416 13 4 Deposits in Chartered Banks. 40,651 5 4 <£43,182 13 4 CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 175 during the under-mentioned years in £ sterling. 1842. 1843. 1844. 1845. £ S. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ S. d. 1,760 15 6 17,519 8 10 42,703 2 li 6,651 12 7 3,405 12 10 5,883 2 5 3,407 3 0 4,160 9 1 535 17 8 474 8 2 473 4 7 452 9 4 11,619 2 4 13,644 11 8 13,801 8 n 14,129 5 1 6,135 10 8 4,580 5 7 3,313 8 5 3,163 6 10 31,233 10 0 36,923 18 11 24,388 0 10 20,653 8 11 1,845 3 0 2,969 11 3 5,352 12 5 4,323 10 5 2,398 0 8 5,507 7 3 518 6 0 511 3 11 2,689 7 7 2,398 1 0 2,769 5 11 3,546 10 5 260 5 9 171 11 11 4 11 10 25 13 0 45 17 6 31 6 4 12 0 3 243 10 0 225 2 0 806 7 9 125 15 8 466 16 1 347 6 3 253 11 3 ... 5,615 13 9 1,012 8 0 IO 00 3 8 70,714 io 8 95,760 5 6 92,251 7 0 57,751 2 9 during the under-mentioned years in £ sterling. 1842. 1843. 1844. 1845. £ s. d . £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. 17,286 1 4 16,169 0 6 30,955 15 II 1 34,571 10 10 3 13,900 15 1 18,922 0 0 11,461 5 2 12,791 17 7 25,017 14 7 17,966 4 9 43,182 13 4 2 4,984 10 10 4 56,204 11 0 53,057 5 3 85,599 14 5 52,347 19 3 3 The increased expenditure of the civil establishment arises from the provision made for the annual repairs of highways, and salaries to the surveyor-general and officers attendant thereon, together with the salary allowed to the commissioners of the burnt district. The increase of the miscellaneous disbursements is to be ascribed to the grants made to the sufferers by the late fire, to the General Hospital, &c. 4 The loans and deposits in 1845 amounted to :— £ s. d. Loan to St. Michael’s Vestry. 1,025 12 10 Loan to Molehead department . 1,854 14 5 Deposits in Chartered Banks. 2,104 3 7_ .£4,984 10 10 176 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Statement of the Colonial Expenditure in Barbados during the year 1845 in £ sterling. Ecclesiastical Establishment. Eleven Rectors at £500 currency each per annum. Curates.-. Judicial Establishment. Chief-Justice per annum. Attorney-General. Police-Magistrates and Clerks. Clerk of the Crown and Peace. Clerk of the Assistant Court of Appeal . Contingent Expenses. Allowance to Jurors on Courts of Session . Establishment for Public Education. Allowance for the Central School .... Civil Department. Agent of the Island in England .... Colonial Secretary, Clerks and office-rent . Colonial Treasurer. Chaplain of the Council and Assembly . Clerk, Deputy Clerk and Marshal to House of Assembly, and Committees . . . Captain of the Port. Commissioners of the burnt district . . . Lunatic Asylum. For the completion of Lunatic Asylum, and purchasing furniture and fittings for the same. Government House Establishment. Repairs and disbursement. Gardener’s allowance. Coroner’s and post-mortem Examinations . Police Department. Salaries to Officers, and pay to men . . . £ s. d. 3,525 13 0 1,265 12 6 2,000 0 0 500 0 0 3,173 1 8 64 2 0 96 3 2 226 14 2 512 16 4 325 0 0 1,100 0 0 176 5 8 128 4 0 336 10 8 51 12 1 156 5 0 2,012 4 8 301 14 10* 51 5 71 608 19 3 15,081 10 6 £ s. d. 4,701 5 6 5,833 6 10 % 226 14 2 512 16 4 2,273 17 5 2,012 4 8 353 0 6 608 19 3 15,081 10 6 Carried forward.^31,693 15 2 CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 1 77 £ s. d. Brought forward . . . 31,693 15 2 Market Department. £ s. d. Salary of toll-gatherer. 64 2 0 Inspector of weights and measures . . 65 7 8 Repairs and alterations of market. 101 11 7 231 1 3 Town Hall Department. Annual rent of the Town Hall. 133 6 8 133 6 8 Barrack Department. Annual allowance for Signal Stations. 80 2 6 80 2 6 Printing for the Legislature and the Public 2 76 5 7 276 5 7 Jail and Prison Establishment. Salaries to the Medical Officers and Chaplain, to the Jailer, &c. 1,082 16 0 Maintenance of prisoners. 1,940 19 3 3,023 15 3 Highways. ft Repairs and Salaries. 3,928 3 11 3,928 3 11 Grants and Annuities. Grant to the General Hospital .... 1,226 0 6 „ „ late sufferers by the fire in Bridgetown. 2,500 0 0 ,, ,, parish of St. Philip towards completing Halton-road. 160 5 2 Annuities to Pensioners. 22 8 9 3,948 14 5 Drawbacks on re-exported Goods. Drawback on liquors. 2,743 14 7 Drawback on goods. 271 3 6 Duties returned on merchandise destroyed by the late fire . 525 15 10 Excise waiters and gauging wine .... 23 1 6 3,563 15 5 Treasurer’s commission on Crown duties 315 8 6 Incidental expenses. 168 19 9 484 8 3 Loans and Deposits. Loan to St. Michael’s Vestry. 1,025 12 10 Loan to the Molehead department . 1,854 14 5 2,880 7 3 Deposits in chartered Banks. 2,104 3 4 - 2,104 3 4 Total. £52,347 19 0 N 178 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Local Revenues and Expenditure raised in 1845, and appropriated under the authority of the Churchwardens in the undermentioned Parishes *. Note .—The revenue arises from acre-money, church-sittings, tax on trade, car¬ riages and other vehicles, waggons and carts, licences, &c.; and the expenditure is for salaries to church-officers, education and clothing of poor children, annuitants, &c. Name of the Parish. Revenue (sterling). Expenditure (sterling). £ s. d . £ s. d . Christ Church. 809 14 5 808 12 6 St. Philip . 735 17 4± 632 6 9 St. George. 972 5 10 891 1 8 St. Thomas. 565 18 6 451 11 1 St. John. 543 19 H 542 16 1 St. Joseph. 398 11 m 398 11 10i St. Andrew. 382 17 6 382 17 6 St. Peter. 635 0 0 635 0 0 St. James . St. Michael 1 . ^ x > no returns. St. Lucy.. J 361 13 0 358 2 0 The Port and Careenage of Barbados .—Carlisle Bay, the harbour or port of Barbados, forms an open roadstead which is much exposed to the wind when blowing from the south and south-west. It is spacious, and capable of containing upwards of five hundred vessels of all sizes ; it has however a great disadvantage, in affording no protection on the occurrence of gales ) and vessels at anchor during the hurricane season generally prefer putting to sea when there are symptoms of a gale coming on, than to run the risk of being driven ashore. The roadsteads near Holetown, Speightstown and Oistine’s, must have been formerly much more resorted to than they are at present, these places being honoured with the name of seaport towns. The trade is now almost entirely concentrated in Bridge¬ town, and with the exception of small sloops and schooners, it is seldom 1 Among the above expenses, I find cited as paid for the destruction of vermin in the parish of St. George, £'50; St. Thomas, £55 11s. 8 d.\ St. John, £25 9s. 4hd .; St. Andrew, £62 10s.; St. James, <£11 10s. This is in consequence of an Act to encourage the destroying of rats, passed in 1745 and renewed in 1748, according to which the churchwarden has to pay for the head of every rat caught or killed two¬ pence. A similar Act was passed in 1682, and renewed and made perpetual in 1684, for destroying wild monkeys and raccoons, requiring the churchwarden to pay for every head of a wild monkey or raccoon killed in the parish 5s. currency. The pre¬ amble says, “ Whereas the wild monkeys and the raccoons in several parts of the island have lately much increased, to the great damage of many inhabitants, and if due care he not taken to prevent them, they may in a short time become so nume¬ rous, that the whole island may be much infested by such vile creatures. Be it there¬ fore enacted,” &c. They are now nearly extirpated, and only a few remain in the gulleys and deep recesses. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 179 that any large vessel anchors there. They are used as shipping-places for the produce from the neighbouring parishes. Certain rules and regulations have been established for vessels coming into the careenage, for the purpose of being cleaned or repaired; other¬ wise, except in particular cases, vessels are prohibited coming inside of the pier for the purpose of receiving or discharging cargo. The Molehead .—Of all the public works for facilitating commerce or protecting the town from innundation from the sea, none deserves higher praise than the breakwater and pier, which, with a reference to the re¬ sources of the island, may be termed a stupendous work. A structure for the protection of the careenage had been erected as early as the seven¬ teenth century, which the hurricane in 1694 destroyed. It was only partially repaired, and it became evident that more effective means were required to render it useful. An Act passed the Legislature on the 3rd of August 1773, for the cleansing and improving of the Molehead, and President Rouse had previously, during his administration, laid the first stone at the head of the Mole. Whatever progress had been made in the work, the hurricane in 1780 destroyed it; and although, from the pro¬ tection it afforded to the small harbour or careenage, it was evidently of the greatest importance, no effectual steps were taken towards its restora¬ tion. A tonnage-duty for the repair of this work had raised considerable funds, which were frequently applied to purposes quite foreign to this object, although commissioners had been appointed to superintend their proper application. The soil brought down by the torrent after heavy rains, and which empties itself into the little harbour, together with the filth of the town, had amassed in the channel to such a degree that even flat-bottomed boats could not pass. This disgraceful state produced at last the desired result. A Bill passed the Legislature in February 1811, authorizing Messrs. Reid, Wason and Clarke, to clear out and deepen the channel from the New Bridge to the Pierhead, so as to admit vessels drawing ten feet of water at high tide to come within the pier, and to be hove down if required for careening or repair, and also all lighters not drawing more than four feet water to load and unload at any part of the wharf at low water. The contractors were obliged to give £5000 currency as security for the completion of their contract in twenty months from the commencement; and for permanently maintaining that depth in the channel they were to receive £2000 currency per annum. This contract was several times renewed; the last time, in 1833, for seven years at £1300 currency per annum. Major-General Sir Charles Felix Smith, who then commanded the Royal Engineers in Barbados, proposed a plan for the construction of a pierhead, which was adopted, and he laid the first stone of the work in n 2 180 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. February 1826. It received however such damage during the hurri¬ cane in 1831, that a new structure became requisite. The present work was commenced on the 24th of March 1837, and has been recently finished: its cost, up to the end of 1845 (when it was still not quite finished), amounted to £46,044 sterling. This money accrued partly from the tonnage-duty laid upon vessels, and partly from advances made to the molehead commissioners from the general revenue. Sir Charles Grey states that these grants amounted to more than £30,000 ster¬ ling. The establishment of a harbour-light on the molehead has been in agitation for some time; the carrying into effect such a desirable im¬ provement, for the safety of vessels coming into harbour, has been delayed in common with the lighthouse. By a recent enactment, the laws respecting the molehead and the harbour in general have been consolidated and simplified. A proclamation issued by Sir Charles Grey, and dated 21st of January 1846, re-established a Board of Health, consisting of the principal medical practitioners and merchants, five of whom were to form a board, for the purpose of pre¬ venting the introduction or spread and increase of any contagious diseases. The proposed Lighthouse .—Allusion has already been made, in the third chapter of this work, to the coral reefs which extend from the south-eastern shore for more than three miles out to sea. These reefs, which stretch along the shore of St. Philip, from Foul Bay to Kitridge Point, are called the Cobbler’s Rocks, and have proved most dangerous to navigators: scarcely a year passes without the occurrence of distress¬ ing scenes of shipwreck along these shores, and as many as three vessels have been lost on these reefs in the course of a twelvemonth. It would be unjust to ascribe these wrecks by a sweeping assertion to mere negli¬ gence. The student of physical geography and the mariner are both aware that in no part of the ocean are the currents more anomalous than near the equator. The great equatorial current is so irregular that it sometimes ceases altogether, while at other times it has been known to run with a velocity of from thirty-six to forty-eight miles, and even more, in twenty-four hours. I was surprised to find on the beach near Longpond, in St. Andrew’s, the seeds of a species of palm, which is peculiar to certain spots in Guiana, and is chiefly found in large quantities on the banks of the Delta of the Orinoco and the rivers Guainia and Pomeroon. It is the Trooly palm (Manicaria saccifera) of the colonists, the seeds of which, sometimes single, sometimes double, drop into the water and are carried along by the current, and deposited on the windward shore of Barbados. With these are likewise found the seeds of what is erroneously called the Sea cocoa- CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 181 nut, of a hard consistency, and a shining black colour; they belong to a species of Astrocaryum, likewise a Guiana palm 1 . We possess therefore direct proofs of a southern current, while at other periods that current has a north-east direction, as has been proved by bottles thrown from ships during their voyage into the ocean, and which were found on the windward shore of Barbados, and on the shore of the neighbouring islands. That able navigator and hydrographer Don Cosme de Churucca mentions several instances of the irregularity of the cur¬ rents near and among the Caribbee Islands 2 . From the records which I have at my command, I observe that besides merchant-vessels, likewise transports and packets are numbered among the list of wrecks on the south-eastern reef. The Duke of Montrose Packet struck on the 28th of April 1815 on the Cobbler’s Rocks, and was completely lost, and a similar fate met H.M. Packet-ship Cynthia on the 5th of June 1827. Numerous as such instances are in the history of this island, the greatest human suffering connected with any wreck off Bar¬ bados accompanied the loss of the slave-ship the King George, which was wrecked in April 1792; out of three hundred and sixty-nine Africans who composed her living cargo, eighty-eight only were saved; the others perished miserably 3 . The repeated instances of shipwreck have attracted the attention of successive commanders-in-chief on the West Indian station, and among others of Sir Charles Adam and Sir Francis Austen, who both came to the conclusion that the erection of a lighthouse would greatly tend to prevent such calamities; and their opinion was adopted by the Legislature, when his late Majesty’s Government offered to bear half the expense of erecting a lighthouse, if the island would bear the other half and provide for the maintenance of the light. In conformity with this philanthropical design, the Legislature on the 5th of August 1836 passed an Act to provide for the erection of a lighthouse on the island 4 . The provision for defraying 1 These seeds are erroneously called here Sea cocoa-nuts (coco de mer). The true sea cocoa-nut, of which so much was formerly fabled, is the fruit of Lodoicea Sechellarum, a native of the Maldives. Ligon calls these seeds Negro-heads, and expresses his astonishment from whence they come : he says they are found in the sand without any root attached to them ; and that they cannot have fallen from a tree, otherwise we should find it growing. See Ligon, p. 101. 2 For some remarks on the equatorial current, I refer the reader to my descrip¬ tion of the island of Anegada in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society; likewise to Purdy’s Memoir of the Atlantic Ocean, eighth edition, p. 184. 3 Annual Register for 1792. 4 7th William IV. cap. 3 of the Island Acts. The preamble says, “ Whereas the frequent wreck of vessels on the eastern and southern shores of this island, and the consequent loss of human life, render it most important that a lighthouse should be erected as a beacon to vessels approaching the island: And whereas his Majesty’s government have generously offered to contribute half the expense of erecting the same; be it therefore enacted,” &c. 182 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. a moiety of the expense attending its erection, was derived from the continuance of one year of the tonnage-duty, of ninepence sterling per ton, which had been levied by virtue of an Act of the 23rd of October 1834; the proceeds of this duty, amounting to nearly £3000 sterling, were deposited in the Colonial Bank for that purpose. The House of Assembly subsequently passed a Bill to provide for the maintenance of the lighthouse out of the revenue of the island, which was rejected by the Council, on the plea that the expense ought not to fall exclusively on this community. This did not deter the Governor from alluding to the subject anew in a subsequent speech on opening the legislative session, and representing that the interests of humanity ought to induce the Legislature to make provision for the erection and maintenance of a lighthouse. As in the former instance, the House of Assembly, as the representatives of the people, passed a Bill to that effect, which on being presented to the Council was again rejected; and in spite of the addresses and special messages of the Governor, Barbados, the most im¬ portant of her Majesty’s Caribbean Islands, is to this day without any lighthouse. The thought is distressing, if through such opposition a single life should be lost,—at a period moreover when humanity is doing so much for the prevention and mitigation of misery. One of the reasons of refusal to pass a bill for the maintenance of a lighthouse is grounded by the Council upon their disapprobation that the charge for its maintenance should fall upon the community. On this point it may be mentioned that the majority of those who are interested in trade and navigation in England, look forward confidently to the day when both light-dues and harbour-dues shall be taken off the shipowner, and borne by the public. And it would certainly have been an honour to Barbados if its Legisla¬ ture had preceded England in the adoption of such a measure. The Market-place .—A great inconvenience was felt at the commence¬ ment of this century in consequence of the inadequate size of the market¬ place; and the public streets were occupied with sellers, much to the disturbance of the inhabitants, who petitioned the Legislature to have a proper market-place erected. An Act for this purpose was passed in 1809, and the new market was opened on the 5th of November 1810. It was constructed in the form of a cross, commodious and airy, and well-adapted to the climate; its contiguity to the sea afforded every facility to keep it clean. These buildings were destroyed during the hurricane in 1831, and great changes have since taken place in the structure, which has been rendered more commodious, to meet the growing requirements. A row of stately trees affords shade and freshness and is a great acquisi¬ tion. The market-dues are collected under authority of the market acts of 4th of July 1809 and 16th of November 1835, and are by no means high or oppressive. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 183 The market is well-supplied with butcher’s meat, fish, poultry, and vegetables, at prices which in comparison with other colonies are moderate. The mutton is fan-, but the beef is seldom good, which is no doubt partly owing to the circumstance of its being consumed within twenty-four hours after it has been slaughtered 1 . The following table exhibits the average prices for five years, and will convey some idea of the expense connected with housekeeping in Barbados. Average Prices of various Produce and Merchandise in £ sterling. 1841. 1842. 1843. 1844. 1845. Wlieaten flour, per bar. \ of 196 lbs./ Wheaten bread, per lb... Horned cattle. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ 1 S. 10 d. 0 £ 1 S. 5 d. 0 £ 1 0 11 S. 5 d. 0 3i 0 20 "o 0 0 20 0 0 5 0 0 16 0 0 3i 0 0 11 0 0 3i 0 0 o Horses . 35 0 0 35 0 0 30 0 0 30 0 0 30 2 o 6 Sheep. 3 0 0 3 0 0 2 5 0 2 5 0 5 o Goats. 2 10 0 2 10 0 1 5 0 1 5 0 1 5 o Swine. 2 10 0 2 10 0 1 15 0 1 15 0 1 15 1 1 1 o Milk, per gallon. 0 1 8 0 1 8 0 1 0i 0 1 0i o 01 3 0 1 Butter, fresh, per lb. Butter, salt, per lb. 0 0 1 2 6 0 0 0 1 2 6 0 0 0 1 1 3 0i 0 0 1 1 3 o+ 0 0 Cheese, per lb. 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 3 0 1 3 o 1 3 Beef, per lb. 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 10 0 0 10 0 o 0 1 10 Qjl Mutton, per lb. 0 1 3 0 1 3 0 1 01 0 1 0! Pork, per lb. 0 0 10 0 0 10 0 0 6'i 0 0 64 o o 64 8 8 0 6 Rice, per cwt. . . 0 18 9 0 18 9 0 16 ‘8 0 16 8 o 16 6 Coffee, per cwt. 5 0 0 5 0 0 3 6 8 3 6 8 3 Tea, per lb. 0 6 8 0 6 8 0 7 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 1 o 5 Sugar, refined, per lb. .. 0 6 0 0 6 0 5 2 Muscovado, per cwt. Salt, per bushel. 1 0 10 1 0 8 1 0 10 1 0 8 1 0 5 2 0 0 1 0 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 Wine (Madeira and 1 Sherry), per doz. / Brandy, per gallon. 2 0 10 12 0 6 2 0 10 12 0 6 2 0 5 10 0 5 2 0 0 8 0 4 2 0 0 8 Beer, per doz. 0 12 6 0 12 6 0 9 0 0 8 4 0 8 4 Tobacco leaf, per cwt. Cigars, per 1000. 10 0 0 10 0 0 3 6 0 13 0 4 3 6 0 13 0 4 3 6 6 14 13 5 0 4 Wages for labour. Domestic, male, per month Domestic, female, p. month Predial, per day. Trades, per day. 1 13 4 1 13 4 1 1 13 5 4 0 1 1 13 5 4 0 1 1 4 0 0j 6 0 0 1 2 3 6 0 0 1 2 3 6 0 0 1 2 o* 6 0 0 1 2 0i 6 0 0 1 2 There are two market days in the week, Monday and Saturday. Public Roads. —The account which Ligon gives of the primitive state of the roads in 1650, shows that the planters were obliged to send their 1 The stock slaughtered in the market-place from February 2nd to the 1st of March 1835 amounted to 49 oxen, 63 calves, 105 sheep, 108 goats, and 312 pigs: a great number of cattle and stock are slaughtered out of the market, and the meat sold by hucksters in the streets. 184 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. produce to the port of embarkation on the backs of donkeys and camels 1 . The weight which the donkeys were able to carry amounted only to from one hundred and fifty to two hundred poimds. We may presume there¬ fore that the roads were in a very rude state, and the means of intercourse at that period very limited. Nevertheless some attention must have been paid about that period to the highways, as on the 22nd of September 1649 an Act for clearing public roads passed the Legislature, by which a former one was repealed. In 1654 a similar Act for clearing the high¬ ways of the streets and lanes in and about the Indian Bridgetown, and Speightsbay, alias Little Bristol, passed in March of that year. Another Act passed the Legislature in 1661 for the better amending, repairing and keeping clean the common highways “ and known broad paths ” leading to church and market. The main roads now in existence date most pro¬ bably from that period; they were kept in repair by legislative enact¬ ments and individual enterprise. In 1787 the state of the public roads, which under the existing law had become almost impassable, became the subject of general complaint. After some futile attempts to reject a bill for the repair of the roads and the establishment of turnpikes for their maintenance, the measure was approved of by the Legislature. “But the spirit which animated the measure soon evaporated; it was neglected and forgotten 2 .” Until recently the roads were repaired by the different parishes under certain Commissioners. It was however found that this system did not answer well; certain parts of the public roads remained in a state which rendered them scarcely passable, and the communication with the distant parishes was in consequence sometimes entirely checked. The Legisla¬ ture came therefore to the resolution of charging the public revenue with the repairs of the roads, and an Act was passed in 1845 which granted 25,000 dollars for the repairs of roads, &c. for one year, and nominated a number of effective persons as district surveyors under the superintendence of a Surveyor-General, under whose direction the public roads of the whole island were gradually to undergo repair. The island was divided into five districts for that purpose; and a board of Commissioners, consisting partly of members of H.M. Council, partly of members of the House of Assembly, was appointed to watch over the interests of the public and to see that the Act was carried into execu¬ tion. According to a statement of the Commissioners, the following sums had 1 Ligon’s History of Barbados, p. 58. It appears the camels were introduced by Captain Higgenbotham; they were able to cany sixteen hundred pound weight and proved very useful, but they died soon after their importation, in consequence, as Ligon thinks, of being improperly fed. * Foyer’s History, p. 5/4. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 185 been expended from the 25th of September 1845 to the 8th of January 1846, for the repair of roads in the following parishes:—• District. Parish. Total. No. l.< No. 2.< No. 3. - No. 4. < No. 5. L ' St. Michael. #1,951 87|c. 1,123 65 1,227 20 864 21 1,269 75 812 05 871 38J 1,385 62| 880 12i 1,291 07f 1,583 52| Christ Church .. St. George. St. Philip . St. John. St. Lucy. St. Peter. St. Joseph. St. Andrew. St. Thomas. St. James . 13,260 471 To this sum, of #13,260 47| cents, expended for labour, was added for salaries, expenses for tools, blasting, powder, &c. #8772 831 cents. So that the expenses for repair amounted in three months and a half to #22,033 31 cents. The House of Assembly passed a Bill, on the 27th of January 1846, granting a further sum of #25,000 for this purpose. These repairs are still in progress and entail a heavy annual expense upon the island; for it is clear that, as long as waggons with such heavy burdens as two and three hogsheads of sugar are driven over it, a discon¬ tinuance of repairing would soon reduce them to their former state. It must be confessed however that towards the close of 1846, when about #60,000, or £12,500 sterling, were spent, the work was done so effec¬ tually that most of the main roads would have done credit to any part of England. Projected Railway .—The author may be allowed, in speaking of the public roads and the heavy expenses connected with their repair, to allude to a project in which he took great interest, from the persuasion that its execution would confer incalculable benefit upon the island. The circum¬ stance of his having been interested in this project, prevents his dwelling as fully upon it as in a historical point he might otherwise have done. The project of connecting the different parishes by a system of railroads which were to centre in the principal port, Bridgetown, was agitated by Mr. P. L. Simmonds, editor of the ‘ Colonial Magazine/ in 1845, and was based upon a consideration of the importance of Barbados as an agricultural and commercial station, but principally upon its dense population, which amounted to more than seven hundred persons upon a square mile. The preceding statistical details, taken from official reports, exhibit 186 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. the imports and exports, which are incontrovertible facts; and a careful enumeration of the persons who daily visited Bridgetown, proved that the projectors had not miscalculated when they expected the chief revenue to arise from the passenger traffic 1 . 1 The author does not hesitate to subjoin the data upon which the legitimate nature of the project for the establishment of railways has been based. The follow¬ ing report was prepared by a sub-committee in May 1846. “Report of the Sub-Committee appointed to ascertain the traffic of Vehicles and Passengers between the City and the Country. “ Your Committee having been instructed to devise means for ascertaining the daily traffic of vehicles and passengers between the City and the Country, report that, having selected respectable persons, they stationed them at seven different avenues to the town through one or other of which they believed that all persons coming in and going out must necessarily pass. These stations wefe as follows:'— 1 Roebuck, Moore’s Smith Shop; 2 White Park Road, Hermitage Corner; 3 Bax¬ ter’s Road, Passage Corner; 4 Fontabelle Road, Corner of New Road; 5 Constitu¬ tion Road, Belmont Comer; 6 Collymore Rock, Enmore Corner; 7 Bay Street, Coalston’s Corner. “ These persons took their stations at 4 a.m., and remained until 10 p.m. each day, from Monday the 20th to Saturday the 25th of April, and were instructed by your Committee to enter in hooks furnished to them for the purpose, all the traffic which might pass them either going or coming, under the different heads of—carriages of pleasure, passengers therein ; carriages of burden, passengers in and attendant thereon; persons riding, persons walking: to obviate any objections which may be made to the accuracy of calculations deduced from the returns of these enumerators, they were strictly enjoined not to take down a second time any carriage or any per¬ son whom they recognised as having passed in and out more than once. For the gross returns as given in by the enumerators and declared by them in writing to be to the best of then judgement correct, your Committee beg to refer to schedules marked A and B. “ Being anxious to arrive if possible at some tolerably accurate estimate of the pro¬ portion of carriages of burden which came into and returned from town loaded, and to distinguish the equestrian and foot passengers who came from the country, from those who reside in the town and its suburbs, your Committee submitted five ques¬ tions to their enumerators, for which with their respective answers, also declared by them to he to the best of then judgement correct, they refer to schedule marked C ; and for an abstract of the per-centage calculated from the answers, to schedule D. “ It only remains for your Committee to refer the Board to schedule E for a table of calculations of the probable ’•evenue which will accrue to the company from pas¬ senger traffic. “ Your Committee would state, that being deeply impressed with the necessity of carefully avoiding the possibility of deceiving the shareholders or speculators by exaggerated estimates of this most important source of profit, they have in every one taken what they believe to be a minimum calculation; and they would observe, that the returns referred to were taken during a week after the Easter holidays, and the week after the grand sessions, and that there was otherwise no cause whatever for excitement or attraction in the way of public exhibition or amusement, religious or other meeting. “ It must be remembered too, that a long and severe drought had rendered ground provisions and green fodder very scarce, from which it may be readily inferred that CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 187 The managing committee in London resolved upon sending a deputa¬ tion to Barbados to enter on the spot into the necessary arrangements for constituting a local managing committee, and for procuring a legisla- fewer persons found their way into town than would have done so had there been an abundance of these articles to be brought to market. “ The great excess of foot passengers on Monday and Saturday over the other days of the week, is to be accounted for by those two being market days, and makes it evident that at least that excess of persons come from a distance and would avail themselves in all probability of the convenience which the railway would alford them. May 15th, 1846. “ Abstract from Enumeration books showing the traffic at all the Stations on each day of the week, from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. Carriages of pleasure. Passen¬ gers therein. Car¬ riages of burden. Passen¬ gers in and attendants thereto. Riding. Walking. Total No. of passen¬ gers. Monday . 1032 2,355 1025 1,850 1072 20,797 26,074 Tuesday. 1168 2,413 1050 1,837 839 16,982 22,071 Wednesday. 95.9 2,278 1128 1,711 952 15,755 20,696 Thursday. 877 2,202 1066 1,778 856 15,125 19,960 Friday. 1011 2,582 990 1,554 1024 15,232 20,393 Saturday. 959 2,121 1004 1,798 1071 24,574 29,565 Total for the week 6006 13,951 6263 10,528 5814 108,465 138,759 Daily average .... 1001 2,325 1044 1,754 969 18,077 23,126 “ Revenue to be derived from Passenger Traffic calculated from the above Returns. “ Fifty per cent, on excess of foot passengers on Monday and Saturday over the other days of the week.. .13,824-^-2 at 12s cents each . 844,928 £9,357 sterling. “ Fifteen per cent, on daily average of foot pas¬ sengers for a week after deducting excess of Monday and Saturday is=14,195 per week, 52 weeks=738,140 per annum, at 12,1 cents each 92,267 19,222 “ Passengers per the Speightstown and Holetown boats, 600 per week X 52=31,200 per annum, at 12g cents each . 3,900 812 “ Ten per cent, on (5814) the number of riders is 581 per week x 52 = 30,212 per annum, at 25 cents each . 7,553 1,574 “ Ten per cent, on (13,951) the number of carriage passengers is 1395 per week x 52 = 72,540 per annum, at 25 cents each. 18,135 3,778 8166,783 .£34,743” The other schedules referred to in the report of the Committee have been left out 188 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. tive act for the establishment of a railway. This act passed the Legisla¬ ture on the 14th of July 1846; and received the sanction of the Governor on the 30th of July the same year. The committee is now anxiously engaged in planning the execution of the project; and surmounting such difficulties as the circumstances of the times and a monetary pressure throw in their way 1 . West India Mail Service , and Barbados Inland Post .—It appears from Oldmixon’s account, that a communication by packets with England existed so early as the period when he published his work on the British Empire in America. This service was no doubt inefficiently executed, and it did not gain any regularity until towards the end of the last century. Public notice was given in September 1810, that thenceforth a mail as uninteresting; the following estimated revenue of the goods-traffic is however of greater importance. “ Estimated Revenue from Goods Traffic. 20,000 hogsheads of sugar at $1 . 10,000 puncheons of molasses and rum at 50 cents. Provisions . Animals . 820,000 5,000 5,000 2,500 £4,166 sterling. 1,042 1,042 520 Back freight . 32,500 32,500 6,770 6,770 865,000 .£13,540 “ Recapitulations. Revenue derived from passenger traffic . Goods—freight of sugar, molasses, rum, &c., into towm. Back freight . 8166,783 32,500 32,500 £34,743 6,770 6,770 Deduct 40 per cent, for annual expenses. 8231,783 £48,283 19,313 £28,970 equal to 94 per cent, interest on the invested capital, supposing the whole sum to be required for the construction of the railway, and after making ample allowance for expenses. This is exclusive of the revenue to be derived from the transmission of mails, storing of goods, and other certain sources of revenue.” 1 As a member of the deputation the author has had ample opportunity of con¬ vincing himself on the spot of the legitimacy of the project, but the restraint which he has imposed upon himself prevents his entering into details, either of the pro¬ ceedings which took place whilst the Bill passed through the Legislature, or out of it. He can only assure the reader that he devoted his time and energy to a subject which he thought would bestow' benefit upon the island, and as its execution is still in em¬ bryo and undecided, he trusts that he may not have been mistaken. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 189 would be made up at the General Post Office in London on the second Wednesday every month, and be forwarded by a packet to Surinam, Berhice and Demerara, to return to Great Britain by Barbados where she was to remain twenty-four hours, touching afterwards at Martinique. The benefit of the great invention of our century, the propelling vessels by steam, was extended to the West Indies; and a new postal arrangement in the intercourse between England and the colonies was determined upon in 1834, to the following effect, namely, that on and after January 1835 a communication would be established every fortnight to and from the West Indies and Falmouth. The mads were in consequence despatched from England on the 3rd and 17th of every month by sailing- packets to Barbados, whence they were conveyed by steamers to Jamaica; the sailing-packets calling on their way to St. Thomas at the different islands, and waiting at that harbour for the steamer from Jamaica pre¬ vious to their return to Falmouth. The steamers Spitfire and Flamer, with the Columbia, then attached to the fleet of the West India station as an auxiliary, were appointed for this service. At that time the passage out and home was calculated as follows:— Days. Sailing-packet to Barbados.31 Steam-vessel from Barbados to Jamaica, calling at Jacmel.6 „ „ remains at Jamaica.4 „ „ from Jamaica to St. Thomas .... 5 „ „ from St. Thomas to Falmouth .... 31 77 In January 1842 the Royal Mail Steampacket Company was esta¬ blished, and their splendid vessels, of 1800 tons and 300 horse-power, commenced the mail service between Southampton and the West India islands, performing the voyage, nearly as above mentioned, in about sixty days. The first West India port which they make is, according to the present plan, Barbados, which they reach generally in twenty-one days 1 . The establishment of an inland post has been agitated for some time, and a number of documents to that effect were laid before the House of Assembly on the 15th of September 1846, which detailed the plan of establishing an inland post, upon the understanding that a guarantee should be given by the Legislature of the island to protect the Post¬ master-General against loss to the revenue. Under this condition the proposition was approved of by the Lords Commissioners of her Majesty’s Treasury on the 1st of April 1846. 1 The first packet which arrived in Barbados ivas the Solway; she entered Carlisle Bay on the 5th of January 1842. 190 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. According to the proposed plan twenty messengers are to effect daily a general delivery throughout the country districts, at the rate of four- pence for each letter. The Governor, Sir Charles Grey, concludes his message to that effect in the following words:— “The Council and Assembly may rely upon the Governor’s desire to pro¬ mote and assist a project which would so materially conduce to the improve¬ ment and perfection of Barbados, as the principal seat and centre in this part of the world, of all commercial and monetary transactions, and the most con¬ venient and desirable place of stationary residence for those who may be prin¬ cipally engaged in them.” The Militia and Military defence of the Island .—There has scarcely been a more fruitful subject in the addresses and messages of succeeding Governors to the House of Assembly than the militia, their organization and maintenance. If we refer merely to the present century, no Gover¬ nor upon entering on his administration has failed to recommend it to the attention of the Legislature as defective or objectionable in its re¬ gulations. The Militia Bill of 1799, which had expired, was therefore renewed in 1805 from half-year to half-year. A Bill ultimately passed the Legislature, and received the sanction of the President administer¬ ing the government on the 17th of January 1809. The cessation of militia service, for a period much longer than was ever remembered in the island, rendered the passing of this law highly desirable in those stirring times. A new Militia Bill passed the Legislature in 1812, and all white and free coloured men from sixteen to sixty years of age, were required to enroll themselves previously to the 6th of January 1813. Passing over the subsequent Acts for the enrolment of the militia, it may be mentioned that the Act now in force passed the Legislature on the 13th of August 1831. It is entitled “An Act to consolidate and amend the several Acts relating to the militia of this island, and to provide for the better organization of the same.” Every male inhabitant from the age of eighteen to fifty-five years, who possesses five or more acres of land, or an income not below twenty pounds currency in his own right or through his wife, or who occupies a house at a rent of twenty pounds currency per annum, is liable to serve. Exemption may be purchased under certain conditions for one year. The persons serving in the militia are obliged to equip themselves according to a standard rule, and are liable to be called on the first Friday of each month, and to be under arms from eight o’clock in the morning until noon. The militia is divided into the life-guards, artillery and eleven regi¬ ments. The following statement exhibits the numerical force of the militia in 1841 and 1842. Their number had greatly increased in 1846 CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 191 1841. 1842. Colonels. . . 5 3 Lieutenant-Colonels . . . . 7 8 Majors. . . 10 8 Captains. . . 43 34 Lieutenants .... . . 50 46 Ensigns and Cornets . . 25 20 Adjutants. . . 11 8 Quartermasters . . . . . 12 12 Surgeons . . . 13 14 Paymasters. . . 13 12 Sergeants . . .113 78 Corporals. 6 Band. 8 Drummers (Privates). . . . 16 4 Privates. . .1128 911 1446 1172 The colonial staff consisted in 1841 of a military secretary with the rank of colonel, a barrackmaster and quartermaster-general with the rank of colonel, an adjutant-general with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, a deputy adjutant-general with the rank of major, a commissary-general and fourteen aides-de-camp to the Governor with the rank of lieutenant- colonels. Several years passed during the government of Sir Charles Grey with¬ out the force being called out; but the late events, in 1845-46, which threatened to disturb the political relations of England, rendered it neces¬ sary that the actual force of the island should be correctly ascertained. In consequence, the Governor's proclamation of the 13th of December 1845 ordered the enrolment of the militia in January 1846; giving notice that the penalties imposed by the law would be enforced against all persons refusing or neglecting to enroll themselves. In consequence of this pro¬ clamation there were enrolled 119 officers, 19 surgeons and paymasters, 93 quartermasters and serjeants, and 1502 privates, making a total of 1733 men. The arms which are at the disposal of the government are eight brass three-pounder fieldpieces, in good order, with carriages and gear complete; 247 carbines with percussion-locks, in good order, but requiring percussion-caps, slings and pouches; 150 muskets and bayo¬ nets, requiring for the most part new bayonets, scabbards and belts. There is clothing, supposed to be still in good condition, which was ordered for 700 privates, 40 corporals, and 40 serjeants, and which was received from England by the storekeeper in 1842, and is still under his charge; and there are several other articles of accoutrement and equip¬ ment, which are partly serviceable, and might be made completely so by repair. 192 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. The Governor received a despatch from the Secretary of State, the substance of which was that her Majesty’s Government earnestly wished the Colonial Legislature to make adequate arrangements for forming a militia force in each colony ; that there was no thought of prescribing to the colonies the exact laws to be enacted for that purpose ; hut that it was highly desirable they should have for their object the creation of a real and efficient force, and not merely a nominal one, and that the Secretary of State should be enabled to calculate the period at which the force may probably reach a state of efficiency. In consequence of this despatch the Governor proposed to put the life-guards and artillery into an effective state, and that in the month of November every year, four hundred men should be taken by ballot from amongst the men of the island, between the ages of twenty and forty- seven, to serve as militia-men for three years. His proposition went further, to keep a certain number embodied, for which provision should be made for issuing pay and allowances during the time they remain embodied. A system upon a somewhat similar principle was in existence in 1795, when the garrison joined the expedition sent against the French islands under Sir Ralph Abercrombie; and the Governor was obliged to call for the services of the militia to perform garrison duty at the Castle and Constitution-hill during their absence. To relieve the militia from this new and irksome duty, the Assembly unanimously resolved to embody three hundred men for the service for one month, with proper officers, to be paid at the public expense 1 . The author is not aware whether further steps have been taken by the Legislature since the Governor’s message, and, as at former periods, the new militia act promises again to present numerous difficulties. Barbados, as the most eastern and prominent of the Windward Islands, has ever since its settlement been considered of the greatest importance in a military point of view. Hence numerous have been the recommendations for its defence made by succeeding governors in their addresses to the Legisla¬ ture. In 1650 the defence of the island consisted of trenches, ramparts, hornworks, curtains, &c. along the seacoast and three forts within the land, one as a powder-magazine and for storing ammunition, and the other two “ to make their retreats upon all occasions 2 .” An Act passed under Lord Francis Willoughby on the 10th of February 1665, “ for the speedy raising and collecting of 500,000 pounds of sugar, towards the defraying the charges of fortifying the island against the present 1 Poyer’s History, p. 629. Mr. Beckleswas appointed to the command, with the pay of six dollars a day; each captain had four dollars, the lieutenants fifteen shillings, the ensigns two dollars, the serjeants one dollar, and the privates five shillings each a day. 2 Ligon’s History of Barbados, p. 100. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 193 danger,” England had declared war against the States General, and at that time Admiral De Ruyter threatened to besiege Barbados. During the administration of Sir John Atkins the road before Bridge¬ town was defended by several batteries and forts, namely Charles’s fort with forty guns, another battery with ten guns, Willoughby’s fort with thirteen guns, and James’s fort on the right point of the bay with twenty guns. The next considerable batteries were one at Britton’s Bay with twenty-five guns, at Hole Bay a battery with thirteen guns, at Reid’s Bay one with ten guns, and at Speight’s Bay one with twenty-five guns. All landing-places between the bays were defended by breastworks of stone 1 . The war with France towards the close of the seventeenth century, and the dangers which threatened the colonies, rendered a more effective defence of Barbados necessary. A number of new forts and batteries were erected, and the fortifications amounted in the commencement of the eighteenth century to twenty-two forts and batteries armed with two hundred and eighty guns. The intermediate spaces between the forts and batteries were connected by lines and parapets, with ditches in front planted with thorns and prickly opuntia or pimploes. War again broke out in 1702, and Sir Bevil Granville during his administration com¬ menced the citadel, which in honour of Queen Anne was called St Anne’s Fort. This must have been about 1705, as at that period the French threatened a descent upon Barbados from Martinique, which ultimately fell upon St. Christopher and Nevis. In an account of the strength of the British West India Islands in 1736, the following passage occurs respecting this island:— “ Barbados has twenty-two castles and forts and twenty-six batteries mounted with 463 guns, many of which are honeycombed, and near one hundred wanting to complete the fortifications ; 17,680 white inhabitants, and 4326 militia, horse and foot. Here all freemen are obliged to enter themselves into the regiment of their own district. The fortifications are manned by 159 matrosses under seven chief gunners and twenty under-gunners.” The success of M. D’Estaing during the war in 1779 spread a general panic through the islands; and when St. Vincent and Grenada were taken, Barbados was quite alive to the dangers which surrounded it. The Legislature passed a Bill on the 26th of July, 1779, voting £14,000 towards the defence of the island. Fort George, on a hill previously called Mount Charity, in the parish of St. George, where it bounds St. Michael and Christ Church, was soon afterwards commenced, and was to serve as a general depot in case of an invasion : it made but slow progress, and part of the guns were only removed in 1782 2 ; however, in 1 An Account of H.M. Island of Barbados, MSS. 2 In the King’s Library at the British Museum, is a plan of Fort George on Mount O 194 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. the following year the Assembly came to a resolution, as they could not discover its utility, to sacrifice what it had already cost, rather than to raise new taxes for its completion. The fortifications at St. Anne’s were much increased in pursuance of the Duke of Richmond’s plan for the defence of the West India Islands in 1789 to 1792, to which the island merely contributed the labour of negroes according to the existing law, and left the other expenses to Government. During the eventful times at the commencement of the present cen¬ tury, when France was at war with nearly the whole of Europe, no means were spared by successive governors, or by the patriotism of the inhabit¬ ants, to provide for the defence of their native island. Earl Bathurst announced to Sir George Beckwith, then Governor of Barbados, that the issue of cannon, carriages and ammunition, for the forts and batteries of the island, had been allowed by the Government without any charge to the colony. These consisted of nineteen twenty-four pounders, six eighteen-pounders, eleven twenty-four-pounder carriages, six eighteen- pounder carriages, the value amounting to £1425 10s. sterling, and stores to the amount of £3180 sterling. After the peace the fortifica¬ tions fell into neglect, and the hurricane of 1831 nearly destroyed the remainder; the Legislature of 1834 resolved therefore that no burthens should be imposed upon the people for their repairs, and that the salaries hitherto paid to gunners and matrosses must thenceforth cease. It was proposed to place Charles’s Fort, and the small batteries at Kendal’s Point and Oistin’s Bay, under the Ordnance Department; and the Secre¬ tary for the Colonies informed Sir Lionel Smith in 1835, that this sub¬ ject having been referred to the Master-General and Board of Ordnance, no objection was raised to the proposition, provided the works, with the buildings and land attached to them, should be unconditionally surren¬ dered to the Crown, which was consented to. By an Act of the 10th of May 1845, the remaining fortifications and batteries were vested in a similar manner in the principal officers of her Charity in Barbados, by Thomas Walker, Lieutenant of the 65th Regiment, dated February 9th, 1782, and dedicated to Major-General Cunninghame. A part of the fortifications were then finished, and the grand bastion bad been commenced and was at that time seven feet high (it was intended to be twenty-two feet in height). The Governor’s house and a large magazine were built. The pillar for the flagstaff then erecting was to be f ourteen feet high, and by seeing all the horizon to windward, speedy alarms could be raised and signals conveyed. A well for the supply of water had been sunk twenty fathoms. The fort when finished was to be mounted with twenty-two pieces of cannon, besides others which were intended to be put on the top of the hill. At that time six brass and five iron twenty-four pounders, two iron eighteen-pounders, two brass and two iron twelve-pounders, making in all eighteen guns, had been got up. The fort is nearly central between Bridgetown and Oistin’s, and fourteen acres of ground belong to it. This piece of folly, which cost the country enormous sums, lies now in ruins. CIVIL AND SOCIAL STATE. 195 Majesty’s Ordnance. They are now entirely in decay, and the cannons lie on the leeward coast perfectly useless, partly buried in the sand and mud. Whatever may be their present condition, in the time of danger the extent and strength of these fortifications no doubt prevented at¬ tacks, as, notwithstanding its importance, Barbados was never invaded by a foreign enemy. It capitulated to Sir George Ayscue, the leader of the forces of the Commonwealth, on the 17th of January 1652, after a siege of three months’ duration. This island forms the head-quarters of her Majesty’s forces in the Windward and Leeward Islands. The effective force distributed among the islands amounts, with artillery and engineers, to about four thousand men, under the command of a Lieutenant-General residing in Barbados. The residence appropriated for his accommodation in Bridgetown is spacious and commodious, and is styled, since the Sovereign is of the female line, the Queen’s House. The troops stationed in the island are principally garrisoned in St. Anne’s, and the buildings connected with this military establishment, which are the property of the Ordnance Department, are very extensive and commodious. The citadel, as already observed, was commenced under Sir Bevil Granville, and was much improved in after years: it contains several excellent magazines stored with ammunition for the whole com¬ mand, and an armoury with several thousand stands of arms. In connection with the Fort are a line of signal stations which extend over the island: they consist of Charles’s Fort, one near Queen’s House, Highgate, Gunhill, Moncreiffe, Cotton Tower, Granade Hall, and Dover Fort, and are conducted by artillerymen. To the stations at Gunhill and Moncreiffe are attached barracks, which are chiefly used as convalescent stations for the troops. By means of these effective stations communica¬ tions are conveyed by signals all over the island, as well for military purposes and alarms, as for the summoning of her Majesty’s Council, commercial intelligence, &c. The expenses are mostly borne by the OrdnanceDepartment, with the exception of an annual grant of £80 2s. &d. from the colony. Quite recently however the Ordnance Department have demanded a proportionate increase of the colonial contribution, as the colony reaps the benefit of the signal posts at Cotton Tower, Granade Hall, and Dover Fort exclusively, which otherwise would be dis¬ continued. There are no pecuniary allowances whatever granted to the Queen’s troops garrisoned in Barbados, nor do they receive any rations, quarters or other advantages which form a charge on the colony, if the small amount for repair of the signal stations and the barrack-room at Gun¬ hill and Moncreiffe be excepted. The military works at St. Anne’s are kept up entirely at the expense of the Ordnance Department. The expenditure incurred by Great Britain for the military protection o 2 196 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. of the island, and in aid of the civil establishment, amounted in 1841 to £84,179 12s.; in 1842 to £83,99911s. 6£; in 1843 to £88,434 8s. 1; this refers likewise to the other parishes. Barbados does not possess a registrar for deaths and births to keep approximately the increase and decrease of the population. 3 See ante, p. 52. 4 The Appendix contains a statement of the size and cost of the churches which were rebuilt after the hurricane in 1851. 218 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. 14th of April, just as about fifty of the negroes had lifted their baskets and cleared the overhanging cliff, it fell upon twenty-five who remained dig¬ ging, and crushed twenty to death; the other five were dreadfully maimed. Such was the immense quantity of earth that fell in upon these unfor¬ tunate people, that upwards of a thousand negroes were employed during the night and the succeeding day before all the bodies were got out. A Bill passed the Legislature on the 5th of June 1810, for applying a sum of money towards the relief of the persons whose slaves were killed by the accidental falling in of this mass of earth. On the summit of Bishop’s-hill is the police-station of District C, to which a rural prison is attached. Moncreiffe (or, as it was formerly called, Mount Pleasant) forms a signal-post with a station for convalescent soldiers of the garrison in St. Ann’s. The prospect from hence over the champaigne land of St. Philip’s, bounded by the ocean, until sea and sky seemingly blending together close the picture, is very pretty: the nu¬ merous cottages of the labourers, and upwards of fifty estates which are visible from this point, give a peculiar character to the prospect. The foam of the breakers at “ the Cobblers’ Rocks ” resembles a seam along shore, which from its white colour forms a strong contrast with the dark watery masses of the ocean behind it. The cliffs along the shore rise in some instances to fifty or sixty feet,— chiefly near Cummin’s Hole and Bell-point, which are very curious spots with bold upright cliffs. The accumulated waters of the northern part of the parish make themselves during freshets a way to the sea, and have undermined part of the cliff near Cummin’s Hole and formed a natural bridge. This romantic spot is very little known in the colony. The cliffs continue southward; here rising upright, there precipitated in large masses to the level ground below: some of these blocks are perhaps from fifty to sixty feet in size. At Long Bay these stupendous masses lie in great confusion. The whole coast along that part of the island apparently proves that the sea has receded, and this becomes very evident at Foul Bay, where the cliffs are found inland. The Crane, Dawlish, and the Bath are very curious places, and fashionable resorts for the en¬ joyment of sea-air and bathing. At the Crane is a shipping-place, from which it has received its name. To the north of it is Dawlish, which contains the curiosity of a fresh- and a salt-water bath close together. The visitor descends, as it were into a well, by a flight of steps to the sea- bath, entirely closed in by huge masses of rocks, which only sparingly admit the rays of light. The sea flows into it smooth and calm when the surface of the ocean is undisturbed, but dashing in with a thundering noise through the small apertures when ruffled or harrowed by the storm; but upon reaching the basin, as if directed by the wand of a magician, its impetuosity is subdued and dies away, forming numerous rings on the surface of the basin. The author once visited this spot during a boisterous LOCAL GEOGRAPHY. 219 day, and the effect was certainly sublime, if not intimidating, to those unaccustomed to the noise. The freshwater bath is close to the former, divided only from it by a rock; and during high tides and a boisterous sea the salt water mixes with the fresh : after receding it becomes fresh again. The water is here so clear that the sand below seems uncovered with the fluid element; and many a visitor coming there for the first time, supposing it a dry spot of sand, has walked directly into it, much to his astonishment and the amusement of those with him. South of the Crane is “ the Bath.” Huge masses of rocks, detached by time and the battering effect of the waves from the cliff, have formed recesses which, partly by the aid of art, have been made into baths. The rocks rise to a considerable height, and in some instances overhang the water, preventing the rays of the sun from incommoding the bather, and hiding him from the outer world. The former proprietor of this romantic spot seems to have gone to considerable expense to render it commodious and easy of access, and his muse has engraved on a tablet the following verses:— “ In this remote and hoarse-resounding place Which billows dash and craggy cliffs embrace ; These bubbling springs amidst these horrors rise, But arm’d with virtue horrors we despise. Bathe undismay’d, nor dread the impending rock ; ’T is virtue shields us from each adverse shock. “ Genio loci sacrum posuit “Martis Mense, 1769.” “J. R. 1 ” Some steps lead to the summit of one of the huge masses of rocks, which affords a fine sea view. There are three different spots for bathing close together, which bear the names of the Horse, the Mare, and the Colt: it is a great pity that they are now neglected, and the artificial structures are falling into ruin. It is said that the sea has likewise receded here within the memory of man, and that some of the baths have become useless for want of water; this may perhaps be ascribed to their being choked up by sand. The parish of St. Philip contains one of the finest mansions in the West Indies, known by the name of Long Bay Castle: its architecture is of a peculiar style, but the interior is very tasteful. It is out of its place in that part of the island, and resembles an oasis in the desert. Christ Church Parish .—Area 14,310 acres; population 14,089; num¬ ber of sugar-plantations 64. This is the largest parish next to St. Philip, and the second with respect to the number of inhabitants. It forms the southern point of the island, and possesses less fertility than the other 1 J. Rice. 220 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. parishes. The Ridge, a hilly elevation, traverses it from east to west, and rises terrace-like from the southern point to a height of 405 feet at the hill near Adam’s Castle. The southern point of the parish, or of the entire island, is very flat, and in some parts close to the sea quite swampy: it is called “ Below the Rock.” There were formerly a set of salt-pans for obtaining sea-salt, but they are now abandoned. A huge isolated mass of coral-rock lies on the seashore, called the Round Rock ; its height cannot be less than fifty feet. The swampy soil near Chancery-lane possesses some sulphur, but in such small quantities that it can only be considered as a curiosity. At the infancy of the colony, the most eastern plantation in this parish belonged to a person named Oistin 1 , from whom the large bay in the neighbourhood received its name. Ligon does not speak in very flattering terms of the character of this man, whom he calls profligate; neverthe¬ less, as the population increased, a number of houses were erected in the neighbourhood, which received the name of Oistin’s Town. The bad repute of this person was probably the reason that an attempt was made to call it Charlestown; but this failed, and its original name was retained. It must have been a much larger place at the commencement of the last century than at present: Oldmixon describes it as consisting of one long street, with a lane in the middle: it formed at that period the market- town of one of the five precincts of the island, and a monthly session was held in it. In 1828, by an act of the Legislature, the sessions were transferred to the town-hall at Bridgetown. But few houses are now left standing at Oistin’s, and these few present a picture of decay. On an eminence above Oistin’s stands the parish church, which was rebuilt after the hurricane in 1831, according to a plan furnished by Captain Senliouse, R.N. The foundation-stone was laid on the 1st of October 1835, with great solemnity, and the Bishop of the Diocese assisted at the ceremony. A strange occurrence took place in the adjacent churchyard, the natural cause of which has never been explained. On two occasions, when the death of a member of the family of the late Colonel Chase had rendered it necessary to open the family vault, it was found that the coffins had been removed from their places, and as no signs were observed that the vault had been opened without the knowledge of the family, it excited great astonishment. Before the vault was walled up again, the coffins were restored to their original position. Shortly afterwards it was re¬ quisite to open the vault again for the admission of a member of the family, when the coffins were found to have been displaced as on the former occasion; the family now became anxious to ascertain the truth, and particular pains were taken in securing the wall, and fine sand was 1 This name is written in old records Oystin, but Oistin is now more usually adopted. LOCAL GEOGRAPHY. 221 thrown over the floor of the vault, so that, if a person should enter it from any other part than the usual entrance, marks might be left behind. Lord Combermere was residing in 1820 in the neighbourhood of the church, and having been told of this mysterious circumstance, he made unexpectedly an application to the Rector to have the vault re-opened, when to the astonishment of all present, the coffins, to the number of five or six, were found scattered about, and one of the largest thrown on its side across the passage, so that, had the door not opened outwards, an en¬ trance could not have been effected except by removing the slab on the top, which is of immense weight. The private marks made on the pre¬ vious occasion were undisturbed, and as this was the fourth occurrence of a similar disturbance without the cause being explained, the family resolved on removing the bodies from the vault, and some of them were interred in the parish churchyard: the vault is now empty, and the Rector has since ordered it to be walled up. One of the gentlemen who accom¬ panied Lord Combermere took a sketch of the position in which the coffins were found, copies of which are still extant in the island. There are besides five chapels of the Established Church, and a Wes¬ leyan chapel in this parish—'that of St. Lawrence, very prettily situated on a point projecting into the sea; St. Bartholemew in the eastern part of the parish ; St. David between Kirton and Staple-grove; St. Matthias near the precincts of St. Ann’s and St. Patrick between Union Hall and Valley Hill. The Wesleyan chapel lies near the Plantation Providence on an eminence, which commands a pretty view. The property of Mr. Piers in this parish appears to have been famed in former times for having the best gardens in the island, adorned with a variety of orange-walks, citron groves, water-works, “ and all the lovely and pleasant fruits and flowers of that delicious country, as well as with the most curious of our own'.” t Mr. Piers’s estate is at present called Staple-grove, and is the property of J. P. Mayers, Esq., the agent of the island of Barbados in England. The Parish of St. George .—Area 10,795 acres; population 10,174; number of sugar-plantations 57. It is the third in size, and the fourth according to its population. St. George’s may be called the most inland parish; it approaches nearest to the sea on its southern point: the soil is fertile, and it is generally considered one of the most productive parishes. The ten thousand acres of land which belonged to the merchants in London, were partly situated in this parish, which appears to have been settled first. Mr. Summers and Mr. Bulkeley, who arrived with Wolfer- stone, had their settlements in this parish. Drax Hall was another of the first spots of ground that were cleared and cultivated: it belonged to Colonel James Drax, one of the individuals who for his loyalty was 1 Oldmixon, vol. ii. p. 85. 222 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. created a baronet at the Restoration : he appears to have lived in great style: Ligon tells us he fared like a prince, and killed now and then an ox, apparently a great piece of extravagance, as these animals were re¬ quired for cultivating the soil,—an example which few at that time imitated. Oldmixon asserts that Colonel Drax, from a stock of three hundred pounds, raised the greatest estate of any planter of his time except Mr. Richard Walter, who was a merchant as well as a planter 1 . The forest attached to the Colonel’s property appears to have been formerly of great extent, and is famed for traditional tales, still related by the labouring classes. This forest however has now nearly disap¬ peared; a small portion only clothes the precipitous heights; and the level ground near the foot of the cliff, which was formerly covered with trees, has proved too valuable to be allowed to remain overgrown only by brushwood, with here and there the timber of a fustic-tree. Drax Hall forms the largest property, according to its superficial area, in the island; it contains 879 acres. The mansion-house is considered, with the one at St. Nicholas’s Abbey, the oldest in the island; it has not the cheerful aspect of the latter, and its appearance imparts a gloomy cha¬ racter to the whole landscape around. The ridge of cliffs, a continuation of those of St. John’s, traverse the parish in a west-south-west direction and reach their greatest height near Gun-hill, where there is a signal-post and a convalescent station for the soldiers of the garrison. The air is here considered very salubrious, and the view from the station, over the rich and fertile valley to Bridgetown and Carlisle Bay is extensive. Being distant only six miles from Bridge¬ town, no stranger who visits Barbados should omit to see this spot, which affords one of the most characteristic views in the island. St. George’s Church is the least attractive in its outer appearance among the parish churches; it is comparatively old, and has escaped the last hurricanes with little injury, although it was not equally fortunate in 1780. The parish possesses also two chapels of the Established Church, namely St. Jude and St. Luke; the former is a very neat and handsome building, situated on the high table-land near Ashford. St. Luke lies at the foot of the cliff. The Parish of St. Andrew .—Area 8780 acres; population 5995; number of sugar-plantations 26. This parish ranks fifth in point of size, and the tenth with respect to its population. As it was requisite to traverse the central ridge in order to reach this parish from Bridgetown, it was likewise called Overliill, and from its hilly character (so different from the other parishes), it received the name of Scotland. It is said that the features of this district resemble much more the scenery in Wales 1 Oldmixon’s British Empire in America, vol. ii. p. 84. Ligon’s History of Bar¬ bados, pp. 34, 96. LOCAL GEOGRAPHY. 223 than in Scotland. The sharp ridges, running as it were from the semi¬ circular range of cliffs, which encompass Scotland towards a central point, sink gradually as they approach the seashore; and the narrow vales with rocks of all shapes scattered about on the hill-sides or on their summits, resemble much more in miniature the scenery in North Wales than the grand and picturesque scenes which the traveller witnesses in the high¬ lands of Scotland. The steep sides of the hills have mostly a rugged and dreary appearance; here and there the bright green of the sugar-cane im¬ parts variety, or the lofty trees of Turner’s Hall wood remind us that there is at least one spot in the island where nature still reigns, and where the axe has left the virgin soil unreclaimed. St. Andrew’s is no doubt the most interesting parish to the naturalist and the lover of the picturesque. Mount Hillaby, the highest eminence in the island, rises to a height of 1148 feet, and affords a view over the whole island, entirely surrounded by sea. North-east of it is the craggy and precipitous Chalky Mount with its three lofty pinnacles 1 ; its name is erroneously given, as it is mostly composed, not of chalk, but clay and sandstone. Turner’s Hall wood, a remnant of the tropical forest, clothes a ridge or spur which stretches from the semicircular cliffs to the north-east; it consists almost entirely of Locust, Cedar, Fustic and Bully trees : some of these trees are of considerable height, and approach in size those of the equatorial forest. The author has been told that on several occasions, when mill-timbers were required, trees of more than a hundred feet in height have been felled in this wood 2 . The lover of nature can only indulge the hope that this relic of the former forest may be kept sacred, and may not fall a sacrifice to the all-engrossing sugar-cane. The “ Boiling Spring,” to which allusion has been made in a former page 3 , is situated in a ravine in this wood, and a coloured woman in the neighbourhood shows its wonderful property to the curious for a small recompense. After the small pool is cleared of the water it contains, or during dry weather of the fallen leaves and rubbish, a kind of reversed funnel is placed over the fissure from which the gas escapes, which is thus obliged to ascend through the tube : it ignites readily, and burns with a clear, whitish light. It has been remarked that the gas is more abundant after rain than in dry weather. During the rainy season the edge of the pool requires only to be touched with a lighted match, when it will be encircled with a bright fire., which it is difficult to extinguish. Visitors 1 It is related that a bold horseman, a son of Mars, reached one of these pinnacles on horseback—a feat which appears incredible when viewing the cliff from below. It is very remarkable that although the soil of Barbados differs so essentially from the primitive structure of the interior of Guiana, the author has found in this wood several trees and shrubs which were considered to belong singly to Guiana and Trinidad. The estate called Turner’s Hall, to w'hich this wood belongs, is the pro¬ perty of Sir Henry Fitzherbert, Bart., of Tissington-hall in Derbyshire. 3 See ante, p. 12. 224 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. generally suspend a saucepan over the flame containing cold water and some eggs, which, if the gas ascends in an abundant stream, are boiled in about eight minutes 1 . Benjamin Collyns alludes to a second spring in this district in which the ebullitions are less violent and at longer intervals: in contradistinction to the other it is called the cold spring 2 . The sandy beach which extends along the seashore of the parish is nearly four miles long, and the indentation of the shore is called “ Long Bay.” It is so named in Ligon’s map, and the other Long Bays seem to have been named at later periods. The shore is however inacces¬ sible to vessels • the sea rolls in over numerous coral-reefs in endless breakers, which, even when the open sea is as smooth as a mirror, break here with great noise. The water has thrown up a barrier of sand which stems the stream that flows from the adjacent hills, and forms a large expanse of water called Long Pond: it is described by Oldmixon as “ a sort of lake about a mile from the shore/ 5 Previous to the disease which now destroys the cocoa-nut trees in Barbados, the flat ground near Long Pond abounded in avenues of this useful palm. A number of sand-hills have been thrown up by wind and waves, thinly overgrown with brush¬ wood and sedge ; behind these hills extends a flat, which belongs to a neighbouring estate called Walker’s. It has some salt-springs ; the pro¬ portions which the water contains are not great; and it remains a geolo¬ gical question, whether the saline particles were originally derived from the sea, or from a bed of fossil salt. Green Hill, an adjacent hill bordering the sea-shore, consists of mica¬ ceous sandstone, cropping out in slabs, which might be used for building purposes. A little further on towards the Peak of Tenerifle lies on the sandy beach a huge oblong coral rock: it was no doubt separated from the wall-like cliffs during a period far removed from our own, and from its isolated position forms a remarkable object 3 . The former parish-church of St. Andrew was one of the few which escaped the destruction occasioned by the hurricanes in 1780 and 1831. It was situated at the foot of a hill, and was protected on the east by the Dune-like hills just alluded to. Its age however rendered it necessary to take it down, and a new edifice was rebuilt on nearly the same site. The corner-stone of the new parish-church was, in the absence of the Lord Bishop, laid by the Vicar-General, the Venerable Archdeacon Lawson, on the 30th of November 1846, being the Saint’s day of the Patron. The 1 I have wondered why no proper use for lighting the adjacent buildings of the estate is made of this gas. It might be led in tubes and through a purifying receiver into the boiling-house; the expenses would be but trifling, and the advantage very considerable. Mr. C. K. Bishop has collected this gas by a gasometer, and, although it was confined for weeks in a common bladder, it burnt when ignited with a clear white flame. 2 Collyns’s MSS. 3 This rock is shelving, and forms a protection against wind and weather. When the author saw it last, it was used as a dwelling by a poor white family. LOCAL GEOGRAPHY. 225 church is intended to be sixty feet long by forty wide, with a tower and prettily planned recess for a chancel, and is calculated to contain above a thousand sittings. Oldmixon relates that the altarpiece of St. Andrew’s Church was painted by M. Birchet, one of the best artists in London, but it was not put up when his work was published, in 1708. St. Andrew’s contains a chapel of ease, St. Simon and St. Jude, very romantically situated in the upper part of the parish near Turner’s Hall wood: a large coral block seems to protect it against the heavy onset of a gale. Another chapel, St. Saviour, is in the course of erection in the valley through which Scotland River takes its course, on a small eminence near the Estate Friendship or Pool. Under the summit of Mount Hil- laby, and near to the road which leads to Mount Hall, is a Wesleyan chapel. The Parish of St Lucy .—Area 8725 acres; population 6934; number of sugar-estates 38. This parish occupies the northern point of the island; it ranks sixth in point of size; according to its population it stands eighth. The northern part, or extreme point of the parish, is flat, marshy, and covered with short grass, sedges and pimploes, or prickly opuntias. The seashore, which bounds the parish on three sides, consists of bold and rocky cliffs from forty to sixty feet high, against which the waves dash with great fury when the sea is agitated by a brisk breeze. It appears that the sea has here encroached upon the land; detached and insulated coral rocks lie at some distance from the coast, apparently the l’emains of cliffs which formerly extended so far. For the first mile from the northern point inland the ground is level and open; it gradually rises, advancing southward; and behind the parish church is a projecting point of the wall-like cliffs or terrace, which reaches to 449 feet above the sea; it is called Mount Gilboa, and forms a remark¬ able object in the landscape 1 . The land at the extreme point is sterile, and resembles the south-eastern part of St. Philip’s and the southern part of Christ Church; further inland however is some good soil. This applies equally to the sugar estates on the second terrace or elevation, among which Lambert’s is considered to be one of the first settled estates in that part of the island. The parish church of St. Lucy has been built since the hurricane in 1831: its style of architecture resembles that of St. Philip’s. There are besides two chapels of ease, St. Clement and St. Swithin, in the parish, which is populous for its size. The cliffs along the coast, from the constant beating of the heavy swell, are very rugged, and have numerous caverns, of which the Animal- 1 Under Mount Gilboa is a large cave, which must have been one of the resorts of the Indians. The Rev. Griffith Hughes found here several of their broken images, pipes, hatchets, and chisels.—(Hughes’s History of Barbados, p. 7-) Q 226 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. flower Cave and the Bachelor’s Cave are those mostly visited by strangers. The former received its name from a species of Zoophyte, the Sea-anemone (Actinia), several of which inhabit an excavation or basin filled with sea-water in one of the divisions of the cave. The access to it is round a precipitous cliff 1 , in which some holes are chiseled, by which any person not apt to turn giddy may reach the cave in safety during smooth water. It is however different when the sea rolls roughly in; it then becomes dangerous to visit the cave; for although the cliff is upwards of forty feet high, the sea breaks over the rock. The cave is approached under an overhanging cliff resembling a porch. Near this cliff or shelf is a large circular hole in a block of coralline limestone, with a large stone in its centre resembling a round of beef in a caldron. Continuing along the cliff, and rounding a point which is called the Horse, the cave is reached by a few rude steps. It is spacious and irregular. The con¬ stant beating of the tremendous swell that rolls in has formed several caverns, which are connected by small passages and open upon the sea. The roof of the cavern is hung with stalactites, from which clear fresh water continually drips into the pools of salt-water below. The great curiosity, the animal flowers, are in the Carpet-room—a divi¬ sion of the cavern, the only means of access to which is by wading knee-deep through water in order to reach a fissure or archway that opens into the cave. In the middle of this excavation is a natural basin filled with sea-water by the waves, which occasionally rush in with great impetuosity. The water is clear as crystal, and the bottom and sides of the basin are covered with a kind of sea-moss or algse of rich and beautiful colours, varying through all the intermediate tints of green, red and crimson, in consequence of which it has been compared to a rich carpet. In the middle of the basin is an oblong rock, likewise clothed with the variegated sea-moss; and from this rock issue, when the water is un¬ disturbed, small stems or tubes which would scarcely attract attention, until suddenly from the summit of the tube expand several organs in the form of a bright yellow flower, nearly resembling the single marigold; but as soon as a hand approaches to pluck this wonderful flower, the petal¬ like organs retract themselves, and the stem or tube vanishes into the crevice of the rock from whence it issued, re-appearing soon after the hand is withdrawn and the water left undisturbed 1 . There are two other species, one with blue and the other with brown flowers, which are occasionally found among the coral reefs along the shore in Christ Church. The Back Cave, where the sea-moss is more abundant and of brighter colours, can only be reached when the sea is quite calm. When the author visited the Animal-flower Cave in the company of a friend, the sea was very boisterous : this afforded him an opportunity of witnessing 1 For a description of this curious animal, I refer to the article on Zoophytes in the third part of this history. LOCAL GEOGRAPHY. 227 a sublime spectacle. The waves approached the headland in long, un¬ broken masses, until they came in contact with the cliffs, when they dashed against them with a deafening noise, filling the opening of the cave; the water rushed with a great impetus through it, but subdued as it were by the genius of the grotto, it silently filled the basin, and rushed back again to join anew in the onset. The effect, when the opening is covered with the watery curtain, is peculiar and grand; at the commencement, when the masses are thick and compact, almost darkness prevails; then follows suddenly a brownish hue, which changes into a yellowish glare, until the wave has retreated, and a bright light breaks through the open¬ ing, again to be darkened anew the next moment. The Bachelor’s Cave is approached by a rude staircase, much in the same way as the bath in Dawlish. The mouth of the cave opens how¬ ever directly on the sea, and it is only advisable to enter it when the sea is tolerably smooth. There are some caverns along this coast, called “ the Spouts,” where the cavity is not wide enough to encompass the impetuous wave, which rushes through the opening, and the water has forced passages vertically upwards, which are worn as smooth as if excavated with the chisel. Through these openings the water rushes up with great violence in boisterous weather, and flies high into the air, forming a kind of natural fountain; as soon as the water recedes, the wind rushes into the apertures, with a noise which is heard at a considerable distance. It is said that the spray-sometimes flies to a height of forty feet, when the surface of the sea is stirred by a strong breeze. In the description which Father Labat gives of Barbados, in 1700, he speaks of a small town called St. John or John’s-town 1 . According to the position which he assigns to it, in the map that accompanies his description, its situation must have been near Maycock’s Bay. The Parish of St. John .—Area 8600 acres; population 8538; number of sugar-plantations 38. This parish is the seventh according to size, and the fifth with respect to population. The soil is considered very fertile, chiefly the portion forming the table-land, which with a part of St. Joseph’s is called “the Top of the Cliff;” the latter rises gradually from the seashore, until towards the summit the cliffs assume an almost per¬ pendicular appearance. St. John’s is one of the most delightful districts in Barbados, and in consequence of the number of proprietors resident in this parish, it has been called the “West End” of the island. The air is very pure, and the thermometer generally stands three to four degrees lower than in the valley. The romantic situation of the church has been already alluded to in the third chapter of this work: it stands at a short 1 Labat, Nouveanx Voyages, &c., vol. vi. p. 193. Q 2 228 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. distance from the escarpment of the cliff, at an elevation of 824 feet. The former church was blown down during the hurricane in 1831; in 1835 a meeting took place at the rectory, at which Mr. Robert Haynes presided, when resolutions were adopted for rebuilding the church. It was proposed that the church should be eighty feet long and fifty wide. A Church Committee was elected, and the work was commenced by private subscrip¬ tion, and contributions in labour and materials : the subscription raised at the meeting amounted to £765. It is now considered one of the prettiest churches in the island, and the interior is pleasing and elegant without being ostentatious. The prospect from the churchyard towards St. Joseph’s and St. Andrew’s is sublime : the hilly and undulating regions of that district, the peculiar formation of the cliffs and the deep blue colour of the sea, edged with white where the waves wash the shore, form an interesting picture. If the eye glances southward, the compa¬ ratively level ground of a part of St. Philip’s parish is seen studded with numerous small buildings, forming a strong contrast with the hilly ap¬ pearance of the north-eastern prospect. At the foot lie some planta¬ tions, with gay-looking buildings, although from such a height there seems to be scarcely any space left for erecting buildings between the foot of the cliff and the seashore. A large mass of the cliff has glided from its original site, and sunk down many feet, leaving a chasm; a huge rock, having the appearance of an old watch-tower, covered, instead of the northern ivy, with tropical lianas and straggling shrubs, rises about twenty-five to thirty feet, and forms a remarkable object in the prospect. A peculiar interest is attached to this churchyard as being the resting- place of a descendant of the Paleologi,—one of the last of that imperial race, whom the ascendency of eastern barbarians drove from the sacred city, where now in lieu of the Cross, its temples are surmounted by the Crescent. Of the correctness of this assertion antiquarian researches have proved the truth. During his sojourn in Barbados the author enjoyed the acquaintance of the Rev. J. II. Gittens, the respected rector of the parish, who in a con¬ versation upon this interesting subject produced an old vestry-book from which the following entries are extracted. Among the gentlemen of the Vestry of the Parish of St. John we find in 1649 Mr. Fernando Paleologus; likewise in 1651. In 1654 he is mentioned as sidesman to the churchwarden and lieutenant. In 1655 and 1656 he occurs as a churchwarden; in 1657 as a trustee; in 1660 as a trustee and sur¬ veyor of the highway; in 1661 as a vestryman; in 1669 as a vestry¬ man, but reported as absent at a meeting on the 10th of January of that year, from which period his name no longer occurs until nine years after¬ wards, when an entry in the parish register mentions among the burials* “ October 3rd, 1678, Lieut. Ferdinando Paleologus.” The tradition that a descendant of the former imperial family of the Greek rulers resided in LOCAL GEOGRAPHY. 229 Barbados is mentioned by Oldmixon J , when alluding to the high families then resident in Barbados; he doubts it however, without giving any reason for so doing. A monument in the church of Llandulph in Corn¬ wall removes every doubt on the subject: on a brass tablet against the wall of that church is the following inscription, under the imperial arms proper of the Empire of Greece :— “ Here lyeth the Body of Theodoro Paleologvs of Pesaro in Italye descended from ye Imperiall lyne of ye last Christian Emperors of Greece, being the sonne of Prosper, the sonne of Theodoro, the sonne of John, the sonne of Thomas, second brother to Constantine Paleologvs, the 8th of that name and last of ye lyne yt raygned in Constantinople vntill svbdewedby the Turkes, who married wth Mary ye Davghter of William Balls of Hadlye in Sovffolke, Gent., and had issue 5 children, Theodoro, John, Ferdinaudo, Maria, and Dorothy, and departed this life at Clyfton ye 21st of Janvary 1636.” It is evident that the Ferdinando mentioned on this monument is the individual who resided in Barbados in the seventeenth century : the maiden name of his mother was Balls. This name occurs among the earliest proprietors, and in ‘Oldmixon’s List of Estates’ three properties are mentioned as belonging to the family of the Balls. A relationship may therefore have existed between the mother of Paleologus and the Balls in Barbados, which, at a period when so many families emigrated from England, chiefly from Kent and the southern and western counties, might have induced young Paleologus to seek his fortune in the new world: this may have taken place after his father’s death in 1636. A legal document respecting the sale of some land executed in 1658, men¬ tions that such land is “ bounded north by Ferdinando Paleologus,” &c. Of greater importance with regard to the identity of the Ferdinando Paleologus of Barbados with the individual mentioned in the tablet in the church at Llandulph, is however his will, in which the names of his sisters Mary, Maria and Dorothy occur. The will of Ferdinando Paleologus is entered in the Registrar’s Office on the 20th of March 1678 : the following is a copy of it:— “In the name of God, Amen. I Ferdinand Paleologus, of the parish of St. John’s, being sick in body, but in perfect memory, commit my soul into the hands of Almighty God, my most merciful Creator, and my body to be interred in a Christian burial, there to attend the joyful resurrection of the just to eternal life by Jesus Christ my most blessed Saviour and Redeemer. "Imp. I give and bequeath unto my loving wife Rebecca Paleologus the one half of my plantation, with all the profit thereof arising during the term and time of her natural life. "Item. I give and bequeath unto my son Theodorious Paleologus the other moiety of my plantation, with all profit, stock, and goods thereunto belonging, 1 Oldmixon’s British Empire in America, vol. ii. p. 111. 230 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. which moiety is to be employed for his maintenance and education, together with the increase of his estate, until he attains the age of fourteen years, the other moiety given as aforesaid. After the death of my wife Rebecca Paleo- logus, my will is that her said moiety return with all the profit unto my son Theodorious Paleologus. “Item. I give and bequeath unto my sister Mary Paleologus twenty shillings sterling. “Item. I give and bequeath unto my sister Dorothy Arondoll twenty shillings sterling. “Item. I give and bequeath unto Ralph Hassell my godson, son of Ralph Hassell, my black stone colt. “Item. I give and bequeath to Edward Walrond, son of Henry Walrond, jun., one gray mare colt.. “And for Executrix of this my last will and testament, I do constitute and appoint my loving wife Rebecca Paleologus. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 26th of September in the year of our Lord God one thousand six hundred and seventy. “Ferdinand Paleologus (Seal). “ Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of Tobias Bridge, George Hanmer, Thomas Kendall. “ And upon further consideration, it is my Will and Testament, that in case should happen my son Theodorious Paleologus should die before my wife without issue lawfully begotten by him, that then my said wife shall have the whole estate, equally divided as before mentioned, to her, her heirs and assigns for ever. As witness my hand and seal, this 2nd day of October 16/0. C his 1 “ Ferdinand Paleologus. I^markJ (Seal.) “Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of us, Tobias Bridge, George Hanmer, Thomas Kendall, Abraham Pomfrett.” The will was proved before Colonel Christopher Codrington, then De¬ puty Governor, on the 4th of January 1680. Theodorious died, and the whole of the property went to the widow of Ferdinand Paleologus. The estate of the illustrious descendant of the Greek Emperors was situated where the Plantation Ashford now lies, and part of the land belongs now to Clifton Hall. The tradition of the death and burial of “ the Greek Prince from Corn¬ wall,” w'as current in Barbados, and was revived, as I am told (although I cannot vouch for the truth), during the last conflict for independence and the delivery from the Turkish yoke, when a letter was received from the provisional Greek Government, addressed to the authorities in Bar¬ bados, inquiring whether a male branch of the Paleologi was still existing in the island, and conveying the request that, if that should be the case, he should be provided w T ith the means of returning to Greece, and the Government would, if required, pay all the expenses of the voyage. The hurricane of 1831 destroyed the former parish-church of St. John; LOCAL GEOGRAPHY. 231 and when the ruins were removed, the coffin of Ferdinando Paleologus was discovered under the organ-loft in the vault of Sir Peter Colleton. The circumstance that the coffin stood in an opposite direction to the others deposited in the vault drew attention to it; the head was lying to the west, the feet pointing to the east, according to the Greek custom. These accounts raised the curiosity of the Rector of the parish, and, in order to ascertain how much truth was connected with the tradition, he resolved to examine the supposed coffin of Paleologus; it was consequently opened on the 3rd of May 1844, in the presence of Mr. R. Reece jun., Mr. J. G. Young, and Mr. J. Hinkson. The coffin was of lead, and in it was found a skeleton of an extraordinary size, imbedded in quicklime, which is another proof of the Greek origin of Paleologus, as it is the custom in Greece to surround the body with quicklime. Although he had filled the situation of a vestryman of a Protestant community, the orders which he must have given with regard to his burial prove that he died in the, faith of his own church. The coffin was carefully deposited in the vault, now in possession of Josiah Heath, Esq., of Quintyn’s and Redland. Besides the parish-church, the chapel of St. Mark and the pretty chapel of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel deserve to be mentioned. A building of wood for the use of the slave population of the Trust-estates was opened as a chapel in 1819. It was thrown down that year during the hurricane, and a substantial stone chapel was erected on the hill above the College and opened on the 3rd of June 1821. This was destroyed by the hurricane in 1831, and was rebuilt on a much larger scale in 1833 at a cost of £1200. St. Mark’s Chapel stands on an eminence near Fortescue’s on the sea- coast, and with the school-house near it forms a very pretty object when approaching that part of Barbados from seaward. It was blown down in the hurricane, and has since been rebuilt and enlarged. The Moravians possess a missionary station called Mount Tabor : the land and some other privileges have been settled upon them by one of the former proprietors of the sugar plantation Haynes’ Field. The Wesley- ans possess a chapel at Belmont. Codrington College is situated at a short distance from the foot of the cliff, on a table-land about two hundred feet above the level of the sea. The situation is very romantic, and the environs almost a repetition of Scotland district on a smaller scale. A long avenue of fine tall cabbage- palms leads nearly from the junction of the roads to the seat of learning across a lawn in front of the building. The edifice is plain and without architectural beauty ; it consists of a long side and two short projecting wings towards the north-east, fronting the sea: its length is two hundred and ten feet, the width thirty-three feet, and the wings project thirty feet. An arched and open portico occupies the middle, and rises in a pointed roof somewhat above the elevation of the building. Its massive appearance 232 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. would appear to secure it against the destructive effect of hurricanes, nevertheless it suffered severely during those in 1780 and 1831. The walls near the foundation are six feet thick, and gradually reduced to three by proper off-sets. On entering the open archway, the hall is on the left, the chapel on the right. The hall is fifty-seven feet long and twenty-five in width, and contains in a recess a niche with a handsome bust of the founder on a pedestal—a gift which reflects much honour upon the donors, the Warden and Fellows of All Souls’ College in Ox¬ ford. The bust is a copy of that portion of the statue now in the Codrington Library of All Souls’ College, and is executed in Carrara marble by Grimsley, an artist residing in Oxford. It arrived in 1843, and now fills the niche which was prepared for such a purpose many years ago, but which stood empty until this appropriate gift arrived. The hall is ornamented with the coat-of-arms of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and of the Bishop of Barbados on the western end, in too prominent a manner in comparison with the armorial bearings of the founder. Attached to the hall is the library and the medical lecture-room. The collection of books in the library, which were con¬ tributed by early benefactors to the College, was nearly destroyed during the hurricane in 1831; additions have been made to the few which were saved by grants from the Society, donations from Bishop Coleridge, and by an annual subscription of one guinea from each student. In 1834, at the suggestion of the Rector of St. Paul’s in Nevis, the vestry pre¬ sented seven boxes of old books, the gift of Mr. Henry Carpenter, to the College. “ The library thus accumulated,” says the Lord Bishop of Bar¬ bados, “ consists of about 1450 volumes; to which will be added on the arrival of the newly-appointed Principal 1 (who left England on the 2nd of March 1847), more than 1000 volumes, contributed or collected by himself, besides forty volumes purchased by him with the sum of twenty- five pounds sterling, sent by the Bursar from the subscriptions of the students, making in all an aggregate of about 2500 volumes 2 . The chapel with the antechapel is of a similar size to the hall. It is plain, and would make a better impression if the heavy gallery were away. I have already observed that it was first opened for divine service on the 11th of June 1749. In the hurricane of 1780 and 1831 it suf¬ fered severely, but it has been since restored, and was re-opened on the 24th of October 1841. The students are required to attend divine service in the chapel twice a day. The tutor occupies the south wing, 1 The Rev. Richard Rawle. 1 The Lord Bishop of Barbados has recently published an interesting account of the College; the author regrets much that it did not reach him at an earlier period, previous to the compilation of the information which he has given in former pages ; however this has been taken from similar sources, namely the Reports of the Society and the Minute-books of the College. LOCAL GEOGRAPHY. 233 and spacious accommodations for sleeping-rooms for the students are arranged on the second floor of the building. The Principal’s lodge is on the same line with the College, but it forms a detached building on its north end. The view of the College from the Society’s chapel is very picturesque; it occupies prominently the front of the picture; it would have a sombre aspect, if the majestic palm-trees, the bright green of the lawn in front with its fine sheet of water, and the bright light of a tropical sun did not relieve the effect which its massive walls, “darkened by time and a ruthless wind,” tends to produce. The ground behind the College slopes gradually towards the sea; a little to the right the new buildings of Codrington estate, and its windmill, give variety to the land¬ scape, until the eye, carried beyond it, rests upon the abrupt cliffs of Conset’s Bay, against which the sea sometimes breaks mountains high. Of equal interest is the prospect from seaward. The high cliffs of St. John’s, covered sparingly with underwood, form the background, and the Society’s chapel, a small but very neat building, occupies the summit, and stands boldly in relief. A spring of water clear as crystal issues from the foot of the cliff, and is enclosed in a covered building. It flows thence towards the College, and forms two sheets of water connected by a canal which the chief road crosses by a bridge. It is then led towards the new estate, forming in its way cascades, and affording facilities for bathing: as already observed, it is of incalculable benefit in irrigating the plantation. The stream is always running, and is a principal feature in this delightful spot. Nor ought we to omit to notice a pretty garden, with some curious trees from Trinidad and Venezuela. It is true that much more might be made of this garden, especially as, with the theological studies at the College, those of medicine are professedly connected. If then it is desirable to establish somewhere in Barbados a collection of curious plants, indigenous and foreign, that spot ought to be the garden of Codrington College. The facility which the stream offers for irrigation would greatly assist the formation of a botanical garden. The retired situation of the College corresponds with its object; re¬ moved from the bustle of the world, the students are left to themselves and their studies; and the romantic environs are well-adapted to inspire and foster religious feelings. Burnt Hill, in the neighbourhood of Codrington College, is well worth a visit; its description I must defer to the geological account of the island. I have likewise heard of a spring the temperature of which is warmer than the surrounding air. A large pond at Kendal’s plantation is to this day called Yarico’s Pond,—a name which will recall the pathetic story of Inkle and Yarico in the Spectator, founded upon a fact related in Ligon’s history. Although 234 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. deprived of tlie romantic character, Yarico, as represented by him, appears in the nakedness of a savage and frail in virtue; the revolting ingratitude of the wretch who could sell that being as a slave for life who saved his by venturing her own, remains unaltered. “ And so poor Yarico for her love lost her liberty,'” says Ligon 1 . The Parish of St. Thomas .—Area 8500 acres; population 8504; num¬ ber of sugar-estates 55 : it consists mostly of table-land, of an undulating character, and is traversed from north to south by numerous ravines. It is the eighth in point of area, and the sixth with respect to its po¬ pulation. The parish-church was destroyed in 1831, and rebuilt in 1835-36, the corner-stone having been laid on the day of the patron Saint in 1835. There is besides a chapel-of-ease dedicated to the Holy Innocents, and a temporary place of worship at Fisher’s Pond. Those exemplary missionaries the Moravians have two stations in this parish, Sharon and Clifton Hill: the latter lies very pleasantly on the summit of a hill on the great road to Scotland District. The former proprietor of the estate Clifton transferred the site and some adjacent land, with some other benefices, to this Mission. A red or ochreous soil predominates in this parish; it is considered fertile, and some of the estates on the table-land are among the most pro¬ ductive in the island. The ravines which traverse the soil, being less ex¬ posed to the intense heat of the sun and winds, abound generally in a luxuriant vegetation. The verdure is here more permanent, as the evapo¬ ration from the surface in these confined places is less rapid; even during the severest drought some degree of vegetation is found in them. One of these ravines opens near Carrington’s Hill, and extends southward towards the parish of St. Michael, where several branches unite. In this ravine there are some beautiful cedar-trees, and at the time when Ge¬ neral Williams possessed a stately mansion in the neighbourhood, it was as famed for its garden and fruit-trees as Piers’s in Christ Church. It now possesses some interesting fruit and forest trees; among the former may be mentioned a centenarian orange-tree. The calcareous rocks of these ravines frequently jut out and form considerable caverns; at other times they are shelving, resembling in their structure deep recesses. The roofs of these caverns and recesses are hung with stalactites, which increasing in size frequently reach the ground and unite with the calcareous concretions on the floor. A similar instance has occurred at Social-rock Gully on a large scale, and a column has been formed which supports the canopy-like recess. The romantic beauty of this ravine, the luxuriant vegetation, and the fresh¬ ness which always prevails near it, have caused it to be a favourite resort 1 Ligon’s History of Barbados, p. 55. Ligon is lavish in his praise of her beauty; he describes her as of excellent shape and colour, being of pure bright bay. LOCAL GEOGRAPHY. 235 for picnic parties and social amusements. It unites near the estate called “ the Spring ” with another, and within a short distance of that junction is Cole’s Cave, the most celehrated cavern in Barbados; I consider it about 750 or 800 feet above the level of the sea. The entrance is at the bottom of the ravine, almost masked by a vigorous vegetation. It is formed by some tower-like cliffs, which admit only a feeble light from above through a small fissure. The mouth of the cave occupies its west¬ ern side; though narrow at the entrance, it becomes more spacious; and the roof is in some instances from fifteen to sixteen feet above the ground, sometimes concave and smooth, in other instances uneven and set with stalactites nearly touching the floor, which is covered with great masses of stalagmite. At the distance of about three hundred feet from the entrance, the cave divides; one branch extends east by south, the other south by west. The former does not extend very far, and the floor, in consequence of large masses of carbonate of lime, is higher than that of the larger cave. The division of these two caves is called “ the Fork.” The roof of the larger cave presents a most remarkable appearance in con¬ sequence of its being studded with numerous cavities or pits of a rounded form, resembling inverted saucers or calabashes. They are from a few inches to twenty inches in diameter, and from half an inch to four and even six inches in depth 1 . A short distance from the Fork a clear stream issues from the side of the cave and continues southward, forming in its way miniature cascades; heaps of clay, accumulated no doubt during years, lie on its banks; rounded pebbles of quartz are said to have been found in it. At a short distance from the spot where the stream issues the cavern becomes more spacious, and a basin is formed which has re¬ ceived the name of “the Bath.” From hence it gradually lessens in height, and becomes ultimately so low as to render it necessai’y for the visitor to ‘ What can be the origin of these cavities ? Their inverted position renders the answer very difficult. The author has seen during his travels in Guiana similar basins excavated in granite; and on the banks of the Capliiwuin he recollects having seen them likewise in greenstone ; hut they were not inverted. Humboldt observed them in hard stone on the Orinoco, and he tells us that in one instance he used such a cavity as a bowl to prepare lemonade in. They are sometimes filled with rounded quartz pebbles, and as they are mostly to he met with near cataracts, where eddies and whirlpools abound, it may easily be imagined that by constant attrition in the lapse of ages these holes may have been hollowed out. In Cole’s Cave they are however inverted, and do not cover the bottom, but the roof of the cavern. It has been supposed that they are places fi-om whence stalactites formerly depended, which having dropped off, chemical agency co-operated to render these cavities smooth. It appears to me more likely that the stream brought down by the ravine, which during freshets flooded the cavern, was confined in its course by the tortuous winding of the subterranean passage, and formed into eddies, produced these curious inverted cavities on the roof upon a similar principle, as the eddies near the cataracts in South America hollow out the much harder granites and greenstones. The presence of stalactites in the cavern is a demonstrative proof that the cavern was aerial when they were formed. 236 HISTORY Or BARBADOS. stoop and follow the course of the stream by crawling along it. It is not possible to follow the cave for a greater distance; no outlet of the stream has been discovered, and it may be, as is frequently the case in the Morea, that the outlet is submarine 1 . Tradition says that a party who wished to ascertain in what direction the stream flowed, brought a duck with them, which was marked and then put in the water and carried away by the current. Some days afterwards it was recovered near Fontabelle, nearly seven miles in a straight line from the cave. The duck, it is said, was exhausted and nearly stripped of its feathers, perhaps by passing through fissures and coming in contact with projecting rocks. The story is possible, but not likely; unfortunately there is another version of it, which says that the duck was recovered in Scotland District. Har¬ rison’s Cave, in the neighbourhood of Cole’s, is of less extent and interest. The road which leads from Bridgetown through the western part of the parish to Mount Hillaby, Apes’ Hill, &c., after reaching the summit of Messhouse Hill or Freetown, skirts the foot of some wall-like cliffs near Belair and Fortress. After passing the latter estate, the road de¬ scends suddenly towards a glen ; high bushes of bamboo are planted on its side, which form a kind of arch, leading to a lovely spot called Porey’s Spring. A stream of clear water, which has its source near Mount Misery, descends from the height above and falls into a reservoir by the roadside; spurting in a gentle arch, it gives a feeling of freshness, especially at mid-day. Large masses of coral rocks lie in confusion around, some of considerable height and clothed with verdure, consist¬ ing of finely pinnated Ferns, the large-leaved Pothos, succulent Pepe- romias, and the curious sickle-shaped Xylophia. The spring is public property, and was bequeathed by the former proprietor to the island. The water is excellent, and there have been several projects formed for conveying it by an aqueduct to Bridgetown, about eight miles distant. Its descent being in that case above eight hundred feet, it might easily be conveyed to the top of any building in the city. Porey Spring is famed for its fruit-trees, chiefly of the orange species, which are considered superior to any other in the island. Apes’ Hill Gully at the northern angle of the parish presents, from the point where the road enters this ravine, a highly picturesque scene, to which the buildings at Gregg’s Farm greatly contribute. The summit of the hill at Grand View affords another lovely prospect, in which Bridgetown with the port and the garrison of St. Anne, form the principal objects. The Parish of St. Peter .—Area 8330 acres ; population 8343; number of sugar-plantations 44. This parish is considered very fertile, and the plantations on the first table-land are productive. The low tract along 1 Lyell’s Principles of Geology, seventh edition, p. /Of. LOCAL GEOGRAPHY. 237 the seashore is only sparingly cultivated with sugar-cane. It forms the ninth according to its superficial area, and the seventh with respect to its population. It is distinguished by similar features as the parish of St. James, but the mural precipices are not so bold; the second point of Black Bess is only 501 feet above the sea. The eastern line of the parish skirts the high land, and the summit of Four hills reaches 904 feet in height. Speightstown or Spikestown, which belongs to this parish, is the most considerable place next to Bridgetown. Its church is one of the seven blown down during the hurricane in 1831, although it escaped in 1780; it has been rebuilt in a half Grecian style of architecture, with which the in¬ terior corresponds. The town consists of about 150 houses; a long street runs parallel with the seashore, upon which abuts another, stretching from the foot of Dover Hill towards the sea: these are the two principal streets; there are a few minor ones. The roadstead is equally exposed as Carlisle Bay; it was formerly much frequented, and a great deal of sugar was expoi’ted directly to Europe: it appears to have been chiefly visited by vessels from Bristol, and from this circumstance it received the name of Little Bristol. The practice however is now to send the produce by droghers to Bridgetown, and the place, which was already falling into decay when Oldmixon wrote, has much decreased since: the greater number of houses, many of which are built in a style bespeaking former opulence, are now in a dilapidated condition. The town possesses a very neat Wesleyan chapel. There is daily communication with Bridgetown by droghers and small sailing-vessels : many of the inhabitants earn their livelihood by fishing, chiefly during the time when the flying-fish are in season; indeed it may almost be said that these fish form the principal food of the inhabitants during that period. In the neighbourhood of Speightstown is the police-station and the house of correction of the District E, comprising the parishes of St. Peter and St. Lucy. The buildings stand on an eminence, which has been named Dover Hill; a little further to the north is a signal station, which corresponds by means of Granade Hall and Gun Hill with Bridgetown. All Saints’ Chapel, on the main road to Scotland District, is said to be the oldest church in the island, and has never been entirely destroyed during any hurricane, although it has suffered damage. During Sir Jonathan Atkins’s and Sir Richard Dutton’s government, the parish was styled St. Peter and All Saints, and Oldmixon writes of it thus: “ This chapel is so large and beautiful, that it is dignified with the name of a church, but it belongs to the St. Peter’s parish 1 .” It is a great pity that some of the old tombstones should have been used in lieu of flagstones during its repair. The Mansion House, on the plantation called St. Nicholas’Abbey, on 1 Oldmixon, vol. ii. p. 83. 238 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. the precincts of the parish, is one of the oldest dwelling-houses in the island: it is built in the intermediate style between the Elizabethan and our own period, and the surrounding garden harmonizes with its architec¬ ture. An avenue of mahogany-trees leads from the mansion to Cherry Hill, the summit of which presents one of the finest prospects in the island. A succession of cliffs and hills stretch from Boscobelle towards Hackleton’s Cliff, enclosing in a kind of amphitheatre the hills of Scotland District. A conical hill at the very extreme point of the parish is known as Peak Teneriffe in the recent maps; by the people it is generally called Pico; in a French map of the West Indies published about 1745,1 find it named the Tower. It stands separated from the cliffs, on the very edge of the seashore, and its pointed form has procured it the distinguished name, although in height it is a mere molehill in comparison to its great proto¬ type. According to Barrallier, it is only 268 feet high. A large cave in this parish is called Indian Castle; it is of some ex¬ tent, and entirely protected by the overshelving rock against wind and rain. In the neighbourhood is a reservoir of water, partly natural, partly excavated, called the Indian Pond. The soil is here clayey, and it is conjectured by Hughes that the Indians made their earthenware of it. A large idol, the head of which alone weighed sixty pounds, was found in this neighbourhood; it stood upon an oval pedestal above three feet high. Several others, of smaller size and of burnt clay, were likewise found here. Various other traditions of the sojourn of Indians in this part of the island, are related in detail by Hughes 1 : Six-Men’s Bay is said to have received its name from the circumstance that the first settlers saw here six In¬ dians. The Parish of St. James .—Area 7800 acres; population 5704; number of sugar-plantations 33. St. James’s is the tenth in point of size, and possesses the smallest number of inhabitants; it borders on the sea, and forms a low tract of land along the shore. Parallel with the shore run long lines of cliff’s or escarpments, like steps one behind another, with undulating ground and table-land intervening. Near Black Rock four of these terraces may be distinctly traced. Jamestown, or as it is better known Holetown, consists of only a few houses. Here the English landed under Richard Deane in 1625. Some of the crew of the Olive on her intended voyage to the Wiapoco or Oyapoco, had previously landed in 1605, and erected a cross hereabouts, and cut on the bark of a tree, “ James K. of E. and this island 2 .” There is a tradition in the island, that towards 1780 this tree was still standing, and about eighty names of the first settlers had been carved on it; but it was subsequently felled for the sake of its timber; according to others, it 1 Hughes’s History of Barbados, pp. 6, 7. 3 That is, “ James King of England and this island.” LOCAL GEOGRAPHY. 239 was blown down in the great hurricane of that year. From this spot the explorers followed the shore eastward, until they arrived at Indian River, where they repeated the ceremony of taking possession of the island. Jamestown appears to have been a place of some consequence in 1700. We have Oldmixon’s account, who styles it a pretty town with about a hundred houses in it; and Pere Labat, who visited it in the year 1700, gives a similar description, observing that it was built near a bay of considerable depth and defended by two batteries. It has been stated by historians that the name Holetown was a corruption of the “ Old town,” in contradistinction to the town near the Bridge, which was settled somewhat later by Wolferstone’s party. This is not probable; the bay on which Jamestown was situated was called the Hole, as is evident from Ligon’s map; and as Oistin’s Town derived its name from the bay on which it was situated, it is evident that the town near the Hole received its name from a similar circumstance. Oldmixon calls it “the Hole.” Its shipping-place is commodious for the planters in the parishes of St. James and St. Thomas, and it consequently assumes during crop¬ time an appearance of activity. There is a police-station in the town. St. James’s Church stands at a short distance from Holetown, and is one of the few churches which escaped during the late hurricane. A projecting point on the northern side of the bay is called Church-point. There is a chapel-of-ease called St. Alban in connection with the church, and a temporary place of worship at Westmoreland. The Parish of St. Joseph .—Area 6010 acres; population 6753; number of sugar-plantations 38. This is the smallest parish according to its superficial area, and the ninth with regard to its population. It possesses the same features as St. Andrew’s, and forms part of the tract called Scotland District. The parish-church was formerly situated in the valley, but being blown down in 1831, its site was changed, and it has been rebuilt in a pleasing style on a hill close to the road leading to Joe’s River. A chapel built near the seashore on an eminence called Little St. Joseph belongs to this parish; the rectory stands in its neighbourhood. The soil is very fertile, especially in the estates which are situated in the valley; they labour however under the great disadvantage that, owing to coral-reefs and a boisterous sea, their produce cannot be shipped from the shore, and has to be conveyed up a steep hill about a thousand feet high. The highest elevation in the parish is Chimbaroza, which, according to Barrallier (who erroneously calls it Mount Wilton), is 1131 feet in height. Nearly on the summit of Bissexhill is the police-station of District F: the view from hence is one of the most picturesque in the island; and this applies also to Hackleton’s Cliff, from whence the white buildings of Bissexhill form a prominent object in the landscape. Hackleton’s Cliff is much visited, and the view from it has been cele- 240 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. brated by the Rev. G. Hughes in his ‘ History of Barbados,’ who com¬ pares this remarkable defile to Glover’s beautiful description of the Straits of Thermopylae: " There the lofty cliffs Of woody JEta overlook the Pass ; And far beyond, o’er half the surge below, Their horrid umbrage cast 1 .” The cliffs are here very bold, and form part of the amphitheatre-like wall of coral rocks which encompasses Scotland District. Viewed from any of these eminences, that part which is called “ Below Cliff ” and Suranaam, appears as if it had sunk. This is evidently the case near Union and Rose Villa, where a great portion of the cliff has sunk down¬ wards for twenty or thirty feet, maintaining its horizontal position : it is now cultivated with sugar-cane. A narrow defile, which leads between two cliffs towards St. Joseph’s Church, has received the name of the “Devil’s Bowling Alley.” The signal-station called Cotton Tower occupies the summit of the defile, and is 1091 feet above the sea. Several houses extend along the shore between Joe’s River and St. Joseph’s parsonage : these are called Bay-houses, and are resorted to for change of air and sea-bathing. Bathsheba and Tentbay are the largest among them. The Parish of St. Michael 9 .—Area 9580 acres ; population 34,344; number of sugar-estates 42. St. Michael’s is the most populous although not the largest parish : it contains the city of Bridgetown. The first settlement effected in Barbados was Jamestown, on the 17th of February 1625 3 . Charles Wolferstone, who in the name of the Earl of Carlisle disputed the right of the former settlers, arrived in the bay, which was afterwards called after the Earl of Carlisle, and landed on the 5th of July 1628 4 sixty-four persons. Among the settlers were Mr. Bulkley and Mr. John Summers, from whom the author of the 1 Memoirs of the First Settlement of Barbados ’ received valuable com¬ munications, apparently both by documents and word of mouth. The settlers fixed their residence on the bay in the neighbourhood of the creek, which received the surface waters from the adjacent heights. Here the Indians had constructed a rude bridge over the narrowest part, from which circumstance the new settlement received the name of the Indian Bridge. It is referred to as such in several of the public acts of the 1 Hughes’s History of Barbados, p. 24. 2 As the description of St. Michael’s will occupy the largest space, the author has preferred to let it follow as the last. 3 The dates are given as stated in the works which are quoted, without attempting to convert them into the new style, which would only conduce to confusion. * Memoirs of Barbados, p. 11. LOCAL GEOGRAPHY. 241 earliest date on record 1 ; and when John Jennings published the Acts and Statutes of the island of Barbados, he certifies them to be correct copies of the originals from his office “at the Indian Bridge, July 9th, 1654.” When a more solid structure was substituted for the rude Indian Bridge, the new settlement received the name of Bridgetown. At the time of the occupation however the settlers were called the Windwardmen, in con¬ tradistinction to the former settlers under the Earl of Pembroke, who were called the Leewardmen. The selection of this spot for the erection of the town was made with a total disregard to salubrity. The water which accumulated from the valley and the ingress of the tide had formed a large swamp, from which those noxious vapours ascended that in all climates prove in¬ jurious to health, but doubly so in the tropics. The convenience of landing and shipping their goods was doubtless the reason that a healthier situation was not selected by the settlers. Ligon states that in his time the Bridge (as he generally styles the town for brevity’s sake) was about the size of Hounslow. Du Tertre, who left the West Indies in 1656, says of Barbados that it “may boast of having two regular cities, in each of which more than a hundred taverns may be reckoned, as well-furnished as in Europe.” M. de Kochefort, who published his work on the Antilles about 1658, states “that Barbados possessed several places which might be called towns, where might be seen large streets with a great number of fine houses built by the principal officers and other inhabitants of this celebrated island. From a general glance over the island, we might consider it as consisting of one great city, in con¬ sequence of the short distance from house to house; among these, many were built in the English fashion; the shops and storehouses were filled with all kinds of merchandize; fairs and markets were held here; and the whole island, in imitation of great cities, was divided into parishes, each of which had a handsome church, where the ministers (of whom there were many) performed divine service 2 .” It is evident that Barbados was held up at that period as an example to all the other islands. Bridgetown, or, as it was formerly called in all official documents, “the town of St. Michael’s 3 ,” was desti’oyed by fire in 1666, and during the conflagration the chief records are said to have been lost ; what was spared by the fire was destroyed by the succeeding hurricane. The town was rebuilt and enlarged, and by a special act the Assembly ordered what materials the town should be built of ; for the inhabitants having begun to reconstruct their houses of timber, a stop was put to 1 Among other acts, I would only observe as an instance, “ an Act for the keeping clear the wharfs or landing-places at the Indian Bridge.” 2 Histoire Naturelle et Morale des Antilles de l’Amerique, 2de edition, p. 26. 3 Sir Jonathan Atkins’s and Sir Richard Dutton’s Reports. (MSS.) R 242 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. further building until this act came into force, which obliged them to use stone. Sir Jonathan Atkins appears to have been the first Governor who fixed his residence at Fontabelle, which was rented for him by the colony: in his report he informs Government that the town was partly built of bricks, but principally of stone, with handsome streets. Father Labat, who visited Barbados in September 1700, describes the town as “ handsome and large with straight and long streets, clean and well-traced; the houses,” he says, “ are well-built in the English taste, with many glazed windows and magnificently furnished; in a word, the whole has an air of neatness, politeness and opulence, which one does not find in the other islands, and which it would be difficult to meet with elsewhere. The Townhall is very handsome and well-ornamented: the shops and the merchants’ stores are filled with all that one can de¬ sire from every part of the world. There are numerous goldsmiths, jewellers, watchmakers and other artisans, who work a great deal, and appear to be at their ease; consequently the most considerable trade of America is here carried on. It is affirmed that the air of the town is not salubrious, and that the adjacent swamp renders the place very unhealthy; I have not however observed any proof of this in the complexion of the inhabitants, which is fine, especially that of the women; every part swarms with children, for every person is married, and the women are very prolific. The Government House is about three hundred steps from the seashore; it is magnificent and well-furnished; there is a library of books, upon all subjects, well-selected and in good order. The landing- place opposite is defended by a battery a merlons of six guns, with a guard-house and an intrenchment 1 .” This account agrees with the description which Oldmixon gives of the town ; he says that it contained 1200 houses built of stone, “the windows glazed, many of them sashed, the streets broad, the houses high, and the rents as dear in Cheapside in the Bridge, as in Cheapside in London 2 .” The church dedicated to the Archangel St. Michael was described as being as large as many of the English cathedrals, and possessed a fine organ, with a good peal of bells and a fine clock. The Governor’s residence had been previously at Fontabelle; but during the administration of Sir Bevil Granville, a small plantation above Bridgetown, with twenty-two acres of land attached to it, was leased for twenty-one years at the annual rent of £120; an elegant house was erected for his use. During Mr. Worsley’s administration upwards of two thousand pounds were paid for the repairs of the house and gardens 1 Nouveaux Voyage aux lies de l’Amerique, vol. vi. pp. 188, 191. 3 Oldmixon’s British Empire in America, vol. ii. p. 79- LOCAL GEOGRAPHY. 243 at Pilgrim, and seven years afterwards it was purchased by the Legisla¬ ture, with twenty acres of land attached, for £1350. On the 8th of February, 1756, a fire broke out in Bridgetown in a storehouse belonging to Mr. Blackman, which spreading to the adjacent premises, one hundred and sixty houses were destroyed before it could be extinguished. Two years afterwards, in the same month, the town suffered again from fire, when a hundred and twenty houses were burnt down. One hundred years after the fire in which the public records were lost, in 1666, Bridgetown was anew visited by a conflagration of great extent. In the night of the 13th of May 1766, at half-past eleven o’clock, a fire broke out, which burnt till nine the next morning : four hundred and forty houses, including the custom-house and other public buildings, were de¬ stroyed, the annual rents of which amounted to £16,421, besides a great number of warehouses. The damage was estimated at£300,000 sterling. The greater number of the houses which were spared in this conflagra¬ tion fell a prey to the flames on the 27th of December following, when a fire took place which nearly completed the ruin of the town : it broke out in the store of Messrs. Bedford and Co., between eight and nine o’clock at night, and continued until the following morning. Several houses and yards full of timber, coal, &c. were destroyed. Since the former fire, most of the trade had been carried on in this part of the town. Fires of lesser extent occurred in 1821, 1828, 1837, &c. when timely assistance prevented any serious injury: the most severe fire was that which broke out on the 3rd of February 1845, in a house of Mr. Lobo’s in Swan Street, and extended over nearly ten acres of land; upwards of one hundred and eighty houses were burnt down or destroyed, and the loss of property was estimated at £200,000 currency. The indigent sufferers, who were deprived of food and shelter, were partly relieved by a sum of 500 dollars which the Governor ordered to be issued from the treasury; this act was not only confirmed by a Bill of the Legislature passed on the 18th of February, but a further grant was made of 9500 dollars for a similar purpose: the total amount subscribed in Barbados towards the relief of the sufferers was 31,605 dollars: the neighbouring colonies generously contributed upwards of 17,800 dollars 1 . The houses are still 1 These contributions were as follows:— Dollars. Antigua, by legislative grant . 4800 Antigua, by private subscription. 1613 St. Vincent . 2400 St. Christopher. 1500 Nevis. 960 Jamaica, by legislative grant £1000 . 3428 The French colony of Guadaloupe. 3162 817,863 244 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. lying in ruins, but there is every hope that they will speedily be re¬ built. In conformity with an act for the improvement of the city and the rebuilding of the Burnt District, the Governor appointed a commission on the 12th of August 1845, consisting of the Solicitor-General, Mr. Bas- com and Mr. Eversley, to carry the provisions of this act into execu¬ tion 1 . The chief object of the act was to purchase from the owners the land comprising the Burnt District, and, by laying it out according to an approved plan, to dispose of it on a ground-rent or otherwise, rendering it obligatory upon the renter or purchaser to erect his buildings accord¬ ing to the prescribed plan. The Commission reported to his Excellency the Governor, on the 5th of October 1846, that the purchase had been accomplished at a cost of 132,445 dollars 3 cents for the land, and 15,451 dollars for the buildings, ruins, &c., making a sum total of 147,896 dollars 3 cents (equal to £30,811 13s. sterling). The district comprised 341,314 square feet, at the average cost of 38^f cents (Is. 7-^d. sterling) per square foot. The commissioners in their report recommended that the plan which Mr. Walsh had produced for the laying out and rebuilding this part of the town should be adopted, and that the erection of a building or buildings for the various public offices should be determined upon. The execution of such a plan would not only improve the city, but likewise contribute to the value of the ground, as they supposed that it would become the fashionable abode of the principal merchants and traders, who would erect in its neighbourhood their stores and places of business. Bridgetown, which was erected into a city on the 8th of October 1842, is at present divided into eight districts, containing 1802 houses, yielding a rental of £82,116, including ground-rents, which amount to about £7000, more or less; so that the average rents of houses since the fire will be about £75,000. It must be observed that a class of houses not taxed, and which is not included in the number above stated, com¬ prise many hundreds, but which cannot be accurately ascertained from the parish books; they are chiefly the property of the labouring classes (except in some few cases, where they are built on speculation, and rented to the labouring people by the proprietors); they are under the yearly value of £10, and consequently, by a vestry regulation, are not subjected to taxation; they are thickly inhabited. 479 persons are taxed on trade or profession in the town, 38 in the rural part of the parish, and 40 butchers; a great number of tradesmen are not taxed; the several descriptions of trades are not stated in the returns. Licensed shops and 1 The title of the Act is, “ An Act for the improvement of the City of Bridgetown in this island, and for vesting certain lands, buildings and hereditaments in the said city in her Majesty, and for paying and securing to the owners of such lands, build¬ ings, and hereditaments the value thereof; and for other purposes.” LOCAL GEOGRAPHY. 245 hucksters' licences are comprised under the returns of taxes on trade, as before stated. There are 449 four-wheel carriages, and 432 two-wheel carriages for which taxes are paid. In the rural part of the parish the houses not connected with plantations realize £20,650 amount of rents; they do not pay as much in the pound as town rents. A Commission was appointed in February 1838, to give appropriate names to such streets and alleys as had none, and to number the houses. Several streets which had previously no names were called after the Governors and Presi¬ dents who formerly administered the government. The view of the city from the bay cannot vie in picturesque scenery with several of the other towns in the West India Colonies; it is however not without interest, and presents a pleasing picture upon entering the port. It lies round the bay, and is nearly two miles long, following the curve of the shore, but scarcely half a mile in breadth. Needham's Point and the garrison of St. Anne form the south-eastern point of the bay, and Fontabelle with llickett's-battery in front the north-western : the intermediate space is filled up with houses embosomed in trees, above which rise beautiful clusters of palm-trees with their tufted heads. The towers of the cathedral and St. Michael form conspicuous objects, and the ships lying at anchor in the harbour, with boats plying to and fro, present a picture of activity which bespeaks the commercial import¬ ance of the island. Hills of moderate height rise behind the town, which they apparently encircle, studded with elegant villas peeping from among avenues of trees. The high lands of St. Thomas, St. George and Christ Church close the picture. The commercial part of the town is to the west of the bridge ; it can¬ not boast any splendid specimens of architecture, but it contains some handsome houses ; and if the stores and shops in Broad Street, which is built straight and regular, were ornamented with shop-windows, it would be considered handsome. Balconies, generally painted in bright colours, open upon the street, and give variety to the aspect when viewed from Trafalgar Square. This square, which was formerly called the Green, con¬ tains Nelson's statue; and as this was the first monument erected to the memory of the immortal hero, the inhabitants of Barbados are proud of this priority. The official news of Lord Nelson's victory and death reached Barbados on the 20th of December 1805. On the 23rd of De¬ cember there was a brilliant illumination to celebrate the great victory, and a funeral sermon was preached on the 5th of January following, in St. Michael’s church, on the death of the hero. A subscription was entered into for the erection of a statue to his memory in some conspicuous part of Bridgetown, and upwards of £2300 was subscribed in the course of a few weeks. The committee appointed for the execution of this plan had purchased “ the Green ” for £1050, towards which sum the Legislature contributed £500. On this place, which was to be called Trafalgar Square, 246 H1ST0KY OF BARBADOS. the statue was to be erected. In July 1808 the disposable means for the erection of the statue amounted to £1413 4s. 6d. sterling, which sum was transmitted to the agent of Barbados in London, with the desire from the subscribers that a bronze statue of Lord Nelson in his full uniform should be ordered for the above sum. Various delays prevented the ex¬ ecution of this design until 1813. The first stone of the pedestal upon which the statue was to be erected was laid by Sir George Beckwith, assisted by Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Laforey, on the 24th of February : a plate of copper was placed in the cavity of the stone, with the follow¬ ing inscription:— To the Memory of HORATIO LORD VISCOUNT NELSON, K.B., Vice-Admiral of the White, The Preserver of the British West Indies In a moment of unexampled peril; The Hero, whose various and transcendant merits, Alike conspicuous in address, decision, action and achievement, Throughout his whole unparalleled career of glory, No powers of language can sufficiently delineate, THIS STATUE was erected by The grateful inhabitants of Barbados, On a spot of ground appropriated to it By a public grant of The Colonial Legislature. In accordance with the solicitations of a select Committee, That so sincere though humble a tribute Of esteem, admiration and gratitude to their Illustrious Deliverer Might be rendered more congenial To his generous and exalted spirit, From the hand of one, Himself a Hero and a Benefactor to this country, The first stone of the Pedestal was deposited by His Excellency Lieutenant-General Sir George Beckwith, K.B., The Beloved and Patriotic Governor of Barbados, And Commander of the Forces in the Leeward Islands, February 24th, a.d. 1813. Esto Perpetua! The statue was placed on the pedestal as early as two o’clock in the morning of the 22nd of March 1813. A large body of troops, under the command of Major-General Stehelin, took up their station in the square at ten o’clock, and soon after Sir George Beckwith and Admiral Laforey entered the square in procession, accompanied by the clergy, and the civil, military and naval authorities of the island. Two lieutenants of LOCAL GEOGRAPHY. 247 the navy who had been in the action of Trafalgar, unveiled the statue, under the cheers of the assembled multitude, and a general salute of ordnance from St. Anne’s and the men-of-war in the bay. The statue is surrounded with a neat iron railing, and represented in the position so usually adopted for Lord Nelson. Some unsightly houses obstructed the square, and partly for their purchase and removal, partly for other im¬ provement of its appearance, the Legislature voted £2000 in July 1826. Since the island has been erected into a bishopric, the church of St. Michael has become the cathedral of the Diocese. The edifice, which was rebuilt in 1789, is spacious, but destitute of architectural beauty; it escaped the hurricane in 1831 with slight injury. The interior of the church is plain, the chancel somewhat raised and provided with stalls : it contains some interesting monuments, which date as far back as the seventeenth century. The church of St. Mary, in the north-western part of the city, though not so spacious, is a much more elegant building than the cathedral. The first stone of the new church was laid on the 22nd of July 1825, by Bishop Coleridge, containing on a plate the following inscription:— D.O.M. HUJUS A5DIS, BEAT.E MARINE VIRGINI DICATA5, IMPENSIS PARTIM BRITANNICIS PARTIM VERO COLONICIS EXTRUCTjE, ASSISTENTE PRAESIDE SENATUQUE, FAVENTIBUS OMNIUM VOTIS, GUILELMUS INSULARUM CARIBBEARUM EPISCOPUS PRIMUM LAPIDEM POSUIT, VIII. Kal. Aug. A.D. CIq. Iq. CCCXXV.' It was consecrated on the 25th of July 1827, and the Rev. John H. Pinder, A.M., was licensed to the chapel, on the nomination of the Rector of St. Michael’s. Mr. Alexander Croil presented to St. Mary’s, on the 13th of March 1827, an organ which had been built by Mr. E. Crick of Barbados. St. Paul’s chapel in Bay Street, smaller than the two preceding churches, is very handsome. The cornerstone was laid on the 1 “ To God, most good, most great. William Bishop of the Caribbee islands laid the first stone of this church, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, constructed partly at the expense of Great Britain and partly of this colony, the President and Legislative Body attending, and the prayers of every one favouring it, 25th day of July a.d. 1825.” 248 HXSTORY OF BARBADOS. 23rd of April 1830, by Sir James Lyon, and the building had just been finished when it was destroyed by the hurricane in 1831. It was rebuilt in the gothic style the following year at a cost of £2000 sterling. In the rural district there are, besides St. Matthew’s, a handsome chapel in the northern part of the parish, St. Stephen’s in the western part, in which the Archdeacon officiates, and St. Barnabas above Pilgrim. The United Brethren or Moravians possess a chapel in Roebuck: the former building was destroyed in the hurricane in 1831; the new chapel was partly erected by voluntary subscriptions, and was finished in May 1835. The Wesleyans have three chapels, one in Bay Street, recently finished, one in James’s Street, and a third near the garrison. The Synagogue of the Jewish congregation has already been fully described 1 . In the neigh¬ bourhood of the cathedral near Constitution Road is the residence of the Commander of the Forces, a spacious and elegant house surrounded by a large garden: at present it bears the name in the colony of the Queen’s House, as formerly, when a sovereign of the male line occupied the throne, it was styled the King’s House. By means of a telegraph orders may be conveyed to the garrison and all over the island. Opposite the Queen’s House is the Central School, consisting of two substantial buildings, one for boys and the other for girls. Harrison’s Free-school, likewise a large building, stands in the immediate neighbourhood of the cathedral. There are very few public buildings of note in Bridgetown; the legislative sittings, courts of judicature, &c. are held in a narrow insignificant building: it is however in agitation to turn the jail into a townhall and to build a new prison. The Jail is considered inadequate, and the Legislature have come to the resolution of erecting a new one, and of altering the present building so as to adapt it for the purposes of the courts and legislative meetings. It was supposed that a large sum of money, which was deposited for the purpose of erecting a handsome building in the Burnt District for judicial and legislative proceedings, would be applied to this purpose, but the Legislature have decided otherwise. The other public offices are scattered through the town, and are chiefly in private houses. The great advantage of the noble building in Georgetown in Demerara, which comprises all the public offices, is strikingly felt by any person who has to transact business in Bridgetown. The Commercial Hall near the Pierhead commands a very pretty view of Carlisle Bay and the shipping; and it contains, as has been before observed, the principal English and colonial newspapers and periodicals. Its telegraph takes up the signals from Highgate and Charles’s Fort; its hall may be considered the exchange of Barbados. To the two literai’y societies and their collections of books allusion has already been made*: the elder association of the two has a library at Literary Row, the other in Lower Broad Street. 1 Sec ante, p. 98. 5 See ante, p. 132. LOCAL GEOGRAPHY. 249 Freemasonry has always had a great stronghold in Barbados. There are at present three lodges and two royal-arch chapters 1 : Sir R. Bowcher Clarke, Knight, and Chief-Justice of Barbados, is Provincial Grand Master, and Superintendent of Royal-arch Masonry. The Odd Fellows possess a lodge, and likewise the ancient Foresters. Bridgetown has six hotels, besides several private boarding-houses, and an ice establishment. The latter is one of the greatest luxuries in a tropical climate; the prices are as reasonable as in England, although there is a certain monopoly connected with the trade. The town is so well supplied with ice from America, that since its establishment there has never been for any long period a want of this article. Pilgrim, the Governor’s residence, lies on an eminence about half a mile to the east of the town. When the large outlay that has been ex¬ pended on this building is considered, its arrangements and space disap¬ point expectation. The situation is very pretty ; large shady trees almost surround the house, and under judicious management the extensive grounds attached to it might be rendered ornamental. The Governor seldom avails himself of the privilege of summoning the Council to Pilgrim : he has generally preferred, when his health permitted, attending the sittings of the Council at the townhall. A telegraph communicates with Charles’s Fort, and by means of it with the other stations in the island. Bishop’s Court, the residence of the Bishop of the Diocese, occupies likewise an eminence, called Gibraltar, and commands one of the finest views of Bridgetown. The market-place is airy, spacious and shaded by trees ; it is situated at the north-west end of the town. The erection of another market near Roebuck has been for some time in agitation ; it is much wanted, as the distance from that part of the town to the present market is too great. Beyond St. Mary’s Church is Fontabelle, consisting of a number of pleasant villas, ensconced as it were in trees and shrubs. Still further on is Indian River,.the mouth of which is nearly choked up with sand. The crew of the Olive, after having landed at Jamestown, extended their exploring expedition thus far, and repeated here the ceremony of taking possession of the island. Numerous utensils of Indian workmanship have been found in this neighbourhood, and the arguments which the Rev. Griffith Hughes adduces, to prove that Indians inhabited Barbados previously to its being taken possession of by Europeans, are conclusive; the large number of pottery, axes, and hatchets made of the thick part of the conch-shell (Strombus gigas), &c., which are found in different parts of the island, render it very improbable that the Indians came here merely on a visit. A large cave, which was discovered in digging a well near Black Rock, 1 The lodges are St. Michael’s (No. 104), Albion Lodge (No. 232), Lodge of Amity (No. 713); and the Royal-arch Chapters, St. Michael’s and Albion. 250 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. appears to have been a great resort of the Indians : the walls exhibit the marks of their chisels and contain some niches. It is about five hundred yards from the sea, and was only accessible by a small opening, which was closed by rolling a large stone before it: in the course of time this had been covered by bushes and shrubs. The cave is very spacious, perhaps thirty-five to forty feet long, and about fifteen in breadth; it is at present used as a store-room. There are several of these caves in St. Peter’s, Christ Church, &c., which have been inhabited by Indians. The garrison of St. Anne is situated at the southern extremity of the city. The buildings which compose this great military establishment are arranged in an irregular square, and encompass the finest parade- ground in the West Indies. The barracks are detached buildings, very commodious both for officers and men, and mostly surrounded with spacious galleries. The guardhouse is a fine building surmounted by a tower; adjacent to it are the artillery barracks. St. Anne’s Castle, com¬ menced under General Sir Bevil Granville in 1703, fronts the bay, and large batteries extend to the water’s edge : indeed the whole has a highly military appearance, unequalled in any other West India colony under the British Crown. There is one great want, and it cannot but excite surprise that it should have been so long neglected, namely a garrison- church : divine service is at present performed by the chaplain, the curate of St. Paul’s, in a barrack-room. The military hospitals, extensive and airy buildings, stand at the southern extremity of the garrison ; in the neighbourhood of these build¬ ings is a monument erected to the soldiers of the 36th Regiment, who lost their lives during the hurricane in 1831. The naval hospital lies in ruins. Hastings, which has received its name from the number of establish¬ ments for sea-bathing, abuts on the garrison; about a mile further south, built on a coral-cliff, is Worthing, consisting of some private dwellings and establishments for sea-bathing. This is a delightful spot, and is the extent of the fashionable drive in the cool of the evening, the company re¬ turning in time to the handsome parade-ground, where the bands of the two regiments, which are generally garrisoned at St. Anne’s, play on alternate days : on these occasions the parade-ground presents an animated scene; the handsome equipages, the ladies and gentlemen on horseback, and the gay uniform of the military, present perhaps a picture seldom paralleled in any other of the British West India islands. There is a racecourse near Highgate, but the races have recently been held on the fine parade-ground at St. Anne’s. There are generally two meetings in the course of the year, which are well kept up and afford much amusement. Theatricals seem to have taken place at an early period in Barbados: Oldmixon mentions that “there had been once a company of puppet LOCAL GEOGRAPHY. 251 strollers in the island who came from England, and set up their fairy drama at Bridgetown, where they found a good market.” In April 1810, a meeting was held in Bridgetown to appoint a committee of manage¬ ment, and to make arrangements to raise a fund for the purpose of erect¬ ing a theatre in Bridgetown. The scheme was so well supported, that on the 4th of June following the foundation-stone was laid by the Speaker of the House of Assembly, the Honourable John Beckles, and the theatre was opened on the 1st of January 1812, with the comedy of ‘ The West Indian ’ and the farce of ‘ The Spoiled Child/ The building, which is described as having been handsome, stood in the street now called Coleridge Street; it was completely destroyed during the hurricane in 1831. A building has of late years been erected as a theatre at the garrison by private subscription among the officers of St. Anne’s and other gentle¬ men. The appointments and decorations (the latter of which are mostly executed by some of the officers) are very good ■, and the performance, in which the officers are occasionally assisted by civilians and professional actors, is highly creditable. With the assistance of the stringed-bands which were attached to some regiments in garrison in Barbados, even operettas have been performed with much eclat. On those occasions the theatre is open to the public at a moderate price, the proceeds being applied to defray the expenses. Public and private balls are of frequent occurrence during the season, which is here considered to commence with the setting in of the cooler breezes, namely from December to Lent. The inhabitants of Barbados have always been famed for their unbounded hospitality and pleasing and cheei’ful manners. ! jfc . m ■ ■ HISTORY OF BARBADOS PART II. NARRATIVE OF EVENTS, FROM THE SETTLEMENT OF THE ISLAND TO THE YEAR 1846. ffli r (fanbbcrjvila n^i: ti'aa'ft from a Jframwmpf dtiiUt tbf SSUrlit intfitfm ft tit Jlueemu, and cmwtitorrO to tj.-n'f been pwiiW pmmmo to thf ft’ar 1536 . ' t l"a_ HuDmandel t Walton Lithographers HISTORY OF BARBADOS. PART II. NARRATIVE OF REMARKABLE EVENTS. JiV. CHAPTER I. PERIOD FROM THE SETTLEMENT OF THE ISLAND TO THE INSURRECTION OF SLAVES IN 1649. The researches which I have devoted to the earlier historians of the New World have afforded me proofs that Barbados was known to the Spaniards as early as the commencement of the sixteenth century, and apparently supplied Indians as slaves for then- mines in Espanola. Las Casas, through his generous and constant exertions in favour of the natives of South America, procured from Charles the Fifth some ameliora¬ tion of their condition; and the Licentiate Rodrigo de Figueroa was sent as Juez de Residenciato Espanola, with instructions to allow the Indians to live by themselves in their own villages, and that all who requested it should be set at liberty: and as the Indians from Trinidad had been taken for slaves, under the pretext of their being Caribs, the evil was to be remedied, and all who had been brought to Espanola from the Bar- bados and Gigantes were to be treated as natives. The mere occurrence of the name of the Isla de los Barbudos might be considered accidental, had not Herrera identified it in the geographical description of the islands appended to his history, where the situation is so far correct that it cannot be mistaken. Charles the Fifth issued his instructions 1 to Rodrigo de Figueroa in 1518; Herrera published the first part of his history in 1601; 1 The expressions in the letter of instruction to Figueroa are as follows“ I haviendo dicho el Lie. Bartolome de las Casas, que los Indios de la Isla de la Trinidad se caulivaban con nombre de Caribes, nolo siendo, que en ello se pusiese remedio; i que los Indios que se havian traido de la Isla de los Barbudos i Gigantes, estuviescen en la Espanola de la misma manera que los Naturales, i con el misma tratamiento.” —Historia General de los Hecbos de los Castellanos en las Islas y Tierra Firma del mar Oceano, par D. Antonio de Herrera, Dec. ii. Libro iii. p. 73. 256 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1536 . and during that interval the island of Barbados is not lost to sight. I have already alluded, in the second chapter of this work, to some of the older maps in which it is delineated, but as I promised to recur to this interesting subject, I avail myself of the present opportunity of doing so. Juan de la Cosa accompanied Columbus on his second voyage, from 1493 to 1496, and Alonzo de H ojeda on his first voyage between 1499 and 1500. Baron de Humboldt has annexed to his erudite publication, ‘ Examen Critique de l’Histoire de la Geographic du Nouveau Continent/ portions of a map of the world by Juan de la Cosa, executed in 1500, from the original in the collections of the late Baron de Walcltenaer. In this map, which exhibits the “ Islas Canibales,” Barbados is omitted. Among the rich collections of manuscripts in the British Museum is a map of the world on a plane scale, drawn on vellum and highly orna¬ mented with figures, with the names , in French 1 . According to the catalogue it is considered to have been executed in the times of Francis the First for his son the Dauphin, afterwards Henry the Second, as Tne crown over the arms of France is open, and the crown was so borne till the year 1536, from which period it was arched over. The island of Bar¬ bados occurs on this chart under the name of Bernados, and this is the first instance of its delineation as far as my researches reach. The ac¬ companying fac-simile of that portion of this fine manuscript which re¬ presents the Caribbean islands will no doubt be equally welcome to the geographer and the antiquarian 2 . This chart fills up in a great measure the chasm which would otherwise occur between the occurrence of the name of Barbudos in the Spanish document and its description by Herrera: there are however other proofs which complete the link. In a portulano bearing the date of 1542, the author of which is John Rotz 3 , the island occurs on the seventeenth chart under the name of Barbudoss, and is situated east of St. Vincent and Grenada. In the subsequent map (No. 18) it is named Isla de Beruados, and three large islands called La Morosas occupy the situation which Fonseca afterwards occupied. • 1 It is No. 5413 of the additional manuscripts; the size of the map is eight feet two inches by three feet ten inches. This chart formerly belonged to Edward Harley, Earl of Oxford, after whose death it was taken away by one of his servants, and was subsequently purchased by Sir Joseph Banks, who restored it to the Harleian Collec¬ tion by presenting it in 1/90 to the British Museum. 2 The author has to express his thanks to the authorities at the British Museum for the permission of tracing this part of the chart. 3 British Museum, Old Royal Library, M.S. 20, E ix. The title is, ‘John Rotz, his book of Hydrography so called, being an account of the compass, elevation of the pole, latitude, seacoasts, &c.’ This book is dedicated by the author to king Henry the Eighth, and the diagrams and maps have illuminated borders, and are ornamented in gold and colours. The author’s dedication to the king is in French; otherwise the portulano is in English. At the end of it is written,—“ Heir endeth this booke of Idrography made by me Johne Rotz, sarvant to the Kingis mooste exellent Majeste, in the yer of our Lord Gode j nl V c xlij and of his mooste Triumphant Regne the xxxiiij yere excludit. Gode save his majeste.” EARLY MAPS OF BARBADOS. 257 1600 .] In the map of the world by 'Giacomo, Cosmographo in Venetia/ pub¬ lished in 1546, Barbados is not mentioned; we find it however under the name of Baruodo in the map of Michaelis Tramezini, engraved by Julius de Musis, and published in 1554. According to this scarce map, its position is due east from Martinique, and north-north-east from Trinidad. Zaltery published in 1566 in Venice ‘ II Desegno del Discoperto della Nova Franza.’ The island is called in this map S. Barduda, and its position is to the east of St. Vincent. In a map entitled ‘ Totius Orbis Descriptio/ it is mentioned under the name of S. Barbudos. Its posi¬ tion is not so far to the east of the chain of islands as in the former maps, and it approaches nearer between Mariegalante and St. Vincent. The author of this map is unknown, but it is probable that it was published in Venice about 1570. In the map ‘ Americse Novissima Descriptio/ published in 1589 by Judoco Hondio, Baruodos lies between St. Vincent and Tobago. In another edition, under the title of ‘ Ame¬ rica noviter delineata, auctore Judoco Hondio apud Jansonium/ it occupies the same site. Richard Hakluyt published his third and last volume of ' the principal navigations, voyages, traffics and discoveries of the English nation/ &c. in 1600. This volume contains what he calls ‘a ruttier for the islands of the West Indies; ’ and Barbados appears in the table of latitudes attached to it as lying in 13° north latitude. In ‘ Achtzehnden Theil der Newen Welt/ published in 1623 in Frankfort on the Main, it is described under the name of Los Barbudos : this scarce work is one of the publications of Livinus Hulse, or Hulsius; the map No. 3 attached to it is, ‘ Descriptione del Destricto del Audientia de la Espanola.’ Barbudos occupies here a position between the eleventh and twelfth degree of north latitude, and lies about east from the south¬ ern point of St. Vincent. These references will no doubt be considered quite sufficient to prove the incorrectness of the assertion that “ no men¬ tion is made of this island in the journals or charts of any European navigator earlier than the year 1600.” Indeed I have no doubt that the island alluded to by Charles the Fifth, in his instructions to Figueroa, is Barbados, and this proves another interesting fact, namely its having been inhabited by Indians. It is scarcely to be conceived that an island occupying such a promi¬ nent position as Barbados should have been left undiscovered by the Portu¬ guese, as it lies almost in their course to and from Brazil. It is equally improbable that it should have remained unknown to the Spaniards, who in the sixteenth century made frequent voyages from Espanola to Trinidad and Costa Firma; indeed the instructions of the Licentiate Figueroa prove that it was resorted to by the Spaniards for the purpose of enslaving Indians. Mr. Hughes’ opinion, that it must have been for¬ merly permanently inhabited by Indians, grounded upon the number of s 258 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1605. Indian implements and utensils found in different spots in the island, is therefore borne out by my researches. The first English vessel which touched at Barbados appears to have been the “ Olive Blossom 1 .” This vessel was fitted-out at the expense of Sir Olive Leigh, Knight, and sailed from Woolwich on the 14th of April 1605, with colonists and stores for “ Master Charles Leigh,” his brother, who had settled a colony in the river Wiapaco (at present Oyapoco). She was commanded by Captain Cataline, and Richard Chambers acted under him as sailing-master: in consequence of his unskilfulness they were obliged to touch at Barbados. The crew, finding it destitute of inhabitants, took possession of the country by erecting a cross upon the spot where Jamestown was afterwards built, and cut upon the bark of a tree which stood neai’, “ James K. of E. and this island,” that is, James, King of England and this island. They then followed the shore, until then- progress was stopped by the river, which afterwards received the name of the Indian River, where the explorers performed a similar ceremony of taking occupation of the island : they did not however commence any settlement, and only stayed to refresh themselves. From Barbados they went to St. Lucia, where Mr. John Nicholl and Captain St. John with the rest of the passengers, who proposed to have settled in Guiana, resolved to stay. Sixty-seven were consequently left there on the 23rd of August 1605, and the ship proceeded on its voyage to St. Vincent and Cumana. The new settlers were surprised by the Indians in St. Lucia, and the few who escaped arrived after many adventures at Carthagena. John Nicholl returned in February 1606 to England, and published a small work in which he gave a description of his adventures 2 . In the ‘ Memoirs of the First Settlement of the Island of Barbados/ it is stated that the Olive was returning from a voyage to Guinea when she touched at Barbados : this is unconfirmed by any contemporary historian, while the settlement of Charles Leigh in the river Wiapoco is authenticated by several historians of that period 3 . Some Dutch vessels, which were specially licensed by the court of Spain to trade to Brazil, landed in Barbados on their return to Europe, for the purpose of procuring refreshments. On their arrival in Zealand they gave a flattering account of the island, which was communicated by a correspondent to Sir William Courteen, a merchant of London, who was at that time deeply engaged in the trade with the New World. The 1 Purchas’s Collections, part iv. 1. 6, p. 255. The vessel is styled the “Oliph Blossome,” according to the orthography of those days. 2 An hour-glasse of Indian Newes, or a discours showing miseries and distressed calamities endured by sixty-seven Englishmen, which were sent for a supply to the planting in Guiana in the year 1605, by John Nicholl, London, 4to, 1607. 3 Purclias, his Pilgrims, fourth part, liv. vi. chap. 12: and the Relation of a voyage to Guiana performed by Robert Harcourt, of Stanton Ilarcourt, London, 1626, p. Id. 1625 .] FIRST SETTLEMENT. 259 favourable account given by the Dutch navigators was shortly after¬ wards confirmed by one of Courteen’s own vessels, which on her return from Brazil was driven by stress of weather on the coast of Barba¬ dos. This must have occurred in 1624, at which time the Dutch West India Company had sent a great armament for the conquest of Brazil under Admiral Jacob Willekens and Colonel Jean van Dort, who in May 1624 took possession of the city of S. Salvador or Bahia, and thus opened the ports of Brazil to Dutch enterprise. It is probable that Courteen’s ship sailed under Dutch protection to Brazil. San Salvador was retaken by the Portuguese in April 1625 ; consequently her voyage must have taken place previous to that period, and most likely in the middle of the year 1624. Ligon says the vessel came from “ Ternambock in Brasill ” (Pernam¬ buco) ; this is doubtless an error, as that port only fell into the hands of the Dutch in 1630, and the jealousy of the Portuguese prevented any foreign vessel from trading with their territories in Brazil. The men on board Courteen’s ship landed and stayed some time : they found the island thickly overgrown with wood, nor did they meet with any inhabitants. Ligon asserts however that there were wild hogs in abundance, which he considered to have been left by the Portuguese, on their landing here occasionally, for the purpose of breeding 1 , in case that, should they at any future time be driven again on this coast, they might find fresh meat 2 . The accounts which Sir William Courteen received from his own people respecting the fertility and commodious situation confirmed him in his plan of forming a settlement in Barbados. Lord Ley, afterwards Earl of Marlborough and Lord High Treasurer, had been informed of the favourable accounts which were given of Bar¬ bados, and applied to James the First for a patent to secure the island to him and his heirs for ever. Under his protection Sir William Courteen fitted out two large ships, supplied with arms, ammunition, and the necessary tools for commencing a settlement. Of these ships, one only, the William and John, commanded by John Powell, arrived on the 17th of February 1625 in Barbados, and landed on the leeward side of the island forty English with seven or eight negroes 3 * S ; of the former William Arnold 1 It appears to me more likely that the hogs here alluded to were of the indi¬ genous breed, the Peccary or Dycoteles labiatus, and D. torquatus, of whicli there are still some specimens in the larger islands, as Trinidad, &c. 2 Ligon’s History, p. 23. 3 The true travels, adventures, and observations of Captain John Smith in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, from A.D. 1593 to 1629. Together with a continuation of his general history of Virginia, Summeriles, New England, and their proceedings since 1624 to the present 1629; as also of the new plantation of the great river of the Amazons, the isles of St. Christopher, Nevis and Barbados, in the West Indies, all written by actual authors, whose names you shall find along the History. London, 1630, p. 55. The account which Smith gives of Barbados is derived from the relations S 2 260 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1625 . was one of the first that stepped on shore 1 . The colonists fortified themselves in the neighbourhood of the spot which had been taken pos¬ session of nearly twenty years previously by the crew of the Olive Blossom, and laid the foundation of a town which, in honour of their sovereign, they called Jamestown. They elected Captain William Dean their Go¬ vernor, and thus Barbados was one of the few islands which fell into the hands of Europeans without bloodshed and the extirpation of its abori¬ ginal inhabitants. In a petition which the Lieutenant-Governor, Council and General Assembly of the island addressed to James the Second, they state par¬ ticularly that the island was settled under James the First 2 , who died in 1625, which renders it certain that the settlement of Courteen took place that year, and not, as is sometimes erroneously stated, in 1627. It was at that period very usual among men of rank and distinction to embark their money in adventures and colonization beyond the seas: the history of Sir Walter llaleigh is a striking proof of this. There is therefore nothing surprising in seeing men like the Earl of Marlborough and James Hay Earl of Carlisle the owners of ships engaged in trade with the American colonies. It is asserted that the Earl of Carlisle ob¬ tained from James the First a grant, or warrant for a grant, under the great seal, of all the Caribbean islands, which the king erected into a of Captain John White and Captain Wolferstone. He says of the island, “The isle is most like a triangle, each side forty or fifty miles square, some exceeding great rocks, but the most part exceeding good ground, abounding with an infinite number of swine, some turtles, and many sorts of excellent fish; many great ponds wherein is duck and mallard, excellent clay for pots, wood and stone for building, and a spring near the middle of the isle of bitumen, which is a liquid mixture of tar, that by the great rains falls from the top of the mountains. It floats upon the water in such abundance, that drying up, it remains like great rocks of pitch, and as good as pitch for any use.” 1 Memoirs of the First Settlement, p. 3. 2 Sloane’s MSS., No. 3984, Art. 16. The passage here referred to is as follows : “ It was no small happiness to us, that this your Majesty’s island had its first beginning to be settled under your royal progenitor. King James I. of blessed memory; and in the reign of your Majesty’s royal father King Charles I., that blessed martyr, whom by the fate of those unnatural wars, which then happened, it was yet further inhabited and settled by the best and must loyal of subjects, who after they had according to their bounden duty done their utmost in adventuring their lives to defend the sacred person of that most blessed prince from falling into the barbarous hands of those cruel and bloody rebels who sought to destroy his precious life, being taken prisoner of war were sent hither, where they planted loyalty as well as lands with the sweat of their browes, as before they acted dutifully with the effusion of their blood; but the confusions those rebellious times produced gave us strength only to groan under them, till it pleased God to bless us with the rest of his Majesty’s subjects in the happy and never-to-be-forgotten miraculous restoration of our late most gracious sovereign. Lord King Charles II.” The petition is dated the 13th day of September 1685, and the document in the above collection is a certified copy of the original. PATENT OF fHE EARL OF CARLISLE. 261 1627 .] province, under the name of Carliola, on the model of the Palatinate of Durham 1 . Lord Carlisle’s ship, the Hopewell, returned with Mr. Thomas Warner from St. Christopher’s in 1624; and through his interest Warner was knighted by Charles the First, who had recently ascended the throne. Warner was sent back as Governor to St. Christopher’s in 1625. The report of the adventure of Sir William Courteen to settle Barbados no doubt induced Lord Carlisle to get his former grant con¬ firmed, and his application was successful: Charles the First granted to him all the Caribbee islands by letters patent, under the great seal of England. The Earl of Marlborough opposed this grant on the ground of priority of right, which produced a tedious litigation. The Earl of Carlisle compromised with the Lord High Treasurer, by agreeing to pay to him and his heirs for ever an annuity of three hundred pounds for his claim. Marlborough therefore relinquished his right, and in consequence of this arrangement the patent of the Earl of Carlisle passed the great seal on the 2nd of June 1627, by which he became the sole proprietor of the Caribbee islands, comprising “ St. Christopher, Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Barbados, Martinique, Dominica, Mariegalante, Deseada, Todo Santos, Guadaloupe, Antigua, Montserrat, Redondo, Barbuda, Nevis, Eustatia, St. Bai’tholomew, St. Martin, Anguilla, Sombrero and Anegada, and many other islands 2 .” This patent authorized the Earl of Carlisle or his heirs to publish such laws, with the consent and approbation of “ the free inhabitants of the said province, or the greater part of them thereunto to be called,” as he or his heirs should think fit and best; these laws however “ to be agreeable and not repugnant unto reason; nor against, but as convenient and agreeable as may be, to the laws, statutes, customs, and rights of our kingdom of England.” The Earl of Carlisle, or his heirs, or his magistrates or officers, were authorized, in case of necessity, to make decrees and ordinances without all the people being called together, which ordinances were to be kept inviolable “under the pains therein expressed,” provided they were not repugnant to reason, or calculated to “ the hurt or discomodity of any person or persons, either to the binding, constraining, burthening or taking away, either their liberty, goods or chatties.” The patent further declares the province to be under allegiance to the Crown of England, and that all his Majesty’s subjects and their children born in the island, or who should afterwards be born, became natives and subjects of the king, his heirs and successors, and should be as free as they who were born in England, and also “freely, quietly and peaceably, to have and possess all the liberties, franchises and priveleges of this kingdom, and them to use and enjoy as liege people of England 3 .” 1 Memoirs of the First Settlement, p. 2. Bryan Edwards’ History of the West Indies, 5th edition, vol. i. p. 319. 2 Universal History, vol. xli. p. 132. 3 The patent is printed more at full in Bryan Edwards’ History of the West Indies, vol. i. p. 320. 262 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1628 . This patent did not deter Sir William Courteen from prosecuting his scheme with vigour: the absence of Lord Carlisle on a diplomatic mis¬ sion offered a favourable opportunity, and he applied to William Earl of Pembroke, who had previously taken some interest in the settlement of Barbados, to represent his case in such a light to the King as might lead to a revocation of Lord Carlisle’s patent, which Courteen considered a usur¬ pation of his rights of discovery and pre-occupation. His application was successful, and the Earl of Pembroke obtained from Charles the First a grant of Barbados in trust for Courteen. At this juncture of affairs the Earl of Carlisle returned from abroad, and understanding that a grant had been obtained for an island which lay within his province of Car- liola, he complained to the King of the advantage that had been taken of his absence, and that he had been deprived of his property without being heard. To appease his favourite, Charles the First revoked the patent to the Lord Chamberlain, and reinstated Lord Carlisle in the possession of Barbados. But Lord Carlisle, fearful from his experience of the past, lost no time in using the privileges conferred upon him, and offered his lands in Barbados for sale in such parcels as might suit the convenience of adven¬ turers, stipulating that each person should pay him forty pounds of cotton annually. A society of London merchants, consisting of Marmaduke Brandon 1 , Willim Perkin, Alexander Banister, Robert Wheatley, Edmond Forster, Robert Swinnerton, Henry Wheatley, John Charles, and John Farringdon, obtained a grant of ten thousand acres from the Earl much in the nature of a lease, which lands were to be settled according to their own directions, and upon their nomination under the management of a person empowered to that effect. The company selected for this purpose Charles Wolferstone, a native of Bermuda, who received a commission from the Earl, which was dated the 29th of March 1628, and was granted by virtue of the former patent from the King which he had received in June 1627. Wolferstone took under his direction sixty-four settlers, each of whom was authorized to take up one hundred acres of land. The names of only two of these settlers have been handed down to us in the ‘Memoirs of the First Settlement/ namely Mr. S. Bulkley and Mr. John Summers, who settled in the present parish of St. George. The new colonists arrived in Barbados on the 5th of July 1628, and anchored in the bay, which was afterwards named after the Earl of Car¬ lisle. They found Courteen’s settlement in a very flourishing condition ; but as two interest's having one and the same purpose could not co-exist, Wolferstone declared the settlement under the protection of the Earl of Pembroke a usurpation, and issuing his proclamation he summoned the settlers to appear at the Bridge. In obedience to his instructions, he appointed Mr. John Swann his deputy and lieutenant. The colonists 1 Oldmixon states his name to have been Marmaduke Rawden, vol. ii. p. 8. 0 GOVERNOR POWELL. 263 1629.] under the authority of the Earl of Carlisle having settled to the wind¬ ward of the Earl of Pembroke’s men, they assumed the name of Wind¬ ward-men, while the first settlers at Jamestown were called the Leeward- men. The latter made their appearance at the Bridge headed by Deane their Governor; they would not however hear of submission to the authority of the Earl of Carlisle, with the exception of Deane, who recog¬ nising a countryman in Wolferstone tendered his adherence: the others returned that night to their settlements, making “ torches of wild canes ” to pick their way home through the darkness. A body of men under the command of Deane, who had so treacherously deserted his former ad¬ herents, was now despatched for their submission by Wolferstone. Those who still held out for the Earl of Pembroke, selected John Powell, a son of Captain Powell who brought them “over in the William and John, as their commander, and marched out to meet their adversaries. They met at the Palmetto Port at the Hole; hut an engagement was pre¬ vented by the interposition of a clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Kentlane, by making a proposition that the disputes should be referred to the two Earls. The Leeward-men submitted to the Earl of Carlisle’s authority ad interim on the 14th of September 1628, and John Powell became the prisoner of Wolferstone. The good understanding between the two parties did not last long. Henry Powell arrived in Barbados on the 14th of January 1629, and brought with him a commission from the Earl of Pembroke, appointing John Powell Governor of the colony. Powell succeeded in surprising Wolferstone and Deane, and having them conveyed on board his ship he sent them in irons to England. The new Governor did not however remain long in power. Captain Henry Hawley arrived on the 9th of April of that year, with a commission from the Earl of Carlisle to establish his authority: he was accompanied by Robert Wheatley, one of the merchants interested in the ten thousand acres of land. He concealed the object of his arrival, and invited Governor Powell on board his vessel, where he seized and sent him prisoner to England. Hawley’s sojourn at Barbados was short, and on his departure he nominated Robert Wheatley Governor. The treachery practised upon their Governor made the Leeward-men again take up arms: they attacked the Carlisle settlement on the 16th of April following, but were met by a spirited resistance and compelled to make a precipitate retreat. Eor this gallant defence the Earl of Carlisle granted them a free storage of their goods for a term of seven years. The two claimants to the possession of Barbados meanwhile employed all the interest they possessed to have their grants declared valid, but the superior influence of the Earl of Carlisle prevailed; and as the Lord Chamberlain’s title rested upon some informalities in the charter granted to the Earl of Carlisle, the King ordered a second patent to be issued, clearing up all doubts that had arisen, and confirming Lord Car- 264 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1629 . lisle in the most explicit manner as proprietor of Barbados. This docu¬ ment bears date the 7th of April 1629. The Earl of Carlisle appointed Sir William Tufton, baronet, commander-in-chief of the island: he arrived in Barbados on the 21st of December 1629, accompanied by Charles Saltonstall and two hundred colonists, who brought with them all the necessary requisites for colonization. The number of inhabitants were computed at that tinre to amount to between fifteen and sixteen hundred persons. The force which was now at the command of the Governor was quite sufficient to subdue the Leeward-men, and the interest of Courteen in the colony was thenceforth suppressed. To him however belongs the honour of having first settled Barbados; without his enterprise it is very questionable whether the Earl of Carlisle, who took great interest in St. Christopher’s, would ever have taken occupation of Barbados; and it is more than likely that without Sir William Courteen, this valuable island would have fallen into the hands of a foreign nation. Courteen appears to have been a man of great esteem and importance in the city of London : in a volume of manuscripts in the Lansdowne Collection at the British Museum l , I have found two elegies written on his death, the date of which is however not mentioned. I subjoin the acrostic, literally copied from one of these elegies, as a memorial of the man under whose patronage the first settlement of Barbados was undertaken: the elegy is entitled— “ An Elegie sacred to the Memorye of Sir William Courteen, Knt. Dedi¬ cated to y e generally honor d Gent. William Courteen, Esq., his sonne and heire. “ ACROSTIC. “ W hy weep you here and take this stone to be I n veine the prison of eternitie 1 L et your translated piety and love L ooke high and constant on the roomes above. I n those Courteen now lives ; the heavens enshrine A nd court his honor’d soule which now doth shine M ore bright, sett off by death : whilst honor’d here C rownes his surviving name ; and to endeere O ur grateful tears, and pious reverence U nto his dust with greater enfluence R enders his happy fame : in which his happy fate T ranscends the vulgare height of grief, and moves E nspheard above these sorrowes, or these bones: E arth boasts his dust, which this sad stone doth hide, N ot to corrupt here, but to be rarifide.” In spite of the energetic measures which Sir William Tufton adopted for the welfare of the young colony, he did not gain the approbation of the Earl of Carlisle. Captain Henry Hawley arrived in June 1630, ap- 1 Lansdowne MSS., no. 98, 75 e. Art. 23. EXECUTION OF SIR WILLIAM TUFTON. 265 1635.] pointed by the Earl to supersede Sir William Tufton as Governor. The colony suffered during this year of great scarcity in consequence of a severe drought, and the new Governor was secretly accused of applying the stores which the Earl had sent out for the relief of the colonists to his own purposes. Sir William Tufton, who considered himself aggrieved by being so abruptly deprived of his government, which he ascribed to the intrigues of Hawley, availed himself of this circumstance to procure a number of signatures to a memorial addressed to Governor Hawley, in which the memorialists complained of his withholding these supplies from them: this appears to have given great umbrage to the Governor. On the 11th of April 1631 he appointed a new Council, consisting of Sir Richard Calvely, Thomas Peers, Captain Thomas Gibbes, Mr. Edmund Reed, Captain John Yates, Captain Thomas Ellis, Captain William Ryley, Mr. Richard Leonard, Captain William Kitterich, Captain Francis Langdon, Mr. Reynold Alleyne, and Mr. William Dotting. These per¬ sons constituted a tribunal before whom Governor Hawley arraigned Sir William Tufton for high-treason,—a charge which he founded on his having presented a petition against him as Governor. These servile men entered into his plans, and Sir William Tufton was sentenced to be shot, which cruel and unjust sentence was carried into execution the following May. Such an arbitrary proceeding drew the displeasure of the Earl of Carlisle upon the Governor, who was recalled, perhaps less in consequence of this atrocious act, than for his general mal-administration. On his departure he appointed his brother-in-law Richard Peers Deputy Governor, who appears to have held a similar tight rein of government. Several per¬ sons were arraigned before a court-martial for mutiny and rebellion, with intention to destroy the Governor and his Council, and two of the ac¬ cused were executed. The artful Hawley had meanwhile succeeded in appeasing Lord Carlisle, and he returned with fresh powers on the 16th of April 1634. He was positively enjoined to make no grants for a longer period than seven years, or at the most for life 1 . Hawley returned a second time to England, and confided the administration again to the hands of Richard Peers, who held as Deputy Governor, assisted by his Council, a grand session on the 1st of September 1635, at which Cap¬ tain William Kitterich, one of the judges of Sir William Tufton, was tried and found guilty of the murder of Captain William Birch, and was sentenced to be hanged; but upon the petition of his friends, alleging that having been a soldier he deserved a less ignominious death, the court was induced to alter the sentence to that of being shot. Hawley’s absence was of short duration; he returned to Barbados in July 1636, and appointed a new Council, of which Mr. Richard Peers was 1 He imposed a duty on foreign vessels and an ad valorem duty on the goods which were sold to the inhabitants. See ante, p. 170. 266 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1636 . nominated President 1 . It was resolved in Council that year that negroes and Indians, who were brought to Barbados for sale, should serve for life unless a previous contract had been made to the contrary: this law forms an important era in the history of Barbados, as from the time it came into operation slavery was fully established in the island. In 1636 Hawley had made ninety-eight new grants of land, compri¬ sing nine thousand eight hundred and ten acres ; and during the following year one hundred and thirty-nine were issued, comprising seven thousand six hundred and four acres. He left soon after this (in 1638) for England, and appointed his brother William Hawley Deputy Governor during his absence. On comparing the number of inhabitants and the lands which had been granted with the stated revenue of the island, Lord Carlisle suspected Hawley of embezzlement, as the latter did not bear any proportion to its rapid advancement and prosperity. Hawley, who observed Lord Carlisle’s dissatisfaction with his colonial management, returned privately to Barbados for the purpose of strengthening his power. He was speedily followed by Major Henry Hunks, who had a commission from the Earl to supersede Hawley as Governor. Hawley however re¬ fused to submit to his authority, and Major Hunks was obliged to with¬ draw to the island of Antigua. As soon as the information of this refusal to deliver the reins of go¬ vernment into Major Hunks’ hands reached England, Captain Ashton was sent with stringent powers from the King and the Earl of Carlisle to force Hawley to submission. Ashton was accompanied by Peter Hayes, William Powry, Daniel Fletcher, and John Hanmer as joint Com¬ missioners. In pursuance of their instructions, Hawley was arrested and sent prisoner to England, and his estate was confiscated. Major Hunks, on being informed of the change of affairs, returned from Antigua, and was appointed Governor on the 4th of December 1640: he however resigned his government in June 1641, and on his departure (on the 18th of that month) he nominated Captain Philip Bell, who had been Governor of Providence, as bis Lieutenant Governor. Lord Carlisle was so well satisfied with Bell’s judicious administration that he appointed him in 1645 GoVernor-in-chief of the island, with full power to execute the authorities of the Earl’s patent. We have already had occasion to allude to the salutary laws which were framed during Governor Bell’s administration. The author of the Memoirs states that during this time the first Assembly was summoned. “ It is not known,” he continues, “ what legal methods were before established to bind the people who by the grant from the King to the Earl of Carlisle were invested with all the liberties, franchises, and privileges of English sub¬ jects ; and therefore, as is also expressly mentioned in the grant, could 1 The other members were Fortescue, Ilohlip, Gibbes, Ellis, W. Hawley, Bowyer, Pandiford, Cranefield, Andrews, and Stevens. INSURRECTION OF SLAVES. 267 1649.] not legally be bound or charged by any act without their own consent.” There is little doubt that the arbitrary rule of previous governors rendered this clause in the grant a dead letter; indeed the violent and tyrannical conduct of Hawley, and the support which he received from Lord Carlisle, had nearly alienated the colonists from the authority of the proprietor, who was considered in the light of a common oppressor of their rights. Such an assertion is proved by numerous pamphlets which were published about that time in England. Philip Bell therefore assiduously endeavoured to restore a better feeling, and one of the most important acts framed during his administration was " A n Act for the continuance and observance of all Acts and Statutes not repealed.” This Act recites, “that there were divers and sundry good and wholesome laws, statutes and ordinances provided, enacted, and made, assigned, and agreed upon, by and with the assent, consent, and approbation of the Governor, Council and Freeholders out of every parish of the island, intitled { A General Assembly for that purpose elected, made, and chosen/ And it is thereby enacted, that none of those laws shall be altered, or anything added to them, without the consent of a like General Assembly. And that every parish should have two representatives at least, to be elected by the freeholders.” The other great measures during Governor Bell’s administration were, the division of the island into eleven parishes l , in each of which a church was built; and an addition to “ an Act for settling the estates and titles of the inhabitants,” in which it was enacted that those who were in quiet possession of land granted to them by former governors or by virtue of conveyance or other acts in law, should be confirmed in it, and be empowered to dispose of it either in part or in the whole, or it should otherwise descend, or be confirmed to their heirs for ever. Certain fees for public officers were stipulated and fixed upon, to prevent extortions; the island was fortified, and the militia rendered formidable by its numbers. In 1649 the African slaves made an attempt to throw off their bondage : the boldest had planned a conspiracy to massacre all the white inhabitants, and to make themselves masters of the island. They kept their secret so close that their masters remained wholly in ignorance of it until the day previous to the one they had appointed for carrying their plot into execution. A servant of Judge Hothersall, his courage fading, or perhaps being actuated by gratitude to his master, revealed the secret; effective measures were immediately taken to secure the ringleaders, and the scheme was frustrated: eighteen of the principal conspirators were condemned to death, and executed 2 . 1 See ante, p. 215. " Ligon’s History of Barbados, p. 45. 268 HISTORY OR BARBADOS. [ 1647 . CHAPTER II. PERIOD FROM THE DEATH OF THE EARL OF CARLISLE TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF COLONEL MODYFORD IN 1660. The unhappy dissensions which had broken out between the King and his subjects in England had in the commencement no eflectupon the prosperity of the new colony. In the turmoil of factions Barbados was forgotten, and left to itself its trade remained unrestricted. This freedom caused the island to prosper, and it was visited both by Dutch and English ships. It is asserted that previous to the revolution the Dutch possessed more interest in the island than the English, which they gained by their liberal spirit in commercial transactions 1 . On a former occasion, when the new settlers were still struggling for their sustenance, two English ships which touched at Barbados refused them provisions, because they had no goods to give to the English traders in return, who sailed away without relieving the distress of the inhabitants. Some Dutch vessels bound for Brazil which touched shortly afterwards at the island supplied the settlers abundantly, and waited until the following year for a return, by which liberality they greatly ingratiated themselves with the settlers 2 . This unrestricted intercourse increased annually, and the fame of the prospe¬ rity of the island was not only carried to England, but spread over Europe. After the death of Lord Carlisle (who left behind him the reputation of being the most accomplished courtier, but not a house or an acre of land that was not mortgaged much beyond its value 3 ), it was found that his Lordship by his will had settled Barbados for the payment of his debts. About the year 1647 his son and heir entered into negotiations with Francis Lord Willoughby of Parham for the fulfilment of his father’s wish, in order to pay his numerous debts from the revenue of the island, which he thought might be effected in a short time, and the benefits arising from it would afterwards fall to him as heir. Lord Willoughby had at a previous period been inimical to the royal party: he was in 1642 Lieutenant of Lincolnshire and organized the militia of that county, which drew upon him the King’s displeasure. He now openly espoused the popular cause, and distinguished himself in Gainsborough, where he took the Earl of Kingston and others prisoners. During the siege of Newark, when the garrison made a sortie, Sir John Meldrum’s regiment was on the point of dispersing and effecting a retreat, when the timely assistance of Lord Willoughby saved it, and he drove 1 An Essay evenly discussing the present condition and interest of Barbados, p. 18. MSS., Phillipps, No. 9728. It is ascribed by Thorp to Sir William Petty. s Ibid. 3 It is said in Clarendon’s History of the Rebellion that he spent in a jovial life above .€100,000, which upon a strict computation he received from the Crown alone. lord Willoughby’s commission. 269 1649.] the garrison back. As an acknowledgement of his numerous services, the Parliament raised him to an earldom in December 1645. In 1647 he was suspected of being connected with the intrigues of the Earl of Suffolk, Lord Hundesden, Lord Maynard, the Earl of Lincoln, Lord Barkley, and the Earl of Middlesex. The Commons by message impeached these lords of high-treason at the bar of the House, and prayed that they might be sequestered from the House and committed. “ Here we may take notice of the uncertainty of worldly favours and affairs. The Lord Willoughby, a person of as much honour and courage as any whom I have known, and one who had ventured as far as any man of his quality to serve the parliament and was deservedly in their high esteem and favour; now, upon the getting up another faction, among them, all his former great sendees and merits were not at all considered, but he became an object of their ill-will, and accused by them of high treason, to take away his life, fortune and honour ; an ill reward for all his gallant services'.” Lord Willoughby escaped to Holland in March 1647, and openly espoused the cause of the Prince of Wales. He was afterwards with Prince Rupert on board the fleet off Yarmouth, where he served as Vice- Admiral 2 , and took one of the ships belonging to Rowland Wilson and Son on her return from Guinea, with nearly twenty thousand pounds sterling in gold on board. The negotiations between the Earl of Carlisle and Lord Willoughby respecting Barbados had been brought to a dose previous to his flight. The King was then in the hands of the army; but with his approbation and consent it was agreed that the Earl of Carlisle should convey to Lord Willoughby a lease of all the profits which should arise out of that colony for the term of twenty-one years, one moiety of which was to be reserved for the use of the Earl. In consequence of this arrangement Lord Willoughby was promised a commission as Governor of Barbados and the rest of the Caribbee islands comprised in the charter granted by the King to the late Earl of Carlisle. When the fleet returned to the coast of Holland, Lord Willoughby informed the Prince of Wales of this agreement, and as the King had already recommended him to his Highness he approved of it. Charles the First was impeached on the 20th of January 1649, and execut ed on the 30th of the same month. As soon as this news reached the Hague, the Prince of Wales had himself proclaimed King of Great Britain and Ireland, under the title of Charles the Second. The American colonies had re¬ mained attached to the royalist cause, and when they heard of the King’s execution Barbados proclaimed Charles the Second their lawful sovereign 3 . 1 Memorials of the English affairs, or an historical account of what passed from the beginning of the reign of King Charles I. to King Charles II. his happy restaura- tion: by Mr. Whitelocke. London, 1732, p. 268. 2 Ibid. p. 327. 3 Oldmixon, vol. ii. p. 18. 270 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1650 . These proceedings attracted the attention of the royalist party to the colonies : it was thought an object of great importance to secure the West India settlements to the Crown, and it was even hinted by King Charles’ advisers that soldiers might be raised in America to aid him against his rebellious subjects in England. Lord Willoughby was con¬ sidered particularly qualified to keep the interest in the King’s cause alive in Barbados, and the commission as Governor, which had been in agitation previous to the late King’s death, was now resumed. With the unanimous advice of the Council, Lord Willoughby was appointed Governor of Barbados and the other Caribbee islands, and proceeded the following year secretly to Barbados, where after many accidents he arrived on the 7th of May 1650 in Carlisle Bay. He considered it prudent to ascertain first the state of affairs in Barbados before he landed, and he kept therefore concealed for eight days 1 until he had entered into an agreement with the Governor and Council. The author of the manuscript ‘ On the Present Condition and Interest of Barbados,’ asserts that one of the articles stipulated, that for nine months Lord Willoughby should leave the government in the position in which he found it; but that before half the time had expired, his Lordship, having exceedingly endeared himself by his equal and civil demeanour, was desired to take the govern¬ ment into his own hands. Previous to his arrival the island was not without factions and intrigues, and Governor Bell himself was suspected by some of the extreme Royalists of being a Roundhead. The two brothers Walrond, the elder Colonel Humphry Walrond, and the other Edward Walrond a lawyer of the Temple, stood at the head of this party, and through their intrigues Colonel Guy Molesworth had been banished from the island, and Sergeant-Major William Byam, one of their proteges, received the appointment as treasurer. The inhabitants of Bermuda had sent an agent to Barbados to induce them to enter into a league for mutual protection, and to furnish the Bermudians with arms and ammunition. Colonel Drax, who favoured the Independents, successfully opposed this plan, and the brothers Wal¬ rond artfully spread the report that the Independents intended to seize the magazines and to put all who were for the King to the sword. In con¬ sequence Colonels Shelly and Read advanced with their regiments towards Bridgetown, for the purpose of seizing the Governor, who was fortunately awakened by the alarm. He had sufficient resolution to take the elder Walrond and Byam prisoners, but so inconsiderable were the Governor’s forces, and so weak his councils, that he was persuaded to send Walrond to the besiegers, and certain articles were agreed upon. The Governor however saw that Walrond’s object was to usurp the power of govern¬ ment to himself, and desired Colonel Modyford to raise the windward regiment for his restoration to the authority he formerly possessed. 1 Whitelocke, under July 5th, 1650. 1650.] LORD WILLOUGHBY GOVERNOR-IN-CHIEF. 271 Through the active exertions of Colonel Modyford and Lieutenant-Colonel Burch, fifteen hundred foot and one hundred and twenty horse were raised in one night; but before further measures were taken, the Go¬ vernor relented, and issued orders that those troops should be disbanded. At this juncture of affairs, Lord Willoughby, who, as previously observed, had kept his arrival in Carlisle Bay a secret, gave notice to Governor Bell that he held a commission from the King and the Earl of Carlisle appointing him Governor-in-chief of Barbados and the Caribbee islands. This information came unexpected to Colonel Walrond; still he was not deterred from his scheme, and he contrived to spread suspicion against Lord Willoughby: it was observed that he had once been a Roundhead, and might prove so again: his recognition was therefore opposed suc¬ cessfully for three months, when Lord Willoughby through his politic conduct removed all suspicion and was fully recognized as Governor-in- chief 1 . Since his arrival he exhibited such discretion and moderation that even the most violent on either side could not but commend his conduct. The first step taken by Lord Willoughby, as soon as he found himself established in the island, was to convene the Legislature, and to pass an Act, entitled, “ An acknowledgement and declaration of the inhabitants of the island of Barbados of his Majesty’s right to the dominion of this island; and the right of the Right Hon. the Earl of Carlisle, derived from his said Majesty; and by the Earl of Carlisle to the Right Hon. the Lord Willoughby of Parham; and also for the unanimous profession of the true religion in this island, and imposing condign punishment upon the opposers thereof.” A committee of sequestration was elected, several estates were confiscated, and heavy fines were laid upon those who belonged to the opposite party. Letters with a copy of the Act of sequestration were received towards the end of September by the Council of State, stating that the Lord Wil¬ loughby and others had proclaimed Charles the Second in Barbados, and that the Assembly there had sentenced Captain Tienman and Lieutenant Brandon to be disfranchised, their estates to be seized, their tongues cut, their cheeks branded with the letter T, and they themselvesto be afterwards banished; and that they had fined and banished most in the island who were not well-affected to the King 2 . The Parliament thereupon declared the inhabitants of Barbados traitors to the Commonwealth. Colonel Alleyne, a considerable planter in the island, and others, who were in the interest of the Parliament, removed to England, where they kept the Council of State informed of the proceedings in Barbados. Lord Willoughby availed himself of the loyal spirit which was in the ascendant in Barbados, and not only had that island fortified, but raised a considerable force for its 1 A brief relation of the beginning and ending of the troubles of the Barbados, set forth by A. B., a diligent observer of the times. London, 1653. 5 Whitelocke’s Memorial, p. 473. 272 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1650 . defence. He equipped several vessels, with which he compelled the other islands under his government to submit to the King’s authority. It is believed that one of the causes which induced the Commonwealth to declare war against the Dutch was the illicit trade which the latter carried on with Barbados, and the encouragement and support which they gave to these islanders in their rebellion against the Republic. Colonel Alleyne and the other Independents who had fled to England presented petitions to the Council of State, and had several conferences with them by their Committee, in which they reported their opinion to the Parliament, that it was necessary to reduce these islands, and that a well-provisioned fleet ought to be sent thither for that purpose. The House approved of this measure in October 1650; and in this resolution they were confirmed, when shortly afterwards the news arrived that Prince Rupert was gone with his squadron to Marseille, and intended to proceed thence to Barbados. Sir George Ayscue was now commissioned to the command of a strong squadron, and a considerable body of land forces were embarked; but instead of proceeding direct to Barbados, he had orders to attack first the isles of Scilly, which were held at that time under Godolphin, Carteret and others. Meanwhile the Council of State availed themselves of a favourable opportunity to oppress the inhabitants of Barbados in a vital point, napely by prohibiting the intercourse which subsisted between that island and the Dutch. The Parliament issued a rigorous prohibi¬ tion against all foreign ships trading with the English colonies : it was likewise prohibited to import goods into England or any of its depend¬ encies in any other than English bottoms. The merchants of Holland felt immediately that this political stroke was directed against them, and that its original framers were only actuated by the desire to punish the planters and to injure the Dutch trade: they therefore petitioned the States General to use their interest with the English ambassadors then in Holland that the trade might be free as formerly. But the ambas¬ sadors being upon the eve of their departure, nothing was done in the matter; and thus the origin of the famous navigation-law was laid, which it has taken nearly two centuries and an unusual scarcity to remove pro¬ visionally. Meanwhile Lord Willoughby, on being informed of this prohibition, published with the advice of the Legislature a declaration in answer to the act of Parliament. Its manly sense and a string of argu¬ ments which have since been repeatedly used by the colonial Legislature against the interference of the imperial Parliament, render this document of such importance that it is added in the Appendix to this work. News of the armament of Sir George Ayscue had been brought to Barbados, as is seen by a letter which Lord Willoughby wrote about that time to Lady Willoughby, and which is so characteristic of the man, and gives such a good picture of the island itself over which he presided, that I give it here entire from Cary’s f Memorials of the Civil War.’ 1651 .] lord Willoughby’s letter. 273 “ Lord Willoughby to Lady Willoughby '. “ My dearest Friend, “ I did, not above a fortnight ago, write at large to thee by the way of Hol¬ land, by my governess Cateline, the carpenter’s wife, whom upon her earnest importunity, I gave leave to go home. She performed her trust very carefully and honestly in keeping all things under her charge, but for anything else she was loth to trouble herself. Honest Mary is all my stay now, and I hope will do as well as she can. I have entertained another coarse wench to be under her, allowing her help enough of negroes, which are the best servants in these countries, if well tutored, and cost little, only a canvass petticoat once a year, and there is no more trouble with them. “ Mrs. Chavye, this hearer, who hath promised me to deliver this with her own hand, is one who challenged acquaintance of me upon your score, which caused me to give her pass for her sugar, custom free : she tells me, she waited upon you when you lay in of little Dosey. I do not remember her, nor would not have believed her, but she gave me such a token by naming the child. If I he deceived, if this letter come safe to you, I shall not be much troubled at the cheat, for it is frequent here to have tricks put upon one of such kind. “My Lord Charles Paulet’s daughter, I writ to you of, proves no such thing, for she is run quite away, and I think out of the island, for I cannot hear of her, which makes her appear a cheat: she knowing that I had writ into England about her, made her not dare to stay a return of my letter. I did by Cateline write so large, giving thee an account of myself, and the state of the island, by some papers, acquainting thee what we had done in order to our self-preservation against that storm which was threatened us from England, by their printed declaration calling us all rebels, so as I shall touch no more upon anything of that, only what we have further added since; which is, to make ourselves strong in men, as well as in words ; and to that end have raised forces, both of horse and foot, which the country pays, and are constantly to be kept in a body to resist any forces that shall come against us. It was occasioned by Mr. Arnold, who came at the time of the Assembly’s meeting : he is a very honest man. By him I received two letters, and three from my children; one more which was superscribed to Mr. Rich. We had a fine passage, being but five weeks upon the way. I could wish to my heart thou hadst been with him ; but I know not how I should be so happy, though thy goodness to me, in saying thou wilt come, puts me in some comfort: for which kind resolution of thine, God in heaven reward thee. He came in a very op¬ portune time, for the terror of his news, that so many ships were coming with men to reduce the island, stirred up the spirits of the Assembly, caused them to desire me to put the island in a posture of war, occasioned the raising of horse and foot, so as we shall be very able to resist them, and send them home again, showing them the island is not so easily to he won as they are made to 1 Memorials of the Great Civil War in England from 1646 to 1652. Edited from original letters in the Bodleian Library. By Henry Cary, M.A. London, 1842, p. 312. T 274 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1651 . imagine it. And I hope they will reward those runaway bankrupt rogues, who durst stay no longer here, for fear of a gaol, whereof learned Mr. Bayes is one; having by their villanv, done what in them lies to ruin one of the best and sweetest islands in the English possession, or in any others, except the Spaniards, with whom we hear they have made a league, offensive and defensive; and if that be their planting the Gospel, I hope God will never prosper it. “ I thank God we are all in good health and good heart, wanting nothing, but those things I so long agone writ for; of which I have now so much want as I would give double what they were worth for to have them. I might have been as much beholding to my friends as to have done me that courtesy to have furnished those things ; I writing that it was not to be upon my par¬ ticular account, any merchant would have done it; if not out of England, yet out of Holland, from whence ships come daily in to us. I sent a list to you by two conveyances, which I hope failed not; but however thy letters put me out of hopes of having any return of my desires in that particular. “ I thank thee for having a care of my credit in Mr. Read’s business, in which thou didst me a very great kindness, I am very sorry it was forced to fall upon thy particular; it was none of my meaning it should have done so ; for, poor soul, to hear of the sadness of thy condition, to be brought to so low a stipend, cuts my heart: but I hope God, who has hitherto kept us up, will still preserve us, and though cruel men may rob, oppress, and steal away what I have, yet I shall find a way to live : and since they began so deeply with me, as to take away all at one clap, and without any cause given on my part, I am resolved not to sit down a loser, and be content to see thee, my children, and self ruined 1 . “ There was wont reparation to be allowed to those that were injured by the contrary party; and being it is in my own power to help myself, shall I not do it, but sit still, like an ass, seeing the meat torn out of thine and my children’s mouths? No! I will not do it; and therefore, dear heart, let me entreat thee to leave off thy persuasions to submit to them, who so unjustly, so wickedly, have ruined thee and me and mine. “ If ever they get the island, it shall cost them more than it is worth before they have it. And be not frighted with their power and success: God is above all. “ There is an inclosed note directed ‘ the Gentleman,’ which I am confident, if you will, you may make use of, praying you not to omit the opportunity. I shall send him as much in sugar, when I hear from you that you have made use of this. Be not frightened nor perplexed for me ; I am confident yet God will bring us together into these parts, according to my former petitions to him, that w T e may end our days together in happiness; for I have had a return of my discovery of Guiana, which I writ to you formerly of; and the gentle¬ man which I sent hath brought with him to me two of the Indian kings, 1 Lord Willoughby of Parham, as previously observed, had been a zealous sup¬ porter of the Parliament at the beginning of the war, but afterwards going over to the King, was impeached, and suffered confiscation of all his property. lord Willoughby’s letter. 1651.] 275 having spoke with divers of them, who are all willing to receive our nation, and that we shall settle amongst them ; for which end I am sending hence a hundred men to take possession, and doubt not hut in a few years to have many thousands there. “ It is commended, by all that went, for the sweetest place that ever was seen; delicate rivers, brave land, fine timber. They were out almost five months; and amongst forty persons, not one of them had so much as their head ache. They commend the air to be so pure, and the water so good, as they had never such stomachs in their lives, eating five times a day plenty of fish and fowl, partridges and pheasants innumerable: brave savanas, where you may, in coach or on horseback, ride thirty or forty miles. “ God bless me into life. And if England will be a friend, or that we make them so by tiring them out, either their seamen by the tedious voyages, or the state by the great expense they must be at, which I am very confident we shall, being all so well-resolved to stand by one another to the last man, then I shall make thee a brave being there ; for since all is gone at home, it is time to provide elsewhere for a being. “ I am very much troubled for honest Jo. Ward, that he should suffer so much for his honesty and kindness to me. Pray you, send for him, and com¬ mend my kind love to him, and tell him, that if he will come to me, he shall never want as long as I have it. “ Though God is at present pleased to afflict us, and that justly for my sins, yet so long as he gives us health, let us not despair, but do our best; for who knows what a day may bring forth ? Do thy best where thou art, playing the game as well as thou canst, and I will do the like here ; and when the fleet shall return, and the gentlemen see how they are abused, you may perchance find them more charitable, at least in a more calm humour to be spoke with. “ One comfort we have, they can neither starve us with cold, nor famish us for hunger ; and why should they think so easily to put us to it then ? If a qualm should come, I thank God I have some of thy cordial water left still; but I thank my God, I never was more healthy in my life, I want nothing but thy sweet company: that would make time short, and all things easy to me. When once this expected storm is over, and this place settled, so as no more trouble may disquiet it, then shall I with all violence pursue thee with my humble suit and desire for thy company. God keep thee in health. Pull up a good heart, and yet all may be well. “ I have no tokens to send my poor children for their kind letters. Mr. Arnold commends Will much, and relates a great deal of discourse he had with him one day, when you were from home. My best of blessings to them all. “For Mrs. Betty, if there be such an inclination in the young lord you mention, let not the present want of portion discourage; I.have known un- handsomer than she married as well for nothing; but I shall hope however in a few years to be able to give a portion, though as yet it goes out apace. “As for Frank, I hope you will be careful for her health, in preventing what you fear. What I mentioned to you concerning my Lord Callender, be t 2 276 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1651. not so averse, out of an opinion of our too much good fellowship, for he is a noble lord, and an honest man! I had a letter lately from him, and he is resolved to come and plant in these parts of the world. “This enclosed engagement I sent by another conveyance, and renew it again, because I would have it with you, to satisfy your fear of my being de¬ livered up. God hut preserve thee, and I cannot do amiss. Farewell, my dearest joy. “ The account Mr. Knowdes gives me, by his letter, concerning the improve¬ ment of Will in his learning, is a great comfort to me ; but the consideration of the loss of it again by his leaving of him is as great a cross. He ex¬ pressed to me, that because you could not continue his allowance to him, is the cause of his leaving him : if that be all, I should not doubt but, by God’s blessing, I may he able to procure that, and shall spare it out of my own belly, if you can procure him to come to you again upon any reasonable terms; for I fear change of masters may do by him as it did by me. Prythee, dear heart, let me hear from thee. If there be any hopes of getting him to thee again, I will strain hard to procure means for the good of my hoy. “ When you have read this letter, pray you seal it, and convey it to my lo— by my brother, to whom I forbear to write, because I will not endanger him more than I have.” [From Barbados.] After the storming of Scilly, Sir George Ayscue entered Plymouth, in June 1651, with Sir John Grenville and other prisoners, and he did not set sail for Barbados until the commencement of August 1 . Sir George took on board a large number of Barbados merchants in Falmouth, Dutch as well as English, who were waiting to embark in his fleet: among these passengers was Colonel Alleyne, who with the others intended to profit by the reduction of the island 2 . The fleet under Sir George Ayscue arrived off Barbados on the 10th of October 1651 3 . Three ships, the Amity, the Malligo Merchant and the Success, anchored before Carlisle Bay, to prevent any vessels from running away to the leeward ; the rest of the fleet anchored at Oistin’s Bay. The three vessels having discovered fourteen sail in the bay, information of it was conveyed to the fleet. Lord Willoughby was at an entertainment twelve miles up the country; and so little were the three vessels suspected, that the Marshal of the island went off in a boat to see who the strangers were: he was detained prisoner. Sir George Ayscue, in passing Needham’s Point in his fleet, was fired at, but received no injury; and he now sent in Captain Pack of the Amity frigate, who captured eleven Dutch and one English vessel, making their officers and crews prisoners'of war. He afterwards took two more ships laden with 1 Whitelocke’s Memorial, under August 8th, 1651. 2 Universal History, vol. xli. 3 Mereurius Politicos, No. 90. STORMING OF THE CASTLE. 277 1651.] provisions and horses 1 . When Lord Willoughby returned to Bridgetown, he demanded the Marshal’s release, which was refused. Sir George Ayscue sent a summons, to which a speedy answer was returned by Lord Wil¬ loughby, “ that he knew no supreme authority over Englishmen but the King and by his commission, for whom he was resolved to keep this island, and that he expected an overture for satisfaction to be given to him for their hostility to the fleet and his Marshal 2 .” Sir George then commenced bombarding the castle, but without much effect, and was fired at from the batteries: he reports that he lost at that time one man. Though Sir George had on board his squadron above two thousand troops, he could not effect a landing. Lord Willoughby had made such effective arrangements, and disposed the forces under his command so advantageously along the seashore, that Sir George found the enter¬ prise more difficult than he had expected. The Council and Assembly promised to support the Governor, and published on the 4th of November a declaration, in which they set forth their determination to defend the island in the name of his Majesty, and to preserve that liberty which they had enjoyed under their constitution. The Commissioners from the Parliament in the fleet with Sir George had previously sent a declaration to the inhabitants, to persuade them to submit to the Parliament and to desert Lord Willoughby and his party, in which case they offered them full indemnity. The counter declaration of the Legislature was the answer which the Commissioners received. Finding the Governor and inhabitants obstinate, Sir George called a council of officers, the result of which was a determination to storm the castle and blockhouse forthwith. Sixty longboats were manned with troops, who entered the bay and commenced storming the fort; but they met with such a repulse that they were obliged to make good their retreat, with the loss of fifteen men. Lord Willoughby was described as being exceedingly vigilant, visiting the rounds every night from fort to fort 3 . Colonel Modyford and Lieutenant-Colonel Burch were the leaders of the moderate party, and intrigues were carried on between them and the Admiral of the Parliamentary fleet. Through their influence it was pro¬ posed that, though the inhabitants could not acknowledge the authority of the Commonwealth, Colonel Alleyne and the rest of the planters, who 1 Whitelocke’s Memorial, p. 512. J ‘ Letter from on board the Rainbow dated off Carlisle Bay,’ in the Mercurius Politicus. The writer styles the island pleasant, but the people there were “most sottishly ignorant in the things of God, and void almost of common civility. The title of king is most of all adored by them, not knowing better.” 3 ‘ Bloudy Newes from the Barbadoes, published for general satisfaction. Printed for G. Horton, 1652.’ 278 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1651 . in consequence of having espoused the cause of the Parliament had been obliged to leave the island, should be allowed to re-enter into peaceable possession of their property. This proposal was accepted by many, but not by Alleyne, who having been appointed to conduct the landing of the troops as soon as a favourable opportunity should present itself, continued on board the fleet. All this while Ayscue’s squadron was beating about the island, and in December it anchored in Speights Bay. The merchant fleet from Virginia arrived at that time off Barbados, and Ayscue availed himself of the circumstance to make it appear as if it were a reinforcement which he had expected. Sir George reported to the Council that at that juncture of affairs he had sent a third sum¬ mons to induce the Barbadians to submit to the Parliament; which being refused, he on the 17th of December formed a regiment out of the ships, consisting of six hundred men, whereof one hundred and seventy were Scotch convicts who had been taken prisoners of war at Worcester 1 . This force was landed at night, but the Barbadians having notice of their in¬ tended plan four hours previous, opposed their landing with nine companies of foot and three troops of horse, who made a gallant charge. Colonel Alleyne, who led the Parliamentary force, was killed by a musket-ball before he reached the shore. The republicans having received the onset immediately fell upon Lord Willoughby’s forces, drove them back from their intrenchments, and pursued them to Port Royal, which they stormed with the loss of nine men and some wounded, among which were Colonel Morrice and the Major of his regiment. Fifty of Lord Willoughby’s forces were killed and a hundred prisoners taken; all their pieces of ordnance were dismounted, and many of their houses burnt by the Parliamentary forces. The place being untenable, Sir George withdrew his troops on board of his fleet 2 . Meanwhile the secret correspondence between Sir George and Colonel Modyford was continued. Lieutenant-Colonel Burch moved in the House of Assembly for a treaty, and was seconded by Colonels Modyford and Hawley. A Committee was appointed to draw up articles, which were generally approved on the first reading; but no resolution having been adopted that day, Lord Willoughby contrived to make such interest with the majority of the members in the House, that other articles were sub- 1 Whitelocke’s Memorial, p. 527. Oldmixon relates that Ayscue’s forces con¬ sisted of one hundred and fifty Scotch servants, a regiment of seven hundred men and some seamen, to make their number look the more formidable. The Universal History asserts that Ayscue landed his whole force, amounting to about three thou¬ sand men. 2 According to Oldmixon, the soldiers posted themselves in the fort, and from thence made incursions into the country. Sir George’s own report, and the author of ‘ The Beginning and the End of the Troubles of the Barbados,’ contradict this assertion. Poyer merely quotes from the Universal History. SURRENDER OF LORD WILLOUGHBY. 279 1652.] stituted which breathed defiance. The moderate party, with Colonel Modyford, Colonel Colleton, Lieutenant-Colonel Burch, Lieutenant- Colonel Hooper and other officers, now resolved to force Lord Willoughby to surrender, and having held over-night a conference on shore with Captain Pack, Colonel Drax and Mr. Raynes, the latter were empowered by Sir George Ayscue to offer such conditions as were reasonable. On Saturday the 6th of January 1652 Colonel Modyford drew up his regi¬ ment, consisting of one thousand musketeers and one hundred and twenty horse, and induced them by a speech to declare for the Parliament. The articles which they had agreed upon were sent to Lord Willoughby, who refused compliance and put himself in a state of defence. Colonel Modyford’s house now became the head-quarters of the Parliamentary force, and Sir George, having been informed of the state of affairs, arrived on the 8th of January in the Rainbow, landed, and proclaimed the authority of the Parliament. Lord Willoughby collected a force of three thousand men and marched against the Parliamentary forces. It was evident that he did not trust his soldiers, a great number of whom had already deserted him. He therefore held a council of war with his officers, and while thus oc¬ cupied a ball from one of Sir George’s great guns struck the house and carried away the head of the sentinel who was standing before the room 1 . During the night Lord Willoughby fell back two miles. The three following days it rained so hard that Sir George could not advance against him; and before they could march. Lord Willoughby sent a trumpeter with a demand for a treaty; to which Sir George Ayscue, whose strength was much the greater and who desired to avoid the de¬ struction of the island, which had already suffered so much, consented. The commissioners appointed by Lord Willoughby were Sir Richard Pearse, Charles Pym, Colonel Ellis, and Major Byam : those on the part of Sir George Ayscue were Captain Pack, Daniel Searle, Colonels Mody¬ ford and Colleton. The reasons which induced Lord Willoughby to offer terms of submission are variously stated: there is no doubt that his abandonment by those from whom he expected powerful support, was one great cause of such a determination. It became likewise evident to him that, should he be taken a prisoner without a treaty, he could expect no mercy, as he was a deserter from the Parliamentary forces. Some letters from Lady Willoughby to her husband announced that the King’s forces were defeated at Worcester, and gave an account of the state of affairs in England: she advised him to submit to the Parlia¬ ment upon good terms, and similar advice had been given him by other friends. Whitelocke’s Memorial, p. 5.31. 280 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1652 . On the 17th of January 1652, the following articles were ratified 1 :— “The Charter of Barbados, or Articles of Agreement, had, made, and con¬ cluded the 11th day of January 1652, by and between the Commissioners of the Right Honorable the Lord Willoughby of Parham of the one part, and the Commissioners in the behalf of the Common-wealth of England, of the other part in order to the Rendition of the island of Barbados. “ And are as followeth :— “ 1. That a liberty of conscience in matters of religion be allowed to all, excepting such tenents as are inconsistent to a civil government; and that laws be put in execution against blasphemy, atheism, and open scandalous living, seditious preaching, or unsound doctrine sufficiently proved against him. “ 2. That the courts of justice shall still continue, and all judgements and orders therein be valid, until they be reversed by due form of law. “ 3. That no taxes, customs, imports, loans, or excise shall be laid, nor levy made on any the inhabitants of this island without their consent in a General Assembly. “4. That no man shall be imprisoned or put out of his possession of land and tenements which he has by any former warrant, or title derived from it, or other goods or chattels whatsoever, without due proceedings according to the known laws of England, and statutes and customs of this island in the courts of justice here first had, and judgement for the same obtained, and execution from thence awarded. “5. That all suits between party and party, and criminal and common pleas be determined here, and none be compelled to go into England to assert or defend their titles to any estate wliich they have here, without the consent of the General Assembly. “6. That an act of indemnity be with all convenient speed passed in the Parliament of England, to save, keep harmless and unquestionable all and every the inhabitants of this island that are comprised in these articles, for or concerning any act or thing whatsoever done by them, or any of them at any time or in any place ; or words spoken by them, or any of them before the date of these articles, and that they be cleared, acquitted and discharged thereof for ever, in respect of the public power, as of any particular person concerning damage, or loss which they have received by reason of the present differences ; and until the said act come hither, an instrument of indemnity to all such comprised in these articles to the purpose aforesaid, be assigned by Sir George Ayscue and the other Commissioners, and the said act together with the said instrument of indemnity may be received into the Assembly here, and filed 1 “ Acts and Statutes of the island of Barbados made and enacted since the re- ducement of the same, unto the authority of the Commonwealth of England, and set forth the 7th day of September 1652, by the honorable the Governor of the said island, the worshipful the Council and gentlemen of Assembly. Together with the Charter of the said island, or articles made on the surrender and rendition of the same. Published for the public good. London, printed by William Bentley, and are to be sold by him at the India Bridge.” ARTICLES OF CAPITULATION. 281 1652.] among the records, and that it be represented by Sir George Ayscue and the Commissioners to the Parliament of England, or the Council of State established by the authority of the Parliament: that an act made the 3rd day of October, whereby the inhabitants have been declared traitors, may upon this accord be taken off the file from among the records. “ 7. That all and every the inhabitants of this island comprised in these articles be restored to all their lands and possessions, goods and moneys which they have in England, Scotland or Ireland. “ 8. That no oaths, covenants, or engagements whatsoever be imposed upon the inhabitants of this island, who receive the benefit of these articles against their consciences. “9. That all port-towns and cities under the Parliament’s power shall be open unto the inhabitants of this island in as great a freedom of trade as ever, and that no companies be placed over them, nor the commodities of the island be ingrossed into private men’s hands ; and that all trade be free with all nations that do trade and are in amity with England. “ 10. That whereas the excise upon strong liquor was laid for the payment of public debts, and other public uses; it is therefore agreed that the Lord Willoughby of Parham, and all employed by him, and all other persons what¬ soever, shall be acquitted and discharged from the payment of any public debts, and that the same be discharged by the said excise, and such other ways as the General Assembly shall think fit; provided that care and respect therein had to such as have eminently suffered in their estates. “11. That all persons be free at any time to transport themselves and estates when they think fit, first setting up their names, according to the custom of this island. “12. That all persons on both sides be discharged and set free with the full benefit of enjoying these articles, and that all horses, cattle, servants, negroes and other goods whatsoever, be returned to their right owners, except such servants as had freedom given them, and came on hoard before Saturday the third of January. “13. That such particular persons as are in this island, together with Sir Sydenham Pointz, who have estates in Antegoa, may peaceably return thither, and there enjoy the benefit of these articles. “14. That for a certain time all executions be stopped, sufficient caution being given, that at the expiration of it payment be made, and that the Com¬ missioners, together with the General Assembly, be judges of the time and caution. “15. That the three small vessels or barks now on ground before the Bridge¬ town do remain to their owners, and have liberty to go to any port laden. “16. That the Lord Willoughby of Parham have all his lands, rents, or estate whatsoever real and personal in England (without any fine or composi¬ tion paid) restored to him, or his assigns, free from all incumbrances laid on the same by the Parliament of England, or any by them authorised since the time of its first seizure or sequestration ; and that what settlements the said Lord Willoughby of Parham has made at Surinam, or any other he shall make on any part of the main of Guiana, shall be by him enjoyed and kept without any 282 HISTOKY OF BARBADOS. [ 1652 . disturbance either of himself or those that shall accompany him thither, and that he has free liberty to bring servants from any part in England or Ireland, and that his plantation in Antegoa accordmg to the bounds already laid out be reserved to him ; and that what state soever of right doth belong unto the said Lord Willoughby of Parham in this island of Barbados be to him entirely preserved. “ 17. That all such persons of this island or elsewhere, whose estates have been sequestered or detained from them upon the public difference be forth¬ with restored to their plantations, goods or estates in the island. “ 18. That the island of Barbados with all the forts, sconces and fortifica¬ tions thereof, and all the artillery, all public arms and ammunitions be delivered up into the hands of Sir George Ayscue for the use of the States of England, before Monday twelve of the clock at noon, being the twelfth of this instant January, and that no garrison be kept here, but that all the forces shall be disbanded within twenty-four hours after the sealing of these articles ; and that for the safety of the island, the militia shall be disposed of as to the Parlia¬ ment, Commissioners and future Governors shall seem fit; these articles not to be construed to take away the private arms of any particular person within this island. “19. That the government of this island be by a Governor, Council and As¬ sembly, according to the ancient and usual custom here : that the Governor be appointed by the States of England, and from time to time received and obeyed here, the Council be by him chosen, and an Assembly by a free and voluntary election of the freeholders of the island in the several parishes ; and the usual custom of the choice of the Council be represented by the Commissioners to the Parliament of England, or to the Council of State established by authority of Parliament, with the desires of the inhabitants for the confirmation thereof for the future. “ 20. And whereas, it has been taken into serious consideration, that the main and chief cause of our late troubles and miseries has grown by loose, base and uncivil language, tending to sedition and derision, too commonly used among many people here : it is therefore further agreed that at the next Ge¬ neral Assembly a strict law be made against all such persons, with a heavy penalty to be inflicted upon them that shall be guilty of any reviling speeches of what nature soever, by remembring or raveling into former differences, and reproaching any man with the cause he has formerly defended. “21. It is agreed that the articles may with all convenient speed be pre¬ sented to the Parliament of England, to be by them ratified and confirmed to all intents, constitutions and purposes. “ 22. It is further agreed that all laws made heretofore by General Assem¬ blies, that are not repugnant to the law of England, shall be good, except such as concern the present differences. “ 23. That the right honorable the Lord Willoughby have free liberty to go into England, and there to stay or depart at his pleasure without having any oath or engagement put upon him, he acting or attempting nothing pre¬ judicial to the State or Commonw r ealth of England. “ I 11 witness whereof we the Commissioners appointed by the Lord Wil- LORD WILLOUGHBY BANISHED. 283 1652.] loughby of Parham, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this 11 th day of January 1652. Thomas Modyford, John Colleton, Daniel Searle, Michael Pack, Commissioners appointed by the authority of the Commonwealth of England. Richard Pearse, Charles Pym, Thomas Ellis, William Byam. Commissioners appointed for the Lord Willoughby and island of Bar¬ bados. (By the Governor.) “ It is my pleasure that the above-written articles be published by the several ministers in this island. Given under my hand this 17th of January 1652, “ George Ayscue. “This is a true copy with the original attested by me. “ Jo. Jennings, Cler/c of the Assembly .” These articles appeared so advantageous and mild that the inhabitants would have had every reason to congratulate themselves if they had been held inviolable. Two months however had not passed since the signing of the treaty, when the new Legislature which had been elected and summon¬ ed passed (on the 4th of March) an act by which Lord Willoughby was ordered to embark on the 12th of March on board the ship called the Red Lion, under penalty of being considered an enemy to the peace, nor was he to return unless permitted by Parliament. A similar act was passed the same day, banishing for the term of one year Colonel Humphry Walrond, Mr. Edward Walrond, Colonel Shelly, Major Byam, Lieutenant Colonel Guy, Colonel Ellis, Captain Jarmin, Captain Bowcher, and Captain Usher 1 . To justify this harsh measure, which was a direct violation of the sixth article of the convention, a peculiar kind of sophistry was employed. It was asserted that these individuals could not justly say that any wrong had been committed towards them, as this banish¬ ment was the act of their representatives, whom they had themselves assisted in electing, and it was a maxim both in law and reason that no man can strictly call that a wrong done to him which is done with his own consent. On the 12th of March Sir George Ayscue signed an act of the Le¬ gislature, authorising Colonel Daniel Searle, one of the States Commis¬ sioners, to take upon him the government without dissolving the Assembly, and another providing that all acts passed under Lord Willoughby for the defence of the island were to be repealed, expunged and blotted out 1 An Act was passed the 17th September 1652, enjoining them not to return even after the stipulated period without having first received permission from the Par¬ liament. HISTORY OF BARBADOS. 284 [ 1656 . of the books of records, “ to the intent that they may be no more seen and perused, but buried in oblivion.” Sir George left Carlisle Bay on the 29th of March, and arrived in Plymouth in the ensuing June, with thirty-six prizes from Barbados 1 . On the 7th of September 1652, such of the statutes of former days as had been approved of, as well as those which had been made since the island was taken by Sir George Ayscue, were published in the churches. They consisted of one hundred and two acts and statutes 2 . Governor Searle administered the government to the general satisfaction; numerous laws were passed, and the island seemed to recover from the effects of the internal conflict. In December 1652, the Legislature en¬ acted that a regiment of horse should be established: every proprietor of a hundred acres of land had to provide an able man and horse well- accoutred. It was considered that such a militia would prove very effi¬ cient; “since, by the blessing of God on the labours of the inhabitants of this island, the same in many places had become open and champaigne ground, which would greatly facilitate their military operations.” A number of persons who were apprehended on account of the Salis¬ bury rising of Penruddock and Grove, were sold to Barbados for fifteen hundred and fifty pounds of sugar each, more or less, according to their working faculties. Two of these unfortunate men, Marcellus Rivers and Oxenbridge Poyle, petitioned Parliament on behalf of themselves and their fellow-sufferers to be released : they stated in their memorial that having been taken prisoners at Exeter and Ilchester, the greater part had been imprisoned without trial, and without having been implicated in the Salisbury plot. After a year’s imprisonment, they were taken out of confinement by the command of high-sheriff Copleston, driven through the streets of the city of Exon by a guard of horse and foot, and hurried to Plymouth, on board the ship John of London, Captain John Cole master, where they remained lying fourteen days, and were carried to Barbados. During their passage they were kept locked up under deck amongst horses. They arrived in Barbados on the 7th of May 1656, and were sold as the goods and chattels of Martin Noel, Major Thomas Alderne of London, and Captain Henry Hatsell of Ply¬ mouth. Among these unfortunate men were divines, officers and gentle¬ men, who were employed in menial work, “grinding at the mills, attending at the furnaces and digging in that scorching island, being bought and sold from one planter to another, or attached like horses or beasts for the debt of their masters, being whipped at the whipping-post as rogues, and sleeping in sties worse than hogs in England.” Augustine Greenwood, Nicholas Broadgate, Master Diamond, a Devonshire gentleman, who was 1 Whiteloeke’s Memorial, p. 534. 2 They were published by John Jennings, clerk of the Assembly, and are dated “Barbados, from my office at Indian Bridge, July 9th, 1(554.” GOVERNOR MODYFORD. 285 1660.] at the time he was sold seventy-six years of age, are mentioned as being among these poor wretches 1 . The Lord Protector had declared war against Spain, which power he accused of having committed the greatest cruelties towards the English in the West Indian Colonies. A strong squadron under Admiral William Penn and Colonel Venables, consisting of thirty sail, and manned by three thousand men, arrived in 1655 in Barbados, where they were re¬ inforced by a troop of horse raised in the island at the expense of the inhabitants, and three thousand five hundred volunteers. The expedition sailed from Carlisle Bay on the 31st of March, with the object of reducing Hispaniola, in which they completely failed. The fleet then sailed for Jamaica, where they were more successful; they took possession of the island, and forced the Spaniards to evacuate it. This new conquest opened a wide field for English enterprize, and many opulent planters from Barbados and other islands settled in Jamaica, where land could be procured at a cheap rate. Cromwell died in 1658; he had appointed his eldest son Richard to succeed him, but the mild character of the latter rendered him unfitted to hold the reins of a government composed of such heterogeneous and troublesome persons; and having been compelled by the mutinous officers to dissolve Parliament, he voluntarily abdicated the Protectorship in April 1659. The committee of public safety, who assumed the management of the national affairs, appointed Colonel Thomas Modyford Governor of Barba¬ dos on the 16th of July 1660. The active part which he took when Sir George Ayscue blockaded Barbados, no doubt recommended him to the Council of State. His administration was short, as the restoration of Charles the Second produced a change in the affairs of government. The Legislature passed an act during that period limiting the existence of the General Assembly to one year, in order to render the representatives more dependent upon the constituency. 1 ‘ England’s Slavery, or Barbados Merchandize. Represented in a petition to the high and honourable court of Parliament, by Marcellus Rivers and Oxenbridge Foyle, Gentlemen, on behalf of themselves and three-score and ten more of freeborn English¬ men, sold uncondemned into slavery. London, printed in the eleventh year of En¬ gland’s liberty, 1659.’ 286 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1661 . CHAPTER III. PERIOD FROM LORD WILLOUGHBY’S RESTORATION AS GOVERNOR TO HIS DEATH IN 1674. Upon the return of the King after the restoration, Lord Willoughby, who had been instrumental in accelerating that event, applied to his Majesty for a renewal of his commission. Eight or nine years of the lease granted to him were still unexpired, and Charles the Second, to reward his services, restored him to the government of Barbados, with the title of Captain General and Governor-in-chief of the Island of Bar¬ bados and all other the Caribbee islands. Lord Willoughby meanwhile appointed Colonel Thomas Walrond, his friend and a faithful adherent of the royal cause (for which he had been banished from the island) his Deputy-Governor, and in order to strengthen this commission he ob¬ tained from the King a mandamus, nominating Walrond President of the Council 1 . Numerous laws which tended to the prosperity of the island were passed during Walrond’s administration. Agriculture was not over¬ looked, and in order to render the island independent of other countries, an act passed the Legislature for the encouragement of such “ as shall plant or raise provisions to sell.” The Court of Common Pleas was esta¬ blished, the ministers of the church were placed on a better footing, commis¬ sioners for highways were settled, the rights between master and servant were defined, and a special court was erected for the speedy adjustment of disputes in commercial transactions between merchants, mariners, &c. ; the militia was not overlooked, and the fortifications were kept in repair. Indeed Colonel Walrond’s administration gave general satisfaction. The King, in order to reward the services of such of the inhabitants as had remained faithful to him during the revolution, raised (on the 18th of February 1661), seven gentlemen to baronets, and conferred the dignity of knighthood on six others of the island: Sir John Colleton, Sir Thomas Modyford, Sir James Drax, Sir Robert Davers, Sir Robert Hacket, Sir John Yeamans, and Sir Timothy Thornhill were created baronets; and upon Sir John Witham, Sir Robert Le Gard, Sir John Worsum, Sir John Rawdon, Sir Edwin Stede, and Sir Willoughby Chamberlayne the honour of knighthood was conferred 2 . This gracious measure was no doubt intended to cover the harsh proceedings which the 1 Colonel, (afterwards Sir Thomas) Modyford removed with his large property to Jamaica, where he introduced the cultivation of sugar. He succeeded Colonel Lynch as Governor of Jamaica in 1663. 5 Oldmixon’s British Empire in America, vol. ii. p. 110. 1662.] DEATH OF THE SECOND EARL OF CARLISLE. 287 government contemplated against the planters. Instead of removing the restrictions with which the Commonwealth had fettered the commerce of the colonies, Charles the Second not only adopted and confirmed the navigation laws, but rendered them still more stringent, by decreeing that the master and three-fourths of the mariners should be English subjects. This however was not the only instance of an ungrateful return for their fidelity to the King which the Barbadians received. Lord Wil¬ loughby’s application for a renewal of his commission made it evident to the planters that they were still regarded, under the patent of the Earl of Carlisle, as mere tenants-at-will; and although two acts had passed,—one in the time of Governor Bell, and the other five years after¬ wards under Lord Willoughby—confirming their rights to their several estates,they considered that theirvaliditymight be sooner or later disputed. Lord Clarendon, in his defence attached to his autobiography 1 , says,— “All those men who had entered upon that plantation as a waste place, and had, with great charge brought it to that perfection, and with great trouble, began now to apprehend that they must depend upon the good will of the Earl of Carlisle and Lord Willoughby for the enjoyment of their estates there, which they had hitherto looked upon as their own. All these men joined together in an appeal to the king, and humbly prayed his protection, and that they might not be oppressed by these two lords. They pleaded that they were the king’s subjects ; that they had repaired thither as to a desolate place, and had by their industry obtained a livelihood there, when they could not with a good conscience stay in England. That if they should be now left to those lords to ransom themselves, and compound for their estates, they must leave the country, and the plantation would be destroyed, which yielded his Majesty so good a revenue. That they could defend themselves by law against the Earl of Carlisle’s title, if his Majesty did not countenance it by a new grant of the government to the Lord Willoughby, and therefore they were suitors to his Majesty, that he would not destroy them by that countenance.” While these proceedings were pending the second Earl of Carlisle died, and bequeathed his rights in the West Indies to the Earl of Kin- noul. The planters, in their petition to the King, insisted positively that the charter granted to the first Earl of Carlisle was void; and they pro¬ posed that either the King should grant them leave to institute in his name, but at their own cost, a process in the Exchequer for trying the validity of the Earl’s patent, or that he should leave those who claimed under it to their legal remedy. They pretended that neither the late nor the first Earl of Carlisle had incurred the smallest expense in settling the island, and they had hitherto derived large profits from the island, which the inhabitants considered a sufficient reward for their adventure. Every day arose new claimants on the revenue which might accrue 1 Life of Edward Earl of Clarendon; written by himself, 3rd edition, vol. iii. p. 933 et seq. 288 HISTORY OF RARBADOS. [1GG2. from the Earl’s possessions, and the King appointed several Lords of the Council to consider the whole matter, and to confer with the several parties, and if possible to make an end between them by their own con¬ sent; otherwise to report the several titles to his Majesty, with such ex¬ pedients as in their judgement they thought most likely to give general satisfaction, without endangering the plantation, “ the preservation whereof his Majesty took to heart.” The contending parties, as well as the merchants and planters interested in Barbados then resident in England, were heard before the Committee. Mr. Kendall, the more readily to induce the King to take the sovereignty of the island into his own hands, offered in the name of the planters to consent to a tax on all produce of the island, which he confidently thought would “ amount in the year to three thousand pounds at least, out of which his Majesty’s Governor might be well supported, and his Majesty dispose of the over¬ plus as he should think fit.” This was too tempting a proposition to be resisted; and the King resolved in the first place to refer the considera¬ tion of the validity and legality of the patent of the Earl of Carlisle to his the legal advisers of the Crown, who upon full deliberation, and after hearing all parties, returned their opinion, “ that the patent was void, and that his Majesty might take the same into his own power.” This report was no sooner made than the King declared “ he would not receive from hence any benefit or advantage to himself until all the claims of the creditors on the revenue had been satisfied, and therefore that Lord Willoughby should proceed on his voyage to Barbados, and should receive, according to his bargain, a moiety of the profits arising from the tax; and that the other part should be disposed of for the satisfaction of the debts and the other incumbrances of the Earl of Carlisle.” The same Committee of Lords were desired to meet again, for the pur¬ pose of making some computation of the yearly revenue which would arise from this impost, and to adjust the several proportions of the claims. But the planters, when called before the Committee to give information respecting the annual revenue, denied that Mr. Kendall possessed any authority to make such an offer as he had done before the King in council, and declared that the plantation could not bear the imposition he had mentioned: the utmost they could be brought to promise for themselves was, that they would endeavour to persuade their friends in the island, when Lord Willoughby should arrive there and summon an Assembly, to consent to as great an impost as the circumstances of the colony would admit. The claimants on the revenue were the creditors of the Earl of Carlisle, who was indebted at his death in the sum of eighty thousand pounds. The heirs of the Earl of Marlborough put in a claim for the arrears of the annuity of three hundred pounds, which had been granted by the first Earl of Carlisle to the Lord Treasurer as a compromise for the FOUR-AND-HALF PER CENT. DUTY. 289 1663.] priority of his grant of Barbados, and which had never as yet been paid. Lord Willoughby insisted on receiving a moiety of whatever profits might arise during the remainder of the term of his lease yet unexpired: the other moiety was claimed by the Earl of Kinnoul, but neither he, nor the person under whom he claimed, should have any right to this moiety till all the debts were satisfied. Instead of trying the legality of the Earl’s patent, the Lords advised a compromise of the matter, as they thought it an unseasonable time, “ when the nation was so active and industrious in foreign plantations, to see a charter or patent questioned or avoided, after it had been so many years allowed and countenanced.” Their Lordships proposed therefore, first, an honourable and immediate provision for the Earl of Kinnoul, who, it was alleged, had sacrificed his fortune in the King’s cause, and who had consented to surrender the patent of the Earl of Carlisle if such a provision were made to him; secondly, a full dis¬ charge of the Earl of Marlborough’s annuity ; thirdly, it was stipulated that the net revenue should be equally divided between Lord Willoughby and the creditors of the Earl of Carlisle during the unexpired term of his Lordship’s lease. On the expiration of that term, the remainder, after the reservation of so much as his Majesty should think fit for the support of his Governor, was ordered to be divided among the creditors until their just debts should be discharged. On the settlement of those several incumbrances, it was stipulated that the whole revenue subject to the charge of the Governor’s maintenance should be at the disposal of the Crown. These were the terms on which it was proposed that the pro¬ prietary government should be dissolved, and the planters should consider themselves as legally confirmed in the possession of their estates. To accomplish this object Lord Willoughby was urged to proceed without delay to Barbados, and endeavour to obtain from the Assembly such an impost on their native commodities as should be reasonable, in consideration of the great benefits they would enjoy in being continued in possession of their plantations, of which as yet they were but tenants- at-will. Lord Willoughby arrived in Barbados in August 1663, where he found the Assembly sitting. In his zeal to accomplish his mission, he neglected to call a new Assembly, but submitted the proposition to the one which he found sitting : it was opposed with loud murmurs, and every means of persuasion and even force was required to induce the representatives of the people to consent to such a heavy impost. Colonel Farmer, an extensive proprietor who headed the opposition, was arrested and sent prisoner to England, on charge of sedition and high-treason. On his arrival he was brought before the King in council, where, accord¬ ing to Lord Clarendon, he behaved in so indecorous a manner, that he was remanded to prison, nor did he obtain his liberty till after a tedious and severe confinement. Lord Willoughby ultimately gained his object, and the Legislature, u 290 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1666. in consideration of the great charges that there must be of necessity in maintaining the dignity and honour of His Majesty’s authority here, and all other expenses incumbent on the Government in Barbados, passed an Act on the 12th of September 1663, for “ settling the impost of four- and-half per cent, in specie upon all dead commodities of the growth or produce of this island that shall be shipped olf the same.” This enormous duty fell heavily on the planters of Barbados for one hundred and seventy-five years; in spite of all endeavours during suc¬ ceeding generations to relieve themselves of this heavy burden, it was only repealed in the reign of her present Majesty. Charles the Second had declared war against the States-General. The Dutch fitted out an expedition, under the command of the celebrated Admiral De Kuyter, which was to be directed against the British posses¬ sions. After destroying the English settlements on the coast of Africa, he arrived on the 29th of April 1665, with a fleet of twelve line-of-battle ships, two fire-ships and several small craft, and two thousand five hun¬ dred men. He met near the island about thirty merchant-vessels, under the escort of a man-of-war: he ran nearly all these on shore. On the 30th the squadron entered the bay; but on the news of its approach the vessels had been towed close to land between the two batteries; and when De Ruyter attempted to follow, he was received with such a brisk fire from the batteries, that his own vessel, the Mirror, was disabled, and after a fruitless attempt at landing he was obliged to withdraw with the loss of masts, ten men killed, and fifteen wounded 1 . In the beginning of May 1666, Lord Willoughby sent his nephew Lieu¬ tenant-General Henry Willoughby, with eight hundred men to reinforce Colonel Wats at St. Christopher’s; the island had however surrendered before the arrival of this assistance. Part of the troops were landed at Nevis and part at Antigua, and this commander sent to his uncle Lord Willoughby for further orders. The outrages committed by the French in conjunction with the Dutch upon the British Caribbee islands, deter¬ mined Lord Willoughby to conduct an expedition himself in order to chastise the aggressors. It is stated by others that he received the King’s orders for this purpose 2 , and this is evident from the circumstance that his Majesty had appointed Henry Willoughby, Henry Hawley and Samuel Barwick, joint commissioners or deputy governors to conduct the administration during Lord Willoughby’s absence. His Lordship sailed on the 28th of July 1666, with seventeen sail and nearly two thousand troops, and took possession of St. Lucia. On the 30th he was off St. Pierre under French colours, and on the 2nd of August off Guadaloupe. On the 4th he sent three frigates and some smaller vessels in the Saints to destroy some French ships which were lying there. 1 Life of Michel De Ruyter. Amsterdam, 1698, p. 267- 2 Warden, Chronol. Historique de l’Amerique, vol. viii. p. 532. 291 1666.] LORD FRANCIS WILLOUGHBY LOST IN A HURRICANE. Lord Willoughby, observing symptoms of an approaching hurricane, was extremely anxious for the return of the ships, but the ship of the officer in command having received some damage, it could not be refitted before night. At six o’clock in the afternoon the gale commenced from the north and blew until midnight, when after a short calm it shifted sud¬ denly to the east-south-east, and continued with the greatest fury. Every vessel and boat upon the coast of Guadaloupe and in the Saints was driven ashore, and of the whole of Lord Willoughby’s fleet only two were ever heard of afterwards. The whole coast in Guadaloupe was covered with the wrecks of masts and yards, and a figure from the stern of Lord Willoughby’s ship was recognised among the wrecks 1 . During the administration of the deputy-governors, commissioners were appointed to revise and compile all the laws and statutes then in force 2 . They made an attempt to relieve the island from the four-and-half per cent, duty, by declaring that the Assembly which consented to that act was not legally constituted. Lord Willoughby, on the dissolution of the proprietary government, had neglected to summon a new Assembly under the royal authority, and the Act which imposed this burden was passed by an Assembly convened in President Walrond’s time. This objection was however overruled. On the arrival of the news of Lord Willoughby’s death, the King issued a commission to Lord William Willoughby, brother of Lord Francis, to be Governor for three years 3 . 1 Du Tertre, who gives a detailed account of this disaster, says (vol. iv. p. 98.) that when the people of Guadaloupe heard of the design of Lord Willoughby to chastise their countrymen in St. Christopher’s for their cruelties to the English, the inhabitants of Guadaloupe running along shore as the fleet passed by, implored the Almighty to destroy the English squadron by a hurricane. Du Tertre, referring to their vows, says, “ et faisant cette priere avec tant d’instance qu’il y a quelque ap- parence qu’ils furent exauces.” That .vengeance proved however equally destructive to them, as houses and trees were blown down, and a great number of cattle killed. 2 See ante, p. 201. 3 The preamble of that commission is as follows:—“ Charles the Second by the grace of God, &c. To all to whom these presents shall come greeting: Whereas we have been informed that our light trusty and well-beloved Francis Lord Willoughby of Parham, Captain-General and Governor-in-chief of our Islands, Colonies, and Plantations in America, called the Caribbee Islands, is lately deceased, but cannot yet be certainly advertized thereof; and being desirous to provide for the defence and government of those islands in case the same be void, as there is great cause to doubt by his de¬ cease; and we, reposing especial trust and confidence in the prudence, industry, fortitude and circumspection of William Willoughby, brother of the said Francis Lord Willoughby to whom his honor and dignity of Lord Willoughby of Parham is descended, in case he be deceased; and for divers other good causes and considera¬ tions as thereunto moving of our especial grace, certain knowledge and meer motion, have assigned, ordained, constituted and appointed, and by these presents, do assign, ordain, constitute and appoint the said William Willoughby to be our Captain-Ge¬ neral and Govemor-in-chief, in and over all and every the said Islands, Colonies, U 2 292 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1667 . The commission is dated Westminster, the third day of January, and in the eighteenth year of the King’s reign. Lord Willoughby arrived on the 3rd of June 1667, accompanied by a regiment of troops under Sir Tobias Bridge. The continuance of the Dutch war and the recent attempt of De Ruyter on Barbados, were doubtless the cause of this measure, and not any mistrust of the loyalty of the inhabitants. The soldiers were provided for at a considerable expense to the colony, and were afterwards employed in making a descent on Tobago, which they took and plundered, carrying off four hundred prisoners, besides a large number of negroes 1 . The Assembly empowered the Governor of the island for the time being, to appoint a Provost-Marshal, and passed an Act directing how the clerks and marshals for the several Courts of Common Pleas within the island should he appointed, and what they were to receive. The office of Provost-Marshal became soon afterwards a patent office; it is mentioned as such in Sir Richard Dutton’s report. The peace between the English, •French and Dutch was signed at Breda, on the 21st of July 1667: some time however passed before it took effect in the West Indies. Lord Willoughby sailed with three line- of-battle ships for Nevis, where he arrived on the 28th of December to claim the English prisoners from M. Barre the French commander. They were delivered up with the exception of Mr. Thomas Warner, the late Governor of Dominica 2 ; whereupon he sent Colonel Stapleton ashore to claim his release likewise, which was obtained with some difficulty. Lord Willoughby appears to have been most active in his government . In the beginning of February in the following year he sailed from Bar¬ bados with a great number of colonists, to re-establish the colonies of Antigua and Montserrat, which had been quite desolated during the war. In passing St. Vincent and Dominica he concluded a peace with the and Plantations, called the Caribbee Islands, and all other our islands, colonies, and plantations lying betwixt ten and twenty degrees of north latitude, and extending from the Isle of St. John de Porto Rico easterly to three hundred twenty and seven degrees, and every part and number of them, and every of them by what name or names soever they or any of them are, or be called, known, reputed or distinguished.” Lansdowne MS., No. /G7- This warrant is very voluminous; the above has been given to show the Governor’s title and the extent of his government, and at the same time the caution with which it was issued in case Francis Lord Willoughby should be still alive. 1 This occurred only in 1672. Bryan Edwards’s History of the West Indies, vol. iv. p. 278. Lord Willoughby no doubt availed himself of the troops when making his expedition to the Leeward Islands. 2 Thomas Warner was the natural son of Sir Thomas Warner by a Carib woman. He is described as a man of good appearance and undaunted coinage, and Lord Wil¬ loughby, who patronized him, appointed him Governor of Dominica. He was taken by the French in an English privateer. 1669.] LORD WILLIAM WILLOUGHBY GOVERNOR-IN-CHIEF. 293 Caribs through the mediation of Thomas Warner, and reinstated him as Governor of Dominica. The House of Assembly showed a great piece of gallantry to Lady Willoughby by appropriating a considerable part of the excise duty to the purchase of a set of jewels, as a testimony of their respect for her, and the pleasure which her residence among them con¬ ferred upon the island. Bridgetown was seriously injured by fire in 1668: it was however rebuilt in a more substantial manner. The term for which Lord Willoughby was appointed was nearly at an end, and in order to obtain a renewal of it his Lordship proceeded in November 1668 to England, and commissioned at his departure Colonel Christopher Codrington to administer the government in his absence. He had greatly endeared himself to the inhabitants by his administra¬ tion, and many important and beneficial laws which were passed during that period proved him an effective and upright governor. The term of Lord Willoughby’s appointment, in virtue of Lord Carlisle’s patent, having elapsed without his Lordship’s return or the government trans¬ mitting any orders, the legislature met on the 23rd of December 1669, and declared themselves to be governor, council and assembly, until his Majesty’s pleasure should be known 1 . Lord Willoughby arrived shortly afterwards with a new commission, appointing him Governor-in-chief of Barbados and the Caribbee islands to windward of Guadaloupe. The Leeward islands were now constituted into a separate government under Sir William Stapleton. The inhabitants of the Leeward Islands had petitioned the Lords’ Com¬ mittee for Trade and Plantations to separate the government of their islands from that of Barbados. Lord Willoughby, Sir Peter Colleton, and Mr. Drax were heard in reference to this petition on the 25th of October 1670 2 , and his Lordship desired that copies of the reasons for such a re¬ quest should be communicated to him, which was complied with. The memorialists were however successful, and the governments were se¬ parated. The following year is remarkable for the treaty of alliance and com¬ merce between Great Britain and Spain 3 . Previous to this treaty the Spaniards considered as an enemy every European nation who attempted to make settlements in America. Lord Willoughby remained only a short time in Barbados, and at his 1 Memoirs of Barbados, p. 42. 2 See Minutes of the Committee for Trade and Plantations, Phillipps’s MS., No. 8539, vol. i. entry of 25th October 1670. 3 The treaty is entitled “ Tractatus et Arnica Compositio inter Carolum Secundum, Regem Magme Britannia;, et Carolum Secundum, Regem Hispaniae, ad bonam cor- respondentiam in America interruptam rursus instaurandam, et depraidationes inju- riasque omnes coercendas. Actum Madriti, die 18 Julii 1670.” 294 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1674 . departure he appointed Colonel Codrington a second time his deputy. Old- mixon enumerates a long list of valuable and important measures which were carried during his government, which testify to his great energy and untiring attention to the duties of his exalted station. Two of the most important acts for a young colony he signed in October 1670, namely “ an Act to prevent the abuse of lawyers and the multiplicity of lawsuits,” and “ an Act for establishing the courts of Common Pleas within the island.” James Beek, or Captain James Beek as he is afterwards called, pro¬ cured an act of Assembly empowering him to build a public wharf in the town of St. MichaePs. This appears to have been the first structure of that description for public accommodation. Beek was one of the first settlers, and is mentioned in the list of proprietors in the ‘ Memoir of the First Settlement.’ Lord Willoughby returned on the 2nd of July 1672, with instructions that, in case of the death or absence of the Governor, the Council should exercise the executive authority; and this body was thenceforth honoured with the name of his Majesty’s Council. The Governor was appointed Ordinary and Vice-Admiral, and his authority was greatly enlarged. It was however made imperative upon him to transmit to England all laws within three months of their passing the Legislature, for the royal appro¬ bation or rejection; and it was decreed that without the Sovereign’s special assent no law was to continue in force longer than three years. Lord Willoughby’s ill-health obliged him to resign in April 1673, and, having appointed Sir Peter Colleton the senior member of the Council to administer the government 1 , he returned to England. His Lordship died in England in 1674, and was succeeded by Sir Jonathan Atkins on the 1st of November in that year. Thus ended the reign of the Lords Willoughby in Barbados. It is observed in the f Universal History,’ that “ notwithstanding the outcries against the tax of the four-and-half per cent, duty, and the unjustifiable proceeding against Farmer, it must be acknowledged that the adminis¬ tration of these two Lords was prudent, mild and equitable, and well-cal¬ culated for the prosperity of the island.” 1 It is not known for what reason Colonel Codrington was removed from the Board. It is likely that he resigned of his free will as he removed in 1674 to Antigua, where he applied himself to the cultivation of sugar with great success, in which he was imitated by others. Some years afterwards he was nominated Captain-General and Commander-in-chief of all the Leeward Caribbee islands. 1675 .] GREAT HURRICANE. 295 CHAPTER IV. PERIOD FROM THE APPOINTMENT OF SIR JONATHAN ATKINS AS GOVERNOR IN 1674, TO THE RETURN OF THE BARBADOS REGI¬ MENT. On the appointment of Sir Jonathan Atkins, his salary from the Govern¬ ment was fixed at eight hundred pounds a-year, which, considering the responsibility of his office and the appearance he was obliged to keep up as his Majesty’s representative, was a very moderate sum. The names of his Majesty’s Council had been inserted in the Governor’s instructions, and there is the following very remarkable entry in the minutes of the Committee for Trade and Plantations, under March 9th, 1674, which seems to explain the absence of Colonel Codrington from the Board:— “The Earl of Arlington acquainted the Council that several persons no¬ minated in the draught of the commission and instructions to Sir Jonathan Atkins to be counsellors of Barbados are either dead, gone, or upon going from thence, viz. Samuel Barwick, John Knight, and Sir Peter Colleton; and it was therefore proposed that others might be nominated in their places, and particularly desired that Mr. Peirce and Colonel Codrington might be two of them; whereupon the Council agreed that Mr. Peirce should be one, but that Colonel Codrington, who is much in debt and who has no visible estate in the island, was no fit man to be a councillor. And Mr. Slingsby was desired against the next meeting of the Council to bring in the names of fit persons to be put into the Council of Barbados.” If this objection is really well-founded, it proves in what a short period Colonel Codrington amassed his fortune in Antigua. Sir Jonathan Atkins fixed his seat of government at Fontabelle. An awful hurricane desolated the island in the following year 1 ; and, as if to increase the calamity, the colonies in New England, upon which Barbados depended for her supplies, were not in a state to furnish either provisions or timber in sufficient quantities. Credit failed, and numerous families who had formerly lived in opulence were obliged to retire in order to escape their creditors. Among other plans for the relief of the island, the Legislature peti¬ tioned the King to remit the four-and-half per cent, duty, as the only means of saving the planters from ruin : this urgent prayer was refused. The island had scarcely recovered from this calamity, when the British Government laid new shackles on her commerce. A charter for the ex¬ clusive supply of negroes to the West India Islands was granted to a 1 See ante, p. 45. 296 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1676 . Company, at the head of which stood the Duke of York, and which adopted the title of the Royal African Company. The colonists were restricted to purchase their slaves from a body which took advantage of the monopoly they possessed, for demanding the most exorbitant prices for their human merchandize. The new Governor was instructed to seize and confiscate all vessels entering the bay with slaves on board which did not possess the license to trade from the Royal African Company. The ‘ Constant Warwick ’ man-of-war was stationed near the coast to seize all interlopers; and these harsh proceedings had such an effect upon the colony, that numerous families were reduced to beggary, and the bank¬ ruptcies of merchants became events of frequent occurrence 1 2 . During these calamities a new insurrection threatened to complete the ruin of the island; it was fortunately discovered, and the adoption of the most energetic measures prevented its breaking out. The conspiracy was planned among the Coromantee negroes, and had been in agitation for nearly three years. Their plan was to choose Cuffy a Coromantee negro for their king; and by sounding trumpets and gourds, and setting the sugar-canes on fire, they intended to give the signal to their confede¬ rates. Their masters were all to be massacred, and the handsomest of the white women were to be reserved for their desires. Anna, a house- servant of Justice Hall, overheard the conversation from the garden be¬ tween a young Coromantee and his comrade, the former refusing to have anything to do with the plot; Anna prevailed afterwards upon the young negro to reveal the conspiracy to her master, who immediately conveyed information of it to Sir Jonathan Atkins. The Governor took such ener¬ getic measures that the ringleaders were apprehended before their plan was carried into execution: seventeen were found guilty and executed: six were burnt alive, and eleven beheaded: five who were impeached hanged themselves before their trial came on. The details of this insurrection are related in a pamphlet printed in 1676, entitled ‘ Great Newes from the Barbados, or a true and faithful account of the grand conspiracy. London, 1676V It is remarkable that none of the historians of Bar¬ bados mention this contemplated insurrection, while it is related by Old- mixon, that about the period of the visit of the Duke of Albemarle a conspiracy was contemplated, which was discovered in time to prevent its outbreak, and about twenty of the ringleaders were put to death. It is evident that this is the insurrection alluded to in the pamphlet, and the express mention of Sir Jonathan Atkins as Governor proves that Old- mixon is incorrect in stating the event to have taken place in 1688. The 1 Sec ‘ The Groans of the Plantations, by Edward Littleton.’ 2 This pamphlet, consisting of fourteen pages in small quarto, is in the British Museum under the press mark 1197 g- 5. It was printed by L. Curtis in Goat-court, upon Ludgate-hill. 1680.] SIR RICHARD DUTTON, GOVERNOR. 297 other historians have merely copied from Oldmixon. The author of this pamphlet mentions that, according to the official list, the inhabitants amounted about that time to eighty thousand. It is considered that the island had reached its greatest prosperity at the period when Sir Jonathan assumed the government, and that it possessed at that time 150,000 inhabitants. To avoid repetition the reader is referred to the authentic information contained in former pages of this work 1 , which entirely refute the assertion that Barbados ever possessed such a large population. It cannot be denied that, however large its population was at this time, however flourishing its trade, the hurricane in 1675 and the oppressive and mistaken measures of the British Government, greatly reduced its population and prosperity. A minute in the proceedings of the Committee for Trade and Planta¬ tions exhibits the mal-practices of the patentees of offices in Barbados. It is to this effect :—“ Mr. Slingsby was desired to examine some of the patents of offices in the Barbados, made so under the great seal of Eng¬ land, and give an account to this Council how far they were responsible for then- deputies; Sir Jonathan Atkins having complained of the incon¬ veniences arising from the ill execution of offices by deputies that were not responsible, whereupon the Council came to an opinion that the Governor should be instructed to take caution of all such deputies for the well-executing of their office and places; but the further debate thereof was adjourned till their next meeting.” It appears that the Royal African Company was not satisfied with the proceedings of Sir J onathan, who was not severe enough for then’ rapacity; he was therefore recalled, and Sir Richard Dutton, a minion of the court, received the appointment, under the patronage of the Duke of York, who apparently considered him a fit instrument of oppression to execute the designs of the Company more efficiently. He sailed in February 1680 for Barbados, where he arrived in the ensuing April 2 . It has been stated that the names of the members of the Council were for the first time inserted in Sir Richard Dutton’s instructions; the evidence from the minutes of the Committee for Trade and Plantations proves this assertion to he erroneous, as they had been before inserted in Sir Jonathan Atkins’s instructions. The new Governor was received with great kindness by the inhabitants, and in spite of recent disasters he found the colony in a flourishing state; he issued writs for a new election of representatives, and two of the first Acts which passed that body were to confirm the lease of Fontabelle to him, and to frame a new militia-bill. One of the 1 See ante, p. 80 et seq. 2 Poyer, in his History of Barbados, p. 116, states that he arrived on the 7th of March. According to Oldmixon (vol. ii. p. 40) and the ‘ Short History of Barbados,’ he arrived in April, which is more likely, as he left England in February and touched on his way out at Madeira. 298 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1684 . . clauses inserted was to the effect that all the militia should appear in red coats, which was considered an expensive and unnecessary innovation. This was only the commencement of a number of arbitrary steps, which distinguish the administration of Sir Richard Dutton. Charles the Second’s bigoted proceedings, and his open support of the Catholic reli¬ gion, caused numerous petitions to be presented to him complaining of the increase of popery, and desiring a new session of parliament. In order to ingratiate himself with the King and court. Sir Richard caused the As¬ sembly to move a dutiful address to the throne. This step was taken to swell the number of counter-addresses which the minions of the court were induced to lay before the King, and in which they declared their abhorrence of the presumptuous attempt expressed in the former ad¬ dresses to intimidate the King into certain measures. The Grand Jury followed their example; and as Sir Richard was then on the point of returning to England for a short time, the fulsome address was delivered to him to lay in person before his Majesty. The tyrannical and oppressive proceedings of the Governor induced many families to leave the island; and this took place so extensively, that the Legislature was obliged to pass an Act to regulate the manner of issuing tickets or permissions for leaving the country from the Secretary’s office. Previous to the Governor’s departure, he appointed Sir John Witham deputy-governor,—an act in direct opposition to his instruc¬ tions, according to which the senior member of the Council was to carry on the administration of affairs. His absence was only for a short period, as he returned in September 1684. It appears that Sir Richard presided himself in court, to judge the forfeitures made on account of the Royal African Company; and the spoils were divided between the Crown, him¬ self, and the informers. A curious minute in the proceedings of the Committee for Trade and Plantations gives some information respecting these nefarious transactions. Captain Jones, late commander of H.M. ship the Diamond, petitioned their Lordships, that having been appointed to the command of that ship with instructions to proceed to Barbados, and to seize all persons trading contrary to the Act of trade and charter of the Royal African Company, he had seized a vessel on the 29th of January 1684, belonging to Captain John Sutton of Barbados, which having been condemned according to the Governor’s instructions, and delivered to the Provost-marshal, Sir Richard took possession of the ship and goods, and rendered an account of one third part to his Majesty, another third part to the petitioner, and kept the remainder for himself. Out of the proceeds of the sale he merely paid to Captain Jones one hundred pounds, and a similar sum to his Majesty, as coming to their share, while Captain Jones observes that one share alone should have amounted to at least three hundred pounds. When the Governor received information of the accession of James the THE MONMOUTH REBELS. 299 1685.] Second to the throne, Sir Richard immediately summoned the Council, and proclaimed his Majesty, on the 23rd of April 1685, with great so¬ lemnities and magnificence. The proclamation took place at Cheapside, and the Governor marched from thence to James 5 Fort with military parade and the salutes from that fort and all other forts, platforms, lines and batteries. This pomp and parade was followed by a heavy taxation upon the staple produce. The duty on Muscovado sugar was increased to two shillings and fourpence per hundredweight, and to seven shil¬ lings upon all sugars fit for common use. Several petitions were sent in against this harsh measure 1 , and various pamphlets 2 written, but all to no effect,—the duty remained fixed. This burden considerably reduced the value of the plantations, and as the French colonists in Guadaloupe and Martinique, and the Portuguese in Brazil, had greatly extended the cultivation of sugar, they became formidable rivals; the more so as they were able to produce sugar at thirty per cent, less expense than the British sugar-planters. The rebellion of the Duke of Monmouth, the natural son of Charles the Second, caused a number of unfortunate persons implicated, or accused of being so, to be transported to Barbados and the other West India islands 3 . As 4n the instance of the victims of the Salisbury rising, these unfortunate men were treated most inhumanly. Sir Richard Dutton, by special directions from his Majesty’s command, recommended the Assembly to frame an Act for “the governing and retain¬ ing within this island all such rebels convict as by his Majesty’s most sacred orders or permit have been or shall be transported from his European dominions to this place.” The Governor was enjoined to prevent all clandestine releasements, or buying-out of their time, to the end that their punishment after so great a mitigation might yet in some measure be answerable to their crime. Oldmixon observes that they were treated 1 See the preamble to one of these petitions, p. 260. 2 Among these belong the ‘Groans of the Plantations.’ A large number of tracts on this subject are found in the collection of printed books in the British Museum, under ‘Tracts relating to Various Trades.’ 3 Lord Sunderland wrote from Windsor to Judge Jeffreys to acquaint him from the King, that of such persons as the Judge should think qualified for transportation, the following individuals were to be furnished with these numbers; namely Sir Philip Howard was to have two hundred, Sir William Booth one hundred, Mr. Kendal one hundred, Mr. Niplio one hundred, Sir William Stapleton one hundred. Sir Christopher Musgrave one hundred, a merchant whose name Lord Sunderland did not know, one hundred. Thus it was proposed to give away one thousand. The King directed Chief-Justice Jeffreys to give orders for delivering the said numbers to the above persons respectively, to be forthwith transported to some of his Majesty’s southern plantations, viz. Jamaica, Barbados, or any of the Leeward islands in America, to be kept there for the space of ten years before they should have their liberty. In the end, eight hundred and forty-nine of Monmouth’s followers, all from the west, were sold.— Robert’s Duke of Monmouth, vol. ii. p. 243. 300 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1G85. with such rigour, that their condition was rendered almost as bad as that of the negroes. The Governor was meanwhile involved in unpleasant proceedings, which Sir John Witham had taken against him. It will be recollected that Sir Richard Dutton appointed Witham his deputy, when private business called the Governor to England. The King had desired that one-half of the emoluments arising from the governorship should be paid during his absence to his deputy; but Sir John Witham found great difficulty in exacting this share from his Excellency. Probably for the purpose of evading the payment, Witham was accused of mal-admini- stration, he was suspended from the Council and all public affairs, com¬ mitted to the custody of the Marshal, and bound to appear at the next court of Oyer and Terminer, at which Mr. Henry Walrond presided as Chief-Justice. Witham was tried upon three separate charges, and sentenced to pay a fine of eleven hundred pounds sterling. From this sentence Witham appealed to the King and Council, and at the council- chamber at Whitehall, on Tuesday the 24th of March 1685, his Majesty ordered that a letter should be prepared to Sir Richard Dutton and the Council, directing “ that Sir John Witham do come to England; also that Sir Richard Dutton and Henry Walrond, chief-judge of the grand sessions, attend his Majesty without delay; and likewise that a commission be prepared for Mr. Edwin Stede to be Lieutenant-Governor and Com- mander-in-chief of Barbados, in absence and upon the death of Sir Richard Dutton” 1 . Upon a full investigation of the proceedings against Sir John Witham, the King and Council annulled the sentence and ordered the fine to be remitted. This victory induced Sir John Witham to commence a prosecu¬ tion against Sir Richard Dutton and Henry Walrond, for an assault and false imprisonment. Judgement was given for Sir John Witham: with respect to the Governor it was afterwards reversed, but Mr. Walrond was fined thirty pounds, besides which the expenses connected with his suit and his voyage and detention in England almost caused his ruin. On his return the Assembly voted him a present of five hundred pounds, as an acknowledgement of his former services to the island 2 , which present was accompanied by an expression of their persuasion of his just proceed¬ ings in that particular affan. Mr. Edwin Stede, who had been appointed Deputy-Governor on the departure of Sir Richard Dutton, received a commission as Lieutenant- Governor. The extract from the minutes of the Lords’ Committee 1 Minutes of the Committee for Trade and Plantations. MS. Phillipps, 8539, vol. iii. 2 Respecting this grant, I find the following minute in the proceedings of the Lords’ Committee: “ 13th of August 1685: And <£ J 500 to Mr. Henry Walrond, senior, to defray the charge of his journey into England. Whereupon it is ordered that my Lord Chief Justice be consulted touching the money given by that Act to the said Walrond, and whether it ought not to be set apart till his Majesty allows of the gift, and determine whether he deserve the same.” SIR TIMOTHY THORNHILL. 301 1689.] proves that this measure was determined upon in England previous to the arrival of Sir Richard Dutton. Mr. Stede had been an agent of the Royal African Company, and he had to thank their interest for this high appointment. The Assembly confirmed the lease of Fontabelle to him, and he possessed the address to prevail upon the Legislature to present him (by an Act which passed on the 12th of July 1687) with one thousand pounds; from whence it became customary to make presents to the Governors 1 . The Duke of Albemarle, who had been appointed Governor of Jamaica, arrived in Barbados in 1687 on his passage to that island. The Lieu¬ tenant-Governor received him with great honours; the life-guards were stationed at the landing-place to receive and conduct him to Fontabelle, where he staid three weeks or a month, during which time they did duty there as a guard of honour. The revolution in 1688 caused the flight of James the Second to France, and the throne of Great Britain was declared to be abdicated. William and Mary were unanimously called to fill it conjointly. King William renewed Mr. Stede’s commission. When the information of these occur¬ rences arrived in the West Indies, the subjects of Louis the Fourteenth, who was the friend and protector of the Stuarts, commenced hostile pro¬ ceedings against the English settlers in St. Christopher’s. They were joined by some Irish Roman Catholics, and committed the greatest cruelties, not only in St. Christopher’s, but likewise in the adjacent islands. A party of Irish landed in Anguilla, and treated the defenceless in¬ habitants most barbarously: those who escaped with their lives were afterwards removed by Captain Thorn 2 . General Codrington, who had been appointed Governor of the Leeward islands, applied to Barbados for assistance against these depredators. The inhabitants of St. Christopher’s had been obliged to fly to the fort for safety. The Assembly thereupon came to the resolution of giving such assistance as they could afford; and Sir Timothy Thornhill, Major-General of the militia, having volunteered to lead an expedition for their relief, received authority to raise a regi¬ ment, and in less than a fortnight seven hundred men were raised and equipped at the public expense, and vessels provided for transporting them to St. Christopher’s. They sailed from Carlisle Bay on the 1st of August 1689, and arrived on the 5th at Antigua, where they learnt with regret that the fort at St. Christopher’s had been surrendered to the French on the 29th of July, and the English sent off the island to Nevis 3 . 1 From the passing of this Act to 1743, above <£96,000 sterling were voted away for presents to governors and presidents. 2 Several planters afterwards settled from Barbados in Anguilla, and carried on a profitable trade, but without any government, civil or ecclesiastical. 3 Relation of the proceedings of the forces in their expedition against the French in the Caribbee islands, by T. Spencer, Junior, Secretary to Sir Timothy Thornhill, London, 1691. Harleian Miscellany, vol. ix. p. 308 et seq. 302 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1690. Sir Timothy landed his troops in Antigua, and afterwards removed his regiment to Nevis, where Lieutenant-General Codrington joined him in December. It was now resolved to attack St. Bartholomew’s and St. Martin’s. The first was taken in four days’ time, with the loss of ten men killed and wounded. Between six and seven hundred prisoners surrendered, all of whom were transported—the men to Nevis, the children and women to St. Christopher’s: the live stock, negroes and goods, were carried to Nevis. This harsh proceeding was severely reprimanded when it became known in England, and the inhabitants were restored to their property. On the 19th of January 1690 General Thornhill made a feigned attack upon the weather-side of St. Martin’s, while in the night he himself landed with his men without any opposition on the lee-side of the island, the enemy having drawn their forces to the other side. He succeeded in destroying the principal fortification; but before he had accomplished his object entirely, the French Admiral Du Casse anchored on the 26th of January off the windward part of the island, “ hanging abroad bloody colours.” He landed his troops at night, but Thornhill had selected such a good position, that the French did not dare to attack them. On the 30th Colonel Hewetson arrived from Antigua with three ships and two hundred men. The French ships at anchor perceiving the English colours, weighed and stood out to meet them: about noon they engaged, and after four hours’ action the French bore away. In the morning Thornhill conveyed his artillery, baggage and plunder to the place of embarkation ; which the enemy perceiving, they attacked him, but were beaten back into the woods. All the English embarked in safety, except ten, who were killed in the action, and three who were taken prisoners asleep in one of the breastworks; there were about twenty more wounded, who with the rest arrived safe at Nevis on Sunday morning the 2nd of February. In June the English fleet arrived at Nevis, and the necessary prepara¬ tions were made to attack St. Christopher’s. General Codrington was appointed Commander-in-chief. The troops were mustered on the 16th of June, and amounted to three thousand men. On Thursday the 19th, the whole fleet, consisting of ten men-of-war, two fire-ships, twelve trans¬ ports and about twenty small craft, sailed from Nevis, and the same evening came to anchor in Frigate Bay, St. Christopher’s. On the 21st Major-General Thornhill landed between two and three o’clock with five hundred and fifty men at the little salt-ponds, at the foot of a hill, without opposition. This position was left unguarded, as the enemy thought it impossible that the English would march across that hill, it being so steep and difficult of ascent. Thornhill succeeded however, though the men were forced to use their hands as well as their feet, in climbing up the hill. At daybreak they gained the summit, where 1692.] SIR TIMOTHY THORNHILl/s RETURN. 303 they received a volley from some scouts, who immediately retreated. The Major-General leaving one company to secure the position on the summit, led the men about a third part down the hill before they were observed by the enemy, who now began to fire from the trenches. Thornhill was shot through his left leg; the English continued their attack and flanked them in their trenches. The Duke of Bolton’s and the marine regiments landing at the same time, the enemy was forced to quit their post in disorder. Thornhill had been obliged to retire on board one of the ships, and the command of his regiment fell upon Lieutenant-Colonel John Thomas, who was ordered to march with the Barbadians and the Duke of Bolton’s regiment into the country, supported by Colonel Williams’s regiment from Antigua as a reserve. They routed a small party of the enemy, but the main body of the French advancing, they were almost surrounded after half an hour’s fighting; when Colonel Williams coming up with the reserve, a vigorous attack was made, and the enemy driven from the field in confusion,—one part flying to the mountains, the rest to the fort. The next day the army marched into the town of Basseterre, which was given up to the troops for plunder. As soon as Sir Timothy Thorn¬ hill recovered from his wound, he resumed the command of his regiment, and contributed materially to the success of the English arms. The fort surrendered on the 14th of July. The English lost about one hundred men, killed and wounded, in retaking the island. Upon the 20th of July, Major-General Thornhill sailed with his own regiment and the marines against St. Eustatia, and that same evening sent a summons to the island to surrender, which was refused. After five days’ siege, the enemy sent out a flag of truce, and ultimately surrendered three days afterwards. The besieged were about sixty men, and behaved gallantly: Thornhill lost eight men killed and wounded : Lieutenant John M’Arthur was left in command of the island, and the inhabitants were carried pri¬ soners to St. Christopher’s, and from thence to Hispanola. Sir Timothy Thornhill now returned with his regiment to Barbados, with the proud consciousness that he and his troops had mainly contri¬ buted to the success of the British arms. The noble and disinterested offer of his services reflects the more credit upon him, as at the time when he undertook the command he was still smarting under the severe sen¬ tence of an arbitrary decree. He had expressed his opinion on public affairs rather freely when Mr. Stede assumed his government, for which he was prosecuted for sedition by order of the Governor, and fined five hundred pounds to the King, and fifteen hundred pounds to the Go¬ vernor. He appealed to King James the Second in council, but without success: the sentence was confirmed. On his return to Barbados, the Legislature voted him, on the 2nd of August 1692, their thanks in ac¬ knowledgement of his gallant services, accompanied by a present of one thousand pounds. 304 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1692. James Kendal, Esq., was appointed Captain-General and Chief-Governor of Barbados and the other Leeward islands. This appointment gave great satisfaction to the Barbadians, as Mr. Kendal was one of their countrymen : he arrived in June 1689 on board one of the ships of Commodore Wright’s fleet. Mr. Stcde removed to England and settled in Kent, where his family had a seat at Stcde-hill: the honour of knight¬ hood was conferred upon him, on presenting the loyal address of the grand jury of Barbados to their Majesties. Mr. Kendal convoked an Assembly and passed several laws; unfortunately so many disasters com¬ bined, that during his administration the prosperity of Barbados rapidly declined: this could not be ascribed to mal-administration, but to the influence of prevailing circumstances. The war continued to rage in the West Indies, the seas were infested by privateers, and the freights for produce had risen to such an enormous amount that the Legislature inter¬ fered, and stipulated the charge of freightage to England of one hundred pounds of Muscovado sugar at six shillings and sixpence, white sugars at seven shillings and sixpence, scraped ginger at six shillings, and cotton at twopence per pound. The shipowners would not conform to these restrictions, and kept away entirely; in consequence of which the affairs of the island suffered so severely that the Legislature was obliged to sus¬ pend or repeal this act. Colonel Kendal had received his Majesty’s commands to liberate the unfortunate men who were held in bondage in consequence of the Duke of Monmouth’s rebellion. The Governor got an Act passed nemine con- tradicente, on the 17th of March 1690, which he signed the same day, and which repealed the former Act for their detention in the island. In 1691 the Assembly considered it necessary that they should have agents in London, to watch and plead their interests : they chose Edward Little¬ ton and William Bridges as their agents, and appointed them for two years, with an annual salary of two hundred and fifty pounds to each 1 . In 1694 there were three agents, but afterwards the charge was confided to one person, whose salary had been raised in proportion to the increased share of business and the higher price of living. The Act for the ap¬ pointment of an agent is renewed annually. The privateers committed such injury, that the Legislature came to the resolution of equipping two sloops for the protection of their trade. A fearful contagion, said to have been brought by the troops, but more probably derived from the coast of Africa, made its appearance in the island in the year 1692, and the mortality raged with such fury that it was common to see twenty buried in a day. Most of the ships’ 1 The island must have possessed an agent previous to this period. I observe, from an entry in the Minutes of the Lords’ Committee under the 31st of May 1677, that the Assembly objected to pay for 1500 pikes sent for the use of the colony by the Ordnance department because they had already authorized their own agent to procure them 1200 firelocks. EXPEDITION TO MARTINIQUE. 305 1693.] crews, both men-of-war and merchantmen, died off completely, and the men-of-war could not leave their anchorage on a cruize for want of men. Commodore Wright, who had in several instances shown negligence and cowardice, was sent home prisoner. Commodore Wren, who succeeded him on the station, arrived in Barbados on the 16th of January 1691, with eight men-of-war and a convoy of merchantmen. Governor Kendal having received information that a French squadron was cruizing to the north-east of the island, ordered, with the advice of the Council, two merchant-ships to be taken into then’ Majesties’ service and equipped as men-of-war; these joined the fleet under the command of Commodore Wren, and sailed on the 30th of January in quest of the enemy; they returned on the 5th of February, not having seen the French squadron. Wren sailed again on the 17th of February with a fleet of merchantmen under convoy, and on the 21st of February attacked the French fleet near the island of Deseada, consisting of sixteen men- of-war and two fireships under the command of the Count de Benac. The contest lasted from eight o’clock in the morning until noon, during which time all the merchantmen had an opportunity of getting clear. Captain Wren returned with his squadron to Barbados on the 25th of February, without any loss. This brave commander unfortunately fell a victim to the prevailing disease, and a similar fate met most of the masters of ships who came to the island at that time. The great distress which prevailed in the island, and the decrease of the number of whites in consequence of the fearful epidemic, encouraged the slaves to form a new conspiracy. A day was appointed for a general revolt; the Governor was to be massacred, the magazine with warlike stores to be seized, and the forts to be surprised. The project was nearly ripe for execution when it was fortunately discovered: two of the ring¬ leaders were overheard and instantly arrested: they obstinately refused to reveal their confederates, and rather submitted to be hung in chains for four days without food or drink; their courage however at last gave way, and upon a promise of free pardon they confessed their accomplices 1 . It is said that the projected insurrection had been instigated by French emissaries from Martinique. A new expedition against the French had been determined on in 1693, and the colonies having been desired to furnish a proportion of troops for this service, the contingent for Barbados amounted to one thousand men. Two regiments of five hundred men each were raised and equipped, and the command given to Colonel Salter and Colonel Boteler. The ex¬ pense of this undertaking amounted to thirty thousand pounds, which 1 Southey’s Chronological History of the West Indies, vol. ii. p. 163. Warden, Chronologie Historique de l’Amerique, vol. viii. p. 533. Poyer’s History of Bar¬ bados, p. 155. Neither Oldmixon nor Frere mentions this planned insurrection. X 306 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1694. was certainly a very heavy burden for so small a community. The squadron was under the command of Sir Francis Wheeler, with fifteen hundred troops from England under Colonel Foulk. Besides the two regiments from the island, four hundred volunteers offered their services and joined the expedition. The squadron anchored on the 1st of April in the Cul de Sac Marine at Martinico: fifteen hundred men under Colonel Foulk were landed, and re-embarked the next day after burning a few houses. On the 9th, Colonel Codrington, with Lloyd’s regiment and a body of troops from Antigua and the other Leeward islands, joined the fleet. An attack was made upon St. Pierre on the 17th, in which the Barbadians distinguished themselves, and when success appeared to be certain the troops received orders to re-embark. Disease (or, as it is called by Sir Francis Wheeler, the spotted fever), which prevailed to a fearful extent among the troops, was given as a reason of the ill success; but it was conjectured that, many of the officers being Irish Roman Catholics, disaffection among the commanders was really the chief cause of the failure. Colonel Foulk died of fever when off St. Christopher’s 1 . Sir Francis Wheeler accuses, in a letter 2 , the Barbados colonels of being the cause that nothing was undertaken against Guadaloupe, as they refused to go, although Sir Francis considers it very fortunate that the expedition was not resolved upon, the spotted fever breaking out to such an extent that it would have caused the total loss of the expedition. He bestows the greatest praise upon the exertions of Governor Kendal to promote the expedition, and observes of General Codrington that “he was always at the head of his men at Martinique with all the cheerful¬ ness, without picking at Colonel Foulk commanding 3 .” After the failure of this expedition, the Assembly earnestly pressed the Governor, and desired their'agents in England, to petition the Lords of the Committee to garrison a regiment of soldiers in Barbados; this was not acceded to until Colonel Russel assumed the government. 1 Oldmixon’s British Empire in America, vol. ii. p. 64. 2 Phillipps’ MSS., No. 8544, State papers. West Indies. 8 Ohlmixon observes, “ had the officers who came from England done their duty as well as those that came from Barbados, we might probably have given a better account of it .”—Volume ii. p. 63. 1696.] DEATH OF GOVERNOR RUSSEL. 307 CHAPTER V. EVENTS FROM THE APPOINTMENT OF COLONEL RUSSEL AS GOVERNOR IN 1694 TO THE DEATH OF PRESIDENT BARWICK IN 1 733. Governor Kendal was recalled in 1694, and Colonel Russel, brother to the Earl of Orford, was appointed to succeed him. He received a commission for a regiment of soldiers, which were to accompany him to Barbados to form a garrison, the island providing for their accommodation. On the arrival of Colonel Kendal in England his Majesty was pleased to make him one of the Lords of the Admiralty. The Legislature voted Colonel Russel on his arrival a present of two thousand pounds, and in 1695, in addition to the other two thousand pounds, three hundred pounds were voted for replenishing his cellars. The disease not having abated, the Legislature was obliged to pass an act for the speedy supply of men for the Tiger and Mermaid, two of his Majesty’s ships lying in Carlisle Bay, the crews of which had nearly died off. Colonel Russel was accompanied to Barbados by his lady, the relict of the Lord North and Grey, and her daughter, both of whom died while there of the prevailing fever 1 . The Legislature was obliged to fit out the Marigold brig at the expense of the island, to bring home part of the troops which were employed under Sir Francis Wheeler, and who had been left in Antigua. They further granted the sum of fourteen hundred and eighty- four pounds sterling for victualling and manning the Bristol frigate and the Playfair prize, to cruize against the enemy; and the Child’s Play man-of-war was manned and provisioned at their expense, to escort their trade to Europe. Yet so carelessly were matters conducted in the island, that when Admiral de Pointis came in sight of Barbados with the French squadron on his way to Carthagena, there were not seven rounds of powder in the forts. Colonel Russel died of fever in 1696; and Francis Bond, the senior member of the Council resident on the island, assumed the administra¬ tion. The Legislature voted him neither present nor salary. Several salutary laws were passed during his government, among which one chiefly deserves mention, entitled an Act “ to keep inviolate and pre¬ serve the freedom of elections, and appointing who shall be deemed free¬ holders,” &c. A militia-bill passed the Legislature, and an Act “ for laying a duty on shipping for the public building of piers and clearing the bar in Carlisle Roads.” With regard to the latter act, the Assembly assumed 1 Oldmixon, vol. ii. p. 64. x 2 308 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1698. for the first time the right of annually appointing a storekeeper of the magazine, allowing to the Governor and Council merely the power of confirming or rejecting their choice. This assumed power is considered an encroachment on the prerogative of the Crown; custom however has sanctioned it to this day. The Honourable Ralph Grey, brother to the Earl of Tankerville, was appointed Governor, and embarking in England on board the Soldado’s Prize on the 1st of June, arrived in Carlisle Bay on the 26th of July 1698. In the beginning of that year information of the signing of the treaty of Ryswick reached the West Indies, to the great joy of the Bar¬ badians, who had suffered severely under the heavy taxation which the defence of their island entailed,—a burden which short crops, the ravages of epidemic diseases, and the injury suffered from the hurricane in 1694 materially augmented. Above forty sugar-estates had been aban¬ doned, and a great extent of land lay waste for want of labour. Under these distressing circumstances, it is rather astonishing that the Legis¬ lature should have again lavished considerable presents on their new Governor. They voted him on the 16th of August 1698 five hundred pounds currency for his habitation, the residence at Fontabelle being out of repair 1 , and on the 7th of September two thousand pounds currency for the charges of his voyage. A similar sum of two thousand pounds was voted him each successive year of his administration ; although Mr. Grey had been directed in his instructions not to suffer any money or value of money to be granted to any Governor or Commander-in-chief without the special permission of the King. The Governor was also directed not to suffer any public money to be disposed of otherwise than by warrant under his hand, by and with the advice and consent of the Council. Governor Grey’s administration was a happy one ; his urbanity and dis¬ interested conduct endeared him to the inhabitants, and his close applica¬ tion to the duties of his office proved that he had the welfare of the island at heart. The laws of the island were collected and printed, together with the acts which had been passed from 1648 to the 7th of September 1698: an Act to declare and ascertain the rights and power of the General Assembly of the island was one of the first which received his signature. During his administration Mr. Skeyne received his Majesty’s letters patent appointing him Secretary of the island and private Secretary to the Go¬ vernor 2 . The Governor considered the latter appointment an innovation, 1 Governor Grey took the dwelling-house at Hothersall’s plantation for his residence. 2 Mr. Poyer, in his History, p. 1/1, alluding to Mr. Skeyne’s appointment, states that the year 1698 was rendered particularly remarkable by the establishment of the first patent-office in Barbados. Patent-offices had been in existence long pre¬ vious to this period, and Sir Jonathan Atkins complained to the Committee for PLANNED INSURRECTION OF SLAVES. 309 1702.] as former Governors had appointed their own private secretary, who re¬ ceived considerable fees as perquisites, a certain per-centage of which de¬ volved upon the Governor. Mr. Skeyne, holding the appointment under the Crown, refused any share of these emoluments to the Governor, who appealed to. the Crown, without the matter being brought to an issue. On the death of his brother the barony of Werke fell to Mr. Grey; and as his health was impaired, he resigned his authority into the hands of Mr. John Farmer, son of the patriot, who for his opposition to the four-and-half per cent, duty was sent prisoner to England. Soon after the departure of the Governor the President received information of the death of King William the Third, and of the accession of Queen Anne. Her Majesty was proclaimed on the 18th of May 1702, with the usual ceremonies on the parade-ground. The Legislature transmitted a loyal and dutiful ad¬ dress of condolence on the death of his late Majesty, and of congratula¬ tion on the accession of her Majesty, which were presented by Lord Grey, the late Governor of Barbados. On the 4th of May 1702 the Queen declared war against France and Spain, and Commodore Walker was despatched to the West Indies with six ships of the line, having four regiments on board; the latter were billeted on the inhabitants. The island of Barbados entered into schemes of privateering, and a large number of vessels were fitted out to act against the French. Sixteen of them meeting together near Guada- loupe, the men landed on the island, burnt a great part of the west end of it, and carried off a large number of negroes 1 . The slaves made another attempt this year to throw off their yoke. It was their intention to seize the forts, and to burn Bridgetown : the plot was however timely discovered, and many of the ringleaders were executed. Upon the resignation of Mr. Ralph Grey (afterwards Lord Grey), the late King had appointed Mr. Mitford Crowe, an opulent London mer- Trade and Plantations of the inefficient manner in which the duties of these offices were executed. In Sir Richard Dutton’s Report the following patent-offices are enumerated:— Barbados, 1683. Patent Offices by his Majesty's Letters Patent. Richard Morley, Esq., Secretary. Edwin Stede, Esq., his Deputy. George Hannay, Gent., Provost-Marshal. Henry Ball, Gent., Examiner of the Court of Chancery. Charles Binks, Gent., his Deputy. Thomas Gleave, Gent., Clerk of the Naval Office. Thomas Robson, Gent., Clerk of the Market. John Hunter, his Deputy. See an Account of Barbados and the Government thereof, Sloane’s MS., No. 2441, or Phillipps’ MS., No. 8797. 1 Oldmixon, vol. ii. p. 72. 310 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1703. chant, as his successor: the King’s death however prevented his de¬ parture, and Queen Anne nominated Major-General Sir Bevil Granville Governor of Barbados. This was rather a disappointment to the Bar¬ badians, as they promised themselves a happy administration under Mr. Mitford Crowe, who had served his apprenticeship to Mr. Tillard a Barbados merchant, and had married the Lady Chamberlayne of that island. Sir Bevil Granville arrived in Barbados in 1703. He was strictly prohibited by his instructions from receiving any gift or present from the Assembly, on pain of incurring her Majesty’s displeasure, and of being recalled from the government. The Queen augmented his salary to two thousand pounds sterling, payable out of the four-and-half per cent, duty, which revenue the Queen otherwise promised should only be employed for the uses for which it had been granted, and that it should no longer be misapplied. The Assembly notwithstanding settled five hundred pounds per annum on the Governor. An elegant house was erected for his use on a small hill called Pilgrim, which continues the Governor’s residence to this day 1 ; and carrying their complaisance to an extreme, his Ex¬ cellency’s brother-in-law. Sir John Stanley, Secretary to the Lord Cham¬ berlain, was appointed one of their agents 2 . The good understanding between the Governor and the inhabitants did not last long; the island was divided into factions, and complaints were sent to England against his administration. From an apprehension of an invasion the duty of the militia became very irksome, and it had been proposed that the Governor should be authorized to embody two companies at the public expense, to be employed in guarding the coast. A Bill had been introduced for this purpose into the House of Assembly, which was resisted by a minority; but to prevent its passing into a law that minority seceded, and the defection of nearly one-third of the members of Assembly impeded the proceedings of the Legislature, as fifteen members at that time constituted a quorum. The Governor was ultimately obliged to dissolve the Assembly, and the seceders were dismissed from all their civil and military employments. Similar disputes prevailed at the Council-board, and four of the most turbulent members, namely George Lillington, David Ramsay, Benjamin Cryer, and Michael Terril, were suspended. A regular intercourse between Great Britain and the West India possessions was established about 1703. Upon the recommendation of 1 See ante, p. 249. 2 Oldmixon observes that in this measure “ their conduct was courtly indeed, but not very politic; for how is it possible that any man should be able to serve the island, as an agent ought, who is not fully apprized of the concerns, who does not perfectly understand its true interest, and has other avocations of more importance to him at least, than this agency?”— Oldmixon, vol. ii. p. 73. 311 1703.] EXPULSION OF FIVE MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY. the Lords’ Committee of Trade, Queen Anne gave her consent that a monthly sailing-packet should proceed to the West Indies 1 . In June of that year an attempt was made to assassinate the Governor : as he was sitting at a window in his residence, a pistol was fired at him from the road. Mr. Lillington, the ex-member of Council, was accused of this act, and was found guilty and sentenced to pay a fine of two thousand pounds. It was generally thought that there was more malice than reason in the accusation, and after the noise of the affair had some¬ what subsided the fine was remitted 2 . At the meeting of the new Assembly, it was proposed that thirteen members should thenceforth constitute a quorum. The opposition pro¬ tested against this measure, and when they found it of no avail they again seceded. They were summoned by order of the House through the Speaker, and having met they refused to resume their seats and enter upon business conformably to the rules of the House. They ultimately retired abruptly, and the House unanimously voted the expulsion of the refractory members 3 : the Governor issued new writs for the election of other members to supply the vacancies. It became a standing rule, for the prevention of a similar defection, that whenever a sufficient number of members had met to form a House, the door should be locked, and the key be given to the Speaker, without whose permission no member should be allowed to depart under pain of expulsion. The Governor’s conduct was approved of by the Queen, and one of her Majesty’s Se¬ cretaries of State was desired to communicate her approbation to Sir Bevil Granville. The suspension of the members of Council who had acted in opposition was confirmed. On the reception of this news, the Assembly, the majority of which were in favour of Sir Bevil, were so elated, that 1 The following notice was published at that time :—“ London, 11th of February 1702-3. Whereas her Majesty, for the encouragement of trade and commerce, has thought fit to appoint boats to convey letters and packets between Barbados, Antigua, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Christopher’s, and Jamaica in America; this is to give notice that a mail will go from the General Post-office, in London, on Thursday of this instant for the above-mentioned islands, and henceforward on Thursday in every month; and her Majesty, pursuant to the statute made in the twelfth year of the reign of King Charles the Second for establishing a post-office, has directed and empowered the Postmaster-General of England to take for the post of all such letters and packets that shall be conveyed by the said boats between London and any of the before-mentioned islands, the rates as follows :— s. d. For every letter not exceeding one sheet of paper. 0 9 For every letter not exceeding two sheets of paper. 1 6 For every packet weighing an ounce. 2 8 ” 2 Poyer’s History of Barbados, p. 180. 3 Their names were John Leslie, Philip Kirton, Joseph Brown, John Frere, and Christopher Estwick: Mr. Gretton, who was also one of the seceders, died before the matter was decided.— Poyer’s History, p. 18/. 312 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1704. they voted to such of the members of her Majesty’s Privy Council as were present on the inquiry of the Governor’s administration a present of citron-water, in the following proportions: six dozen bottles to the Duke of Marlborough, five dozen to the Lord Treasurer, four dozen to the Lord President, and three dozen to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. They voted likewise to their agent the sum of one hundred pounds sterling, to defray the expenses of an entertainment which they directed he should give in honour of the Royal African Company, for their interposition in behalf of Sir Bevil Granville. The Queen, by a proclamation dated the 4th of June 1704, fixed the rate of the dollar, which by assay under direction of Sir Isaac Newton, then master of the Mint, had been found to be worth four shillings and sixpence sterling, at six shillings colonial currency; and the value of other coins was regulated in proportion. The true exchange between London and Barbados, or between pounds sterling and pounds currency, was consequently fixed at 133L per cent. The current value of the silver dollar had previously been eight shillings, and a false policy induced the monied men, who on the arrival of the proclamation considered that their wealth would be materially reduced by this Act, to export almost the whole of the circulating medium. This produced the greatest incon¬ venience, and in an evil moment the Legislature passed an Act to supply the deficiency of cash by a fictitious currency of paper-money. The treasurer was authorized to issue bills to the amount of sixty-five thousand pounds, and lend them to the planters on security of land and negroes. The monied men were generally against this project, and the difficulty of negotiating the bills rendered them perfectly useless. They fell soon after they were issued forty per cent, below silver, which occasioned a great confusion and convulsion in the affairs of the island 1 . Severe remon¬ strances against this measure were forwarded to the Lords Commissioners of Trade. Mr. John Holder, who had given this measure his full support, had been appointed treasurer, with the perquisite of five per cent, upon this transaction. The Governor, dissatisfied with his situation and im¬ paired in health, obtained his recall, and died upon his passage home. Previous to his departure he confided his authority into the hands of William Sharpe, President of the Council, who when entering upon office dissolved the House of Assembly,—illegally, as it was asserted. During the short time of his administration party spirit ran higher than ever. The President and Mr. Walker, another member of Council, were accused of corrupt motives in promoting the establishment of the bank during the former administration, and were threatened to be arraigned before the House of Assembly for bribery and extortion. Strenuous attempts were made by the Assembly to relieve the country 1 A summary, historical and political, of the first planting of the British settlements in North America, by William Douglas, M.D. London, 1760, vol. i. p. 133. GOVERNOR LOWTHER. 313 1711.] from the paper-money, in which they were so successful that the Act for its issue was repealed by her Majesty in council. Payment was made for such bills as had been negotiated, and Holder was compelled to refund the per-centage which he had received for transacting the business. In consideration of Mr. Crowe’s eminent services at Barcelona, he was appointed to succeed Sir Bevil Granville in the government *, and arrived in Barbados in June 1707. In accordance with his instructions he re¬ moved those gentlemen who had been concerned in the paper-credit Act from their seat at the Council-board, and from all offices at his disposal; but he had the imprudence to call Mr. Holder to the Council, who was so deeply implicated in the banking scheme; and as the Governor disre¬ garded the petition of the Assembly for his removal, remonstrances against him were sent to England. Upon the change of ministers in England, in 1710, he was removed from his government. Colonel Christopher Codrington died on the 7th of April 1710. By his last will he bequeathed two valuable plantations in Barbados to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, for the pur¬ pose of erecting a college 2 . On the departure of Mr. Crowe, on the 10th of May 1710, Mr. George Lillington, then President of the Council, assumed the administration. The dissensions between the two branches of the Legislature continued during the short time that he possessed the executive authority. The House of Assembly had hitherto exercised the authority of nominating the treasurer and comptroller of the excise, which the Council declared to be an encroachment on the royal prerogative. The point in dispute was submitted to the Queen, who decided that the Council should not insist on a right to disapprove of the person proposed as treasurer 3 . The representatives of the people haveever since continued to exercise thisright. Mr. Crowe was succeeded in 1711 by Robert Lowther, Esq., who landed in Carlisle Bay on the 23rd of June. Lowther did not succeed in gaining the esteem of the Barbadians; his conduct was arrogant and tyrannical, and when his attempts of overruling the Council-board were resisted, he suspended those who opposed him. This suspension included Mr. Sharpe, Mr. Walker and Mr. Berisford: these gentlemen carried their complaints of the injustice they had met with to the foot of the throne, and her Majesty was pleased to order their restoration. Lowther refused to comply with her Majesty’s orders, and several months elapsed before he permitted the suspended members to resume their seats. Colonel Codrington 4 1 Oldmixon, vol. ii. p. 75. 2 See ante, p. 111. 3 Hall’s First Settlement of Barbados, p. 30. * This was a relative of the Colonel Codrington who left his two estates in trust to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. The editor of the Caribbeana commits an error when he ascribes these opinions to Colonel Codrington the founder of the college, who died in 1710, previous to Lowther’s arrival as Governor. 314 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1714. observed on this subject, “ I do not offer it as my humble opinion, I do not make it a question, I do not raise a scruple, but I propose it as an incontestable truth built upon demonstration, that whilst the three Councillors, Mr. Sharpe, Mr. Walker, and Mr. Berisford, are violently hindered from sitting and voting in Council, there is no government. For notwithstanding the strange things I have seen of late, I do not yet think there is so strange a thing in Barbados as a man who will affirm that the courts of Grand Sessions, Jail Delivery, Chancery, and Error are no necessary parts of the government. That there can be none of these, whilst Mr. Sharpe, Mr. Walker, and Mr. Berisford are violently hindered from acting, is plain 1 .” The contumacious proceedings of the Governor caused his recall; but unwilling to relinquish his power, he delayed his departure so long that his authority was disclaimed in council. He threatened in consequence Mr. Cox and Mr. Salter, the two members who had offered this opposi¬ tion, with a criminal prosecution for treasonable designs. He ultimately submitted to her Majesty’s commands in May 1714, and Mr. William Sharpe administered the government until a successor should be ap¬ pointed. Queen Anne died in 1714, and on the accession of George the First Mr. Lowther possessed sufficient interest to procure his re¬ appointment as Governor of Barbados: this restoration afforded him the power of revenging himself upon those who had formerly opposed him. The Rev. Mr. Gordon, rector of St. Michael’s, had received a commis¬ sion from Dr. Robinson, the Bishop of London, to act as his commissary, which Governor Lowther thought there was no necessity for recording, as he doubted the powers of the Bishop. The transactions connected with the ultimate record of this document appear to have caused serious umbrage to the Governor, who now determined to persecute Mr. Gordon as far as his power permitted. He transmitted a memorial against Mr. Gordon to his diocesan, and through the colonial agent to the Board of Trade, accusing him “ of being the worst of livers, a flagrant incendiary, and one who had given the greatest mark of disaffection to the King.” Mr. Gordon was in consequence reprimanded by the Bishop and seriously censured by the Board of Trade. He lost no time in proceeding to England to vindicate himself; he presented a memorial to the King, and the matter having been referred to a committee of the Privy Council, he was desired to return to Barbados to defend himself there before three chief or senior judges. It appears that Mr. Lascellcs, as collector of the crown revenues, had detained the ship St. Louis of Lisbon for some breach of the customs’ regulation, and only delivered her up after John Demorcain her com¬ mander paid the sum of two thousand pounds in gold and sugar. 1 Caribbeana, vol. ii. p. 97- Gordon’s case. 315 1720.] Francis Lansa, a merchant, part-owner of the cargo, was unwilling to submit to this decision, and being then in London, he sent out to Bar¬ bados a power of attorney to question the legality of this fine in the courts of law. Mr. Gordon witnessed the signature of this power, which on being produced in court was declared by the Governor to be a forgery, and Gordon was sent to jail, where he was detained twenty hours before he saw his Mittimus-, meanwhile the Governor issued a proclamation, which he ordered to be published in town by beat of drum, and in every church of the island immediately after divine service; in this he accused Gordon of villainous conduct, and of having been accessory to forging a signature to a power of attorney. He had him indicted at the ensuing court of grand sessions, where Governor Lowther presided in person, thus uniting the characters of prosecutor and judge. Jonathan Blenman, afterwards attorney-general, and Mr. Hope, an attorney, defended Mr. Gordon with such spirit that the Governor’s designs were frustrated. Blenman drew the Governor’s displeasure upon himself by contradicting him in open court: he was immediately committed to the common jail, and only hberated on giving bail in the sum of one thousand pounds, with two sureties to appear at the next court of grand sessions, where it was the Governor’s intention to indict him for high-treason. Blenman forfeited his recognizance, and hastened, accompanied by Mr. Hope and Mr. Gordon, to England to implore redress. The latter obtained a final order from the Lords Justices (his Majesty being then abroad), dated October 5th, 1720, in which the charge against him was pronounced to be groundless and malicious. Blenman obtained a perfect triumph over his enemy. The Lords Justices pronounced the proceedings of the Go¬ vernor arbitrary and illegal, and it was ordered “ that Mr. Blenman’s re¬ cognizance and all the proceedings thereon should be vacated, and if any levy had been made upon the forfeiture, it should forthwith and without delay be returned 1 .” This however was not the only proceeding in which the Governor over¬ stepped his instructions. According to the common usage the Governor and Council were authorized to hear and determine petitions in equity, and writs of error, matters cognizable in the courts of law; but instead of confining himself to these rules, the Governor constituted himself and his Council into a court of grievance, in which they exceeded the bounds 1 Caribbeana, vol. i. p. 270. The substance of the proceedings against Gordon have been extracted from “ The Barbados Packet, containing several original papers giving an account of the most material transactions that have lately happened in a certain part of the West Indies. In a letter from a gentleman of the said island to his friend in London.” This pamphlet bears the motto :— .“ This Governor! This villain,—the disgrace of trust and place. And just contempt of delegated power .”—Tragedy of Oron. 316 HISTORY OP BARBADOS. [1719. of their legal jurisdiction in such an arbitrary manner that it was not unaptly styled the Barbados Star-chamber. This occasioned many com¬ plaints against the Governor, the result of which was an order from the Lords Justices in council, dated 12th October 1720, in which they declare “ that the proper jurisdiction of the court, held before the Governor and Council of Barbados, in matters cognizable in any of the courts of com¬ mon law, is only to correct the errors and grievances arising in the pro¬ ceedings of the said court, and not to proceed originally in any causes ex¬ cept upon petitions in matter of equity 1 .” Another case occurred about this time, which, for its cruelty and the illegal proceedings connected with it, stands fortunately single in the history of Barbados. Mr. Bernard Cook, a native of Hanover, had come to Barbados to establish his right to an estate which was in possession of Mr. Frere, a nephew of Governor Lowther. During some altercations which occurred between Cook and the Governor, the latter was accused by Cook of having threatened him with his revenue. An opportunity occurred soon after. Cook was accused of having reflected in conversa¬ tion on the modesty of the wife of Robert Warren and the wife of Samuel Adams, upon which the husbands determined to prosecute him. A quarter-sessions was called, over which Guy Ball presided, assisted by Francis Bond, Thomas Maycock, jun., Robert Bishop, George Barry, John Fercherson, Stephen Thomas and W. Kirkham; and though Cook was never convicted of the offence, nor could be prosecuted criminally for it, the justices sentenced him to pay to each of the plaintiffs one hundred pounds’ fine before he left court, or to receive thirty-nine lashes for each offence. Mr. Cook did not pay the fine, and was publicly whipped by the common whipper of slaves, in open court in the presence of the justices. Mr. Cook petitioned the King on this flagrant act of injustice, and the petition having been referred by order in council of the 22nd March 1719 to the Lords of the Committee for hearing appeals, a com¬ mission was instituted for investigating this complaint in Barbados. On the 29th December ensuing the Lords of the Committee reported to his Majesty, “ that the accusation against Robert Lowther, Esq. had not been substantiated ; but that the justices of the peace had proceeded against the petitioner Cook without any crime alleged, for that scandalous words spoken of private persons are no grounds for criminal prosecutions; that the justices have taken upon them to try the matter of fact without a jury, and to deny the petitioner liberty to traverse and remove the proceeding to the grand sessions of the island; in fine, that the justices present in court at the time have proceeded illegally, and have given two sentences which were arbitrary and cruel.” In consequence the King in council ordered that the justices present at the trial should be removed from the 1 Caribbeana, vol. i. p. 394. GOVERNOR WORSLEY. 317 1722.] commission of the peace, and that Guy Ball and Francis Bond, being of his Majesty’s council there, should likewise be removed from these posts 1 . The Governor was ultimately recalled, and desired to appear before the Lords Justices to answer the various complaints preferred against him. On his departure he appointed Mr. John Frere his nephew as president, and removed from the Board Mr. Cox and Mr. Salter, who were senior members, in order to make room for his relative. The several allegations against Lowther were considered established, and the Lords Justices directed him to be taken into custody, and ordered that he should be prosecuted for high crimes and misdemeanours. The prosecution was however protracted, and George the First dying in the interim, Lowther received the benefit of the act of grace which was pro¬ claimed at the accession of George the Second. Sir Charles Cox had presented a memorial complaining of the suspen¬ sion of his brother as President of the Council in Barbados. The Lords Justices issued an order for the restoration of Cox and Salter, and com¬ manding Frere to deliver up the government into the hands of Cox ; and upon Frere’s refusal, he was ordered to England to answer for his conduct. There he died of smallpox. Mr. Cox now assumed the government with an iron hand. Several suspensions and dismissals took place, and the island was anew split into factions. During Mr. Cox’s administration, the Duke of Portland, who had been appointed Governor of Jamaica, arrived with his Duchess in Carlisle Bay. The animosity of political opponents was forgotten for awhile, and both parties united in showing every hospitality to their noble guests. The Legislature by an order on the Treasury defrayed the ex¬ penses of these festivities, which amounted to eight hundred and ten pounds. The government had appointed Lord Irwin to the governorship of Barbados, but he died of smallpox before he set out from London; Lord Belhaven, who was next appointed, took his passage on board the Royal Anne galley which was lost near the Lizard Point. After this Sir Or¬ lando Bridgeman was appointed, but did not avail himself of his com¬ mission, and the government was ultimately conferred upon Colonel Henry Worsley, who arrived in Carlisle Bay on the 22nd of January 1722. The Governor was permitted by his instructions to accept of a salary from the Legislature: it was therefore his policy to keep it secret that he was empowered to inquire into the conduct of President Cox: until his salary was fixed, he conducted himself with so much policy that both parties considered him their friend, and the Assembly offered him the large sum of six thousand pounds sterling per annum, which was to be 1 Caribbeana, vol. i. p. 342. 318 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1731. defrayed from a capitation-tax of two shillings and sixpence upon each negro. Mr. Cox was now brought to a formal trial, the result of which was that he was convicted of having acted arbitrarily, corruptly and illegally, and in consequence the Governor not only removed him from the Council, hut also declared him incapable of ever resuming a seat at that Board. Having been denied the benefit of an appeal, Cox went to North America, where he passed the remainder of his life. This sentence was pro¬ nounced by the candid and impartial part of the community to be severe and undeserved, and this circumstance did not contribute to appease the contending parties. The commerce of Barbados, burdened by restrictions and duties, felt the more severely the consequences of the low prices of their pro¬ duce, and the heavy impost with which they had taxed themselves for the Governor’s salary pressed alike severely upon all classes. The inhabit¬ ants of Barbados therefore seized the opportunity at the death of George the First to declare that. Colonel Worsley not having received a new commission from the successor to the throne, the Act of settlement had expired. Gelasius MacMahon, who during the administration of Mr. Cox was committed to prison for his contemptuous deportment, availed himself of the existing discontent, and being joined by Robert Warren, clerk to the General Assembly, they used every endeavour to impress the correctness of the popular opinion that the Act of settlement had expired, and the majority of the inhabitants refused in consequence to pay their taxes, or even to give in returns of their slaves. The vestry of Saint Michael doubting their authority to assess the inhabitants of Bridgetown, four of the vestry-men applied for the opinion of Mr. Blenman, then Attorney- General, who pronounced that the Act had not expired. Governor Worsley presented a memorial to the throne, which was referred to the Attorney and Solicitor General of Great Britain, who gave it as their opinion that Mr. Worsley was fully entitled to his levy. His Majesty was consequently pleased to direct, “ that in case the arrears of the said tax were not paid on or before the 1st day of July following (1733), his Majesty’s Attorney- General of Barbados do cause proper law-suits to be commenced against all persons liable to pay any such arrears, and do take the most effectual methods for the speedy recovery and application thereof,” &c. 1 Before this peremptory order arrived, Colonel Worsley, tired with the contention of parties and the difficulties of his administration, resigned the govern¬ ment and returned to England, on the 21st of September 1731. 1 Caribbeana, vol. i. p. 88. The opinions of Mr. Blenman, Attorney-General of Barbados, and of the Attorney and Solicitor General of Great Britain, are given at large at pp. 40,43, in the first volume of the Caribbeana, and those of some other lawyers in the appendix to the second volume. 1732.] administration of mr. barwick. 319 The administration now devolved upon Samuel Barwick, President of the Council. He met the Legislature on the 7th of November 1731, and alluding to several public measures which he considered necessary, he concluded by assuring both Houses of his readiness to give his assist¬ ance to any measure which should be proposed for the real welfare of their country; and as they were equally interested in such a step, he re¬ commended above all a perfect union among themselves. These pleasing hopes were not fulfilled ; the Council presented a respectful answer to this address, but the House of Assembly, directed by the advice of their Speaker, Mr. Henry Peers, dispensed even with the common civility of addressing the chair, nor would they consent to make any provisions for Mr. Barwick’s support during his administration. The House of Assembly, in framing a new excise-hill, claimed the un¬ constitutional control over the public disbursements, which by his late Majesty’s order in council had been peremptorily denied them three years before: the Council therefore rejected the bill when it was sent up for their concurrence. Mr. Barwick discovered meanwhile that malversation of the public property was about being practised, and that some orders given to Mr. Cox when administering the government for entertaining the Duke of Portland were to be paid a second time 1 . As some members of the House of Assembly were implicated in the affair, this exposition provoked the ire of the House, and Mr. Barwick was threatened with vengeance. The Assembly for the despatch of public business had adjourned de die in diem; they refused to pass an excise-bill, and the President having been given to understand that they purposed proceeding to other business, sent the provost-marshal to adjourn the House to a future day, the Pre¬ sident intending to dissolve the Assembly by proclamation before they were to re-assemble. The members were informed of Mr. Barwick’s reso¬ lution, and to avoid their adjournment they assembled privately in the store of Othniel Haggat, a member of Council, and continued their illegal sittings until they were discovered and adjourned by the President’s order. The House was soon afterwards dissolved, and writs for a new election were issued. The writs for the election of representatives were returned to the President in Council on the 13th of December 1732. On account of his ill-health, Mr. Barwick received the members in his own house at Lancaster Plantation. He concluded his speech with the following words: “ As for my own part, I will only say, that whilst I have life, which in 1 See Caribbeana, vol. i. p. 23, and the appendix to the second volume, p. 355. According to a note at page 358, a Committee of Council was appointed to report on this subject, but the arrival of Lord Howe in the interval opening a new scene of polities, the affair was dropped and compromised. 320 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1733 . all appearance cannot be long, I shall cheerfully employ it in doing every¬ thing that I can be persuaded in my judgement will tend to promote the honour of his most sacred Majesty, and the true interest of this his colony, to which I am prompted by all just considerations that can possibly in¬ fluence any man in my situation 1 .” Mr. Barwick died on the 1st of January ensuing, in his sixty-third year of age, and was buried in St. James’s Church. The ‘ Caribbeana’ says of him ,—“ This gentleman, how exceptionable soever his private character may have been, was certainly as free from imputation in the public one of Commander-in-chief of Barbados as any of his predecessors ; and it is to be wished that all that come after him may be no less so 2 .” Upon his demise the administra¬ tion devolved by his Majesty’s instructions upon James Dotin, as eldest member of the Council. He appears to have been in greater favour with the House of Assembly than his predecessor; they voted him one hundred pounds for his reception at Pilgrim, and a present of five hundred pounds for his accommodation during his residence there 3 . He was speedily superseded by the arrival of the Right Honourable Scroop, Lord Viscount Howe, who had been appointed Governor to the colony. CHAPTER VI. OCCURRENCES FROM LORD HOWE’S ARRIVAL IN 1733 TO THE DEATH OF GOVERNOR SPRY IN 1772. Lord Howe met the Council and Assembly at Pilgrim on the 17th of April 1733. In the speech which he delivered, he regretted that the arrangement of his private affairs had taken up a much greater time than he expected, but even during that delay he had endeavoured to make himself useful by representing the many hardships and disadvantages which the trade of the island laboured under, and in soliciting a speedy redress of their grievances. He assured them that several resolutions in their favour had already been agreed to by the Government, and that he had no doubt that effectual re¬ lief would follow. Although it had been customary with former Governors to issue writs for a new election on their arrival, he dispensed with this, observing that he had full confidence in the House as then constituted. The gracious speech of Lord Howe made a powerful impression on the 1 Caribbeana, vol. i. p. 85. 2 Ibid. p. 7. 3 Poyer’s History, p. 270. THE FIRST BARBADOS NEWSPAPER. 321 1735 .] public mind, and in the fulness of their heart they settled on him the sum of four thousand pounds sterling for his support,—a liberality which, at a time when their sugar sold for only ten or twelve shillings the hundred¬ weight, was rather surprising. In a former page allusion has been made to the peremptory order which the Attorney-General received from the King in council respecting the levy due to the late Governor Worsley; accordingly, as the 1st of July had approached without the defaulters having paid up their arrears, the Attorney-General commenced suits in the Court of Exchequer without consideration of rank and fortune; and in the short space of five weeks upwards of seventeen thousand pounds were collected and paid to Colonel Worsley’s agent. A most atrocious murder was committed by Gelasius MacMahon, a barrister and owner of the plantation Locust Hall, who has before been mentioned as a turbulent and unprincipled man. In consequence of some disputes with Mr. Thomas Keeling, MacMahon proceeded, accom¬ panied by William Perry, Theophilus Morris and John Lawrence, to Keeling’s residence : they found their victim in the street, and Mac¬ Mahon engaged him in fight. It was however asserted that Morris dis¬ armed Keeling, who on finding himself pm-sued by MacMahon ran into a neighbouring store, and concealed himself under the stairs. MacMahon got a light, and while Perry and Lawrence held Keeling’s weapons and Morris guarded the door to prevent the interference of the crowd which had gathered in the street, MacMahon perpetrated his murderous designs upon his defenceless victim, and afterwards withdrew with his accomplices. Keeling was taken up and placed on a chair, but the only words he was able to say were to the effect that MacMahon had mur¬ dered him as he was lying on the ground. Miller, a surgeon’s apprentice who had witnessed the transaction, was clandestinely conveyed from the island, but as there was other evidence sufficient to condemn -him, Mac¬ Mahon fled beyond the seas : his accomplices were tried as accessories to the murder, but were all acquitted. After the death of Lord Howe, Mac¬ Mahon considered it a favourable moment to return during the adminis¬ tration of Mr. Dotin to stand his trial, which took place on the 11th of December 1735, and, as is quite evident from the proceedings, the de¬ linquent met with undeserved lenity. The jury returned a verdict of manslaughter, and MacMahon immediately claimed the benefit of clergy, and petitioned the President for a pardon, which was obtained, and read the next day in open court, extending as well to a remission of the penalty of burning in the hand as to the forfeiture of his possessions 1 . A weekly paper had been published by Keimer in 1731 2 , under the 1 Caribbeana, vol. ii. Appendix, p. 332; vol. i. p. 344; vol. ii. pp. 69, 103. 2 See ante, p. 124. A selection of the articles which appeared in the Gazette were afterwards published in 1741, in London, in two volumes under the title of ‘ Carib¬ beana,’ which the author has had frequent occasion to refer to for historical facts. Y 322 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1735 . title of ‘ The Barbados Gazette/ to which some of the most enlightened members of the community contributed articles, written “ in support of government and the King’s authority, in vindication of the constitution and laws, in favour of virtue and religion, and in opposition to vice, oppression and imposture.” The island had not long enjoyed this ad¬ vantage when some attempts were made to fetter the press. Mr. Adams, a member of the Council, had published a treatise on the sugar-trade, which was severely criticized in the ‘Gazette ’ of the 12th of June 1734. No doubt at the author’s instigation, the grand jury presented Keimer for publishing a malicious, scandalous, and seditious paper, and parti¬ cularly for printing a libel on Mr. Adams. The Attorney-General de¬ clared that there was nothing in the paper against any law which could warrant a criminal prosecution; nevertheless Keimer was bound to keep the peace for six months. The island suffered severely from want of rain. In a charity sermon preached in Bridgetown in May, by order of the Governor, the clergy¬ man stated that in the parish of St. Philip he beheld all the signs of an approaching famine; “ the face of the earth appeared, as it were, a dry crust, burnt up and gaping.” It was much the same in Christ Church parish : some of the inhabitants perished from famine. In consequence of this distress, and impelled by necessity and want, several families left the island, and emigrated to the Dutch and Danish isles 1 . The importation of foreign rum, sugar, and molasses into Ireland was prohibited in 1734 by Act of Parliament, and their importation into any of the American provinces was subjected to a heavy duty. The exporta¬ tion of sugar from the British plantations was permitted to foreign parts in British ships, according to the navigation laws; but there were so many restrictions connected with it, that the West Indian colonies re¬ ceived little advantage 2 . To the unspeakable grief of the colonists, Lord Howe died on the 27th of March 1735, in his thirty-seventh year. He had been attacked by fever, supposed to have been produced by excessive fatigue in reviewing the different regiments of militia, and died after six days’ illness, perfectly resigned to his fate. This event occasioned a general consternation throughout the island. “ It was observable that his Lordship’s indisposi¬ tion had such an effect upon persons of all ranks and conditions, that it caused a stagnation of both public and private business, very little of either being done during the whole time ; but every one seemed to think the event with respect to that inestimable life of greater importance than anything else that immediately concerned him.” His mild, equitable and prudent administration rendered the island comparatively happy : 1 Atkins’s Voyage to Guinea, Brazil and the West Indies. London, 1737, p. 210. Reports of the Lords’ Committee, 1789 : Supplement to No. 15. 2 Caribbeana, vol. ii. p. 62. 1736 .] DEPLORABLE SHIPWRECK. 323 dissensions and party-spirit, which had so lately disturbed the peace and crept even into the privacy of domestic life, were appeased, and by his interposition and good advice many a misunderstanding was arranged to the satisfaction of both parties. The Council and Assembly, to manifest their gratitude for the just and prudent administration of Lord Howe, voted on the 22nd of April a donation of two thousand and five hundred pounds currency to his widow 1 . His Lordship’s remains were carried to St. Michael’s church, and temporarily deposited in the vault belonging to the Codrington family, whence they were afterwards removed to England on the 12th of August 1735. Lady Howe on her departure presented an excellent portrait of the deceased Governor to the Legislature. Mr. Dotin, as President of the Council, succeeded again to the ad¬ ministration of the government, and received a settlement of six hundred pounds per annum. His administration is described as gentle and in¬ offensive : the laws which were passed during his command do not breathe that liberal spirit under which commerce is likely to flourish. The exportation of cattle and other live stock, together with all kinds of grain and provisions, the produce of the island, was prohibited. A simi¬ lar restriction was laid upon the exportation of the clays from the island, in consequence of their having been found advantageous for claying sugar; the Legislature was jealous of other islands availing themselves of that advantage: and their exportation was only permitted on payment of a tax of five shillings for each pound of clay, which was tantamount to a prohibition. An account of one of the most distressing cases of human sufferings was given upon oath by two sailors, Simon M c Cone and Thomas Thompson, the only surviving mariners of the ship Mary from Lisbon to Cutchoe. As it forms the groundwork of Lord Byron’s soul-stirring- description of the shipwreck in Don Juan, the deposition of these two men in its original form will no doubt prove interesting. 1 In the preamble to this act it is stated, “ Whereas it has pleased Almighty God to take to himself our said most worthy Governor, under whose mild, steady and prudent administration, the people of this island enjoyed all the happiness that could be ex¬ pected from a nobleman of the most exalted virtues, and useful endowments; zeal¬ ously attached to their interest, and indefatigable in his endeavours to promote it; who as well by putting an end to our intestine feuds and animosities, cultivating peace and a good understanding one with another, and an impartial distribution of justice amongst us, as by generously interposing in our behalf at home, representing our case, stating our hardships, and enforcing our complaints and petitions; and in a word, by discharging every, branch of his high office with the utmost fidelity, honour and sufficiency, had endeared himself to the inhabitants, still having the truest sense, and desirous always to retain the most grateful remembrance thereof,” &c. &c. This act is no doubt as proud a monument to his memory as the descendants of the noble Earl could have desired. Y 2 324 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1736 . “An account of a voyage in the ship Mary from Lisbon to Cutchoe in Guinea, and of her foundering at sea, with the sufferings of the crew; as related by Simon M c Cone and Thomas Thompson, the only surviving mariners belonging to the said vessel. “ Our first commander’s name was John Rawlinson ; we sailed from Lisbon freighted by a Portuguese merchant; in our passage to Guinea we stopped at the Cape de Verd islands; from thence we sailed to Cutchoe in Africa, and in five months and odd days we got our cargo of slaves, bees-wax and some ivory. Here our captain and his wife died, and our chief-mate, William Rye, was made captain ; we then sailed for Lisbon, but stopped at the Cape de Verd islands to recruit ourselves and slaves. Sailing from thence, our second captain died; and William Cook, who was at first our second-mate, was made captain ; about four days after, our ship sprung a leak, and our carpenter being dead, we were in a very bad condition. The leak growing larger, we were several days hard put to it to keep the ship above water. At length being all tired out, by standing so hard to the pump, we were obliged to let the negroes out of irons to assist us in pumping the ship, and save our lives, which they did for some days; but being extremely short of provision and water, they could not hold it long; the leak still increasing, we found we must prepare for the best we could, in our poor small boat; and so we went to work upon her, and put into her seven stone bottles of water, and five bottles of brand} 7 , which was all we could get; for when we had any provision upon deck to throw into the boat, the slaves being in number two or three hundred, and provisions very short, they seized upon it, and eat it from us, and then the slaves got what liquor they could find; and perceiving us to he very much confused, they took the opportunity to get drunk and forsook the pump. We seeing this, and observing nothing but death like to ensue, got into the boat, and veered her a-stern of the ship, the 8tli of November 173G, at night, the ship being then upon sinking as we thought; and finding the rest of the ship’s company wanted to jump into the boat which must have sunk her, we re¬ mained a-stern, not daring to pull alongside of the ship, which next morning we left to providence. Believing ourselves to be near the Canary' Islands, but to the leeward of them, we were obliged to bear away for some of the West India islands, which were at least five or six hundred leagues from us. Our boat’s crew were two Portuguese, four English, one Irish, and one Rhode Island man born, the two latter whereof are the authors of the declaration. “ Fifteen white men we left on hoard the ship, and which we believe perished with her. We sailed in the boat to and fro several weeks, until the 8th of December last, to the best of our remembrance, at which time we saw a sail, which was a Snow, and which revived us all very much. We hoisted a signal of distress, and the Snow lay by, until we were so near her, that we could dis¬ cern the men on the deck : and then she made sail, and went away from us, without speaking to us ; they being afraid, as we imagined, when they saw so many of us in the boat. Our hunger then being intolerable, we were forced to kill one of our companions to eat, and so agreed together to begin with one GOVERNOR BYNG. 325 1739.] of the Portuguese, whom we accordingly killed out of pure Necessity, and cut his flesh in small pieces, and dipped it in salt-water, and hung it up to dry in the sun, until it was hard, and so eat it, though but very sparingly, and thus we were forced to do with four more of the crew out of the eight. We also killed the sixth man, but were forced so to do, because he would have killed me Simon M c Cone, one of these declarators, for he struck me with the tiller of the boat, and had just bereaved me of life, when this my comrade Thomas Thompson, came to my relief, and we were forced therefore to kill him, though we flung him over hoard, as we could eat no part of him. “ We the said Simon M c Cone and Thomas Thompson, being the only sur¬ vivors of all the crew that left the ship, were determined to live and die the one by the other, but to leave all things to the Almighty providence of God, expecting nothing less than famine ; for we lived several days without eating anything, save one small flying-fish that flew into the boat, and some small barnacles that grew on the boat, which we were obliged to eat raw. At last we espied land, which happened to be the island of Barbados, where we had like to have been cast on shore, which was in January 1736, we being so ex¬ tremely weak that we could not work the said boat. But Providence pre¬ vented it by a schooner, belonging to the said island, the captain whereof, named Glanville Nicholas, was so kind as to take us up and land us at Bridge¬ town in the said island. “ Simon M c Cone was born in Drogheda in Ireland, and Thomas Thompson was horn in Rhode Island in North America. “Given under our hands in Barbados, February 1/36.” Mr. Walter Chetwynd had been appointed successor to Lord Howe; but his death, which happened previous to his departure, rendered another appointment necessary, and the Honourable Robert Byng, elder brother of the unfortunate Admiral Byng, who in 1757 met such an ignominious and undeserved death, received in 1739 his Majesty’s commission as Governor of Barbados 1 . Mr. Peers, the Speaker of the Assembly, had endeavoured to procure the appointment of Governor, and, being unsuc¬ cessful in his ambitious views, he regarded Mr. Byng with jealousy and enmity. As a powerful party man, and leader of the House of Assembly, he had no difficulty in persuading the members that retrenchments in the public expenditure were necessary, and he proposed a reduction of the new Governor’s salary to one half of its former amount. Mr. Byng expressed his disappointment, and remarked to the Assembly that the country was now in a more prosperous condition than when his predecessor entered upon office; but this had no effect upon the Assembly. England being then at war with Spain, his Excellency’s baggage had been captured by the Spaniards ; and although the Assembly had refused to 1 In the Gentleman’s Magazine it is mentioned that Sir Humphry Ilowarth was appointed Governor of Barbados in room of Sir Orlando Bridgeman, Bart. Lord Viscount Gage was likewise mentioned as one of the candidates. HISTORY OP BARBADOS. 326 [1742. increase liis salary, they voted him, in consequence of this serious loss, a present of two thousand five hundred pounds. Mr. Byng applied himself with great diligence and activity to a con¬ scientious discharge of his duties, and the only instance in which he allowed his private feelings to direct his public course was in the dis¬ missal of Mr. Peers from his colonial appointments 1 . Peers died soon after, and at his death tranquillity was restored to the island, which under the prudent conduct of its chief was steadily advancing in prosperity. Mr. Byng’s government was unfortunately very short; he died on the 6th of October 1740, of malignant fever 2 . The administration again de¬ volved upon Mr. Botin, and at the first meeting of the Assembly, upon the motion of Judge Bruce, they unanimously passed the following re¬ solutions :— “ 1. That as many disadvantages and mischiefs have been found to arise by means of the settlements made by the General Assembly on governors, this house is now absolutely determined not to make any settlement whatever on any future governor; and that every member of this present assembly, while be continues in that trust, will steadily and unalterably abide by this resolu¬ tion, notwithstanding any plausible reasons or pretences that may be urged to induce him to alter the same. And this bouse earnestly recommends, and hopes all future assemblies will comply therewith. 2. That an humble address be made to bis most excellent Majesty, humbly beseeching him to give direc¬ tions that such a salary for the future governors may be assigned, and paid out of the duty of four-and-a-half per cent, arising on the produce of this island, as may be sufficient for their support, and the dignity of this govern¬ ment ; and most humbly to entreat bis Majesty to discontinue the instruction permitting and allowing the assembly to make an additional settlement on any governor. And that an humble representation be also made to the Lords Com¬ missioners for Trade and Plantations, praying their Lordships’ endeavours to promote and get established what is implored of bis Majesty.” Their consistency was soon put to the proof, and in spite of these stringent resolutions the arrival of Sir Thomas Robinson as their new Go¬ vernor, on the 8th of August 1742, showed on what unstable grounds they were founded. The House agreed first to settle the sum of two thousand six hundred pounds upon him, a sum which was afterwards increased to three thousand pounds. Sir Thomas has been reproached with having acted in many instances without a due regard to the constitutional pri¬ vileges of the people, and having failed in treating the popular branch of the Legislature with that respectful attention to which it was en- 1 According to tlie Short History of Barbados, p. 63, Mr. Peers was Lieutenant- General, Master-General of the Ordnance, President of the Council of War, Colonel of a regiment of militia and Speaker of the House of Assembly. 2 Gentleman’s Magazine, December 1740. GOVERNOR GRENVILLE. 327 1747.] titled 1 . He made several expensive changes in his residence at Pilgrim, without the concurrence of the Assembly; in consequence the Assembly refused to provide for the payments he had incurred, and the alfair was not compromised until the Governor had apologized for his arbitrary proceeding. Instead however of taking a lesson from this circumstance, he soon after gave another opportunity for still more serious dissatisfac¬ tion. The island was without an armoury, and, as England was waging war against the Spaniards in the West Indies, the importance of such a building was obvious. The Governor determined, upon his own authority, to erect one with a small powder-magazine attached to it: when it was finished, he laid the accounts of the expenses connected with it before the Assembly, who peremptorily refused to provide for their payment, stating as their reason that the Governor had acted unconstitutionally. All attempts to induce the House to take another view of the matter failed, and Sir Thomas Robinson was ultimately obliged to pay the expense of its erection, amounting to four thousand two hundred pounds, out of his own pocket. The Legislature voted several sums for securing the island against the depredation of privateers, and two sloops were fitted out to guard the coast: the fortifications were also placed in a better state of defence. A report being current that a treasonable correspondence was carried on between some persons in Barbados and the French in Martinique, an Act was passed in April 1745, which, taken literally, suspended the Habeas Corpus Act. The formidable power thus lodged in the hands of the Governor was used by his Excellency with due moderation, and only three persons were apprehended upon suspicion, who were discharged on giving security not to engage in any treasonable correspondence. The contentions and disputes between the Governor and the House of Assembly became so numerous, that the representatives of the people pre¬ sented a petition to the throne, in which the Governor was accused of having abused his power and violated the privileges of the House of Assembly : the memorial concluded with a request that his Majesty would be pleased to recall him. The change of ministry afforded an opportu¬ nity of recalling Sir Thomas, who resigned the government on the 14th of April 1747 into the hands of his successor the Honourable Henry Grenville, brother-in-law to Lord Temple. Sir Thomas remained some time in the island as a private gentleman. The Council and Assembly settled three thousand pounds per annum upon Mr. Grenville. His Ex¬ cellency having understood that the French had commenced a settlement upon Tobago, he sent Captain Tyrrel in a frigate to that island to learn the particulars. Captain Tyrrel found there three hundred men, protected by two batteries and two ships of war. He informed the French officers 1 See Poyer’s History, p. 303. 328 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1749 - that his most Christian Majesty had no right to maintain a settlement on Tobago, and that if they persisted he should employ force to drive them away. By the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle it was stipulated that this island should be considered neutral, and common to such of the subjects of both Crowns as might occasionally resort there for refreshments. Neverthe¬ less the French court permitted the settlement, and appears to have re¬ commended it privately to the protection of the Governor of Martinique. In the night Captain Tyrrel’s vessel fell to leeward of the island, and the two French ships made the best of their way to Martinique; and having no power to commence hostilities, Captain Tyrrel returned to Barbados. The Marquis de Caylus, Governor of Martinique, had previously pub¬ lished an ordinance authorizing the French subjects to settle on the island of Tobago, and prohibiting all intercourse with the adjacent English, Dutch and Danish colonies. In answer to this Mr. Grenville issued a proclamation, commanding the settlers to remove in thirty days, on pain of military execution. A detail of these particulars was transmitted to the British government; and Lord Albemarle, the British ambassador at Paris, was instructed to remonstrate against this breach of good faith. The French court thought proper to disown the proceedings of the Mar¬ quis de Caylus, and sent him orders to discontinue the settlement and evacuate the island of Tobago. M. de Puysieux, the French- minister, remarked to Lord Albemarle that France was undoubtedly in posses¬ sion of that island towards the middle of the last century, without advisedly alluding to its being restored by the treaty of Nimeguen to the Dutch. After many delays and vain excuses, an agreement was signed on the 27th November 1749 at Martinique, by Commodore Holborne and the Marquis de Caylus, whereby the French promised to evacuate the island of Tobago, which however was not acted upon. Mr. Grenville having administered the government for more than six years, with great satisfaction to the inhabitants, he returned to England. In his personal bearing he has been described as pompous and haughty; it is however acknowledged that he executed his high duties with stern rectitude, and regardless of personal connexions or the solicitations of private friendship. Previous to his departure the House of Assembly voted him a liberal present for defraying the expenses of his voyage, which he was noble enough to refuse, upon the plea that he could not think of increasing the burden of the people for his private comfort. The Assembly thereupon resolved to erect a marble statue of Mr. Gren¬ ville in the most conspicuous part of the townhall 1 . This statue, 1 The author of the Short History accuses Mr. Grenville of having brought this about by artifice, and that he entrusted Mr. John Fairchild, a member of the As¬ sembly, and Mr. William Duke, then clerk of that body, with his desire; and in 1759.] EXPEDITION AGAINST MARTINIQUE. 329 together with Lord Howe’s portrait, which Lady Howe had presented to the inhabitants previous to her departure, was destroyed during the hurri¬ cane in 1780 1 . Upon the departure of Mr. Grenville, Mr. Ralph Weekes, President of the Council, assumed the command on the 14th of May 1753. The Assembly voted him twelve hundred pounds per annum, to support the honour and dignity of his government. In July 1755 the British government issued orders for making general reprisals upon the French. In September following, the Governor of Martinique sent to the President administering the government in Bar¬ bados, to state that a British squadron under Admiral Boscawen having taken away two of his master’s ships, he might attack the French islands also; he had therefore ordered, by way of reprisals, that the island of St. Lucia should be taken and fortified. In May 1756 war was declared between England and France. The non-evacuation of the four neutral islands in the West Indies by the French was assigned as one of the causes of the war. Charles Pinfold, Esq., LL.D., who had been nominated as successor to Mr. Grenville, arrived in Carlisle Bay on the 10th of May 1756, and assumed the government. The war which raged in Europe soon extended to the West Indies; privateers were swarming again in those seas; Captain Middleton, who commanded one of the men-of-war on the station, used every exertion and destroyed alone seventeen privateers. The Assembly voted him a hundred pistoles, to purchase a sword as an acknowledgement of his services. Upon the 3rd of January 1759, Commodore Hughes, with eight sail of the line, one frigate, four bomb-ketches, and a fleet of transports having on board 5374 men under the command of Major-General Hopson, arrived at Barbados, where they were joined by Commodore Moore, who took the command of the united squadron, amounting to ten sail of the line besides frigates and smaller vessels. The Governor immediately called upon the Legislature to render such assistance as was in the power of the island. They granted a number of negroes for the removal of the artillery, and furnished the seamen and soldiers with refreshments and accommodations. Four hundred and fifty Highlanders were embarked at Barbados, and the armament sailed from Carlisle Bay on the 13th of January and entered the harbour of Port Royal at Martinique, where the troops were disembarked at Point de Negres. It is no part of my plan to give a history of the exploits which followed; suffice it to say that the order to remove all opposition, the leader of the popular party, Mr. John Lyte, was said to have heen previously appointed to the judgeship of Oistin’s Court. It is not likely that a man of the high standing of Mr. Grenville would have demeaned himself to use such low subterfuges for seeing a vain wish accomplished. 1 Boyer's History of Barbados, p. 317. 330 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1762 . attack on Martinique failed, while the capture of Guadaloupe proved ultimately successful, and that island capitulated on the 22nd of April. In 1761, when it was planned by the British ministry to annihilate the power of France in the West Indian archipelago, Governor Pinfold appealed to the patriotism of the Legislature to second such an effort ac¬ cording to their power. A regiment of five hundred and eighty-eight men was consequently raised among the white population, armed and accoutred at the expense of the island : to these were added five hundred and eighty- three negroes to act as pioneers, and the whole force was placed under the command of Sir John Yeamans. They joined Major-General Monck- ton, and upon the 5th of January 1762 Rear Admiral Rodney, with eighteen sail of the line, besides frigates, bombs and transports, and a force of nearly fourteen thousand men under the command of Monckton, sailed from Barbados, and anchored on the 8th in St. Anne’s Bay in Martinique. On the 14th of February that island finally surrendered. The expense of raising and equipping the corps of Barbadians amounted to twenty-four thousand pounds. The House of Commons in England voted on the 7th of May 1765 the sum of ten thousand pounds, “to enable his Majesty to make a proper compensation to the government of Barbados for the assistance which it gave his Majesty’s forces under Major-General Monckton in the expedition against Martinico 1 .” Besides the effective force, the island had sent a large supply of provisions to the army while they were besieging Martinique. A remarkable case occurred in 1762, which, as it affected the privileges of the House of Assembly, must not be passed over. John Adams, member of Christ Chui-ch, had been expelled from the House for opposing the Provost Marshal in the execution of his office with a body of armed slaves. He had been indicted in the Court of Grand Sessions for this outrage, and was fined and imprisoned. His friends thought therefore that having suffered punishment by the courts of law, the House had no right to deprive him of his seat; and a new writ having been issued, the freeholders of Christ Church re-elected him unanimously. He was how¬ ever expelled a second time, and the electors considered this an arbitrary encroachment on the liberty of the subject. To prevent his re-election the Assembly passed a law, which disqualified him from being elected a member of the Assembly, or from bearing any office, civil or military, in the government of the island. Adams, being unwilling to submit to this disfranchisement, appealed to the throne. Sir Matthew Lamb, counsel to the Board of Trade, to whom the appeal was referred, reported that the law was arbitrary and contrary to the spirit of the British constitu¬ tion, tending to establish a dangerous precedent and to deprive the King of the services of a subject. The act was consequently repealed by his 1 Annual Register, vol. viii. p. 240. PRIVILEGES OF THE ASSEMBLY. 331 1766 .] Majesty’s order. Although it was acknowledged that the House had a right to expel their members, expulsion does not create a disqualification for re-election. The success of the British arms produced in 1765 friendly relations between the contending powers, and Martinique and Guadaloupe were restored to France. The unfortunate measure of the British ministry, imposing the uncon¬ stitutional scheme of the Stamp Act on the colonies in America, excited in Barbados the greatest astonishment; nevertheless his Majesty’s loyal subjects in this island submitted to it. Not so in the island of St. Christopher, where the inhabitants, instigated by the crews of some vessels from New England, burnt all the stamped papers upon the island, and obliged the officers appointed for their distribution to resign their office. They afterwards went over in a body to Nevis, to assist their neighbours in taking the same rebellious proceedings. The inhabitants of Barbados remonstrated against a measure evidently so pernicious, and the government was compelled to abandon their project. During the few months it was in force, two thousand five hundred pounds were col¬ lected at Barbados and remitted to England 1 . Governor Pinfold, having obtained leave to return to England, em¬ barked on the 27th of May 1766. He had been Governor nine years and nine months, and his administration gave satisfaction to the community over which he presided. Samuel Rous, the senior member of Council then resident upon the island, administered the government after Mr. Pinfold’s departure. The Legislature settled fifteen hundred pounds per annum upon the President during his residence at Pilgrim. His admi¬ nistration is remarkable, as during that period the Speaker of the House of Assembly claimed for the first time in the name of the House similar privileges as those enjoyed by the House of Commons in England. Mr. John Gay Alleyne was elected on the 3rd of June 1766 Speaker of the House of Assembly, and having been approved of by the Commander-in- chief, he immediately claimed the privileges to which the House was enti¬ tled, namely exemption from arrests for the members and servants, liberty of speech, and access at all times to the King’s representative. The Pre¬ sident was taken unawares by this demand, and observed that he would give his answer at the next sitting of the Assembly. The House sat again the next day, but receiving no answer from the President, they resolved not to enter upon any business until they had received a satisfactory reply. At the next meeting of Council on the 7th of July ensuing, the President commanded the attendance of the Assembly, and said,’ “ I give and grant, as far as is consistent with the royal prerogative, and the laws and constitution of this island, every privilege and liberty which has been enjoyed by any former Assembly, to be enjoyed by you, as fully 1 Sec Short History of Barbados, p. 7b. 332 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1772 . and freely as ever 1 /’ These privileges are inherent in all legislative bodies, since without them their power must evidently be more nominal than real. The two great fires which took place in 1766 and 1767 nearly reduced Bridgetown to ashes 2 . The necessity of rebuilding the town with greater order and regularity was now admitted by those who had before animad¬ verted upon the propriety of legislative interference, and a law was enacted for that purpose 3 . Parliament granted five thousand pounds for the pro¬ jected improvements, and another grant of five thousand pounds was ob¬ tained in 1775 through the exertions of Mr. Walker the colonial agent. William Spry, LL.D. received his Majesty’s commission as Governor of Barbados, and arrived in Carlisle Bay on the 11th of February 1768: he was received with all the honours due to his station. On the 18th of that month the Assembly attended the Governor in Council, and settled three thousand pounds per annum upon his Excellency. In July the Legislature voted a sum of upwards of two thousand pounds for the repairs of the Government House at Pilgrim. These repairs were the more necessary, as the Governor was accompanied by his lady, a niece of the Earl of Chatham and daughter of Thomas Pitt of Bocconic: she died on the 3rd of October 1769. Mr. Spry’s administration does not offer many re¬ markable points. Some discussion took place in the House of Assembly on the question whether a member by leaving the island vacates his seat, which circumstance was variously construed. In this instance the case related to Sir John Alleyne, member for St. Andrew’s and Speaker of the House ; and in consequence of the doubt which prevailed on the subject, his constituents refused to elect another person in his stead. It was ruled however that the member alluded to had vacated his seat by his departure; and the matter having been referred to the King in council, the act which had been previously passed with a view to grant leave of absence to Sir John was disallowed. Governor Spry died on the 4th of September 1772, and the administration again devolved upon Samuel Rous. 1 See Short History of Barbados, p. 78. 2 See ante, p. 243. 3 See Poyer’s History of Barbados, p. 343. 1773 .] ARRIVAL OF GOVERNOR HAY. 333 CHAPTER VII. PERIOD FROM THE ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT ROUS IN 1772 TO THE DEPARTURE OF MAJOR-GENERAL CUNNINGHAME IN 1783. The administration of President Rous is not distinguished by many events of interest. The Assembly passed two bills,—one for erecting six fire-companies, the funds for which were provided by an increased tax upon the importation of slaves; and the second for laying a duty of two shillings and sixpence a ton upon all vessels entering the harbour; the proceeds of which, after deducting fifteen hundred pounds for gunpowder for the use of the forts, were to be applicable to the deepening, cleansing and improving of the molehead. These two bills met with some resistance in the Council, and were disallowed by the King in their original state. They were remodelled under Mr. Hay’s government, and it was enacted that all vessels owned by the inhabitants should be subject to the tonnage duty not more than three times a-year, how frequent soever their voyages might be. The Honourable Edward Hay, late his Majesty’s Consul at Lisbon, had been appointed Governor of Barbados, and arrived in Carlisle Bay on the 6th of June 1773, accompanied by his lady and two daughters. The Legislature settled three thousand pounds on his Excellency during the term of his government. During the administration of Mr. Rous, the Solicitor-General had drawn the attention of the Assembly to the culpable neglect of the persons appointed to preside in the courts of law, in consequence of which justice was suspended in civil cases. The evil was not redressed, and the Governor sent circular letters to the Judges remonstrating at their neglect. The unfortunate dissensions between the British colonies and the mother country began to attract general attention, and as the West India colonies depended for their supplies upon the continent of North Ame¬ rica, the possibility of an interruption of that intercourse caused the liveliest apprehension. Instead of providing for such an emergency by legislative means, the time was allowed to pass until the rupture actually took place, when to their great consternation the Barbadians found that their stock of provisions was estimated at scarcely six weeks’ consumption. Captain Payne arrived at that time from Boston, for the purpose of purchasing provisions for the British troops, who were in distress for want of arrivals from Europe. His Excellency gave him the permission to purchase the requisite provisions, which step raised the greatest com- 334 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1774 . plaints among the populace. Mr. Duke, the Solicitor-General, brought this impolitic measure before the House of Assembly at their next meet¬ ing ; and upon his motion an address to the Governor was resolved upon, requesting him to prohibit the exportation of the necessaries of life until the island was more amply supplied. The House connected with this motion an address to the King, professing their loyalty and attachment to the throne, and beseeching his Majesty to relieve the prevailing misery and distress by timely assistance and interposition in their favour with Parliament. The Governor used all the influence he possessed to dissuade the Assembly from following up this resolution, which he was apprehensive would be displeasing to the King; but neither entreaties nor threats were of any avail, and the address to the King was forwarded to Mr. Walker the agent of the island, who delivered it with a memorial into the hands of Lord George Germaine. The memorial stated that the island had eighty thousand black and twelve thousand white inhabitants to support, —the internal resources, the ground-provisions, having failed from the unseasonable weather,—and that the means then in the stores of support¬ ing the population could not last many weeks, while they were without any hope of supplies from foreign sources. The negroes, destitute of any allowance for their support, were left to plunder and starve, whilst the poorer class of white people were on the point of perishing with hunger. Although the Governor, by his own measures to facilitate the impor¬ tation of supplies, proved that the picture which the Assembly had drawn was not overcharged, he nevertheless could not forget that he had been thwarted by Mr. Duke, and in revenge he suspended him from the bar as his Majesty’s Solicitor-General. Governor Hay had an irritable temper, and Mr. Duke’s dismissal followed several others. W. Dotin, the chief-gunner of James Fort near Holetown, having been accused of embezzling gunpowder from the public stores. Colonel T. Alleyne applied to Mr. J. Dotin, the chairman of the commissioners of fortifications, and a brother of the accused, to convene a Board for the purpose of investigating the charge ; but this application was not attended to. Colonel Alleyne therefore suspended the chief-gunner until he had cleared himself of the charges brought against him, and desired that the keys of the fort should be delivered up to a person whom he appointed. The chief-gunner, accompanied by his brother, hastened to the Governor and succeeded in influencing him to write a letter to Colonel Alleyne, in which his Excellency denied that Colonel Alleyne possessed any authority to suspend the chief-gunner, and forbidding the Colonel to interfere with the gunners and matrosses of his division further than to inform him of any misconduct. On the receipt of this letter, Colonel Alleyne hastened to the Governor’s residence for the purpose of entering into some explanation, when the irritable temper of the Governor rendered matters much worse by his adding insult, which induced Colonel Alleyne to tear A PRIVATEER IN SPEIGHT’S BAY. 335 1776 .] his cockade from his hat; and indignantly surrendering his commis¬ sion, he observed that he disdained to hold it upon such terms. Mr. Alleyne laid his complaints before the Assembly, who resolved on an address to the Governor, praying that his Excellency would order the chairman of the commissioners of fortifications for St. James to convene a Board for the investigation of the charges brought against the chief- gunner. This produced the necessary investigation, and Captain Dotin was fully convicted and dismissed from the service. These proceedings had already produced a coolness between the Go¬ vernor and the Assembly, which was considerably increased when the information arrived from England of the Governor’s having informed the Secretary of State that the picture of the distress in the island conveyed in the late address to the throne was greatly exaggerated, and that this measure originated only with the Assembly. It was therefore resolved “ that it is the undoubted right of the General Assembly, on all occasions, either separately or jointly with the other branches of the Legislature, to address the Throne, and that whoever opposes or obstructs the exercise of this privilege is an enemy to the country: that it manifestly appears that the Governor has, by an application to his Majesty’s Secretary of State for the Colonies, done what lay in his power to intercept his Majesty’s relief towards his loyal and distressed subjects of this colony : that a dutiful memorial be immediately transmitted to his Majesty in support of their former petition 1 .” In 1775, the Parliament granted to Barbados five thousand pounds sterling for cleansing and repairing the molehead 2 . The Governor met a new Assembly on the 22nd of August 1776, on which occasion he delivered a conciliatory address to the members, which was not responded to in a similar tone ; in their answer they reproached him for his “ malign interposition,” by which they had been deprived of receiving relief from the King and Parliament. The Governor had soon an occasion to thwart the Assembly, by refusing his assent to a bill which had been unanimously passed by both Houses re-appointing Mr. Walker their agent. The Governor informed the Assembly that he would concur in the appointment of any other person. Mr. Walker had rendered him¬ self obnoxious by his animadversion on the Governor’s conduct, and the energy which he employed in presenting the address of the House, whose servant he was, to the throne. The Assembly, who highly approved of the zeal and ability of their agent, refused to appoint another in his stead 3 . The numerous American privateers which now infested the seas materially injured the trade; one ventured by night into Speight’s Bay, where being discovered he was fired at from Orange Fort and forced to 1 Poyer’s History of Barbados, p. 3 77. 2 Annual Register, vol. xviii. p. 245. 3 Scarcely more than a year had elapsed when they changed their resolution and appointed Mr. Estwick their agent. 33 G HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1779. withdraw, carrying off a negro whom they had found asleep in a boat. An¬ other privateer captured several fishing-boats with many slaves on board. Sir John Alleyne, the Speaker of the House, disregarding the usual custom of applying through the Governor, addressed himself directly to Admiral Young the naval commander on the station, soliciting protection, who promised to station a frigate to cruize round the island. The petition for relief to the British ministry was heard in 1778, and the government contractor received orders to forward to the Governor three thousand barrels of flour, three thousand barrels of herrings, and a large quantity of peas and beans, with directions to sell them at prime cost, and to remit the money to persons appointed for that purpose. Mr. Atkinson, the government contractor, nobly refused to accept the usual commissions on shipping these goods. The three branches of the Legis¬ lature concurred in an address to the King expressing their gratitude for this acceptable relief. The probability of a war with France induced the Governor to recom¬ mend the Assembly to repair their fortifications, and to adopt measures for an efficient militia-bill. They excused themselves, on the plea that in the distressed state of the island they could not burden their con¬ stituents with taxes for the defence of the island, which they must leave to their King, nor could they harass them with a new militia-bill; adding that it would be time enough to provide for it when the war with France should really break out. Upon the 13th of March 1778 the French ambassador, M. de Noailles, sent to the English minister a declaration that his Sovereign had ac¬ knowledged the independence of the United States; and on the 18th of April, Count d’Estaing sailed from Toulon with a fleet to their assistance. On the 7th of September the Marquis de Bouille, Governor of Marti¬ nique, attacked Dominica, which surrendered. Governor Hay took ad¬ vantage of this circumstance to recommend anew, on the 15th of Sep¬ tember, the fortification to the Assembly, who, in some respect awakened by the proximity of danger, resolved that six thousand pounds should be devoted to the defence of the island,—a sum which was entirely inadequate. The captui’e of St. Vincent and capitulation of Grenada, in June and July 1779, produced a considerable sensation in Barbados. The Governor im¬ mediately convoked the Legislature, and represented to them the imminent danger to which the island was exposed, and succeeded in persuading them to a true sense of their situation. They immediately resolved to provide tents for the men employed in throwing up entrenchments and building redoubts; a proportion of effective negroes were armed, and it was determined to call out the militia once a week for four months, to be rendered effective. Two small vessels were equipped in order to watch the motions of the enemy, and an additional stock of gunpowder was provided. But the DEATH OF GOVERNOR HAY. 337 1779.] recommendation of the Governor to declare martial law was for the pre¬ sent thought unnecessary. Commissioners were appointed to carry the resolutions adopted for the defence of the island into effect, and the sum of fourteen thousand pounds was voted to defray the expenses. A suf¬ ficient quantity of land was purchased in the parish of St. George for the construction of a great redoubt, as a point of retreat in case of ne¬ cessity, which was to be called Fort George. These stirring times appear to have awakened the old chivalric spirit which so eminently distinguished the Barbadians a century ago. During the bustle of these warlike preparations Governor Hay died, on the 24tli of October 1779. His intentions are said to have been good, but his manner was so rough and his temper so irritable and vindictive, that it frequently gave rise to misunderstandings between him and the Assembly and public officers. During his administration the Council encroached upon the privilege of the House by inserting an amendment into a money- bill which had been sent up for their concurrence. The Assembly, taken by surprise, or neglectful of their privileges, permitted this innovation and acquiesced in the proposed alteration 1 . The amendment referred to the hucksters’ bill, where the clause rendering it imperative on a huckster of colour to take out a license was extended to all white hucksters. It was no more than just that it should be so, but the mode of effecting it was undeniably an unparliamentary interference. Mr. Rous resigned as senior member of Council his claim to the ad¬ ministration of government, and enclosed his mandamus in a respectful letter to his Majesty’s Council. The government in consequence de¬ volved upon Mr. John Dotin, who was sworn in on the 26th of October 1779. The Assembly voted him fifteen hundred pounds for the support of the dignity of the presidency. The eighty-ninth regiment had been stationed in the island for its protection, and on the 23rd of February 1780 the Assembly appointed a committee to provide barracks for the accommodation of the troops at the expense of the colony. Major-General James Cunninghame had been appointed by his Majesty to the government of Barbados. Mr. Estwick, the agent of the island, in the letter in which he informed the Assembly of this appointment, gave the most favourable representa¬ tion of the character and amiable disposition of the Governor; he at the same time informed the Assembly that he had renewed his endeavours to cause a repeal of the four-and-half per cent, duty, and to substitute a general tax of threepence a hundred weight upon all sugar imported from the West Indies. “ Lord North appeared to think that the proposal was fair and eligible, and there could be no reason why the other islands 1 When a similar attempt was made on a recent occasion, the House of Assembly with becoming spirit rejected the amendment: see ante, p. 110. z 338 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1780. should not contribute to the revenue equally with Barbados 1 .” It had been indirectly conveyed to Mr. Estwick that General Cunninghame would carry out full power for the settlement of this question, and his arrival was therefore looked forward to with the greatest anxiety. His Excellency arrived in Carlisle Bay on board the Thunderer, Commodore Walsingham’s flagship, and landed on the 12th of July 1780 with the usual ceremonies, which was perhaps heightened by the anticipation of the prosperous times expected from his administration. At the first meeting of the Assembly, after the usual professions on the part of the new Governor to do all in his power to promote the wel¬ fare of the colony, Mr. Duke moved, with regard to his Excellency’s settle¬ ment, “that the present impoverished state of the colony cannot afford a higher settlement than two thousand pounds in augmentation of the home salary;” to which he added a second resolution, “ that in case his Majesty, in consideration of the many distresses and calamities which had for several years past overwhelmed his faithful and loyal subjects of this colony, shall be graciously pleased to relieve them from the payment of the four-and-half per cent, duty on their exported commodities, the As¬ sembly will make an additional provision of one thousand pounds a-year for the support of the colonial government.” On a division the first resolution passed in the affirmative by a majority of sixteen to six, and the second was agreed to on a division of eighteen to four. The bill having been sent up to the Council for their concurrence, it was returned with the following message : “ The Council have passed the Bill for the better support of his Excellency and the dignity of the government, as they cannot amend a money bill; but they cannot help expressing their concern at the injudicious saving therein established, as offering an in¬ dignity to government, and doing discredit to the island.” The Governor withheld his assent to the Bill, on the plea that the second resolution evinced an attempt to force ministers to a measure which they were inclined to adopt, and which would more likely retard than forward their intention. He could not hide the vexation and dis¬ appointment at seeing his salary reduced, instead of being increased; and this ill-advised measure had doubtless great influence upon that conduct which rendered General Cunninghame’s government one of the most un¬ fortunate and tyrannical in the annals of colonial administration. The Assembly took an early opportunity of evincing their displeasure at the unparliamentary message received from the Council respecting the settlement upon the Governor, and the House came to a resolution, upon the motion of Mr. Duke, that it was “ extraordinary, indecent and unpar¬ liamentary ;” a copy of which resolution was sent to the Council. Ge¬ neral Cunninghame attacked the Assembly in his answer to their address Poyer’s History of Barbados, p. 409. DESTRUCTIVE HURRICANE. 339 1780.] with invectives and threats, and this imprudent step was seriously con¬ demned by Lord George Germaine. The Assembly being reproached with having encroached on the executive power, by assuming the ap¬ pointment of the treasurer and storekeeper, solemnly declared that they never would surrender the right of appointing these officers, which they had held from time immemorial by the peculiar favour and indulgence of the Crown : this point had been conceded to them by an order of Queen Anne. They tried equally to refute the other charges. This was only the commencement of a series of altercations which continued through the whole administration of General Cunninghame. Matters were at length brought to a crisis, and both the Assembly and Governor appealed to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. The Governor, finding it impossible to have his salary raised, fixed a table of fees ; and having received from Mr. Moore, the Attorney-General, an opinion that he knew of no law expressly prohibiting the Governor from establishing fees for himself with the advice of his Council, he laid this report before the Council, together with a new table of fees which was approved of by the members, and the Secretary received orders to enforce the pay¬ ment of these fees. This arbitrary and illegal violation of the rights of the people as secured by the charter granted them by the Earl of Carlisle, which conferred all the liberties, franchises and privileges, of British subjects on the Barbadians, was received with the greatest astonishment; it diffused general dissatisfaction throughout the island, and every means were taken to evade these extortions. “ Even the fair sex suffered their patriotism to prevail over their natural delicacy, and submitted to the publication of the banns of marriage, rather than their lovers should yield to the Governor’s exactions for a license 1 .” At this period the awful hurricane took place of which a relation has been given in another place: the 10th of October 1780 nearly caused the annihilation of the colony. The Governor summoned the Council to frame an address to the throne, in which they implored his Majesty’s assistance. The petition was ac¬ companied by a letter from his Excellency to Lord George Germaine ; and General Vaughan addressed the Secretary of State for a similar pur¬ pose, assuring him that a famine must inevitably ensue unless some effectual assistance were rendered to prevent it. It was expected that there would be a special call of the Assembly on this melancholy occa¬ sion, in order to consult with the Governor and Council how to mitigate the public distress; but his Excellency considered otherwise, and the Assembly did not meet until the 31st of October, pursuant to adjourn¬ ment. It was resolved to implore the King’s gracious assistance in a dutiful address, and to direct Mr. Estwick to renew his application to z 2 Poyer’s History of Barbados, p. 445. 340 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1780. the ministry for the remission of the four-and-half per cent, duty, with which he was to combine the petition for the establishment of a free port as the means of rescuing Barbados from ruin. The Governor took an early opportunity of desiring the Assembly to frame a proper levy-bill and to put the fortifications in order: he likewise drew their attention to the ruinous state of Pilgrim, his residence, and stated that the armoury had been entirely destroyed during the hurricane, and the arms were exposed to the weather. The Assembly answered, that what little the storm had spared was required for the bare necessities of life, and for this reason they declined to pass a levy-bill, or to incur any expense in the repair of the fortifications; his Excellency’s residence how¬ ever, they added, should be put in repair as speedily as circumstances would permit, and the arms which were exposed in consequence of the destruction of the armoury should be taken care of. It was certainly most unfeeling of the Governor at this moment of distress to propose the imposition of fresh taxes upon the community. Another message from him was of a similar nature; he required the Assembly, as the troops were to be withdrawn, to provide the necessary means for guarding the prisoners of war and preserving the peace of the island. The House re¬ plied that, as there was no place of sufficient security in which to lodge the prisoners, they requested that they might be sent away with the troops. Judge Gittens, a member of the House, introduced a bill to suspend for a limited term of years the proceedings in the courts of justice and the marshal’s office, until the inhabitants had recovered from the present calamity. This novel measure, the object of which was to obstruct the course of justice by law and to deprive the creditor of his legal remedy, met with becoming opposition, even from those whom the calamity had brought to the brink of ruin, and who might have materially benefited by such a measure. The bill was withdrawn without being put to the vote of a second reading. The Governor continuing to extort the illegal fees which he had esta¬ blished without the concurrence of the representatives of the people, Mr. Duke brought the subject again before the House, and proved that the levying of money without the consent of Parliament had been repeatedly and solemnly declared illegal in England. This being the case with the King, it could not be supposed that a Governor of a British colony, the inhabitants of which enjoyed by charter the rights of British subjects, was at liberty to extort money from them. Several local statutes proved that no old fees could be altered, nor new ones established, with¬ out the authority of the Governor, Council, and Assembly : yet his Ex¬ cellency and the Council, in direct contravention of the most positive laws, had presumed to establish a new table of fees. After various arguments, tending to prove that the Governor and his agent Mr. Workman had been guilty of extortion, the House passed several resolutions condemna- DISSOLUTION OF THE ASSEMBLY. 341 1780 .] tory of the Governor’s illegal and arbitrary act; and it was resolved that a humble petition should be presented to the King, beseeching him to remove Major-General Cunninghame from the government of the island, on account of his oppressive conduct in extorting money from the people, contrary to the law and rights of the Legislature, and to punish with his Majesty’s displeasure such members of his Majesty’s council as had concurred in the Governor’s arbitrary and illegal exactions 1 . This petition was forwarded to Mr. Estwick, the agent of the island, to be pre¬ sented to the King. Lord George Germaine, although he did not ap¬ prove of the language adopted in this petition, and especially disapproved that part which solicited the removal of the Governor, denied to Mr. Estwick that the Governor was acting under his instructions with regard to the fees. The petition was referred by his Majesty’s commands to the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations. These proceedings, which ought to have taught the Governor that he had not ingratiated himself into the public favour, did not prevent his making another attempt to have his salary increased. For this purpose he summoned the Assembly on the 28th of November, and laid before them a letter he had received from the Secretary of State, expressing his Majesty’s disapprobation of the reduction of the settlement on the Go¬ vernor, and his displeasure at the stipulation made by the Assembly to increase the salary only in case the four-and-half per cent, duty were re¬ moved. It concluded with the hope that they would consent to grant the additional thousand pounds, and make the necessary arrangements for passing a levy-bill. The House of Assembly returned an answer, stating that they were grieved at having incurred their Sovereign’s displeasure, but that under the existing distress they could not consent to augment his Excellency’s salary nor to pass a levy-bill. The House continued sitting till after sunset, in expectation of being adjourned according to the esta¬ blished custom by the Governor’s order; but receiving no directions, they adjourned of their own authority, to meet at the end of four weeks, at the same hour in the evening 2 . Disappointed in his expectation of obtaining an increase of salary, and of prevailing upon the House to pass a levy-bill, the Governor now gave his assent to the former bill, which conferred two thousand pounds upon him, and dissolved the Assembly by proclamation. He issued writs for a new election at a distance of two months. Nearly the same members were returned at the general election, with the excep¬ tion of Mr. Duke, the patriotic and talented member for St. Michael’s, whose death took place in the interval: he was generally lamented, as his firmness and intrepidity, his integrity and intelligence, rendered his loss a public calamity. * These members were Henry Frere, Ireneus Moe, Robert Brathwaite, John Best, Joseph Keeling and John Ince, Esqs. 2 Poyer’s History of Barbados, p. 479. 342 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1781 . On the 20th December 1780, a manifesto against Holland complained of the succour which the States General afforded directly and indirectly to the King’s rebellious subjects, and a war with Holland became inevitable. Admiral Rodney and General Vaughan arrived on the 3rd of February 1781 before St. Eustatius, and sent a summons to the Governor to deliver up the island. Their object having been kept a profound secret, M. de Graaf the Governor, who had not been informed of the rupture between England and Holland, could scarcely believe that the officer who delivered the summons was serious; and being incapable of any defence the island was surrendered 1 . Goverhor Cunninghame had received early information of the intended declaration of war. Privateering was carried on by the merchants of Bar¬ bados with great spirit, and the Governor took advantage of this circum¬ stance to exact the most extravagant fees for commissions. On this occasion he granted letters of marque against the Dutch previous to his being authorized to do so ; and as many valuable Dutch prizes had been captured under commissions thus prematurely granted, they were either taken from the captors by his Majesty’s cruizers, or seized by the Gover¬ nor’s orders after they were brought into port, and condemned as droits of the Admiralty. The captors appealed to the King against this in¬ justice ; meanwhile Mr. Weekes, the judge of the Vice-Admiralty Court, acted with integrity and determination in protecting the appellants, for which he was suspended from office and Mr. William Morris appointed as his successor. Mr. Weekes presented a memorial to the King, and was re-instated by his Majesty’s special order. The new Assembly met on the 14th of February 1781. The Governor in his address recommended the House in the strongest terms to take the safety of the island into serious consideration; the rupture with Holland had increased the danger, and a strong armament from France was daily expected. The Assembly still pleaded their inability to pass a levy-bill, nor could they invest his Excellency, as long as he continued to exhibit every disposition to exercise extraordinary powers, with an increase of authority by passing a militia-bill. The West India planters and merchants had petitioned the King, complaining that a sufficient naval force was not kept in those seas for 1 The value of the property found upon the island was estimated at above three millions sterling, exclusive of the shipping, of which above one hundred and fifty sail of ships, many of them richly laden, were taken in the bay; a Dutch thirty-eight- gun frigate and five smaller ones were not included in this number. Admiral Rodney had thrown aspersions upon the merchants in England and the West Inches engaged in the trade with St. Eustatius, and accused them of being smugglers and traitors to their country, which they refuted with great indignation. The indiscriminate con¬ fiscation of property at St. Eustatius involved Admiral Rodney in some very dis¬ agreeable disputes, and his conduct was brought before Parliament by Mr. Burke : the demanded inquiry was however rejected by a large majority. LIBERALITY OF THE PARLIAMENT. 343 1782.] the protection of the British colonies. Tobago had capitulated to a small French squadron after a gallant and obstinate resistance by Governor Fer¬ guson. As soon as the enemy’s squadron was seen, Governor Ferguson despatched Captain Barnes of the Rattlesnake with the intelligence to Sir George Rodney, then lying with his squadron in Carlisle Bay, who con¬ tented himself with despatching Rear-Admiral Drake with six sail of the line, three frigates, one regiment and two additional companies consist¬ ing of five hundred and twenty-eight men, under the command of Gene¬ ral Skene. Previous to the arrival of this succour, the whole French fleet from Martinique, consisting of twenty-four line-of-battle ships, was cruizing off the island, and prevented Admiral Drake from landing his troops. The Admiral hauled his wind and returned to Barbados. Gover¬ nor Ferguson capitulated on the 1st of June 1781. Admiral Rodney received intelligence of what had passed on the 2nd of June, and left Carlisle Bay the following day with General Vaughan and the troops on board. Upon their arrival off Tobago the island was in the possession of the French, and their fleet of twenty-four sail of the line in sight; but Sir George Rodney, suspecting that the enemy wished to decoy him among the Grenadines and then proceed to attack Barbados, did not attempt to bring them to action. The capture of Tobago gave Major-General Cunninghame another opportunity of warning the Assembly of their imminent danger. He pretended to possess information that the French had a design upon Barbados. This information appears to have been correct, and, as the sequel proved, the inhabitants on this occasion only owed their escape from the horrors of a siege to a fortunate circumstance. Upon the 11th of January 1782, the Marquis de Bouille landed with eight thou¬ sand troops at St. Christopher’s, supported by the Count de Grasse with twenty-nine sail of the line. It was the original intention of the French commander to have attacked Barbados, where Sir Samuel Hood, with eighteen ships of the line, was at anchor ; hoping by a joint cannonade and bombardment from the shore and the ships to destroy the fleet in Car¬ lisle Bay. Adverse winds drove the French so far to leeward that the object was changed, and the chastisement fell upon St. Christopher 1 . On the motion of Lord North, on the 25th of January 1782, the Par¬ liament resolved unanimously “ that the sum of eighty thousand pounds be granted to his Majesty for affording immediate assistance to our un¬ happy fellow-subjects in the island of Barbados, and to relieve and support such of them as have been reduced to distress and necessity by the late dreadful calamity which in the month of October last ravaged and laid waste the greatest part of the island.” This liberality of the nation and their sympathy with the ruined inhabitants of Barbados deserve the greater praise, as England was at that time involved in a most expensive 1 Compare Annual Register for 1782, and Beatson’s Memoirs, vol. v. 314 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1782 . war. But this assistance was not restricted to the Parliament; indivi¬ duals came forward with alacrity and munificence to add their share toward the relief of the sufferers. The generosity of the citizens of Dublin stands conspicuous: Sir Edward Newenham, Lord-Mayor of that city, convened a meeting, to consider the most effectual and expeditious method of relieving the wants and necessities of the sufferers in Barbados. Twenty thousand pounds were quickly raised, towards which the house of Latouche and Sons contributed one thousand pounds. The money was invested in the purchase of articles of the first necessity, which were shipped to Barbados, where they arrived at a most opportune moment, and were judiciously distributed to the distressed under the direction of the Go¬ vernor. Grateful for this assistance, the representatives of the people unanimously transmitted a vote of thanks by their Speaker to Sir Edward Newenham and his worthy fellow-citizens. The sense of their gratitude was deeply impressed on the hearts of the inhabitants; nor was it the eva¬ nescent feeling of the moment which dictated these grateful expressions, —they survived in their hearts; and when after the lapse of more than half a century dearth and famine spread over unfortunate Ireland, that noble act of former years was not forgotten; it called forth from the representatives of the people of the present time a feeling of gratitude which had been deeply cherished in their hearts, and the House of Assembly came, on the 3rd of March, 1847, to the unanimous resolu¬ tion of voting for the relief of their distressed fellow-subjects in Ireland as large a sum as their circumstances would permit. Two thousand pounds sterling were therefore remitted to the Relief Fund in Ireland, besides large contributions from private individuals; nor let it be for¬ gotten that Barbados was the first of the British colonies which assisted Ireland according to her means. When the vote of the House of Commons was communicated to Mr. Estwick, a committee of the principal merchants and planters of Barbados resident in London was formed, on the recommendation of the treasury, for carrying the generous resolution of the Parliament into execution. A committee of correspondence was appointed in Barbados, which was to consist of the Governor and members of the Council, the Speaker and a certain number of the House of Assembly. As is frequently the case on such occasions, diversity of opinion and a want of concert prevailed, and many months elapsed before the benevolent intentions of Parlia¬ ment were even partially carried into effect. It is distressing that in a great measure we have to record a mal-appropriation of considerable sums granted for the relief of the distressed. The House of Assembly had prepared a bill which vested the whole donation in a board of com¬ missioners, composed of the Governor and a certain number of mem¬ bers from each branch of the Legislature, with power to distribute the grant among the sufferers. This did not suit his Excellency, whose plan SUCCESS OF THE FRENCH. 345 1782.] was to dispose of the money otherwise: he had already proposed to the Secretary of State the policy of applying the benefaction of the English public to the erection and repair of the fortifications; the Council on the other hand wished to appropriate the money to the payment of the public debt, and to distribute merely the provisions among the sufferers; the bill of the Assembly was therefore unanimously rejected. In consequence of this want of unanimity, the provisions, many of which were of a perishable nature, suffered from the delay, besides which there was an expense of two hundred pounds a month for storage of the four cargoes of provisions which had arrived. They were ultimately divided into eleven equal parts, one of which was assigned to the vestry of each parish to be conscientiously distributed. A Board of Commissioners was subsequently constituted, according to directions received from England, which excluded the Governor, with full power to make a final distribution of the bounty in any manner they should think proper; and “ the boon which was intended for the relief of the poor distressed, was applied to lessen the taxes on the opulent possessors of slaves 1 .” Out of this fund the Board provided for the repair of the townhall; one thousand pounds was allotted to the rebuilding of the new bridge; nineteen hundred pounds were granted to six parishes for rebuilding their churches; fifteen hun¬ dred pounds had been paid by the London Committee to Mr. Estwick, as agent of the island, to conduct a prosecution which the Assembly had determined upon against the Governor; and of the balance, eighteen hundred pounds were allotted to the sufferers in each parish, to be distri¬ buted proportionally amongst those whose losses did not exceed fifteen hundred pounds : five years however elapsed before the distribution was accomplished 2 . The Assembly still refusing to pass a levy-bill, the credit of the colony was almost annihilated; many of the public officers had not been paid their salaries for a considerable time, and were actually driven from their stations. The Assembly remained immovable, and showed a spirit which was certainly not calculated to lead to a reconciliation with the Governor; nor did this delay relieve their constituents from the taxes which they would have sooner or later to pay for the maintenance of order and govern¬ ment ; but on the contrary, as soon as the vindictive spirit of the Assem¬ bly should subside, those taxes in their accumulated form would fall the heavier upon them. The success of the French was so great, that in February 1782, of all the British colonies in the West Indies, Jamaica, Barbados and Antigua alone remained in the possession of the English. The injury done to the inhabitants of St. Christopher’s by the siege and capitulation was estimated at one hundred and sixty thousand pounds sterling. Sir George Rodney, with twelve sail of the line, arrived at Barbados on 1 Poyer’s History, p. 522. 3 Ibid. p. 523. 346 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1782 . the 19th of February 1782. Admiral Hood arrived a few days afterwards, and three sail of the line from England joined their combined fleet, which consisted now altogether of thirty-six sail of the line besides frigates and smaller vessels. With this fleet Admiral Rodney cruized to windward of the French islands in the hope of intercepting the French fleet, in which he was successful. An action commenced on the 9th of April and lasted until the 12th, when the hostile fleets met upon opposite tacks. The Ville de Paris, the flagship of the high-spirited He Grasse, after being much battered, was closely engaged by the Canada, Captain Corn¬ wallis, but would not strike until the Barfleur, Sir Samuel Hood, came up: she engaged the latter for about a quarter of an horn 1 , and then at sunset M. de Grasse surrendered to Sir Samuel Hood. When the Ville de Paris struck there were only three men who were not wounded upon her upper deck—the Count de Grasse was one of the three. The rest of the fleet made off to leeward in the greatest confusion : five sail of the line were taken from the French, and one sunk in the action. This complete and glorious victory saved Jamaica and the other islands: the commander of that armament destined against Jamaica and the object of their terror was brought a prisoner into their ports 1 . The altercations between the Governor and the Assembly continued. It is true the impending danger had awakened the resolution of defend¬ ing the island in case of an attack; but this was not done by public measures, it was the result of private enterprise.. The inhabitants formed themselves into volunteer associations, and undertook the x’epair of their fortifications. Bridgetown and the parish of St. Michael took the lead (in June 1782) and raised a liberal subscription, and the other towns in the island followed the example. Governor Cunninghame dissolved the Assembly by proclamation on the 16th of June, assigning as his reason the stoppage of the supplies for the defence of the country. The volunteer associations, and sums which had been raised for repairing the fortifications, were, he alleged, suffi¬ cient proof that the people at large were willing to pay any assessment for this purpose, if the factious spirit of those men who represented them in the Assembly did not oppose it; and in order to give the people an op¬ portunity of choosing men who had a greater regard for their interest, he thought proper to dissolve the present General Assembly. His reason¬ ing proved fallacious; public meetings were held to declare the confi¬ dence of the people in the late representatives, and that the subscriptions for the repair of the fortifications was opened among the more opulent on account of the inability of the people at large to pay any tax for that purpose. Moreover his Excellency had the mortification to find that the old members of the Assembly were re-elected unanimously; and so much did the inhabitants approve of their conduct, that patriotic dinners were 1 Annual Register, 1/82, p. 202 et seq. DEPARTURE OF GOVERNOR CUNNINGHAME. 347 1783 .] given by the freeholders in honour of their representatives 1 . Petitions from the merchants in Bridgetown and the parishioners of St. James were presented to the House, with a request that they should be laid at the foot of the throne, in which the petitioners complained of the Go¬ vernor’s arbitrary and tyrannical proceedings. He was charged with fraud and duplicity, in issuing letters of marque and reprisals against the Dutch before he was authorized to do so, and of extortion with respect to the fees which he had established. The Governor made an overture to the Assembly to commute the fees if they would raise his salary, which was properly rejected ; and as the subject had been brought before the Lords’ Committee of Trade and Plantations, they now looked forward to their decision. General Christie had arrived with a battalion of the sixtieth regiment, which by orders of his Excellency was lodged in the forts: the Governor seized this opportunity to recommend that the House should provide for the better accommodation of the troops. The repair of the forts was again proposed, but he could only induce the Assembly to vote an aid of negro-labour to assist General Christie in removing the heavy artillery, ammunition and provisions to Fort George. The change of ministry in England, in March 1783, produced ulti¬ mately what neither petitions nor the ardent solicitations of Mr. Estwick could effect; Major General Cunninghame was recalled from his govern¬ ment. The 13th of April had been appointed by the Lords’ Committee of Trade for a final hearing of the charges preferred against the Governor, but ere that day arrived Lord George Germaine, his patron, was out of office. Mr. Estwick therefore did not proceed any further with the complaints against the late Governor, and his arbitrary proceedings escaped the condign punishment they deserved. This strange abandon¬ ment of their just complaint for reparation by Mr. Estwick, which he had resolved upon without orders from his constituents, was severely censured by the House of Assembly, although they voted him their thanks for his zeal in promoting the Governor’s removal: it led ulti¬ mately to his dismissal. Major General Cunninghame embarked privately on board the packet in the evening of the 18th of June 1783, and remained there until the 20th, unnoticed and unmolested. On that day he left a colony where perhaps not a single individual cherished his remembrance. Poyer’s History, pp. 502, 504. 348 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1783 . CHAPTER VIII. PERIOD FROM THE ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT DOTIN IN 1783 TO THE ARRIVAL OF LORD SEAFORTII IN 1801. Mr. John Dotin assumed the administration in obedience to his Majesty’s commands, signified to him by Lord Shelburne, the Secretary of State: the Legislature settled fifteen hundred pounds on him during his administration. The House of Assembly unanimously resolved that a humble address be presented to the King, returning their grateful thanks for the removal of their late Governor, and that the thanks of the House he given to the Earl of Shelburne for his active zeal and ready exe¬ cution of his Majesty’s orders for the recall of Governor Cunninghame. A new Assembly met on the 3rd of September, at which, among other measures, it was resolved to abandon Fort George. The President re¬ ceived great praise for his unreserved condemnation of the tables of fees set up by Governor Cunninghame, and this did not fail to ensure to him the affection and confidence of the House. It was about this time that a descendant of the brave general Sir Timothy Thornhill, who bore his name, raised a respectable company of infantry of seventy-four rank and file at his own expense. They acted under General Vaughan, and served during the remainder of the war in strengthening the garrison in Barbados, St. Lucia and Antigua. In March 1784, some gentlemen in London interested in the West India islands, which had been occupied during the war by the French, voted an address of thanks and a piece of plate to the Marquis de Bouille, as a public testimony of their veneration and esteem for the humanity, justice, and generosity displayed by him in his several conquests and chief command of the conquered islands. His generous conduct during the awful hurricane, so strongly contrasting with the mercenary conduct of General Cunninghame, has already been alluded to 1 . Mr. Joshua Steele, the proprietor of three estates in Barbados, took the power of all arbitrary punishment from his overseers, and created a magistracy from among the negroes themselves, appointing a court of jury of the elder negroes or head-men for trial and punishment of all casual offences: this court very soon became respectable and quiet, and fulfilled the humane proprietor’s expectation. He introduced likewise See ante, p. 48. ARRIVAL OF GOVERNOR PARRY. 349 1784.] taskwork among his labourers, and bestowed premiums upon the indus¬ trious 1 . The preliminary articles of peace between Great Britain and France, and between Great Britain and Spain, were signed at Versailles on the 28th of January 1783; and the definitive treaties between these Powers, and between Great Britain and America, were signed at Paris on the 3rd of September following. A proclamation was issued at St. James’s on the 26th of December, permitting the importation of the produce of the United States by British subjects in British-built ships, from any port of the United States of America to any of the British Colonies in the West Indies,—the produce of the islands to be exported to the United States in a similar manner. On the recommendation of the Earl of Shelburne, his Majesty appointed Major David Parry to the government of Barbados : he arrived in Carlisle Bay on the 8th of January 1784. His Excellency had been instructed to direct the Legislature, at their first meeting, to prepare a bill effec¬ tually to prevent the possibility of a recurrence of such an evil as the establishment of new fees. This bill was entitled “ An Act declaring the right of establishing fees to be only in the three branches of the Le¬ gislature in their collective capacitycombined with it was the act for granting a sum for the support of the dignity of his Excellency, which was fixed at two thousand pounds, and with which he generously expressed himself satisfied. But these two bills, the latter of which was merely temporary, having been combined, this circumstance was assigned as one of the reasons for his Majesty’s withholding his sanction to it ; the other reason was however of greater importance. The Assembly having pre¬ ferred grave charges against the late Governor, the King had referred the same to the opinion of the Board of Trade ; and when that Board was on the point of investigating these charges, the agent of the Assembly declined to proceed further. To prevent their present Governor from suffering in consequence of the disallowance of that Act, they unanimously voted him two thousand pounds, to commence from the day on which he assumed the government. Governor Parry had succeeded in allaying the disputes between the two branches of the Legislature, and harmony existed for a time ; it was however soon disturbed on the question of a new excise-bill, on the passing of which the Council wished to retain at their command a dis¬ posable revenue to render future commanders-in-chief in some degree independent of the people : the Assembly considered this attempt an interference with their privileges. This however was not the only cause of dispute. The Assembly had dismissed Mr. Estwick as their agent, and appointed Mr. Brathwaite. The Council objected to this appoint- 1 Clarkson’s Thoughts on Emancipation. 350 HISTORY OP BARBADOS. [ 1786 . ment, but the Assembly remained firm, and Mr. Brathwaite was generous enough to fill the office without its emoluments until the consent of the Council was obtained. The promises of retrenchment and reform in the expenses connected with the public service which the Governor had made, had soon an oppor¬ tunity of being tested. It appeared that the waste of the public stores in powder had been so great in the division of St. Peter, that during pro¬ found peace, in the short term of three months, nearly five thousand pounds weight had been spent in firing salutes, mostly on occasions of private festivities. His Excellency thenceforth limited the disbursement for each parish to ten barrels, with the exception of St. MichaePs, which being the seat of government was more frequently under the necessity of firing salutes. During the session of the Assembly, a motion was made to increase the Governor’s salary one thousand pounds. The friends of this measure had availed themselves of a thin attendance to push it with unbecoming haste, and carried it by a majority of one ; and although there was a rule that no money-bill should pass without being read and voted three di¬ stinct times, at two separate meetings, one Sunday at least intervening, or if necessity should require more speedy despatch, that twelve mem¬ bers consent to it, or the address pass nemine contradicente ,—the promo¬ ters overruled the objection, by observing that those who made the rules had likewise the authority to annul or repeal them: the rule was there¬ fore rescinded, and the bill went that day through all three stages. At a subsequent meeting of the House the rescinded rule was restored, and it was resolved for the future that if any member moved the repeal of any rule, except on the first meeting of the Assembly, or at some other sitting, when every member should be present, he should be expelled, and the Speaker be at liberty to quit the chair. A lottery was projected in 1786, which had for its object to raise the sum of fifty thousand pounds for the purpose of repairing the churches destroyed during the hurricane which had not been rebuilt. A similar bill Jiad passed two years previously, which was disallowed in England, as it was only to benefit the church of St. Michael; the present bill stipulated that half the money should be applied to that purpose, and the other half to the use of^ the other parish-churches which had been destroyed. The scheme did not meet with success, and the drawing of one lottery only was effected, the profits of which were materially lessened by one of the managers, who was entrusted with the sale of the tickets, embezzling the money. The state of the roads required legislative interference: the great road leading from Bridgetown to St. Philip’s church was scarcely passable. A bill for the establishment of turnpikes passed the Legislature, but not 1791.] ARRIVAL OF PRINCE WILLIAM HENRY. 351 without considerable amendments having been introduced by the Coun¬ cil 1 . Turnpikes were established in conformity with this bill and the roads repaired; the measure fell soon into neglect. The country was now involved in new pecuniary difficulties. Never¬ theless, on the arrival of his Royal Highness Prince William Henry, who entered Carlisle Bay on the 24th of November 1787, in the Pegasus frigate, which he commanded, he was received with the greatest demonstrations of loyalty and affection, and was sumptuously entertained by the Legis¬ lature at the public expense. The Council proposed to the Assembly to present to the Prince a sword; to which they replied, that it was the privilege of their branch that all grants of money should emanate from them, and they could not consistently permit an infringement of their privileges. Having resisted this invasion of their right, they voted the Prince a present of a sword of the value of three hundred guineas. The restrictions which were laid upon the commercial intercourse be¬ tween the British colonies and the United States, rendered it necessary for an armed brig to cruize round the island for the purpose of prevent¬ ing all illicit or contraband trade. Many British vessels were seized and condemned under various pretexts by Mr. Weekes, the sole judge of the Vice-Admiralty court; and the Governor was accused of having a con¬ siderable share in these harsh and in some instances illegal proceedings, which incurred the censure of Sir James Marriot, judge of the High Court of Admiralty. Governor Parry left Barbados on leave of absence for twelve months, and appointed on the 6th of July 1790 Mr. Henry Frere, President of the Council, to administer the government during his absence. The Assembly settled two thousand pounds per annum upon him for the support of his dignity during his administration. His talents as a ruler, whatever they might have been, did not find much scope for displaying themselves : after an absence of not quite a year. Governor Parry returned on the 24th of June 1791, and resumed the government. The depreciation of the gold coin by clipping, and the importation of light gold, had become an evil which affected all classes. Under Mr. Frere’s administration it had already been taken into consideration, with¬ out the evil being remedied. The Governor now recommended most seriously that something should be devised to counteract this evil, and a law was enacted to punish with death all persons convicted of clipping, counterfeiting or filing the current gold coin. This law was found in¬ effectual, as no convictions could be obtained; and the subject was taken anew into consideration, debated, committees appointed, &c., without the Assembly coming to any decision. The Governor at this juncture cut the Gordian knot, and, resorting to his prerogative, published a proclamation, 1 Although this was a money-bill, the Legislature acquiesced in these amend¬ ments, which were an invasion of their privileges.— Payer’s History, p. 573. 35.2 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1794 . by which he established the value of the several gold coins in general cir¬ culation at a standard corresponding to the value of the legal coin of Great Britain, stipulating a deduction of twopence three farthings for each grain the coin was deficient in weight. On the 21st of January 1793 the French republicans beheaded their king. The French ambassador in London was desired by the English go¬ vernment to leave the country, and that contest commenced which so pre¬ eminently manifested the power of England over the destiny of Europe. As soon as the intelligence of a probable war with France was carried to Barbados, the Governor convened the Legislature, and represented to them the necessity of putting their militia into a condition to assist the military in case of need. The Assembly expired before the new bill passed the Council. Meanwhile revolutionary principles having shown themselves in Martinique, the royalists of that island appealed for aid to the Commander-in-chief in Barbados, and Admiral Gardner with seven ships of the fine, having eleven hundred soldiers on board under the command of General Bruce, arrived off Cape Navire. The troops were landed on the 16th of June, but not meeting with sufficient cooperation they were re-embarked and tbe Admiral returned to Barbados. Several hundreds of the royalists availed themselves of the opportunity to escape from the island: they were hospitably received on their arrival in Bar¬ bados, and liberal subscriptions were opened for their relief. The ill state of Governor Parry’s health obliged him to resign his administration into the hands of President Bishop, and he embarked on the 22nd of July 1793 for Nevis, with the intention of returning in the event of regaining his health. He proceeded however to England, where he died on the 26th of December. A general election had taken place a few days previous to the Governor’s departure, which the President opened on the 23rd of July. The Legis¬ lature settled two thousand pounds per annum on his Honour, for defray¬ ing the expenses of his administration. One of his first acts, upon assuming office, was to suspend Mr. Weekes, the sole judge of the Court of Vice-Admiralty, for mal-practices and extortions in the execution of his office. Upon the 6th of January 1794, Sir John Jervis with his squadron and a large body of troops commanded by Sir Charles Grey, entered Carlisle Bay. The expedition was intended against Martinique, and the President having received a letter from Sir Charles Grey, expressing a wish to be furnished with one thousand negroes to serve as pioneers, he immediately convoked the Legislature and laid the General’s letter before them. The application expressed the willingness of Sir Charles Grey to allow a re¬ ward for their services, and to pay the full value of such as should lose their lives or be maimed or missing at the end of the expedition. The Legislature entered readily into these propositions, which after all Sir BLACK REGIMENTS. 353 1795 .] Charles Grey ultimately refused, and left Barbados without this assistance. St. Pierre surrendered on the 22nd of February, and Fort Royal on the 20th of March. The inhabitants of Barbados generously opened a sub¬ scription for the maintenance of the wives and children of the soldiers who embarked in the expedition, and who, not being permitted to join, were left in Barbados. Another liberal subscription w r as entered into for supplying the soldiers and sailors employed in the reduction of Mar¬ tinique with fresh provisions. His Majesty appointed, on the recommendation of Lord Hawkcsbury, George Poyntz Ricketts, Esq. as Governor of Barbados. He was a native of Jamaica, and at the time of his appointment administered the government of Tobago: he had the reputation of possessing the highest qualifications for a governor, and his reception was therefore most cordial. He summoned the Legislature, and addressed both branches on the 4th of June 1794. With the unanimous consent of the Legislature, three thousand pounds per annum were settled on his Excellency during his administration. Mr. Weekes, who, under the administration of President Bishop, had been suspended from his office as judge of the Vice-Admiralty Court, was restored by an order of the Lords of the Admiralty: it was alleged that he had been condemned without trial. The Attorney-Ge¬ neral now received instructions to prosecute him for extortion ; he was indicted at the Court of Grand Sessions, and found guilty of the offence. In commiseration of his age he was sentenced to a nominal fine of five shillings, and declared unworthy of serving in any official capacity. Mr. Jonathan Blenman succeeded him in office. The militia-bill, which had passed the House without receiving the sanction of the Council, was revived, and passed into a law in January 1795. The two regiments of horse were disbanded, and the militia was divided into eleven parochial regiments. In consequence of the depredations which a number of French privateers committed upon the West India trade, a strict blockade of the French ports was considered the only effective remedy; but the Admiral on the station not having a sufficient number of vessels for such a purpose, he, in conjunction with General Vaughan, applied to the go¬ vernors of the different islands requesting that an armed vessel might be' furnished at the expense of each colony. The Legislature of Barbados complied with this request, and unanimously voted two thousand pounds out of the money belonging to the Molehead fund, for this purpose. The armed brig, the Lord Hawkesbury, was hired for the service for a space of four months. The great mortality among the European troops employed in the West Indies induced the ministry to raise two regiments in the colonies, of one thousand negroes each, and the Legislature of Barbados was desired to furnish a proportionate contingent of able negroes for such a purpose : the Legislature however declined this, on the plea of the scarcity 2 A 354 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1795. of labour on the plantations that would ensue if such a scheme were executed. On the arrival of the armament under Sir Ralph Abercrombie and Admiral Christian in the West Indies, the application was revived, and the Duke of Portland demanded that a body of negroes should be provided, to act on “ fatigue duties ” with the troops during the attack on the French islands. This requisition was laid before the Assembly, who resolved that a demand of this kind enforced by an act of Legislature would be an infringement of the civil rights of the people, and the motion was negatived by a majority of three voices. The number of negroes required was however readily furnished by the inhabitants, for whom a liberal hire was offered, and security given by General Knox for an adequate re¬ muneration in case they should be killed, disabled or missing on the return of the expedition. The negroes from the other islands were brought to Barbados, which had been appointed the general rendezvous. A number of emigrants from the French islands, consisting chiefly of people of colour, arrived at the same time, and such an influx of dubious characters was not unattended by danger. * The Governor therefore called for the services of the militia, and the royal regiment obeyed the sum¬ mons with great alacrity and performed the garrison duties. To relieve the militia from this irksome duty, a body of three hundred men were enlisted for one month and paid at the public expense 1 . The harmony which had existed between the Governor and the go¬ verned was unfortunately disturbed by an event which must in a great measure be ascribed to the times when it occurred, and to the animosity existing between the white and coloured inhabitants. Joseph Denny, a free coloured man of bad repute, had killed John Stroud a poor white man, by shooting him with a gun. From the evidence produced it was clear that Denny mistook John Stroud for the brother of the wounded man. Denny was indicted at the ensuing court of grand sessions, and the jury found him guilty. Mr. Philip Gibbes, who presided as chief- justice on the trial, pronounced the sentence of death on him. The advocates of the criminal called upon the chief-justice, and requested his sanction to a petition from the prisoner to the Governor for his reprieve and a recommendation to the Crown for mercy; to which Mr. Gibbes not only acceded, but accompanied it with a memorial, in which he asserted that there bad been no legal proof of “malice aforethought/ - ’ and that Stroud’s death was only to be ascribed to accident. “ The circumstance of Denny’s being a man of colour,” continued Mr. Gibbes, “ and his having killed a white man, had raised a prejudice against him which was shown in too barefaced a manner not to be observed by every impartial person present at the trial.” This aspersion was contradicted by his Majesty’s Solicitor-General, who had conducted the prosecution on the 1 See ante, p. 192. denny’s transportation. 355 1796 .] part of the Crown ; however in his report he likewise leaned to mercy, and the Governor reprieved him until his Majesty’s pleasure was known. It was communicated to the Governor by the Duke of Portland, in answer to his application, that the King considered the criminal so far an object for the royal mercy as that the law should not take its course on him to its full extent; but that, taking the evidence into con¬ sideration, it entitled him only to a commutation of the sentence into one of banishment, and that his pardon should be considered void and be of no effect should he ever venture to return. The Governor, who it appears was apprehensive of some public commotion if it became known that Denny was not to suffer death for his crime, arranged with General Murray that the criminal should be escorted on board a government brig, which was ordered to set sail then immediately. On the way to the vessel however the prisoner was recognised, and a report was instantly spread that Denny had been conveyed from prison under the protection of an armed force : this circulated rapidly, and the populace, ignorant that a commutation of Denny’s sentence had arrived, thought that his escape had been planned privately. A party, among wdiorn there were even persons of the better class of inhabitants, hastened to Ricketts’ battery, and commenced firing upon the brig then under w T eigh ; while a second party, well-armed, manned some boats, and boarding the vessel brought back the unfortunate man to shore. The Duke of Portland’s letter was now read, and had the effect of appeasing the tumult as soon as the Governor’s order was obtained for remanding the prisoner to jail ; and Denny having been delivered to the provost-marshal, the crow d dispersed. The inhabitants assembled again the next day, and a committee w T as ap¬ pointed to consider of some effectual plan for restoring tranquillity. They came to the resolution, that although Denny had received his Ma¬ jesty’s pardon under misrepresentations, they would pay due obedience to the King’s orders, and would merely request the Governor to trans¬ port him as speedily as possible to the island of Ruatan; and that his Excellency should be petitioned to remove Mr. Philip Gibbes from his seat at the Council-board, and from all other public employments whatever, for his false aspersions on the jury by W'hom Denny was convicted. His Excellency agreed to these propositions, and expressed a wish that in re¬ turn the committee would exert themselves to restore tranquillity and calm the public mind. Mr. Gibbes was suspended from the Council-board ; he proceeded to England and obtained a royal order for his restoration; which being effected, he some time after resigned his Mandamus. Sir Ralph Abercrombie had received his Majesty’s commands to raise five regiments of black troops in the West Indies. The frightful mor¬ tality among the white soldiers induced the British ministers to adopt the plan of recruiting the army with men better able to stand the influence of the climate. The West India governors w T ere instructed 2 a 2 356 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1800 . to bring this project before their respective legislatures, and to desire them to give their active co-operation in raising these regiments, which were to consist of five hundred men each, to be procured by purchase among the islands. This plan was strenuously opposed by the legisla¬ tures, who, with the example of St. Domingo before their eyes, saw nothing but ruin and death in a proposal for putting arms into the hands of slaves 1 . When Governor Ricketts communicated the proposition in a message to the House on the 17th of January 1797, the Speaker, Sir John Gay Alleyne, opposed the measure, and a number of resolutions condemning it were unanimously adopted, and a copy of them sent to the Governor in reply to his message. The Assembly of Jamaica was no less decided in refusing compliance with the request of the British ministers. Sir John Gay Alleyne, who had served his native country for nearly forty years as a representative and Speaker of the House, resigned, in consequence of his impaired health and infirmities, on the 6th of June 1797. Poyer, in his ‘ History of Barbados,’ regrets that on his retire¬ ment no tribute to his patriotic conduct was paid to him; “ even the poor unsubstantial tribute of a vote of thanks was withliolden from the vene¬ rable patriot 2 .” The Legislature in Barbados voted, on the 15th of May 1798, the sum of two thousand pounds as a contribution towards enabling his Majesty to prosecute the war; subscriptions were opened in every parish, and upwards of thirteen thousand pounds sterling were collected and re¬ mitted to the Bank of England for the service of Government. Governor Ricketts convoked the Legislature on the 12th of February 1800, and communicated to them that ill-health rendered it neces¬ sary for him to leave the island. As a mark of their gratitude for his just administration, the representatives unanimously voted him one thousand pounds to defray the expenses of his voyage 3 . His Excellency embarked on board a merchant-ship for Liverpool; and so highly was he esteemed by the inhabitants of the island which he governed, that for six successive weeks public prayers were offered up in every church and chapel throughout the island for his speedy recovery. He died on the 8th of April 1800, fifteen days after his arrival in England. On the Governor’s departure the administration devolved a second time on Mr. William Bishop, the president of his Majesty’s Council, and the Assembly in a generous mood settled three thousand pounds per annum upon him during his administration. 1 Bryan Edwards’ History of the West Indies, vol. iv. p. 91. 2 Poyer’s History, p. 648. 3 The Governors being forbidden by their instructions to receive any gift or pre¬ sent, the good intention of the Legislature could not take effect- until his Majesty’s pleasure was known. The King having confirmed the grant, and the Governor dying in the interim, the morev was paid to his executors. PEACE OF AMIENS. 357 1802 .] The fund for the repair of the Molehead, which had on various occa¬ sions been resorted to as the means for meeting public expenses, was again put under contribution on the 4th of June. From the declining state of the colonial commerce the tonnage-duty was found insufficient to supply the requisite quantity of gunpowder for the fortifications, and the Legislature voted one thousand pounds from this fund for the pur¬ chase of gunpowder. In July 1798, a sum of one thousand pounds had been voted for a similar purpose out of the Molehead fund. The Right Honourable Francis Humberstone Mackenzie, Baron Sea- forth, having been appointed to the government, his Lordship arrived in Barbados on the 26th of March 1801, and was sworn in as Governor. CHAPTER IX. PERIOD FROM THE PEACE OF AMIENS IN 1802 TO LORD SEAFORTH’S DEPARTURE IN 1806. The war between France and England had continued for nearly nine years, when the peace of Amiens, concluded between the two chief Powers, restored tranquillity. The result of the contest for England was the ac¬ quisition of Trinidad in the West Indies and Ceylon in the East, which the Opposition to the ministry then in power did not consider commen¬ surate with the sacrifices entailed by the war. The preliminary articles of peace between his Britannic Majesty and the French Republic were signed in London by Lord Hawkesbury and M. Otto, on the 1st of Oc¬ tober 1801, and the definitive treaty between England, France, Spain and the Batavian Republic, on the 27th of March 1802, at Amiens. Lord Seaforth availed himself of the tranquillity of peace to propose such re¬ forms in the coloni^expenses as might conduce to restore the credit and advance the prosperity of the island in a financial view. The welfare of a class which had hitherto been neglected, and in many instances treated with great inhumanity, engaged Lord Seaforth’s especial attention, namely the slave population. England was at that time awaken¬ ing from her lethargy and devoting her attention to the negroes. “Anne liceat invitos in servitutem dare ?” was the object of a prize-essay which early developed the talents of Mr. Clarkson, and rendered him one of the most distinguished advocates for the rights of the slave. 358 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1804 . As early as April 1797 the Parliament resolved upon a humble address to his Majesty requesting that the Governors in the British West India islands should be desired to recommend to their respective Councils and Assemblies such measures as might obviate the causes that impeded the natural increase of the negroes, and might conduce to their moral and religious improvement and secure to them throughout the British West India islands the certain, immediate and active protection of the law. This resolution was communicated by circular to the Governors, with a strong recommendation to promote the humane and benevolent views of Parliament. The amelioration of the labouring class was therefore Lord Seaforth’s great object from the commencement of his administration. Among other reforms he had proposed to the Assembly in 1802 that the murder of a slave, which according to law was expiated by a fine of eleven pounds four shillings sterling, should be made felony. The Assembly refused their assent to this, and appointed a committee to prepare an answer in the negative to his Lordship’s message. “ The ratification of the treaty of peace upon paper, and the breach of it in fact, were simultaneous upon the part of France.” The peace of Amiens was but of short duration, and hostilities recommenced early in 1803. Upon the 24th of June leave was given by the King for grant¬ ing letters of marque and reprisals against the French and Batavian Republics. The First Consul was at that time too seriously occupied in subjugating the rebels of St. Domingo, to be in a condition to form schemes for invading the British colonies. England therefore took the offensive, and Commodore Hood and General Grinfield sailed on the 19th of June from Carlisle Bay in Barbados, and the greatest success crowned their endeavours. The colonies of St. Lucia, Tobago, Demerara and Berbiee were successively reduced, and fell into their hands without any great loss. Sir Samuel Hood reported, on the 20th of November, that since the breaking out of hostilities he had captured thirty-nine vessels, six of which were vessels of war. Among these prizes was the famous French privateer schooner L’Harmonie, which had been more destructive to commei’ce than any other that had appeared in the West Indies. In 1804 Commodore Hood fortified the Diamond Rock, and put it in commission as a sloop of war, with a sloop’s complacent of officers and men: Captain Morris took the command 1 . 1 This rock, which has become remarkable in consequence of this fortification, its siege and surrender, deserves a short description. It lies within three quarters of a mile from the south-western end of Martinique, and is not quite a mile in circumfe¬ rence, and six hundred feet high. The south side is almost perpendicular, and inacces¬ sible ; the east side is also inaccessible, with an overhanging cave ; on the south-west side are also caves. The west side has breakers running into the sea, w’here the men land, which can only be done when the sea is smooth. On the north-west side there WAR WITH SPAIN. 359 1805 .] The famous letter of Lord Seaforth, of the 13th of November 1804, addressed to Earl Camden, and containing the recital of cruelties said to have been committed upon slaves in Barbados, has been much animad¬ verted on. It is scarcely credible that such wanton acts could have been perpetrated as are related in the debates on the slave-trade, and we will believe that the philanthropic fervour of the reporters led them to exag¬ gerate matters to Lord Seaforth. On the 12th of December 1804 war was declared by Spain against England ; the declaration was dated at Madrid. On the 19th of December a general embargo was laid upon all Spanish vessels, and England declared war against Spain on the 11th of January 1805. The official information arrived in Barbados on the 17th of February 1805, and Lord Seaforth announced in a gazette extraordinary the declaration, and his being au¬ thorized to grant letters of marque and general reprisals. The active exertions of Captains Nourse and Shipley for the protection of the trade were most praiseworthy. Besides L’Harmonie, captured by Captain Nourse, a privateer equally famed, L’Egyptienne, mounting thirty-six guns, had been taken by Captain Shipley. Commodore Hood reported from Barbados, on the 13th of July 1804, that the squadron under his command had captured, from the 1st of January to the 30th of June, thirty-three sail, twelve of which were armed vessels. The American schooner Industry, J. E. Gage master, arrived in Car¬ lisle Bay on the 27th of January 1805, with one hundred and ninety Germans saved from the American ship Sarah, bound from Bremen to Philadelphia, which she fell in with on the 11th of January, almost water¬ logged and fast filling. About thirty of the unfortunate crew were left on board the Sarah, in consequence of the boat of the Industry being- stove in, in the exertions to save them. The inhabitants of Bridgetown received these poor people with the greatest kindness and humanity: a number of them accepted labour, and were distributed amongst the in¬ is a slope which was used for the construction of a battery called the Queen’s Battery, with a seventy-four pounder commanding the entrance and nearly the whole of the bay. From this battery a covered way was made to another fronting the north-east, called the Centaur, where there was another twenty-four poimder. Between the two batteries a rope-ladder was fixed, by which the garrison passed to the middle of the rock to Hood’s Battery, mounting a twenty-four pounder; thence the ascent to the top winds through shrubs and crags, and on the summit were two long eighteen- pounders and the union jack. The process by which these guns were got up was ingenious; the Commodore’s ship, the Centaur, was brought close under, and a cable fastened on the top of the rock, which served as a stay, upon which travellers passed, to which the gun was lashed, being hove up on board the Centaur by a pur¬ chase fastened oh the rock. On her Majesty’s birthday the British flag was hoisted, and a salute fired and the rock put in commission.—(Naval Chronicle, vol. xii. p. 205.) 3G0 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1805. habitants, but others fell into the hands of designing men, who took ad¬ vantage of their distress and compelled them to enter into articles injuri¬ ous to their interest. Lord Seaforth considered it therefore necessary to appoint a Committee by proclamation, to inquire into the condition of these unfortunate persons and to forbid their being secreted. Napoleon sent Admiral Missiessy in 1805 with a squadron, consisting of five sail of the line, three frigates, two brigs, and some other vessels, with four thousand troops under the command of La Grange, to the West Indies. They arrived on the 20th of February in Martinique. Information of the arrival of this formidable armament in the Caribbean Sea had reached Barbados on the 26th of February, and it was deemed necessary to adopt the strongest measures to guard the island against surprise. A body of sea-fencibles were enrolled under Captain Kempt of the Royal Navy, consisting of merchants’ seamen, and the most effectual means were otherwise taken to put the island in a state of defence. His Excellency called upon the patriotic inhabitants to contribute towards the service, and a committee was appointed to ascertain what number of horses and draft-cattle, drivers and trusty negroes, they could depend on in case of need. The call of the spirited and vigilant chief was so promptly an¬ swered, that the offer of voluntary contributions amounted the first day to forty horse- and cattle-carts, sixty-six horses, three hundred and forty oxen, ninety-five drivers, one hundred and twenty-nine trusty negroes, and six hand-carts : the contribution of one individual in money amounted to five hundred pounds. The labour of negroes for eighteen hundred days was registered to aid the Governor and the Commander of the troops in forwarding the defences of the island. Lord Seaforth called the Le¬ gislature together on the 6th of March, and recommended strenuously the furnishing pecuniary means for putting the island in a state of defence. The General Assembly passed three bills with great alacrity for that pur¬ pose ; namely, first, an act for raising a sum of money by assessing seven- pence halfpenny upon each slave, which would yield a sum of two thousand five hundred pounds:—secondly, an act to authorize his Excellency to receive the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants of the island, and to apply the same to its defence 1 :—thirdly, an act to regulate the militia of the island for the time being. Mr. Mayers moved an addition to the militia-bill of the following tenor :—“ That the Governor shall have power, with the consent of his Council, to proclaim martial law upon receiving information that an enemy’s fleet is at sea, and that from the course it was seen steering, there would be no doubt on his mind that this island was likely to be attacked; but that this law should not be in force longer than three ' The voluntary contributions in cash amounted on the 30th of March to <£1542. ARRIVAL OF ADMIRAL COCHRANE. 361 1805.] days, unless the enemy should appear in sight, and then to continue in force forty-eight hours, and no longer after their leaving sight of the island 1 .” General Haynes seconded this motion, and it was carried by a majority of eleven to one. Colonel Thomas Williams being the only dissentient. The Governor published a proclamation, ordering that, in case of the appearance of an enemy on the coast, every person within two miles of the spot should drive their horses, cattle, and stock into the interior, to prevent the enemy, in case of their landing, finding means of subsistence or of moving. The overseers of estates were enjoined on the first alarm to bring out the negroes under their superintendence, armed with pikes, lances and bills. In a gazette extraordinary the Governor expressed his entire approbation of the spirit and alacrity of all ranks of people on the occasion, and the promptitude with which they tendered their services for the public safety : he appeared particularly pleased with the militia. The French squadron, having levied a contribution upon Roseau in Dominica, bent their course to St. Christopher’s, where they arrived on the 5th of March and soon effected a landing. They exacted from the colonists £16,000 in currency and £10,000 sterling, in a bill which was negotiated by an American merchant resident at St. Christopher’s. From thence they proceeded to Nevis and Montserrat, both of which were laid under contribution, and the ships in the harbour destroyed. When the news of the descent of these freebooters upon these islands became known in Barbados, it excited the greatest apprehensions in the inhabitants that a similar fate might await them. The arrival of Admiral Cochrane on the 3rd of April with a naval reinforcement was therefore hailed with the greatest delight. Sir Samuel Hood was about to return to Europe. Previous to his departure he received the most flattering testimony of esteem from the inhabitants of Barbados. The merchants sent him a deputation, and the House of Assembly voted an address, expressing their thanks for the protection commerce had received during the period he commanded the squadron in the West Indies. As an additional proof of their gratitude the inhabitants gave him a public dinner. Accompanied by Lady Hood the Admiral sailed on the 18th of April for Antigua, where he was to receive from Lord Lavington the investiture of the Order of the Bath. With eleven sail of the line, six frigates and two corvettes, the French admiral Villeneuve left the harbour of Toulon on the 30th of March, and entered Fort Royal in Martinique on the 14th of May. On the 16th of May Lord Seaforth issued a new proclamation, in¬ forming the inhabitants that a very large and formidable French force 1 1 have copied this resolution in full, because its execution, as will be seen here¬ after, gave rise to a serious dispute between the Governor and the House of As¬ sembly. 362 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. ,[1805. having arrived in those seas, it became necessary to use every precaution; and as no House of Assembly was at that time existing, he, with the ad¬ vice and consent of his Majesty’s Council, called on the inhabitants to aid and assist the public service. The new Assembly was summoned to meet the Governor on the 29th of May. It will be recollected that the Assembly passed a clause, authorising the Governor to proclaim martial law with the concurrence of the Council, if such a measure should be considered advisable on the approach of danger. In consequence of information given to the Go¬ vernor that the enemy was actually in sight, his Excellency, with the advice of his Majesty’s Council, proclaimed martial law, to commence on the 19th of May and to continue to the 21st, and it was further pro¬ longed until the evening of the 25th of May. It appears that this stringent measure was premature. The enemy had not left their anchor¬ age at Fort Royal in Martinique since their arrival, and consequently the necessity and propriety of this measure were combated on various grounds. The Governor met the new Assembly on the 29th of May, and after having commended in his speech the spirit and patriotism of the militia during the recent alarms, and expressed the satisfaction of the com¬ mander of the King’s forces with the conduct of that body, he drew the attention of the Assembly to the approaching expiration of the militia- bill. The speech however did not state any of the reasons which had led the Governor to proclaim martial law on a recent occasion. Mr. Robert J. Haynes moved therefore that the Assembly should resolve itself into a committee of the whole House, to take into consideration the legality of the late attempt to subject the island to martial law, and the motion was seconded by Mr. Williams. Mr. Mayers drew the attention of the House to the circumstance that the Governor’s speech did not contain any explanation of the reasons which occasioned the late proclamation, and stated that there was a clause in one of the colonial acts, declaring that martial law should be put in force only when an enemy should be seen from the island, and should cease in forty-eight hours after that enemy had disappeared : he considered that this act had been totally disregarded upon the late occasion, and he would vote therefore in favour of an inquiry. The Assembly passed certain resolutions, expressing that they considered the proclamation of martial law, to commence on the 19th of May, “ highly unconstitutional, contrary to law, and subversive of the dearest rights of the people; ” and a committee was appointed to prepare a remonstrance to the Governor and Council, “ requesting that a com¬ munication might be made to this House, stating the grounds of the late proclamation of martial law from the 19th to the 21st instant, and the continuance thereof from the 21st to the 25th instant; and information MARTIAL LAW. 363 1805.] given why the said proclamations were not prepared and made with the proper legal formalities 1 .” The Council in consequence of these proceedings adopted a resolution on the 25th of May, in which they wished to exonerate the Governor from any blame; they requested his Excellency to write to Sir Francis Laforey, inquiring the grounds upon which the signal for six sail of the line, and one of those a three-decker, was made to his Excellency Sir William Myers and was communicated through Lieutenant-Colonel Bonham to Lord Seaforth; and also the grounds upon which a written paper had been sent from Sir William Myers to Lord Seaforth, to be laid before the Coun¬ cil, purporting that on that morning, the 18th of May, eleven sail had been seen from his Majesty’s ships the Spartiate and Beaulieu. Sir Francis Laforey stated in his answer, that on the 17th instant a signal was made 1 The Address to the Governor was worded as follows:— “ To his Excellency the Right Honourable Francis Lord Seaforth, his Majesty’s Captain-General, Governor and Commander-in-Ckief of this Island, Chancellor, Ordinary and Vice-Admiral of the same. “ We, the Representatives of the People in General Assembly, beg leave to lay before your Excellency in Council, the resolutions which we have unanimously entered into on the first day of our meeting. We beg particularly to call your Ex¬ cellency’s attention to the 5th resolution, and request you to give us the information thereby required, and an explanation of a conduct which has justly created great ferment and uneasiness in the public mind; an explanation which we trust will give that satisfaction to our constituents which we are unable at present to furnish them with. “ By Order of the House, “ John Beckles, Speaker. “ 1st. Resolved, That the inhabitants of this island are entitled to the same pri¬ vileges, and enjoy the same rights as other the loyal subjects of his Britannic Majesty. “ 2nd. Resolved, That the common law of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is in force in this colony, unless altered by British Acts of Parliament, or the legislative Acts of this island. “ 3rd. Resolved, That by the 26th clause of the existing Militia Act of this island, it is enacted, ‘ That whatever articles of war or military laws shall be by the Governor or Commander-in-chief of this island and Council made by and with the advice and consent of the major part of the Council of War here, shall not commence or begin until an enemy, sufficient to cause an alarm to the whole island, appear in sight here; and shall discontinue and lose their power so soon as the enemy shall be gone out of sight of this island: provided always that the said laws be duly published, and a copy thereof hung up in every court of Guard for public view.’ “4th. Resolved, That any attempt to proclaim martial law otherwise than during the existence of the circumstances in the above-recited clause stated, and with the forms thereby prescribed, is highly unconstitutional, contrary to law, and subversive of the dearest rights of the people. “ 5th. Resolved, That a committee be immediately appointed to prepare a remon¬ strance to his Excellency the Governor, and the Honourable the Members of his Privy Council, requesting that a communication may be made to this House, stating the grounds of the late proclamation of martial law from the 19th to the 21st instant, and the continuance thereof from the 21st to the 25th instant, and information given why the said proclamations were not prepared and made with the proper legal formalities.” 364 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1805. 4 by the Beaulieu to the Spartiate, that six sail were seen to the leeward, which was followed immediately afterwards by the signal that the strange sails were suspicious. Four of these sails were seen from the Spartiate ; and Sir Francis Laforey likewise conceiving them suspicious, he made the signal on board the Spartiate for his Majesty’s ships to prepare for action, which signal at the same time conveyed intimation to the fort, and led no doubt to the proclamation of martial law. At a meeting of the Assembly on the 18th day of June, Lord Seaforth returned the following dignified answer :— “ Council Chamber, 18th June, 1805. “ In answer to the address and resolutions of the Honourable House of Assembly of the 29th of May, the Governor cannot but deeply regret that the Honourable House of Assembly should have thought fit, in the first in¬ stance, to vote him guilty of acting unconstitutionally, and then to call upon him for an explanation. Called upon for an explanation of his conduct in a proper manner, he should have been very happy to have given such explana¬ tion, and is fully conscious he could give one satisfactory to every impartial mind; but situated as he is, he must refer the whole to the Sovereign, in whom alone he acknowledges any jurisdiction competent to find him guilty, and representing whom, he finds himself incapacitated from answering a charge of criminality before any other body. “ Seaforth.” This letter was accompanied by the following communication from the Council to the Speaker :— “ The members of his Majesty’s Council have herewith sent the Honourable House of Assembly a copy of their minutes from the 18th to the 22nd inclu¬ sive, and are sorry to find the House of Assembly should be so intemperate as to condemn by their Resolution the measures of the Council, before an explanation had been laid before them.” “Council Chamber, 18th June, 1805.” The minutes proved sufficiently that, from the information which was received through Lieutenant-General Myers with regard to the enemy, the Council was authorized to advise the Governor to proclaim martial law; and the string of resolutions to that effect concluded, that the Council were fully convinced that the urgency of the moment had been so pressing, that it would have been unjustifiable to risk the safety of the country by depending on voluntary contributions alone. The continuance of the danger, as the Council supposed, rendered it necessary to prolong martial law. This was however only done after Lieutenant- Colonel Harvey had communicated, by order of Lieutenant-General Myers, to the Council Board on the 22nd of May, that there was the same or rather a greater necessity than when it was first declared. The House assembled on the 16th of July, and took the messages from the Governor and members of his Majesty’s Council into considera- THE KING S PREROGATIVE. 365 1805.] tion. Mr. Grasett, after a long speech in condemnation of the Gover¬ nor’s proceedings, moved the two following resolutions :— “ Resolved, 1 st. That the answer of his Excellency the Governor to our resolutions and address of the 18th day of June is unsatisfactory, and highly disrespectful to this Honourable House. “ Resolved, 2ndly, That the grounds for continuing martial law from the 21st to the 25 th of April, contained in the answer of the members of his Majesty’s Council to the resolutions and address before-mentioned, were not sufficient to justify the same, no such circumstances existing at the time, by their own showing, as the law requires to sanction such a measure.” The Speaker in a conciliatory speech regretted the unhappy dissen¬ sions which had arisen between the branches of the Legislature : he considered that, having passed the resolutions of the 18th of June, the House could not expect a different answer. Barbados had not alone suffered under similar hardships (oppression it could not be called, no loss of life or other serious evils having resulted), as in every British colony and island in those seas the commander had proclaimed martial law, and kept it in force much longer than in this island, without the in¬ habitants grumbling at it. He considered therefore the proposed reso¬ lutions superfluous; and as the Governor had declared that he was even then ready to explain, if properly called upon, he rather wished to see a reconciliation effected than the breach rendered wider. The resolutions were passed however by a majority of fourteen to four. In an answer to the address which the House had presented, the Governor observed that, without wishing to irritate, he considered it necessary to explain that his answer was not founded on any objection to the style of the address, but to the direct implication of criminality against him contained in it; and though he entertained the highest respect for the privileges of the House, he could not forget that he had the prerogatives, rights and dignities of his royal master to protect. Without denying their right to institute any inquiry, he declined to admit the principle that liberty of speech involved a right of using that liberty in any other than that dignified, temperate and respectful lan¬ guage which was due from one branch of the Legislature to another. “ The Governor (concludes the message) always was, and now is, when he is addressed in a manner that he can attend to, ready to give every constitutional information in his power.” Lord Seaforth’s proceedings were fully approved of by the Crown, and on addressing the new As¬ sembly on the 1st of July 1806, he observes :—“ I am instructed that the preservation of his Majesty’s prerogative of declaring martial law is essentially necessary towards this end, as without that power no security can be had for the safety of the colony.” 366 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1805. Lord Nelson in the Victory, with the fleet under his command, arrived at Barbados on the 4th of June 1805, where he found Admiral Cochrane with two ships. He was informed that the combined fleets of Villeneuve and Gravina had been seen from St. Lucia standing to the southward; and although he had some doubt of the truth of this information, he nevertheless, after taking on board a reinforcement of two thousand troops under Lieutenant-General Sir William Myers, gave the signal to weigh anchor the next morning, and hastened to Trinidad: on his arrival there he had the mortification to find that he had been misled. About the same time information was received in Barbados that the Diamond Rock, commanded by Captain Maurice, had capitulated, under condition that the garrison should be allowed to march to the Queen’s Battery, with drums beating and colours flying, and there lay down their arms. They stipulated to be sent to Barbados at the expense of the French Government, but not to serve again until regularly ex¬ changed. The garrison, consisting of one hundred and eighty men, including Captain Maurice and two officers, were consequently embarked on board La Fein and arrived at Barbados on the morning of the 6th of June. They had bravely defended themselves for three days against a squadron of two sail of the line, one frigate, one brig, a schooner, eleven gunboats,—on the nearest calculation manned by fifteen hundred men. Want of ammunition and water obliged them to surrender on the 2nd of June. A court-martial was held on the 24th of June, on board the Circe in Carlisle Bay for the trial of Captain Maurice, the officers and company of his Majesty’s late sloop Diamond Rock 1 , who were most honourably acquitted and highly commended for their spirited defence. This great conquest was the only achievement of the combined French and Spanish fleet in the West Indies that year. The official news of Lord Nelson’s glorious victory at Trafalgar over the fleets of France and Spain on the 21st of October 1805, and his death in the action, reached Barbados on the 20th of December. The 23rd of that month was dedicated to the celebration of the victory by a brilliant illu¬ mination in Bridgetown, and a funeral sermon was preached on the ensuing 5th of January, in St. Michael’s church, on the death of the hero. A general mourning was observed by the inhabitants of the island; and a subscription was entered into for the purpose of erecting a monu¬ ment to Nelson’s memory, which was executed in 1813. But while such honours were paid to the exalted heroism of the departed, the inhabitants did not neglect to pay the tribute of esteem to the brave and noble among the living. The underwriters of the two insurance-offices in Barbados 1 It has been already observed that this remarkable rock was commissioned in the character of a sloop of war, and the garrison was always spoken of under the deno¬ mination of her crew. 1806.] ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE-TRADE. 367 unanimously voted a piece of plate of the value of five hundred pounds sterling to Rear-Admiral Cochrane, in testimony of their high considera¬ tion of his meritorious services during his command on the station. The same underwriters had voted a piece of plate of the value of two hundred guineas on the 19th of February 1806 to Captain Young- husband of his Majesty's ship Heureux for his zeal in protecting the trade. The scarcity of provisions in Barbados in 1806 was very great; flour rose to five pounds per barrel: a similar scarcity prevailed throughout all the West India islands; and upon the recommendation of the Lords’ Committee of Council for Trade, the Lords Commissioners of the Trea¬ sury authorized the payment of a bounty of two shillings per quintal upon salt-fish imported in British ships from the British colonies in North America, for the period of one year, upon the understanding that the respective Colonial Legislatures were to refund the amount of such bounties. Similar bounties to the following amount, namely, “ upon shads, per barrel of thirty-two gallons, one shilling and sixpence, herrings two shillings and sixpence, mackerel three shillings, salmon four shillings” —were granted if imported in like manner: these bounties were extended from year to year for a considerable period. On the 10th of June 1806 a resolution passed the House of Commons, by a majority of ninety-five to fifteen, declaring the slave-trade to be founded on principles contrary to justice, humanity and sound policy, and engaging to institute measures for its total abolition. The Lords concurred in the vote, by a majority of forty-one to twenty; and the same day an address to the King was moved and carried, praying his Majesty to negotiate with foreign Powers for their co-operation towards effecting a total abolition of the trade to Africa for slaves. There is no doubt that this resolution inflicted a mortal wound on the slave-trade; and although its entire abolition has not yet been effected, those who assisted in the passing of this bill have the satisfaction of having largely contributed to save thousands then unborn from the miseries of slavery. The statute 47 Geo. III., chap. 36, which passed on the 25th of March 1807, utterly abolished the traffic and purchase of slaves from Africa after the 1st of May 1807. The merchants in Barbados had purchased in 1804 a brig called “ The Brave,” which had been captured from the enemy, and offered her to his Majesty’s service to be employed on the island station under the name of the Barbados frigate. This desirable gift of the inhabitants of Barbados had been accepted by Government, and upon the recom¬ mendation of the Barbadians Captain Nourse was appointed to command her. “ The great and leading motives to this purchase and gift to Government were unquestionably derived from the purest patriotism and zeal for the public service: more subordinate projects were the particular 368 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1806. defence of the colony, and the general annoyance of the enemy in the Caribbean Sea 1 .” This spirited example was followed by several other islands, and his Majesty’s navy received the assistance of other cruizers under similar circumstances. The Barbados, during the short term of eighteen months that she was employed, captured the French privateers the Napoleon, of eighteen guns and one hundred and eighty men, L’Heureux, of twelve guns and ninety men, La Desiree, of fourteen guns and ninety men, a valuable ship from Cayenne, and a Spanish brig, and recaptured an English Guineaman and an American ship. The Bar¬ badians felt therefore the greatest regret when it was understood this year that the ship was to be put out of commission and laid up; and the zealous agent of the island, Mr. Jordan, memorialized the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to repair and re-employ the Barbados. The Navy Board had her re-surveyed, but her defects were reported to be so great that the former resolution was adhered to. After a new election, the Governor met the Assembly on the 1 st of July in the Council-chamber, and alluded to the events which had rendered the past year so memorable. He informed the Assembly that he had received orders to communicate to them the intentions of his Majesty to extend the bounty for supplying the island with fish, and he expected the co-operation of the Legislature to that effect. He likewise com¬ municated that it was contemplated to build a barrack capable of containing eight hundred additional men, and recommended that negro labour should be provided for that purpose. The Governor alluded fur¬ ther to the new danger which had arisen from the enemy having appeared in a very superior naval force in the neighbourhood, and recommended that no time should be lost in establishing an efficient militia force. He observed that he had been instructed to preserve the prerogative of the Crown to declare martial law when he considered it necessary for the safety of the colony; at the same time he assured the Assembly that he was not actuated by any motive of giving annoyance, but a sincere desire to contribute to the security and welfare of the island. Certain information had been received that a French squadron under Rear-Admiral Guillaumez had safely reached Martinique. Captain Je¬ rome Bonaparte, in the Veteran of seventy-four, belonged to this squa¬ dron, w'hich consisted of six line-of-battle ships, and the Valeureux of forty- four guns. They soon after commenced their predatory system, and at¬ tacked the defenceless island of Montserrat. A squadron for the reinforcement of the West India station arrived on the 9th of July, under Vice-Admiral Sir J. B. Warren, consisting of six sail of the line, the Amazon of thirty-eight, two of eighteen, and the John Bull cutter. They did not anchor, with the exception of the Amazon, but bore away in the afternoon. 1 Mr. Jordan’s Letter to the Admiralty. 1806.] PRESIDENT SPOONER ASSUMES THE ADMINISTRATION. 369 Colonel Shipley, who commanded for a number of years the Royal Engineers, was about to leave Barbados on the 1st of July. A deputa¬ tion from the inhabitants was appointed to express their regret at his departure, and to request him to accept a piece of plate of the value of two hundred guineas, as an acknowledgment of his unremitting and inde¬ fatigable attention to the colony, particularly whilst under martial law. The honourable the members of his Majesty’s Council presented on the 15th of July an answer to the Governor’s speech delivered on the 1st of July to both houses, which concluded in the following words :—“The declaration of martial law, in times of imminent danger, we conceive to be the undoubted prerogative of the Crown, and we trust that such a prerogative may be safely placed in the hands of his Majesty’s repre¬ sentatives : in your Excellency’s hands, to the purity of whose motives we can be no strangers after an experience of more than five years, which has convinced us that the welfare of the island under your command is the primary object, we are sure that the exercise of it can never be abused to the danger or injury of the constitutional liberties of the subject.” For some months previously a rumour was rife that Lord Seaforth intended to return to England, without the express day being mentioned. As soon as this was ascertained, the merchants and other principal in¬ habitants of Bridgetown gave a public farewell dinner, on the 22nd of July, in testimony of the general estimation of the merits of his adminis¬ tration. His Lordship took his departure from Barbados on the 25th of July 1806. CHAPTER X. PERIOD FROM THE ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT SPOONER IN 1806 TO THE INSTALMENT OF SIR JAMES LEITH AS GOVERNOR. Mr. John Ince as President of the Council was to succeed as Com¬ mander ad interim. On the very day which had been appointed for swearing him into office, he closed his earthly career. His death was occasioned by an accident, a negro’s driving a horse furiously against him (about a fortnight previous to his death) just as he had mounted his own, from which he was thrown and received a contusion which ulti¬ mately proved fatal. The senior member in succession to the President’s chair, Mr. John Spooner, was sworn in as President and Commander-in- chief on the 31st of July, and took up his residence at Pilgrim. At the 2 B 370 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1807. first meeting tlie House voted three thousand pounds currency per annum for the better support of the dignity of his government. Presi¬ dent Spooner alluded in his address to the total want of a police in Bridgetown,—a theme which had been frequently dwelt upon, though hitherto without effect. As early as April 1805 the Council transmitted a bill to the House of Assembly, which had passed it unanimously, entitled an “Act for the better protection of the Slaves of this island,” which repealed a disgrace¬ ful clause in one of the old statutes, punishing merely with a fine of fifteen pounds currency the murder of a slave. At the Court of Grand Sessions on the 9th of December, at which Mr. John A. Beckles pre¬ sided as Chief-Justice, John Welch was indicted for the murder of his slave. In the excellent charge which the Chief-Justice delivered to the Grand Jury, he drew their attention to the repeal of an act which for a century past had been a disgrace to the code of laws, and added that the Legislature had made it now a capital offence. This indictment excited the greatest attention, as it was the first ever preferred in the island against a white man for the murder of a slave. No conviction however ensued; the Grand Jury threw out the bill, and declared in open court that the evidence adduced had not been in any manner sufficient to bring the charge home to the prisoner, who was then discharged. A general election of representatives having taken place, President Spooner met the Legislature on the 4th of August 1807. Barbados had been for some time without a militia-bill, and the President alluded to the disgrace, that while every other island, however small, had thought it expedient for its protection to have a militia regulated by law, the populous island of Barbados formed a solitary exception. The Assembly admitted the necessity of an effective and well-disciplined militia, and pledged themselves to use every means to establish it. The President likewise drew their attention to the prudence of increasing the cultiva¬ tion of provisions in their own island, the relations between England and the United States being by no means on such a friendly footing as to render a rupture improbable. The commerce of Barbados was this year more annoyed by privateers than at any previous period. In consequence of the absence of Admiral Cochrane, it appeared that the cruisers on the station were fettered in their proceedings against them. Guadaloupe alone had equipped thirty privateers, among which the 1 General Ernouf/ the ‘ Victor/ and others famed for their depredations, had hitherto avoided all encounters .with his Majesty’s cruizers. The zealous exertions of Captain Ballard of his Majesty’s ship ‘ Blonde,’ deprived the enemy in a few weeks of five priva¬ teers, among which were the ‘ Alerte,’ ‘ L’Hirondelle/ and ‘ Duquesne.’ Captain Ballard received in December 1807, from the insurance-offices in Barbados, three hundred guineas as an acknowledgment of his exertions FIRE-COMPANIES ESTABLISHED. 371 1808.] to destroy the privateers of the enemy. The capture of the enemy’s privateer ‘ Jeune Richard’ by the ‘ Windsor Castle’ packet, may rank among the many gallant achievements of the British navy in those days 1 2 . The inconveniences of the embargo which the President of the United States had laid upon all shipping was felt temporarily in Barbados : the scarcity of provisions subjected the inhabitants to great inconvenience. It was evident that Barbados, from her considerable commercial inter¬ course with the United States, was particularly interested in an amicable adjustment. Meanwhile, it being undecided whethei*peace or war was to follow this measure, the Colonial Administration in Barbados considered it necessary to lay an embargo upon the shipping in their ports. This was a measure no doubt of great responsibility on the part of the President administering the government, but it was founded on the expediency which the events in the United States had called forth. In consequence of this measure, which met with general approbation, thirty American vessels, with at least four thousand barrels of flour, besides other pro¬ visions, were detained, which would otherwise have found their way to the French islands, which were then under a rigid blockade. The information that general reprisals were granted against Denmark was made known on the 19th of January 1808. In February informa¬ tion arrived that his Majesty George the Third, in council, on the 18th of December 1807, had ordered general reprisals against Russia. A ga¬ zette extraordinary, published in Barbados on the 6th of January, an¬ nounced the surrender of the islands of St. Thomas and Santa Crux to the forces under Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane and General Henry Bowyer, without resistance. St. Thomas surrendered on St. Thomas’s day, the 21st of December, and Santa Crux on Christmas-day. A meeting was held on the 3rd of March, in Bridgetown, for the pur¬ pose of establishing and regulating “ Fire-company Associations.” Mr. Eversley, to whom the principal merit was due of promoting the measure, submitted a few concise rules for their guidance, which were adopted, and, agreeably to an existing law of the island, two companies were ap¬ pointed, with an engine allotted to each : one was called the Roebuck, and the other the Broad Street Fire Company. A set of rules for the good order of the members, and all persons present at a fire, was sub- 1 The following report of Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane bears testimony to the bravery shown on this occasion :—“ Belle Isle, Tortola Roads, Nov. 7, 1807. Sir,—The enclosed letter which I have just received from Mr. Rogers, the Master of the ‘Windsor Castle’ packet, gives an account of the capture of a French privateer. It is an instance of bravery and persevering courage, combined with great presence of mind, as was scarcely ever exceeded, He has shown such ability in defending one of his Majesty’s packets that I hope it will secure him the command of the first which is vacant. I have the honour to be, &c., Alexander Cochrane.” 2 B 2 372 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1808. sequently published (August 30th), and signed by S. Hinds, J. P. Mayers, David Hall, C. A. Howell, and W. Eversley. His Grace the Duke of Manchester having been appointed Governor- General of Jamaica, arrived, on his way to Jamaica, in Carlisle Bay on the 18th of March 1808, in the ‘ Guerrier’ frigate. The ‘ Guerrier’ fired a salute on coming off Charles Fort, which was returned. His Grace landed next day at noon in a private manner at the Engineer’s Wharf, where he was received by General Bowyer and his suite. No militia-bill was yet provided, the political horizon was more over¬ cast than ever, and a war between England and the United States rendered more than probable. The patriotic and loyal spirit of Barbados, which appeared to have merely slumbered, was aroused, and a public meeting was held at the townhall in Bridgetown on the 4th of April 1808. James Maxwell, Esq. presided, and pursuant to the recommendation of John Beckles and J. P. Mayers, Esquires, the representatives of St. Michael’s, thirteen resolutions were passed, to the effect of establishing a volunteer corps, of which Mr. Beckles was to take the command as colonel. The preamble of the resolutions set forth that the subscribers to them were convinced that well-organized military corps were essentially necessary in the island, not only to support the dignity of the Government, but also to protect the families and property of the inhabitants, as well against foreign as internal and domestic enemies; consequently they had, with the approbation and sanction of his Honour the President, united them¬ selves and promised, upon the honour of men and loyal British subjects, to carry out the resolutions to which they had subscribed their names. The former members of Life Guards, or such as were desirous of joining this corps, were desired to meet for the purpose of associating under the volunteer system. The representatives of the different parishes called upon their constituents to meet for a similar purpose in convenient places : those of St. Thomas’ appointed a meeting under Social Rock, a place famed for its romantic beauty and the scene of convivial enjoyments: in other parishes the church was selected; indeed a general enthusiasm appeared to prevail in Barbados to perform voluntary military duty until a proper militia-law should be provided for the island. The war party in the United States used all the influence they pos¬ sessed to obtain a declaration of war. Mr. Jefferson recommended the embargo in the first instance to Congress, as a means to secure the sea¬ men and property of the United States from capture, and to guard the enterprising and unsuspecting, merchants against the designs of Euro¬ pean belligerents. Several supplementary acts followed, which ulti¬ mately interdicted all intercourse between the people of the United States and the dependencies of foreign nations,—an intercourse from which their commerce had hitherto received the greatest benefits, and which EMBARGO IN THE UNITED STATES. 373 1808.] had been carried on in their neutral state without hazard of capture. It was therefore not to be wondered at that great discontent prevailed among the people as a nation; and, in defiance of gunboats and revenue officers, several of the more enterprising commanders of merchant-vessels in almost every State of the Union broke the embargo and arrived with desirable supplies in the West Indies. According to certain instructions which had been issued to the commanders of his Majesty’s ships of war and to privateers, they were desired not to interrupt any neutral vessel laden with lumber and provisions, and going to any of the British colo¬ nies in the West Indies and South America, to whomsoever the property might appear to belong, and notwithstanding that such vessels might not have regular clearance and documents on board. The officers of the Customs were likewise desired to permit vessels laden with the produce of the United States to enter the ports in the West Indies, although they should not possess the necessary papers. It was evident that these orders were intended to encourage American vessels forcing the embargo, and so relieving the West India possessions from the scarcity of provisions and building materials under which they suffered. Flour had risen to sixteen dollars per barrel in St. Christopher’s. Every measure was taken in the island to prevent a greater scarcity, and by the cultivation of field-produce to render the inhabitants in some degree independent of foreign importa¬ tions. A considerable supply of flour and other provisions arrived from Quebec, amounting in the course of two days to one thousand six hundred barrels. The Legislature, in reply to the President’s address on the 1st of November 1808, made the following observations, which show plainly that Barbados fortunately escaped any serious inconvenience from the Jeffer¬ sonian system. “ The industrious precaution of our planters, through the blessing of divine Providence, has set at defiance the vain attempt of America by her impolitic embargo to wound through our sides that parent state which we trust will ever be able to stand the shock of all attacks made upon her, either by the arms or the arts of France, or her deluded partisans.” General Bowyer left Barbados on the 12th of June in the Lily sloop of war, and Lieutenant-General Beckwith took the command of the forces. In relinquishing the command, to retire from the fatigues and duties of active life, General Bowyer carried with him not only the attachment and esteem of the troops under his command, but likewise that respect of the inhabitants which was due to his public career and his unwearied zeal. A feeling of general indignation was manifested about this time at an attempt to frustrate justice by an evasion of the law. A negro belonging to a Miss Weekes, a minor, was found murdered; and a coroner’s in¬ quest having been held, a verdict was returned of wilful murder against 374 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1808. Sam Moll, a mulatto, the property of Mrs. Elizabeth Moll. The criminal escaped being apprehended, and no further proceedings could be taken against him. According to the existing law, the evidence of a slave against a free man could not be taken in a court of record: the only evidence of the murder of which Moll was convicted was that of slaves. After the first indignation at the commission of the crime had subsided, and the efforts to bring the criminal to justice had relaxed, his mistress went to the churchwarden of the parish, and exhibiting a manumission, paid into his hands (agreeably to a late act passed in the island) the sum prescribed for the freedom of a male slave; and the manumission being duly registered, the man was declared free from all further servitude. This manumitted slave was Sam Moll, who now made his appearance and sur¬ rendered himself as a free man, in which character the evidence on which he had been convicted of the murder when a slave could not be brought against him; he was consequently acquitted. To prevent a repetition of such an evasion of justice, the Legislature passed an act to remove doubts concerning the trial of slaves manumitted after the imputed commission of felonies. President Spooner addressed the new Assembly on the 6th of Septem¬ ber ; for, although Mr. Hugh Elliot had been appointed to the government of Barbados, he continued still in England. In his speech he alluded to the relief which Parliament had afforded the British West Indies, in passing a bill to prohibit the use of grain in the distilleries, which, although temporary and limited, yet as it showed the disposition of his Majesty’s ministers to assist the planters in their distress, deserved their thanks. The President referred to the wretched state of the fortifications, which caused a great expense to the island without affording any ade¬ quate protection : he recommended likewise a revision of the slave-laws, many of which he observed were a disgrace to the statute-book, although he was quite aware that they were never carried into execution. During this session Mr. Robert Haynes moved for leave to introduce at the next meeting of the House a bill for extending the time of the con¬ tinuance of the General Assembly, after the expiration or dissolution of the present one, to three years. The very motion for leave to bring in a bill which had for its object a change in the annual elections produced great agitation in the island: it was considered that such a measure would prevent the good intentions of the constitutional clause directing an annual election, which served as a safeguard for the good conduct of the representatives. If this corner-stone of the constitution were taken away, the General Assembly might be converted into the most powerful instrument of oppression. Several public meetings were held for the purpose of remonstrating against the measure. The bill was however introduced on the 1st of November, and by a majority of one FIRE ON BOARD ‘ THE MAJESTIC.’ 375 1808.] vote the House resolved themselves into a committee and the bill was read a first time; but upon the subsequent motion, whether the committee do agree to it, it was negatived by one vote. Napoleon had desisted this year from any active measures in the West Indies, nor did England appear to undertake any decided step to procure a material change in her relations in that part of the world : the only measure of consequence was a proclamation from the Admiral of the sta¬ tion enjoining a strict blockade of the French islands; and his Majesty’s captains, commanders, and commanding officers of ships of war were di¬ rected to stop all neutral vessels destined for any of the ports of the ene¬ my’s islands, and any attempt to disregard the blockade was to entitle the vessel to be seized and adjudicated. It was however considered at that time that Martinique and Guadaloupe were so well provisioned that the most vigilant blockade would not have the effect of inducing them to a surrender. On the 20th of October, a little after one o’clock p.m., a fire broke out on board ‘ The Majestic’ transport, lying in Carlisle Bay; and although the most prompt assistance was rendered by the boats of the whole squa¬ dron, every effort to extinguish the flames proved ineffectual. At the time when the fire broke out a detachment of about one hundred and seventy of the York Rangers, under Captain Sutherland, were on board, but they were all either safely removed from the ship by the boats or picked up along-side as they plunged in the sea. The arms and baggage of the Rangers were lost in the flames, which raged with terrific grandeur. By the united efforts of the boats they succeeded in towing the vessel clear of the Bay, and judiciously left her so as to drift to leeward. She was seen during the whole night to the north-west, and before seven o’clock had burnt to the water’s edge: two boys and one seaman perished in the flames. The fire, it was said, arose from carelessness in placing a light in the after-hold on a cask of rum, to which it communicated. The number of privateers had much increased in the West Indian seas, in spite of the efforts of his Majesty’s men-of-war. The liberality of the insurance-offices in Barbados to the navy stands certainly conspi¬ cuous : it is asserted that they voted to different officers, from the com¬ mander-in-chief to the juniors, in the course of about three years, a sum not less than two thousand five hundred pounds, notwithstanding that their loss during that period amounted to one hundred and sixty thousand pounds, arising (except in the instance of fifteen vessels wrecked or foundered) from the capture by the enemy of fifty-two vessels of various classes, of which only three were re-captured and gave a small salvage. It has been already stated that Mr. Hugh Elliot had been gazetted as Governor of Barbados; whatever may have been his reason for wavering so long before entering on his government, the public of Barbados had only to congratulate themselves that this delay produced a change which 37G HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1809. conferred tlie governorship upon an individual long known and highly esteemed in the island. The gazette of October 8th announced the ap¬ pointment of Lieutenant-General George Beckwith as Governor and Commander-in-chief of the island of Barbados. Indeed had the wishes ' of the people been consulted they could not possibly have been more gratified. A deputation from the commercial body waited on his Excel¬ lency, and invited him to a public dinner on the 18th of November in honour of his appointment. A great reinforcement of troops, consisting of the seventh, eighth, and twenty-third regiments, arrived under Lieutenant-General Prevost’s com¬ mand, on the 29th of December 1808. His Majesty’s ships ‘ Penelope’ of thirty-six guns, ‘Eurydice,’ twenty-four guns, and 'Cuttle’ schooner of ten guns, escorted the transports. It was understood that this rein¬ forcement would only form a part of the grand army to be assembled under the command of Lieutenant-General Beckwith, for the purpose of reducing those of the West India islands which were still in possession of the French. The expedition embarked on the 28th of January 1809, the whole commanded by Lieutenant-General Beckwith, the first division by Sir George Prevost, and the second by Major-General Maitland: the naval force was under Sir Alexander Cochrane. The expedition arrived off Martinique on the following day. The troops of the first division were disembarked on the 30th at Bay Robert, on the north-east coast of the island: the landing of the second division was effected at St. Luce, in spite of some resistance; and the reduction of the whole island was accomplished on the 24th of February. The following letter was pub¬ lished in Barbados on the 4th of March. “ Head-Quarters, Martinique, 1st March 1809. “ Sir, “ I have the honour to acquaint your Honour, that after a bombardment and cannonade of five days, the enemy capitulated on the night of the 24th ultimo, in twenty-seven days from the period of our departure from Barbados. I congratulate you on this auspicious event, and have the honour to be, with esteem and regard, your very faithful and obedient Servant, (Signed) “ George Beckwith, “ Commander of the Forces.” “His Honour Mr. President Spooner, $r. fyc. &c.” At one o’clock at noon on that day royal salutes from Pilgrim and Charles Fort announced the gratifying news, and in the evening there was a general demonstration of joy in a brilliant illumination of the town. The enemy’s squadron, consisting of three sail of the line and two frigates, from L’Orient, having taken shelter in the Saints, Major- General Maitland was sent with a corps of between two and three thousand men to eo-operate with the navy under Rear-Admiral Sir 1809.] EXPEDITION AGAINST THE FRENCH ISLANDS. 377 Alexander Cochrane in the reduction of those islands. The forts were reduced and the troops sin-rendered prisoners of war, but the French squadron had escaped. On the 22nd of January, 1810, the army under Sir George Beckwith 1 sailed from Martinique for the reduction of Guadaloupe, the last strong¬ hold of the French in the West Indies and the South American coast 2 . The island was in the possession of the English nine days after the land¬ ing of the first division of their army under the command of Major- General Heslop (January 28th), and the capitulation was agreed upon on the 5th of February, and ratified the following morning. The total number of French prisoners embarked at Guadaloupe were one thousand three hundred and nine, exclusive of three hundred in the hospital, from five hundred to six hundred killed and wounded, and eight hundred and fifty-six dispersed about the country. St. Martin’s surrendered uncon¬ ditionally on the 16th of February, St. Eustatius capitulated on the 22nd of February, and Saba the same day. The capture of these smaller islands was of little importance in itself, but it accomplished the final expulsion of the French flag from the West Indian archipelago. The value of these islands to France, and the depredations on the British commerce made by the swarms of privateers which were fitted out or found protection there, rendered their conquest one of the most important measures effected during that year; whilst another circumstance, although not of primary importance, rendered the conquest desirable, namely the uncertain posi¬ tion of affairs in 1809 between the United States and England; for in case of a rupture, these islands in possession of the French would have rendered a combination for the conquest of the British possessions not only probable but successful. Martinique and Guadaloupe in the hands of the enemy were always dangerous neighbours to Barbados, and the rejoicings of the inhabitants at their conquest was therefore natural, not only from the success of the British arms, but likewise from the re¬ moval of apprehensions which were not unfounded. I have anticipated the order of events with a view to place before the reader in a condensed form the result of the expedition which the in¬ habitants of Barbados saw departing from their shores on the 28th of January 1809, and at the head of which was General Beckwith, who it was generally known would assume the administration of government on his return. A new militia-bill ultimately passed the Legislature, and re¬ ceived the sanction of the President on the 17th of January 1809. The 1 Lieutenant-General Beckwith had been invested with the insignia of the Order of the Bath, at Fort Royal in Martinique, on the 20th of June 1809, by Sir Alex¬ ander Cochrane, who acted as the representative of the Sovereign on that occasion. 2 Cayenne had surrendered in January 1809 to the combined British and Portu¬ guese forces. 378 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1809. cessation of militia service for a period much longer than was ever be¬ fore remembered in the island, rendered the passing of this law highly desirable in these turbulent times. Towards the end of March information was brought to Barbados that the enemy’s fleet was again at sea, destined for the West Indies. The President, with the advice of his Council, issued a proclamation inform¬ ing the inhabitants that on the approach of danger an alarm should be raised, and communicated by the signs and signals which were appointed during Lord Seaforth’s administration. It was at first considered that this was the Brest fleet, but more accurate information was received in April that it was the squadron from L’Orient, under the command of Admiral L’Hermit. They sought shelter in the Saints, from whence they were driven, as already observed, by Sir Alexander Cochrane. The government of the United States removed the embargo, and en¬ acted an edict of non-intercourse, the object of which was to prohibit the entrance of British or French vessels, after the 20th of May 1809, into any ports or harbours of the United States: this prohibition extended likewise to all articles, the growth, produce or manufacture of Great Britain or France, and their respective dependencies. Meanwhile the Honourable David Montagu Erskine, his Majesty’s minister at Wash¬ ington, had been in negotiation with the American Government to establish a better understanding between the two nations; and upon his promising that the British orders in Council of January and November should be withdrawn, President Madison issued a proclamation, stating, that in consequence of the intended withdrawal of these orders the com¬ mercial intercourse between the two nations might be renewed. The British Government however disavowed the act of their minister : it was asserted that Mr. Erskine had entered into arrangements for which he possessed no authority from his Majesty’s Government, and which could not be ratified; but that all vessels which had sailed from America upon the strength of Mr. Erskine’s agreement should for a limited time be admitted into the British ports. The Americans had availed them¬ selves with all speed of the rescinding of the non-intercourse law, and in the course of three weeks in the month of June sixteen American vessels arrived in Barbados with cargoes of provisions, cattle, and lumber. The disavowal by the British Government of Mr. Erskine’s agreement pro¬ duced a new proclamation from the President, who on the 9th of August declared the non-intercourse law revived and in force. Nearly twelve months elapsed ere hopes were again entertained of an amicable adjustment of the differences between the United States and England; and the rupture of all official relations between Mr. Jackson the British minister at Washington, and the Government of the United States, had given rise, towards the end of the year 1809, to serious ap- 1810.] INSTALLATION OF SIR GEORGE BECKWITH. 379 prehensions of a war. Taught by the past, the planters in Barbados had been more prudent, and had given greater attention to the cultivation of field-produce: the non-intercourse law had therefore little effect upon their prosperity. Shingles and staves were supplied from Demerara, and though at a higher price than they could be got for from North America, it was thus proved that, in spite of embargo and non-inter¬ course, the planters of Barbados could procure the necessary means for shipping their sugars. In his address to the new Assembly, on the 17th of October, President Spooner observed that the great attention paid by the planters to the raising of different kinds of provisions had produced a greater plenty than was ever before known: the poor white inhabitants and slaves, far from enduring want, were now supplied in the greatest abundance. The last hostile flag struck to the British arms on the 22nd of Feb¬ ruary 1810, when St. Eustatius and Saba surrendered to General Har- court, and the war in the West Indies may be said to have been brought to a close. Lieutenant-General Sir George Beckwith, K.B. returned to Barbados on the 29th of July 1810 in his Majesty’s ship ‘Pearlen’ after an absence of eighteen months, during which period, directed by his zeal and judgement, the most brilliant success had crowned the contest of the British for supremacy in the archipelago. At the request of the President, Sir George Beckwith deferred his landing until the next day, when every demonstration of respect and honour was shown him. On landing he proceeded to St. Michael’s church, accompanied by the President and the members of both branches of the Legislature, the clergy, and the whole staff of the army. Service was performed by the Rev. Mr. Pinder, and the rector of the parish, the Rev. Mr. Garnett. The Governor then proceeded to Government-house and was sworn into the administration of the government. His first public step was to issue a proclamation, declaring his wish to continue the officers of the island till his pleasure should be further known. Content and satisfied as the public had been for the last four years under the administration of Pre¬ sident Spooner (one of the longest administrations ever held by a Presi¬ dent), they now looked forward with confidence and solicitude for measures of energy and vigour. Sir George Beckwith having had suffi¬ cient experience in the art of governing, and never having manifested any other personal feeling in his various commands than an honourable ambition to promote the public good and gain his sovereign’s approba¬ tion, it was conceived that his administration would prove most beneficial and important to the interests of the country. The Governor met the two branches of the Legislature on the 14th of August, and in his inaugural speech promised his zealous co-operation in the consideration of such measures as the public welfare might require. He recommended 380 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1810. to their particular attention roads, police, and militia-laws, fruitful themes in all speeches at the opening of the Legislature. The House of Assembly framed a bill for providing the sum of four thousand pounds per annum for the support of the dignity of his Excel¬ lency’s government, which went through all the stages unanimously. The orders in Council for bounties were extended to the 1st of December 1810, with permission to the Governors to continue the same until the 1st of December 1811, if thought necessary. A Bill entitled “An Act laying a duty on certain articles of the growth or produce of the United States of America, imported into this island in ships or vessels belonging to the subjects of any state in amity with his Majesty,” passed the two branches of the Legislature on the 18th of September. On carrying it up to the Governor, the Speaker observed that, as the duty was laid upon commodities which were essentially necessary to preserve the lives of their slaves, it must fall upon the consumers and not on the sellers; the House therefore ex¬ pressed a hope that his Majesty would permit that the duty so l’aised should be for the benefit of the colony, and might not be appropriated for the general pui-poses of his Majesty’s revenue. The Governor passed the Bill subject to further instructions. Sir George Beckwith, on the 24th of October 1810, elected with the as¬ sistance of his Council a new commission of the peace for the body of the island, which was proclaimed on the 27th of that month by beat of drum. It consisted of one hundred and fifty-seven gentlemen selected from both branches of the Legislature, the clergy, and the most competent and respectable inhabitants. Nine of the new magistrates were sworn in to act in concert for carrying into effect a better and more regular system of police in the metropolis. A regular routine was adopted, and a hearing given on three days in the week to any complaints which might come before the magistrates. The Governor sat as chancellor at a court on the 23rd of October, and the introduction of a costume of full black among the members, officers and lawyers of the court, gave an impressive solemnity and dignity to its proceedings. A new House of Assembly met on the 20th of November, when Mr. Beckles was re-elected Speaker, and Mr. Thomas Briggs and Mr. John T. Lord, who had been unseated during the former session, were fully elected for the parish of St. Philip. The Governor’s speech did not con¬ tain any subject of importance. At their first meeting, it was moved that a silver mace should be provided at the public expense, which was unani¬ mously agreed to, as was also the motion that a silk gown should be purchased to be worn by the Speaker in the House. His Majesty’s ship 1 Barbados,’ formerly commanded by Captain Nourse while on the West India station, was completely re-fitted in Plymouth, AMERICAN EMBARGO. 381 1812.] re-commissioned, and the command given to Captain Brian Hodgson : she was sent out again to the West Indies. Sir Alexander Cochrane was relieved on the 12th of December 1810, as commander-in-chief of the naval forces on the West India station by Rear Admiral Sir Francis Laforey, Bart. Sir Alexander Cochrane con¬ tinued however Governor of Guadaloupe. The free coloured inhabitants petitioned the Legislature to ameliorate their political condition, and to put them on the same footing as the people of colour in Jamaica and the other sister colonies. According to the existing laws they were debarred from giving evidence, which sub¬ jected them to many annoyances. This petition was presented on the 19th of February 1811, and gave rise to grave discussions. A pamphlet was published, entitled “ An essay attempting to prove the policy of granting the late petition of the free coloured persons of Barbados,” which was declared to have an evil tendency; and the House came to a resolution to present an address to the Governor requesting him to pro¬ secute at the next Court of Grand Sessions James Bovell the publisher, and also the author and printer when discovered. The Governor gave the necessary orders for this purpose, but some legal formalities having been omitted, Mr. Bovell escaped the prosecution. Mr. Beccles, his Majesty’s Attorney-General, gave these omissions as the cause of his declining to prosecute the publisher, in consequence of which a motion was made on the 17th of March, to censure him in his capacity as Speaker of the House, for not having taken the necessary means to see these formalities executed. It appears that this unpleasant matter was not carried further,—at least the minutes of the House pass it over in silence. The affairs with the United States seemed rapidly to approach that crisis which left no other course open than an appeal to arms. The non¬ intercourse bill was passed by the House of Representatives of the United States, after a session of thirty-seven hours out of forty-eight, on the morning of February 27th, 1811, by a majority of fifty-two votes out of seventy-six. The wanton attack on the ‘ Little Belt’ by the United States frigate ‘President,’ Commodore Rodgers, widened the breach considerably. On the 4th of April 1812, an act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbours of the United States, for the term of ninety days, was approved of by President Madison; which hostile measure was followed before the lapse of the stipulated period by an act declaring war between the United States of America and their territories, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the dependencies thereof; and this act received Mr. Madison’s approval on the 18th of June 1812. The Governor, Sir George Beckwith, in anticipation of the approaching rupture, published on the 18th of June a proclamation convening the 382 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1812 . Colonial Parliament for the dispatch of important business on the 30th of June; and another of the 20th of June declared, in the then existing conjuncture, the ports of Barbados open for the space of six months for the admission of bread, flour, peas, wheat, rice, lumber of all kinds, of whatever country such articles might be the produce, provided they were imported in British ships. Sir George Beckwith pointed out in his address to the Legislature the px-obability of a war with America, and the necessity of guarding against its consequences; and to obviate the scarcity of provisions, from the long course of dry weather, he considered it ex¬ pedient to grant a small bounty on the importation of yams, potatoes and plantains, especially from Dutch Guiana. The distress among the poor inhabitants of the island was so great that a bill was introduced by Mr. T. C. Trotman for their relief. He observed, when he presented the bill to the House of Assembly, that their sufferings had not been brought on either by indolence or want of industry; they had been occasioned by the drought, which had continued for months, and the melancholy effects of which they were now feeling. The bill authorized that five hundred pounds should be distributed among the poor of the parish of St. Michael, and two hundred and fifty pounds to the poor of each of the other parishes. It passed unanimously, and their sufferings wei*e at least alleviated. On the 6th of January 1812 eight French prisoners effected their escape from the prison-ship in Carlisle Bay, and got on shore, where they seized a boat and boarded the schooner ‘ Wha-wants-me,’ partly loaded with sugar. The crew was soon overpowered; one of their num¬ ber, a black man, was severely wounded by weapons made of ii-on hoops with which the Frenchmen had provided themselves. They cut the schooner from her moorings and made sail. One of the crew of the schooner who had jumped overboard swam to his Majesty’s ship ‘ Bar¬ bados’ and gave the alarm, and the man-of-w T ar schooner ‘ Elizabeth’ sailed in pursuit, and overtook the fugitives about three miles to leeward of the harbour. The colonists made several attempts to disburden themselves of the four-and-half per cent, duty at this pei’iod, when, in consequence of the war, which had continued for nineteen years, so many other hardships pressed upon them. In the House of Commons, on the 11th of February, Mr. Creevy sub¬ mitted a motion as to the four-and-half per cent, duties in the island of Barbados and the Leeward Islands. The entire pi-oducts of the fund, he said, should be appropriated to local purposes. He entered into an historical detail of the imposition of the Leeward Islands’ duties, more especially those which concerned Barbados: that island was stated to have produced to England alone upwards of £170,000 sterling since the reign of his present Majesty. Those duties had been first levied in AMERICAN PRIVATEERS. 383 1812.] order to augment the public fund for the benefit of the island in the reign of Charles the First, and were so appropriated until the reign of William the Third, when the House of Commons were in some degree surprised to see the four-and-half per cent, duties recognised as apper¬ taining to the King’s household, and totally distinguished from the claims of the island. The sums which had been contributed by the islands sub¬ jected to this duty had amounted to £1,600,000 since his Majesty’s ac¬ cession, and out of this £400,000 had been paid in salaries to Governors, some of whom were in no way connected with the West India islands, as for instance the Governors of Guernsey and Jersey. For special service £326,000 had been taken from this fund, and £48,000 for secretaries to the Treasury: it had also contributed £170,000 in support of the colonial Civil List; and all these sums had been applied without the knowledge of Parliament. Numerous pensions too had been granted out of this fund during the same period, to the amount of £740,000: among others was £3000 to the Earl of Chatham, and £9000 a year during twenty years to the late Duke of Gloucester. The motion was however lost by a majority of thirty-one votes. Scarcely had war been declared by the United States when swarms of privateers left the American ports and spread over the West Indian seas : on the day following the declaration of war thirty privateers sailed from Baltimore alone. The Governor ordered, on the 12th of August 1812, that no strange vessel should be allowed to send boats on shore, and the officers of the forts and batteries were directed to prevent their landing, and in case of need to fire into them. Vessels arriving in the Bay were to take up their anchorage within the line of the fire of Ricketts’s and the North Battery. The daily increase of American privateers in these seas almost annihilated the commerce of the British islands : a number were cruising in the latitude of the island. Several of the mail-boats were captured, and scarcely a vessel reached its port without being boarded by the Americans; or, if left to proceed, they were laid under heavy contribu¬ tion. The ‘ Townshend packet’ had an engagement with two American privateer schooners, the ‘Tom’ and the ‘Bony,’ for three hours, within sight of the island of Barbados, and was ultimately obliged to surrender, having previously thrown the mail-bags overboard: she was released after the passengers had made some agreement for her ransom. The re¬ port of the capture of the ‘La Guerriere’ by the ‘Constitution’ arrived in Barbados on the 20th of October. In the expectation that the American Government, upon the notifica¬ tion of the orders in council being withdrawn on the 23rd of June, would annul the declaration of war against Great Britain, the Prince Regent had forborne to direct letters of marque and reprisals to be issued against the United States. But as the latter Power continued hostilities, the 384 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1813. Prince Regent, on the 13th of October, ordered that general reprisals should be granted against the United States of America. "A proclama¬ tion was issued to that effect on the 8th of December in Barbados. A new militia-bill having passed the Colonial Parliament, all white and free coloured men, from the age of sixteen and under the age of sixty years, were required to enroll themselves previous to the 6th of January 1813. The new Assembly met on the 23rd of February 1813, and was opened by Sir George Beckwith. He recommended to the House the considera¬ tion whether means might not be devised during the existing war with the United States to encourage the importation of timber and lumber from Guiana and elsewhere, to exempt Barbados from a dependence for these articles upon any foreign power. In their reply the Assembly trusted that the privations in consequence of the American war, so un¬ justly waged against England, would teach the inhabitants to rely more on their own productions than those of the sister colonies, and enable them to throw off the yoke of the monopoly too long exercised over them by a foreign power. At the second session of the Colonial Parliament, on the 23rd of March, a petition to the Prince Regent was agreed upon, in which the colonists represented the danger and certain ruin of the sugar colo¬ nies if the measure in contemplation of throwing open the trade with the East Indies, and permitting the importation of an unlimited quantity of sugar from the East, should be adopted by Government. The petition contended that the West Indies produced a sufficient quantity of sugar for the supply of Europe, and that the importation of sugar from the East Indies would occasion a glut in the market alike ruinous to the speculator and to the planter. It would be impossible for the West India planters to compete with the cheap labour, the simple ma¬ chinery and fertile soils of the East; and they founded their claims for protection on more solid grounds than those of bringing the article cheaper to the British shores,—namely, on the just right of preference they had as colonists, on their faithful attachment to their sovereign and the country which gave themselves or their ancestors birth, and on the true policy which the United Kingdom must maintain in supporting the colonies, which sent their produce to the mother-country and took in return her manufactures and almost every necessary of life. They contended that the East Indies had no similar claim ; their commerce was carried on by right of conquest ; they possessed no claim of attach¬ ment to Britain, and Britain’s sovereign—no claim of reciprocal advan¬ tages in commerce, which could bear a comparison with those derived from the West Indies. The admission of East India sugars would pro¬ duce the destruction of the West India sugar colonies. Indigo was formerly the produce of the West Indies; at that day there did not exist FEES OF PUBLIC OFFICERS. 385 1813 .] an indigo manufactory in the British West India islands—they had de¬ parted to the East, never to return; and a similar fate threatened then- sugar manufactories if they were not protected by the Government. This was the language used in 1813; thirty-three years have since elapsed, and a more disastrous catastrophe threatens the British sugar colonies than the admission of sugar from the East Indies, namely, slave-grown sugar. Gambling, it appears, had reached a frightful extent in Barbados, and connected with it were all those evils and enormities which are generally the companions of this vice. The Grand Jury had several times taken notice of the growing evil, and at the meeting of the Assembly on the 29th of June, the Speaker informed the House that at the last court of Grand Sessions the Grand Jury had delivered to him a paper, being a presentment of several nuisances which existed in the island, and praying that the House would act as they should think proper to remove the same. The petition was ordered to lie on the table, and it was moved that it be not entered on the journals nor published by the clerk. A committee had been appointed on the 26th of October to examine into the fees received by the several public officers in the island, who de¬ livered in their report on the 23rd of November 1813. Their first object was to draw the attention of the House to the serious injury which was inflicted upon the colonists by the sale of patent offices. “ The Constitution of England,” observed the Committee, “ has denied to the monarch the power of taxation; the will of the people is supposed to be essential to the imposition of all burthens on themselves. With us is the soli¬ tary proof that letters patent are in efficacy as powerful as statutes, and that a tax may be raised by the omnipotence of the Great Seal alone. It has been decided by the Courts, in times remote from the present, that, although no office of authority under government can, by the Constitution of England, be aliened or sold, yet that certain situations, in their nature executive, may be filled by the intervention of a deputy. The Courts did not perhaps sufficiently consider that leases for lives are in public offices equivalent to sales, and that executive offices are as important to the interests of the public as judicial: thus then was erected the worst of all traffic in places of trust under the Crown—a traffic in which responsibility is weakened by distribution, and the question is not as to the merit of the candidate, but the value of the offer.” The Committee expressed their despair of the House being able to apply remedies, as they believed the instructions of the Commander-in- chief were to support the rights and interests of the patentees: the only practicable mode of redress was with some caution to revise the fees of these offices. The report stood over for consideration. It was very likely in consequence of this question being mooted in Barbados that Mr. Creevy moved in the House of Commons, on the 24th of March 1814, for copies of all letters patent, commissions or other instruments, in virtue of which 2 c 386 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1814 . appointments had been made in his Majesty’s West India colonies. The act George III. 22, passed in 1782, enacted that all holders of patent places in the West Indies, granted after the passing of that act, should become resident. The operation of this law was not made retrospective, as it would have borne with undue severity on the possessor of pre-existing places. There were now in his Majesty’s colonies, including those ac¬ quired by war, one hundred offices ; out of these, ninety had been granted since the passing of the act which required personal residence, and yet it was a fact that not one of the ninety holders of these places resided in the colony in which his appointment lay. His great object was to abo¬ lish those offices, as they were places of patronage in the hands of the Crown, and instruments of corruption. In connection with the appoint¬ ment of the Committee in Barbados, a bill entitled “ An Act for esta¬ blishing the Fees to be taken by the Deputy, Secretary and Notary Public of this Island for the time being,” was introduced into the House on the 17th of May 1814: it was however thrown out in the Committee. The war continued; the commerce of the West Indies suffered by privateers, and every colony adopted more or less measures of self-defence. The beautiful private-armed schooner * Louisa,’ mounting eight nine- pound carronades, and a long nine-pounder on a traverse, with a com¬ plement of one hundred men, left Carlisle Bay on the 9th of January 1813. The Admiral had granted to the crew of this patriotic and public- spirited enterprise a protection from impressment. By his proclamation of the 21st day of September, the Governor authorized the ports of the colony to be continued open for the admission of provisions, lumber, &c. until the 31st of December 1813. The term of the former proclamation had expired, and the same necessity to meet the demands of the colony still existed. The packet bringing the first mail for October was taken by the . American privateer ‘ Fox,’ within sight of the island, off the Crane. Many witnesses from the island observed the privateer in chase of a brig, between which a running fight was kept up, until they had approached the land abreast of the Crane, where the brig made several tacks in-shore to avoid her pursuer,—unfortunately in vain, for towards dusk the vessels were alongside of each other, and the brig was taken. At that time there were no signal-posts established, otherwise the packet might have been saved. The chase was clearly seen from many parts of the island, but there was no mode of giving an early intimation to the town and the men-of-war in the bay. A piece of ordnance was sent a few days after to the Crane, to be fired off as a signal that an enemy’s vessel was seen off that part of the island. The success of the arms of the Allied Powers, but chiefly the victories obtained on the 18th of October 1813 in Leipsic, occasioned a great FAREWELL ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR BECKWITH. 387 1814.] illumination in Bridgetown on the 14th of January 1814. There was a feu-de-joie by the troops in the garrison in the evening, and the forts and men-of-war in the bay also fired a salute. The barracks were brilliantly illuminated, and some of the vessels exhibiting a great display of lamps afforded a pleasing and novel spectacle. General orders from Sir George Beckwith, as Commander of his Ma¬ jesty’s forces, informed the generals, the staff and officers and soldiers under his command, that in consideration of his nine years’ continued service in the West Indies, he had received the Prince Regent’s permission to retire from the command. In taking leave of his brother soldiers he more particularly expressed his thanks to those corps which in the cam¬ paign of 1809 and 1810 were engaged with him in active and successful operations against a formidable enemy, then at the height of his mditary career, which terminated in his expulsion from the West Indies. The inhabitants of Barbados were thus prepared for the loss of their Governor, during whose administration not a single accident had disturbed the good understanding between the ruler and the people. He met the new Assembly on the 22nd of March, and congratulated them upon the de¬ cided character which the affairs of Europe had assumed in favour of the Allied Powers. “ My long residence in this island,” he concluded, “ rendering a change necessary for my health, his Royal Highness the Prince Regent has been graciously pleased to grant me leave of absence for this purpose.—I shall not fail to seek an occasion before this event to take my leave of a legislature and of a community from whom I have ever experienced great cordiality in public life, and many proofs of personal regard and friendship.” The esteem in which Sir George was held by the Legislature and the public in general showed itself in the reply of the House :—“ Accept, Sir,” concluded the address, “ such homage as this island can pay for an impartial justice in the administration of this Government, that has known no distinction of persons or of condition; for a policy, watchful yet wise, before which party distinctions have been healed or forgotten; for a re¬ gard for our security both within and without, connected with a munifi¬ cence for which you have been content that others should bear the palm. The public will long cherish the remembrance of such virtue, and poste¬ rity will receive the name of a Beckwith emblazoned with the honours of a Grenville and a Howe.” Lieutenant-General Sir James Leith, K.B. & K.T.S., was appointed to relieve Sir George Beckwith in the command of the army, and of the civil administration after the departure of Sir George Beckwith. He arrived on the 15th of June, in his Majesty’s ship f Hannibal.’ Before Sir George Beckwith left the island, he had the gratification of learning the abdication of Napoleon and the accession of Louis the Eighteenth to the throne of Prance. The news of the cessation of hostilities by sea and 2 c 2 388 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1814 . land, between Great Britain and France followed shortly afterwards, and no doubt contributed much to the satisfactory feeling with which Sir George left. Sir George Beckwith took leave of the House on the 21st of June, and the House the same day unanimously resolved that the sum of two thou¬ sand five hundred pounds sterling of the public money should be appro¬ priated to the purchase of a service of plate to be presented to Sir George Beckwith, as a mark of the respect and gratitude of the colony: an act passed to that effect on the 12th of July. The merchants and inhabitants of the town gave Sir George a farewell dinner, and on the 23rd of June he embarked, in company with Sir James Leith, on board the ‘ Hannibal.’ His Honour the President of the Council, John Spooner, Esq., to whom the administration of this government devolved upon the departure of the Governor, was sworn in as President of the island on the 23rd of June 1814. Before we continue our narrative in chronological order it will be ne¬ cessary to take a retrospective glance of events. In consequence of an address from the House of Commons, his Royal Highness the Prince Regent desired that a list containing the titles of all the acts which had been passed by the Legislature of Barbados, as well as copies of those acts, should be transmitted to the Colonial Office. Earl Bathurst desired further, that all acts tliencefoi'th to be passed by the Legislature of Barba¬ dos should be printed within six weeks from the time when such acts should receive the consent of the Governor for the time being; and that, beside the written copies, six of the printed copies should be transmitted to the colonial department. Similar orders were sent to all legislatures of chartered colonies; and Sir George Beckwith took occasion to recom¬ mend to the Legislature of Barbados, that Moore’s Laws, or a publication on that plan, should be extended to the latest period. The House had been adjourned sine die on the 21st of June, by the Governor’s direction. After his departure President Spooner convened the General Assembly to meet him on the 12th of July. His Honour in¬ formed the House that the administration of the government had again devolved upon him, but he thought only for a short time, as the Prince Regent had appointed Sir James Leith Lieutenant-Governor of the island, whose return might be soon expected. He alluded to the prosperity of the island, and congratulated the House upon the favourable turn which affairs had taken in Europe. The House voted him three thousand pounds a year for the expenses of his table during his administration of the government. The news of the definitive treaty of peace and amity between Great Britain and France having been signed at Paris on the 30th of May 1814, arrjved in Barbados on the 25th of July. The following official announce¬ ment appeared in the ‘ Mercury’ newspaper:— PROCLAMATION OF PEACE. 389 1814 .] “By Authority. “ His Honour the President having received by the packet the definitive Treaty of Peace with France, from the Right Honourable Earl Bathurst, ad¬ dressed to his Excellency Sir George Beckwith, K.B., as well as the subjoined Proclamation, the same will be announced by a royal salute from the artillery at Pilgrim at one o’clock tomorrow; and it is recommended that a general illumination should take place in the evening, in commemoration of the late glorious events in Europe.—By order, » “ B. Walrond. P. Lee.” “By his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, Regent of the United King¬ dom of Great Britain and Ireland, in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty. “A Proclamation. “ George, P. R. “Whereas a definitive Treaty of Peace and Friendship between his Majesty and his most Christian Majesty hath been concluded at Paris, on the 30th day of May last: in conformity thereunto. We have thought fit, in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty, hereby to command, that the same be pub¬ lished throughout all his Majesty’s dominions: and We do declare to all his Majesty’s loving subjects our will and pleasure, that the said Treaty of Peace and Friendship be observed inviolably, as well by sea as land, and in all places whatsoever; strictly charging and commanding all his Majesty’s loving subjects to take notice thereof, and to conform themselves thereunto accordingly. “Given at the Court at Carlton House, the 17 th day of June 1814, and in the 54th year of his Majesty’s reign. “God save the King!” The salute and the illumination followed the next day, as suggested by the President: opposite the King’s house an immense number of rockets were fired, and a regimental band played a variety of national and other airs. Military business, connected with the restitution of the French colonies agreeably to the treaty of peace, brought Sir James Leith towards the end of November to Carlisle Bay. He informed the President that it was not his intention to assume then the government, as he had accidentally arrived in Barbados ; and having business to transact with the department of the army under his command, he wished to land privately. He em¬ barked again on the 25th, on board the ‘ Venerable/ and proceeded to Martinique. The number of American privateers in those seas increased in 1815 to an unprecedented extent, and was only surpassed by their boldness. One of their brigs not more than two miles ahead of the ‘ Maria ’ brig- of-war, which was then pursuing her, ran inshore abreast of that point 390 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1815 . of land which projects into the sea a little beyond Oistin’s, and cut off the schooner ‘ Elizabeth/ employed in droghing; and notwithstanding that the ‘Maria’ and ‘Mosquito’ w r ere then in sight, took out one of the masts, and after towing the ‘ Elizabeth ’ some distance set fire to her, and then made all sail to windward. The ‘ Mosquito ’ telegraphed the Ad¬ miral that she had been engaged by the enemy, three of whose vessels were to windward, and that she had sustained some injury by an explo¬ sion. She also telegraphed that one of the American vessels was superior to the ‘Maria,’ which she observed to be in chase. In consequence of this the ‘Barossa’ was ordered to slip her cable and join the brigs. The ‘ Mosquito ’ had exchanged several shots with the privateer when falling in with her on the 6th of January, but so conscious was the American com¬ mander of the swiftness of her sailing, that he changed his course, and followed the manoeuvres of the ‘ Mosquito ’ tack by tack, and in this manner actually accompanied her along the coast just out of reach of her guns. The privateer escaped from the three men-of-war sent in pursuit of her, apparently under easy sail. It was therefore a great satisfaction to the inhabitants of the island, to witness on the 14th of January the arrival of his Majesty’s brig ‘Barbados,’ Captain Fleming, with the American privateer schooner ‘ Fox ’ of five guns and upwards of seventy men, which she had captured off Anguilla. The ‘Fox’ was the same pri¬ vateer which captured the ‘Lapwing’ packet on the 22nd of November 1813 to windward and in sight of the island. The ‘ Lapwing ’ had on board at the period of her capture the first mail for October, and not¬ withstanding the time which had since elapsed, some letters were dis¬ covered on board the ‘ Fox’ addressed to different persons in the island, to whom they were forwarded on her arrival in Carlisle Bay. The information which reached Barbados on the 28th of January 1815, by the ‘ Brazen ’ ship of war sent express from England, was hailed with delight. It was a copy of a communication from Lord Bathurst to the Lord Mayor of London, informing him that intelligence had been received at the Foreign Office from Ghent, that a treaty of peace had been signed between his Majesty and the United States of America, on the 24th of December, by the respective plenipotentiaries at that place, and that hos¬ tilities would cease as soon as it should be ratified by the President of the United States and the Prince Regent on behalf of his Majesty. The superior prowess of the British arms by sea had another opportunity of displaying itself previous to the ratification of the peace; I allude to the gallant action which ended in the capture of the American man-of-war ‘the President’ by his Majesty’s frigate ‘the Endymion :’ this engagement took place on the 15th of January 1815. The Treaty of Peace was ratified by President Madison on the 18th of February 1815. The war had entailed great losses and an enormous expenditure on both countries; it subjected Barbados to great incon- 1815.] INAUGURATION OF GOVERNOR SIR JAMES LEITH. 391 venience, as this island depended at that period much more upon foreign importations than upon her own resources for the sustenance of her labour¬ ing population; still there are many who will doubtless exclaim with the Scotch bard, “ O who, that shared them, ever shall forget The emotions of the spirit-rousing time !” The official information of the ratification of the treaty of peace with the United States was brought to Admiral Durham by the ‘ Arab ’ brig- of-war on the 28th of March. President Spooner, as Commander-in-chief of Barbados, issued a proclamation, in which he made it public. The peace, which had now apparently spread over Europe, was but of short duration : a new rupture was announced by the ‘ Duke of Mon¬ trose ’ packet which carried the second March mail, but which before she reached Barbados struck upon the Cobler’s Rocks on the 28th of April. The bags with the letters were saved, but only a few newspapers reached the shore, which conveyed the unexpected intelligence that Napoleon had landed in France from Elba with eleven hundred of his Guards who shared his banishment, and that his little army, increasing like an avalanche in its progress, was marching with him to Paris. The Allied Powers assembled in congress at Vienna upon the first news of Na¬ poleon’s having landed on the shores of France, and declared that by this act he had deprived himself of the protection of the law, and had shown to the world that there could be no confidence placed in him. The Powers consequently declared that Napoleon had placed himself with¬ out the pale of civil and social relations, and that as an enemy and a dis¬ turber of the tranquillity of the world he had rendered himself liable to public vengeance. The Allied Powers further declared, that as soon as they should be called upon to give the assistance requisite to maintain entire the treaty of Paris of May 30th, 1814, to restore public tranquil¬ lity, they pledged themselves to make common cause against all who should undertake to compromise it. This document, which was dated from Vienna, was signed by the plenipotentiaries of Austria, France, Great Britain, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, Spain and Sweden. By a message from the Prince Regent, the forces of Great Britain were augmented, and the commander of the naval squadron in the West Indies, who had been on the point of returning to England, received orders to delay his departure. Sir James Leith, who it will be remembered had received a commission from the Prince Regent as Lieutenant-Governor of Barbados, had been obliged to proceed to the Leeward Islands on business connected with his lieutenant-governorship of Antigua and with his commandership of the forces. He returned on the 18th of May, and was inaugurated as chief magistrate with the usual ceremonies. Rear- Admiral Sir Charles Durham, commanding the naval forces, arrived at the same time from the leeward in his Majesty’s ship f Barossa;’ Captain HISTORY OF BARBADOS. 392 [ 1815 . Moody of the Royal Engineers, who arrived with Sir Janies Leith, had been appointed an aide-de-camp to his Excellency 1 . The Governor met the General Assembly on the 30th of May; in his address he regretted that circumstances should have prevented his assuming the government at an earlier period, and said that until lately he had flattered himself that it would have been at a time when the blessings of peace, purchased by many and great sacrifices, might have been already so secured and generally felt as to have effaced the painful remembrance of past sufferings. The late occurrence in France proved to him that he was mistaken; however, he relied upon the combined exer¬ tions of the Allied Powers to see peace and order soon restored. Sir James congratulated the country upon the efficient state of the religious institutions, and the improvement of the roads, and concluded by alluding to a subject, which, frequently as it has been referred to, both before and since, has nevertheless been neglected: his words are of such importance that I quote them literally:— “ The increased cultivation of provisions I also congratulate you upon, as a measure that is of great advantage ; for it seems evident that whatever is pro¬ duced under a well-regulated system of agriculture, must generally be cheaper to the cultivator than to the purchaser; and the serious risk of disappoint¬ ment in supplying your wants by importation, and the drain of specie from the colony, will thereby he diminished. I am aware that this is principally depending on individual industry, but it is a subject that can never be con¬ sidered but as closely interwoven with the policy of the colony, and deserving the countenance of the Legislature.” The House of Assembly voted his Excellency four thousand pounds for the maintenance of his dignity, with the proviso that this sum, voted to him as Lieutenant-Governor, would receive no increase should his Excel¬ lency receive hereafter a commission as Governor-in-chief. Such an ap¬ pointment was conferred upon him on the 10th of May, and information of it was received in Barbados on the 21st of June. 1 Captain (now Colonel) Moody, R.E., arrived first in Barbados as usher and mathematical tutor to Codrington College. He drew the attention of Lord Seaforth upon himself, who through his influence procured him a commission in the Royal Engineers. 1815 .] EXPEDITION TO GUADALOUPE. 393 CHAPTER XI. PERIOD FROM SIR JAMES LEITH’S NEW EXPEDITION TO THE FRENCH ISLANDS IN 1815, TO THE APPOINTMENT OF LORD COMBERMERE AS GOVERNOR IN 1817- When the intelligence of Napoleon’s return from Elba reached the French colonies, the troops in Martinique showed every disposition to raise the tricoloured cockade. Sir James Leith, having been requested by the authorities who were in favour of Louis the Eighteenth to afford assist¬ ance, proceeded with troops to Martinique, where he arrived on the 5th of June, and by his timely arrival saved the colony from anarchy. The tricoloured flag had been raised in Guadaloupe, and by a strange coinci¬ dence Napoleon was proclaimed Emperor on the 18th of June: on that day the battle of Waterloo closed Napoleon’s political career. His Ma¬ jesty’s ship ‘ Junon’ brought the intelligence of Buonaparte’s defeat and his surrender to a British man-of-war. Sir James Leith, who had re¬ turned from Martinique on the 18th of June, now embarked with the staff of his Majesty’s forces and a sufficient number of troops on the 31st of July on board the ‘ Venerable’ seventy-four, under a salute from that ship and the whole of the ships of war and transports then in Carlisle Bay, weighed and proceeded to Guadaloupe, where, as already observed, the tri¬ coloured flag had been hoisted on the first intelligence of Napoleon’s return to France. The period during which the revolutionary flag was unfurled was even shorter than the Emperor’s authority in France during the hundred days. The debarkation took place on the 8th of August, and on the 10th the capture was accomplished; and the Comte de Linois, the Governor of the colony, and General Baron Boyer de Peyrelau and the French troops became prisoners of war. The war was soon ended, but not equally quick was effected the return of Sir James Leith, whom circumstances obliged to absent himself for a lengthened period from his government, and who only returned to close his career a victim to the prevailing fever. But I am forestalling events : circumstances occurred in the interim which threatened the existence of thousands of the inhabitants of the island, and tended to the over¬ throw of order and the excitement of rebellion. After the departure of Sir James Leith the administration had devolved again upon President Spooner, who met the Legislature on the 12th of September and com¬ municated the reason of his Excellency’s absence. The House voted three thousand pounds for the maintenance of the President’s table while residing at Pilgrim. 394 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1815 . At the meeting of the General Assembly on the 14th of November 1815, the Speaker addressed the members and informed them that a bill had been introduced into the House of Commons for registering the slaves of the different islands and colonies, in order fully to carry into effect the Abolition act, by preventing the smuggling of Africans into the colonies. This bill, he observed, purported to make regulations for the internal go¬ vernment of chartered colonies, and to raise a tax upon their inhabitants without their consent: if it should pass into a law, it would subvert their constitution and destroy their best and dearest rights. The Speaker condemned the principle that an officer should be appointed by orders in Parliament to receive such fees as they might think proper to fix upon. It was considered by other members a measure which would infringe the inviolable principle of the constitution—that taxation and represen¬ tation were inseparable; and as, among other provisions, the act directed that certain fees should be given to the officer at the register-office as a remuneration for his services, they contended that this was a direct tax levied on the colonies internally, and without the intervention of their representative bodies. “ There is however a right,” it was asserted, “which every British subject possesses, destroyed by no lapse of time or circumstance, namely that, as the burdens of the people are borne by the great mass of the community, they cannot be imposed without the con¬ sent of those who represent the interests and sympathize with the wants of the bulk of the people. It matters not on what soil an Englishman may have fixed his hut, or in what uncongenial climate he may earn a precarious subsistence; the pittance of his industry is safe, except from aids for the general benefit voted by the power of the representative system.” Among several other pertinent resolutions which were moved by the Assembly on the 17th of January 1816 occurred the following, which I transcribe as a proof that the Legislature was anxious to enter into the views of the Parliament, provided their measures did not infringe too clearly the rights of the colonial charter. “ Fifth Resolution :—That although there is an act at present in force in this island which requires, under a heavy penalty, the annual return, upon oath, of the slaves of each proprietor, yet to evince the cordial desire which the House feels to co-operate in any measure deemed necessary for carrying into effect the acts of the imperial Parliament for abolishing the slave-trade, it declares that it is most willing to adopt, by an act of the Legislature of this island, such parts of the Registry-bill as are compatible with the legitimate rights and local circumstances of the inhabitants of this island, and which may be more adequate to ascertain the slave population.” It was likewise resolved to forward a humble address and petition to the Prince Regent, praying his Royal Highness to prevent the passing of the registry-bill as contemplated by the imperial Parliament ; and a INSURRECTION IN BARBADOS. 395 1816.] committee was appointed by tbe House to revise tbe laws respecting the free coloured people and the slaves of the island. The Council was re¬ quested to appoint a committee of their board to meet the committee of the House on this subject. At its rising the House was adjourned to the 12th of March; but it appears that it did not meet on that day, and subsequent events prevented a meeting until the 6th of August. It was naturally to be expected that the discussion of this weighty matter was not restricted to the House of Legislature. Ill-designing persons gave a misapplication to the character of the registry-bill about to be introduced into the imperial Parliament; and ill-defined expectations were fostered among the slave population, which those very disseminators were well aware could not be realized at that time. On an estate then called Franklyn’s (now the Vineyard) lived a free coloured man, named Washington Franklin, a person of loose morals and debauched habits, but superior to those with whom he intimately associated: to him was afterwards distinctly traced the practice of reading and discussing before tbe slave population those violent speeches which were at that period de¬ livered against slavery in the mother country; nor is there any doubt that he conceived and planned the outbreak which spread such desolation over the island. He artfully disseminated the report among the negroes that on Christmas-day 1815, or at latest on the succeeding New-Year’s-day, a period would be put to their slavery; and being disappointed, it was given out that the owners prevented this. Distorted accounts of the insurrec¬ tion in St. Domingo were related, as worthy of imitation, and as exhibiting a prospect of success to secure those rights which were unjustly withheld. At eight o’clock in the evening, on Easter Sunday, the 14th of April 1816, a heap of cane-thrash was fired on Bayley’s plantation : this was the signal of revolt; it was promptly repeated by the setting on fire the thrash-heaps and cane-fields on every estate in the upper part of the parish of St. Philip. The fearful reality now burst upon the white in¬ habitants, and they were awakened to the peril of their situation. The storm burst upon them wholly unprepared for such an event. The fire spread during the whole night from field to field, from one estate to an¬ other ; a long night of horror and uncertainty was at last succeeded by day, and the first gleam of light discovered fresh indications of the pro¬ gress of revolt: “ mill after mill on the revolted estates was turned into the wind to fly unbended, and bell after bell was rung to announce that the slaves of such plantation had joined the revolt.” The rebellious mob increased every step they advanced: on arriving at the residence of a Mr. Bayne, who kept a store of dry goods and hardware, they broke into the premises and armed themselves with bills, axes, cutlasses, and what¬ ever edged instruments they could lay hold of, and then proceeded with increased boldness to the plantations Harrow, Bushy Park, Oughterson’s, 396 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Li»l6. the Thicket, Three Houses, and the Grove, committing every outrage on the estates on their way. The earliest news of the outbreak reached Bridgetown on the Monday morning between one and two o’clock, and the island was immediately placed under martial law. Colonel Mayers of the royal regiment of militia having in the first instance acquainted Colonel Codd, commanding the garrison of St. Anne, of the outbreak, the troops were immediately called to arms. The command as general of the militia was conferred upon Colonel Codd, and the regular troops, in conjunction with the royal regiment of militia under Colonel Mayers, commenced their march between eight and nine o’clock on Monday morning towards the parish of St. Philip. The Christ-Church battalion of militia assembled on the first alarm at Fairy Valley, and the earliest opposition was made to the progress of the rebels by a detachment of that corps, which about noon met a large body of insurgents at Lowther’s Yard. Several were armed with muskets, and they displayed the colours of the St. Philip’s battalion which they had stolen 1 . The rebels dared the militia to “come on;” they were however quickly dispersed, but not without bloodshed on their side. The regulars, in conjunction with the royal regiment of militia, advanced rapidly towards the parish of St. Philip, which suffered most, as the inhabitants had been unfortunately prevented from uniting for their own defence by the general and simul¬ taneous rising of the slaves. From thence the insurrection had spread into the adjoining parishes of St. John and St. George. The first body of insurgents in St. Philip’s were met at Sandford plantation, but they dispersed as soon as they were fired upon. A private of the militia was shot from one of the negro houses, where most of the slaves had hidden themselves 2 . The military were soon in possession of the whole parish. Some negro houses were burnt on the following day: in the evening however the insurrection may be said to have been subdued. An attempt was made on the night of the 15th to raise a rebellion in St. Lucy, and the canes were fired upon two estates; but this attempt was soon quelled and order restored. Sir James Leith was absent from the island; the President, as com- mander-in-chief during his absence, issued his proclamation on the 16th, authorizing the colonels and commandants at the different posts of en¬ campment to proceed against the prisoners charged as rebels according to the rules of war, and to carry the sentence into immediate execution. In pursuance of these instructions many were condemned in the parishes 1 Colonel Eversley’s evidence in the Report of the Select Committee. 2 Report of a Select Committee. According to a private account in my possession the first conflict in St. Philip’s took place at the Golden Grove, where the insurgents were rifling the dwelling-house, and the man thus killed is said to have been a sergeant. INSURRECTION IN BARBADOS. 397 1816.] that had revolted, upon full evidence of their guilt before a court-martial; and a court of inquiry was held in town, at which several were convicted, and the sentence of death carried into effect on the plantations to which the offenders belonged. Upwards of four hundred prisoners had been sent on board the ships in the bay, and a general embargo was laid on all vessels in the harbour. Sir James Leith, who had been informed by express of the calamitous occurrence, arrived on the 24th of April in a French schooner of war from Guadaloupe. He circulated an address, the object of which was to re¬ move the erroneous impression that the slaves were actually made free, but that the manumissions were improperly withheld from them : he trusted however that the fidelity of those who assembled round their masters and their families, and protected them against aggression, would have the best effect upon the deluded; and while he regretted the fate of those who had lost their lives, and who ought to serve as an example, his Excellency declared his determination to use all the powers at his disposal to crush the refractory and punish the guilty. Upon the arrival of the news of the insurrection in Barbados in Lon¬ don, the principal colonial agents, and many of the principal proprietors of Barbados, waited on Lord Bathurst at the Colonial Office, by appoint¬ ment, on the 6th of June, and were received by his Lordship and Lord Castlcreagh. The deputation stated such information as had been re¬ ceived by private letters, and urged their Lordships to adopt measures which might prevent, as far as lay in their power, the renewal of similar scenes in the colonies. Whilst Government waited for official despatches respecting the in¬ surrection, Mr. Wilberforce’s motion for the production of papers con¬ nected with the West India colonies was adjourned in Parliament. The official information arrived on the 16th of June; and upon Mr. Wilber- force’s motion in the House of Commons on the 19th of June for papers, Mr. Palmer moved an amendment that an address be presented to the Prince Regent, praying that instructions be sent to the Governors of the Colonies to take immediate steps to proclaim his Royal Highness’s dis¬ pleasure at the daring insurrection which has taken place in Barbados, and his surprise and concern at the false and mischievous notion enter¬ tained, that it was the intention of his Royal Highness or of the British Parliament to emancipate the negroes, and to recommend the adoption of measures tending to improve the moral and religious condition and the happiness and comfort of the slaves. Mr. Ponsonby, after stating that the only object immediately deserving the attention of the House was the preservation of the West India colonies, recommended Mr. Wilberforce to withdraw his motion, and that the House should unanimously proceed previously to vote, as a distinct substantive measure, the amendment pro¬ posed by Mr. Palmer. After some debate this was acceded to, and the HISTORY OF BARBADOS. 398 [1816. vote of address was carried, the whole House responding “ Aye ” to the Speaker’s question, as with one voice 1 . At the same meeting of the Colonial Assembly, when this letter was read (August 6th), a committee consisting of the following members, viz. Messrs. Mayers, Pinder, Nurse, Best, Jordan, and Cobham, was appointed to inquire into the origin and causes of the late rebellion, and to report thereon to the House. Their report however was delayed so long that the House ultimately appointed another committee, consisting of Messrs. Pinder, Jordan, Cobham, Hinds and Trotman, who presented their report on the 7th of January 1818. It was directed that two hundred and fifty copies should be printed for distribution in the island and in England 2 . The abandonment of the Slave-registry bill by the imperial Parlia¬ ment caused Lord Bathurst to recommend a somewhat similar measure to the Colonial Legislatures ; but previous to the arrival of this recom¬ mendation the Assembly of Barbados had already anticipated the views of the British Government, and a bill embracing the recommendation of Lord Bathurst was then under actual consideration. This bill passed the House nem. con. on the 26th of September, and ultimately passed all the stages of the Legislature on the 7th of January 1817. Conrade A. Howell, Esq., was appointed registrar under the act. Order was comparatively restored in the commencement of May, and Sir James Leith returned on the 6th of that month to Guadaloupe. The court of inquiry continued, and martial law remained in force until the 12th of July, when the President issued his proclamation abolishing it; and all judges, justices of the peace, and others holding public offices, were required to resume the exercise of their several functions. It be¬ came now an agreeable duty to the Legislature to return their thanks to those individuals who by their energy and decision had mainly contri¬ buted to the speedy suppression of this formidable insurrection, and no person stood more prominent than Colonel Codd. The following re¬ solution passed the House of Assembly unanimously in a full session, every member being present:— “ Resolved, That the thanks of this House be given to Edward Codd, Esq., Colonel in his Majesty’s army, Lieutenant-Colonel of the second battalion, sixtieth regiment of Foot, Commandant of the garrison of St. Anne’s and Ge¬ neral of the militia of this island, for the great and important services which 1 Mr. Jordan’s Official Letter to the Committee of Correspondence.— Mercury, Saturday, Aug. 31, 1816. 2 There are few copies if any of that report left in the island: it is entitled a “ Re¬ port from a select Committee of the House of Assembly, appointed to inquire into the origin, causes and progress of the late insurrection. Barbados: printed by order of the Legislature.” A reprint of this document is in the British Museum, which has in a great measure afforded the author the information communicated above. VOTES OF THANKS TO THE TROOPS. 399 1816.] lie rendered to this island during the late unfortunate rebellion of the slaves; for his prompt and decisive measures, his vigilant and unremitted exertions, and his judicious arrangement of the forces under his command, hy which good order, tranquillity and security were in a short time restored; as well as for his humane interference, whereby all unnecessary effusion of human blood was prevented. “ Resolved, That the thanks of this House be given to the officers, non¬ commissioned officers, and privates of St. Anne’s garrison, for the prompt, spirited and efficient aid rendered to the inhabitants of this island during the late calamitous insurrection of the slaves.” Similar resolutions were passed by the President and his Majesty’s Council. General orders, dated head-quarters, Barbados, August 3rd, 1816, communicated to the troops concerned that his Royal Highness the Commander-in-chief of the Forces was very sensible of the good con¬ duct of the troops upon the occasion of the late insurrection, and ap¬ proved of the prompt arrangements which Colonel Codd had made for its suppression. It was further resolved unanimously by the House of Assembly to vote one thousand pounds sterling to Colonel Codd for the purchase of such articles of plate as he might think proper; and two hundred guineas to Captain Cruttenden, major of brigade, for the pur¬ chase of a sword, as a small remuneration for his activity and zeal during the insurrection. At a subsequent meeting of the Legislature a bill was passed unanimously, voting to Captain Watt, deputy assistant quarter¬ master-general, two hundred guineas, for the purchase of a sword to com¬ memorate the grateful remembrance of the House for his services. The thanks of the House were next voted to Colonel Mayers, and the officers, non-commissioned officers and privates of the royal regiment of militia, for their gallant conduct during the insurrection. A similar vote of thanks was passed to Lieutenant-Colonel Best, to the officers and privates of Christ-Church battalion, and to their commanding officers. Earl Bathurst proposed to the Legislature that the slaves under sen¬ tence of transportation for being concerned in the rebellion should be removed to Honduras, where they should be placed in charge of his Ma¬ jesty’s superintendent in that settlement, who would receive instructions to dispose of them according to the nature of their crimes.- In consequence of this suggestion one hundred and twenty-three convicts were conveyed on board the ship 'Frances and Mary’ on the 25th of January 1817, in which they were sent to Honduras, and thus ended the insurrection. The new Assembly for 1816-17 met on the 6th of August, at which Mr. Beckles was re-elected Speaker, having been the free and voluntary choice of that body for upwards of thirty-four years. Sir James Leith in his opening address alluded in the following words to the late distressing circumstances :— 400 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1816. “ The regret with which I advert to the circumstances that lately in¬ volved a part of this colony in the destructive and painful consequences of in¬ ternal commotion, is mitigated by the re-establishment of public order, on a basis which promises stability. I lost not any time, after the unfortunate event of the late insurrection, to remove from the minds of the slave popula¬ tion that delusion which appeared to have been its immediate cause. I endeavoured, and I trust successfully, by a personal intercourse with the generality of the insurgent slaves who have been misled (and who were assem¬ bled in bodies for that purpose), to prevent the possibility of mischievous persons being again able to mislead them, on a misconception of the real state of their condition.” It was proposed and agreed to in the House of Assembly, that the Colony should contribute annually four thousand pounds to the expenses connected with Sir James Leith’s administration; but upon being ap¬ prised of this vote, the Governor with a corresponding liberality declined to accept more than three thousand pounds, conceiving that the losses recently sustained in the island, and the extraordinary expenditure during the insurrection, would fall heavily upon the inhabitants : this act of his Excellency was thankfully acknowledged by the Legislature. Sir James Leith recommenced the establishment of military posts to ensure the tranquillity of Barbados; and in his message to the House on the 13th of August, he recommended the expediency of sanctioning the issue of one thousand pounds for such a purpose previously granted, and of providing a further expenditure, not exceeding fifteen hundred pounds, for the erection of two new and solid barracks at Gun-hill and Moncreiffe Point, and the repair of those at Speightstown and Holetown. The unexpected death of Sir James Leith on the 16th of October 1816, of fever, which then prevailed to an alarming degree, cast a general gloom over the island. The Honourable John Spooner, sen., was sworn in on the 21st of October 1816 as President and Commander-in-chief of the island, and one of his first public notices was that the inhabitants should wear mourning until Sunday the 17th of November, as a mark of respect to the memory of the departed Governor. President Spooner met the Council and the Assembly for the first time since his assuming the government on the 5th of November 1816, and alluded in feeling terms to the great loss which the colony had suffered. The remains of Sir James Leith, which had been embalmed, were, agreeably to Sir James’s request, conveyed to Falmouth in charge of Captain Belches, one of the late Governor’s aide-de-camps. The Right Honourable Stapleton Lord Combermere, a lieutenant-ge¬ neral in the army, received the appointment of Captain-General and Governor-in-chief of Barbados, and Commander of the forces stationed on the Windward and Leeward islands. Previous to his arrival, ill-health ARRIVAL OF LORD COMBERMERE. 401 1817.] obliged the President to sail for England, and John Foster Alleyne, Esq. was sworn in on the 8th of April 1817 as Pi’esident and Commander- in-chief. Before President Spooner resigned the administration, he had the pleasure of giving his assent to a bill the principle of which he had always supported, namely, “ An act allowing the testimony of free negroes and free people of colour to be taken in all cases.” This bill, which had been several times before the House, and had caused some angry debates, was ultimately passed on the 5th of February 1817. CHAPTER XII. EVENTS DURING LORD COMBERMERE’S ADMINISTRATION, FROM HIS ARRIVAL IN 1817 TO HIS DEPARTURE IN 1820. Lord Combermere arrived on the 3rd of June 1817, and assumed the government the next day. In his address to the Legislature, on the 17th of June, he congratulated the country that the reconsideration and con¬ solidation of the slave-laws had been entrusted to enlightened and humane men, possessing a practical acquaintance with the subject. He recom¬ mended the establishment of a police upon a plan which would ensure security and order, and drew chiefly their attention to the important measure for securing the political happiness of the island, by diffusing religious instruction more generally among the lower classes of the com¬ munity, whether slaves or free people. The Legislature voted the sum of four thousand pounds per annum for the support of the dignity of his Excellency’s government. A new election took place in September, and the Legislature was opened on the 9th of that month. The Governor recommended again the establishment of an efficient police, and the appointment of a committee for inspecting and reporting on the state of the common jail and other prison establishments. As the business which would be brought before the House required much time for ample investigation and discussion, his Excellency trusted that the periods of the meeting of the House would be prolonged to at least three successive days in every month, until the militia-bill was passed. The severe gale of the 21st of October 1817, which did such injury 2 D 402 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1818. to the shipping in Barbados, almost devastated St. Lucia. On the arrival of the distressing news, Lord Combermere immediately took the neces¬ sary means to provide as much lumber or building-material as might be requisite to afford shelter to the suffering population; and to prevent the speculations of individuals, his Excellency purchased to the amount of eighteen hundred pounds; one half of which was taken for his Majesty’s troops, the other half was taken upon account of the Colony, with the understanding that if required it should be paid for by the island of St. Lucia. Lord Combermere informed the House of his having done so on the 4th of November, and said that he relied upon the liberality of the House of Assembly for affording, if the circumstances of their constituents would allow, some pecuniary aid towards alleviating the distresses of their fellow-creatures. In consequence of this message, the House passed an act granting nine hundred pounds to the sufferers of the island of St. Lucia, providing however against the act being made a precedent, and requesting that on future occasions no arrangements should be made that might lead to an expenditure of the public money without the sanction of the legal and constitutional guardians of the public purse. This and another message were, contrary to the general custom of the Assembly, ordered to be delivered to the Governor by the acting Clerk of the House. At a subsequent meeting (February 17th, 1818) they apologized to the Go¬ vernor, who considered it disrespectful, and stated as an excuse that they wished to give him the earliest information, which they could not have done if it had been sent to him in the regular way. Lord Combermere denied that he had violated the legal and constitu¬ tional privileges of the representatives of the people, and stated that the lumber sent to St. Lucia was only in the shape of a loan. It would be his pleasing duty, he added, to communicate to the inhabitants of St. Lucia that the House of Assembly of Barbados had, with its usual liberality, voted the sum of nine hundred pounds to the unfortunate suf¬ ferers by the late hurricane. The benevolent desire of Lord Combermere unfortunately caused unpleasant feelings, which led ultimately to a rup¬ ture between the House and the Governor. The explanation which the Governor had given in vindication of his act gave rise to a string of resolutions being entered on the Journals of the House, of which the fourth and last was to the effect, “ That the members of this House will never degrade themselves by using insinuations unworthy of men placed in a public and responsible station; but, possessing the liberty of speech, they will on all occasions (while they endeavour to guard against its abuse) express their sentiments with that honesty and freedom which ought always to distinguish a people governed by civil authority, and inheriting the rights of British subjects.” The militia-bill, although it had been before the House at the earliest day of meeting of the present representatives, was bequeathed in its in- NEW ASSEMBLY. 403 1818.] complete form to the next; nor were the recommendations of the Governor respecting police regulations and the consolidation of the slave-laws attended to. The commercial policy of Great Britain had thought it necessary to close the ports of her West Indian colonies to merchant-vessels of the United States. It had been in agitation for some time past to retaliate; however, the act for excluding British vessels from any port in the West Indies into which American vessels were not admitted, only passed the Senate and House of Representatives on the 4th of April and received the sanction of the President. We speak of events that have passed and which we judge by their elfects, but even at the time that this measure of the United States Government was determined upon it was considered impolitic. The British colonies found that they could procure the pro¬ duce of North America at the free ports upon cheaper terms than they could from the United States under the proposed restrictions, and hence they resorted to the islands of St. Thomas, St. Bartholomew, &c., which whilst the ports remained closed rose to an eminence hitherto un¬ paralleled. The British carrying trade was in a great measure trans¬ ferred to the mother country; and instead of seeing colonial vessels crowd¬ ing the ports of the United States, and swelling the amount of tonnage duties and the revenue in general, this act prevented all direct intercourse. Lord Combermere met the new Assembly on the 3rd of November. The consolidation of the slave-laws, a more regular attendance of the members of the House, the necessity of a system of police for Bridgetown, and the reconsideration of the militia-bill, were objects which he par¬ ticularly recommended to the attention of the Assembly. The reply of the Assembly to his Excellency breathed harmony and the promise of giving a serious consideration to the points to which he had alluded. With respect to the consolidation of the slave-laws the address observed,— “ We shall not fail to notice your Excellency’s remarks on the propriety of revising, correcting and consolidating such of our laws as relate to the treatment and government of slaves,—the first step to which, it will be in the recollection of your Excellency, was taken by the late House of Representatives at their last sitting, by the repeal and expulsion from our statute-book of some of the most disgraceful and obnoxious clauses.” This address (the last of the friendly ones which the Governor received) concluded in the following words :—“ We are perfectly convinced that no greater gratification could be afforded your Excellency than the occurrence of frequent opportunities, by which you may have it in your power to contribute to, and to manifest the interest you take in, the honour, welfare and happiness of the Colony committed to your charge.” The harmony existing between the Governor and the people was now disturbed, and it is to be regretted that the first occasion arose at the observance of a religious ceremony. His Excellency the Governor had 2 d 2 404 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1819. patronized a society about to be established under the direction of the members of Council, part of the Clergy, part of the Assembly and other respectable members of the community, to be styled “ The Bar¬ bados Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.” Some considerable collections had been made towards its establishment; and, in order to increase the fund, the Governor appointed the 26th of February 1819, being the second church day in Lent that year, for attending divine service and hearing a charity sermon, to be preached by the Rev. Mr. Orderson ; a full orchestra of amateurs volunteered to assist Mr. Wall, the organist, in the performance of selected pieces of sacred music. As the Governor purposed attending the ceremony in state, the Lieutenant- Colonel commanding the Royal Regiment of Militia by order of his Ex¬ cellency the Governor, issued a regimental order for the flank companies of that regiment to assemble in Trafalgar Square by 8 o’clock in the morning of Friday the 26th of February, no doubt for the purpose of giving more eclat, as his Lordship attended the service with his military and colonial suite. Soon after this regimental order was made known, the ‘Globe’ newspaper of the 25th of February contained an article in which the editor condemned in unmeasured terms this step, which he considered the Governor had no power to take, as the militia-bill 1 sti¬ pulated that any number of the militia could only be called out upon an extraordinary occasion, which the editor contended was not the case in this instance. “ Some, we are well aware (by way of finesse) may say, that we aim at creating insubordination in the regiment. To this we answer. No! it is only to oppose oppression and resist a system of tyranny, which, according to our interpretation, are not sanctioned by custom or law. The militia of this island, as well as that of almost every other, was not organized to dance attendance to those who delight in a red coat; it was embodied for the protection of the country and its laws; and however lame the law may appear to some on this point, who do not view it in the same light that we do, they should not take advantage of it, and, instead of encouraging the men in their duty, make it disgusting to them by the petty tyranny which they attempt to practise.” At a subsequent meeting of the Assembly, the House unanimously requested the Attorney-General to file two criminal prosecutions against 1 The clause in the militia-bill which refers to the point goes on to say, “ Pro¬ vided likewise, and be it further enacted, that the Commander-in-chief for the time being, in support of the dignity of government, may direct, and is hereby authorized accordingly to direct, the commanding officer of any battalion or corps to call out what number he thinks proper of the said battalion or corps to attend him upon any public occasion, or a sufficient guard to attend the Chief-Justice and the Court of Grand Sessions during the continuance of the said Court, or any number he may think proper for the honourable reception of any Governor, when such shall be ap¬ pointed by his Majesty, and also upon any extraordinary or public occasion.” POLITICAL PARTIES. 405 1819.] Mr. Michael Ryan, printer and publisher of the f Globe ’ newspaper, —one for a libel on the House, and the other for a libel on the Colonial Government, in charging it with tyranny and oppression in calling out the militia, and endeavouring to excite sedition against the Government. It is questionable how far this motion may have originated in party spirit. The island had been divided into two parties, one of which com¬ prised the aristocracy and their exalted notions; the other consisted of a class who professed liberal principles. The ‘ Globe ’ newspaper was started in October 1818 in the interest of the latter, and the ‘ Western Intelligencer ’ was the organ of the former. Various articles written on the events of the day in a vein of witticism were promulgated in the ‘ Globe/ as proceeding from a club called “ Samalgundi,” which name was given to the whole liberal party, while the opposition or aristocracy were styled “the Pumpkins.” The announced prosecution for libel against Mr. Ryan called forth several articles in the ‘ Globe/ one of which signed “Crito” was addressed to the “Barbadians, his fellow-citizens,” in which he defended Mr. Ryan’s conduct and his avowal of the rights of the people. Previous to the former publication, another article under the signature of “ Rectus ” warned Mr. Ryan to be on his guard to prevent the jury who were to decide his case being packed. The anonymous writer alluded in unmeasured language to the probability of some attempts for that purpose; and the con¬ sequence was that the editor received notice of a fresh prosecution instituted against him for a libel, stated to be contained in an article signed “Rectus,” published on the 15th of April. At the suit of the Attorney-General, Mr. Ryan was arrested on the 12th of May for the sum of five thousand pounds, and bail demanded for double the amount. The necessary bail was immediately offered; nevertheless the editor pre¬ ferred to be committed, in order to appear a martyr in the public cause. Several meetings took place in consequence, and those who condemned the proceedings against Ryan formed themselves into a body, called “ the Friends to Liberty and a free Press.” They had selected the 18th of May, being the fourteenth anniversary of the introduction of martial law into the island 1 , for assembling at Collier’s Hotel, where Mr. Cheeseman Moe, a justice of the peace, addressed them, and recommended them to persevere in asserting their right of discussing with freedom the measures of public men holding official situations: he proposed that Mr. Thomas Howard Griffith should be elected their chairman. In the resolutions which were framed they disclaimed being classed among the richest or the greatest, but they wished to be considered as the yeomanry of Barbados, and stated that they assembled primarily to protect the editor of the ‘ Globe/ prosecuted as they thought unjustly. They repaired afterwards in a body to'the prison, to 1 See ante, p. 362. 406 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1819 . liberate the printer by giving the required bail: thousands of persons had assembled to witness the scene. The case came before the Court of Grand Sessions on the 10th of June, and the Attorney-General (Mr. John Beckles) gave the grand jury one of the indictments for libel against the editor of the ‘ Globe ’ newspaper, for endeavouring to sow sedition and insubordi¬ nation in the royal regiment of militia, and for libelling the Government of the island. After a long address from the Attorney-General the jury retired, and, having deliberated twenty minutes, brought in a verdict of “ Not guilty.” The crowd which had thronged the court-house and the avenues leading to it burst into shouts of applause and cheers, which were reproved by the bench as indecorous. The second indictment for libel was withdrawn, and the editor was called up and discharged, upon paying seven pounds fifteen shillings, the fees of the court. It is said that Mr. Ryan was carried in triumph through the streets, and that two gentlemen belonging to the commission of the peace assisted in these demonstrations of joy. A few weeks after this occurrence Mr. J. B. Lane and Mr. Cheeseman Moe were deprived by the Governor of their official capacity. They had been sitting as justices of the peace on the bench at the last Court of Grand Sessions held in Bridgetown, where the grand jury returned the indictment against Michael Ryan for a libel, when the populace in the court expressed a most indecent and disgraceful rejoicing, and instead of aiding and assisting the Chief-Justice in restoring order, they were accused of having immediately left the bench and joined a large and tumultuous mob in the court-yard, and accompanied Ryan in a triumph¬ ant manner through the streets of Bridgetown to an hotel. His Ex¬ cellency considered this conduct a breach of their duty as magistrates, and he had been therefore under the painful necessity of erasing their names from the commission of the peace. The accused denied having joined a tumultuous mob; and Mr. Lane in his reply to his Excellency broke out into expressions which certainly convey an independent spirit, although undeniably wanting in that respect which he owed to the representative of his King 1 . It would have been well if matters had rested here, but Ryan’s case and the dismissal of the two magistrates without being heard in their defence, deprived Lord Combcrmere of that popularity which he otherwise deserved so justly. Lane and Moe ap¬ peared in the public eye martyrs in the defence of their right; meetings were held in different parishes, and, while they were commended for their impartial and disinterested administration of justice while acting as ma¬ gistrates, their dismissal without a hearing was disapproved. The aristo¬ cratic party held meetings in which counter-resolutions were passed, and 1 “ Although, my Lord, as the chief magistrate you command my respect, you yet are hut a man. and so am 1; and while I keep within the pale of the laws, I fear not vour frowns—t our smiles I never courted.” DEATH OF GEORGE THE THIRD. 407 1820 .] unqualified praise was given to Lord Combermere and his administration. Meanwhile the election of a new House of Assembly approached, and the liberal party used every exertion to obtain a majority of members, in which endeavour they proved successful. Thomas H. Griffith was elected Speaker of the new House. His Excellency met the Assembly on the 30th of November, and drew their attention to the propriety of providing some fixed support for the establishment of a Colonial Charity School, and of securing to the poorer inhabitants the advantages of proper instruction and education in habits of industry. Mr. Moe and Mr. Lane had been elected members of the Assembly. Mr. Moe at an early opportunity brought his dismissal from the magi¬ stracy before the House, and begged for an investigation of the reasons which had led to that dismissal. He moved “ that a committee be ap¬ pointed to investigate the conduct of Cheeseman Moe, a member of the Honourable House of Assembly, whilst acting in the magistracy, and the circumstances which had led to his dismissal therefrom by his Excellency the Governor.” The motion was seconded by Mr. Lane, his fellow-sufferer: it was however lost by a majority of eleven to ten. The melancholy information of the death of his Majesty George the Third on the 29th of January 1820, and the accession of George the Fourth, was received in Barbados on the 16th of March. Lord Comber- mere was absent from the colony at the time, and the Honourable John Brathwaite Skeete, President of the Council, acted as Commander-in-chief of the island. His Honour had the news officially announced on the 17th of March, and on the following day George Prince of Wales was proclaimed by the constituted authorities successor to the throne as George the Fourth. His Majesty’s subjects in Barbados were desired to put themselves into the deepest mourning for then- departed Sovereign. Lord Combermere re¬ turned at the end of March. The accession of George the Fourth rendered it necessary that the members of the House of Assembly should take the State-oath anew, and they met for that purpose on the 4th of April. The bills for re-appointing the salary of his Excellency the Governor, and making a suitable allowance for the service of his Honour the President during the absence of his Excellency, were passed. The House adjourned to the following day, when Mr. Lane moved that a committee should be appointed to draw up addresses of condolence and congratulation on the late events, and in speaking of the demise of his late Majesty, took occasion to observe, that he felt an indignity had been offered to that House in its not being officially made acquainted therewith, and that a resolution to that effect should be entered on the minutes—which was carried. Mr. Lane afterwards moved that a committee should be appointed to in¬ quire into the causes which had led to his dismissal from the commission of the peace, which was granted, and the following gentlemen were ap- 408 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1820 . pointed to form the Committee :—Messrs. Suleven, Waith, Cummins, Jemmett, Massiah, Walcot, Thornhill, King and Crichlow. This Com¬ mittee addressed the Governor on the 15th of April, respectfully re¬ questing his Excellency to direct such evidence to be laid before them, connected with the charges contained in his letter of the preceding 26th of June, as would enable them to give the subject their full and impartial consideration. The Committee received the following reply:— “ Government House, Barbados, 15th of April 1820. “ The Governor informs the Committee appointed by the Honourable House of Assembly to inquire into the causes which induced his Excellency the Governor to think John Brandford Lane, Esq. unworthy to be continued in the commission of the peace, and from which his Excellency dismissed him, that as the appointment of the Committee was an officious interference with his prerogative, he shall certainly not lay any evidence whatever before them.” On the same day as the date of the above letter, namely the 15th of April, the dissolution of the Colonial House of Assembly was publicly announced. Rumour naturally said that the Committee appointed for the investigation of Mr. Lane’s dismissal had led to this sudden dissolu¬ tion of the House. The necessary writs for a new election were issued, and both parties were equally anxious to obtain a majority. Thomas Howard Griffith was re-appointed Speaker to the House, and the liberal party flattered themselves that they had a majority of two. Messrs. Moe and Lane were elected members for the parish of St. George and the parish of St. Joseph. His Excellency the Governor met the new House on the 30th of May, and after the usual ceremonies of swearing in the members and appointing the Speaker, he addressed both Houses, and informed the members of the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly, that as the time had approached for his depar¬ ture, he availed himself of this occasion to take leave of them, and to express his sincere good wishes for their future prosperity and happi¬ ness. He offered his condolence on the death of his late Majesty, and in congratulating the Legislature upon his present Majesty’s accession to the throne, he augured most happily for the future. His Excellency confirmed afterwards the supposed cause of the dissolution of the former House of Assembly in the following observations :—“ The House of Assembly would naturally have expired six months after the demise of the late King, but I was under the necessity to have recourse to an im¬ mediate dissolution thereof, in consequence of the House having neglected to take into consideration measures tending to the honour and advantage of the Colony (and as such strongly recommended in my last address), and having improperly interfered with the prerogative vested in me by his Majesty.” The Governor again called upon the House to take into 1820.] DEPARTURE OF LORD COMBERMERE. 409 immediate and serious consideration,—1. The revision and amelioration of the slave-laws ; —2. The establishment of a police;—3. A permanent provision for the colonial charity school;—4. The revision of the militia and fortification acts. His Excellency concluded his address in the following words:— “Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Legislative Council. Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly. “ Sincere and unceasing as have been my wish and endeavour to do all the good in my power for this ancient and loyal Colony, I lament that I have not been able to accomplish much; but I hope my successor may not be pre¬ vented carrying them into effect by those mischievous and vulgar squabbles which have of late disgraced this island in the eyes of the mother country, and made it the object of ridicule amongst the sister colonies. But I fear that it is not the only evil arising out of them. “ A spirit of insubordination has been planted, the fruit of which may one day be gathered with sorrow and repentance, unless the returning good sense of the people provide a timely remedy. I am well aware that this is a delicate subject; but as I am on the point of leaving you, and have expressed my sincere good wishes for your welfare and prosperity, I deem it my honest duty to be thus candid with you, at a moment when there can be no doubt of my motives being disinterested.” The object of the author is to give the facts as they are recorded, and to leave the reader to form his own opinion respecting the policy of the measures adopted. Lord Combermere, his family and suite, embarked on board H.M.S. Spartan on the 12th of June 1820, under the customary salutes from St. Anne’s, and was received on board with the same cere¬ mony. Immediately after the departure of his Excellency, the Honour¬ able John Brathwaite Skeete was sworn in as Commander-in-chief of the island. The General Assembly met on the 20th day of June. One of the first motions was that proposed by Mr. Lane, to the effect that Mr. Walker, hitherto the printer of the House, having made in the ‘ Mercury 3 on the 13th instant the following observations while noticing the departure of his Excellency Lord Combermere ,—“ In retiring from the government of this island, his Lordship carries with him the respect and esteem of every virtuous and honourable mind,”—this must be regarded as an insult to many members of the House who were not of that opinion; he there¬ fore moved that that part of the minutes which re-appointed Mr. Walker as printer of the House should not be confirmed, which was seconded by Mr. Moe, and carried by a majority of three. Mr. Michael Ryan was subsequently appointed printer to the House of Assembly. It appears that the meeting of the House on the 20th of June was a stormy one, at which the strength of the two parties was measured. Mr. 410 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1820 . Pinder moved that a sum of three thousand pounds currency per annum should be settled on the President for the time of administering the government; Mr. Moe moved that it be reduced to one thousand five hundred pounds per annum, which was carried by the former majority of three. Lord Combermcre had departed, and it cannot be denied that the island had derived great benefits from his administration. In all mea¬ sures of public utility his zeal was conspicuous: the institution of a society which had for its purpose to impart religion and instruction to the lower classes, namely the Barbados Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, and the foundation of the Colonial Charity Schools, are lasting monuments of his benevolence and zeal for the good of mankind. At a period when the mind of the public in the mother country was excited against the West Indian planters by misrepresenta¬ tions regarding their treatment of the slaves. Lord Combermcre, per¬ suaded of the injustice by personal observation, stepped nobly forward and refuted the charges of cruelty and oppression raised against the colonists. During his administration many malpractices in public offices which had been continued by custom were remedied, and the public ex¬ penditure was considerably reduced. It would have been well if, with the departure of the late Governor, har¬ mony had been restored in the two Houses; but it appeared that flushed with success the liberal party intended to pass resolutions which con¬ veyed censure on the conduct of the Legislative Council, when on a late occa¬ sion, in their reply to the address of Lord Combermere, they had reflected upon the House. Mr. Moe moved therefore that a committee should be appointed to take into consideration the reply of his Majesty’s Council to his Excellency Lord Combermere’s speech on the opening of the present Colonial Parliament, which motion was carried by the former small ma¬ jority of three. The resolutions adopted breathed a spirit ill calculated to restore harmony between the different branches of the Legislature, and the temper of this document is perhaps the best proof how little the House as then constituted was calculated to ensure the despatch of public business. 1821 .] REVISION OF FEES. 411 CHAPTER XIII. PERIOD FROM THE ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT SKEETE IN 1820 TO THE DEATH OF GEORGE THE FOURTH IN 1830. Mr. Lane’s conduct during the grand sessions at the trial of Ryan, which deprived him of his functions as a justice of the peace, having been investigated by the House, it was resolved, on the 5th of December 1820, “ that it is the opinion of the House, from the evidence before it, that the charges contained in Lord Combermere’s letter of the 26th of June 1819, against Mr. Lane, have not been substantiated; and he is, in the opinion of the House, acquitted from unbecoming conduct as a magi¬ strate on that occasion.” Such a result was to be expected at a period when the House consisted almost entirely of members who had opposed the measures emanating from his Majesty’s representative. The House of Assembly had been occupied during the session of 1820 to 1821 in revising and settling the fees of public officers. During the investigation the House summoned several of the officers to produce then- dockets of fees. Among others, Robert B. Clarke, Esq. was desired to attend on the 17th of April 1821 at the bar, and to produce the bills of costs of the prothonotary’s office; to which he replied that, as they were records of his office, he did not conceive himself justified under his oath of office to produce them. His refusal led to lengthened debates, as to whether the House possessed any right to commit Mr. Clarke to the common jail for contempt. It was contested that the House had no right to summon the prothonotary before it. In the latter end of the seven¬ teenth century the Colonial Assembly made great struggles for power ; the Government at home kept careful watch over their proceedings, and at last thought it necessary to interfere, and to pass the 7th and 8th of William III. chap. 22, in which, among other things, it is declared “ that all laws, bye-laws, usages and customs, which shall be in practice in any of the plantations, repugnant to any law made or to be made in this kingdom, shall be utterly void and of none effect.” Two years after this, on the 9th of August 1698, the Colonial Act was passed to settle the rights and power of the General Assembly, in which it is enacted that it shall be lawful for the House to send for officers’ papers and records 1 . This act only remained in force nine months; it was repealed in May 1699, in consequence of the King’s refusing to confirm it. During Governor No. 574 of Hall’s Laws Repealed. 412 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1821 . Grenville’s administration No. 204 of ‘ Hall’s Laws’ was passed, giving power to the Committee of the House, then sitting for the revision and publication of the laws of the island, the right to send for officers’ re¬ cords, &c. It was therefore contended that, did the House possess such an inherent right, there would have been no necessity to pass a special law for that purpose. These objections were however removed by an appeal to precedents; and among others it was stated that a Committee had been appointed in May 1745 to inquire into the condition of Charles Fort, who were empowered to send for persons, papers, and records: and in April 1746 the House came to the following resolutions:— “ Resolved,—That an inquiry into public grievances is one of the highest rights and privileges of the General Assembly of this island, and essential to its constitution. “ Resolved,—That the General Assembly of this island is, and stands vested with power and authority to call before them and examine all persons, papers and records, necessary for the discovery of all public grievances ; and to punish those who shall in contempt of such their power and authority, refuse to appear before them when summoned; or who appearing, shall refuse to answer all proper questions that be put to them upon such examination. “ Resolved,—That whoever attempts to impede any inquiry of the General Assembly of this island into public grievances, or artfully conceal, or endeavour to disguise the truth, in giving evidence upon such inquiry, is an enemy to his country.” From this and other precedents, it was considered that the House did possess such a right, which it was now solemnly called upon to protect, and to hold inviolate the privileges of the people. Mr. Clarke, who had been removed under the custody of the marshal during the debate, was again called to the bar, when the Speaker in¬ quired of him whether he still persisted in refusing to produce the papers required by the House. He replied that, it being the sense of the House that he should produce them, he would be ready to do so the next day; but the Speaker intimating to him that the House required them forth¬ with, or at least a portion of them, he proceeded to his office in the cus¬ tody of the marshal, and soon appeared at the bar and delivered in some of the papers, which by order were laid on the table. The House having established the right to have papers and records produced, Mr. Clarke was discharged, and the papers returned to him. Lord Harewood had presented to the colony of Barbados the picture of his ancestor Edwin Lord Harewood. The Assembly, in gratitude, re¬ quested his Lordship to sit for a picture of himself, to be painted at the expense of the colony. Mr. Jackson, the artist, executed it at the cost of two hundred guineas. Lord Harewood had died meanwhile. These two portraits arc now at Pilgrim, the residence of the Governor. 1821.] ARRIVAL OF GOVERNOR HENRY WARDE. 413 President Skeete sailed on the 18tk of April 1821 for England, and tlie administration devolved on Mr. Samuel Hinds, who was sworn in on that day. A guard of honour, consisting of the grenadier company of the fourth King’s Own regiment, receiyed President Skeete at the En¬ gineer’s Wharf on his arrival there for embarkation,—a tribute of grateful respect which the military under Major-General Mainwaring paid him for the interest he invariably evinced for their welfare. The new House met on the 3rd of July. The President in his address observed that it was probably the last time he should meet them, as the new Governor might be daily expected; as his parting words of advice, he urged them to let the discord between the two Houses cease, as pub¬ lic dissensions were always injurious to the public interest. His advice however was not heeded; years elapsed before a reconciliation took place, and the unhappy differences of the two branches of the Legislature even crept into domestic life and led to disputes and estrangements. An amicable adjustment did not take place before October 1823; and then it was of no long duration. Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Warde, K.C.B., who had been appointed Governor-in-chief of the island of Barbados, and Commander of the forces on that station, arrived with his family and suite on the 25th of July 1821, in his Majesty’s ship ‘ Pyramus,’ and took the usual oaths of office on the following day. He met the Legislature on the 31st of July, and alluded in his speech to the distressing breach which existed between the two branches of the Legislature, and he confidently trusted that peace and harmony might be re-established. An Act for the better support of his Excellency passed the Legislature, which settled four thousand pounds currency per annum upon the Governor during his administra¬ tion. The militia-law had been in operation three years, when, on the 4th of June (1822), the Assembly came to a conclusion that this act, not having received the sanction of the Sovereign, had expired, in conformity with an order of the Privy Council of the 15th of January 1800. This doctrine having been promulgated, several officers of the militia appeared in their uniform on the parade-ground during the legal hours established for the exercise of their regiments, without performing duty, and several non-commissioned officers appeared on the ground without uniform, with a view, as was supposed, to set the law at defiance. The Governor there¬ fore issued a proclamation stating that he had obtained the legal opinion of his Majesty’s Attorney- and Solicitor-General, both of whom declared in writing that these laws remained in full force. His Excellency based likewise his reason for considering the law to be in force upon a letter from the Secretary of State to the Governor of Grenada, in direct opposi¬ tion to the order in council of 1800; and acting under the legal opinions HISTORY OF BARBADOS. 414 [ 1822 . of the Crown lawyers, he felt it to be his duty to enforce the law until the instructions of Earl Bathurst had arrived on this subject 1 . As the question with regard to the validity of such laws as had not re¬ ceived the express sanction of the Sovereign in Privy Council was of im¬ portance, a Committee of the Council was appointed to investigate the history of the legislation of the colony with respect to this assertion. This Committee reported that out of one thousand four hundred and eighteen laws passed from the year 1641 to the year 1820, only twelve public acts had been confirmed by the Sovereign in Privy Council. All other public acts then in force had only the royal approbation notified to the Colonial Government by one of the principal Secretaries of State. The Committee came to the conclusion that the Assembly had miscon¬ strued the purport of the order in council, and observed :— “ That this is not merely the assertion of an abstract right, the following case will serve to prove:—In the year 1667, the Legislature of this colony passed an Act (No. 238 in Hall’s General List of Laws), directing how the clerks and marshals of'the several Courts of Common Pleas within this island should be appointed, and what they should receive. At this period of our history, the offices of clerks and marshals of the Courts of Common Pleas were not held under royal patent; but, about forty years after the enactment of this statute, Queen Anne claimed the right of appointing these officers by her letters patent. The House of Assembly of that day objecting to the royal claim, Queen Anne silenced them by issuing a repeal of the Act; and accordingly in August 1709 the Act was formally repealed (forty-two years after its enactment), and the respective judges of the colony ‘ were ordered to be furnished with copies of the repeal, that they might govern themselves accordingly.’ “ From this case we learn two things:—first, that the royal assent in Privy Council is not necessary to give validity to the acts of the colonial Legislature; for Queen Anne, by ordering a formal repeal after the expiration of forty-two years, virtually acknowledges that the act was in force until so repealed by her, and that such repeal was necessary to destroy it;—and, secondly, that there is a right reserved to the Crown to repeal at any time, however distant, such acts as have only received the royal approbation or allowance. And 1 The following extract furnishes the information with regard to Colonial enact¬ ments :— “ Office of Committee of Privy Council for Trade, “ Sir, Whitehall, 8th June, 1816. “ Their Lordships desire me to say, in answer to the queries conveyed in Sir Charles Shipley’s letter of the 16th October last, as to the effect of Colonial Acts, to wdiich neither his Majesty’s assent or dissent may have been communicated, that their Lordships conceive that every act assented to by the Governor, such act not having a suspending clause, must have its complete validity, although it should not have been confirmed by his Majesty in council. (Signed) “ To H. Goulburn, Esq.” “ Thomas Lack.” THE MILITIA LAW. 415 1822 .] this constitutes the difference between acts confirmed in Privy Council, and acts of which the royal approval only has been signified by one of the principal Secretaries of State. The royal confirmation in Privy Council seems to give the same stability to the colonial acts as attaches to the acts of the imperial Parliament. “ That all laws of the island, unless confirmed by the King in Privy Council, do cease and determine at the expiration of three years from their enactment, is cpiite a modern doctrine ; and was never, your Committee believes, formally asserted by any authority, until the present House of Assembly declared, by their vote of June the 4th, that, ‘under an order of the Privy Council of Great Britain of the 15th of January 1800, the militia-act could not be con¬ sidered in force, as it was more than three years since the last act, continuing the militia-act, had passed, and the House of Assembly had received no com¬ munication of the royal assent having been given to it.’ ” Moreover with regard to the militia-law, the Committee referred to No. 14 of the royal instructions to the Governor, wherein his Majesty declares it to be “ his will and pleasure that no law for establishing a militia shall be a temporary law.” The Committee felt themselves jus¬ tified in assuming this case as instar omnium, a proof that they are right in supposing that the order in council was not intended to render neces¬ sary any new formalities to give validity to the colonial acts, but simply to induce the colonial government to use due diligence in sending to England an early account of all their proceedings for the information of his Majesty’s government. A communication from Earl Bathurst con¬ firmed these views, and the misunderstanding of the Assembly was set at rest 1 . The good understanding which existed between the Governor and the Assembly was for a short while disturbed. His Excellency had addressed to the Speaker an especial call of the House, accompanied by a document explanatory of his reasons for that call. The Assembly regarded this message as a desire of the Governor to dictate to the House; but the Governor, in addressing the Legislature after the general election on the 30th of July 1822, explained that his conduct did not proceed from any desire to dictate, but from a wish to promote the welfare of the colony. Sir Henry Warde most generously sent a communication to the Speaker of the House at the meeting on the 5th of November, in which he offered to relinquish one thousand pounds of his salary in consequence of the embarrassments of the island. The members did not take advantage of his Excellency’s consideration, and requested that he would continue to receive the sum originally voted to him. The death of Mr. Gibbes W. Jordan on the 16th of February deprived 1 The Governor on his inspection of the first or royal regiment, on the 6th of January 1823, communicated the confirmation of the militia-law to the regiment, and it was made known for general information in a colonial general order. 416 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1823. the colony of a valuable servant. Mr. Jordan had served in the Legisla¬ ture, and as lieutenant-colonel of the royal regiment when in Barbados, and was at a later period appointed colonial agent. George Carrington, Esq. was elected his successor. The Lords Commissioners of his Majesty’s Treasury determined upon issuing a coin for paying the troops in the West Indies, which was to con¬ sist of one-fourth, one-eighth and one-sixteenth of a dollar from which no seignorage had been taken, so that these pieces bore the exact proportion to the value of the dollar of their respective denominations. The Governor issued therefore his proclamation, that these silver coins should from and after the 25 th of February 1823 be received and considered as a legal tender forming a part of the currency of the colony. The object of this measure was to establish an improved currency, and to banish a number of dubious coins of all denominations. Sir Henry Warde published a proclamation on the 10th of June 1823, in which he contradicted the various unfounded reports which designing men had spread among the slave population, that they might shortly expect their freedom. He warned the slaves not to credit such reports, and to consider the persons who spread them as their enemies. Informa¬ tion of the outbreak of an insurrection among the slaves in Demerara reached Barbados on the 30th of August 1823. That colony had been declared under martial law on the 18th of August, and the energetic measures of General Murray, the Governor of Demerara, soon suppressed the outbreak. The struggle for liberty of the former Spanish territories in South America, and the concentration of lawless characters who profited by it, caused the Mexican and Caribbean seas to swarm with pirates, who under the Spanish and Colombian colours committed every outrage on the vessels of European nations. The decrees of General Morales, Chief of the Spanish Royal Forces on the Main, obliged the United States to send a powerful squadron to the Main for the protection of their citizens. England sent two squadrons for the protection of her trade and for other political purposes, one to Porto Rico, the other to Porto Cabello. This measure was rendered partly imperative by the necessity of suppressing the numberless piracies committed in these seas upon the British trade. A similar measure had been executed against Cuba: the pirates gathered on the coasts of that island were in most instances the crews of vessels formerly employed in the African slave-trade, and comprised the refuse of all countries: they committed the greatest cruelties upon the merchant- vessels of all nations. It would scarcely be believed that this system continued more or less for ten years, before the Caribbean Sea was en¬ tirely freed from such depredations. The death of the Honourable John Beckles, his Majesty’s Attorney- General, who for the long period of thirty-seven years represented the AGITATION AMONGST THE SLAVES. 417 1824.] parish of St. Michael as one of its members in the House of Assembly, must not be passed over without record in an historical work of this island. For twenty years he filled the chair of Speaker of the House, a proof of confidence which stands unparalleled in the annals of the General Assembly of Barbados. Mr. Beckles died on the 4th of December 1823, in his seventy-third year. The free-coloured inhabitants of Barbados had, in December 1823, presented to the Governor addresses, stating that there were parts of the colonial code which deprived them of participating with their white brethren in certain privileges, to which as British subjects they humbly conceived they had a claim, and that in a less agitated state of the colony it was their intention to pray for a removal of such portions of the code as materially affected them : the address had three hundred and seventy-two signatures attached to it. The Legislature expressed an unmeasured censure on the attempt of this party of the free-coloured people to par¬ ticipate in the liberties granted to the wdiite inhabitants, and observed in the third resolution ,—“ That this House in the most positive and un¬ equivocal manner denies that the free-coloured inhabitants of this island are entitled to any rights and privileges except those granted to them by the Colonial Legislature, the continuance of which must depend entirely on their good conduct.” Time has at length smoothed the asperities and unnatural barriers which custom and circumstances erected between the two classes of subjects of the British Sovereign, and such a harsh resolution at that period received a different construction to what would be given it at the present day; but even at that time every inge¬ nuous mind must have condemned a resolution which breathed such an illiberal spirit. An address was likewise presented by a second party of free people of colour, which was more respectful in language, and was mentioned with approbation by the Legislature although it had the same object in view, namely a participation in constitutional liberty. The agitation amongst the labouring class continued. The slave Joseph Griffith was charged with exciting the other slaves of the island to acts of rebellion; but the Governor communicated to the House of Assembly, that the proceedings before the magistrates having been sub¬ mitted to the consideration of the Council, they were unanimously of opinion that the Governor should not assemble a court-martial for the trial of the man. The King issued a proclamation on the 10th of March 1824, stating that, it having been represented to his Majesty that the slaves in some of the West India colonies and possessions on the continent of South America had been erroneously led to believe that orders had been sent out for their emancipation, which had led to acts of insubordina¬ tion, his Majesty expressed his gravest displeasure, and that the slave population would be undeserving of his Majesty’s protection if they failed 2 E 418 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1824. to render entire submission to the laws as well as dutiful obedience to their masters. A commission of inquiry into the administration of justice in the Lee¬ ward and Windward Islands was appointed by Government, and the Commissioners arrived in Barbados on the 21st of December 1823 l . Their investigations into the existing laws, as well in this island as in the others belonging to the dominion of Great Britain in the West Indies and South America, exposed many which from lapse of time or circum¬ stances had become obsolete or absurd, or were not adapted to the advance which mankind had made since their institution. The reports of the Commissioners—chiefly those of Mr. Dwarris, who after the death of his colleague carried out the object of the mission,—possess high interest, and no doubt contributed ultimately to that great change in the administra¬ tion of justice, by an independent and learned judge, which at present exists in Barbados. The concluding part of Sir Henry Wardens address to the Legislature, on opening the new Session in September 1824, bestows high praise upon the colonists for the treatment of their slaves. Sir Henry Warde says,— “ It is my firm conviction, as far as it has come within my own observa¬ tion to judge, that the slaves as a body throughout the colony are uni¬ formly treated with kindness, lenity, and liberality; and to which their general appearance of cheerfulness and happiness may fairly be attri¬ buted.” His Excellency alluded to the bill for the amelioration, amend¬ ment, and consolidation of the slave-laws, which had not as yet passed into law, and the continued absence of a police-bill. The House of Assembly in their reply observed, that the police-bill, which had been framed with every care to render it efficient, had not met the concurrence of the Board of Council. The want of a police for preserving order in Bridgetown became daily more apparent; outrages on the property of the inhabitants were almost nightly committed, windows were broken, pumps destroyed, &c., without the offenders being brought to justice. When however these disturbers of the public peace, encouraged by impunity, pulled down and destroyed a scale-beam and house, the King’s property, erected for the purpose of weighing sugar, the Governor considered it high time to interfere, and issued a proclamation offering a reward of one hundred pounds for the discovery of the offenders. On the occasion of presenting certain papers in the House of Commons relative to the West Indies, Mr. Canning, adverting to the establishment of an episcopacy for Barbados and the Leeward Islands, stated that the charge of supporting it would be defrayed from the four-and-half per cent, duty, and that the King had been pleased to declare that no pensions 1 The Commission was composed of Henry Haddock, Esq., of Lincoln’s Inn, and Fortunatus Dwarris, Esq., of the Middle Temple: Richard Clement, Esq., of the Inner Temple, acted as Secretary. 1825.] ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST BISHOP OF BARBADOS. 419 in future would be granted out of this fund. Mr. Carrington, tbe agent of Barbados, considering that if such a measure was carried into effect it would render any hope of relief from this burden more remote than ever, (since if once fixed it would probably never be remitted), lost no time in sending a memorial on tbe 6th of April 1824 to Lord Bathurst, the Se¬ cretary for tbe Colonies. In this document he appealed to bis Lordship’s sense of justice, and submitted that the entire charge of the episcopal esta¬ blishment for all the British possessions in the West Indies ought not to be laid on such a small number of them as are subjected to the four-and- half per cent, duty; and connected with it another appeal for the total abolition of this tax, or a due application of it in future to the public pur¬ poses of Barbados alone, in compliance with the original object of the Act of 1663, and “ thus place that colony on a fair and equal footing with the rest of his Majesty’s possessions in the West Indies.” The plan of instituting a West India Company, with a capital of three millions to be raised in shares of one hundred pounds each, was proposed in a petition to Parliament by Mr. H. Manning. The Company was to be instituted for the purpose of receiving consignments of West Indian produce, in return for advances to be made on mortgage, and also for temporary advances upon the assignment of mortgages bearing colonial interest with collateral security. The prospectus was issued in May 1824, and included in tbe direction tbe names of tbe first West India merchants and bankers. When however the directors applied for a royal charter, his Majesty’s ministers, after mature deliberation, declined to accede to the application, and the directors were obhged to abandon the plan. Dr. Coleridge, tbe first Bishop of Barbados, arrived on the 28th of January 1825 in her Majesty’s ship ‘Herald,’ and landed on the following day under a salute from the shipping at tbe wharf, where he was received by a guard of honour of tbe thirty-fifth regiment. Four companies of the royal regiment of militia formed a line on each side of the street from Trafalgar Square leading to the church of St. Michael, through which the Bishop, attended by nearly all the clergy of the island, walked to the church, to assume the important charge of the religious establish¬ ment of these colonies. Sir Henry Warde having quitted the island on the 12th of February, on a tom.’ of inspection of the garrisons in the Leeward Islands, John B. Skeete, Esq., President of his Majesty’s Council, was sworn into the ad¬ ministration of the government. A very serious question had arisen in 1825, whether the riot-act of England could in case of need be applied to this island. The disgrace¬ ful outrage committed by a mob on the Wesleyan chapel, which they destroyed, displayed a defect in the laws of the island which none but lawyers were previously aware of; namely, that tbe laws of tbe country did not empower the military to act under tbe civil power in taking life 2 e 2 420 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1825 on any emergency whatever. The Council had framed a bill similar to the riot-act but milder in form, which was rejected by the House of Assembly, and the Council requested therefore that the highest legal opinion might be obtained upon the following case :— “ It has always been holden that no acts of the imperial Parliament, passed since the settlement of the colony, extend to this island, and only such of the laws of England enacted antecedently to that period as are applicable to our situation and circumstances. The riot-act, having passed in the reign of George the First, does therefore not extend to this island. Is there any statute passed before the settlement of this island in the year 1625, which authorizes the military acting under the magistrate for the suppression of a riot, to take the life of rioters if such a measure should be necessary, and if not, is such a proceeding sanctified by the common law of England?” It had been announced that a Methodist missionary or missionaries might be expected to establish themselves in the island, and to rebuild their chapel, and the Earl of Bathurst had directed the Governor to protect them on their landing and in their further proceedings. The public opinion was at that time so decidedly against such a measure, that a popular tumult M 7 as apprehended, and the Speaker of the Assembly lost no time in convening the House, to take into its serious consideration the best means of tranquillizing the public mind. The House applied likewise for the opinion of his Majesty’s Attorney-General, as to the extent of authority which could be exercised by the civil power with military aid for the sup¬ pression of any tumult: in reply to these questions the Attorney-General gave his opinion that the magistrates might by the common law legally call on the military to act under their authority for the suppression of riots, and if necessary to the sacrifice of life. The House of Assembly considered it their duty to appeal to the good sense and loyalty of the inhabitants not to interfere with dissenters if they should land in the island, which appeal was published by authority on the 15 th of April 1825. The missionary who was expected wisely deferred his journey to Barbados to a more propitious time. On the 2nd of September the Legislature passed an act, authorizing the colonial treasurer to pay two thousand pounds currency to the churchwardens of St. Michael’s, and one thousand pounds to the church- ■ warden of every other parish in the island, for the repair or improvement of their churches and parsonage-houses. Towards the building of a new church in Bridgetown, to be called St. Mary’s, the Legislature granted five thousand pounds currency. The Governor returned to England on leave on the 26th of May; previous to his departure, the Assembly presented to him an address, thanking him for his firm but mild, impartial and conciliating demeanour, which had given such general satisfaction : as a mark of their high esteem, they passed a bill unanimously, authorizing the payment of one thousand 1826.] PUBLIC DINNEll TO SIR HENRY WARDE. 421 pounds from the public treasury, to defray the expenses of the Governor’s voyage. This bill was however rejected by the Council and became void. For a considerable time previous to his departure misunderstandings had arisen between his Excellency and his Majesty’s Council; but while these remained within due bounds, the unhappy differences between the representatives of the people and the Council led to frequent angry dis¬ cussions and messages, which were continued after the Governor’s de¬ parture, and their controversies and dissensions occupied numerous pages in the newspapers of that period. On the Governor’s departure, J. B. Skeete, Esq., as President of the Council, was sworn in to administer the government; and, as on a former occasion, three thousand pounds per annum were voted to him for his support. Sir Henry Warde had intimated his intention of returning to Bar¬ bados : in anticipation of this event, a committee bad been appointed by the House of Assembly, and a conference was held with a similar com¬ mittee from the Council to make the necessary arrangements for receiv¬ ing his Excellency. The House resolved that a public dinner should be given to him in honour of his return: the Council objected to this, on the plea of there being no precedent to warrant such a course. “ On the return of Governor Parry and of Lord Seaforth, the only cases that would furnish precedents of governors leaving the island and returning to their government, no public dinners were given to them; and the Council conceived that there was no occasion for giving a public dinner to Sir Henry Warde.” The committee of the Assembly insisting upon the resolution the House had come to, the Council consented. Sir Henry Warde returned to Barbados on the 25th of August 1826, and met the Legislature on the 5th of September, when he addressed to them a most conciliatory speech. Some attempts were made, and meetings held in January 1826, to procure an incorporation by royal charter of Bridgetown “ under the name, style and title of the corporation of Bridgetown, and that the said corporation be confined to and vested in a mayor, eight aldermen and twelve common-couucilmen, a town-clerk, headborough, and such other officers as may hereafter be found necessary.” A meeting was held on the 18th of January and adjourned to the 15th of February, when a resolution was carried by a majority of votes, that it was inexpedient to incorporate the town of St. Michael. The old statute-laws of Barbados fixed the fine for murdering a slave at fifteen pounds currency : this iniquitous law was amended in 1805, under the administration of Lord Seaforth, but this Act was so carelessly worded, as to render a conviction for the murder of a slave a matter of the greatest difficulty : moreover the perpetrator could only be convicted upon the evidence of one or more white persons. John Welch was indicted for the murder of his slave, under the presidency of Chief- 422 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1826 . Justice Beckles in 1806, but the grand jury returned “ no true bill.” The Legislature, much to their honour, passed an act on the 28th of July 1818, repealing several laws which had fallen into desuetude, but still remained a blemish on the statute-book. The third clause of that act repealed the former act of 1805, and substituted in its fourth clause, “ that if any person shall hereafter wilfully and maliciously kill and murder any slave, whether such slave be the property of the person so killing and murdering, or of any other person, such person so killing and murdering, being duly convicted thereof by the evidence of one or more competent witness or witnesses at a Court of Grand Sessions, shall suffer death without benefit of clergy : provided always, that any person so con¬ victed shall not thereby forfeit his lands, negroes, goods or chattels— any law to the contrary in anywise notwithstanding.” During the December Session of 1826, John G. Archer was indicted for the murder of his slave. According to the long-established custom in the island, one of the members of the Board of Council presided as Chief Justice at the Court of Grand Sessions, and the Governor appointed the Honourable Itenn Hamden to preside on this occasion. The practice itself had been long a matter of general complaint, and it was an acknow¬ ledged incongruity in the judicial system of the colony, to confide to an individual inexperienced in the law such a responsibility as the adminis¬ tration of judicial functions involves 1 . The appointment on this occasion was however gratifying to all who, aware of Mr. Hamden’s independent and manly character, were persuaded that, although deficient in a regular legal education, he would use every means to see that justice was ad¬ ministered. Archer’s case chiefly occupied the attention of the community: as he was a white man of property in the island, it was feared by those who condemned his deed that it would prove difficult to procure a convic¬ tion by a jury who might have contracted tjie common prejudice—that the murder of a slave was no crime. In the absence of Mr. Hinds the At¬ torney-General, the prosecution was conducted by a young deputy, and this perhaps was the reason that the presiding Chief Justice expounded until uncommon care and clearness the law which rendered the accused amenable as a felon,—a doctrine which probably appeared to many an innovation. Archer was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to twelve months’ imprisonment. Although the act to which allusion has been made had existed for years, Mr. Benn Hamden was the first who with manliness and firmness established the right of slaves as well as white or free persons to the common protection of the law 2 . 1 See ante, p. 203. 5 An Act passed the Legislature in June 1831, and was confirmed by his Majesty on the 30th of May 1832, which admitted the evidence of a slave in any courts of the island, due regard being had to the consistency and credibility of such evidence. RESTRICTIONS ON COMMERCE. 423 1826.] The British Parliament in the Acts of 1822 and 1825 entirely departed from their old colonial policy, which had been followed for nearly two centuries. The navigation-laws, which were instituted by the Common¬ wealth as a punishment for the loyalty of the inhabitants of Barbados to their Sovereign, were ultimately extended under Charles the Second, and contributed to increase the trade of the mother-country to the exclusion of foreign nations from her colonial possessions. The act of 1825, which came into operation in January 1826, admitted into the British colonies on very moderate duties the manufactured articles of all countries whatever that would admit British colonial vessels upon the footing of the most favoured nations. It was the first step which the free-trade system had advanced for centuries, and was hailed as the forerunner of greater conces¬ sions. It may be easily supposed that this emancipation of the trade of the British possessions in the western hemisphere met with powerful opposi¬ tion from the shipping interest. Unfortunately the liberal policy of Great Britain, the offspring of a master-mind like Mr. Iluskisson’s, whose loss the nation had soon after to deplore, was not met with equally liberal concessions by the Government of the United States; the offer of Great Britain was not acceded to. British vessels, with cargoes the produce or manufacture of the colonies in the West Indies, were charged in the ports of the United States with a duty of one dollar for tonnage and lighthouse dues, and a discriminating duty of ten per cent, upon their cargoes. These measures therefore strengthened the opposi¬ tion to the free-trade system, and their application for retaliation was successful. Orders were received in the British West India colonies to put in force the acts of the 4th, 5th and 6th George IV. in respect to the trade with foreign countries. The act of July 1825 decreed that the ports of those colonies were to be closed against the vessels of such states as did not place British shipping, trading between tl^ise colonies and such states, upon the footing of the most favoured nations. The United States of America having declined to do this, it was ordered by the King in coun¬ cil, on the 27th of July 1826, that their ships should not be admitted to entry in the British West India colonies after the 1st of December ensu¬ ing. The trade of the United States with the British West India colonies, export and import, was at that time estimated at three millions sterling per annum, employing one hundred and fifty thousand tons of shipping. These orders in council produced therefore great dissatisfaction in America, although the short-sighted policy of their government was alone to blame. Several convictions took place after the passing of that Act upon the testimony of slaves against whites, as the proceedings of the Court of Grand Sessions in June 1833 show; among others William Blades, a white man, was convicted upon slave testimony for shooting at and wounding a slave, and sentenced to eighteen months’ imprisonment. 424 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1827 . It was to be expected that the Government of the United States would retaliate, and on the 17th of March 1827 the President prohibited by proclamation all intercourse with the British colonies. The operation of this order being immediate, without giving time for it to be known through the colonies, subjected many vessels then on their way from the British West India ports to serious inconvenience. At a meeting of the General Assembly on the 7th of March 1826, Mr. Robert Haynes the Speaker called the attention of the House to the con¬ sideration of an increase of the annual stipends of the beneficed clergy of the island. Some years had elapsed since any increase to the stipends of that very respectable body had been made by a legislative provision; at that time they received by legislative grants three hundred pounds currency per annum each, in addition to the presents voted them by their vestries ; with the exception of one or two parishes, they derived little benefit from fees. It was therefore proposed to increase their stipends to five hundred pounds each, to be raised, if there should happen to be no funds for such a purpose in the treasury, by a tax on slaves, mills, carriages, &c., and to restrain the vestries from making their rectors presents from the parish funds. The bill went through all its stages in the Assembly on the 21st of March, and received the sanction of his Majesty in council on the 30th of April the following year 1 . The chief officers of his Majesty’s Customs in Barbados published an announcement that, acting upon the opinion of the colonial law officers of the Crown, no vessel would be admitted to an entry in Bridgetown with American produce from any of the foreign islands in the West Indies. The view which the law officers had taken was however errone¬ ous, as an order was received which permitted an indirect intercourse with America through the foreign colonies. The first steam-vessel that entered Carlisle Bay was the ‘ Libertador,’ which arrived on the 26th ofi March 1827, after a thirty hours’ passage from St. Vincent 2 3 . All the wharfs and shores from whence a view of this novel sight could be obtained were crowded with people; and the astonish¬ ment of the negroes at seeing a vessel pursuing her eourse without a sail against wind and current knew no bounds, and showed itself in frantic 1 The author has fallen into a mistake in stating at page 94, that during the ad¬ ministration of Sir James Leith the stipends were raised to five hundred pounds currency. That such a measure was in agitation is proved by the passing of a bill in the House of Assembly on the 2/th of June 1815; and the author, having no opportunity of making himself acquainted with the nature of this bill, or whether it passed the Council, committed the error. When becoming aware of it, the erro¬ neous statement had already passed through the press. 3 The first steam-vessel which entered the Demerara river was the ‘ Cambria.’ She arrived after a rough passage from England on the 11th of November 1826. It was asserted that she was the first vessel of that description that made a passage across the Atlantic with her engines at work. DEPARTURE OF SIR HENRY WARDE. 425 1827.] cries. The companion to this steamer, called the ‘ Hamilton/ entered the bay in the evening; both were the property of Colonel Hamilton, an ex¬ tensive proprietor of lands and herds of cattle on the Orinoco, who had conceived the plan of establishing a regular communication between the islands. The establishment of mail steamers between the islands for the packet service was carried into execution at a later period. The administration of the government of Barbados by Lieutenant-Ge¬ neral Warde, terminated on the 21st of June 1827; his health being much impaired, he received his Majesty’s permission to retire from the government. In the address of the representatives of the people, pre¬ sented to him by the Speaker of the House of Assembly, who waited on his Excellency in form, occurs the following passage : “Whether we look to your Excellency’s impartial, kind, and uniformly up¬ right conduct as our chief magistrate for nearly six years, or whether we regard those social and domestic virtues displayed by your Excellency during your residence amongst us, we alike have cause to lament that we shall so soon be deprived of your Excellency’s superintending care and valuable example; and when we reflect on your Excellency’s condescending kindness and atten¬ tion to us on all occasions, and the ready access afforded us at all times to your Excellency’s presence, we should indeed be restraining our feeling, did we not frankly declare, as we now do to your Excellency, that your loss to us in par¬ ticular will be long and severely felt.” John Brathwaite Skeete, Esq. as President assumed the administration. His Honour called the Legislature together on the 21st of July, and informed them of Sir Henry Warde’s departure, and that the duties of government had again devolved upon him. The Legislature voted three thousand pounds per annum for his expenses during his adminis¬ tration. One of the most important acts passed by the Legislature in these eventful times of colonial history was the Slave-bill, as it was generally called, which was assented to by his Majesty in council on the 18th of October 1827. Another despatch conveyed his Majesty’s pleasure that the Alien act, thitherto in operation, was thenceforth to be disallowed. This information caused general satisfaction, as this act considered every stranger, whether a British subject or a foreigner, an alien, and subjected him to a heavy tax on his arrival in Barbados. A remarkable disease showed itself in the West Indies in 1828, and visited almost every island, making its round with wonderful celerity. It generally commenced with a stiffness and soreness of the bones, which during the paroxysm of the attack rendered any motion almost impos¬ sible ; this was accompanied or followed by a fit of fever. The rigidity of the individual thus attacked gave him such a stiff appearance that he was compared to “a dandy,” from which circumstance this disease re¬ ceived the name of “ the dandy-fever.” Its attacks were sometimes so 426 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1829 . sudden that persons who left their homes perfectly free of it were attacked in the streets; and in the island of St. Thomas, where (if I mistake not) it first showed itself, the persons attacked in the streets reeled so that they were accused of intoxication. His Excellency Lieutenant-General Sir James Lyon, K.C.B., G.C.H., who had been appointed to the government of Barbados, arrived in Car¬ lisle Bay on the 6th of February 1829, in his Majesty’s ship ‘ Herald.’ The Earl of Belmore, the new Governor of Jamaica, was a passenger on board of the same vessel. Sir James Lyon landed that day merely under a salute, having expressed a wish to be received as Governor on the 10th instant, when he was sworn in with the usual ceremonies. He opened the new Legislature on the 17th of February, and observed that, con¬ trary perhaps to general expectation, he did not come prepared to re¬ commend any particular subjects to their consideration; for his residence among them had been so short, that he had not yet ascertained what old laws might require amendment, or what new ones might be salutary. It had been customary for many years, in all questions that came be¬ fore the House of Assembly, for the Speaker to give his vote just as the other members. Mr. Robert Haynes, who had filled the chair as Speaker for several years, resigned the office in 1829, and at the first meeting of the General Assembly on the 17th of February, at which Mr. Forte had been elected Speaker of the House, it was moved by Mr. William Evers- ley and seconded by Mr. William Oxley, that thenceforth the Speaker should not make or second a motion unless the House should be in committee. It was agreed nem. con. that the rule should be amended accordingly. Mr. George Carrington resigned his office as agent of the island in February 1829, and Mr. J. P. Mayers was appointed to this charge on the 14th of April following, with a salary of five hundred pounds sterling. An extraordinary continuance of dry weather in this year caused serious apprehensions. Scarcely any rain had fallen for nearly eight months; and the most distressing consequence was that the wells in the country were completely exhausted, so that it became necessary on some estates to put the labourers on an allowance of water. A meeting of the parishioners of St. Michael’s took place on the 19th of May, at which the necessity of an immediate importation of food was shown; and it was resolved that a petition should be addressed to the President, in the absence of the Governor, praying his Honour to permit and encourage by proclamation or otherwise the importation of flour, bread, rice, and grain of every description, from the United States and other foreign ports. The peti¬ tion was referred to the Council, who reported to his Excellency, on his return to Barbados from a military tour of inspection, that upon careful inquiry it seemed there was a deficiency of about one month’s consump¬ tion in the island before the crops of provisions then growing would be 1829.] PROSECUTION OF THE REVEREND W. M. HARTE. 427 fit for use, which would most likely be supplied through the ordinary channels of commerce; under these circumstances the Council could not venture to advise his Excellency to take upon himself to set aside, or suspend, acts of Parliament which had been intended for the general re¬ gulation of British commerce. Seasonable rains meanwhile, which fell in the month of June, rendered the probability of a famine less likely. An unfortunate dispute arose between the Rev. W. M. Harte, the rector of St. Lucy’s, and his parishioners, which was apparently to be ascribed to his zeal for the religious amelioration of the slaves : owing to the agitation in which the minds of the colonists were kept, this assumed a serious aspect. The following resolution passed at a meeting of the inhabitants of the parish of St. Lucy, on the 17th of April 1827, em¬ bodies the accusation against the Rev. W. M. Harte :—“ That it is with deep concern that the inhabitants of this parish have observed the fre¬ quent attempts made by the rector of the parish to destroy the distinc¬ tions which they deem so necessary to their safety; more especially evinced by his offensive sermon on Easter Sunday, and his disgraceful conduct whilst administering the most holy Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, thereby endeavouring to alienate their slaves from a sense of their duty, by inculcating doctrines of equality inconsistent with their obe¬ dience to their masters and the policy of the island.” The Bishop of Bar¬ bados pronounced Mr. Harte entirely free of the charges brought against him; but this did not satisfy his accusers; the reverend gentleman was summoned before two magistrates, who, entertaining different opinions on the charges preferred against him, declared officially that the com¬ plaint must be abandoned. Nevertheless Mr. Harte was again cited be¬ fore three magistrates, on the 6th of October 1827, and the charges against him having been read, Mr. Harte began to read a protest against the legality and authority of the proceedings, but was interrupted by the magistrates, who refused to hear the protest before he pleaded to the charges. He was then required to plead or be committed for contempt; and refusing the first, he was taken into custody, when he preferred to plead “not guilty,” in lieu of being taken to jail. An adjustment of these differences was attempted by the magistrates, but without success, and Mr. Harte was ultimately held to bail for his appearance at the ensuing Court of Grand Sessions. His case came before the Court on the 14th of December 1827, and the jury found a verdict against him of guilty of misdemeanour; the Court sentenced him to pay a fine of one shilling. Mr. Harte appealed to his Sovereign, and, to the great gra¬ tification of numerous admirers of the Christian virtues of Mr. Harte, his Majesty unconditionally pardoned him. Mr. President Skeete, who then administered the government, published a proclamation to that effect on the 11th of February 1828. It would have been well if the affair had now dropped, and the past 428 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [1829. been buried in oblivion: but it was not so. The House of Assembly, taking official notice of Mr. Harte’s pardon, addressed the President on the 5th of March 1828, and requested to be furnished with a copy of the despatch which conveyed the instructions of the Secretary of State to that effect. His Honour refused this request, as he had been instructed by the Secretary for the Colonies not to allow copies of despatches from the Colonial Office to be taken. They now requested the President to in¬ form the House whether any constitutional representation had been made to the Secretary for the Colonies which led to the order regarding Mr. Harte’s pardon, or in what way the representation reached the Colonial Office; in answer to which the House was informed that the President had not made any representation, and that it appeared the documents which led to the order were transmitted by the Lord Bishop of the dio¬ cese. A Committee was appointed to investigate and report to the House on the subject of the President’s message; and it was resolved on the 29th of April that a remonstrance should be addressed to the Right Honourable William Huskisson, Secretary for the Colonies, relative to the pardon granted to Mr. Harte upon documents not transmitted officially through the Commander-in-chief of the Colony, but by the Lord Bishop of the diocese; and also a remonstrance against the secrecy ordered to be observed in all despatches transmitted to the Governor from the Colonial Office,—a measure which was contrary to immemorial usage; and further, to request that the House might be furnished with a copy of all documents transmitted to the Colonial Office by the Bishop respec¬ ting Mr. Harte, which led to this pardon. Mr. Huskisson having re¬ signed, this remonstrance was addressed, on the 14th of October 1828, to his successor Lieutenant-General Sir George Murray, who, in answer to it, informed Sir James Lyon (who had meanwhile assumed the go¬ vernment) on the 7th of May 1829, that he regretted the necessity of reviving the discussion of this case, and that upon further consideration the House of Assembly would perceive the impossibility of his advising his Majesty to enter into any explanation of the motives by which he was induced to exercise his undoubted prerogative of pardoning a supposed offender before trial. The inhabitants of Barbados could not with rea¬ son complain “that their judicial rights were invaded by an act of the royal authority,” of which the records of the highest tribunals of the kingdom afforded innumerable precedents. The Secretary for the Colo¬ nies however considered that Mr. President Skeete had acted against the spirit of Mr. Huskisson’s despatch in conveying his Majesty’s pardon, which was only to be made known in case any technical difficulty should prevent the respite of the execution of the sentence until his Majesty’s pleasure should be known; and as on the arrival of these instructions in Barbados the sentence against Mr. Harte had already been carried into execution, by the payment of a nominal fine of one shilling, the SUSPENSION OF JUSTICE. 429 1829 .] postponement of the measure until his Majesty’s final pleasure could be known would have been attended with no inconvenience to Mr. Harte, and no injury to the public. Sir George Murray therefore considered Mr. Skeete’s proceeding unauthorized by Mr. Huskisson’s letter, and that to this measure the existing dissatisfaction of the House of Assembly was to be attributed. “ By this unfortunate prosecution,” continues Sir George Murray, “ of a clergyman of the Church of En¬ gland, distinguished, as I learn from the report of his diocesan, by personal and professional merits, the parties concerned have needlessly, but very seriously enhanced the difficulties of those whose endeavour it is to defend the character of the colonists against all unmerited re- pi’oach.” The despatch further expressed the astonishment of the Secre¬ tary for the Colonies, “ that the representatives of the people have time out of mind been accustomed to receive copies of all despatches trans¬ mitted to the executive, by which they were enabled to ascertain the views and policy of his Majesty’s Government.” He distinctly protested against the claim thus advanced by the House of Assembly: such a pre¬ tension would be at variance with the first principles of the British mo¬ narchy, and indeed with any other effective system of monarchical govern¬ ment : of course no studied or unnecessary concealment would ever be observed by the Colonial Department towards the House of Assembly, but Sir George Murray saw no reason to retract Mr. Huskisson’s general instructions on this subject. An Act had passed the Legislature in 1672 to encourage the cultivation of the soil: it declared that all persons having ten acres of freehold land within the island should be exempt from arrest. It may be easily con¬ ceived that this privilege was perverted to improper purposes ; neverthe¬ less it remained in force for nearly a hundred years, as it was not until the 18th of December 1770 that another statute passed the Legislature to remedy in some degree the evils arising out of it. It appears that the privileges which these two statutes conferred upon the owners of ten acres freehold did not extend to females, Jews, and other persons who were not entitled to vote under the election laws; and several instances occurred where such persons were actually arrested and held to bail upon contracts. Two bills passed the House of Assembly on the 14th of July 1829 to remedy these defects. A serious misunderstanding took place at the Court of Common Pleas on the 16th of July, between the presiding Chief-Justice Skeete and the jury, in consequence of the refusal of his Honour to allow the jury to take the actions with them into the jury-room,—a practice which had been followed from the earliest period of holding courts in the island, and which had invariably been recognized by every judge. Notwithstanding that the opinions of the assistant Judges and the whole of the bar were unanimously with the jury, who insisted on not going into the trial of 430 HISTORY OP BARBADOS. [ 1830 . any action without having the official papers in their possession, the Chief Justice still maintained his own opinion; and finding that he was not supported, he finally walked out of the court-house. The business of the Court was consequently suspended. The jury lost no time in sending a memorial to the Governor, praying that the Chief Justice might be dismissed; but Judge Skeete had anticipated the necessity for that step, by tendering the resignation of his commission. It con¬ sequently became necessary to summon a special meeting of the Legisla¬ ture on the 28th of July, in which his Excellency desired the House to consider the necessity of introducing an Act to revive all the proceedings pending in the Court, which under existing circumstances might be said to be discontinued 1 . This was effected in the House of Assembly the same day, and the preamble of the Act marked the particular feeling of the public expressed through the House, at the interruption caused by the attempted innovation of the late Chief Justice. The Council how¬ ever objected, not only to certain parts of the preamble, but likewise to the second clause, and the bill was returned for amendment by the clerk with a verbal message. The suggestions of the Council were only partly admitted, and it was requisite to introduce a new bill, which passed the Assembly on the 25th of August 1829. The House of Assembly informed the Board of Council that they had conformed to their sugges¬ tions with respect to the preamble, but that they could not adopt those which referred to the second clause, as such an amendment would render the object of the bill ineffective. And as verbal messages from the Board were liable to be misunderstood, the House respectfully requested that in future, agreeably to a standing order of the House of the 8th of February 1825, all messages and communications from the Board to the House should be in writing. The House further requested that the messenger of the Board should be instructed, when he had a message for the House, to report the same to the Marshal of the House in order that he might apprize the Speaker of it before the message should be delivered. The official communication of the death of his Majesty George the Fourth on the 26th of June 1830, arrived in Barbados on the 12th of August by the packet the 'Plover.’ William the Fourth was proclaimed King on the 14th of August with the usual ceremonies. 1 Upon the death of Judge Gittens of St. Michael’s precinct, in the year 1768, a similar measure was required to revive the proceedings. 1831 .] REMOVAL OF POLITICAL DISABILITIES. 431 CHAPTER XIV. FROM THE RENEWAL OF THE COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE BE¬ TWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE BRITISH WEST INDIES IN 1831, TO THE DEPARTURE OF SIR JAMES LYON IN 1833. The restrictions which the erroneous policy of the United States had placed upon the intercourse between their ports and the British West India islands, produced the most serious complaints of their citizens, and the Government saw themselves obliged to enter into diplomatic ne¬ gotiations with the court of St. James to bring about a better understand¬ ing. Mr. M c Lane was for this purpose despatched to London with cer¬ tain propositions. Towards the end of the session in May 1830, President Jackson com¬ municated to the Senate and House of Representatives, that he daily expected the answer of the British Government to a proposition which had been submitted upon the subject of the colonial trade, and requested that he might be authorized, in case an arrangement could be effected upon such terms as Congress would approve, to carry the same into effect. It appears that the President had received certain informa¬ tion respecting the ^professions of Great Britain, that as soon as the restrictions which the United States had laid upon British vessels were removed, his Majesty’s government would restore to the commerce of the United States the direct intercourse with the West Indies, upon the terms of the Act of July 1825. The President therefore issued his proclamation on the 5th of October 1830, stating that British vessels and their cargoes were admitted to an entry in the ports of the United States, “ from the islands, provinces and colonies of Great Britain, on or near the North American continent, and north or east of the United States.” Upon this an order in council repealed the restrictions imposed by the British Government upon the intercourse of American vessels with the West India colonies and the British possessions in North America. The ports of both governments were opened and a free intercourse esta¬ blished, based upon the act of the British Parliament of the 5th of July 1825, and upon the act of Congress of the 30th of May 1830. The several attempts which had been made during past years by the free-coloured and free black population of this island to obtain the repeal of various acts which continued their political disabilities, had been hitherto fruitless. Mr. Robert Haynes, member for St. John’s, introduced on the 22nd of February 1831 a bill into the House of Assembly, the 432 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1831 . object of which was to remove these disabilities, and it passed the House on the 28th of March, only four members voting against it: some obstacles however delayed its passing the Legislature until the 7th of June, and it received the sanction of the Governor on the 9th of that month, subjected to the approbation of his Majesty. This act con¬ ferred upon the coloured class the same rights as those possessed by the white inhabitants,—namely, to elect or be elected members of the House of Assembly, vestrymen, or to serve as jurors to try real actions, provided such individuals should have the necessary qualifications of age and the possession of the stipulated freehold or other property. A tardy act of justice was thus at last conceded, and thenceforth all the inhabitants who professed the Christian religion, without distinction of complexion, were placed on the same footing of civil political privileges. An Act for the relief of his Majesty’s subjects in Barbados professing the Jewish religion had received the signature of the Governor on the 25th of May, subjected likewise to the approbation of his Majesty before it should come into operation 1 . Both these Acts ultimately received the King’s sanction. In the month of October 1819, an Act had passed the Legislature for printing a perfect edition of all the laws in the island in force which were in manuscript and had never yet been printed or published by authority. His Majesty in council disallowed this Act on the 5th of February 1827 ; the reason assigned for which was that the Act “ authorizes a private person to publish the laws of the island with abridgements, notes, references and observations thereon at his discretion, and declares the work when so published to be a good, lawful statute book of the island without any security being taken for the correction of the publication, or for the propriety of such abridgements, references or observations; and because this unlimited confidence is extended not only to that individual himself, but to his administrators, executors, or assigns 2 .” Subsequently a com¬ mittee was appointed by the House on the 20th of April 1830, to confer with a committee to be appointed by the Council and take into considera¬ tion the publication of a new edition of the laws of the island. It appears that no further steps were taken ; at least a petition of her Majesty’s Solicitor-General, Henry E. Sharpe, Esq., drew the attention of the House on the 22nd of February 1831 to the great inconvenience generally felt from the want of a complete edition of the laws. Mr. Sharpe offered to make a compilation of them, with the approbation of the Legislature, and to open a list for subscriptions to the new edition, upon the under¬ standing that, should he not be indemnified by the sale of such publica¬ tion for his labour, cost, and charges, he might rely on the liberality of the House to make good any loss he should sustain. An appointment of a 1 See ante, p. 97. 2 It is remarkable that such a long interval should have been allowed to pass between the enactment by the Legislature and the disallowance by the King in council. DISTRESS OF THE COLONIES. 433 1831.] committee therefore, as under former circumstances, took place, but the desired object was not effected, and the calamity which shortly after befel the colony retarded it altogether. At a public meeting in the island of Grenada, held on the 6th of January, 1831, it was resolved “that a unanimous expression of the senti¬ ments of the colonists on the present alarming and depressed state of the West Indies would tend to impress the more strongly on his Ma¬ jesty's Government and the Parliament of England, the very urgent necessity which exists for immediate and substantial relief to save them from impending ruin; and that such expression of sentiment would be likely to meet with more prompt attention, and be productive of more beneficial results, if it proceeded from the united voice of the colonists, expressed through the medium of representatives delegated from each." The meeting proposed therefore that Grenada should send two dele¬ gates, and that each of the other colonies should be requested to send one or more delegates, to assemble on the first day of March follow¬ ing in the city of Bridgetown in Barbados. This proposition was very favourably received, and fifteen delegates met from the colonies of An¬ tigua, Demerara, Dominica, Grenada, Nevis, St. Christopher, St. Vincent, Tobago, and the Virgin Islands. The meeting took place on the 1st of March, and was continued for several subsequent days ; and the results of their deliberations were embodied in the following resolutions, which the author inserts the more readily, as they express in the most concise manner the general opinion on the state of the British West India colo¬ nies at that period. “It was resolved,—That these colonies are now, and have been for some time past, labouring under multiplied difficulties and embarrassments. “ That whilst every other interest of the empire has been relieved from the pressure of the war duties, the West India colonists, after a period of fifteen years of peace, still labour under exactions imposed upon the staple articles of their produce imported into Great Britain, which ought in justice to have ceased with the necessity that gave rise to them. “ That another prominent cause of distress is the decisive advantage given to the foreign cultivators of sugar, by their continuation of the African slave trade. “ That the inhabitants of these colonies contemplate with the most serious apprehension the effect which the reiterated clamours of a powerful, designing and interested party are calculated to produce on the deliberations of Parlia¬ ment and the measures of Government, with reference to the question of colonial slavery; and the avowed determination of this party to persevere in the continuance .of their hostile measures, until they shall have involved in confusion, and ultimately in ruin, all classes of society in this part of the British empire. “ That they protest most solemnly against any spoliation of, or interference with their property, which they hold by a right as sacred as the public cre- 2 F 434 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1831 . ditor liis claim on the national funds, the highest or lowest subject in the United Kingdom his lands, his mansion, or his cottage, or any corporate body their chartered rights. “ That this right of property has been sanctioned by various Acts of Par¬ liament, encouraging their ancestors to embark their capital, their industry and their fortunes in the settlement of lands, on the express condition of cultiva¬ ting them by the labour of slaves imported into these colonies by British sub¬ jects. That the consequences of this traffic are not now to be charged against the character of the West India Colonies, whose principal share in the transac¬ tion has been that of civilizing, and bringing to order and comparative com¬ fort persons brought into the colonies in a state of barbarism. “That out of the settlement and cultivation of the West India Colonies, has arisen a commercial intercourse, amply supplying the mother country with colonial produce, giving employment to upwards of four hundred thousand tons of shipping, and more than twenty thousand seamen, diffusing immense wealth among her people, and contributing millions to the public revenue. “ That the existence of slavery and of property in, or connected with, and depending upon slaves in the West Indies, having been thus created by Great Britain for her own objects and benefit, and having been recognized and guaranteed by repeated Acts of Parliament and decisions of the highest law authorities, any attempt to injure or destroy property so sanctioned is a gross violation of every principle of law and justice, unless full and complete indem¬ nification for all losses which may arise, and all injuries which may be sustained, by any changes in such property shall have been previously provided at the expense of the nation in general. “That the inhabitants of the West Indies have, by their efforts to improve the condition of the slave, already raised him far above his original state of barbarism, have placed him in possession of comparative comfort, have in¬ vested him with privileges and immunities, and are gradually proceeding to qualify him for a larger participation in the advantages of civilized life. “ That a petition be presented to his Majesty from the deputies assembled for themselves and on behalf of their constituents, the inhabitants of these colonies, humbly praying that his Majesty would be graciously pleased to exert his royal authority in order to avert the destruction with which they were threatened. “ That petitions be prepared and presented to both Houses of Parliament, embracing the general objects of this meeting. “ That memorials setting forth the present distressed state of the West India interests, and the causes thereof, and praying that such relief may be promptly afforded as the circumstances of the case require, be presented to the Lords of the Treasury and the Board of Trade. “ That the Marquis of Chandos be requested to present the Petition to the King. “ That the Right Honourable the Earl of Eldon be requested to present the petition to the House of Lords. “ That the Marquis of Chandos be requested to present the petition to the House of Commons. THE GREAT HURRICANE. 435 1831 .] “ That the agents for the colonies, represented at this meeting, be requested to present the memorials to the Lords of the Treasury and the Board of Trade, and that they be instructed to wait on the Marquis of Chandos, and solicit his valuable assistance in furthering the objects of these memorials.” The dreadful hurricane, of which a detailed account has been given in the first part of this work 1 , had brought the greatest misery upon the island. It has been generally asserted that the administration of Sir James Lyon was one of the happiest Barbados can boast of, and that his talents, urbanity and benevolence, went hand in hand with his energy whenever circumstances required active measures ; but whatever conduct had earned this encomium for him on former occasions, his zeal under the present calamities, and his unremitting endeavours to mitigate the general suffering, deserved a higher praise than had ever previously been bestowed on him. It was his first object to preserve the public order under such an accumulation of miseries; and he issued a proclamation on the 15th of August, commanding all magistrates and constables to exert themselves to the utmost in preserving the peace and tranquillity of the island, and preventing depredation and plunder. The thirty-first clause of the militia-act, which empowered all commanding officers to assemble any sufficient part of their regiments for preventing disturbances, was called to their recollection. It having been reported to the Governor that the principal merchants in Bridgetown had not enhanced the prices of the necessary articles of life, he strongly recommended that so laud¬ able an example should be generally followed. By virtue of the full power and authority given to his Excellency, and <% by the advice of the Legislature, the Governor nominated on the follow¬ ing day the members of his Majesty’s Council, the members of the House of Assembly and the field-officers of the militia in the different parishes, to be commissioners for the purpose of preserving due subordi¬ nation amongst the slave population. Another commission with similar powers was nominated that day for clearing the streets of the town, with full power and authority to call on all householders who were owners of slaves to furnish labour for that purpose. The Legislature had been summoned to meet on the 15th of August, but a sufficient number of members not being in attendance on that day to form a House, they were summoned to meet again on the 18th of the same month, when the following message was delivered to the House':— “Government House, Barbados, 15th of August, 1831. “ The Governor, deeply afflicted by the distress and devastation with which it has pleased Almighty God to visit this once prosperous and happy colony, entreats the Honourable House of Assembly to cause a Committee of its mem¬ bers to be formed, and to be associated with some of the honourable gentle- 1 See ante, p. 52 et seq. 2 f 2 436 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1831 . men composing his Majesty’s Council, for the purpose of taking into con¬ sideration the best means of meeting the difficulties with which we are sur¬ rounded, and of mitigating, as far as it can he done, the great distress which may and will of necessity result from our present calamitous circumstances. “ It is important that the Governor should acquaint the Honourable House that he has already transmitted despatches to the Secretary of State for the Colonies by way of Demerara, detailing as far as his knowledge and observation would permit, the general distresses of the colony. “With the Governors of British Guiana, Trinidad, St. Vincent and Grenada, he has also communicated ; and a vessel is now awaiting final orders to proceed to the Northward Islands, touching at St. Thomas, and thence to Bermuda, with a communication from the Governor to the admiral or senior officer on that station, entreating that a ship-of-war may, without delay, carry his de¬ spatches to England. “ As in the calamitous confusion of the moment the evil-disposed might possibly take advantage, the Governor has considered it advisable to station a detachment of the troops at the King’s house, for the due protection of public and private property in the town and neighbourhood. There are several be¬ neficial means which the Governor might suggest to the honourable members, such as the facilitating of intercourse by clearing the roads and thoroughfares, and the immediate burial of all dead animals, and the destruction of putrid vegetable matter; but he relies with implicit confidence on the wisdom and foresight of the honourable gentlemen, and would only beg to assure them, that whatever means may be recommended, or suggestions offered, for the benefit and relief of the distressed and afflicted community, they may confi¬ dently rely on his most cordial co-operation and assistance. “ Deep commiseration for human sufferings dictates to the Governor an entreaty, which he must at such a crisis of misfortune press on the members of the Legislature. It is, that they will instruct their honourable Committee, when formed, to consider in what manner the salary usually allowed to him from the treasury of the island can be appropriated with the greatest advan¬ tage, for an indefinite period, for the relief of the maimed and houseless poor. “ This is in truth a religious and his bounden duty, and amidst the scenes of calamity and distress which hourly present themselves to his view, to be¬ lieve that he can thus contribute to alleviate the sufferings and assuage the grief of the destitute and afflicted, would be a consolation to his mind; and permit Sir James Lyon in earnest sincerity to add, that no wish can be dearer to him, than the being enabled, although in a very limited degree, thus to evince his gratitude to the inhabitants of a colony who have ever manifested the utmost anxiety to promote his comfort and welfare 1 .” On the motion of Mr. Bascom, the House resolved itself into a com¬ mittee to take into consideration the present distressed situation of the 1 This generous offer to relinquish his salary for the relief of the sufferers by the hurricane was gratefully acknowledged by the Legislature but respectfully dcelined. 1831.] COMMISERATION OF THE SISTER COLONIES. 437 island, and the Council was invited to a conference. The Council being informed of this resolution and having approved of it, the House in full committee went up into the council-chamber for this purpose. An Act for the better preservation of the peace and welfare of the island, which not only repeated the full powers set forth in the Governor’s proclama¬ tions, but added other measures for the general welfare of the inha¬ bitants, was the first measure brought under their deliberation. The rate of payment of labourers and mechanics was considered, and the following was resolved upon :—for day-labourers, two shillings and six¬ pence ; common carpenters and masons, three shillings and ninepence; good carpenters and masons, five shillings; master workmen, six shil¬ lings and threepence per day. Any person who should demand or receive any higher wages, or any one who should agree to pay more to any mechanic or labourer, was subjected to a fine of twenty shillings for every day of each offence. A committee for the relief of the desti¬ tute poor was appointed, to take into consideration the readiest means of relieving their most pressing wants. St. Mary’s church was meanwhile repaired with all possible dispatch for receiving the congregation, and the Governor issued, on the 21st of September, a proclamation appointing Friday the seventh day of October to be set apart as a day of solemn humiliation and thanksgiving. The cathedral, which had suffered less than the other churches and chapels in the parish, had been converted into a hospital for the admission of the wounded and maimed. As soon as it became known in the sister colonies, where the devasta¬ ting effects of the hurricane were not felt, how severely Barbados had suffered, every exertion was used to dispatch instant supplies. Nor was it in the British colonies alone that this awful calamity excited the sym¬ pathy and commiseration of the people. In the Danish island of St. Thomas, as soon as the melancholy news arrived by the army-vessel the ‘ Duke of York,’ which had been despatched with the information to the neighbouring islands, a subscription was opened, and one thousand seven hundred and fifteen dollars were collected in a few days and transmitted to the sufferers. At a meeting of the Belief Committee on the 29th of August, the sincere and grateful thanks in behalf of the whole population of Barbados were voted to the inhabitants of the foreign colonies and to those of Demerara, Grenada and Antigua, for their prompt and benevolent exertions to render assistance, and for the liberal contributions which had been sent for the relief of the sufferers. The Legislature of Antigua had voted a grant of one thousand pounds sterling, which was speedily transmitted: the Legislature of Grenada voted a like sum. At a subse¬ quent meeting of the Assembly parochial committees were appointed to take an account of the deaths and to ascertain the losses of property. It was likewise resolved, on the motion of Mr. William Eversley, to lessen 438 HiSTORY OF BARBADOS. [ 1831 . the expenses of the government, and to reduce the salaries and stipends of the functionaries and clergy. Such a sweeping measure was however not approved of, and it was not until 1834 that an act was passed to reduce all unnecessary expense and to abolish several sinecures. As the several fortifications of the island were in ruins, and in their present state unavailable for purposes of defence, it was resolved that all expenses connected with that department in the shape of repairs and salaries should cease from the 11th of August 1831. At a meeting on the 6th of September, the House considered an address to the King, Lords and Commons, and also to the members of his Majesty’s Government, with a view to obtain relief for the general distress of the inhabitants. In these petitions the prayer for the remittance of the four-and-half per cent, duty was embodied, as his Majesty’s im¬ poverished subjects were no longer able to bear this burden. The Go¬ vernor communicated to the House that he had ordered the admission, free of duty, of all articles of provision forwarded bond fide for the use of the poor. But when on a later occasion the House of Assembly petitioned him to remit for a period of six months the duties on lumber and shingles imported from foreign countries, his Excellency considered himself obliged to refuse the prayer, as it was in direct opposition to an act of the impe¬ rial Parliament passed for the regulation of the commerce of the empire, which he felt himself unauthorized to infringe, except under very pecu¬ liar circumstances. An Act passed the Legislature removing doubts respecting the publi¬ cation of the writs and summonses which, as fixed by law, had hitherto been published by the officiating clergymen in the parish churches, and which enacted, that in those parishes where the churches had been de¬ stroyed they should be published at the places where divine worship was performed. An act to remit all fines incurred under the militia-law still due passed the House, as the ruinous effects of the late hurricane had disabled persons from paying them. But the attempt of the Board of Council to introduce a bill for giving longer time for paying the levy, now being collected by the Treasurer from the inhabitants of the island, was considered by the House an infringement upon their constitutional right, and an invasion of the privileges of the House, since a bill of finance could not originate with the honourable board: it was therefore unanimously rejected. Previous to the House replying to the Governor’s message, in which he refused to open the port for the admission of the necessaries of life free of duty, the packet brought the information that, in consequence of the great distress, the imperial Parliament, by an Act 1 & 2 William IV. chap. 44, permitted the importation of lumber, fish and provisions, duty free, into the islands of Barbados and St. Vincent, from the day of its enactment (the 15th of October 1831), until the 1st of ADDRESS TO THE KING. 439 1831.] January 1832. It was likewise enacted that it should be lawful for his Majesty to extend this act to the 1st of March 1832 h The reply of the House to the Governor’s refusal to admit timber and shingles free of duty, was expressed in stronger terms than had been used in any previous address to his Excellency. The imperial act, antici¬ pating that under the existing circumstances the Governor would have taken the responsibility of such a measure upon himself, had stipulated a full indemnity; in lieu of which it had been refused upon repeated pre¬ vious applications. In the address voted by the House they assured his Excellency of their unfeigned regard and attachment, but unsparingly condemned the measure which refused this gracious act at a moment of such distress. It became evident from the tenor of the address that they did not consider the refusal of their prayer to have emanated from him, but from his Majesty’s Council. As soon as Mr. P. L. Mayers, the agent of the island in England, re¬ ceived information of the disaster, he lost no time in requesting an inter¬ view with Lord Goderich, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in which he implored the aid of his Majesty’s Government, and suggested the expediency of adopting similar measures to those taken in 1780, namely, an immediate supply of provisions and lumber from this country, and a grant of money from Parliament. At this period the Secretary for the Colonies had not yet received any official despatch from Sir James Lyon; one was brought a few days after by Lieutenant Ormsby. Mr. Mayers seems to have been indefatigable, and had the honour of an audience of his Majesty, who expressed in the most gracious and kind terms his sympathy for the unfortunate inhabitants. The House of Assembly unanimously voted an address of thanks to the King, as well for this condescension as for the gracious act which directed the sus¬ pension of the import duties. They added to this address a prayer for the extension of the operation of the statute to the 1st of March 1833, or for such other period of time as his Majesty might think fit. At the close of the session of the House of Assembly in 1832, the zeal of Mr. Mayers as agent of the colony was brought before the House, and the following resolutions were agreed to unanimously:— “ Resolved, 1st, That this House adverts to the general conduct of its agent in Great Britain, but more especially since the awful hurricane of the 11th of August 1831, with feelings of gratitude and pride. “ Resolved, 2nd, That this House feels that it is performing an act of jus¬ tice to John Pollard Mayers, Esq., in offering to that gentleman the grateful acknowledgments of this community for his zealous and laudable exertions to procure relief from the Government for the suffering inhabitants,” &c. &c. 1 A proclamation of the Governor, Sir James Lyon, on the 31st of December, continued this act in force to the extended period. HISTORY OF BARBADOS. 440 [1832. A Committee had been appointed to prepare a general report of the deaths and losses occasioned by this late awful hurricane, but a consider¬ able time elapsed before the report was presented to the House, which was ultimately done on the 7th of February 1832. According to this statement, and the tables which accompanied it, the loss amounted to nearly £1,602,800 sterling; and the number of killed and those who died of wounds to fifteen hundred and ninety-one 1 . It is generally believed that a great number refused or neglected to report the losses they had sus¬ tained; and many who fell victims (chiefly free coloured and white persons), were friendless and unknown; hence this number is too low. Accord¬ ing to the general opinion at that time, the number of persons who lost their lives amounted to upwards of two thousand. It appeared from the returns that three hundred and twenty-nine white, seventy-three free coloured, and eleven hundred and eighty-nine slaves, had been killed or died of their wounds; giving a proportion in the slave population of about one and a half per cent., in the white of two per cent., and in the free people of colour of a half per cent. The sum which had been collected through the munificence of the sister colonies, the army and navy in the West Indies and private individuals, amounted on the 18th of February 1832 to £16,586 7s. 6 d. currency. Towards this amount the colonies had contributed £14,210 8s. 5%d .; the Army £337 8s. 10 ® m creeping, 508. -, hoary, 509. -, twisted-potted, 510. Devil’s grass, 9, 37. Dialthaea, 287. -, red, 289. Dicliptera, chickweed-leaved, 757. -, blunt, 758. Dill, common, 888. Divi-divi, 530. Dodder, American, 663. Dodonea, clammy, 332. Dog’s grass, 41. Dog-wood, 878. Dolichos,vellow-flowered,495. -, bird’s-foot, 497. -, Chinese, 500. Dove-plant, 130. Dove-weed, 199. Down-tree, 283. Down-vine, 640. Dragon-tree, purple, 163. -, sweet-scented, 164. Drvmaria, heart-leaved, 422. Due van Thol, 149. Duckweed, 59. -, large, 349. -, broad, 350. Dumb cane, 66. Duranta, prickly, 723. Dutch grass, 42. Dwrah, 44. -, wild, 46. Ebony-tree, 549. Ecastaphyllum, oval-leaved, 523. C24 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Echites, twin-flowered, 603. Eclipta, dotted, 784. Eddas, scratching, 63. -, blue, 64. Eddoes, nut, 64. -, monkey, 65. -, wild, 65. Egg-plant, 634. Elder, 883. Elder-bush, 457. Elephant’s foot, spiked, 772. Epidendrum, brown, 124. Episcia, striped-flowered, 731. Eranthemum, two-coloured, 756. Eryngo, stinking, 884. Erodium, musky, 406. Eugenia, privet-leaved, 838. Evening primrose, showy, 824. Evergreen-tree, 187. Everlasting, 437. Eye-bright, 859. -, purple, 861. Fat-pork tree, 470. Fennel, 887. Fiddle-wood tree, 717. Fiddle-wood, square-stalked, 718. Fig-tree, bearded, 186. -, common, 190. Fingrigo, 391. Fireburn bush, 341, 343. Fireburn weed, 864. Fitweed, 884. Five-sprig tree, 865. Flag, red, 26. Flower-fence, 529. Forbidden fruit-tree, 367. Forest-tree, 373. Four o’clock flower, 432. Francliipan, 596. Fuchsia, scarlet, 825. Fustic-tree, 185. Galivaughn peas, 496. Gall-tree, 394. Garden mangrove, 187. Gardenia, fragrant, 881. Garlick, common, 157. -, pear-tree, 274. Genip-tree, 331. Geophila, herbaceous, 868. Geranium, scarlet, 399. -, spotted, 400. -, hoary multifid, 401. -, round-leaved, 402. -, Madeira, 403. -, anemone-leaved, 403. -, silvery-leaved, 405. Germinating leaf-plant, 260. Gesneria, tube-flowered, 733. -, stemless, 734. Ginger, 112. Globe-amaranth, Brasilian, 438. Gloxinia, many-flowered, 735. Goat-weed, shrubby, 763. Golden-apple, 385. Golden-rod, common, 781. Gooseberry, Otalieite, 224. Gooseberry-shrub, or Barbados gooseberry, 855. Gourd-vine, large, 230. Gourd, egg-shaped, or suc- cade, 238*. Granadilla-vine, 251. Grape-fruit tree, 366*. Grape-tree, chequered, 429. Grape-vine, the common, 360. Grasses: Savannah grass, 2. Sour grass, 3. Purple panic grass, 4. Plush grass, 5, 34. Rice grass, 6. Fascicled panic grass, 7. Carthagena panic grass, 8. Devil’s grass, 9, 37. Short grass, 10. Creeping panic grass, 11. May grass, 12. Guinea grass, 13. Water grass, 14. Scotch grass, 14, 18. Wood grass, smaller, 16. Pagister grass, 18. Bur grass, 19. Flag grass, 27. Lemon grass, 28. Purple bent grass, 32. Indian bent grass, 33. Long-shanked cruciated grass, 36. Yard grass, 37. Bahama grass, 37. Dog’s grass, 41. Dutch or Man grass, 42. Grigri, 820. Ground-ivy, wild, 704. Ground-nut, 485. Groundsel, elegant, 813. -, gray, 814. Guaco, 777. Guava-tree, 830. Guava, wild French, 532, 535. -, bastard French, 535. -, common, 830. -, French, 831. -, pear-fashioned, 831. -, perfumed, 831. -, spice, 832. Guinea grass, 13. -corn, 21. -wheat, 22. -hen-weed, 333. Gully-root, 333, 873. Gum-tree, 208. -Elemi-tree, 375. Gumma-bush, 626. Gustavia, the august, 856. Gynura, sagittate, 812. Heart’s-ease, 259. Heart-seed, smooth-leaved, 327. Heckeria, peltated, 454. Hedge-bush, 631. Hedysarum, twining, 511. Heliconia,plantain-leaved, 10 7. Helmet-plant, 135. Hemp, wild, 323. Henna-plant, 573. Herb-Robert, 404. Hercules, yellow, 388. -, white, 393. Hernandia,peltate-leaved,464. Heterospermum, oval-leaved, 804. Hibiscus, tall, 295. -, Chinese rose, 296. -, dwarf, 297. -, purple-flowered, 297. -, changeable rose, 298. -, eatable, 300. -, Indian, 301. -, vine-leaved, 302. -, liemp-leaved, 303. Hogmeat, poisoned, 895. Hog plum-tree, 384. Hog-slip or hog-vine, 654. Hogweed, 431. -, spreading, 431. Hoho, 320. Holy-thorn, 527. Holly-hock, 293, 359. Honey-berry,wing-leaved,331. Honeysuckle, bright-yellow, 882. Honey-tree, wild, 248, 250. Hoop wyth, 436. Hop-shrub, 332. Hops, wild, 691. Hopweed, 317. -, white, 692. -, red, 698. Horse-eye bean-vine, 516. Horse-nicker, 528*. Horse-pop, 614. Horse-radish, 262. -tree, 257. Horse-vine, 514. Hoya, fleshy-leaved, 642. Humble-plant, 547. Hydrangea, changeable, 570. Hyptis, Jamaica, 691. Ice-plant, 459. Indian cress, small-flowered, 290. -, great-flowered, 291. -, fringed, 292. Indian kale, 65. -, smaller, 61. -, or seven years’ cabbage, 267*. -root, 639. -rubber-tree, 189. ---, bastard, 197. -shot, common, 118. -, scarlet, 120. -, yellow, 121. Indigo, West Indian, 477. -,orindigo-weed,wild,477. -, EastIndian,ortrue,478. VERNACULAR NAMES OF FLOWERING PLANTS 625 Indigo berry, 878. Inga, purple, 552. -, beech-leaved, 553. -, four-leaved, 554. Ink-vine, 254. Ipecacuanha, wild, or bastard, 639. Ipomea, ivy-leaved, 651. -, blue, 652. -, great purple, 653. -, flesh-coloured, 653*. -, striped, 653.* -, bright scarlet, 657. -, broad-leaved, 662. Iris, small bulbous, 101. -, Portuguese, 102. Iron-grass, 858. Iron-wood, bastard, 390. Iron-vine, 506, 507. Ivy, Madeira, 191. -, European, 890. Ixora, scarlet, 871. Jaca-tree, or Jack fruit-tree, 193. Jack-in-a-box, 464. Jacquinia, obtuse-leaved, 673. Jalap, 432. Jasmine, Cayenne, 593. -, single Arabian, 674. -, double Arab, 674*. -, Tuscan Arabian, 674*. -, common white, 675. -, common yellow, 676. -, curled-flowered yellow, 677. -, hairy Indian, 678. -, sweet-scented Madeira, 679. -, Azorian, 680. -, Cape, 881. Jasmine-tree, 596. -, white-flowered, 597. Jessamine, wild, 870. Jerusalem thorn, 527. Job’s tears, 31. Judas-tree, American, 544. Juniper, Barbados, 179. Jussisea, spear-leaved, 823. Justicia, glossy, 749. -, side-flowering, 751. -, scarlet-flowered, 752. -, painted, 753. -, blue-flowered, 755. Kerria, Japanese, 569. King of flowers, 575. Kohl-rabi, 267*. Kidney-bean, lathvrus-like, 486. -, dark-red, 487. -, sweet-scented, 488. -, common, 489. •-, scarlet, 490. -, perennial, 491. -, scimitar-podded, 492. -, small-fruited, 493. Kyllingia, one-headed, 52. Lablab, sharp-edged, 501. Lablab, purple, 502*. -, green sort, 502*. -, moonshine, 502*. -, white-podded, 502*. Lady of the Night, 605. Lagerstrcemia, Indian, 575. -, oblong-leaved, 576. Lantana, prickly, 712. -, nettle-leaved, 714. Larkspur, 357. Laurel, sea-side, 221, 686. Lavender, wild, 685. -, sea-side, 686. -, French, 694. Lawsonia, smooth, 573. -, purple, 574. Leadwort, rose-coloured, 664. -, climbing, 665. Leak, common, 156. Leather coat-tree, 428. Leucas, West Indian, 708. Lemon grass, 28. Lemon-tree, 362*. -, St. Helen, 362*. Lettuce, garden, 819. Lignum-vitae, bastard, 325. -vita: tree, 397. Lilac, Barbados, 378. -, St. Vincent, 627. Lily, Barbados. 89. -, red, 89. --, belladonna, 91. -, Jacobea, 92. -, white, 98. -j wild, 123. Lima bean, 491. Lime-tree, large, 362*. -, 370. -, sweet, 370*. Limonia, 371. Lion’s-tail, catmint-leaved, 709. Liquorice, wild, 522. Lobelia, splendid, 769. -, fulgent, 770. -, long-flowered, 771. Loblolly-tree, 469, 647. -, or loblolly sweet-wood, 469. Locus berry-tree, 338. Locust-tree, 540. Locust-tree, bastard, 373. Loggerhead-weed, 604. Logwood, 526. Lonchocarpus, violet, 524. Lourea, bat-winged, 505. Love-apple, 636. Love in a mist, 256. Lupin, small blue, 471. -, yellow, 472, 476. Mackaw-tree, 77. Madeira heath, 762. Madeira ivy, 191. Mahoe, mountain, 295. Mahogany-tree, 376. Maiden hair, 184. Maiden-plum, entire-leaved, 379. Maize, 30. Malabar nut, 754. Malabar nightshade, heart - leaved, 458. Malachra, fasciate, 318. Malpighia, kermes oak-leaved, 337. Mammee-tree, 345. Mammee sapote-tree, 585. Manchaneel- or mancliineal- tree, 206. Mangel-wurzel, 450*. Mangostan, or mangosteen, 346. Mango-tree, 380. Man-grass, 42. Mangrove bead-tree, 554. Mangrove-tree, 826. -, dwarf or olive, 728. Mangrove, white, 822*. Mangustine, 577. Many-roots, 744. Many-seed, 823. Marica, Martinique, 104. ——, iris-leaved, 105. -, slender-leaved, 106. Marigold, wild, 790. -, French, 805. -, African, 806. -, common, 815. -, shrubby, 816. Marjoram, sweet, 701. Martynia, horn-capsuled, 729. Marvel of Peru, 432. -, forked, 433. Mastick-tree, 588. May-grass, 12. May-pole, 96. Melastoma, two-coloured, 828. -, square-stalked, 829. Melochia, downy, 288. Melon, 236. Menow-weed, 744. Mesembryanthemum, frozen, 459. -, thick-leaved, 460. -, sunflower, 461. Mignonette, 272. -, St. Domingo, 573. Mikania, halbert-leaved, 776. Milk-tree, sea-side, 198. Milkweed (red), 196, 201. —:— (white), 200. Mimosa, Barbados, 546. Mistletoe, narrow-leaved, 146. -, long-leaved, 147. -, the; 892. Moabite, 554. Momordica,rough-fruited,229. Moneywort, 648. Monkey apple-tree, 355. Monkey-vine, 652. Monkies’ bread, 280. Monkey’s hand, 454. -peas, 495. 2 s G26 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Montabba, 634. Moringa-tree, 257. Motherwort, Siberian, 706. Mountain-ebony, tomentose, 541. Murraya, asli-leaved, 372. Musk-bush, 299. Musk melon-vine, 236. Muskito-bush, 692. Mustard, black, 269. -, white, 270. Myginda, broad-leaved, 580. Myrodia, short-flowered, 284. Myrtle, 834. -, sumach-leaved, 835. • -, three-flowered, 841. Myrtle-tree, tall, 840. Myrtle-lime, 371. Myrtus Jambos, 843. Nem-nem, 550. Nettle, great-leaved, 182. -, Surinam, 183. -, small-leaved, 184. Nettles (white sort), 182. -(red sort), 183. Nicker, gray, 528*. Nicker-tree, oval-leaved, 528. -, black, 330. Nightshade, 610. -, Malabar, 458. -, black-berried, 626. -, Seaforth’s, 627. -, nipple, 628. -, broad-leaved, 630. -, red-spined, 631. -, Bahamas, 632. -, purple-spined, 633. Nisberry-tree, 584*. Noyeau-vine, 655. Nut-grass, 51. Nutmeg-tree, 224*. Oak, Spanish, 553. -, Indian, 715. -, French, 820. Oats, wild, 29. Ochroma, downy-leaved, 283. Ockra, or Ockro, 300. Ockro, bastard, 317. -, wild, 299, 317. -, Papaw, 321. Oil-bush, negro (red sort),216. -(white sort), 217. Oil-plant, 730. Okro, musk, 299. Old maid, 593. Old woman’s bitter, 717. Oleander, common, 600. --, white-flowered, 600*. -, variegated, 600*. • -, sweet-scented, 601. ■-, flesh-coloured, sweet- scented, 601*. Olives, wild, 727. Olive-tree, wild, 525. Olive bark-tree, Jamaica, 820. Onion, common, 161. Opuntia, yellow-spined, 852. Opuntia, orange-flowered, 853. Orach, garden, 447. Orange, mandarin, 364. -, smaller mandarin, 364. -, the large-fruited bitter, 365*. -, myrtle-leaved bitter, 365*. Orange-tree, China, 363. -, bitter, 365. -, Seville, 365. -, sour, 365. -, golden, 365. Orchis, butterfly, 126. Otaheite apple, 385. Otaheite gooseberry, 224. Ouboudi, 382. Ox-eye bean, 516. Palicourea, two-coloured or orange, 862. -, scarlet, 863. Pagister grass, 18. Palm, Bourbon, 72. -, dwarf, 74. -, fan, 75. -, grou-grou, 77. -, cordage, 78. Palma Christi, 216. -, green, 217. Palmette royal, 73. Palmetto, 70. -thatch, 75. Palm-oil tree, 79. Panicum, 4. Papaw-tree, 245. Pareira-brava root, 225. Parkinsonia, prickly, 527. Parsley, wild, 327. -, common, 886. -, curled, 886*. Parthenium, cut-leaved, 787. Pascalia, pulpy, 791. Paspalum, rod-like, 1. Passiflora, cork-barked, 254. -, saw-leaved, 255. -, stinking, 256. Paullinia, Barbados, 329. Pea, sweet, 483. -, wild, 513. •-, Angola, 520. Pea-tree, pigeon, 520. Pea-vine, least wild, 521. Peas, common or English, 482. -, Rouncival, 494. -, Halifax, 498. -, black-eyed, 499. Pectis, trailiug, 773. Pelargonium, ivy-leaved, 407. -, peltated-leaved, 408. -, dissected-lcavcd, 409. -, rose-scented, 410. -, odour of rose, 411. -, horse-shoe, 412. -, white-margined, 412*. -, curl-leaved, 413. -, cluster-leaved, 415. -, sweet-scented, 416. Pelargonium, rose, 417. Pen Gwyn, 82. Pennyroyal, wild, 648. -, 697. Peperomia, acuminate, 451. -, pellucid, 452. -, obtuse-leaved, 453. Pepper, rough-leaved, 456. -, bird, 616. -, spur, 617. -, bell, 618, 621. -, long, 618*. -, bonnet, 619, 620. -, turbilo, 621. -, negro, 624. -, olive, 625. -, Jamaica, 833. Pepper-grass, wild, 266. Peppermint, 696. Periwinkle, 593. -, red-eyed, 593*. -, Madagascar, 593*. Petitia, St. Domingo, 716. Petrea, climbing, 724. Petunia, common, 607. -, violet, 608. Phvllanthus, Indian annual, 223. Physic-nut, cotton-leaved, 210. -, French, 211. -, fiddle-leaved, 212. Physic-nut tree, 213. Pimploes, 852. Pindals, 485. Pine-apple, 81. -, common, 81*. -, king, 81*. -, waved-leaved, 81*. -, scarlet-leaved, 81*. -, panicled, 84. Pine, large wild barren, 87. -, small barren, 84. Pinguin, 83. Pink, Chinese, 420. -, virgin or upright, 421. -, Barbados, 659. -, Indian, 659. -, white-flowered Barba¬ dos, 659*. Pin-pillow, 853. Pitcairnia, scarlet, 85. -, broad-leaved, 86. Plantain, wild, 107. -, China, 110. -, English or hoary, 666. Plantain shot, 119. Plantain-tree, 108. Plumieria, red,' 596. -, white, 597. -, orange-flowered, 598. -, two-coloured, 599. Plum-tree, Jamaica, 383. -, purple, 383. -, Spanish, 383. -, gully, 384. -, yellow, 384. VERNACULAR NAMES OF FLOWERING PLANTS. 627 Plum-tree, Chili, 386. -, African, 644. Plush-grass, 5, 26,34. Poison-tree, 207. Poke, Virginian, 434. Pomegranate, wild, 719. -, white-flowered, 844*. -, douhle-flowered, 844*. -, dwarf or small, 845. Pomegranate-tree, 844. Pomme rose, 842. Pond-grass, 140. Pond-weed, 59, 167, 220. Pontederia, azure, 165. Pope’s head, 846. Pops, 615. Pop-vine, 614. Portlandia, great-flowered, 877. Potatoes, 635, 660. -, sweet, 660. Pothos, blue-fruited, 148. Poverty-weed, 508. Prickly-pear vine, 849. Pride, Barbados, 529. Primrose, common, 667. Privet-bush, 719. Pumpkin, 237. -, Martinique, 238*. Purslane, red and white, 423. -, garden, 423*. -, wild (white), 424. -, wild (red), 425. -, wild, 773. Pye-crust, 673. Pyrol, woolly, 493. Queen of flowers, 576. Rabbit-vine, 514. Rabbit-weed, 779, 817. Radish, horse, 262. _ ; 271. -i long, 271*. -, garden, 271*. -, oil-seed, 271*. •-, black Spanish, 271*. Rainflower, 760. Randia, prickly, 878. -, armed, 880. Ratan, 74. Rata Ockro, 320. Rata-pepper, 320. Rattle-bush, 474. Rat’s-bane, 275. Rauwolfia, hoary, 590. -, shining, 591. Raw head and bloody bones, 275. Red head, 639. Red wood, 427. -, Bahama, 578. Reed, 17, 40. Reed-mace, great, 60. Reseda, sweet, 272. Rhipsalis, naked, 851. Rice-grass, 6. Right wyth, 738. Ringworm bush, 535. | Rivina, downy, 435. Rocambole, 158. Rock-balsam, 451. Rock-bush, 457. Rock-sage, 713. Rodwood, 222, 427, 839. Rope mangrove, 294. Roses: Centifolia, 558. Chinese, blush, 559. Tea, 559*. Dwarf, 559*. -, single, 559*. Dark-purple Chinese, 559*. Damask, 560. Everblooming, 561. Sweet briar, 562. Musk, 563. Banks’s, Lady, 564. Evergreen, 565. White, 566. Macartney’s, 567. Austrian, 567. Cayenne, 568. Freycinet’s, 568. Rose of Sharon, 296*. Rose, South-sea, 601. Rose-apple, large, 842. -, narrow-leaved, 843. Rose Hibiscus, Chinese, 296. -, changeable, 298. Rosemary, common, 700. Rose-tree, French, 298. Rosewood, 375. Roucou, 246. Royal Cashiaw, 527. Rue, common, 387. Ruellia, tuberous-rooted, 744. -, three-flowered, 745. — ■, splendid, 746. Rush, common, 54. Rush-nut, 50. Russelia, rush-leaved, 762. Sabal, 73. Sabinea, tuft-flowering, 479. Sage-bush, black, 646. Sage, sea-side, 218. -, creeping sweet-scented, 698. -, garden, 699. -, rock, 713. -, white, 713. Sago-palm, broad-leaved, 175. -, narrow-leaved, 176. Sambo, 273. Samphire, sea-side, 463. Sand-box tree, 205. Sanseviera, spiked, 151. Santa Maria leaf, 455. Santa Maria tree, 347. St. John’s bush, 867. St. John’s wort, 348. Sapodilla-tree, 584. Sarcostemma, Swartz’s, 640. Sarsaparilla, cuspidate, 173. -, oblong-leaved, 174. Savannah grass, 2. Savannah grass, broad-leaved, 3. Saven or savine-tree, 390,391. Savory, summer, 703. Scallion, 159*. Scammony, wild, 656. Scleria, hairy, 58. Screw-pine, sweet-scented,69. Scoparia, sweet, 764. Scotch grass, 14. Sea-side balsam, 218. Sea-side grape, 426. -, Barbados, 427. -, great-leaved, 428. Sea-side laurel, sickle-leaved, 221 . Sea-side vine, 656. Securidaca, climbing, 326. Seed-grass, black, 38. Senna-tree, 533. Senna, wild, 533. Senecio, hawkweed-leaved, 818. Sensitive plant, largest, 546. -, 547. Sesbania, West Indian, 480. Sesuvium, purslane-leaved, 463. Shaddock-tree, 366. Shaddock, wild, 362*. Shake-shake, blue, 473. -, 474. Shallot, 159. -, Chinese, 159*. Shell-plant, 114. Short grass, 10. Shrove Tuesday, 518. Sida, althaea-leaved, 311. Silk cotton-tree, 282. --, five-leaved, 282. Silk grass, 97. Silver-leaved plant, 778. Silver vine, 511. Silver-wood tree, 247. Simitou, 255. Sisyrinchium, broad-leaved, 100 . Snake-wood, 194, 596. Snap-dragon, 744. Snow-berry, clustered-flower¬ ed, 873. Snow-drop, Barbados, 90. Soap-tree, 330. Soap-berry tree, 330. Solandra, great-flowered, 613. Soldier bush, 682. Soldier wood, 552. Sop-tree, sweet, 351. -, sour, 353. Sorghum, two-coloured, 21*. -, yellow-seeded, 23. Sorrel, red, 301*. -, white, 301*. Sorrel dock, common, 430. Sour grass, 3. South-sea rose, 601. Spanish ash, 524. 2 s 2 628 Spanish ash, white, 524* Spanish needle, 154, 797. Sparrow grass, 162. Spear mint, 695. Spermacoce, climbing, 858. Spiderwort, purple-leaved, 143. - — , knotted, 144. -, gentian-leaved, 145. Spikenard, 692. -, sweet-scented, Plow¬ man’s, 783. -, wild, 693. Spinach, Virginian, 434. -, round garden, 448. -, New Zealand, 462. Spirit-weed, 725, 744. Spurge, 195. -.myrtle-leaved, 195*. -, laurel-leaved, 195*. -, hypericum-leaved, 196. -, dark purple, 197. -, spotted, 199. -, hairy', 202. -, oleander-leaved, 203. -, spreading three-sided, 204. Squashes, 238. Stachys, blunt-leaved, 707. Star-apple, 581. ■-, large round-fruited green, 581*. --,small-fruited green,581*. -, blue-fruited, 581*. -, smooth, 583. Star-grass, 56. Star-plum, 582. Stenorhynchus, leafless, 125. Stinking weed or stinking bush, 532. Stopper-berry tree, 557. Stork’s bill, trailing, 414. Strawberry pear, 849. Stylosanthes,procumbent,484. Sucking-bottle, 328. Sugar-apple tree, 351. Sugar-bean, 492. Sugar-cane, 24. Bourbon cane, 24*. Striped Bourbon, 24*. Otaheite cane, 24*. Montblanc, 24*. Ribbonorginghamcane,24*. Violet or purple cane, 24*. La bonne blanche, 24*. The black cane, 24*. Aryeli, 24*. Kari karimbou, 24*. Sunflower, annual, 794. -, dwarf annual, 794*. -, many-flowered, 795. Supple Jack, Barbados, 329. -, bastard, 328. Swan-plant, 895. Sweet basil, common, 689. Sweet briar, 548. Sweet briar rose, 562. HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Sweetheart, 506. Sweet-william, 659. -, pink, 418. Sweet-wood, 375, 870. Sweet-wood tree, 466, 468. Svnedrella, sessile-flowered, '803. Tabernmmontana, rose bav- like, 594. -, laurel-leaved, 595. Tallow-tree, 208. Tamarind-tree, 539. Tamarinds, wild, 534. Tammatas shrub, 636. Taniers, 64. Teak-wood, great, 715. Terminalia, large-leaved, 821. Thespesia, poplar-leaved, 304. Thistle, 817. -, yellow, 359. Thorn-apple, common, 610. -, blue, 611. -, arborescent, 612. Thunbergia, twining, 743. -, yellow-flowered, 743*. Thyme, garden, 702. Tiger lily, 103. Tithymaloides, 195*. Tobacco, Virginian, 609. -, wild, 783. Tomato, 636. Tooth-ache-tree, 550. Torch, American, 847. Toulema, 122. Touriiefortia, climbing, 682. Tragia, twining, 209. Tree cassia, 536. Tree cotton, 306. Tree of Life, 181. Trefoil, small creeping, 484. Triopteris, Jamaica, 343. Trubba, 634. -, small red, 629. Trumpet-flower, 645. -, white-wooded, 737. -, Barbados, 738. Trumpet-tree, 194. Trunk-tree, 194. Tuberose, 150. Tulip, wild, 95. Turk’s head, 846. Turmerick, long-rooted, 113. Turnip, 268. Turnsole, small-flowered, 684. -, glaucous, 685. -, Peruvian, 687. -, Indian, 688. Turpentine-tree, 374. Vauglo, 730. Vanilla, 138. Varronia, long-spiked, 646. -, white-fruited, 647. Venus’ looking-glass, 768. Verbesiua, feathery-leaved, 802. Vervain, 710. Vervain,, Jamaica, 710. ——, bung, 711. Vigna, yellow, 494. Vine-nettle, 209. Violet, the sweet, 258. Viscum, three-nerved, 893. Volkameria, prickly, 719. Wakenaam lilac, 742. Wart-herb, 521. Water-bean, Jamaica, 350. Water-cress, 261. Water-grass, 14. Water-lemon vine, 252. -, w'ild, 256. Water-lily, white, 349. Water-melon, 235. Water-plantain, round-leaved, 166. -, great, 167. Water sweet-wood, 468. Water-weed, 604. Wax-flower, 642. West India tea, 763. White-lioop, 683. White-wood tree, 737. White-wood, prickly, 393. Wild dolly, 487. Wild elder-bush, 455. Wild hiccory, 436. Wild pine, 154. Wild slip, 651. Wild vine, 649. Willow, dog, 275. -, red, 276. -, white, 276, 279. -, black, 277, 278. -, French, 592. WolFs-bane, 358. Wood-grass, the smaller, 16. Wood-sorrel, 508. Worm-grass, 604. Wormweed, 449. -, wild, 787. Wormwood, common, 810. -, English, 810. -, French, 811. -, upright-flowered, 811. Wyth, basket, OSS'. Xanthoxylon, clubbed, 389. -, prickly-leaved, 391. -, notch-leaved, 392. -, common, 393. Yam, common, 169. -, red, 170. -, wing-stalked, 170. -, bulb-bearing, 172. -, Grenada, 172. Yam-vine, prickly, 171. Yams, 169. Yard-grass, 37. Yellow-wood, prickle, 389. Zamia, pigmy, 177. -, narrow-leaved, 178. Zinnia, purple-flowered, 788. ■-, red-flowered, 789. Zizyphus, blunt-leaved, 577. FOREIGN VERNACULAR NAMES OF FLOWERING PLANTS. 629 FOREIGN VERNACULAR NAMES OF FLOWERING PLANTS IN THE FOREGOING CATALOGUE. [The numbers refer to the systematic name in the Catalogue.] Aboboras, 237. Abobora de agua, 235. Abricotier des Antilles, 345. Absinthe maronne, 787. Acacie greles des Savanes, 527. Alcanna, 573. Aipim, 215. Algodao, 305. Alho, 157. Amandier des Indes, 821. Arabrette, 299. Amourette batarde, 628. Ananas, 81. -gros gieux, 81*. -de bois, 87. Anda-afu, 213. Angelin, 525. Anguine, 239. Apio, 885. Appel sina, 363. Arancio de la China, 363. Araruda, 115. Arbre a panaches, 43. -a pain, 192. -au diable, 205. -a savonnettes, 330. -corail, 518. -a bouquets, 596. -a couys, 736. -a Cicayes, 736. Asperge, 162. Aubergine, melongere, 634. Avocatier, 465. Avoine de chien, 29. Ayuda macho, 389. Badamier du Malabar, 821. Baga, 355. Bagage a chasseur, 43. -a collier, 592. Balais, 319. Balisier petit, 118. Bananier, 109. -maron, 107. Barbarine, 238. Barvasco, 673. Basin, franc, 690. Baume, petit, 218. -vert, 347. Baunilha, 138. Beldruega, 423. Belladone, 91. Belle-de-nuit, 432. Ben oleifere, 257. Betarava, 450. Bigarade, 365. Bigaradier d’Espagne, 365*. Bigaradier a feuille de myrte, 365*. Bijaguara, 578. Ble de Turquie, 30. Blette epineuse, 442. Bois de meche, 96. -jaune, 185. -canon, 194. -trompette, 194. -a malingres de minguet, 256. -mabouia, 275. -caca, 278. -de merde, 278. -de liege, 295. -de capitaine, 336. -tan, 339. -Marie, 347. - de Rhodes de la Ja- maique, 375. -de roses, 375. -d’acajouaplanches,377. -epineux jaune, 393. -saint, 397. -d’anisette, 455. -immortel epineux, 518. -de Nicarague, 526. -de sang, 526. -couleuvre, 578. -de lait, 597. -a chiques, 643. -de rape, 645. -bracelets, 673. -cabril batard, 681. -cotelet, 717. -a guitarre, 717. -cotelet carre, 718. -d’ebene vert, 737. -plie batard, 760. -de lance, 878. Brainvilliers, la, 604. Brande, petite, 873. Bredes a calalou, 440. Brede du Malabar, 442. Brignolier acide, 224. Brin d’amour, 334. Butua, 225. Caapeba, 225. Cabrillet, 681. Cacavi, 285. Cachimant, 351. Cacoyer, 285. Cacte serpent, 850. Cactier nopal, 854. Caffeyer, 869. Cagna de Batavia, 24*. Caimitier pomiforme, 581. Caimitier marron, 582. Caju, 381. Campanula, 653*. Canamelle violette, 24*. Caneficier, 531. Canne a sucre, 24. -creole, 24*. -rubanee, 24*. -la grosse verte, 24*. -maronne, 66. Caoba, 376. Capim de Angola, 14. Caprier rampant, 396. Cara, 170. Caraque, gros, 285. Cardasse, la, 852. Cardo, 852. Carmantine pectorale, 750. Caruru, 440. -azedo, 301. Casse en batons, 531. Casse puant, 532. Catapuce, 216. Caxim, 207. Cebola, 161. Ceboliuha, 160. Cedre-acajou, 377. Cedro, 377. Celeri, 885. Cerisse de cafe, 869. Chardon roland fetide, 884. Charpentier de Saint Do- mingue, 750. Chayote, 240. Cherimoyer, 354. Chou, 267. -de BresU, 64. -palmier, 267. -a grosses cotes, 267*. -rave, 267*. Cierge a grandes fleurs, 850. Cinoura, 889. Ciruelo, 383. Citron de St. Cloud d’Ame- rique, 368*. -doux, 368*. Citronnier des Halliers, 371. Clavalier des Antilles, 389. Coccis, grand, 744. Cocotier, 8^0 Codapail flottant, 59. Coeur de bceuf, 353. Collet Notre Dame, 454. Corde a violon, 663. Corossol sauvage, 352. Coton flos, 283. I Cotonnier mapou, 283. 630 HISTORY OF BARBADOS, Cotonmer de fleau, 283. -, 305. Cove, 267. Coucombre marron, petit, 234. Couliaye, 336. Couleuvree serpentine, 227. Courge calebasse, 230. Cousin, grand, 323. —— mahot, 323. Cousse-couche, 170. Croix, la, de Saint Jacques, 92. Crustolle, 744. Cruzeta, 879. Cuajani, 586. Cururu, 328. Dartrier, 535. Dentelaire, 665. Eclialote, 159*. Epinards du Malabar, 458. Escobilla menuda, 764. Espinafre, 448. Feve du diable, 275. Figo del inferno, 359. Figuier d’Adam, 108. Flainme de marais, petite, 104. Fleur des anges, 69. Fleur de paradis, 529. Franchipanier, 596. Fumo, 609. Fustete, 185. Gaillard franc, 397. Galant de nuit, 605. Genet epineux, 527. Gerecero, 334. Girvao, 710. Gluttier des oiseleurs, 207. Gomart d’Amerique, 374. Gomme animee, 540. Gommier blanc d’Amerique, 374. Gouet sagitte, 64. Gourde, 230. Goyavier, 830. Gras de Galle, 878. Grenadier, le, 844. Griffe de chat, 729. Grignon, 820. Groseiller des Antilles, 855. Guaco de la Nouvelle Grenade, 777. Guao,379. Guayabo agrio, 830. Guayacan, 397. Guimauve, fausse, 311. ' Gui d’Oranger, 892. -prolifere, 893. Guira cimaronna, 736. Gyraumont, 238. -galeux, 237. Haricot de la Jamaique, 486. Heliotrope du Perau, 138. Herbe a couteaux, 45. -de quatre heures, 432. -a collet, 454. - - a dartres, 535. -chaste, 547. -mam’zelle, 547. Herbe a la reine. 609. -a sorciers, 610. -a Madame Boivin, 639. -aux coronnes, 647. -a eternuer, 659. -z’amourette, 663. •-au diable, 665. -a chiques, 682. -a malingres, 682. -a verrues, 688. -a bouton des creoles, 691. -a balai sauvage, 764. -a pique, 782. Herse, 396. Igname, 169. Immortelle pourpre, 437. Indigofer franc, 478. Indigotier sauvage, 477. Ipecacuanha, faux, 639. Jaborandi, 455. Jasmin d’Arabie, 674*. -de Toscane, 674*. - batard, 873. Jatai or Jatoba, 540. Jonc odorant, 49. Jujubier, 577. Ka'ia mouzambe, 273. Ketmie musquee, 299. -gambo, 300. -tachee, 301*. Laman mouzambai, 626. Laque, 434. Laurier canellier, 467. Laurose, 600. -odorant, 601. Lechoso, 870. Leucome, 585. Liane a cceur, 225. -a serpent, 225. -a scie, 328. -a minguet, 361. -molle, 361. -a caconne, 516. -a reglisse, 522. -a lait, 589. -mangle, 602. -a chat, 738. -blanche, 739. -a corde, 739. Lierre de Saint Domingue, 738. Ldac de nuit, 605. Lilas des Indes, 378. Limonier ordinaire, 368. Lis rouge, 91. -de Saint Jacques, 92. -asphodele, 93. -blanc, 98. Liseron empenne, 659. Lumie limette, 370*. Mahot, grand, 295. Malnommee, 200. Mamilier, 352. Man^anilla, 206. Mandebim, 485. Mandioca, 214. Mangle cautivo, 207. Mangle rouge, 426. -negro, 728. Manglier zaragoza, 822. -gris, 822. -blanc du bobo, 822*. -chandelle, 826. Manguier, 380. Manille batarde, 139. Manioc amer, 214. -blanc, 214. Marmelade naturelle, 585. Medicinier, petit, 211. -, grand, 213. Melangolo a foglio di myrto, 365*. -di Spagna, 365*. Melao, 236. Melisse en tete, 691. Melon d’eau, 235. -d’Espagne, 236. Melongere Aubergine, 634. Meringeanne, 634. Merisier dore, 339. Mil panicule, 22. -chandelle, 23. Milho, 30. Millet, gros, 21. Mirobalanier batard, 464. Mogori, 674. Monbin, 384. Monbin marron, 383. Monjoli a fleurs blanches, 647. Monnos, 331. Morelle a grappe, 434. -laman, 626. -pomme d’amour, 636. Morita, 185. Morz’ a cabrit, 771. Moutarde noire, 269. Muscadier aromatique, 224*. Myrte tout-epice, 833. Nauchee, la, 512. Nouvelle purgative, 211. Noix de serpent, 592. Ocuje, 347. CEil de Bourrique, 516. CEil de chat, 528. Olivier batard, 727. Onagre, 823. Ooli-Gigiri, 730. Ora pro nobis, 855. Oranger acre, 362*. Oranger de la Chine, 363. Orange Grenade, 364. -amcre, 365. Orelie cathartique, 589. Orme d’Amerique, 286. Oseille, 430. -des bois, 242. Ouattier, 283. Pain de Singe, 280. Paletuvier des Antilles, 826. Palmier crocro, 79. Palo de Campeche, 526. Panicaut fetide, 884. Papangay, 240. Papaver, 245. INDEX TO THE GENERA OF FLOWERING PLANTS. 631 Passevelours, 444. Pasteque, 235. Patagoa tassole, 431. Patate de raer, 656. -Iname, 660*. Patates des dunes, 660*. -gros bois, 660*. -a maby, 660*. -de Samana, 660*. -a suif, 660*. Pavot epineux, 359. Pensee, 259. Pepino, 231. Perepe a fleurs jaunes, 344. Persil, 886. Pet du diable, 205. Pied de poule de St. Domingue, 34. Pignon de Barbarie, 213. Piment enrage, 616. Piment zozo, 616. Pimenteira, 618. Pistache de terre, 485. Pitajaya, 848. Plateau, 349. Poil de chat, 200. Poincillade, 529. Poirier de Chardon, 849. Pois de merveille, 327. -terrestre, 485. -pouilleux, 517. -a gratter, 517. -d’Angole, 520. -de sept ans, 520. -bedant, 522. -guenic, 528. -puant, 532. -confiture, 540. -doux, 553. Poivre long, 618*. -d’Inde, 618. -de Jamaique, 833. Pommier d’Acajou, 381. Pomme zombi, 206. -de liane, 252. -canelle, 351. -poison, 610. -teton, 628. -rose, 842. Pomo da Sina, 363. Pompelmouse ou Pompoleon, 366. Pompelmouse a grappe, 366*. Poudre aux vers, 604. Pourpier, 423. Pourpier des bois, 453. Prune coton, 470. Prunes de Cythere, 385. Prunier icaque, 470. Quebec, 771. Queue de Lezard, 456. -, petite, 453. Queue de rat, 146. Quingambo, 300. Quigombo, 300. Racine a moussa, 115. Raisinier de la mer, 426. -de coudre, 429. -de montagne, 429. Raiz de pipi, 333. -preta, 873. Ramboustan, 383. Raquette, la, 852. Rebenta cavallos, 771. Renoncule des Savanes, 168. Reseda des Antilles, 573. Rhubarbe blanche, 433. Robinier a fleurs violettes, 524. Roble amarillo, 681. Ronce d’Amerique, 855. Rosa de Monte, 538. Rosade, 842. Rose changeante de Cayenne, 298. Roucouyer, 246. Saffran de terra, 113. Sagonier, 175. Saint Dom, 727. Salsa, 886. Sapotiller commun, 584. -marron, 586. Sappadille, 353. Sarriette, 703. -, grande, 690. Sauge de montagne, 712. Savonnier, 330. Scammonee d’Amerique, 433. Sesame Jugeoline, 730. Soldanelle, 656. Sorossi, 228. Spirito santo, el, 130. Sureau plantain, 456. Tabac, 609. Tabac du diable, 782. Tamarinier, 539. Tayova, 62. The des Antilles, 763. The de la Martinique, 763. Thibe des ruisseaux, 771. To'ides, 437. Tomates a cotes, 636. Topinambour, 117, 796. Toque pourprin, 704. Tous les mois, 122. Trompette a Mari-Barou, 613. Tue-cochon, 895. Urucueira, 246. Uvero, 426. Verdier, petit, 787. Vermillon-plante, 434. Verveine a pians, 688. Verveine puante, 333. Volette, 349. Yaba, 525. Zapane de Jamaique, 710. Z’erbe a bordures, 195. Z’erbe a calalou, 273. INDEX TO THE GENERA OF FLOWERING PLANTS. [The numbers refer to those in the Catalogue.] Abrus, 522. Acacia, 548. Achras, 584. Aconitum, 358. Acrocomia, 77. Adansonia, 280. Adenanthera, 545. Adenoropium, 210. zEgiphyla, 725. yEsclivnoniene, 503. Agati, 481. Agave, 96. Ageratum, 774. Agrostis, 32. Aletris, 88. Alisma, 167. Allamanda, 589. Allium, 156. Alloplectus, 732. Aloe, 152. Alpinia, 114. Althaea, 293. Amarantlius, 439. Amaryllis, 89. Ammania, 571. Amyris, 375. Anacardium, 381. Ananassa, 81. Andira, 525. Andropogon, 26. Anethura, 888. Angelonia, 761. Anona, 351. Aphelandra, 748. Apium, 885. Arachis, 485. Ardisia, 672. Argemone, 359. Argyreia, 662. Aristolochia, 894. Artemisia, 810. Artocarpus, 192. Arum, 61. Arundo, 40. Asclepias, 639. Asparagus, 162. Aster, 779. Atriplex, 447. Aucuba, 891. Avicennia, 728. Baccharis, 783. Badiera, 325. Bambusa, 43. Banisteria, 341. Basella, 458. Batatas, 660. Bauhinia, 541. Begonia, 241. Beta, 450. Beureria, 681. Bidens, 797. Bignonia, 737. Bixa, 246. Boerhavia, 431. 632 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Bombax, 282. Bontia, 727. Borreira, 859. Brassia, 128. Brassica, 267. Bromelia, 82. Browallia, 759. Brownea, 538. Brunsfelsia, 760. Bryonia, 227. Bryophyllum, 260. Bucida, 820. Buddleia, 765. Bumelia, 586. Bunchosia, 340. Burlingtonia, 137. Bursera, 374. Byrsonima, 338. Caesalpinia, 529. Cajanus, 520. Caladium, 63. Calendula, 815. Callisia, 142. Calliopsis, 792. Calopbyllum, 347. Calosanthes, 740. Calotropis, 637. Calyptrantkes, 836. Campanula, 767. Campelia, 145. Canavalia, 515. Canna, 118. Caperonia, 220. Capparis, 275. Capraria, 763. Capsicum, 616. Cardiospermum, 327. Carica, 245. Carolinea, 281. Casearia, 249. Cassia, 531. Catasetum, 135. Ceanothus, 578. Cecropia, 194. Cedrela, 377. Celosia, 444. Cenchrus, 19. Centrosema, 513. Cerbera, 592. Cercis, 544. Cereus, 847. Cestrum, 605. Chenopodium, 449. Chiococca, 873. Chloris, 34. Chomelia, 872. Chrysobalanus, 470. Chrysophyllum, 581. Cicca, 224. Cinnamomum, 467. Cissampelos, 225. Cissus, 361. Citharexylon, 717. Citrus, 362. Cleome, 273. Clerodendron, 720. Clcthra, 373. Clitoria, 512. Clusia, 344. Coccoloba, 426. Cochlearia, 262. Cocos, 80. Coffea, 869. Coix, 31. Commelyna, 140. Comocladia, 379. Conocarpus, 822. Convolvulus, 649. Corchorus, 319. Cordia, 643. Coreopsis, 793. Cosmos, 800. Cratseva, 274. Cremanium, 829. Crescentia, 736. Crinum, 93. Crocus, 99. Crossandra, 747. Crotalaria, 473. Croton, 218. Cucumis, 231. Cucurbita, 237. Cupliea, 572. Curcuma, 113. Cuscuta, 663. Cycas, 175. Cyclamen, 671. Cynanchum, 641. Cynodon, 37. Cyperus, 44. Dactyloctenium, 36. Dahlia, 785. Datura, 610. Daucus, 889. Delphinium, 357. Desmanthus, 546. Desmodium, 506. Dianthus, 418. Dichromena, 56. Dicliptera, 757. Dioscorea, 169. Dodecatheon, 670. Dodonaea, 332. Dolichos, 495. Dracaena, 163. Dryraaria, 422. Duranta, 723. Ecastaphyllum, 523. Echites, 602. Eclipta, 784. Elais, 78. Eleocharis, 54. Elephantopus, 772. Eleusina, 42. Epidendrum, 123. Episcia, 731. Eranthemum, 755. Erechtites, 818. Erianthus, 25. Erodium, 406. Eryngium, 884. Erythrina, 518. Eugenia, 837. Eupatorium, 775. Euphorbia, 196. Euterpe, 71. Evolvulus, 648. Faramea, 870. Ficus, 186. Fimbristylis, 53. Foeniculum, 887. Fuchsia, 825. Garcinia, 346. Gardenia, 881. Gendarussa, 754. Geophila, 868. Geranium, 399. Gesneria, 733. Gloxinia, 735. Gomphrena, 437. Gongora, 132. Gossypium, 305. Gouania, 579. Graptophyllum, 753. Guajacum, 397. Guazuma, 286. Guettarda, 875. Guilandina, 528. Gustavia, 856. Gynura, 812. Ilaematoxylon, 526. Heckeria, 454. Hedera, 890. Hedyotis, 574. Hedysarum, 511. Helianthus, 794. Heliconia, 107. Heliopsis, 790. Heliotropium, 684. Helleborus, 356. Hernandia, 464. Heterospermum, 804. Hibiscus, 294. Ilippomane, 206. Hoya, 642. Hura, 205. Hydrangea, 570. Ilymenaea, 540. Hypericum, 348. Ilyptis, 691. Iberis, 263. Impatiens, 398. Indigofera, 477. Inga, 552. Ipomea, 651. Iris, 101. Isotomo, 771. Ixora, 871. Jacaranda, 742. Jacquinia, 673. Jambosa, 842. Jasminum, 674. Jatropha, 213. Juniperus, 179. Jussisca, 823. Justicia, 749. Kallstrcemia, 395. Kerria, 569. Kyllingia, 52. Lablab, 502. Lacluca, 819. Lagenaria, 230. Lagerstrcemia, 575. Lantana, 712. Latania, 72. Lathyrus, 483. Lavandula, 694. Lawsonia, 573. Leonotis, 709. Leonurus, 706. Lepidium, 266. Leptochloa, 38. Leucas, 708. Lobelia, 769. Lonchocarpus, 524. Lonicera, 882. Lourea, 505. Lucuma, 585. Lupinus, 471. Lycopersicum, 636. Maclura, 185. Malachra, 317. Malpigliia, 334. Mammea, 345. Mangifera, 380. Manihot, 214. Maranta, 115. Marica, 104. Martynia, 729. Maxillaria, 134. Melia, 378. Melicocca, 331. Melocactus, 846. Melochia, 288. Melothria, 226. Mentha, 695. Mesembryauthemum, 459. Mikania, 776. Mimosa, 547. Mirabilis, 432. Mitracarpum, 861. Mogiphanes, 438. Momordica, 228. Moringa, 257. Mucuna, 516. Murray a, 372. Musa, 108. Myginda, 580. Myrcia, 835. Myristica, 224*. Myrodia, 284. Myrtus, 834. Nasturtium, 261. Nelumbium, 350. Nepeta, 705. Nerium, 600. Neurolaena, 782. Nicotiana, 609. Nympha;a, 349. Ochroma, 283. Ocimum, 689. ffinothera, 824. Oncidium, 126. Opuntia, 852. Oreodaphne, 468. Oreodoxa, 70. Origanum, 701. MARINE SPONGES. 633 Palicourea, 862. Pancratium, 98. Pandanus, 69. Panicum, 4. Parkia, 555. Parkinsonia, 527. Parthenium, 787. Pascalia, 791. Paspalum, 1. Passiflora, 251. Paullinia, 328. Pectis, 773. Pedilanthus, 195. Pelargonium, 407. Peperomia, 451. Pereskia, 855. Peristeria, 130. Persea, 465. Petitia, 716. Petiveria, 333. Petraea, 724. Petroselinum, 886. Petunia, 607. Pharbitis, 661. Pharus, 29. Phaseolus, 486. Phoenix, 76. Phyllanthus, 222. Physalis, 614. Phytolacca, 434. Pimenta, 833. Piper, 456. Pisum, 482. Pistia, 59. Pitcairnia, 85. Plantago, 666. Plumbago, 664. Plumieria, 596. Poa, 41. Polianthes, 150. Pontederia, 165. Portlandia, 877. Portulaca, 423. Pothos, 146. Primula, 667. Priva, 711. Prunus, 556. Psidium, 830. Psychotria, 865. Punica, 844. Pyrethrum, 808. Quamoclit, 659. Quassia, 394. Randia, 878. Raphanus, 271. Rauwolfia, 590. Reseda, 272. Rhapis, 74. Rhizophora, 826. Rhvnchosia, 521. Ricinus, 216. Riedleia, 289. Rivina, 435. Rodriguezia, 136. Rosa, 558. Rosmarinus, 700. Roumea, 247. Ruellia, 744. Rumex, 430. Russelia, 762. Ruta, 387. Sabal, 73. Sabinea, 479. Saccharum, 24. Sagittaria, 168. Salvia, 698. Sambucus, 883. Samyda, 248. Sanse viera, 151. Sapindus, 330. Sapium, 207. Sarcostemma, 640. Satureja, 703. Scleria, 57. Scoparia, 764. Scutellaria, 704. Sechium, 240. Securidaca, 326. Senecio, 813. Sesamum, 730. Sesbania, 480. Sesuvium, 463. Sida, 311. Siderodendrum, 874. Sinapis, 269. Sisyrinchiura, 100. Smilax, 173. Solandra, 613. Solanum, 626. Solidago, 781. Sonchus, 817. Sorglium, 21. Specularia, 768. Spermacoce, 857. Spigelia, 604. Spinacia, 448. Spondias, 383. Stachys, 707. Stachytarpheta, 710. Stanhopea, 131. Stenorhynchus, 125. Stillingia, 208. Stylosanthes, 484. Swietenia, 376. Synedrella, 803. Tabernaemontana, 594. Tagetes, 805. Tamarindus, 539. Tecoma, 741. Tectona, 715. Teramnus, 514. Terminalia, 821. Tetragonia, 462. Tetrazygia, 827. Theobroma, 285. Thespesia, 304. Thrinax, 75. Thuja, 181. Thunbergia, 743. Thymus, 702. Tiaridium, 688. Tigridia, 103. Tillandsia, 87. Tournefortia, 682. Tradescantia, 143. Tragia, 209. Trichosanthes, 239. Triopteris, 343. Triphasia, 371. Triumfetta, 323. Tropaeolum, 290. Tulipa, 149. Tussilago, 778. Typlia, 60. Urtica, 182. Vanilla, 138. Varronia, 646. Verbesina, 802. Vigna, 494. Vinca, 593. Viola, 258. Viscum, 892. Vitis, 360. Volkameria, 719. Waltheria, 287. Xanthoxylon, 388. Xylophylla, 221. Yucca, 154. Zamia, 177. Zea, 30. Zingiber, 112. Zinnia, 788. Zizyphus, 577. MARINE SPONGES. The extreme difficulty of pointing out the exact limits of the division between animal and vegetable life in the lowest structures of organized bodies has already been alluded to. The error of former philosophers, who pretended that the boundaries which separated the plant from the animal were so well-defined that the distinction was rendered obvious, has become evident by the advance of science, and I believe that the idea of a chain of beings where all created substances pass by insensible de¬ grees from the simplest to the most complicated forms, has been revived, and finds at present a more general adoption than twenty years ago. We have already alluded to the doubts which exist whether the Dia- tomacece are of vegetable or animal origin; this however is not the only 634 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. instance in which near the limits of the great division of organized bodies our doubts are raised whether we Bee a plant or an animal before us; and this does not solely refer to microscopic animalcules, but applies likewise to more perceptible bodies; and as suchlwill instance the Sponges. Dr. Johnston was one of the first who adopted the opinion that the River Sponge (Spongilla fluviatilis) is a vegetable production, and the re¬ searches of Hogg and Ehrenberg remove all doubts that the marine sponges (Spongia marina) are of the same origin. Professor Ehrenberg observes that his numerous examinations of sponges from all seas and all geologi¬ cal formations where they had hitherto occurred, made him acquainted with hundreds of forms, doubtless of a regular structure and easy of re¬ cognition, but never with such forms as indicated development of organi¬ zation. Sponges exhibit no signs of sensibility; nor did Mr. John Hogg during his investigations observe any trace of animal organization, or the least symptom of sensation, or any powers of contraction and dilatation in Spongilla fluviatilis. Being convinced by his researches of the vegetability of the River Sponge, he began to examine many of the Spongia marina , and found on comparison that there is scarcely even a generic difference between Spongilla and many of the Spongia. The vegetable nature of these substances is now very generally acknowledged among naturalists. Mr. Hogg, considering to what order of plants the freshwater and the sea sponges should be referred, proposed to classify them in a separate order, “ Spongia,” which ought to be placed between the order Fungi and that of the Alga 1 . In Spongia, or as they are named in some systematic works Porifera, the cellular tissue of the body is permeated in all directions by anasto¬ mosing and ramifying ducts, which begin by minute pores closely dis¬ tributed over every part, increasing in size, and leading to orifices on the surface from which water is seen to issue. In Spongia and Ephydatia the fibres are soft, and appear to consist of a jelly-like substance; in the genus Tethya they are stony and diverge from the centre to the circum¬ ference of the mass. The form of the Spongia is irregular or branched, that of the latter ( Tethya ) globular. They assume a great variety of shapes, resembling tubes, fans, shrubs, vases, &c. The following occur principally in the sea around Barbados:— Spongia tubseformis, Lam., No. 64. ( Sloane, t. 24. f. 1.) -fistularis, Lam., No. 65. -vaginalis, Lam., No. 68. ( Sloane, t. 24. f. 1.) -xerampelina, Lam., No. 90. -arborescens, Lam., No. 98. 1 Annals of Nat. History, vol. in. p. 461. ANIMATED NATURE. 635 CHAPTER V. ANIMATED NATURE AS DEVELOPED IN BARBADOS. As far as the limits of this work permitted, I have already mentioned in- fusory animalcules in giving a description of the fossil Polycystina. I shall now allude briefly to the succeeding class in the ascending scale, namely. Zoophytes, which obtained their name from an opinion that they were intermediate between animals and vegetables. We meet forms among these remarkable submarine bodies which would cause us to doubt at first sight whether we see the petrified branch of a tree before us, or the production of minute animals. If our eye could penetrate to the submarine regions, we should there observe structures similar to our meadows, groves and forests in colour and appearance; we should observe forms which cover the bottom of the sea with a luxuriance, which persons unacquainted with the fact, fancy belongs only to regions warmed by the congenial rays of the sun; indeed, to use the words of the poet,— “ There with a slight and easy motion, The fan-coral sweeps through the clear deep sea, And the yellow and scarlet tufts of ocean. Are bending like corn on the upland sea.” (J. G. Percival.) Instead of leaves and flowers, the coralline groves are clothed with buds or gems. The surface of the branches are enlivened by small animals, provided with several long feelers, now expanding their bodies, then sud¬ denly closing or withdrawing into their cells. In their outward appearance we might compare the ramiferous species to a tree with its numerous branches and interlacing twigs, all arising from a common stem. In the tree, these branches and leaves serve for the nourishment of the individual tree, in the coral it is an assemblage or aggregation of individuals, which Professor Forbes has very happily compared to the commonwealth of bees in their hive, or of termites in their hill. In the coral, each individual is characterized by having a single mouth, provided with tentacula eager to satisfy its appetite, and yet the whole coral-tree is animated by. a common principle of life and growth. If one of the branches of the stony corals is broken off, the rugged and irregular surface will be found covered with a mucous fluid studded with little jelly-like drops. These are the polypi, in that state an unshapen mass; but let them be observed in their element, and when un- 636 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. disturbed, then the stony coral will be seen covered with infinite numbers of animalcules, each issuing from its cell, enjoying the power of voluntary motion, and spreading abroad its feelers in order to seize its prey, while the hinder part still remains attached to its stony house; but on the least approach of danger they suddenly close and withdraw in their habitation. It is obvious then that they possess their movements, their appetites and their instincts. The body of the individual, which is called a polypus from the supposed resemblance of the tentacula or feelers around the central mouth to those of an Octopus (a kind of cuttlefish), is cylindrical or conical. Sometimes the body possesses no other viscus but its cavity; at others a stomach and several organs are clearly visible; and in some instances the viscera of each polypus is enclosed in a double tunic. There is an analogy in the propagation of Zoophytes with some so-called viviparous and bulbous plants of Endogens; little bulbous gems or buds are formed on the branches or between the leaves of a few monocotyledons, which fall off and become individual plants. In the Zoophyte (e. g. Ser- tularia ), variously formed bodies containing ova spring up from the branches at certain periods, which have been called ovigerous vesicles. The ova that are found in these vesicles separate and become conical, and form ultimately a cell which assumes a calcareous consistency, and out of the summit of which the new polypus issues. The Madrepores and Astrceee are the genera which are principally oc¬ cupied in erecting coral reefs. They are generally found in a zone ex¬ tending twenty-eight degrees north and south of the equator. Their northern extremity is Bermuda (in 32° 19' latitude), where most likely the Gulf-stream keeps the surrounding sea at a temperature of 66° or 68° Fahr. I have already stated Mr. Darwin’s opinion that reef-building corals do not flourish at a greater depth than between twenty and thirty fathoms; and Mr. Dana considers that a depth of twenty or perhaps sixteen fathoms will include very nearly all the species of the Madrepore and Astrcea tribes. Temperature has little or no influence in occasioning these limits, as 68° Fahr. will not be found under the equator short of a depth of a hundred fathoms. Light and pressure are most likely the principal causes in the limitation of the depth where they can exist. The geographical distribution of the genera is very curious; according to Mr. Dana, the species of corals in the West Indies are in many respects peculiar, and not one can with certainty be identified with any of the East Indies. Meandrina labyrinthica and As tree a galaxea seem the only two which are to be met with in both hemispheres. The West Indies possess of the tribe Astraacea (Dana) thirty-five genera, of Caryophyllacea ten, and of Madreporacca fifteen. Manicirue, Caryophyllicc and Oculince are more numerous in the West Indies than elsewhere; and the Ctcnophyllice have been found only in that locality. The genus Porites contains several West India species. The beautiful ZOOPHYTES. 637 Seafans and Seafeathers deserve to be especially mentioned, the axis of which is corneous. The species found in the seas near Barbados are chiefly— Gorgonia pinnata, Lam . 1 ft. Cortice purpurascente. The purple Seafan. y. -albido flavescente. The yellow Seafan. cj. -sanguinolente. The red Seafan. The Seafeathers are different species of the genera Veretillum, Plu- mularia and Pennatula ; and the Searods are species of Sertularia and Placomus. The Actinoidea form an order of zoophytes in Mr. Dana’s classifica¬ tion 2 . Cuvier enumerated the genera among his class Acalepha, forming a section of the fourth great division of the animal kingdom, called Radiata. Lamarck places Actinia under the Fistulida, which form the third sec¬ tion of his Radiata. They possess a cylindrical, fleshy and simple body, very contractile, and attached by its base to some other substance, having however the power of removing itself; the mouth is terminal, margined, with one or several rows of radiated tentacula, which the animal is able to withdraw within the orifice, resembling a flower in blossom when dilated, and when contracted they possess the form of a globular or oval bulb. The extremity of their body is terminated by a flat disc, in the middle of which is the mouth, around which the tentacula are placed. These rays or feelers are said to possess on their extremity a pore with which they are able to seize their prey as if by suction; and it is likewise asserted that they are able to draw in and eject water through these pores. They fix themselves on rocks, shells, or sand, by means of the flattened part of their body, and so nearly even with the water that they are frequently exposed during a rough sea, but as they have the power to remove themselves they can easily avoid the contact with the air, and may select a deeper place. If an Actinia be cut in several pieces it is asserted that every piece continues to live separately and to develope itself into a new Actinia 3 . During sunny weather they extend their body and spread out their rays resembling the petals of the marigold, and their fine attenuated ends are in constant play; but upon the slightest approach of danger or a ripple of the water they are withdrawn, the whole body contracts sud¬ denly, and the extremity folds itself inwardly as if it were in a sheath. This movement, which is likewise observed in Holothuria, takes place 1 Other species of the genus Gorgonia which are found in the West Indian archi¬ pelago are Gorgonia Jlavida, hammomella, Richardii, lima, clavaria, mammosa, mu- ricata, &c. 3 James D. Dana on the Geographical Distribution and Classification of Zoophytes. 3 Lamarck doubts this in some respect, but I have heard it asserted as a well-known fact by the fishermen in the Virgin Islands. 638 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. frequently, and with much rapidity. They live upon small shrimps, minute crabs, and medusae, which they seize with their feelers, and keep them in their stomachs for ten or twelve hours, after which the indi¬ gestible parts are ejected. They frequently seize medusae much larger than themselves. The fishermen, who are well acquainted with their manner, are able to predict, from the state in which their rays are un¬ folded entirely or partly, whether fair or bad weather, and a smooth or a rough sea is to be expected: indeed they serve these people as a barometer. The following species of Actinia, or Animal flowers, have been observed around Barbados :— Actinia annulata, Lesueur (its length is from 2 to 3 inches, and its breadth from 2 to 3 lines), and Actinecta olivacea, Lesueur. In the genus Zoanthus several bodies adhere to a tubular root common to all. The animal is about two inches long, and is permanently fixed, e.g. Zoanthus socialis, Lesueur, Zoanthus Solanderi, &c. Mammillifera auricula and M. nymphaa, Lesueur, are likewise found among the coral reefs on the windward shore. Closely allied to Actinia are the Holothuria, known under the name of Marrow Puddings or Sea-suckers. Sipunculus is called by the fishermen of Barbados Sea-cow 1 . They belong to the class Echinodermata, tribe Fistulida, and are covered with a thick coriaceous skin, which, by means of longitudinal and circular bands of muscular fibres, the animal can shorten or lengthen. The Holothuria are of a cylindrical form, tapering towards the end, dark brown, and have received their common name from their resemblance to a black pudding. The Sipunculus edulis, which is con¬ sidered a great delicacy in Java and China, is of a flesh colour. The Medusa are those remarkable bodies which we see floating about on the surface of the sea, and which are better known under the name of Sea-nettles or Blubber; the Velella mutica, or Sally-man, and V. tropica, with bluish membrane, belong to this section. Different species of Medusa are highly phosphorescent, and the luminous appearance of sea¬ water is ascribed to immense numbers of microscopic species floating on the surface of the sea, chiefly in warmer climes. The pretty Portuguese Men-of-war belong likewise to this order; the one margined red is Physalia pelagica, and the other margined blue, P. tuberculosa. The French call them Gallere or Fregate. The Sea Stars or Star-fish ( Stellerida ) consist of bodies divided into angles or arms, furnished with numerous retractile tentacula. They have their mouth in the centre, and placed downwards. The Asteria tessellata and Asteria rubens, the latter with five lobes or rays, inhabit almost all seas. The Sea-spider or Sea-scorpion of Hughes is Ophiura echinata, Lam., and the Caput Medusae, Euryale caput Medusa. The Sea-eggs or Sea-urchins ( Echinus ) are covered by a hard and cori- 1 I need scarcely observe that the true sea-cow is a cetaceous animal, and belongs to the genus Manatus (M. americanus). INSECTS. 639 aceous skin. The shell is spherical, and consists of polygonal plates, fitting closely to each other, and is covered with many spines or prickles, by means of which they are able to move from place to place. The mouth is seated in the under surface. They are used as an article of food by all classes in Barbados, and are considered in season when they are with ovula or spawn. The eggs are of a red appearance, and gra¬ nular ; and according to the fishermen, who ascribe great powers to the influence of the moon, they are better tasted in the full than in the wane of that luminary. The great black shooting Sea-egg is Echinus esculentus. Hughes re¬ lates that this species is able to dart its large prickles with such violence that he has known the animal to strike or dart them through the thick fleshy part of the toe-nail of a fisherman: this assertion wants to be confirmed before we can adopt it. They frequent mostly the bottom of fine sandy bays, where they are found in seven to eight feet of water. The E. esculentus is very abundant on the north-eastern coast of the island, near Conset’s Bay. The other species of sea-eggs about Barbados are Echinus variegatus, Lam., E. ventricosus, E. Maugei, &c. The closely allied Spatangus Atropos, Lam., is the “ tete de mort,” or death’s head. The shells of Echinanthus are of an irregular figure, somewhat flat, and resemble a buckler. The concave surface is divided by punctures into the appearance of five narrow rosaceous leaves, which terminate at the mouth in the centre. The whole of the surface is marked with small depressions of a circular form, with central tubercles, and covered with very small spines. The species are known in Barbados by the name of the Plate- fish or flat Sea-eggs. INSECTS. There is a rule which we see pervading the wonderful works of crea¬ tion—that the nobler the animal, the more slow is its production. It appears as if nature acted with a kind of dignified economy in the de¬ velopment of the higher ranks of animal life, while she is lavish in the production of the lower forms. This observation refers likewise to insects ; their number in some instances almost surpasses belief. The female of the white ant is said to lay no fewer than forty or fifty millions of eggs in a year, and Aleyrodes proletella, a small hemipteron, two hundred thousand. Their amazing number is also an argument of their imperfection, and they present in their formation no internal skeleton, a body covered by a coriaceous or membranous integument, and divided into three distinct sections, namely the head provided with two antennae, the thorax with six articulated legs, and the abdomen. Their nervous system is composed of ganglions ; they possess an imperfect circulating system, respiration by means of tracheae communicating with the air by stigmata, and are oviparous. They pass through several transformations and changes, called their metamorphoses. Some authors have called them Annulata, I 640 HISTORY OP BARBADOS. and they are even now sometimes described as annulose animals, in con¬ sequence of having their body divided across into a greater or smaller number of rings or segments. They are at present divided into five great classes,namely, l.Annclides, such as leeches and earthworms; 2. Crustacea, such as lobsters and crabs; 3. Araclinides, such as spiders and scorpions; 4. Myriapodes, such as scolopendrae or centipedsj 5. Insecta, containing beetles, butterflies, &c. In the cursory view which I purpose to take of this class, it is my object, without entering into a classification, to give merely an account of the greater part of those insects which are either dreaded for the injury which they commit, or which as parasites upon man or as blood-suckers, become noxious. It has been proved that the greater number of animals derive their nutriment originally from the vegetable kingdom, but in no class is this more evident than among insects. Even in Europe, where attempts have been made to stem by a high cultivation and often-repeated assiduity the depredation which insects commit upon plants, it has not been possible to prevent the serious damage which they commit upon the fruits of human industry; but their devastations under the tropics are frequently terrible, while others as an annoyance to man are really dreaded, and have ren¬ dered certain places uninhabitable. Among the class of injurious insects the following species occupies a prominent place:— The Sugar Ant. Formica omnivora, Linn., Myrmica omnivora, Latr. It is recorded by Oviedo and Herrera 1 , that the whole island of Hispaniola was almost abandoned in consequence of a species of ant which in 1518 and the two succeeding years overran that island, devouring all vegetation and causing famine to the inhabitants, which nearly depo¬ pulated the Spanish colony 2 . A tradition prevails in Jamaica, that the town of Sevilla Nueva, which was founded by Esquivel in the commence¬ ment of the sixteenth century, was entirely deserted for a similar reason. Innumerable ants which destroyed all the provision-grounds of the in¬ habitants, produced great scarcity, which event, it is said, occurred about the same time that these minute animals committed their ravages in Hispaniola. They showed themselves about 1760 in Barbados, and caused such devastation that “it was deliberated whether that island, formerly so flourishing, should not be deserted 3 .” Martinique was visited by these ants in 1763 4 . They made their appearance in the island of Grenada about the year 1770 on a sugar-plantation at Petit Havre, where they 1 Herrera, Dec. ii. 3-14. 3 Ilerrera relates that in order to get rid of these scourges, great processions and vows were made in honour of St. Saturnin; the day of the Saint was celebrated with great solemnities, and the ants disappeared afterwards gradually. 3 Dr. Coke’s West Indies, vol. ii. p. 313. 4 In Jamaica this destructive insect was called Raffles’s ant, and it was said that a certain Thomas Raffles had brought it accidentally from the Ilavanna. THE SUGAR ANT. 641 were supposed to have been brought from Martinique in some vessel employed in smuggling. Barbados, Grenada and Martinique suffered more than any other island from this plague. In Grenada every sugar- plantation between St. George’s and St. John’s, a space of about twelve miles, was destroyed in succession, and the country was reduced to a state of the most deplorable desolation. Their numbers were so immense that they covered the l’oads for many miles together; and so crowded were they in many places, that the impressions made by the feet of horses which travelled over them would remain visible for a moment or two, until they were filled up by the surrounding swarms. It was observed that these ants made their nests only under the roots of such trees and plants as could not merely protect them from heavy rains, but at the same time, being firmly fixed in the ground, afforded a secure basis agaiilst any injury occasioned by the agitation of the usual winds. The sugar-cane possessed these qualifications in a very great degree, for a stool 1 of canes is almost impenetrable to the rain, and is firmly fixed to the ground 2 . The trees of the orange-tribe afforded these insects similar advantages from the great number and quality of their roots, \Vhile those of the coffee, cacao, plantains, &c., being less numerous and incapable of giving protection, were not molested. It did not appear, according to Mr. Castles, that these ants fed on any part of the canes or the leaves of the trees, as no loss of substance in either the one or the other had ever been observed; nor had they ever been seen carrying off vegetable mat¬ ter of any sort. It is therefore concluded that the roots were injured by them so as to be incapable of performing their office of supplying nourishment to the plants, which became sickly and stinted and ultimately perished. The sickly canes, during the prevalence of this plague in the islands, did not afford juices fit for making sugar in either tolerable quantity or quality. The insect is the Formica omnivor a, Linn. 3 ; its size varies much; the size of some is scarcely a line, and others are nearly four lines in length. They are of a dark brown colour, somewhat shining, slightly covered with hair, the head large, flatly arched, and rounded towards the upper portion. On each side of the head is a minute flat eye, scarcely observable; an- 1 The assemblage of the numerous roots from whence the stem or cane arises, is called the stool. 2 Mr. John Castles, a planter of Grenada, who sent a description of the Sugar Ant to General Melville, which was read before the Royal Society in 1790, says with regard to the impermeability of the roots of the sugar-cane by rain, “ Thus when every other part of the field is drenched with rain, the ground under those stools will be found quite dry.” 3 “Formica: obscure-brunnea; capite magno; ocidis minimis, vix conspicuis; thorace tuherculato, petiolo binodoso.” Dr. Pohl und v. Kollar, ‘ Brasiliens vor- ziiglich lastige Insekten.’ 2 T 042 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. tennse arc placed in two notches immediately over the upper lip, and con¬ sist of one long and eleven very small joints. The most important parts of this insect with which they commit so much devastation, are the mandibles, which are very strong, corneous, broad, arched outwardly, and sharply dentated on the interior side. The collar is laterally compressed, arched above and divided into two segments, of which the anterior is larger, and the posterior provided with a small knot. The peduncle which con¬ nects the abdomen with the thorax consists of two rings formed like two flattened scales, laterally compressed and concave above. The abdomen is smaller than the head, oval, and more hairy towards its posterior part. The feet are of a lighter colour than the body, and are very long; there is a small spine on the lower part of the tibia. When a number of them were rubbed together between the palms of the hands, they emitted a strong vitriolic sulphureous smell. It is asserted that they feed entirely on animal substances; for if a dead insect, or animal food of any sort was laid in then’ way, it was immediately carried off. Carcases were attacked as soon as they became putrid, so as that they could separate the parts, and soon disappeared. But they likewise attacked living animals; I have been assured that it was with the greatest difficulty that the young of any animal could be raised at that period. Calves, pigs, and chickens when in a helpless state were attacked, and their eyes, nose, and mouths being filled with large numbers of these ants, they perished, when not timely assisted. It became necessary to guard the eyes of the cattle and other animals by a circle of tar; without this precaution numbers were blinded. It is even asserted by Dr. Coke that the greatest precaution was requisite to prevent their attacks on men who were afflicted with sores, on women who were confined in childbed, and on children that were unable to assist themselves 1 . It may there¬ fore he supposed that every exertion was made to put a stop to the ravages of these insects. Poison and fire, although they proved not entirely effectual, checked the rapidity of their increase. Arsenic and corrosive sublimate were mixed with such animal substances as they had been ob¬ served most greedily to devour. Corrosive sublimate appeared to have the effect of rendering them outrageous, and they attacked and destroyed each other. But still more remarkable was the destruction of great numbers by fire. It was found that where wood was burnt to the state of charcoal, without flame, and immediately taken from the fire, and laid in their way, they extinguished the burning coals by the amazing numbers which rushed upon it. Mr. Castles says,— “ This part of their history appears scarcely credible, but on making the experiment myself, I found it literally true. I laid fire as above described, 1 Dr. Coke’s West Indies, vol. ii. p. 313. THE GREAT-HEADED ANT. 643 where there appeared but few ants, and in the course of a few minutes thousands were seen crowding to it and upon it, till it was perfectly covered by their dead bodies. Holes were therefore dug at proper distances in a cane piece, and fire made in each hole: prodigious quantities perished in this way; for those fires when extinguished, appeared in the shape of mole hills from the numbers of their dead bodies heaped on them.” The destruction of myriads in this way seemed nevertheless to make but little impression, and the devastation continued. In 1776 the Go¬ vernment of Martinique offered a reward of a million of their currency for a remedy against this plague l , and the Legislature of Grenada offered £20,000 for the same object; but all attempts proved ineffectual, until the hurricane in 1780 effected what human power had been unable to accomplish. The Sugar Ant disappeared before the violence of this tornado. It has been asserted that this insect had been brought to Barbados from Tobago in some mould imported by Mr. Gidney Clarke, owner of the Bell Plantation. In 1814 they again made their appearance with considerable injury in many districts to the vegetable productions and feathered stock, but they did not continue long 2 . They are still to be found in Barbados, but only in small numbers. The Cushi or Great-headed Ant is no less destructive than the former. This insect, which is the Formica cephalotes of Fabricius, attacks trees in such large numbers that a day is sufficient to deprive the most um¬ brageous one of all its leaves. It is curious to watch their proceedings; while some ascend the tree and commence biting off with their strong mandibles pieces perhaps a third of an inch in length, which they allow to drop on the ground, others stand ready to receive them, and seizing these pieces at one end they are raised over their head and carried to their burrows, where they use the leaves to line their subterranean galleries and chambers. The path which they have made from their nest to the tree which is selected for their depredation, is perfectly smooth, and sometimes six inches broad and forty to fifty yards in length. They do not content themselves with biting off the leaves of trees, but they attack alike the leaves of the sweet potato, the cassada and other vegeta¬ bles 3 ; indeed, as already observed, I know instances in Guiana where they have actually caused the settler to abandon his abode, as these destroyers frustrated all his labours to raise vegetables for his sustenance. Their bite is very painful and causes slight inflammation. This ant is 1 Code de la Martinique, tom. ii. No. 506. 2 Dr. Collyns’s MSS. 3 They are very fond of Indian corn, and they deprived us during our expedition in the interior of Guiana, sometimes in one night, of such quantities of our stock, that I would have disbelieved it had I not seen myself the quantity which they carried away. 2 t 2 644 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. easily recognized by its large head, which has behind two spines, and the thorax is provided with four spinous processes 1 . A small red ant causes by its bite a very severe pain, which lasts for several hours. The pain is no doubt increased by a caustic secretion which the ant emits, and which flows into the wound. Hughes observes if they are killed and rubbed upon the skin they raise a blister, which is evidently a sufficient proof that the caustic juice causes the greater pain. The ant is described by Kollar as Formica caustica. The Sugar Ant, which will creep through the smallest crevices in order to get to the sugar, is Formica saccharivora. An insect of a different description, which commits great destruction to the timber in houses, is the Wood Ant, White Ant, or Wood Lice, a species of Termes (Termes devastans, Kollar). They are so destructive, that if their ravages are not stayed, they will in a few years destroy the roof of a house ; their nests, which are very large and of an oval shape, are attached to trees or the rafters of houses: vaulted galleries lead from thence to other parts of the tree, where such a nest has been built into the branches, and from thence to the ground and to vast distances, for the purpose of invading houses and stores, where they have been known to destroy whole bales of goods, books, &c. The nest and these galleries are constructed of a substance consisting of clay and woody fibre, worked up in their mouths to the consistence of mortar. The White Ants are chiefly troublesome during the rainy season. The only means of destroy¬ ing them is arsenic, as the destruction of their nests does not prevent their rebuilding them. If the poison is introduced near the upper end of the nest, it is imbibed by a large number, and those which have been killed are eaten up by the living, and so cause their death. In the neighbourhood of ant-hills, and in some soils in Scotland, a small fragile globular pearl-like substance of a yellow colour is found, which the negroes call Ants’ eggs or Ground Pearls 2 . It possesses a cir¬ cular opening on one side, and breaks easily into thin scales: it is the 1 The scientific description of this destructive insect is as follows:— Order Hymenoptera. Section Aculeata. Fam. Formicid^e. Formica cephalotes, Fabr. Neutra: castaneo-brunnea, pubescens; capite maximo, supra bipartito, postice bispinoso; tubereulis spinosis ; antieis quatuor, posticis duobus. Mas : obscure-brunnea; thorace pilis rufescentibus dense tecto; alis rufescentibus, diaphanis, nervis obscurioribus. Fcemina: castaneo-brunnea, pubescens capite thoraceque bispinosis, alis rufis, diaphanis, nervis obscurioribus. 5 I found these bodies likewise in large numbers in the royal chamber in the large ant-hills which the Termes cumulans, Kollar, erects on the savannahs in the interior of Guiana. These hills are of a pvramidical shape, and often from 10 to 15 feet high. See my Expedition into the Interior of British Guiana, Journal of the Roy. Geogr. Society, vol. vi. THE BORER OR YELLOW BLAST. 645 outward covering or shell of the pupa of a curious insect, which the late Rev. Lansdowne Guilding has described under the name of Margarodes formicarum, without being able to come to a conclusion as to what place in our systems to refer it 1 . It is likewise met with in Antigua, Bahamas, &c., where it is worked by the ladies into purses, and strung into necklaces. Whole bottles full of these ground-pearls were formerly brought to England as a curiosity. When they still contain the animal in its pupa state, they are called live Ground-pearls, and if eaten by poultry in that state death ensues, unless immediate relief be afforded. Dr. Nugent of Antigua relates that vinegar is poured down their throats, which probably dissolves these substances in the crop, and thus removes the distension they had occasioned. The sugar-cane plant is subjected to the ravages of various insects, and whole fields have been completely destroyed by their voracity, and the hopes of the planter disappointed. One of the most destructive and common enemies to the sugar-cane is the Borer or the Yellow Blast, the small grub of a moth described by the Rev. Lansdowne Guilding under the name of Diatraa sacchari. It belongs to the order Lepidoptera, Fain. Pyralidce of Leach, and is chiefly injurious in the caterpillar state when it burrows into and feeds upon the centre of the stems. The moth is of a straw colour, the upper wings dirty ochre with two blackish oblique lines; one black dot in the centre, and several on the margin; lower wings and feet pale yellow. The larva or caterpillar is yellowish spotted with black, rather hairy, head and neck ferruginous, dorsal line yellowish, lateral spots lucid; thoracic feet six, abdominal eight, anal two; body much lengthened. Mr. Guilding, who received the prize medal of the Society of Arts for his essay on the insects injurious to the sugar-cane, observes that this production, so valuable to the planter in all its parts, is never exempt from this dreaded pest, chiefly in the drier colonies, where they have been known to blast the hopes of the year, to destroy whole acres of canes, and ruin the unfortunate planter. From long-continued experience Mr. Guilding discovered that they may be almost entirely ex¬ pelled if the canes are carefully stripped of the dry and useless leaves, under which, as they become loose, the female Borer deposits her eggs. It has been observed that the Borer commits more injury among plants than among ratoon-canes, which of course should be oftener visited, in order to strip them of their dry and withering leaves. A single cane will sometimes nourish several of the Borer worms, which perforate every joint and cause the pithy centre to become discoloured and sour, in which state they not only yield nothing at the mill, but communicate a dark colour and bad quality to the syrup of the sounder plants. 1 The editor of the Zoological Journal (vol. iv. p. 493) suggests that it possesses considerable affinity with the Parasita of Latreille, including the genera Pediculus and Ricinus, alternately referred by that great entomologist to the Arachnida and Insecta. 646 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. The Calandra palmanim, Fabr., the larva of which is known in the island under the name of Grougrou-worm, is sometimes injurious to the plants newly stuck in the ground, to which the female is allured by the juices which arc exuded. They sometimes attack the joints or juncks so vigorously, that a fresh planting becomes necessary. They seldom de¬ posit their eggs in the full-grown sugar-cane, preferring to lay them in the trunks of palms, chiefly in the Maccaw tree ( Acrocomia fusiformis ), which has hence received the name of Grougrou-palm. The larva roasted is considered by some of the creoles a great delicacy: it resembles in taste the marrow of beef-bones 1 . Another species of the same genus, called the Large Borer ( Calandra sacchari, Guilding), confines itself principally to such canes as have been slightly injured, though it sometimes attacks the more vigorous plants, which it excavates to the very ground. The passage which it has made in its destructive course is filled up with excrements resembling grains. The perfect insect is generally met with in decayed vegetable matter; it is of a blackish colour, and its body is six-tenths of an inch in length : there is a variety of a chestnut red. As the beetle is of considerable size, it ought to be sought for and destroyed 2 . After the hurricane in 1831, an insect showed itself in the sugar-cane fields in the quarters of St. Andrew and St. Patrick in Grenada, which multiplied rapidly and committed such ravages, that in some instances the estates lost half their crop of sugar. The insect which was called in Grenada Puceron, Yine-fretter, and in other islands the Blast, Blight or Cane-fly, belongs to the order Hemiptera, section Homoptera, genus Ci¬ cada. Mr. Westwood has described it in the following words :— “Delphax saccharivora, Westwood; length of body If line with ex¬ panded wings 4f lines (allied to Delphax marginata and pellucida). Head, thorax and abdomen pale yellowish-green ; the latter clothed at the extremity with a white downy secretion: head produced in front into a short narrow nasus; clypeus beneath 3-carinated; eyes brown with a notch beneath to receive the base of the antennae (which are of a pale green colour with a dark line in front, and which are not quite so long as the head), with the basal joint half the length of the second; the ter¬ minal joint is a slender seta; rostrum extending to the base of the middle legs; upper wings ample, much longer than abdomen, nearly transparent and almost colourless; the inner margin slightly tinged with yellowish; nerves pale green, the second apical nerve alone (and not the second and 1 The Cossus of the Greeks and the Romans, which at the period of their extrava¬ gance and luxury were introduced as a great delicacy on the tables of the rich, was the larva of a large beetle which lived in trees and was brought from Persia and Meso¬ potamia. Keferstein considers it to have been the larva of a species of Calandra. 2 For a full scientific description of these insects by the Rev. L. Guilding, see the 46th volume of the Transactions of the Society of Arts. THE CANE-FLY OR BLIGHT. 647 fourth as in our allied British species) forked; under wings colourless; legs of a pale dull greenish-yellow, formed for leaping, the anterior part not dilated.” The female, like all other Cicadidce, is furnished at the extremity of the body beneath with a pair of saw-like organs, which are expressly for the purpose of cutting grooves in vegetable productions, in which the eggs are afterwards deposited. This process doubtless interrupts the circula¬ tion of the juices of plants, and proves injurious where these insects are numerous: but this is not the only injury they commit; the under side of the head in all the different stages of its life is provided with a jointed sucker which consists of several fine internal darts, which it thrusts into the leaves or stems of plants, and which is so admirably adapted that they are able to suck up the vegetable juices. It has been observed that these insects regale themselves upon the sweets of the sugar-cane, and from their number literally bleed the plant to death. It attacks the cane in all the stages of its growth, but is more particularly injurious to plants or ratoons when they are young and tender. The female, by means of its ovipositor, makes oblique incisions in the midrib of the cane-leaf in parallel rows, piercing just through the cuticle, in each of which an egg is deposited and covered with a fine cottony matter; these punctures amount from five to fifteen, and each egg is placed transversely with respect to the direction of the fibre of the cane, by means of which they partly overlap the eggs, and afford them in addition to the cotton-like covering, protection against the weather and the depredation of other insects. When they issue from their eggs, the insect appears sluggish and inactive, and is covered with a frothy substance, but after its meta¬ morphosis it becomes lively, and joins in the work of destruction. The surface of the leaf on which they are found is covered with a blackish substance like honey dew, which may have been produced by extravasa¬ tion, or as in the case of Apliidcc and Coccus, it may arise from their ex¬ crements. This matter is insoluble in water, and it closes up therefore the pores of the leaf, and interrupts the respiration. The frothy matter which we meet frequently on the surface of some leaves in England, arises from an insect closely allied to the cane insect, namely the Aphrophora spumaria, or froth-insect (better known by the name of the Cuckoo-spittle). Within the thick white frothy fluid is seated the larva of that Cicada, which un¬ disturbedly sucks its nutriment from the plant and ejects the superfluous matter. The perfect winged insect has no longer the frothy matter around it, it flies to meet its mate and propagate its kind. If therefore it be destroyed in its larva state, the propagation cannot take place. As previously observed, it is more particularly injurious to plants or ratoons when they are young and tender; and as in that state they are easily 618 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. inspected, children might be employed to rid the leaves of the larva, which in consequence of the frothy covering might be easily detected. Although they are generally to be found on the sugar-cane, they do not exclusively con¬ fine themselves to it;—as reported in the ‘ Magazine of Natural History/ they are likewise found sometimes on grass, chiefly Paspalum distichum. More recently two other insects have shown themselves highly injurious to the sugar-cane, which apparently belong to the Aphisidce and Coccida. With respect to the injury committed by the latter, which is sometimes called the Cane insect, I insert the following extract from the minutes of the Leeward Agricultural Society, which has been kindly communi¬ cated to me:— “ Mr. Skinner stated that the first appearance of the insect at Black Bess Plantation was in the month of February 1845. The preparation was made in July and August of the previous year, and the plants put in the ground in the following December. The spring of canes was good, but the disease, when it appeared, was general through the estate. The preparation lands had not been ploughed or tilled much, and no guinea coni grown that year, or previously, but the land had been under fallow crops, seven acres being potatoes. “ All trash and tops were left upon the land. The field in which the insect first showed itself was highly manured with stake manure, and a quantity of megass had been carted on the pens. “ The ants followed the insect in great numbers. One field showed spots of diseased plants, alternating with healthy ones, the greater part however of the field being diseased. In another field, trenched deeply both ways, spots of one-eighth and one quarter of an acre died off. A third field, the plants for which had been steeped in warm water at a temperature of 150°, was healthy for the first two months, but after that period exhibited the same appearance as the rest. “ Soot (one hogshead to the acre), guano, weak lime-water, ashes and salt, were all tried, without any favourable effect. A perfectly healthy plant was placed in infected land, and the disease was communicated. “No other plants appeared to be infected. “ Mr. Foderingliam was of opinion that the preparation of the land, and the plants grown in it, occasion the disease. “In 1843 he planted guinea corn, which was cut down, and buried-in the months of September and October, the canes being planted in the following January. At the age of two months, the plants, which had grown at first prettily, exhibited the disease, which was visible from that period to the reaping of the canes. “ Mr. Foderingham expressed his opinion that but for the extensive use of guano he should have got no crop. The discontinuance of guinea corn upon his estate was accompanied bv the disappearance of the insect. “ Dr. Coding was of opinion that the insect is viviparous, and in its habits similar to the hog-louse. It is parasitical, hiding itself in the leaf of the cane, THE COCOA-NUT INSECT. 649 at the point where the horizontal and transverse tubes pass out at the con¬ junction of the leaf and stem, and it is from these tubes probably that it derives its nourishment. “ All the Graminacece appear subject to the attack of the insect. “ Dr. Goding concluded by recommending the application to the land of caustic lime.” This class of insects has unfortunately not restricted its depredations upon the sugar-cane. Previous to the awful hurricane of 1831 the coast regions were studded with cocoa-nut trees; the greater part of which were destroyed during that calamity. The plantations however were newly planted, and in some places, as at Maxwell’s and Fontabelle, the proprietors reaped annually from £300 to £400 from the sale of young cocoa-nuts. About three or four years ago an insect suddenly made its appearance, which lodged itself on the lower part of the leaf, where it found shelter against the inclemency of the weather, and increased most rapidly. It appears that no notice was taken of it in the commencement, when most likely its ravages might have been stayed. To the great astonishment of persons unacquainted with the cause, the lower leaves or fronds of single trees began to turn yellow and wither, and ultimately to fall off; frond after frond followed, until the pyramidical spire only was left; but this likewise began to droop; ultimately the crown fell off and the withered trunk alone remained standing. The disease spread, and began now to attract attention, but it was too late. In the above-mentioned plantations every tree was attacked; neither young nor old were spared, and those planta¬ tions which five years before possessed thousands of trees, had at the , time when the author quitted Barbados not a single healthy tree left. The injury however did not rest here; it gradually spread toward the east, attacking tree after tree. All the remedies used against such ravages of insects proved vain; and it is considered that the only means left to get rid of this plague is to extirpate all the cocoa-nut trees in the island, and by a legislative act to prevent any being planted for several years, until the insect has disappeared. It is distressing to see those majestic trees, at present crownless trunks, offensive to the eye; nor has the insect restricted its ravages to Barbados, but is extending them to Antigua, Nevis, St. Christopher’s, and other islands. Shortly after my arrival in Barbados, I forwarded some specimens of this insect, which I considered to belong to the genus Aleyrodes, to Dr. Lindley, and it has since been described in the 1 Gardeners’ Chronicle ’ of May 2, 1846, under the signature of “ Ruricola,” as Aleyrodes cocois 1 . The correspondent of that useful paper discovered two different kinds of 1 It will be recollected that it has been asserted that a single female of the species Aleyrodes proletella deposits two hundred thousand eggs, and the female of the cocoa-nut insect seems to be equally fertile. 650 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. insects upon the under surface of the leaf, one of which was the species just named, the other a Coccus. Ruricola observes,— “ As insects will remain in an embryo state for long periods, every vestige of the infected trees should be burnt as soon as they are taken down ; and the most diligent search must be made after the Aleyrodes upon plants of the same natural order as the cocoa-nut, to ascertain if there are not colonies established elsewhere. There is the larva of a little beetle, called Scymnus, which destroys the European Aleyrodes, and it is remarkable that no parasitic insect should have appeared to check the increase of the cocoa-nut species; hut this may arise from the disease having been imparted without its usual antidote. Fumigation with sulphur would arrest the plague, if it could he applied; hut then it ought to be done simultaneously to he effective, or else at a season when the insects are inactive.” The orange and lime-trees are likewise subjected to great ravages from the insect tribe. The female of a gall-insect covers itself with a white cotton-like stuff in which it deposits its eggs, to the number of from 150 to 400. The young brood feed on the tender parts of the tree, and multiply so rapidly that they have been known to destroy whole groves of orange-trees. It is a species of Dorthesia resembling D. citris, which in Italy is called Morfea. Coccus adonidum, Linn., is likewise highly injurious. The leaves of the orange-tree are at times marked below by a yellowish somewhat concave spot. This is a certain sign that another small insect has established itself, w r hich belongs to the Coccus tribe. It is of a reddish colour, like C. adonidum. The female deposits its eggs to the number of ten or fifteen in the leaf, and as they multiply very rapidly, they are equally injurious as the other insects. The best remedy is to pluck off the yellow leaves and burn them. Smoking with sulphur appears to have no effect. The leaves of the sweet potatoes suffer greatly from the injury of an Aphis. In no order of insects are vegetable productions used so universally for food as among Lepidoptcra when in their state as larva:. The devastation w r hich the caterpillars commit occasionally are enormous, chiefly when their numbers disproportionately increase. Such an instance show r ed itself in 1846 near Colleton in Barbados. A field of sweet potatoes (Ba¬ tatas edulis ), consisting of about ten acres, w r as deprived of its leaves in one night by a host of caterpillars 1 . After they had eaten off the leaves from that field they left it en masse, and crossed the public road in such bodies as entirely to cover it; thousands were killed by the feet of horses and the wheels of carriages. A heavy rain which occurred at that time swept away whole masses. The author visited the spot about that period, and at a distance of half a mile from the field, he met heaps of the cater- 1 These caterpillars were the lepidopterous larva: of one of the Spliinyidea, pro¬ bably a Cltarocavipa, of which there arc two species, C. Nechus and C. Tlwrates, in Barbados. MOSQUITOS. 651 pillars, which, having been carried, away by the surface water, were lying in the trenches of the road. It is related by Du Tertre, that after the great hurricane in 1657 in Guadaloupe, such a number of caterpillars appeared suddenly that they entirely covered the soil, and eating uj) all vegetation, a great scarcity ensued. The lepidopterous insects, or butterflies and moths, are far from being numerous in Barbados, the reason for which may be the absence of forest. It happens occasionally that one or the other species shows itself in pro¬ digious numbers, but, fortunately for vegetation, this does not occur frequently. Of the nocturnal Lepidoptera of the Antilles generally few have been described, and not one of these is known to be from Barbados. The genera and species which I have identified are the following:— Papilio Polydamas, Linn. Callidryas Marcellina, Fair. Macroglossum Tantalus, Cramer. Callionima Parce, Fabr. Philampelus Lahruscae, Linn. Chserocampa Nechus, Fabr. -Thorates, Hiibn. Anceryx Elio, Linn. -obscura, Fabr. Amphonyx Dupouchelii, Boisd. Urania Sloaneus, Cramer. Empyreuma Pugione, Linn. Euchromia Parthenis, Fabr. Decopeia omatrix, Cramer. Among insects which commit ravages upon wood and timber is a large bee which proves very injurious to wooden houses, the posts of which they bore in various directions : it is the Xylocope Teredo, Guilding. It pierces into the wood first in a horizontal direction, and forms after¬ wards longitudinal excavations, sometimes half an inch in diameter, in which it constructs its nest. The list of those insects which prove an annoyance or are noxious to man is much larger in the tropical than the temperate regions. Some are parasites upon his body, others annoy him as blood-suckers. The voracity and appetite for blood of the Mosquito tribe is surprising in such little insects, and any one who has experienced the torments they inflict in a country where luxuriant vegetation, stagnant waters, a humid air and the absence of a sea-breeze increases their number a thousand¬ fold, will agree with me that they are one of the greatest plagues that beset a traveller in the tropics. Humboldt asserts that in some places a cubic foot of air to the height of three or four toises is often peopled by a million of winged insects 1 ; the inhabitants of Barbados may congratu¬ late themselves that the annoyance they suffer from the Mosquitos in their island is a trifle in comparison to what it is in some parts of Guiana, where the inhabitants pass their lives under “ la plaga del insufrible tor- mento de las moscas 2 .” The insect which is known under the name of 1 A cubic foot contains 2,985,984 cubic lines, and the largest species of the Cidex tribe is 1'8 line long from the head to the extremity of the corselet, without reckon¬ ing the legs. The generality, however, are not half that size. 2 Humboldt’s Personal Narrative, vol. v. p. 100. 652 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Mosquito in the English colonies resembles our gnats or midges (Culex pipiens). In the Spanish provinces however it is called Zancudo, signi¬ fying “ Long-leg;” and the little flies which are known in the English colonies as “ Sandflies/’ on the Spanish main bear the name of Mosquito (a little fly) and belong to the genus Simulium. I have observed three species of Mosquitos in Barbados, namely, the Culex molestus, Roller, C. trifurcatus, and C. pulicaris. The latter possesses longer legs, and its body is larger; it is known under the common name of “ Gallon nipper.” The Sandflies are not less troublesome, but being mostly con¬ fined to the sea-shore, they are more local, and a less general annoyance; but the pain which they inflict is considered by many to surpass that of the Mosquito. Their movements are rapid, and scarcely have they alighted on the hands or face when their object of filling themselves with blood is already accomplished. Their bite leaves a little spot partly raised, which ultimately becomes of a reddish-brown colour, in consequence of the extra- vasated and coagulated blood where their proboscis has pierced the skin. They swarm only during day, and retire at night. There are several species; the most common however is the Simulia pertinax. As connected with noxious insects peculiar to the tropical regions, I would mention the Chigo, Jiger, or Nigua (Pulex penetrans, Linn.), and two species of Ixodes, called vernacularly “ Ticks.” The Chigo resembles in its appearance a small flea 1 , and nestles in the flesh beneath the nails and toes and other parts of the body. It raises great irritation, and may prove dangerous to the limb where their numbers are allowed to increase, as the constant irritation has been known to produce inflammation. The Ixodes or Tick is a small insect which is found jon leaves, in the grass, &c., and which attaches itself by means of its mandibles to the flesh, in which it buries its head so firmly that it is difficult to remove it without tearing off part of the skin. By means of its sucking apparatus it soon fills itself with blood, and rapidly fattens and increases upon it, until it ultimately falls off. Man and beast are subjected to their depre¬ dation ; and even cold-blooded animals are not exempt from them, as to my great astonishment I found the toads, Bufa agua, in Barbados (called Crapeau) covered with a species peculiar to them 2 . The two species which annoy man are Ixodes americanus, Linn., and I. crenatus, Kollar. A species of Ixodes is very frequent in the forests of Guiana, and appears to exude some caustic substance, which coming in 1 It is no doubt a great mistake of authors to place this insect under the genus Pulex, which it resembles in appearance but not in habit. It does not deposit its eggs imder the flesh, but merely matures its brood, which do not pass through a per¬ fect metamorphosis, but issue from the extended membrane or bag which contained them completely formed. 2 This Ixodes is new, and will be described under the name of Ixodes bvfonicola, Schomb., by Mr. Adam White in his forthcoming work, ‘ A Popular Introduction to the study and modern classification of Mites and Spiders.’ NOXIOUS INSECTS. G53 contact with the wound, causes very painful irritation 1 . The bete rouye, which is principally found in grassy spots, attaches itself to the feet and causes great irritation; it is a species of Leptus nearly allied to Agaricus. I would likewise mention here another plague, which although not so frequent in Barbados, I have nevertheless been told occurs occasionally : this is the Mosquito-worm, the larva of a species of (Estrus. This insect, which resembles our Gad-fly, is of the size of a large house-fly, and inserts its eggs under the skin of man when asleep, who does not become aware of it until the grub is matured, and produces painful irritation; if molested it sometimes causes inflammation 2 . The canine race is much subjected to this annoyance; and horses, mules and cattle suffer so severely, that instances are known where these grubs have caused violent inflammation and death. The wound which is inflicted by the American Scorpion ( Scorpio americanus, Linn.) is certainly painful, but by no means fatal, where there are no other circumstances connected with it to render it dangerous, as e. g. a great irritability of the dermoid system, or where the constitu¬ tion is vitiated by excesses. I consider the sting of a wasp as painful as that of a scorpion. The bite of the centipede ( Scolopendra morsitans) causes much more pain and irritation, and produces feverish symptoms. It exudes a caustic substance, and frequently leaves the mark of all its legs on the skin over which it has crawled. These spots assume a brownish colour after the inflammation has subsided, and remain visible for some time. A large hairy spider, which bears the name of the Flat-backed Spider, inflicts bites which are as painful as that of the Scorpion. It is quite different from the great Bird-spider {Mygale Blondii, Latreille), and not so black, nor has it any horny claws on the tarsi like the latter. If it is not identical, it is nearly allied to the Tarantula {Thelyphonusproscorpio, Latr.). Different species of wasps building their nests between the branches of trees and against the rafters in houses, are called here under the vernacular name of Maribonda ; they belong principally to the genus Polystes. The Cockroaches are too well known to deserve a special description. Besides the depredations which they commit upon clothing, books and various other articles, their smell is highly disagreeable, which they com¬ municate to all objects over which they crawl. The common cockroach 1 The author speaks from experience, and bears the scar of the small wound which arose from the bite of one of these insects to this day upon his hand. The pain was more poignant than any other inflicted upon him by noxious insects during his wanderings under the tropics. 2 Several of my travelling companions, during my expeditions in the interior of Guiana, were subjected to this plague, although I myself did not suffer from it. When the larva increases in size, the best remedy is to apply a piece of sticking plaster over it, which closes the pores of the skin and prevents it from getting air. It dies and is afterwards easily pressed out. 654 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. which is chiefly found in dwellings, is Blatta americana, Linn., the species which makes the drumming noise, Blatta gigantea, Linn. The following list contains such insects as have not been mentioned in the previous descriptions, and are curious in appearance or otherwise remarkable. Copris -? The Tumble Turd. Megasoma Titanus. The Rhinoceros Beetle, or great brown Sawyer. Macraspis tetradactyla, Leach. The greater Hardback (the small Hardback is most likely a species of Rutela). Passalus interruptus. The large Borer. Elater ( Pyrophorus ) noctilucus. The large Fire-fly. Lampyris pullens, Fabr. The Fire-fly. Prionus (Stenodontes ) mandibularis. The Macacca Beetle. - longimanus, Fabr. The Capricorn Beetle. Callichroma virens. The Lady Capricorn Beetle. Solenoptera bilineata. The large striped Capricorn. Cassula Jamaicensis. The Jamaica Tortoise Beetle. Cassida bicornis. The Tortoise Beetle. Coccinella Surinamensis. The Surinam Lady’s-bird. Coccinella 7 -punctata. The Lady’s-bird. Cicada septemdecim. The Ringing Cicada. Libellula -- ? The Dragon-fly. Phylloptera myrtifolia. The large Green Grasshopper. Spectrum filiforme, Lam. John Cook’s or Hag’s Horse, Hughes. - ferrula, Lam. The Jessamin Insect, Hughes. Mantisprecaria, Linn. The Praying Mantis. Empusa pectinicornis, Lam. The Wandering Leaf. Phyllium siccifolia. The dry-leaf Insect. Pepsis violacea. The Formidable-Fly (La mouche formidable). Arachnides, or Spiders. Mygale fasciata. The large Bird Spider. Mygale -? The large brown Tarantula. Cteniza nidulans. The black Tarantula, or Trap-door Spider. Epeira clavipes. The large spotted Spider. Phrynus reniformis. The Scorpion Spider. Gasteracantha -?. The Crab Spider. -?. The common House Spider. -?. The long-shanked Spider. Crustacea 1 , Crabs and Lobsters. The following list of Crustacea may be found interesting, as giving a general view of the distribution of this interesting class in the West India 1 I feel sincerely obliged to Adam White, Esq., F.L.S., Assistant to the Zoological Department at the British Museum, for the compilation of the list of Crustacea, which rests chiefly upon the first two volumes of the ‘ Ilistoire des Crustaces ’ of Professor Milne-Edwards, and the ‘ List of the specimens of Crustacea in the collec¬ tion of the British Museum; printed by order of the Trustees in 1847-’ CRABS AND LOBSTERS. G55 archipelago, as far as naturalists are at present acquainted with the species; but when any crustaceologist shall energetically devote himself to the examination of these islands and seas, the species will be perhaps more than quadrupled. It is dangerous in our present far too limited acquaintance with the marine fauna of the West India islands to deduce any results connected with the geographical distribution of this class of animals; it is however Mr. White’s opinion that many of the Crustacea discovered by Say and his correspondents on the southern shores of the United States, will eventually be found in the West Indian archipelago. SPECIES OF CRUSTACEA FOUND AT BARBADOS AND AMONG THE OTHER WEST INDIAN ISLANDS. [An asterisk put before the name indicates the presence of specimens in the Collec¬ tion of the British Museum.] * Leptopodia sagittaria (Fabr.), Leach, Zool. Misc. ii. t. 67. Arana , Parra, Descripcion de differentes Piezas de Historia Natural las mas del Ramo maritimo, Havanna, 1787, t. 56. f. 3. ? *Libinia emarginata, Leach. The female probably of L. canaliculata, Say, subsequently described, is believed to be found in the West Indies as well as in the United States. 1*Lissa chiragra (Herbst), Leach. A specimen, said to be from the West Indies, is in the Museum collection ; it was presented by Mr. Bowerbank ; and there is not much more reason why a Mediterranean species should be occasionally found in the West Indian seas than a West Indian on the coast of Africa, as is the case with Leptopodia sagittaria. * Chorinus keros (Herbst), Leach. From Barbados, Mus. Bell. *Mithrax spinosissimus (Lam.), Edw. Parra, t. 51. f. 1. - verrucosus, Edw. Cangrejo santoya, Parra, t. 44. - aculeatus (Herbst), Edw. Cangrejo espinosa, Parra, t. 47. f. 1. - hispidus (Herbst), Edw. The M. spinicincta, Lam., is regarded by Prof. Edwards as the young of the following species. *Mithraculus coronatus (Herbst), White. This is the M. sculptus (Lam.), Edw., figured in the curious old work of Petiver, Pterigraphia Amer., t. 20. f. 6 : it is a very abundant species. * Paramicippa subclivosa. A new species from St. Christopher’s. *Pericera cornuta (Herbst, “ cornudo ”). The Horned Crab of Hughes, t. 25. f. 3. Cangrejo cornudo, Parra, t. 50. f. 3 ; a very abundant crab. * - trispinosa (Latr.), Guerin, Icon. R. A., t. 8. f. 3. * - heptacantha. Bell, Trans. Zool. Soc. ii. 61. t. 12. f. 6. - bicornuta (Latr.), Edw. * Acanthonyx Petiverii, Edw., Petiver’s Pterigraphia, t. 20. f. 8. *Lambrus crenatus. White. A new species. * - Lupoides, White. A new species. * Partkenope horrida (L.), Fabr. The Lazy Crab, Hughes’s Barbados, t. 25. f. 1. 656 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. * Carpi!ius corallinus (Herbst), Leach. The common Crab, a very handsome and abundant species. Atergatis lobatus (Edw. i. 3/5). *Xantho setigera, Edw. - parvulus (Fabr.), Edw. - mercenarius (Say). A species found abundantly in Carolina, and also suspected to be found in the West Indies. * - denticulata, White. A new species from the West Indies. * Chlorodius longimanus, Edw. * Panopeus Panope (Herbst). P. Herbstii, Edw. *Menippe Rumphii (Fabr.), DeHaan. *Pilumnus spinimanus, White, List of Crust, in Brit. Mus., p. 21. * Platyonychus ocellatus (Herbst), Latr. * Amphitrite diacantha (Latr.), DeHaan. * - cribraria (Lam.). Cangrejos xaivas of Parra. * - trispinosa (Leach, Linn. Trans, xi. 319), White, l. c. 27. *Lupa forceps (Fabr.), Leach. The long-shanked Crab, Browne, t. 41. f. 2. Xaiva de horquilla, Parra, t. 51. f. 3. * Achelous spinimanus (Latr.), DeHaan. And var. Lupa Banksii, Leach, Linn. Trans, xi. 391. * -? ruber (Lam.), White, l. c. 28. *Potamia dentata, Latr. Cancer fluviatilis, Herbst. * Uca cor data, L. (figured by Parra, t. 58). - Icevis, Edw. Perhaps only a variety of preceding. Cardisoma Guanhumi, Latr. The large white Land Crab, the Crabe blanc of Father Labat. Cangrejo terrestre, Parra, t. 57. According to Ed¬ wards, the Ocypode gigantea of Freminville is the female of this species. Gecarcinus ruricola (L.), Leach. Black or Mountain Crab of Sloane, i. t. 2. Cangrejos Ajaes terrestres of Parra. - lateralis, Freminville; Guerin, Icon. R. A. t. 5. f. 1. * Ocypode arenaria, L.; Say ; Catesby, ii. 35. * - rhombea, Edw. * Gelasimus Maracoani, Latr. * Sesarma cinerea (Bose.), Edw. S. reticulata, Say. * - Pisonii, Edw., Crust, ii. 76. t. 19. f. 4, 5. * Goniopsis strigosus, Edw., Crust, ii. 87. t. 29. The Scuttle Crab. * - Grapsus (L.) Cancer ruricola, DeGeer. Grapsus cruentatus, Latr. Grapsus pictus, Traill. Cangrejo de Arrecife, Parra, t. 48. * Planes minutus (L.). The Turtle Crab, Brown, Jamaica, t. 42. f. 1. Nau- tilograpsus, Edw., var. Sloane, ii. t. 245. f. 1. *Plagusia clavimana, Desm. C. planissitnus, Herbst. * - Sayi, DeKay, Zool. N. York, part 6. p. 16. P. depressa, Say, not Herbst. * Calappa mannorata (Fabr.), Latr. Cangrejo Gallo, Parra, t. 47. f. 2, 3. * Calappa, nov. spec. *Ilepatus angustatus (Fabr.). II. fasciatus, Latr. ? Ilia punctata, Edw. The Mamma Shrimp, Brown, Jamaica, t. 42. f. 2. Does not this belong to one of the three following so-called species? CRUSTACEA. 657 * Persepkona Latreillii, Leach, Zool. Misc. iii. 1 . * - Lamarckii, Leach, Zool. Misc.; Parra, t. 51. f. 2. Guaia punctata, Edw., Crust, ii. 127. * - Lichtensteinii, Leach, Zool. Misc. *Dromia lator, Edw.; Parra, t. 46. Cangrejo Cargador. lEryon caribensis, Freminville, Ann. Sc. Nat. xxv. t. 8. f. b. * Albunea oxyophthalmus, Leach. * Retnipes scutellatus (Fabr.). * Hippa talpoida, Say. “ Sandbug.” *Pagui'us granulatus, Oliv. The Soldier Crab, Hughes, t. 25. f. 2. ; Macao, Parra, t. 61. - tuberculosus, Edw. - sulcatus, Edw. * - tibicen, Herbst, t. 23. f. 6. * Cenobita Diogenes, L., Catesby, ii. t. 33. f. 1-2. * Porcellana galathina, Bose.? Monolepis -? *Scyllarus cequinoxialis (Fabr.). The Mother or Queen Lobster, Browne, Jamaica, t. 41. f. 1. Langostino, Parra, t. 54. f. 1. Ibacus Parrce, Edw. ii. 288; Parra, t. 54. f. 2. Palinurus longimanus, Edw. ii. 294. Camarbn de lo alto, Parra, t. 55. f. 1. * - guttatus, Latr.; Seba, iii. t. 21. f. 5. Rock Lobster. - americanus, Lam. Langosta. * - occidentalis, n. s. ? * - argus, Latr. Callianassa -? Homarus americanus (Edw.), Seba, iii. t. 17. f. 3. *Atya scabra, Leach, Zool. Misc. iii. t. 131. Abundant in streams. * - occidentalis, Newport, Ann. and Mag. N. H. 1847 ; Gronov. Zooph. ii. 231. t. 17. f. 6. In Jamaica found abundantly by Mr. Gosse. Alpheus armillatus, Edw. ii. 354. Hippolyte ensiferus, Edw. ii. 374. * Paltemon natator e t fucorum, an spec. dist. ? Found with the preceding in the Gulf-stream. * - Creusa, White, n. s. List of Crust, in Brit. Mus. p. 78. * - forceps, Edw. ii. 397. P- Swainsonii, Leach MSS. * - Jamaicensis (Herbst), Sloane, t. 245. f. 2.; Parra, t. 55. f. 2. Camaron de agua dulce, Parra. By some authors this freshwater or sestuary species has been confounded with the P. carcinus, an East Indian species. * - spinimanus, Edw. ii. 399. * - Procles, White, l.c. 79. A species found by Mr. Gosse in Jamaica. Peneus (species) an setiferus ? Sergestes atlanticus, Edw. ii. 428. ; Ann. Sc. Nat. xix. t. 10. f. 1-9. Cynthia Thompsonii, Edw.; Thomps. Zool. Res. t. 6. * Podopsis -? * Squill a vittata, Latr. 1 Near this comes Cangrejo Tortuga, Parra, t. 51. f. 2. 2 u G58 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. *Sqiiilla scabricauda , Latr.; Galera, Parra, t. 54. f. 3. *- empusa, Say, Joum. Acad. Sc. Phil. i. 350. Jamaica, found by Lieutenant Redman. The West Indian islands must be richly stored with Crustacea of the orders Amphipoda, Isopoda, Entomostraca and fish parasites ; very few how¬ ever are recorded in books ; amongst the Isopoda, an interesting spined spe¬ cies found by Mr. Gosse in Jamaica, is named Acanthoniscus spiniyer, White, List of Crustacea in British Museum, p. 99. The genus Zemba, Leach, allied to Alga, would seem to come from St. Vincent’s, where it w r as most pro¬ bably found by the late indefatigable naturalist the Rev. Lansdowne Guilding. The Cymothoa Dvfresnii, Leach, appears to be one of the most abundant parasitical Isopoda found in Jamaica; the Lernseidous families will be found abundantly in those seas by future observers. The sea around Barbados is frequented by a species of the order Cepha¬ lopoda, which is used as an article of food by the lower classes of the in¬ habitants, namely, the Bastard Cuttle-fish or Calmar, Loligo sagittata, Lam. To this section belong likewise the Sepia or Ink-fish, Sepia offi¬ cinalis, Linn., and the common Octopus or Polypus. MOLLUSCA. Molluscous Animals, or Shells. The ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth classes of Lamarck’s inver- tebral animals (or such as are destitute of a spine or back-bone), in¬ clude animals without articulated feet, and possessed of a testaceous covering or shell. These classes are named Annelides (of which only one order contains testaceous animals), Cirripedes, Conchifera and Mollusca. As an example of the Annelides, the Tooth and Worm- shells may be named, and of Cirripedes, w r hich contains multilocular- shells, the Barnacles ; bivalve shells form the Conchifera, and the name of Mollusca, in a closer sense, is restricted to univalve shells. The number of shells found in the neighbourhood of Barbados is by no means large; having been disappointed in procuring a list of such as frequent the sea around that island, or are found on the land and in the small streams, I present herewith a catalogue of shells which are not only found in Barbados, but in the West Indies in general. This list is alphabetically arranged, and with every genus enumerated the family has been given to which it belongs, according to the latest edition of Lamarck’s system of invertebral animals. MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS OR SHELLS. G59 A LIST OF MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS OR SHELLS FOUND AT BAR¬ BADOS AND AMONG THE WEST INDIA ISLANDS GENERALLY. [The asterisk indicates the presence of specimens in the collections of the British Museum. L.s. Land shell. F.w. Freshwater shell. Fam. Family. The other abbreviations refer to the authors.] Achatina, Auct. (l.s.). Agate shell. Fam. Colimacea. virginea, Lam. Ribbon. Priamus, Lam. Priam, vexillum, Lam. Vexillated. octona.* Slender, crenata.* Amphidesma, Lam. Fam. Mactracea. subtruncatum, Sow. Abrupt, cancellatum, Sow. Cross-barred, reticulatum, Sow. Reticulated. Jayanum,* Ad. Jays. Ampullaria, Auct. (f.w.). Idol shell. Fam. Peristomata. effusa, Lam. fasciata, Lam. Anatifa, Lam. Barnacles. Pedunculated Cirripedes or Multivalves, denudata, Lam. striata, Lam. Striated. Ancylus, Geoffroy (f.w.). Fam. Calyptracea. radiatus,* Guild. Radiated, inauratus,* Guild. Aplysiacea, Linn. Sea-hare. Fam. Aplysiacea, Lam. parvula,* Guild. Arca, Auct. Ark-shell. Fam. Arcacea. tetragona, Lam. Boat-shaped. Helbingii, Brug. White, antiquata, Linn. Antiquated. Senilis, Linn. Rugose, reticulata, Cuv. Reticulated, umbonata, Lam. Bossed, scapha, Lam. Auricula, Lam. Ear-shell. Fam. Colimacea. coniformis, Lam. Conical, glabra, Linn. Smooth, nitens,* Lam. Shining, monile, Lam. Necklace. Avicula, Lam. Little Bird-shell. Fam. Mallacea. radiata,* Leach. Radiated, macroptera, Lam. Swallow, atlantica, Lam. Atlantic. Buccinum, Linn. Whelk. Fam. Purpurifera. granulatum, Sow. Granulated, coromandellianum,* Lam. (Found at Jamaica), vibex,* Say. pedicuiare, Lam. Bulimus, Lam. (l.s.). undulatus, Guild. Wavy, signatus, Wagner. Marked. Bulimus caribbaeorum,* Lam. West Indian proteus,* Broder. stramineus,* Guild. plicatus,* Guild. Folded, fuscus,* Guild. Brown, antiguensis,* Guild. Antigua, guadaloupensis,* Briig. Guadaloupe. octonus, Brug. Slender, haemastomus, Scopoli. citrinus, Brug. Lemon-coloured. Phillipsii,* Ad. Bulla, Auct. Dipper. Fam. Bullceana. striata,* Brug. Striated, undata, Brug. Wavy, fasciata, Brug. Banded. Guildingii,* Gray. Guilding’s. Ampulla, Linn. The larger mottled Egg-shell, Browne. Calyptrjea, Lam. Fam. Calyptracea. extinctorium, Linn. Cups and Saucers. Cancellaria, Auct. Cross-bar. Fam. Canalifera. decussata, Sow. Decussated, reticulata, Lam. Reticulated. Cardium, Auct. Cockle. Fam. Cardiacea. laevigatum, Lam. Citron or smooth, muricatum, Linn. Prickly. Isocardia, Linn. Imbricated, marmoreum, Lam. Great, rugosum, Lam. Equal-sided, apertum, Chemn. Gaping, papyraceum, Chemn. Paper, bullatum, Lam. Studded, ringiculum, Sow. Ringed, marmoreum, Lam. Marble, medicum, Linn. Carocolla, Auct. (l.s.). Fam. Colimacea. albilabris, Lam. Lucerna, Mull. marginata, Lam. Bordered. Lychnuchus, Lam. barbadensis (?). Barbados. Cassidaria, Lam. Fam. Purpurifera. oniscus, Lam. Wood-louse. Cassis, Auct. Helmet or Casket shell. Fam. Purpurifera. tuberosa,* Brug. Common Casket or Queen Conch. testiculus,♦Brag. TheBonnetor rugged¬ faced Helmet, Browne. flammea, Lam. Triangular, or King Conch. Saburon, Lam. 2 u 2 G60 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Cassis granulosa,* Brug. Rough, crumena, Lam. Plaited. Cerithium, Brug. Fam. Canalifera. obeliscus, Brug. Obelisk, asperum, Brug. Rough-grained, literatum, Brug. Lettered, nodulosum, Brug. Nodulous, decollatum, Brug. White-ribbed. Chama, Auct. Clamp. Fam. Chamacea. arcinella,* Linn. Lazarus,* Lam. The American Orange Oyster, Browne. florida,* Lam. Adorned, gryphoides, Linn. Chiton, Auct. Chiton, or Coat of Mail. Fam. Phyllidiana. crenulatus, Brod. Crenulated. subfusus, Sow. Brownish, marmoratus.* Marbled, squamosus, Linn. Scaly, limaciformis,* Sow. Snail-like, pulchellus,* Gray. Pretty, piceus,* Gmel. Sticky or common, fasciatus,* Gmel. Striped. Clausilia, Drap. (l.s.). Fam. Colimacea. Chemnitziana,* Fer. Cleodora, Per. et Les. Fam. Pteropoda. pyramidata, Lam. Pyramidical. caudata, Lam. Caudated. retusa (?). virgula, Rang. Columbella, Auct. Dove shell. Fam. Columellata. ovulata,* Lam. concinna,* Lam. nitidula.* Lam. pusilla,* Sow. catenata,* Sow. costulatum,* Ad. pulchella,* Sow. dichroa,* Sow. Terpsichore,* Leach. cribraria,* Sow. rustica, Lam. lactea,* Sow. Gervillii,* Bl. monilifera,* Lam. Guildingii,* Sow. mercatoria, Lam. Conus, Auct. Cone. Fam. Convoluta. radiatus, Gmel. Radiated, centurio, Lam. Tribune, quaestor, Lam. Character-spotted, papilionaceus, Brug. Papilio. Mus,* Brug. Mouse, testudinarius, Mart. Turtle, varius, Linn. Chagrin, portoricanus, Brug. Granulated, barbadensis, Brug. Barbados, jamaicensis, Brug. Jamaica, monaclius, Linn. Red-dotted. Jaspideus, Gmel. Jasper. Conus verulosus, Brug. Spindle. acutangulus,* Chemn. Sharp-angled, ranunculus, Brug. verrucosus,* Hwass. Warty, cedonulli, Linn. Unsurpassed. Catus, Brug. pyramidalis, Lam. Pyramidical. Crassatella, Lam. Fam. Mactracea. rostrata,* Lam. Beaked. Crepidula, Lam. Little Slipper shell. Fam. Calyptracea. fornicata, Lam. Arched, aculeata, Lam. Spiny-ribbed. Cyclostoma, Auct. (l.s.). Round. Fam. Colimacea. jamaicensis.* Jamaica, corrugatum.* Crumpled, asperulatum.* pictum.* thysonoraphe.* scalviculum.* fascia.* labeo, Lam. White-lipped, flavulum, Lam. Yellow, lincinella, Lam. The white rugged Licina, Browne. carinata, Lam. Keeled. Cypr^a, Auct. Cowry. Fam. ConvoluteB. exanthema, Linn. The male Cowry, Browne. bicallosa, Gray. Spurca, Linn. cinerea, Gmel. Ash-coloured, poraria, Linn. White-spotted, costata, Gmel. Sulcated. Mus, IAnn. The Mouse Cowry, pediculus, Linn. Sea-louse. (Pou-de-Mer, Fr.). moneta, Linn. Common Cowry, oniscus, Lam. Fish louse. (Porcellaine Cloporte, Fr.). Cytherea, Lam. Cythere-shell. Fam. Marine Conchacete. Casta,* Lam. Chaste, maculata,* Lam. Spotted. Dione,* Lam. The Virgin Cypraea or Shell of Venus, Browne. lucinalis, Lam. tigrina, Lam. Tiger, hebraea,* Lam. Hebrew character, bilumilata.* guineensis,* Lam. Dentalium, Auct. Elephant’s tooth. Fam. Maldania. inversum,* Desk. Inversed. Dolabella, Lam. Hatchet shell. Fam. Aplysiacea, Lam. Sowerbii,* Guild. Sowerby’s. Dolium, D'Argerwille. Sea-Tun. Fam. Purpurifera. perdix,* Lam. The Partridge shell. Donax, Auct. Wedge. Fam. Nymphacca. martinicensis, Lam. Martinique, denliculata,* Linn. MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS OR SHELLS. 661 Erato, Risso. Groove-shell. Fam. Convolutce. Maugeriae.* Fasciolaria, Lam. Fam. Canalifera. Tulipa, Lam. Tulip, trapezium, Lam. Trapezium-like. Fissurella, Brug. Buckler. Fam. Calyptracea. nimbosa, Lam. Cloudy, graeca,* Lam. nodosa,* Lam. Knotted, rosea, Lam. Rose-coloured, barbadensis,* Lam. Barbados, radiata, Lam. Radiated, viridula, Lam. Green, pustula,* Lam. Uneven, cancellata, Lam. Cross-barred, subrostrata, Gray. Beaked, neglecta,* Desk. minuta,* Lam. Small, bicolor,* Ad. Two-coloured. Fusus, Brug. Spindle shell. Fam. Canalifera. morio, Lam. Helmet, melongena,* Lam. articulatus, Lam. Articulated. Gastroch^na, Speng. Fam. Pholadaria. cuneiformis, Lam. Haliotis, Auct. Sea-ear. Fam. Macrostomata. tuberculata, Linn. Tuberculated. Harpa, Brug. The Harp. Fam. Purpurifera. imperialis, Lam. Imperial. Helicina, Lam. (l.s.). Fam. Colimacea. Brownii,* Sow. Brown’s, pulchella,* Gray. Pretty. Tankervillii,* Gray. Tankervill’s. occidentalis,* Guild. West Indian, adspersa,* Pfeif. variabilis,* Guild Variable, castanea,* Guild. Chestnut, aureola,* Gray. vestita,* Gmel. costata,* Sow. Ribbed. Mighelsii,* Ad. Leana,* Ad. major, Gray. Helix, Auct. (l.s.). Snail. Fam. Colimacea. marginata, Lam. White margined, sinuata, Mull. Sinuous, lychnuchus, Lam. Top-shaped. Cepa, Mull. Onion, scabra, Lam. Rough, lactea, Mull. Milky. Pulla, Gmel. Jamaica, barbadensis,* Fer. Barbados, hippocastaneum, Lam. Horse-chestnut, parvula,* Guild. Small, desidens, Rang. Janthina, Auct. Violet shell. Fam. Neritacea. communis,* Lam. The common Violet- shell, or Purple Ocean-shell. Lima, Brug. File shell. Fam. Pectinides. inflata, Lam. Littorina. Periwinkles or Sea-shore shell. Fam. Turbinacea. ziczac, Desk. Zigzag, calamellaris,* d’Orb. Lucina, Brug. Lucine. Fam. Nympliacea. jamaieensis, Lam. Jamaica, pennsylvanica,* Lam. American, edentula,* Lam. Toothless, divaricata, Lam. Diverging, scabra, Lam. Rough, pulchella,* Adams. Small Rose shell, jamaieensis,* Lam. Jamaica, pectinula.* Lucinea. Fam. ? rubescens.* Reddish, barbadensis,* Guild. Barbados. Macrospira, Guild, (l.s.). Long mouth shell. Fam. Colimacea. Tortola,* Guild. Tortola, aperta,* Guild. Open, similis,* Guild. Marginella, AuU. Border shell. Fam. Columellaria. ccerulescens,* L. Sky-blue necklace shell. rubella,* Ad. Reddish, avena,* Valenc. Grain of oats, bivaricosa,* Lam. Two-veined, margarita.* Kien. Pearly, lineata,* Lam. Linear, pulchella,* Kien. Pretty, catenata,* Sow. Linked, clandestina,* Bron. Mitra, Lam. Mitre shell. Fam. Columellaria. pica, Desk. Magpie, striatula, Lam. Striated, cornea, Lam. Bird’s bill, granulosa, Lam. Granular, albo-maculata,* Ad. White-spotted, stigmataria,* Lam. Stigmataria. discolor,* Reeves. Harlequin, albo-cincta,* Ad. White girdled. Modiola, Lam. Little measure shell. Fam. Mytilacea. cinnamomea, Lam. Cinnamon, semen, Lam. Coral-boring, picta, Lam. Painted. Monodonta, Lam. Fam. Turbinacea. modulus, Lain. Keel-whirled. Tectum, Lam. Ridged, carchedonius, Lam. Murex, Auct. Rock shell. Fam. Canalifera. similis, Sow. asperrimus, Lam. Rough, calcitrapa,* Lam. aculeatus,* I.am. Aculeated. Messorius,* Sow. rarispina, Lam. GG2 HISTORY OF BARBADOS, Mytilacea, Canalis, Lam. vulsella,* Lam. obliqua, Lam. Oblique. Mytilus, Auct. Mussel. Fam. Mytilacea. ungulatus, Lam. Ox-hoof, magellanicus, Chemn. Double-toothed, domingensis, Lam. Canalis, Lam Nassa, Lam. Nassa. Fam. Purpurifera. ambigua.* Natica, Brug. Natica. Fam. Neritacea. Canrena, Lam. Varied, cancellata, Lam. Latticed, mammilla. Nipple, alba,* Lat. White. Nerita, Auct. Nerite. Fam. Neritacea. vitellus, Lam. Yellow, atrata, Gmel. Smooth black. Antillarum, Gmel. Wrinkle-lipped. Peloronta, Linn. Purple-streaked, versicolor, Lam. Purple-tessellated, tessellata, Gmel. Tessellated, praecognita,* Ad. undata, Lam. Wavy. Nertinia, Lam. (f.w.). Fam. Neritacea. strigilata, Lam. domingensis, Lam. St. Domingo. Pupa,* Dillw. virginea,* Lam. viridis, Lam. The green Pea shell, punctulata,* Lam. Dotted or calico shell, tristis, d’Crb. Oliva, Auct. Olive. Fam. Convoluta. textilinea, Lam. conoidalis, Lam. eburnea,* Lam. Ivory, nana,* Lam. Pigmy. Oryza,* Lam. Rice, porphyria, Lam. Torphyr-olive. episcopalis,* Lam. iipistopal. elegans,* Lam. Elegant. Candida,* Lam. White, obtusaria,* Lam. Obtuse. Onchidium, Buck. The Naked Snail. Fam. Limacidtr, Cuv Typhae, Buck. Peronii, Cuv. Peron’s. Sloanii, Guild. ? Sloane’-. occidentale. Guild.I West Indian. Ostrea, Auct. Oyster. Fam. Ostracea. scabra, Lam. Rough, plicatula, Gmel. Plaited, parasitica,* Gmel. Parasitical, rhyzophora.* Mangrove Oyster, gallina,* Lam. Hen. folium, Linn. Leaf, or Mangrove Oyster, limacella,* Lam. margaritacea, Lam. Pearl Oyster, cristata, Bon. Cristated. rubella, Lam. Reddish, crista-galli,* Chemn. Cock’s Comb. Ovula, Lam. Fam. Convoluta. gibbosa,* Lam. Gibbous or Camel’s Back. Paludina, Lam. (f.w.). Fam. Peristomata. parvula.* Small, rivularis,* Ad. River. Patella, Auct. Limpet. Fam. Phyllidiana. granatina, Linn. mammillaris, Linn. Nipple, leucopleura, Gmel. Small-rayed, notata, Linn. Wheatsheaf. puncturata, Lam, Punctured, pulcherrima.* tranquebarica.* Pecten, Brug. Comb shell. Fam. Peclenides. ziczac, Chemn. Zigzag, sanguineus, Lam. Scarlet, nodosus,* Lam. Knotted. Pectunculus, Auct. Little Comb shell. Fam. Aracea. angulatus,* Lam. Angular, pectinatus, Lam. Ridged, scriptus, Lam. Lettered. Pedipes, Adanson. Fam. Colimacea. globulus,* Ad. Globular. Perna, Auct. Bastard Hammer shell. Fam. Mallacea, Lam. radiata.* Radiated. Petricola, Lam. Rock-borer. Fam. Lithophagidce. costata,* Lam. Ribbed. Phasianella, Auct. Little Pheasant shell. Fam. Turbinacea. angulifera, Lam. Piioladomya (Pholas and Mya). Fam. Pholadaria, Lam. Candida. Pholas, Auct. Piercer. Fam. Pholadaria. corticaria.* Bark, costata, Linn. Physa, Drap. Fam. Limnacea. ventricosa,* Guild. Pileopsis. Fam. Calyptracea. mitrula, Lam. Pinna, Auct. Wing-shell. Fam. Mytilacea. rudis, Linn. Red. seminuda, Lam. nobilis, Linn. muricata, Linn. Prickly, or American Feather-shell, Browne. Planaxis, Lam. Fam. Turbinacea. semisulcatus.* lineatus.* Planorbis, Guilding. Fam. Limnacea. antiguensis,* Guild. Antigua, antillarum.* West Indian. MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS OR SHELLS. 663 Pleurotoma, Lam. Fam. Canalifera. nassoides.* nigrescens,* Ad. Blackish, cancellation.* Cross-barred, elegans.* Elegant, pupoides.* Puppet, minus,* Ad. Smaller, fusco-lineatus,* Ad. angulosum.* Angular. Dorvilliae.* Plicatula. Fam. Pectenides. ramosa, Lam. Branched, reniformis, Lam. Kidney-shaped. Psammobia, Lam. Fam. Nymphacea. purpureo-maculata,*^rf. Purple-spotted, cerina.* Wax-coloured. Pteroceras, Auct. Spiders. Fam. Alatce. chiragra,* Linn. Devil’s Claw. Pupa, Auct. (l.s.). Pupa. Fam. Colimacea. mumia, Lam. Uva, Lam. Berry, fusus, Lam. Expanded. Maugeri.* Mauger’s. cylindrus, Desk. Cylindrical. Purpura, Auct. Purple shell. Fam. Purpurifera. patula ,* Lam. The Mulberry-shell, Browne. nucleus, Lam. Kernel. deltoidea,* Lam. Triangular. abbreviata,* Blainv. Abbreviated. undata,* Lam. Wavy. rustica,* Lam. nodulosa.* turbinella.* Pyramidella, Lam. Little Pyramid-shell. Fam. Plicacea. dolabrata,* Lam. Chipped, maculosa, Lam. Spotted, terebellum,* Lam. Little Auger. Pyrula. Little Pear or Fig-shell. Fam. Canalifera. perversa, Lam. The Jamaica Whelk, abbreviata, Lam. melongena, Lam. Ranella, Auct. Frog-shell. gigantea, Lam. The Brown Sea Trumpet. Sanguinolaria, Lam. Rose-shell. Fam. Nymphacea. rugosa, Lam. Purple-streaked, rosea, Lam. Common Rose-shell. Sc ALaria, Auct. Wentletrap. Fam. Scalariana. fragilis.* Brittle, clatlirus,* Linn. Cancellated, pulchella.* Pretty. Serpula, Auct. Worm-shell. Fam. Serpulacea. Cereolus, Lam. decussata, Lam. Decussated. Siphonostoma, Guild. Fam. Colimacea. costatum,* Guild. Costated. Solarium. Fam. Turbinacea. granulatum,* Lam. Granulated, cylindraceum,* Desk. Cylindrical. Solen. Razor. Fam. Solenacea. vagina, Linn. Knife-handle-shell, truncata. Truncated, ensis, Linn. Sword, caribaeus, Lam. Caribbean, strigilatus, Linn. Strigilated. Spirula. Ram’s-horn. Fam. Lituolata. Peronii, Lam. Spondylus. Hinged Oyster. Fam. Pectenides. Americanus, Lam. American. Strombus, Conchs. Fam. Alatce. Gigas, Linn. Giant, lentiginosus, Linn. Pink-lipped. Gall us, Linn. Plough, tricornis, Lam. pugilis,* Linn. Thick-spined. bubonius, Lam. bituberculatus, Lam. accipitrinus,* Lam. Tellina, Linn. Tellen. Fam. Nymphacea. maculosa*, Lam. Remies, Linn. radiata,* Linn. Rayed. (Soleil-levant, Fr.). laevigata,* Linn. Smooth. (Doigt d’Aurore, Fr.). inornata,* Ad. Plain, decussatula,* Ad. Decussated, lacunosa, Chemn. Paper, operculata, Gmel. Blushing. Terebra, Lam. Auger or Piercer. Fam. Purpurifera. flammea,* Lam. Flame-coloured, hastata,* Kien. Hastate. Teredo, Auct. Piercer or Ship-worm. navalis, Linn. Common. Trigona. Fam. Marine Conchacea. corbicula.* Triton, Auct. Triton. Fam. Canalifera. variegatum, Lam. femoral e,Lam. The Sea-trumpet, Browne. tuberosum, Lam. pileare,* Lam. Oil Jar. maculosus,* Lam. Spotted, lanceolatum,* Kien. Lanceolate, parvum,* Ad. Small, chlorostoma,* Lam. vestitus.* cutaceum, Lam. Rough-skinned. Trivia. Fam. Convoluta. quadripunctata,* Gray. pediculus.* T rochus, Auct. Top-shell. Fam. Turbinacea. jujubinus, Gmel. Mottled, The Magpie Trochus. G64 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Trochus radians, Lam. Radiated, inermis, Gmel. Short-spined. agglutinans, Lam. The Conchologist or Shell-carrier. Tuber, Linn. Large mottled, imbricatus, Gmel. Imbricated. Ccelatus, Chemn. Scaly, excavatus,* Lam. Common, livido-maculatus,* Ad. macuio-striatus,* Ad. Turbinella, Lam. Fam. Canalifera. pugillaris,* Lam. Fist, cingulifera,* Lam. Tongue-shaped, ocellata,* Lam. Ocellated. leuco-zonalis,* Lam. White-zoned, infundibulum, Lam. Turbo, Auct. Wreath. Fam. Turbinacea. hippocastaneum, Lam. Chestnut, pica,* Linn. Pied, muricatus, Linn. Spring. Spenglerianus, Gmel. Spengler’s. Turritella, Lam. Little Tower-shell or Screws. • Fam. Turbinacea. imbricata, Lam. Imbricated. The Mottled Screw, Browne. cingulifera, Sow. Venus, Auct. Venus shell. Fam. Marine Conchacea. paphia, Linn. The Old Woman, or wrinkled Cyprsea, Brow.ne. reticulata, Lam. Reticulated, pygmaea, Lam. Dwarf, subrostrata, Lam. cardioides, Lam. Cockle-like, granulata,* Gmel. Grained, cancellata,* Linn. Cross-barred, verrucosa, Linn. Warty. Voluta, Auct. Volute. Fam. Columellaria. nodulosa, Lam. Nodulous, musica, Linn. Music-shell. (3 testa violacescente.* thiarella,* Lam. Thiare. hebraea, Linn. Hebrew character, cymbium, Lam. Cymbal. Volvaria, Lam. Shuttle shell. Fam. Columellaria. triticea, Lam. Zonites, Montf. (l.s.). Fam. Colimacea. Ferussaccii.* Ferussac’s. stercoratus,* Guild. simplex,* Guild. VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. We approach now that great division of animated nature, at the head of which stands Man as the most perfect of vertebrated beings. Through¬ out this class the brain is encased in a cranium, and the spinal cord is enclosed in a bony articulated column called the spine; from which cir¬ cumstance the different species which compose the group have been called vertebral animals. The fishes occupy the lowest station in this classifica¬ tion. They possess cold red blood, and respire by means of gills or branchi;e, and their motion through the water is effected by fins. In an economical point of view, fishes are of the greatest importance, and con¬ tribute materially to the food of man. In presenting the reader with a list of fishes which frequent the sea around Barbados and the small streams of the island, I have the gratifi¬ cation of recording my sincere thanks to C. K. Bishop, Esq. of Orange Hill in Barbados, for his kind assistance in procuring for me specimens of such fishes as are to be met with most commonly in and around Bar¬ bados, and to Professor Dr. Muller and Dr. Troschel of Berlin, for deter¬ mining their scientific character. I only regret that circumstances do not permit me to dedicate a fuller space to the description and use of this division of the animal kingdom ; the new species however have been suf¬ ficiently described for scientific purposes by the learned ichthyologists just named, and to their descriptions inverted commas have been affixed for the sake of distinction. FISIIES. 665 I. ACANTHOPTERI, Muller. Fam. Percoidei, Cuv. 1. Centropomus undecimalis, Cuv. et Val., Hist. Nat. des Poissons, ii. p. 102. Snook. This large and excellent fish is found along a great extent of the South American coast. It resembles in its general shape freshwater fish, and it is well known that it ascends the large rivers to a great height. They are fre¬ quently preserved in ponds, and reach occasionally a weight of twenty to twenty-five pounds. 2. Serranus catus, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. ii. p. 373. Rock Hind. 3. Serranus impetiginosus, Mull, et Tr. nov. spec. Rock Hind. D. 11 + 17: A. 3 + 8. “ The body of the fish ig covered with round dark-coloured spots of the size of a pea. They are less numerous on the fins and the snout; a larger oblong black spot embraces the three last spines, and the first soft ray of the dorsal fin ; another spot of similar size and colour is behind the dorsal fin on the back of the tail.” 4. Serranus coronatus, Cuv. et Val. Perea guttata, Bloch ; Cuv. et Val. 1. c. ii. p. 371. Green Hunter Chub. 5. Serranus ouatalibi, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. ii. p. 381. Yellow Velvet Fish. D. 8 + 16 : A. 3 + 8. “ The upper jaw is covered with numerous little scales ; this fish does not belong therefore to Cuvier’s group of ‘the Merous.’ ” 6. Serranus guativere, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. ii. p. 383. Yellow Velvet Fish. D. 9 + 15 : A. 3 + 9 : P. 17. “Upper jaw scaly, preoperculum with a concavity above the angle, opercu¬ lum with three flat spines. The prevailing colour of this fish is yellow ; from the bony part of the dorsal fin extends a broad black spot to the anal fin; on the head and upon the sides of the body are a few white shining dots surrounded by darker circles, and on the back of the tail two black spots : the caudal fin is truncated. The colour of the upright fins seems to have been red; the rhombic pectorals and ventrals are yellow.” 7. Plectropoma chlorurum, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. ii. p. 406. Jew Fish. 8. Plectropoma monacanthus, Mull, et Tr. nov. spec. JewFish(?). D.ll + 19: A. 3 + 9 : P. 16. “ This fish is distinguished from all other species of the genus Plectropoma by a single strong spine in front of the angle of the preoperculum : the colour is brownish with darker spots upon the sides, and some roundish spots of a lighter colour on the belly ; the pectoral fins are rounded.” It lives in shallow waters along the coast. 9. Mesoprion uninotatus, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. ii. p. 449. Bay Snapper. 10. Mesoprion chrysurus, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. ii. p. 459. Yellow Eye Snapper. G66 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. 11. Mesoprion cynodon, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. ii. p. 465. Yellow Tail Snapper. The species of the genus Mesoprion are remarkable for the richness of their colours. The occurrence of the three species just now enumerated in the seas of the West India archipelago prove that they inhabit both seas, and are not restricted to the East Indies, as has been asserted. The one-spotted Meso¬ prion (M. uninotatus) is one of the most beautiful of its congeners. They attain a large size, and are much esteemed as an article of food. 12. Centropristes auro-rubens, Cuv. etVal. l.c. iii. p.45. Plump-head-Snapper. “ The species from Barbados possesses strong spines on the lower margin of the preoperculum.” 13. Centropristes macrophthalmus, Midi, et Tr. nov. spec. Brass-scale Snapper. D. 10 + 11: A. 3 + 8 : Length one inch. “ The breadth of the suborhital bone, under which the upper jaw can be hid in a great measure, is equal to half the diameter of the eye. The eye is larger than the space between the eyes, and amounts to a third of the length of the head. The bone over the eye is compressed. The colour is red with nume¬ rous darker spots upon the sides of the body and the angles of the scales. The last ray of the dorsal and anal fin is elongated. It resembles in a great measure Serranus filamentosus of Cuv. and Val. (Z. c. vi. p. 508), which must he removed from the genus Sei’ranus and added to Centropristes, where it will occupy a place near the species above described. This observation refers likewise to the following.” 14. Centropristes oculatus, Mull, et Tr. Serranus oculatus, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. ii. p. 266. Bream or Brim. The species of this genus are abundant in the sea around Barbados. They are used as food, although they cannot be compared to the “Black Harry ” of the Americans, which belongs to this genus, and is one of the most esteemed for the table. 15. Rypticus saponaceus, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. iii. p. 63. Soap Fish. This fish has received its name from the soft soapy and unctuous matter with which the body is covered, and wdiich renders it quite slippery. When rubbed on the hands it feels like soap. 16. Priacanthus hoops, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. iii. p. 103. Goggle-eye Snapper(?). D. 10 + 13: A. 3 + 13. “ The Barbados specimen has perpendicular bands on the back, and several dark spots between the rays of the perpendicular fins. A specimen which the Berlin Museum received from the Museum in Paris shows also traces of coloured bands.” 17. Myripristes Jacobus, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. iii. p. 162. French Cook. The genus has received its systematic name from having all the opercular bones and those of the cheeks minutely serrated. Their scales are brilliant and minutely dentated on the edges : the ear is of a peculiar construction; it consists of a large oval opening, which is only closed by a membrane. The natatory bladder is divided into two, the anterior portion of which is bilobcd and attached to the cranium in two places near the cavities of the ears. FISHES. 667 18. Holocentrum longipinne, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. in. p. 185. The Cook. It resembles the preceding, but is furnished with a strong spine at the angle of the preopercle. The lustre of the scales of some of the species of Holocentrum is equal to that of a mirror. 19. Sphyrsena picuda, Bloch ; Cuv. et Val. 1. c. iii. p. 340. The Sinnet. It resembles iu appearance the Paracuta, but it seldom exceeds seventeen inches in length. 20. Sphyrsena Barracuda, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. iii. p. 343. The Barracuda or Paracuta, Brown. The Paracuta sometimes reaches a size of three feet, and is so ravenous that it has been called the Pike of the Ocean. Its flesh is firm and palatable, and is esteemed by many people. It proves sometimes poisonous when caught near St. Eustatius or among the Virgin Islands; the real cause of its poisonous qualities at certain periods is still unknown. 21. Polynemus americanus, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. iii. p. 393. The Beard Fish. Several of the inferior rays of the pectoral are free, and form filaments, which, hanging downwards like a beard, have given occasion to the name which it bears among fishermen. 22. Upeneus martinicus, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. iii. p. 483. The Queen Mullet. The species of the genus Upeneus which are natives of the Indian and American seas, have teeth in both jaws, a spine on the operculum, and are fur¬ nished with an air-bladder. The flesh of the Queen. Mullet is very delicious, and resembles in some respects the true Mullet ( Mullus surmuletus). Fam. Cataphracti. 23. Dactylopterus volitans, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. iv. p. 117. The Bat Fish. This fish, which is very common in the Mediterranean, is rare in the West Indies. Besides the specimen which I sent to the Museum in Berlin, I pre¬ sented another to the British Museum, both of which had been caught near Barbados. They are considered great curiosities in the West Indies. By the extension of the pectoral rays this fish is enabled to raise itself into the air like the common flying fish, but in consequence of its larger size this momentary suspension is even of less duration than in the Exocetus. It possesses a formidable weapon in the form of a pointed spine at the opercle, which it can raise and render almost perpendicular to its body. 24. Scorpeena bufo, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. iv. p. 306. The Sculpin or Lion Fish. Toad Fish. Crapeau de Mer, French. The head is shielded and prickled, and covered with tubercles, which gives it a repulsive aspect. These prickles cause sometimes dangerous wounds. It lurks amongst the stones in shallow water, and inflicts a wound with its spines which causes the most violent pain. A fisherman who had been struck by one told Mr. Bishop that he was not able to reach his home without assistance. 24a. Scorpsena hrasiliensis, l. c. iv. p. 305. The Poisonous Grooper. The head is full of prickly protuberances, like the preceding; the pectorals are broad and round, and of a dark purple colour, with round white spots underneath. The flesh, which is coarse, has proved occasionally poisonous. 668 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Fam. ScijEnoidei, Cuv. 25. Hsemulon heterodon, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. v. p. 235. Porghee Grunt. Their lengthened profile has been compared to that of the pig ; this cir¬ cumstance, and the peculiar noise which they emit when caught, has given rise to the vernacular name. In some of the islands they are called Red Mullets. 26. Hsemulon caudimacula, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. v. p. 236. Black Tail Grunt. 27. Hsemulon quadrilineatum, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. v. p. 238. Gold-lace Grunt. 28. Hsemulon chromis, Cuv. et Val. (?) 1. c. v. p. 242. Moonshine Grunt. 29. Eques punctatus, Bloch, iii.; Cuv. et Val. Histoire des Poissons. Streaked Grunt. The different species of Hcemulon and Eques which bear the name of Grunt are considered good eating; but being of a small size they come seldom on the table of the higher classes of inhabitants. Fam. M^nides, Cuv. 30. Gerres gala, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. vi. p. 464. Sand-grubber. 31. Gerres Zebra, Mull, et Tr. nov. spec. Shad. D. 9 + 10: A. 3 + 7. “ The snout is short, the eye large, the preoperculum without denticulation. The colour is silvery, steel-blue above ; five or seven vertical bands give it some resemblance to G. subfasciatus of Cuv. and Yal. The height of the body is a third of its length, and contains two and a half times the length of the second and third spine in the dorsal fin and three times of the second spine in the anal fin.” The Barbados Shad, although, properly speaking, a sea-fish, is frequently found in ponds, where they are preserved, and increase considerably in size and improve in taste. Fam. Squamipennes, Cuv. 32. Chsetodon striatus, Linn .; Cuv. et Val. 1. c. vii. p. 10. The School¬ mistress or Nincompoop. The generic name has been derived from their teeth, which resemble hair, and are collected in rows like a brush. The different species of this genus are extremely beautiful; they are however not much in demand as food. 32a. Chsetodon capistratus, Linn.; Cuv. et Val. 1. c. vii. p. 64. Striped Angel Fish, or “ Demoiselle.” 32 b. Chsetodon bimaculatus, Bloch ; Cuv. et Val. 1. c. vii. p. 67. 33. Holacanthus ciliaris, Lacep .; Cuv. et Val. 1. c. vii. p. 154. Angel Fish. The fish of this genus possess a long spine at the angle of the preopercle. Nature has lavished the most lively colours upon the different species of Angel Fish. They are not much sought after as food except by the lower classes of inhabitants. 34. Holacanthus bicolor, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. vii. p. 168. Yellow Nanny. 35. Pomacanthus quinquecinctus, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. vii. p. 210. The Cook. FISHES. 669 36. Pimelepterus Boscii, Lac6p .; Cuv. et Val. 1. c. vii. p. 258. Grunt. 37. Pempheris Schomburgkii, Mull, et Tr. nov. spec. 1 Hatchet Fish. It is the opinion of Muller and Troschel, “ that this species differs from Pempheris mexicana of Cuv. and Val. which is found in the Pacific Ocean. It agrees in form with the other, but the West India species has a spine less in the dorsal fin.” Fam. Scomberoidei, Cuv. 38. Cyhium Caballa, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. viii. p. 187. Spanish Mackerel, or Cavalla. * The Spanish Mackerel is a coarse dry fish, and not much esteemed. To this section belong likewise the following fishes, which are sometimes found in the neighbourhood of Barbados, and the two first of which are likewise known under the general name of Spanish Mackerel among the fishermen. Cybium regale, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. viii. p. 184. The Spanish Mackerel of Jamaica, Sloane, Jamaica, ii. p. 284. Cybium immaculatum, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. viii. p. 191. The Spanish Mackerel, Browne, Hist, of Jamaica, p. 452. Thynnus Coretta, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. viii. p. 102. The King Fish or Bonita from Martinique. Tbynnus pelamys, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. viii. p. 113. The common Bonita. Scomber Sloanei, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. viii. p. 148. The Albacore of Sloane. They are mostly dry and coarse, and not much esteemed except when coveeched" 1 . The common Mackerel ( Scomber scombrus, Cuv. and Val.) is said to be occasionally met with among the West India islands. 39. Naucrates ductor, Cuv. et Val. l.c. viii. p. 312. Pilot Fish. The famous Pilot Fish is too well-known to require a detailed description. This little fish accompanies both ships and sharks for the purpose of preying upon whatever may be thrown overboard, and to feast upon the remnants or offals of his great companion. The various tales of the great friendship exist¬ ing between it and the shark, and the distress which the Pilot Fish is said to exhibit when, in spite of its warning, the shark is allured in the snare, are re¬ lated, I doubt not, in good faith ; nevertheless I think that their association, on the part of the Pilot Fish at least, is rather based on selfish principles. 40. Trachinotus glaucus, Cuv. et Val. I. c. viii. p. 400. Pompour. 41. Caranx macarellus, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. ix. p. 40. Round Robin. 42. Caranx Phimieri, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. ix. p. 65. Jack, or John and Goggle-eye. 43. Caranx fallax, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. ix. p. 95. Horse-eyed Cavalla. 1 Professor Dr. Muller and Dr. Troschel have had the goodness to describe this new species under the above specific name. While I recognise the kindness which dictated this distinction, I feel equally reluctant, as on a former occasion, to be the herald of the honour bestowed upon me. 2 “ To coveech a fish, it must be cut into juncks, fryed with onions and oil, and afterwards potted with vinegar, a little pepper or cloves, fryed onions and some oil.”— Browne, p. 453. It becomes an article of trade in that manner, and a con¬ siderable quantity is sent from the Leeward Islands and Barbados to Guiana. G70 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. 44. Caranx Bartholomaei, Cuv. et Val. (?) 1. c. ix. p. 100. Green Cavalla, or Cravalli. 45. Yomer Brownii, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. ix. p. 189. The fishes of this group resemble each other in appearance, and are caught sometimes in nets, and in large numbers. The green Cavalla is very good eating and much in demand. I find it however recorded in the ‘ Barbadian ’ of August 11 th, 1832, that a whole family in Bridgetown were seized with violent cholera from eating green Cavalla; they were all extremely ill. The editor observes that he knows of several instances where a similar effect was produced by eating that fish. Hughes reports that the Jacks ( Caranx Plu- mieri) “ are in some seasons of the year, especially when caught in Christ Church parish or thereabouts, very poisonous, and that at such times there were in their gills two small red lumps. When they are suspected of being poisonous an experiment is tried upon a duck, by giving her one of them to swallow, and if at that season it is poisonous, the duck dies in about two hours 1 .” The fish called “ Dorade” iu the French colonies is Caranx Ca- rangus, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. ix. p. 91. 46. Seriola Lalandi, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. ix. p. 208. Amber Fish. It is considered more delicate than the preceding. 46a. Coryplisena dorado, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. ix. p. 303. The Dolphin. 47. Lampugus punctuatus, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. ix. p. 327. Barbados Dolphin. The genus Lampugus differs from the true Dolphins or Coryphcena proper by the central crest of the forehead being much lower than in the former, and their more diminutive dimensions. The head is oblong, and not curved so much into an arch as in Coryphcena. Caprophonus, Mull, et Tr. nov. gen. “ This interesting new genus agrees with Capros in general, but it may be distinguished from it by a single series of teeth in the upper and lower jaw; by the roughness of the maxillary, and by the three spines of the anal fin, which form a fin separate from that of the soft rays.” 48. Caprophonus Aurora, Mull, et Tr. Hatchet Fish (?). D. 8 + 34: A. 3 + 32 : V. 1 + 5. (B. 5.) “ The body is much compressed, and the height nearly equals the length. The profile from the highest part of the back to the mouth shows two depres¬ sions ; the anterior is situated before the eyes, the other near the summit of the back. The anterior line of the profile has almost a rectangular direction toward the posterior line. The profile of the belly is circular. The head forms one-third of the whole length of the fish, excluding the caudal fin. The mouth is a little protractile, and nearly vertical when closed, and the lower jaw forms the end of the mouth. The intermaxillary is inserted into a deep incisure at the front, and its hinder apophysis separates the two maxillaries. The genus Capros has not that incisure at the front, and the two maxillaries meet together in such a manner that the apophysis of the intermaxillary is inserted under the maxillaries. Both jaws are armed with a single row 1 Hughes’s History of Barbados, p. 308. FISHES. 671 of close-set small conical teeth. The large eyes are in the middle of the height of the body. The distance of the eye from the snout and from the other eye is equal to the diameter of an eye. Over each eye is a point from which lines radiate on all sides. The posterior margin of the preoperculum is rectilineal and nearly vertical; the lower margin is rounded and armed with rough teeth. The nostrils are near the eyes. The dorsal fin begins on the summit of the back, with a very short pointed spine ; the second spine is three times larger than the first, the third spine is five times larger than the second) and is contained five times in the height of the body; it is thick and streaked longitudinally on its sides, and rough on the anterior side. The other spines are shorter, and decrease in size successively. The spines of the dorsal fin are eight in number ; the soft part of the fin contains thirty-four rays nearly equal in size; they are covered on the base with scales, and cannot be put down. A membrane joins the three spines of the anal fin, hut they are not united with the soft part of the fin, and form therefore a separate fin ; the first of these spines is the largest. The soft anal fin has thirty-two rays similar to the soft rays of the dorsal fin. The pectoral fins are at¬ tached to the body at two-fifths of its whole height. The ventrals contain a very strong streaked spine; the soft rays are rough on the internal side in front, and on the external side behind. The caudal fin is truncated. The scales are large and armed with small spines on the uncovered part, as in Capros. The lateral line ascends at first abruptly parallel to the profile in front, makes an angle beneath the summit of the body, descends rectilinear to the tail and follows it horizontally. The colour of the fish is red; the length of the specimen six inches, the height five inches.” Fam. Theutyes, Cuv. 49. Acanthurus phlebotomus, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. x. p. 176. Blue-tailed Barber. 50. Acanthurus cceruleus, Bloch ; Cuv. et Val. 1. c. x. p. 179. Blue Fish. Fam. Mugiloidei, Cuv. 51. Atherina stipes. Mull, et Tr. nov. spec. Loggerhead Fry. D. 5 — 1 +9 : A. 1 + 12. “ This species agrees with A. Boieri of Risso in form, largeness of the eyes, and in the position of the dorsal fin over the end of the ventrals. The head is broader than the diameter of an eye, and flat above. From the snout ex¬ tend two furrows backwards ; on each side of the upper surface of the head is a sharp undulated edge, forming the upper margin of the orbit. The teeth are numerous and distinct on both jaws, and on the palate : the caudal fin is forked.” 52. Mugil albula, Linn.; Cuv. et Val. 1. c. xi. p. 94. Mullet. The Mullet lives both in fresh and salt water. It is considered one of the best-tasted fish in this island, and abounds in a thin yellow fat, which gives it a very delicate flavour. Fam. Gobioidei, Cuv. 53. Clinus pectinifer, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. xi. p. 574. Rock Fish or Rocker. “ There are two varieties of this species ; the sides of the body of one have 072 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. a reticulated appearance, and those of the other are barred with six per¬ pendicular bands, which extend to the superior margin of the dorsal fin. The anal fin is likewise marked by six perpendicular bands.” 54. Clinus capillatus, Cuv. et Val. D. 18 + 8 : A. 2 + 19 : P. 14: V. 3: C. 12. Yellow-fin Rock Fish. 55. Opistognathus Cuvieri, Val. ; Cuv. et Val. 1. c. xi. p. 504. Rock Fish. Several species of the Gobioidei are known under the name of Rock Fish in Barbados : the present resembles in its general appearance very much an En¬ glish Blenny. 56. Gobius Bisliopi, Mull, et Tr. nov. spec. Rocker. “ This new species belongs to that group of the genus Gobius, of which the upper rays of the pectoral fins end in numerous threads, and approaches perhaps nearest to G. soporator (Cuv. et Val. 1. c. xi. p. 56). The profile is somewhat inclined, and the cleft of the mouth is therefore oblique as far as under the eye. The space between the eyes is scarcely equal to a diameter of the eye. On both jaws is a band of villiform teeth ; those in the outer row are stronger and larger. Both dorsal fins are of equal height; the last ray of the second is not elongated ; the caudal fin is rounded. The prevailing colour is a yellowish-gray, with four large dark spots like broad bands: several irregular spots of smaller size are beneath them, and there are likewise some on the tail; length four inches.” At my request, Professor Dr. Muller and Dr.Troschel named this new species after C. K. Bishop, Esq. of Orange Hill in Barbados, to whose indefatigable assistance I am indebted for the greater part of this fine collection of fishes. 57. Gobius lanceolatus, Bloch-, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. xii. p. 114. Grigg. It inhabits the fresh water. 58. Eleotris gyrinus, Val.; Cuv. et Val. 1. c. xii. p. 220. Mud Fish. These are common in the streamlets and creeks, and are considered most delicious fish when in full perfection: their flesh is easy of digestion : they resemble the English Smelt in appearance. 59. Eleotris mugiloides, Val .; Cuv. et Val. 1. c. xii. p. 226. Pond Chub. This species lives likewise in fresh water, but it is not so much esteemed as the former. Fam. Echeneid.®. 60. Echeneis albicauda, Mitch. Am. Monthly Mag. vol. ii. p. 244 ; Be Kay, Zoology of New York, iv. p. 307- pi- 54. f. 177- The Sucking Fish. The extraordinary power which these fishes possess of adhering tenaciously to any flat surface has given rise to many fabulous accounts. The Greeks and Romans were well acquainted with the Mediterranean species, of which Pliny relates that it could suddenly arrest the course of the most rapid ship. They possess a flattened oval disc on the head, which is composed of a number of cartilaginous plates directed obliquely backwards ; with minute dentated or spinous processes at the posterior edges, and moveable in such a manner that the fish can create a vacancy between them, and thus aided by the toothed processes on the margin of the “ sucking apparatus,” it is able to fix itself FISHES. G73 firmly either to rocks or floating bodies, as ships or drift-wood, and even on other fishes. Fam. Fistulares. 61. Fistularia tabaccaria, Linn.-, Cuvier, Regne Animal, ii. p. 267; Bloch, t. 387- f. 1. Deep-water Trumpeter. D. 15: A. 15: P. 16. The head of this fish is greatly elongated, with a small mouth, the jaws narrow and tubular, and the body quite slender. It is about eighteen inches long, and is used as food by the labourers. 62. Aulostoma coloratum. Mull, et Tr. Trompetero Colorado, Parra, p. 65. t. 30. f. 2. Shallow-water Trumpeter. D. 9-25 : A. 26 : P. 16. “ This beautiful fish has much the resemblance of A. chinensis of Cuvier ( Fistularia chinensis, Bloch., t. 388); and Bloch and Schneider observe in the ‘ Systema,’ that it lives in the Indian and American Ocean; but the above spe¬ cies from Barbados is without doubt different from the true Chinese Aulo¬ stoma. Both species agree that the maxillary is marked with a black band, that on the nostrils are found two black spots, and in the presence of a black longitudinal band in the front of the dorsal and anal fin in about the middle of the height; however, the specimen from Barbados, instead of being covered with brownish spots as the Indian species, shows white spots on the sides of the head without any brown ones, with the exception of three brown spots, which form a longitudinal row on each side of the head. On the hack are on each side two rows of black spots; on the sides of the body seven narrow white longitudinal bands ; and on the belly beneath, in the middle, is a row of black spots, occupying the second half of the space between the pectorals andventrals.” II. ANACANTHINI, Mull. Fam. Pleuronectides, Cuv. 63. Rhombus ocellatus, Agass. et Spix, Pisces Brasil, p. 85. t. 6. Flounder or Plaice. D. 95 : A. 74 : P. 12 : V. 6. This fish belongs to the Turbots, and “ agrees in general with the descrip¬ tion and the figure of Agassiz and Spix, and likewise in the number of rays. The ventrals have on each side six rays ; the upper margin of the upper eye, and the lower margin of the lower eye are ornated with little threads; the length of the fish is nine inches.” It is a very delicate fish. III. PHARYNGOGNATHI, Mull. Fam. Labroidei cycloidei, Mull. 64. Cossyphus bodianus, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. xiii. p. 103. Yellow Coat Chub. D. 12 + 10 : A. 3 + 12: P. 16. “ The species from Barbados has a black spot in front of the dorsal fin ; the basis of the membrane between the spines of the dorsal fin is orange-coloured, and the angle of the ventrals is of a brimstone colour.” 65. Malacanthus Plumieri, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. xiii. p. 319. Mutton Fish. 66. Julis cyanostigma, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. xiii. p. 391. Cat Chub. The species of this genus are remarkable for the elegant distribution of their 2 x G74 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. colours. They are not highly esteemed as food, though not despised by the lower classes. 67- Julis maculipinna, Mull, et Tr. nov. spec. Dog Chub. D 9 + 11 : A. 3 + 11 : P. 13. “This fish is distinguished from all American species of the genus Julis by its colour. On the dorsal fin, between the fifth and seventh spine, is a black spot, and in the middle of the soft part of the same fin is a longitudinal band, the colour of which cannot be discerned, as the specimen is preserved in spirit. Beneath the lateral line, extends on each side a large dark band (probably ot violet colour) from the head to the caudal fin, with a spot of the same colour under it, situated in about the middle of the body. A blue band extends from the snout through the eye to the operculum, and above it is another shorter band of the same colour extending from the snout to the eye ; both bands are united, forming a V. On the nape are three transverse bands of the same colour, and the cheeks are marked by three white bands. On the base of the pectorals is a little black spot; the caudal fin is truncated.” 68. Scarus vetula, Bloch ; Cuv. et Val. 1. c. xiv. p. 193. Green Hunter Chub. 69. Scarus virens, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. xiv. p. 193. Poppy Gouger Chub. 70. Scarus frondosus, Cuv.; Agass. et Spix, Pisces Brasil, p. 98. t. 54. Red- belly Chub. 71. Scarus altemans, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. xiv. p. 200. Hunter Chub. Fam. Labroidei ctenoidei, Muller. 72. Glypliisodon saxatilis, Lacep .; Cuv. et Val. 1. c. v. p. 333. The Pilot. Although this fish bears the name of the Pilot, I am not aware that it proves as faithful a companion to the shark as Naucrates ductor. 73. Glyphisodon taurus, Miill. et Tr. nov. spec. Dove Tail Fish. D. 12+12: A. 2+10. “ The teeth are notched. The cleft of the mouth does not reach the eye ; on the angle of the mouth the suborbital bone is nearly as large as the diameter of the eye ; the space between the eyes is nearly equal to one and a half dia¬ meter of an eye. The profile is less steep than in G. saxatilis, and the five vertical bands are less distinct in the present species. Its length is seven inches.” 74. Glyphisodon chrysurus, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. v. p. 356. 75. Pomacentrus leucostictus, Miill. et Tr. nov. spec. D. 12+ 15 : A. 2 + 13. Black Pilot. Beau Gregory. “ This species agrees with P. fuscus of Cuv. et Val.; it distinguishes itself however by numerous white dots, which are especially abundant beneath the dorsal and above the anal fin, where one is placed on each scale.” In the younger specimens the white dots are much more distinct, and this may have induced the fishermen to give them the name of Beau Gregory; the full-grown specimen is called Black Pilot. FISHES. G75 Fam. Scomberesoces, Miill. 76. Belone caribaea, Lesueur; Cuv. et Val. 1. c. xviii. p. 430. The Gar Fish. It is a dry and wholesome fish, but the bones, after the fish has been boiled, or otherwise exposed to the fire, turn always green, which prejudices many people against it. 76a. Ilemiramphus brasiliensis, Cuv. . The Balahu. It resembles the preceding, hut does not possess the row of large carinated scales on each side, and the symphysis of the lower jaw forms a lengthened point without teeth. 77. Exoccetus cyanopterus, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. xix. p. 97. Guinea Man. This species is considerably larger than the succeeding, and its flight does not extend to such a distance as E. Roberti. 78. Exoccetus Roberti, Miill. et Tr. nov. spec. The common Flying Fish. D. 11 : A. 12. “ This species resembles the preceding, but it differs in the dorsal fin, which is much lower and of one colour; the pectorals are diaphanous and dark- coloured, and on the inner part near the base is a large white spot.” The Flying Fish are too well-known to demaud a special description. The common Flying Fish (E. Roberti ) is so abundant in some seasons of the year about Barbados, that they constitute an important article of food, and during the season a large number of small boats are occupied in fishing. They are very delicate and tender ; some experiments have been made to preserve them by salting and smoking, and with perseverance I have no doubt that they would prove successful. Such large numbers are occasionally caught that they meet with no sale and are thrown away, or used as manure. IV. PHYSOSTOMI, Mull. Fam. Clupeoidei, Cuv. et Mull. 79. Alosa apicalis, Mull, et Tr. nov. spec. Red Ear Pilchard. D. 18: A. 17. “The lower jaw surpasses the upper in length, the maxillary reaches to the first third of the eye, and the diameter of that organ is larger than half the size of the head. The scales are large, forming nine rows on each side of the body; they are silvery, and each scale is marked on the belly with a copper- coloured spot. The point of the snout above and beneath is black; on the front there is a small black longitudinal band, and over each eye a black spot. The point of the dorsal fin, and the posterior edge of the forked caudal fin are black ; the ventrals are attached under the middle of the dorsal fin.” 80. Alosa Bishopi, Mull, et Tr. nov. spec. The Sprat. D. 17 : A. 17. “ This species agrees in some points with the former ; it has however a black spot behind the operculum which is not to be observed in the A. apicalis , and the dorsal fin is without the black mark. It possesses likewise, like Alosa tyrannus of De Kay (Zool. of New York, iv. p. 258. t. 13), the indistinct dark longitudinal lines; but the eye of the Barbados species is larger, its diameter being equal to half the height of the head. There are eleven rows of 2x2 676 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. scales on each side of the body; the ventrals are fixed under the middle of the dorsal fin ; the caudal fin is forked. Length four-and-half inches.” Like No. 56, this species has been named in honour of Mr. Bishop. The sprats are much esteemed in the West India islands. A species called the Yellow-tailed Sprat proves unfortunately poisonous at certain periods of the year in some of the islands, chiefly among the Leeward and Virgin Islands. 81. Engraulis tricolor, Agass. et Spix, Pise. Brasil, p. 51. t. 23. Fry. This fish, which is erroneously considered to be the young of a larger species, approaches the Mediterranean Anchovy in appearance. 82. Clupanodon thrissoides, Spix. Megalops thrissoides, Agass. et Spix, Pise. Brasil, p. 45. t. 22. Herring. Some of the species of this genus are very similar in structure to the herring : they differ however in having the belly blunt, and the body not compressed. 83. Megalops atlanticus, Val. ; Cue. et Val. 1. c. xix. p. 398. Caffum. This fish, which is preserved in ponds, has been known to reach sometimes as large a size as three feet, and to weigh fifteen pounds. They are considered a delicate eating, but they are full of numerous small bones, which is a great inconvenience. 84. Elops saurus, Linn. ; Cuv. et Val. 1. c. xix. p. 365. River or Pond Shark. This fish resembles the Caffum in some respects. It is likewise found in the rivers of Carolina. Fam. Mur^enoidei, Mull. 85. Gymnothorax rostratus, Agass.-, Agass. et Spix, Pise. Brasil, p. 91. t. 50 a . Speckled Maray or Conger Eel. V. PLECTOGNATHI, Cuv. Fam. Balistini. 86. Balistes ringens, Bloch, t. 152. fig. 2. Negro-head or Black old Wife. 87. Balistes vetula, Bloch, 1.150. Old Wife. D. 3 + 29: A. 27: P.14: C.12. They are considered as good eating by the poorer class of inhabitants, but they must be skinned before they are dressed. They are eaten boiled and stewed. 88. Balistes maculatus, Bloch, t. 151. Ocean Turbot. D. 3 + 25 : A. 22 : P. 15: C. 12. The Ocean Turbot is considered far superior in taste to the preceding. 89. Monacanthus tomentosus, Bloch, var. a, Systema ed. Schneider, p. 467. Cuckold or horned Coney Fish, Hughes. D. 1 + 35 : A. 30 : P. 13 : C. 12. “ This fish, which has been considered a variety, is without doubt a separate species.” It is much used as food, and when well-stuffed and baked considered a delicacy. It resembles the succeeding in its general appearance. To this section belongs likewise a remarkable fish, which appears to be identical with, or a closely allied species of Triodon bursarius, Reinv. It pos- FISHES. 677 sesses a dew-lap nearly as long as the body, whieh it is able to inflate. 1 re¬ ceived a specimen from Barbados, which is at the British Museum. Fam. Ostraciones. 90. Ostracion triqueter, Bloch, t. 130. Drunken, Trunk or Shell Fish. Fair Maid, or Plate Fish. D. 10 : A. 10 : P. 12 : C. 10. The flesh of this species is pretty well tasted ; there is a gelatinous matter contained near where the tail is joined to the osseous plates, which is called the jelly, and a similar matter is found near the head. Where only part of the jelly has been swallowed its effects are uncommon vertigo and sickness of the stomach, with pain in all limbs, but chiefly in the lower ex¬ tremities. The feeling of vertigo is said to be similar to intoxication, hence it has received the name of drunken fish among the common people. It should never be neglected to remove the jelly, as there is an instance known to me where such a neglect proved fatal to two persons who eat of it. Besides the above species, the following are likewise found in the sea around Barbados :— O. bicaudalis, Bloch, t. 132. O. trigonus, Bloch, t. 135. O. cornutus, Bloch, t. 133. Fam. Gymnodontes. 91. Diodon atinga, Bloch, t. 125. Hedge Hog, or Sea Porcupine. D. 13 : A. 13: P. 23: C. 9. This remarkable fish, which resembles a hedgehog from the numerous pointed spines with which the skin is armed on all sides, does not present an inviting appearance; it is nevertheless used as food, which likewise refers to the succeeding species, and, prepared in the way of turtle, is considered equal in delicacy. 91a. Diodon orbicularis, Bloch, t. 127. The Prickly Orb, or Prickly Bottle Fish. The Prickly Orb is able to swell itself up like a balloon, and utters when caught a dull sound. The flesh proves sometimes poisonous. 92. Tetrodon (Cheilichthys) pachygaster, Mull, et Tr. nov. spec. Jug Fish. D. 10: A. 9: P. 15 : C. 9. “ This new species of Tetrodon is smooth all over, of a light brown colour, with darker spots on the back. The space between the eyes is equal to two diameters of the eye, and the space to the top of the snout is of similar ex¬ tent. The nostrils are nearer to the eye than to the snout, and they are papillary with two apertures. The dorsal fin stands before the anal; the caudal is truncated, but the upper and lower points are somewhat elongated. Length fourteen inches.” It is a very scarce species around Barbados. VI. PLAGIOSTOMI, Cuv. Fam. SdUALiDiE. 93. Carcharias (Prionodon) obscurus. Mull, et Henle, Plac/iostomen, p. 46. Puppy Shark. “ The denticulation of the upper jaw is a little more robust on the base than on the top in the Barbados species.” The following species are likewise occasionally met with around Barbados :— 678 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Squalus Carcharias. The White or common Shark 1 * . Squalus (Carcharias) vulpes. The Thrasher, or Father Lasher. Squalus (Scyllium, Cuv.) Canicula, Linn. The greater spotted Dog Fish. Mustelus maculatus ?, Cuv. The smaller Dog Fish. Zygsena vulgaris, Cuv. Squalus Zygsena, Linn.-, Bloch, t. 117. The Hammer-headed Shark, or Hammer Fish. Pristis antiquorum, Cuv. Squalus Pristis, Linn. ; Bloch, t. 120. The Saw Fish. Raja Batis, Linn.; Bloch, t. 79. The Skate, or Maid. Raja (Trygon) Jamaicensis, Cuv. ; Sloane, Jam. pi. 246. f. 1. The Sting-ray. Raja (Myliobates) flagellum, Schn. The Whip-ray. Raja (Myliobates) Nariuari, Linn. The American Sea Eagle. Raja (Cephalopterus) Banksiana, CuvJ Raja (Cephalopterus) Manatis, Linn. The Sea Devil, or Manta 3 . Malthe vespertilio, Cuv. Lophus vespertilio, Bloch, 1.110. The Sea Bat. This remarkable fish is occasionally found on the leeward side of the island. Histiopliorus americanus, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. viii. p. 303. The American Sword Fish. The upper jaw is elongated in the form of a sword blade. Orthagoriscus-? The great Sun Fish. Syngnathus hippocampus, Bloch, t. 109. fig. 3. The Sea Horse. Pegasus Draco ? The Sea Dragon. Trichiurus lepturus, Linn. ; Cuv. et Val. 1. c. viii. p. 237; Bloch, t. 158. The Sea. The Sword Fish, Browne, p. 444. This fish has received its name from its length and flatness, being about three feet long, very flat, and not above two or three inches broad: hence it has been likened to the blade of a sword. Argyregosus Vomer, Lactp. ; Cuv. et Val. 1. c. ix. p. 177; Bloch, 1.193. fig. 2. The Silver Fish. Lune; Tete de Cheval. Peixe Gallo. Vomer Brownii, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. ix. p. 189. The larger Silver Fish, Browne, p. 455. Cyprinus auratus, Cuv. et Val. 1. c. iii. p. 111. The Gold Fish. 1 A large shark, no less than fifteen feet in length, was caught on the 25th of November 1823, by the crew of the ‘ Maria ’ mail-boat, at her anchorage in Carlisle Bay, anil when opened, the arm of a man, a part of his leg and thigh, a human skull, a quarter of a sheep or goat, a fowl, and a rat, w ere discovered in the maw of this voracious fish.— Barbados Mercury, November 29, 1823. 5 It is recorded that a specimen of the Banksian Ray was found on the coast of Barbados of such a vast weight that seven yoke of oxen were required to draw it.— Encycl. Britannica. 3 The Sea Devil, or Manta, is another gigantic species which inhabits the inter- tropical seas. They have been seen twenty-five feet long and more than thirty feet wide, and Sonnini speaks of one which appeared to him larger and wider than the ship in which he was sailing. Colonel Hamilton Smith witnessed in Trinidad the destruction of a soldier by one of these monsters, who intended to desert from the ship by swimming, and was carried down by the monster throwing one of his fins over him.— Griffith's Animal Kingdom. LIZARDS AND TURTLES. 679 REPTILES. This class is but sparingly represented in Barbados. The Guana or Iguana is the largest of the tribe of Saurians met with in the island, and they are now very scarce. Order SAURIA, OR LIZARDS. Ameiva dorsalis, Gray. The Green Lizard, Hughes. The greater spotted Lizard, Sloane. Mabouya senea. The Ground Lizard. Celestus occiduus. The Scorpion of the Lizard kind, Hughes. The Galli- wasp, Sloane. Sphserodactylus sputator, Cuv. The Wood-slave. Thecadactylus rapicaudus. The Smooth Lizard (Gecko lsevis. Baud.). Iguana tuberculata, Laur. Syn. 49. The common Iguana, or Leguan. Dactyloa equestris, Gray. The Equestrian Anolis. -Edwardsii. The Blue Lizard. Anolius maculatus, Gray. The Spotted Anolis. -bullaris, Merrem. The Red-throated Anolis, or common Lizard. Only one kind of Snake is found in Barbados, and there appear to be so few that the sight of one is considered a rare occurrence. From the description which has been given me it is probably a species of Tortrix. It possesses no poisonous fangs, and is perfectly harmless. Order CHELONIA. —Turtles and Tortoises. Caretta imbricata, Merrem. The Hawk’s-bill Turtle. La Carette.. -esculenta, Merrem. The Green Turtle. Tortue franche. -cephalo, Schopff. The Logger-head Turtle, or Cavanna. I doubt whether Barbados possesses any land-turtles. Testudo calca- rata and T. tabulata occur in the larger West India islands. Order BATRACHIA.— Frogs and Toads. Bufo agua, Baud. ; Spix 1 . The Toad, or Crapeau. 1 I have been assured that this species, which is so common in Demerara, was in¬ troduced from thence about fifteen years ago. It has increased most rapidly, and is now to be met with in as large numbers as in Demerara. They are said to live upon mice, and a gentleman whose veracity I have no reason to doubt has assured me he witnessed a combat between one of these toads and a rat, in which the toad suc¬ ceeded in driving the rat from the field. The number of Ixodes which prey upon these toads is astonishing; I have counted as many as nine upon one. 680 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. AVES OR BIRDS. The absence of woods or forests and the scarcity of umbrageous trees is doubtless the reason that Barbados possesses so few of the feathery tribe. The number of indigenous species do not amount to fifteen, and there are perhaps forty species which are considered birds of passage, or are only seen occasionally in the island. The Barbados Blackbird ( Quis - calus crassirostris, Swains.), is the most conspicuous among the indige¬ nous birds, and like the Ani or Black Witch of other islands, associates in numbers 1 . The migration of birds has been the object of observation since the earliest period 2 . It is not my intention to enter into any detail respect¬ ing this interesting subject, but merely to mention in connection with Barbados that about forty species and varieties arrive towards the end of August, and merely alight on their passage to some distant land. The different species do not all observe the same periods of arrival, nor do they arrive on exactly the same day. They make their appearance about the 25th of August, or to take a wider range, between the 19th and the 27th of that month. If during this period a southerly wind and rain prevail, they alight; whereas fine weather tempts them to continue their progress 3 . The greater part are then seen to fly very high, and to keep their course direct to the east. It has been conjectured that they come from the northern regions of America; and this appears probable, as all the species which visit Barbados during their migration to warmer regions are known to frequent the shores and lakes of Northern America. It is only remarkable that they direct their course, as observed by Hughes, during fine weather to the east, which would bring them to the coasts of Africa instead of Guiana, to which country it has been supposed they were emigrating. I can well imagine that a strong south-western wind would oppose their flight to the west, and oblige the caravan to steer out of their way; but why do they select during fine weather a course against the breeze and in an opposite direction from Guiana if they were migrating to that country ? It appears therefore that on leaving the northern part of America for more congenial regions, they first visit the great lakes of Central America, from whence they continue their journey across the Caribbean Islands to the coast of Africa. The Black-breast Plover ( Charadrius virginicus ) is the most numerous; the male appears about the 25th of August, and the female, which is called in Barbados 1 It is asserted that they were introduced from Barbados into Demerara, where they are now numerous. As a counter-present, Barbados received its crapeaux from that colony. 2 Jeremiah, chap. viii. ver. 7- 3 The severe gale from the south-west on the 12th of September 1846, brought such a number of birds to the ground that they were killed with sticks. (See ante, p. 63.) BIKDS. 681 the White-breast Plover, arrives after the flight of the males has ceased, about the middle of September 1 . The following list comprises all the birds which are indigenous or which merely visit the island on their migration. The few indigenous birds have been marked with an asterisk. Falconidce. *Buteo borealis, Swains. The Chicken Hawk.—*Falco colum- barius, Linn. The Pigeon Hawk 2 . Strigidce. *Strix flammea, Wilson. The Screech Owl. Hirundinidce. Hirundo dominicensis, Linn. The Large Swallow.—Tachornis phcenicobia?, Gosse. The Swift. Nectarinidce. *Certhiola flaveola, Linn. The Yellow Breast. Trochilidce. *Trochilus cristatus, Linn. The Blue Crested Humming Bird 3 . Turdidae. Turdus Jamaicensis, Gruel. The Quaking Thrush.—Turdus mus- telinus, Gmel. The common Thrush. Muscicapidce. Vireo olivacea, Wilson. The Monkey Bird. - Elania pagana, Licht. The Pee-whittler. Sturnidce. *Quiscalus crassirostris, Swains. The Blackbird. Fringillidce. *Spermophila, nov. spec. The Sparrow.—*Spermophila bicolor, Linn. The Parson Sparrow. Psittacidce. *Psittacus passerinus, Auct. The Small Parrakeet, or Love Bird. Columbidce. *Zenaida amabilis, Bonap. The Wood Pigeon or Pea-dove.— *Cham8epelia passerina, Linn. The Ground Dove. Tetraonidce. Ortyx virginiana. Lath. The Quail. Charadriadce. Squatarola helvetica, Linn. Logger Head, or White Tail Plover.—Charadrius virginicus, Bechst. The Black Breast Plover.— Charadrius semipalmatus, Kaup. The Ring-Neck Plover.—Strepsilas interpres, Linn. The Sandy Plover. Ardeidce. Ardea egretta, Linn. The White Gauldin.—Ardea virescens, Linn. The Gray Gauldin. ScolopacidcE. Numenius hudsonicus, Lath. The Crook-bill Curlew.—Nu- menius borealis, Gmel. The Shivering Curlew.—Totanus melanoleucus, Gmel. The Pica.—Totanus flavipes, Gmel. The Long Leg.—Totanus chloropygius, Vieill. The Black Back.—Tringoides macularia, Linn. The Corn Snipe.—Tringoides Bartramius, Wilson. The Cotton Tree Plover.—Tringa canutus, Linn. The Mopus.—Tringa pectoralis, Say. The October Chirp.—Tringa pusilla, Wilson. The Grey Nit.—Philo- 1 This remarkable circumstance is not restricted to the Plover; there are several other species of migrating birds where the males commence their migration several days before the females; as for example the Nightingale and Wheat-ear. 2 A large Fish Hawk (perhaps Pandion Carolinensis, Bonap.) was shot in October 1835 at Graeme Hall Swamp, measuring from the beak to the extremity of the tail 3 feet 2 inches; spread of the wings from tip to tip 5 feet inches; length of the talon 11 inch. The stomach was quite empty, from which it was inferred that it had just arrived from a long flight.— The Barbadian. 3 Barbados contains a second species of humming-bird, larger than this species, and apparently Lampornis mango, Swains. 682 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. maclius pugnax, Linn. Tlie Ruff Sand Piper 1 .—Macroramphus griseus, Leach. The Brown Snipe.—Gallinago Wilsoni, Bonap. The Great Snipe. Rallidce. Gallinula galeata, Licht. The Red Seal Coot, or Water-hen.— Fulica americana, Gmel. The White Seal Coot. Anatidce. Anas obscura, Gmel. The Dusky Duck.—Dendrocygna arhorea, Swains. The Whistling Duck.—Querquedula Carolinensis. The Teal. Colymbidcce. Podiceps Dominicus, Lath. The Two-penny Chick. Laridce. Xema atricilla. The Laughing Gull. Pelecanidce. Sula rubripes, Gould. The Red Footed Booby.—Sula fiber. The Booby.—Sula parva.—Fregata aquila, Cuv. The Frigate Bird.— Pelecanus fuscus, Linn. The Brown Pelican 2 . MAMMALIA. Cetaceous Animals. —Although differing in exterior shape so sur¬ prisingly from land animals, the fact that they are warm-blooded, that they breathe as the terrestrial animals, and suckle their young, places the Whales among this class. Cetacea, or Whales, form the eighth order of Mammalia according to Cuvier’s system. The common Whale ( Balcena Mysticetus) has not been seen in the West Indies. The Cachalot, Physeter macrocephalus, Cuv., is said to visit sometimes the Archipelago, and Ambergris has been repeatedly found on the shores of some of the West India islands; but if this assertion is really founded on truth, its visits must be only occa¬ sionally. The Grampus however ( Delphinus Gramphus, Desm.) is fre¬ quently to be met 3 . Other cetaceous animals are— Delphinus Delphis, Linn. The Common Dolphin. Delphinus Phocsena, Linn. The Common Porpoise or Tumbler. Manatus americanus, Linn. The Seacow, Manati or Lamautin. The scarcity of birds in the island of Barbados is only surpassed by the rarity of Quadrupeds. If we except domestic animals, Barbados possesses five genera of terrestrial animals, comprising only a few more species in number. The most interesting is the Barbados Monkey, now nearly extinct, 1 The Ruff Sand Piper is a British bird; and I have been informed that it is the first time that this species has been recorded as having been found on the other side of the Atlantic. Mr. Bishop sent it to me among other migratory birds, and observed that its name was not known, from which I infer that its occurrence in Barbados is a singular circumstance. 2 I have been told that the Pelican occasionally visits the coasts of Barbados. I do not recollect having seen it during my stay in that island. 3 A whale (Grampus) was taken near Maycock’s Bay, on the leeward coast of St. Lucy’s parish, in April 1813, measuring twenty-two feet six inches in length. Its diameter was seventeen feet nine inches, and the fin seven feet four inches in length. It was considered too young to afford any oil, and the negroes used there¬ fore the flesh for culinary purposes. MAMMALIA. 683 although formerly so frequent that the Legislature set a price upon its head. I have much to regret, on account of natural history, that my endeavours to procure a specimen for the purpose of determining the species have entirely failed. From the outer appearance of a living spe¬ cimen, I consider it to be Cepus capucinus, Geoff., the Sai or Weeper, or a very closely-allied species. It is not likely that it was introduced, as the first settlers found it in large numbers on their arrival. The Racoon, Procyon lotor, Cuv., is now equally scarce, although formerly so abundant that they were included in the legislative enactment for extirpation 1 . If we add to this two animals, perhaps an indigenous mouse and two species of bats, we come, as far as my knowledge extends, to the end of our enumeration of indigenous mammalia. The breeds of domestic animals degenerate under the tropics. The wool of the sheep becomes in succeeding generations wiry and falls off, and in lieu of a uniform fleecy covering, many naked places are obser¬ vable. The dog, the faithful companion of man, is equally subjected to changes which do not improve his appearance or character. The custom of the labourers of keeping dogs, which in many instances are not cared for and are turned out of doors, has led to a great evil. These dogs have turned wild, and have increased so rapidly that they commit the greatest ravages in the sheep-pens; as many as twenty sheep have been known to be destroyed by these wild dogs in one night. A dog-law has been introduced for their destruction, which has not however been effectual in removing the evil. The assertion that dogs under the tropics are not subject to hydrophobia is unfortunately unfounded, as far as re¬ gards Barbados. Hughes mentions that several dogs were mad in 1741; and in 1833 hydrophobia prevailed to an alarming degree among the canine race, and several persons were bitten in the town and country, and died of this dreadful disease. 1 A Racoon, beautifully formed and marked, with a long black, bushy tail, and weighing nine pounds, was caught in a trap some years ago, in a gully adjoining Colonel Anton’s estate. The labourer who had borrowed and set the trap carried his prize to the Churchwarden, from whom he demanded and received 8 bits (3s. 4d. sterling), under an old law of the island, offering that reward for the destruction of vermin. This animal was a splendid specimen of its species now nearly extinct, although formerly ruinously abundant in this island .—Barbados Newspaper. APPENDIX i. Governors and Commanders-in-Chief of Barbados, from its Settlement in 1625 to 1846. William Deane . 1625 Charles Wolferstone. 1628 John Powell . 1629 Robert Wheatley . 1629 Sir William Tufton . 1629 Henry Hawley . 1630 Richard Peers . 1633 Henry Hawley .. 1634 Richard Peers . 1634 Henry Hawley . 1636 William Hawley. 1638 Henry Hawley . 1639 Major Henry Hunks. 1640 Philip Bell. 1641 Francis, Lord Willoughby . 1650 Sir George Ayscue. 1652 Daniel Searle. 1652 Thomas Modyford. 1660 Humphrey Walrond. 1660 Francis, Lord Willoughby. Henry Willoughby . .] 1663 Henry Hawley . Samuel Barwick. 1666 William, Lord Willoughby . 1667 Christopher Codrington . 1668 William, Lord Willoughby . 1669 Christopher Codrington . 16/0 William, Lord Willoughby . 1672 Sir Peter Colleton, Bart. 1673 Sir Jonathan Atkins . 1674 Sir Richard Dutton . 1680 Sir John Witliam . 1683 Sir Richard Dutton . 1684 Edwin Stede . 1685 APPENDIX I. 685 James Kendal . Francis Russel . Francis Bond. Hon. Ralph Grey . John Farmer. Sir Bevil Granville . William Sharpe. Mitford Crowe . George Lillington . Robert Lowther. William Sharpe . Robert Lowther. John Frere. Samuel Cox . Henry Worsley. Samuel Barwick. James Dotin . Scroop, Lord Viscount Howe . James Dotin . Hon. Robert Byng . James Dotin . Sir Thomas Robinson . Henry Grenville. Ralph Weekes .. Charles Pinfold . Samuel Rous. William Spry. Samuel Rous. Edward Hay . John Dotin. James Cunninghame. John Dotin...-. David Parry . Henry Frere . David Parry . William Bishop . George Poyntz Ricketts .. William Bishop.. Francis Humberstone Mackenzie, Lord Seaforth. John Ince . Francis Humberstone Mackenzie, Lord Seaforth. John Spooner. Sir George Beckwith, K.B. Governor Governor President Governor President Governor President Governor President Governor President Governor President President Governor President President Governor President Governor President Governor Governor President Governor President Governor President Governor President Governor President Governor President Governor President Governor President Governor President Governor President Governor 1690 1 1694 1696 1698 1701 1703 1706 170 7 1710 1711 1714 1715 1720 1720 1722 1731 1733 1733 1735 1739 1740 1742 1747 1753 1756 1766 1768 1772 1773 1779 1780 1783 1784 1790 1791 1793 1794 1800 1801 1803 1804 1806 1810 1 According to Oldmixon, Governor Kendal passed on the 17th of March 1690, an Act to release the prisoners implicated in the Monmouth insurrection, while it is generally con¬ sidered that he arrived only in Commodore Wright’s fleet in June 1690. There is an incongruity in the dates, which would almost lead to suppose that his arrival had taken place the year previous. A Bill which was passed in 1689 by the Assembly, “ for the further accommodation of his Excellency in his intended voyage,” while Mr. Stede, being Lieutenant- Governor, did not receive such a title, gives additional probability to this supposition. G8G HISTORY OF BARBADOS. John Spooner. ... President .. .. 1S14 Sir James Leith, K.B. ... Governor .. .. 1815 John Spooner. ... President .. .. 1815 Sir James Leith, K.B. ... Governor . ,. 1816 John Spooner. ,.. President .. .. 1816 John Foster Alleyne. ... President .. Stapleton, Lord Combermere, G.C.B. ... Governor . .. 1817 John Foster Alleyne. .. President . .. 1817 Stapleton, Lord Combermere, G.C.B...., ... Governor .. .. 1817 John Braithwaite Skeete. ... President . .. 1820 Samuel Hinds . ... President .. .. 1821 Sir Henry Warde, K.C.B. ... Governor .. .. 1821 John Braithwaite Skeete . ... President .. Sir Henry Warde, K.C.B. ... Governor . John Braithwaite Skeete . ... President .. .. 1827 Sir James Lyon, K.C.B. ... Governor .. .. 1829 John Braithwaite Skeete . ... President . Sir James Lyon, K.C.B.. ... Governor .. .. 1829 John Braithwaite Skeete .. ... President .. .. 1830 Sir James Lyon, K.C.B.. ... Governor .. .. 1830 John Braithwaite Skeete . ... President . .. 1832 Sir Lionel Smith, K.C.B. ... Governor . .. 1833 John Alleyne Beccles .. ... President . .. 1834 Sir Lionel Smith, K.C.B. ... Governor .. ,. 1834 John Alleyne Beccles . ... President . .. 1835 Sir Lionel" Smith, K.C.B. ... Governor .. .. 1835 John Alleyne Beccles . ... President . .. 1836 Sir E. J. M. M'Gregor, Bart., K.C.B...., ... Governor .. .. 1836 J. Braithwaite . ... President . .. 1841 H. C. Darling. ... Lieut.-Governor . .. 1841 Sir Charles Edward Grey. ... Governor . .. 1841 William Reid..'.. ... Governor . .. 1846 Note II. (P;v>-e 34.) Half-hourly Meteorological Observations at Grand View in Barbados during Term-days in December 1845 and March and June 1846. By Sir Robert H. Schomburgk. Graud View lies east by north about H mile from the Cathedral in Bridgetown, and is 170 feet above the sea. The Barometrical Observations have been reduced to a temperature of 30° Fahr., and the instruments corrected for error. [.Insert opposite p. 686. Barometer (Troughton’s) in English inches, and attached thermometer in degrees Fahr. Dry- and wet-thermometers (by Troughtou and Simms) in degrees of Fahrenheit. Temperature of the dew-point and degree of humidity contained in the atmosphere, complete saturation being assumed as represented by unity (see Glaisher s Hygrometrical Tables). December 22r and 23rd, 184 d March 21st ai 5. 22nd, 1846. d June 22nd anc 23rd, 1846. December 22nc and 23rd, 184! March 21st an . 22nd, 1846. June 23rd 22nd and , 1846. fi Barom t Attache therm d Baron Attache therm ' Barom Attache therm d Dry. Wet. Dry. Wet. Dry. Wet. h 6 29-80 690 29-81 3 73-5 29-791 80-0 69-5 68-3 72-5 7i-o 79-2 75-2 6* •81 70-5 •81 1 74-2 •81: 800 697 68-5 74-1 72-1 79’3 75'5 •81 71-5 •83 0 74-8 •sis 80-5 71-2 70-0 74-5 72-3 79-6 75 8 7\ •82- 73-0 •84 3 76-7 *821 80-5 730 71 3 76-0 73-5 80-0 770 8 •84c 75 6 ■85 7 79-7 •834 80-S /55 730 79-2 74-4 80-0 77-0 84 ■85t •87 6 811 ■83i 82-3 77-0 73-2 80-4 75-0 81-0 77 3 9 ■86( 79-5 •87 0 83-3 •83: S3-0 78-1 732 82-0 75-8 82-1 78-2 * ■828 71-3 •785 780 •796 81 0 710 69-0 76-6 74 0 80-7 78-7 •819 71-0 •788 77-8 •789 80-5 70-8 69-0 76 1 73-5 80-2 78-2 •817 70-5 '777 77'5 •768 79-5 70-5 687 75-8 735 79-0 77-0 •805 702 773 77-2 •763 79-0 700 68-5 75-8 73-5 780 76-2 1 •802 70-0 •771 77-0 ■761 79-0 700 68-2 75-5 73'5 78-5 76-5 • 7.95 69-8 •76 7 76-8 ■759 79-2 70-0 68-0 7 5-4 733 78-8 76-8 •795 69-8 •767 76-8 •759 792 700 68-0 75-4 73-3 78-8 76-8 •799 697 •767 768 755 79-2 70-0 68-0 75-4 733 78-8 76-8 1 •803 69-7 •772 76*7 •753 79-8 69-7 675 75-2 73-3 78-5 76-5 •813 69-5 •785 76-6 '765 791 69-0 67-0 75-2 73-4 78-2 76-0 i (29-815 | 68 5 2 9-715 76T 29771 790 69-0 67-0 75-2 73-5 78-0 76-0 December 22nd and 23rd, 1845. March 21st and 22nd, 1846. Tempe¬ rature 0 the clew Degree of humidity (complete saturation = rooo). Tempe¬ rature 0: the dew point. Degree of humidity (complete saturation = 1-000). Tempe¬ rature 0 the dew¬ point. Degree of humidity (complete saturation = 1-000) 6/-0 0-907 700 0-908 73-0 0-825 68-5 0-953 71-0 0-907 74-5 0-840 69-5 0-953 70-5 0-865 74-0 0-82? 700 0-908 73-0 0-907 75-5 0-867 71 5 0-865 71-5 0-786 75-5 0-867 710 0-751 72-5 0-786 75-0 0-826 70'5 0-785 73-0 0-750 760 0-827 71’5 O 786 73-0 0-750 75-0 0-826 72-5 0-786 72-5 0-715 77-5 0-868 72-5 0-786 73-5 0-716 77-0 0-828 71-0 0-750 73-0 0-682 78-0 0-827 71-5 0786 74-0 0-683 77’5 0-789 72-0 0-824 74-0 0-683 77-5 0-789 71-5 O 786 72-5 0-651 77-5 0-789 72-5 0786 72-5 0-651 76"5 0-788 720 0750 72-5 0-651 760 0-753 72-5 0786 74-0 0-683 76-0 0-753 73-5 0787 730 0-682 75-0 0-751 72-0 0750 73-0 0-682 75-0 0-751 71-0 0750 73-5 0-716 75-0 0-751 71-0 0750 72-5 0-715 75-0 0-751 71-5 0786 , 73-0 0-750 75-0 0-751 72-0 0-824 73-0 0-750 76-0 0-827 71-0 0-824 73-5 0"750 76-0 0-827 70-0 0-823 73'5 0-750 76-0 0-827 69-5 0-864 73-0 0-825 75-0 0-826 70-0 0-908 73-0 0-825 78-0 0-910 70'0 0-908 73-5 0-865 77-0 0-867 69-0 0-907 73-5 0-865 78-0 0-910 690 0-907 73-5 0-865 78-0 0-910 69-0 0-907 73-5 0-865 77-5 0-868 68'0 0-907 73-5 0-865 78-0 0-910 68-0 0-907 73-5 0-865 78-0 0-910 68-0 0-907 74-0 0-909 78-0 0-910 68-0 0-907 72-5 0-867 780 0-910 6‘8’0 0-907 74-0 0-909 78-0 0-910 68-0 0-907 74-0 0-909 78-0 0-910 68-0 0-907 72"5 0-867 78-0 0-910 680 0-907 73-0 0-907 77-0 0-909 680 0-907 73-0 0-907 76-0 0-909 68-5 0-953 73-0 0-907 75-0 0-908 670 0-907 73-0 0-907 76-0 0-909 67-o 0-907 72-0 0-908 76-0 0-909 67-0 0-907 72-0 0-908 76-0 0-909 67'0 0-907 72-0 0-908 760 0-909 67'0 0-907 720 0-908 76-0 0-909 65-8 0-902 72-0 0-908 75-0 0-908 65-8 0-902 | 72-0 0-908 75-0 0-908 June 22nd and 23rd, 1846. Evaporation in graihs of Troy weight. Direction and force of wind. December 22nd March 21st and June 22nd and CN ^ «« and 23rd, 1845 22nd, 1846. 23rd 1846. TJ 03 W rH f'i CM ^ *- Direct. Force. Direct. Force. Direct. Force. 0 8 grs. grs. grs. . ....: r__ E. L. E. L. E. BR. 3 6-5 5 C. E. L. E. BR. 1 4-5 5 E. b. S. L. E.N.E. M.W.G. E. BR. E. L. E.N.E. M.W.G. E. BR. 4 14 io E. b. S. M. E.N.E. M.W.G. E. £ S. BR. E. b. S. M. E.b. N. BR. E. FIt. 6 18 8 E.S.E. M. E.S.E. BR. E. FR. S.E. M. E. M.W.G. E. FR. io 18 12 S.E. M. E. M.W.G. E. FR. 14 18 15 E. b. S. M. E.S.E. BR. E. H. E. b. S. M. E. M.W.G. E. H. 14 18 20 E. M. E. M.W.G. E. H. 13 20 18" E. M. E. M.W.G. E. FR. E. M. E. BR. E. H. 6 20 >29 E. b. N. M. E. BR. E. H. E. b. N. M. E. BR. E. H. 6 15 20 E. b. N. M. E. BR. E. H. E.b. N. M. E. BR. E. FR. 2 9 14 E.b. N. M. E. BR. E. FR. — E. b. N. M. E.N.E. BR. E. FR. 2 5 E.b. N. M. E. BR. E. FR. 2 s 5 C. E. BR. E. FR. 2 ..... 3 C. E. BR. E. FR. . c. E. BR. E. FR. 0 7 5 c. E. BR. E. H. c. E. BR. E. H. 4 5 4 c. E. BR. E. FR. c. E. b. S. BR. E. FR. i 5 5 E. b. S. L. E. b. s. BR. E. H. 3 4 5 C. E. b. s. BR. E. M. 3 5 0 C. E. b. s. BR. E. M. 3 0 5 C. E. b. s. BR. E. M.W.G. 0 3 0 C. E. b. s. BR. E. FR. 0 3 4 C. E. b. s. M.W.G. E. FR.W.G. 2 2 4 c. E. b. s. L. E. FR. Strata towards W. do. Temp, of the water in the well (depth 162 ft.) 77°' 3 Cirro.-cum. towards N.W.; cloudy towards E. CiiTO.-cum. towards N.W. ; cloudy towards E. Cum. towards N.W. and N. Cirr.-cum. towards E., N. and N.W.; zenith cloudy.. .. State of weather, form of clouds, and miscellaneous remarks. December 22nd and 23rd, 1845. Towards E. & W. thick banks; on zenith scattered clouds; £blue sky Cirrous clouds; nimbus towards N.W. ; $ blue sky. y ; southern horizon clear . l the sun 88 °; £ blue sky . Therm, in the sun 89°-2; £ blue sky well-water 76 °" 6 . { Bank towards E. increasing; sunset fine and clear; \ well-water 77° ./ d68°-5 A few clouds on zenith and towards E March 21st and 22nd, 1846. well-water 80°; £ blue sky. £ blue sky Less cloudy; cirr. haze near zenith Cirrous haze vanished, bank of cum Cirro-cumuli; bank towards N.W. Cirro-cumuli; £ blue sky. Cirro-cumuli . Cirro-cumuli; cirri at zenith. Covered with cirri-cum.; £ blue sky . Eastern hemisphere quite overcast; £ blue sky Cirro-cumuli; f blue sky... Therm, in the sun 105° ; £ blue sky ... Whitish cirro-cum.; $ blue sky . Therm, in the sun 108°. A heavy bank towards N.W. A heavy bank towards N.W. A heavy bank towards N.W. A heavy bank towards N.W. A heavy r bank towards N.W.; £ blue sky .... Cirrous haze and cirr.-cum.; almost overcast; £ blue sky Cirrous haze and cirr.-cum.; almost overcast; 4 blue sky Cirro-cumuli and cumulo-strati; £ blue sky. Cirro-cumuli and cumulo-strati; f- blue sky. Flexuous cirri on zenith ; banks of cumuli towards E. .. . Cirrous haze near zenith; £ blue sky. Cirrous haze near zenith; banks to the W. Strati along E. and W. horizon Bank towards W.; $ blue sky . Clear; therm, in open air 77 r Clear; Clear; Clear; Clear; Clear; Clear; Clear; Clear. Well-water 79° —. Clear . Clear; .. .. - Clear. Clear; .... - Clear. Clear*;__ Clear. Clear; .. .. - Clear . 77 radiating therm. 74°.. -.... 74.. 77 .. - - .... 74 . 76-9 ,. - -.... 73-5 76-7 .. - 73-3 76-7 .. - - .... 73-3 76 .. - 73-2 76 .. - 74 74-5 74-5 752 745 73-5 74-8 73-2 73-2 73-4 73-4 73 June 22nd and 23rd, 1846. Cirrous clouds; £ blue sky ; sun clouded. Well-water 77°'8; rain towards N.E.; £ blue sky. Overcast with cirro-cum.; drizzling rain towards the hills to the Cirro-cum.; £ blue sky. [N.; £ blue sky. Well-water 78°; showery; £ blue sky. Cirro-strati towards E.; cirr.-cum. towards S.W.; fbl.sky; sunshine. Cirro-strati towards E.; cirr.-cum. towards S.W.; £bl.sky; sunshine. Cirr.-cum. towards W.; cirr.-str. towards E. Cirr.-cum.; £ blue sky. CiiT.-cum.; sea-horizon hazy. Cirr.-cum.; £ blue sky. . blue sky; cirro-cum. and cumuli towards N.E.; sunshine. Partly overcast; £ blue sky; drizzling; no sunshine. Cirro-eum.; no sun shine. | blue sky; therm, in the sun 98°. | blue sky; therm, in the sun 94°. Cirri- and cirro-cum.; £ blue sky. Therm, in the sun 94°; £ blue sky. Shower descending towards N.; £ blue sky; therm, in the sun 97°. £ blue sky, otherwise as above. f Squall approaching from the E.; hazy towards S.; zenith clear; l therm, in the sun 100°; £ blue sky. Eastern hemisphere almost clear; £ blue sky; sea-horizon hazy. Thick black cumulus towards S.W.; therm, in the sun 90°. / Cirro-strati; therm, in the sun 84°; well-water 77°; air in shade l 80°-5. | blue sky. Heavy cumuli towards horizon all around: Almost cloudless; £ blue sky. Fine starlight. Fine starlight. Eastern hem. clear; bright starlight; western hem. partially clouded. At 9 h 37 m a brilliant meteor, larger than Sirius, from E. to W. Stars dim; scud flying. [along the constellation Libra. Partially clouded. Partially clouded; only a few stars visible towards N. A few stars visible to the N., otherwise quite overcast. A shower. Clouded. Clouded towards N. and W. shortly previous a shower. Clouded towards E. and S.; a few stars. A few cirro-cumuli; stars bright. f Eastern hemisph. nearly clear; clouded to the N. and S.; mom- \ ing clouds rising. Day breaking towards N.; scud flying. Sky covered with haze. General Remarks.—The instruments which had been compared at my departure from London with the standards at Troughton and Simms’, were placed in a gallery open to the air and had a north aspect. The readings were noted by me personally. A cylindrical glass vessel (depth = I* inch, diameter — 2f inches) was exposed every morning with 1000 grains of pure water to the open air, without being exposed to the sun, and the decrease by evaporation ascertained, and the diminution entered in the column. The abbreviations in the column of the direction of the wind denote the points of the compass from whence it blew; and in the column headed Force, DR. brisk ; c. calm ; fr. fresh; H. high ; l.a. light air ; 1 .. light; M. moderate ; w.c. with gusts. In the columns on the state of the weather and clouds, the abbreviations cum., str., cut. relate to cumulus (o or i), stratus (or i), cirrus (o or i); bl. blue; tow. towards. The fractions refer to the portion of blue sky visible, dividing the heaven in eight portions. [* Moon partially clouded.] i Vernal Equinox Summer Solstice G88 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. III. (Page 36.) Radiating Thermometer, observed by John Davy, Esq., M.D., F.R.S., near St. Anne's Garrison in Barbados. Therm, in air. Therm, on cotton. Therm, in air. Therm, on cotton. 1846. o O 1846. 0 0 Jan.1. 6 A.M. 67 63 Feb. 3. 6 A.M. 69 65 9 P.M. 78 76 101 P.M. 72 70 2. 5 A.M. 74 69 4. 6 A.M. 70 67 3. 6 A.M. 73 72 lOf P.M. 72 69 4. 6 A.M. 73 69 5. 6 A.M. 71 70 9 P.M. 75 72 101 P.M. 71 68 5. 6 A.M. 73 69 6. 6 A.M. 70 69 101 P.M. 73 72 10 P.M. 70 66 6. 6 A.M. 72 70 7. 6 A.M. 69 67 10 P.M. 76 73 10 P.M. 72 68 7. 6 A.M. 73 68-5 8. 6 A.M. 69 65 8. 6 A.M. 71 68 9. 6 A.M. 73 71 11 P.M. 73 69 9* P.M. 75 71 13. 10 P.M. 77 74 10. 6 A.M. 73 69 14. 6 A.M. 74 70 10 P.M. 71 68 17. 10 P.M. 74 70 11. 6 A.M. 69 63 18s 6 A.M. 71 66 11 P.M. 68 64 20. 6 A.M. 73 71 12. 6 A.M. 69 63 10 P.M. 76 75 10i P.M. 71 67 23. 6 A.M. 73 68 13. 6 A.M. 70 65 12 P.M. 72 69 10i P.M. 75 73 24. 6 A.M. 72 67 14. 6 A.M. 71 68 101 P.M. 75 71 11 P.M. 73 68 25. 6 A.M. 72 68 15. 6 A.M. 73 67 11 P.M. 74 70 10 P.M. 73 69 26. 6 A.M. 72 68 16. 6 A.M. 73 68 Hi P.M. 73 70 10 P.M. 76 74 27. 6 A.M. 71 68 17. 6 A.M. 73 68 11 P.M. 71 67 11 P.M. 71 67 28. 6 A.M. 67 66 18. 6 A.M. 69 63 Hi P.M. 70 66 10 P.M. 75 73 29. 6 A.M. 69 62 19. 6 A.M. 73 68 Feb.1. lOf P.M. 75 72 9* P.M. 75 73 2. 6 A.M. 73 72 20. 6 A.M. 73 68 101 P.M. 72 69 APPENDIX IV. 689 IV. (Page 38.) A Chronological List of Hurricanes and severe Gales in the West Indies, from their discovery to the year 1846. 1494, June 16. A violent hurricane from the south-west felt in Hispaniola. Peter Martyr; Herrera. 1502, July 1. Tremendous hurricane in Hispaniola, twenty sail with all on board perished. Herrera. 1508, August 3. A violent hurricane in St. Domingo ; it blew first from the north, and then shifted suddenly to the south; every house in Buena- venture blown down, and twenty vessels destroyed. Herrera. 1509, July 29. Another hurricane in St. Domingo, which, although it did not commit so much damage in the town, did much injury in the country. Oviedo. 1526, October. A hurricane with severe rain, causing a flood. Herrera. 1527. Hurricane in Cuba. The expedition under Narvaez was partly de¬ stroyed this year by a hurricane. 1530. A severe hurricane in Porto Rico. Herrera. 1623, September 19. Hurricane in St. Christopher’s ; it destroyed the crops of tobacco of the first settlers. 1642. There were three hurricanes in the course of this year in the West Indies; the second lasted twenty-four hours, during which the houses were all blown down in St. Christopher’s, and twenty-three fully-laden vessels were destroyed upon the coast. Du Tertre. 1651. A hurricane in Martinique. Du Tertre. 1652. A hurricane in the West Indies, from which the fleet under Prince Rupert greatly suffered. Prince Maurice his brother was lost in this hurricane. 1656. Two hurricanes in the West Indies. In Guadaloupe, most of the houses were destroyed; every vessel at anchor in the roads was wrecked, and most of their crews drowned. Du Tertre. 1657. Another severe hurricane in Guadaloupe, after which an enormous quantity of caterpillars showed themselves, which destroyed the vege¬ tation which the gale had spared. Du Tertre. 1664, October 22 and 23. A severe gale and heavy rains destroyed the ve¬ getation in Guadaloupe, and caused almost a famine. 1666, August 4 and 5. A severe hurricane in Guadaloupe which lasted twenty-four hours. It blew down the houses and killed several persons. This hurricane destroyed Lord Willoughby’s armament, and he him¬ self lost his life in it. It was likewise felt in Martinique and St. Christopher’s, but with less violence. 1667, August 19. A hurricane in Barbados. (See ante, p. 45.) 1667, September 1. A tremendous hurricane desolated the island of St. Christopher’s ; not a house or sugar-work remained standing. It began at nine o’clock in the morning with a strong gale from the north, which 2 Y (390 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. lasted until five o’clock in the afternoon ; at six it shifted to the south, when the devastation commenced. 16/0, October 7. A hurricane in Jamaica which drove the English fleet ashore, except Morgan’s vessel. 1674, August 10. A severe gale in Barbados. (See ante, p. 45.) 1675, August 31. A tremendous hurricane in Barbados. (See ante, p. 45.) 1681. The island of Antigua suffered from a hurricane this year. 1694, August 13. A great sea-wave destroyed James’s fort. 1694, October. A hurricane in Barbados. (See ante, p. 45.) 1695, October 2. A hurricane and earthquake in Martinique. Labat. 1700. A gale in Barbados. (See ante, p. 45.) 1707. A severe hurricane in Nevis. 1712, August 28. A dreadful hurricane in Jamaica.* Bryan Edwards. 1713, A hurricane in Guadaloupe. Warden. 1714, August 13 and 14. Another hurricane in Guadaloupe. Warden. 1714, August 29. Jamaica suffered from a severe gale, and several men-of- war were driven ashore. Warden. 1722, August 28. A tremendous hurricane in Jamaica which shook the island to its foundation. Bryan Edwards. 1726, October 22. A severe hurricane in Jamaica; several houses and about fifty vessels were destroyed in the different ports. Long. 1728, August 19. Hurricane at Antigua. 1731. A severe storm in Barbados. (See ante, p. 46.) 1734. A hurricane did great damage in Jamaica. 1737, September 9. The town of St. Louis in St. Domingo was entirely de¬ stroyed by a hurricane. All the ships at anchor were thrown upon the coast. Gentleman’s Magazine. 1738. Grande-Terre in Guadaloupe suffered severely from a hurricane. Warden. 1740. A hurricane devastated the southern coast of the island of Porto Rico. Warden. 1744, October 20. A hurricane demolished the Mosquito fort in Jamaica; eight men-of-war and ninety-six merchant vessels were stranded, wrecked, or foundered. It lasted twenty-four hours, and the wind was all that time due south. 1747, September 21 and October 24. Two hurricanes committed great damage among the Leeward Islands ; fourteen sail of merchantmen were lost at St. Christopher’s, and thirty-six at the other islands. 1754, September. St. Domingo was greatly injured by a hurricane; twelve vessels were lost loaded with 1700 hogsheads of sugar. 1756, September 12. A hurricane desolated Martinique. Chanvalon. 1759, September. A heavy gale in the Gulf of Mexico. 1762, December 9. A storm from the southward in Carthagena accompanied by an earthquake; two Spanish men-of-war driven ashore, and the castle of Santa Maria was entirely destroyed. 1766, August 13 and 14. A tremendous hurricane ravaged Martinique so APPENDIX IV. 691 that its effects were felt for twenty years after. It commenced on the 13th of August at ten o’clock at night, with a strong wind from the north-west, which was followed by an earthquake. About one hundred persons lost their lives, and upwards of thirty-five ships foundered or were stranded. Warden. 1/66, September 13 and 15. A severe hurricane in St. Christopher’s and Montserrat; half the town destroyed in the latter island, and many vessels lost. Annual Register. 1766, September 21. A violent hurricane in St. Eustatius and Tortuga. Annual Register. 1766, October 6. A severe gale in Dominica and Guadaloupe; five vessels driven ashore. Annual Register. 1766, October 22 and 23. A violent hurricane in the harbour of Pensacola. Five Spanish vessels driven ashore in the Bay of St. Barnard. 1768, October 25. A tremendous hurricane at Havanna. Above 4100 houses were destroyed, and more than 1000 persons perished. An¬ nual Register. 1772, August 4 and 5. The southern part of St. Domingo was devastated by a hurricane which lasted five hours; many vessels were lost. Warden. 1772, August 28. A hurricane accompanied by an earthquake did great inj ury in Porto Rico. 1772, August 31. A most violent hurricane devastated the Leeward and Virgin Islands. It commenced from the north-east, and after a short calm shifted suddenly to the south-west by south. Numerous per¬ sons were killed, and the greater number of vessels in these islands de¬ stroyed. 1774, October 20. A hurricane in Jamaica. Warden. 1776, September 5 and 6. A hurricane destroyed twenty-two sail in Marti¬ nique, and committed great damage in Guadaloupe. 1780, October 3 and 4. A hurricane and earthquake laid waste Savannah-la- mar in Jamaica, and destroyed a great portion of the county of Corn¬ wall. The hurricane was felt on the 4th in Cuba. Annual Register ; Bryan Edwards. 1780, October 10 and 11. Dreadful hurricane in Barbados (see ante, p. 46), St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenada, St. Christopher’s, &c. The hurricane was accompanied by an earthquake in Martinique, where it committed the greatest ravages ; 9000 persons were said to have perished, and the damage was estimated at 700,000 Louis-d’or. Annual Register. [Warden gives the 10th of November, no doubt erroneously, as the date of this awful occurrence.] 1781, August 1. Jamaica was again desolated by a hurricane ; several men-of- war and merchant vessels were lost. It extended to Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Annual Register. 1784, July 30. Another hurricane in Jamaica, accompanied by two shocks of an earthquake ; numerous lives were lost, and every vessel in the harbour except four was foundered or stranded. Westminster Magazine. 2 y 2 692 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. 1/85, August 27. Jamaica suffered from a hurricane. Bryan Edwards. 1785, August 31. A hurricane in Guadaloupe. Warden. 1786, August. A hurricane in St. Domingo. 1786, September 2. A violent hurricane in Barbados. (See ante, p. 50.) 1786, September 10. Guadaloupe suffered great damage from a hurri¬ cane. 1786, October 20. A hurricane in Jamaica. Bryan Edwards. 1787, August 3, 23 and 29. Dominica was visited by three severe gales in this month, which destroyed all the vessels in the island, and blew down the barracks and buildings upon Morne Bruce. Annual Re¬ gister. 1787, September 23. A violent hurricane and floods of ram at Belize. It began to blow from the north-north-west and shifted to the south¬ west ; five hundred houses were thrown down and one hundred persons perished; eleven square-rigged vessels were lost. 1788, August 14. A hurricane committed great damage in Martinique. Warden. 1791, June 21. Heavy rains and severe winds caused a flood in Ilavannah, by which 257 of the inhabitants lost their lives, and 11,700 head of cattle are said to have perished in the flood. Annual Register. 1792, August 1. Severe hurricane in Antigua, St. Bartholomew's and the other Leeward Islands. Annual Register. 1793, August. Severe hurricane in St. Christopher’s. Bryan Edwards. 1794, August 27 and 28. A great hurricane at the Havannah, which caused the loss of several vessels. Humboldt; Warden. 1795, August 18. Much injury was done to Antigua by a hurricane. Bryan Edwards. » 1796, October 3. A hurricane raged at the Bahamas and committed much injury to the shipping and the country. Bryan Edwards. 1801, July 22. A terrible hurricane at Nassau; 120 sail were lying as wrecks on shore. Bryan Edwards. 1804, September 3 and 6. A severe hurricane began to blow on the 3rd of September at Martinique, Guadaloupe, Porto Rico, the Virgin Islands, &c., extended through all the Leeward islands, and was felt on the 8th of September at the coast of Carolina : at Charleston the loss was estimated at a million of dollars. The island of St. Christopher’s suffered severely ; 274 vessels were said to have been lost in the West Indies. Bryan Edwards. 1805, July 27. Hurricane in the latitude of Jamaica. 1806, August 30, September 13, October 5 and 27. The Bahamas were visited by four dreadful gales this year, which produced the greatest misery. 1806, September 9. A dreadful hurricane in Dominica; 457 persons were killed, and almost eVery house blown down. Every vessel in the harbour was sunk or driven ashore. Bryan Edwards. 1806, September 24. Another gale in Dominica. 1806, October 5. A gale in Barbados. (Sec ante, p. 51.) APPENDIX IV. 693 1807, July 25. A severe gale in St. Christopher’s and Montserrat; nine vessels were lost. 1809, July 2/ and August 1. Two gales in the West Indies, but more severely in Dominica and Guadaloupe. The Jamaica fleet was dispersed by this gale on the 27th of July. 1809, September 2. Severe gale in Guadaloupe. 1809, October 13. A gale in Martinique. 1809, October 18. Trinidad suffered from a gale attended with dreadful lightning and deluging rains. Some small vessels were driven ashore. 1810, August 12. Trinidad was visited by a severe gale, which committed much injury, chiefly in Toco, where scarcely a house was left standing. Similar were the effects in the quarter of Diego Martin. It was felt in Barbados, and the schooner Laura was driven ashore. 1812, October 12. A severe gale in Jamaica. 1812, October 14. The same hurricane destroyed 500 houses in the city of Trinidad in Cuba, and many vessels were sunk or wrecked in the harbour of Casilda. 1813, July 22. A severe gale in Barbados. (See ante, p. 51.) 1813, July 22 and 23. Dominica, Martinique, and St. Christopher’s were seriously damaged by this hurricane. The barracks at Morne Bruce were leveled with the ground, and numbers of persons were killed and wounded, or blown over the cliffs into the sea. All the shipping were driven ashore in St. Christopher’s. Bryan Edwards. 1813, July 26. The consequences of this severe hurricane in Bermuda were of the most lamentable kind. In the harbour of St. George more than sixty sail of ships were stranded. Bryan Edwards. 1813, July 31. A hurricane blew with great violence in Jamaica. A number of vessels sunk or were stranded in Port Royal. During the storm a severe shock of an earthquake was felt. Bryan Edwards. 1813, August 25. Another hurricane occurred in Dominica, which was at¬ tended by deluges of rain. Bryan Edwards. .1815, September 18. A great gale commenced on the 18th of September at St. Bartholomew’s ; it reached Turk’s island on the 20th, and extended to Rhode island, where it blew on the 23rd with great force from the south-east. 1815, September 29. A gale did some injury to the shipping in Barbados. 1815, October 18 and 19. A severe storm in Jamaica, which proved parti¬ cularly destructive to the county of Surrey. Several vessels were stranded and some lives lost. Annals of Jamaica. 1816, September 15. A severe gale in Barbados. (See ante, p. 51.) 1816, October 16 and 17. A severe gale in Dominica, Martinique, &c. During the height of the storm in Dominica on the 17th, some shocks of an earthquake were felt which shook the stone buildings to their foundations. The shock was likewise felt in Barbados at a quarter-past ten on the 17th. 1817, September 15. A severe gale in Dominica. 1817, October 21. A tremendous hurricane, which exercised its fury over the HISTORY OF BARBADOS. 694- islands of St. Vincent, Dominica, St. Lucia, Martinique, &c. General Seymour, the Governor of St. Lucia, with many others perished by the fall of the Government House. The shipping in Barbados suffered severely. 1818, August 28. A violent gale in Bermuda. 1818, September 27. A severe gale in Barbados. (See ante, p. 51.) It extended to Dominica, Martinique, &c. 1819, September 21 and 22. A most destructive hurricane caused the greatest damage and serious loss of life in the Virgin Islands. It ex¬ tended to Porto Rico; it was likewise felt in St. Martin’s, St. Chris¬ topher’s, St. Bartholomew’s, Antigua, and as far south as St. Lucia. 1819, October 13 and 15. A severe gale accompanied by floods of rain in Barbados. (See ante, p. 51.) 1821, September 1. A severe gale accompanied by a shock of an earthquake was felt in Guadaloupe; upwards of 200 lives were lost, and eighty- eight houses were destroyed in Basse-Terre. Warden. 1821, September 1. A severe hurricane was experienced the same day in Turk’s Island ; it extended on the 2nd to the Bahamas, and was felt on the 3rd along the coast of North America from Carolina to Long Island. Redfield. 1821, September 9. A severe gale in Antigua, St. Bartholomew’s. 1822, March 11. A severe gale at Montego Bay in Jamaica. 1822, December 18 and 19. A severe gale did great injury in Barbados. (See ante', p. 52.) It was felt in Dominica, Martinique, and Guada¬ loupe. In the latter island sixteen French and ten American vessels besides coasters were stranded. 1825, July 26. A terrific hurricane in Dominica, Martinique, Guadaloupe, and Porto Rico. Numerous lives were lost in Basse-Terre ; in Guada¬ loupe, among others, was the Abbe G raff'd, Bishop of the French in the West Inches. Six villages were destroyed in Porto Rico. 1825, October 1. A severe gale in Cuba, which destroyed a large number of buildings. Warden. 1827, August 18 and 21. Violent hurricanes in Antigua, St. Christopher’3, the Virgin Islands, Ilayti, Jamaica, &c. It extended to Turk’s Island on the 20th, and to the Bahamas on the 21st. It passed over Bar¬ bados without much injury. Redfield. 1827, August 28. A gale of greater violence than that of the 17th of August raged in St. Thomas’s and the other Virgin Islands. 1830, August 11, 12 and 14. A severe gale at Dominica and Antigua; it extended to St. Thomas’s. It reached Turk’s Island on the 13th, and the Bahamas on the 14th of August. Redfield. 1830, August 22 and 23. A severe gale in Turk’s Island and the Bahamas. Redfield. 1830, September 29. A severe gale in the Caribbee Islands. Redfield. 1831, June 23 and 24. An awful gale in Trinidad, where it caused great injury. It was felt very severely in Tobago and Grenada, and extended to the coast of Yucatan. APPENDIX IV. 695 1831, August 10 and 11. A terrific hurricane in Barbados. (See ante, p. 53.) It produced great damage in St. Vincent and St. Lucia, and slightly touched Martinique. On the 12th it arrived at Porto Rico ; the town of Aux Cayes in Hayti was nearly destroyed by its force, and St. Jago de Cuba much injured. On the 14th it was at the Havannah, on the 16th and 17th on the northern shores of the Mexican sea. It blew a dreadful gale in New Orleans on the 17th, accompanied with torrents of rain. Almost all the shipping in the river were driven ashore. The back part of the city of New Orleans was completely inundated. It was simultaneously felt at Pensacola and Mobile, and extended to Natchez 300 miles up the river. Its duration was six days from the time it commenced in Barbados and its course cycloidal; the distance passed over by the storm from Barbados to New Orleans is 2100 nautical miles, and the average rate of its progress fourteen miles an horn'. Purdy. 1832, June 6. A hurricane in the Bahamas, which was felt in Bermuda on the following day. 1834, October 20 and 21. Severe gale in Martinique. Warden. 1835, August 12 and 13. A severe hurricane in Antigua, Nevis, St. Christo¬ pher’s, Virgin Island, Porto Rico, passing over Cuba. 1835, September 3. A severe gale in Barbados. (See ante, p. 61.) 1837, July 9 and 10. A gale in Barbados. (See ante, p. 61.) 1837, July 26. Another gale in Barbados. (See ante, p. 62.) It passed over Martinique, St. Crux, and extended to the straits of Florida. Reid. 1837, August 2 and 4. A severe hurricane in Antigua, the Virgin islands, Porto Rico, and raged on the 6th on the coast of Florida. Reid. 1837, August 14 and 15. A severe gale at Turk’s Island and Cayos. 1844, October 5. A severe hurricane at the Havannah. 1846, September 12. A gale in Barbados. (See ante, p. 62.) 1846, October 10 and 11. A severe hurricane at the Havannah. A destruc¬ tive swell of the sea was felt at the east end of Jamaica on the 10th, at the west end on the 11th, and an overwhelming flood on the interme¬ diate islands of the Caymanas. From the year 1494 to 1846, or in a period of 352 years, I have found re¬ corded 127 hurricanes and severe gales which committed more or less injury in the West Indies. Of this number occurred in the month of March, 1 ; June, 4 ; July, 11 ; August, 40 ; September, 28 ; October, 28 ; December, 2; and of 13 I have not succeeded in finding the month recorded. G'J6 HISTORY OK BARBADOS. V. (Page 440.) Recapitulation of the number of persons killed, wounded, those who have died of wounds, and those missing, in consequence of the hurricane of August 1831. Barbados. Parish of St. Michael. Christ Church. St. Philip. St. John. St. George. St. Thomas. St. James. St. Peter. St. Lucy. St. Andrew. St. Joseph. Total. I" White persons .. 99 27 26 4 14 li 16 16 20 ... 14 247 Killed, s Free coloured.. .. 31 3 13 1 4 4 1 ... 8 65 1 Slaves. 243 105 117 57 129 112 105 89 102 32 74 1165 Total killed in each parish.. 373 135 156 62 143 127 125 105 123 32 96 1477 r fWhite. 57 1 13 3 4 1 2 2 82 Died ot I Free coloUred 4 1 2 8 wounds. |g laves . 2 5 4 2 7 4 24 Total died of wounds .... 58 15 12 5 5 2 7 2 8 114 Wounded fWhite persons., and re- < Free coloured.. 6 4 1 13 24 1 1 5 7 covered [Slaves. 22 41 22 24 3 49 161 29 46 22 24 1 3 67 192 fWhite . Missing. < Free coloured . . (_ Slaves . 3 1 4 Total missing. 3 1 4 460 150 214 67 143 154 154 106 133 34 172 1787 Remarks .—The above is the number of killed, wounded, &c., according to the official returns from each parish; but it is obvious, and also generally known, that many persons have refused or neglected to report the losses they have sustained, and many individuals are killed who left no friend to lament their death, or give information of it to the proper quarter. The number killed, and who have since died of injury, may be estimated at about 2500. The number of killed and wounded in the several military departments is as follows:— APPENDIX V. 697 Garrison of Barbados. Killed. Wounded severely. Wounded slightly. Commissariat Staff. Dep.-Assist. Commissary- \ \ General Planner./ Children of ditto 3, Niece of ditto 1 . 4 Royal Artillery. Colour Sergeant. 1 Gunners and drivers... 2 l 7 Royal Sappers and Miners. Private. 1 35th Regiment. Sergeant-Major . 1 Colour Sergeant . ... l Sergeants . Corporal. l 2 1 Privates. 8 5 30 Drummer . 1 36th Regiment. Captains. 2 1 Lieutenants . 3 Sergeants . 6 6 Privates.-. 13 30 110 Women. 1 29 Children. .. . 30 65th Regiment. Private. 1 1st West India Regiment. Officer’s Lady .... 1 Privates. i ... 4 Military Labourers. Corporals. 1 2 Privates. 9 2 14 Drummer . .1 Women. 1 1 Child . 1 Infirmary Establishment. Privates . 2 1 2 Total. 48 52 I 242 Summary of the estimated value of public, private, and slave property, destroyed by the hurricane of August 1831. The value of government property and the principal losses of shipping are not included. Barbados. ^ c - 2 £ o o£ 5 g-s J C3 fl V * 'go¬ es : - C :! cs -j 1 -2 5 i * ^ S)«r 3 g c?J 0.5 C 611 S 8 ^ 2 ’> £$*Jf> ^ o O 0,0' H .3 S 1 S' 13 2 S S 5 pia.g cJ cS 4) CU .3 if- •a S s £ o E* St. Michael... Christ Church St. Philip St. John. St. George St. Thomas St. James St. Peter St. Lucy’s St. Andrew’s St. Joseph .. 6,225 7.300 4,350 6.300 4.500 5.500 1.500 13,000 12,000 2.500 3,600 17,800 2,075 700 150 500 500 750 500 500 500 300 Public build 6 ’ & slave prop y in parishes 17,000 722,986 169,106 204,421 132,754 164,475 122,045 115,605 135,964 126,746 58,779 87,548 17,010 7,490 8,540 3,990 9,030 8,140 7,490 6,230 7,630 2,240 5,460 80,000 748,296 184,596 217,461 161.344 178,505 135,685 125.345 155,694 146,876 64,019 96,908 Total currency.. 66,775 17,800 6,475 17,000 2,040,429 83,250 80,000 2,311,729 Reduced to army sterling at 4s. 4c?. the dollar, .£1,602,798 15s. 5 \d. ; or in dollars, $7>397,532 and fths. 698 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Contributions for the relief of the sufferers by the great hurricane in Bar¬ bados in 1831. Extracted from the official papers of the Relief Committee. I. From the sister colonies and the city of Dublin:— Currency. The colony of Demerara . The colony of Berbice. The colony of New Brunswick . The island of Trinidad. The island of Antigua . The island of Grenada. The island of Dominica . The island of St. Christopher. The island of Tobago . The island of Montserrat. The island of Nevis. The island of Anguilla. The island of Bermuda. The island of St. Thomas . The island of St. Crux. The island of Martinique. La Guayra (Republic of Venezuela) . Dublin . II. From the Army and Navy :— The 35th Regiment. The 36th Regiment. The Company of Sappers and Miners. The garrison at Antigua . The garrison at St. Christopher. The garrison at Dominica . The garrison at Berbice . The garrison at Montserrat. Detachment of the 1st West India Regiment. H.M.S. Winchester . H.M.S. Ranger. H.M.S. Pallas . III. Private subscriptions in Barbados, Great Britain, and other parts :— Sir James Lyon. Admiral Colpoys . The Bishop of Barbados . The Archdeacon of Barbados . Sir John Tobin, in Liverpool . James Neil, Esq., in London . Messrs. Bewley & Son. By the inhabitants of Barbados . Divers other subscriptions of private individuals... £ s. d. 3144 8 4 487 10 0 457 10 0 2583 10 2i 2262 13 7i 1315 11 Of 538 13 Of 450 0 0 636 16 6f 13 0 0 88 2 6 21 11 3 937 10 0 536 3 4 156 5 0 259 10 3 85 18 9 235 14 6 14,210 8 5f 36 1 10* 54 4 4* 6 19 3f 76 11 3 41 11 14 86 10 9 26 19 11 5 14 Of 2 15 4* 93 9 o* 18 6 3 13 1 3 462 5 10* 500 0 0 100 0 0 25 0 0 15 0 0 157 10 0 154 0 0 100 0 0 477 12 1 384 11 0} -1,913 13 1* 16,586 7 6 APPENDIX VI. 699 VI. (Page 121.) Names of Students who Matriculated at Codrington College, with the place of their birth, and the year of their admission'. [The names to which an asterisk is prefixed are Exhibitioners. The locality mentioned at the end of each student’s name and designation is the place of his nativity or former residence.] *** The following attended the Theological Lectures of the Principal, at his private residence, in 1829 and 1830, before the College was opened as an Academi¬ cal Institution. 1829. C. C. Gill. Rector of Christ Church, Barbados. Barbados. J. H. Duke. Late Rector of Trinity Parish, Essequibo, and Rural Dean of Es- sequibo (died 1841). Barbados. T. R. Redwar. Late Rector of All Saints, Berbice, and Rural Dean of Berbice; now Incumbent of St. Thomas’s, Chancery Lane, London. Barbados. W. M. Payne. Rector of St. Peter’s, Barbados. Barbados. 1830. J. C. Collins. Late Rector of St. Anthony and St. Patrick’s, Montserrat (dec.). Antigua. J. C. Shapley. Late Rector of Carriaeou; retired to England in 1846. England. John Hutson. Rector of St. Andrew’s, Barbados. Barbados. J. H. Hamilton. Rector of St. David’s and St. Patrick’s, Tobago. Montserrat. M. B. Johnson. (From St. Bees’ College) Officiating Minister in St. Crux, West Indies. England. Students since the opening as a College on the 12 th of October 1830. S. R. M. Brathvvaite. Late Rector of St. John’s and St. Marks, Grenada (died 1842). Barbados. H. W. G. Hall. Rector of St. George’s, Antigua, Bishop’s Chaplain and Registrar. Trinidad. " *W. W. Jackson. Minister of St. Paul’s, Barbados, and Bishop’s Chaplain 1 2 . Bar¬ bados. *K. B. Skeete. Graduated at Cambridge, and left the West Indies. Barbados. *J. A. Barclay. Ditto, now in the Secretary’s Office in Barbados. Barbados. *F. R. Brathwaite. (M.A.) Rector of St. George’s, St. Christopher’s, and Arch¬ deacon. Barbados. *J. A. Anton. Curate of St. George’s, Grenada. Barbados. *J. M. Peam. Died young. Barbados. *G. F. Sealy. Minister of St. Matthias and St. Lawrence, Barbados. Barbados. *F. B. Grant. (M.A.) Rural Dean of St. Peter’s, Antigua. Barbados. *R. H. Barrow. Rector of Triuity Parish, St. Christopher’s. Barbados. *J. H. Gittens. Minister of Trinity Chapel, Barbados. Barbados. *S. P. Musson. (D.D.) Rural Dean, &c. in Diocese of Jamaica. Bermuda. *H. R. Redwar. Curate of St. Peter’s, Barbados. Barbados. J. N. Garland. Rector of St. George’s, Grenada, and Rural Dean. Antigua. J. A. Gittens. Rector of St. Ann’s, St. Christopher’s. Barbados. 1 This list has been compiled from “ Papers relative to Codrington College,” and a series of questions instituted by the Lord Bishop and answered by the late Principal of the College. The biographical notices are from a pamphlet on Codrington College, by the present Lord Bishop of Barbados. 2 Recently appointed Staff-Chaplain to H.M. Forces at Barbados. 700 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. *W. A. Beckles. Late Rector of St. Michael’s, Berbice (died 1840). Barbados. J. A. Bascom. Rector of St. Patrick’s, Grenada. Barbados. *J. N. Spellen. Barrister in England. Barbados. *H. G. Alleyne. Physician in England. Barbados. 1831. J. Hobson. Removed to Cambridge. Dominica. S. A. Farr. Late Minister at Castries, St. Lucia ((bed 1842). Antigua. G. Perch. Landed Proprietor in Barbados. Barbados. R. J. Rock. Minister of St. Simon’s and St. Saviour’s, Barbados. Barbados. J. D. Maycock. Graduated at Cambridge; landed Proprietor. Barbados. G. D. Gittens. Also of Trinity College, Oxford; Master of Harrison’s Free School, and Assistant-Curate of St. Michael’s, Barbados. Bardados. 1832. *T. F. Pilgrim. Private Secretary to his Excellency Sir Charles E. Grey, Governor of Jamaica. Barbados. W. B. Harper. Late Minister of St. Paul’s, Nerds (died 1836). Barbados. * J. P. Wall. Rector of St. Patrick’s and St. David’s, St. Vincent. Barbados. G. Sharp. Graduate of Cambridge ; Member of Assembly, Barbados. Barbados. 1833. *E. B. Skeete. Planter in Barbados. Barbados. D. Maycock. Now an officer in the army. Barbados. *T. C. Harper. Died young, as Catechist in Nevis. England. *E. D. Bascom. Graduate of Oxford; ordained in England; drowned in the ‘ Sol¬ way ’ steam-packet, on his way out to Barbados, 1843. Barbados. W. S. Als. Planter in Barbados. Barbados. 1834. * J. Curtin. Rector of St. Mary’s, Antigua. Antigua. *11. B. Skeete. Minister of St. Clement’s and St. Switliin’s, Barbados. Barbados. 1835. A. Reece. Minister of St. Bartholomew’s and St. Patrick’s, Barbados. Barbados. *T. W. Hoggard. Settler in New Zealand. Antigua. *C. A. Newsarn. Rector of St. Andrew’s and St. David’s, Grenada. Barbados. S. Yearwood. Planter in Barbados. Barbados. 1836. W. II. Davis. Resided only one term. St. Christopher’s. R. Duvernet. Died young. New Brunswick. *A. Bott. Rector of St. George’s, Tortola. Antigua. *11. W. Moore. Minister of All Saints and Welsh Town, Barbados. Barbados. J. Alleyne. Merchant in Barbados. Barbados. J. L. Wilkinson. Physician in Barbados. Barbados. R. King. Planter in Trinidad. Barbados. *C. II. Grayfoot. Minister of Innocents’ Chapel, Barbados. Barbados. *D. Maycock. Died young, as Catechist in Tortola. Barbados. *S. I,. B. Richards. Rector of St. Andrew’s and St. Philip’s, Trinidad. Barbados. APPENDIX VI. 701 1837. T. A. Browne. Rector of Charlotte Parish, St. Vincent. St. Vincent. 1838. H. Richards. Rector of St. Mary’s, Trinidad. Barbados. *J. C. Sharp. Barbados. J. Peyton. Officer in the army. England. *G. M. Clinckett. Assistant-Curate in St. James’s Parish, Barbados. Barbados. R. R. Abbott. Minister of All Saints, Antigua. St. Christopher’s. *H. Collymore. Assistant-Curate in St. James’s parish, Barbados. Barbados. 1839. E. K. Lovell. Now of University College, Oxford. Barbados. *D. Davey. Curate of St. Peter’s, Antigua. Antigua. *F. A. Pinsent. Master of the Public Grammar School, Antigua, recently ordained Deacon. England. *J. Checkley. Now of Lincoln College, Oxford. St. Vincent. *T. Johnson. Late Minister of St. David’s and St. Patrick’s, Tobago (died 1846). Barbados. *H. Warneford. Rector of St. Thomas’s, St. Christopher’s. England. 1840. *T. G. Connell. Assistant-Curate of the parishes of St. Patrick and St. David, St. Vincent. Barbados. *W. Checkley. Ireland. *Joseph Peshier. Trinidad. C. A. Sims. Late Minister in Castries, St. Lucia (died 1842). England. B. Blagrove. Kept only a few terms. Barbados. 1841. *Bryan T. Nurse. Barbados. William Eversley. Barbados. *W. D. Taylor. Now of Durham University. Barbados. A. Dasent. Minister of St. Pavd’s, St. Vincent. St. Vincent. C. King. Planter in Barbados. Barbados. 1842. *E. O. Roach. Recently ordained in Antigua. Antigua. *J. Connell. Assistant-Cwate in Charlotte parish, St. Vincent. Barbados. 1843. E. C. Wharf. For a few terms only. Trinidad. *C. T. Stevenson. Barbados. *H. C. Melville. St. Vincent. G. Jemmett. Grenada. W. T. Harte. Now of St. Bees’ College, Cumberland; recently ordained in Dio¬ cese of Chester. Barbados. *A. H. Bishop. Assistant-Curate in Demerara. Barbados. *C. R. Chandler. Barbados. J. A. Holder. Barbados. *S. L. Arthurton. For a few terms only. Nevis. T. H. Cuppage. England. J. S. Lamitt. Curate in Dominica. Antigua. 702 II1STOKY OF BARBADOS. 1844. *E. G. Sinckler. Assistant-Curate in the parishes of St. Patrick and St. David, St. Vincent. Barbados. *W. A. Sanders. Curate of St. George’s, Antigua. British Guiana. *11. F. Berkeley. Grenada. A. F. M. Berkeley. Brussels. T. P. Hodge. Curate in Diocese of Antigua. Anguilla. *J. W. Haddock. Returned to England unordained. England. *John Griffith. Barbados. 1845. *S. O. Crosby. England. *W. T. Webb. England. *G. G. Dunn. Barbados. *11. H. Chisholm. Jamaica. 1846. *W. Pemberton, Nevis. *W. T. Roper. Nevis. *J. St. Smith. Jamaica. Commoners since the opening of the College as an academical in¬ stitution on the 12th of October 1830 to the 1st of August 1846 40 Exhibitioners. 61 Total. ToT Among those who were Educated at the College Grammar School, before 1829, the following names appear. [Those marked thus t went as Exhibitioners to complete their education in Eugland with an allowance of £ 100 a-year each]. ON THE FOUNDATION. Rev. Richard Harris, ordained in 1760. Rev. John Packer, ordained in 1824, afterwards Master of the School at the Chap¬ lain’s Lodge. +Rev. E. P. Smith, M.A., ordained in 1828; now Tutor of the College. fJonas Alleyne Maynard, now a Barrister in England. +G. E. Thomas, M.D., Medical Lecturer at the College. +IIenry Bishop, M.D., in Barbados (deceased). fRev. Henry Wall, M.A., Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. ^William Clarke, M.D., in Barbados. fRev. William Gill, M.A., of Exeter College, Oxford; Rector of St. Matthew’s, Demerara. t J- N. Spellen, Barrister in England. +H. G. Alleyne, M.D., in England. Ven. F. R. Brathwaite, M.A., Archdeacon of St. Christopher’s. Rev. John Hamlet Gittens, S.C.C., Curate in Barbados. Henry Haynes Watson, M.D., in England. John Hall Brathwaite, Master of the Central School, Barbados. NOT ON THE FOUNDATION. Sir Reynold Alleyne, Bart., late Member of II.M. Council in Barbados. Rev. Thomas Gill, M.A., Rector of St. John’s and St. Mark’s, in Grenada. Captain Edward Senhouse, R.N., Provost-Marshal of Barbados. Sir Robert Bowchcr Clarke, Chief-Justice of Barbados. Rev. Hinds Howell, M.A., now Rural Dean of Cadbury, in the Diocese of Exeter. Rev. J. Hampden, M.A., Rector of Hinton Mastell, Dorset. Nathan Young, Esq., M.D., in Barbados. APPENDIX VII. 703 VII. (Page 216.)' A description of the Lines or Boundaries of the several parishes in the island of Barbados, as they are by law established. By Win. Mayo, 1721. St. Philip. On St. John. —From the sea between Palmer’s two mills, through the centre of Palmer’s boiling-house to Roberts’s mill (now Byde mill), a straight line. On St. Georye. —From Roberts’s mill to one foot south-east of the south-east corner of Baker’s boiling-house (now Edgecumbe), a straight line ; and from thence, on Christ Church, ranging with the west corner of Baker’s still-house, by the north-east side of Boucher’s mill (now Hopefield), and to the sea, a straight line. Christ Church. On St. Georye and St. Michael .—From the corner last described (i. e. the south-east corner of Baker’s boiling-house), through Lyte’s porch (now Boarded Hall—the porch and house destroyed by the hurricane), by the south-east side of Bond’s mill (now Clap ham), and to the sea, a straight line. St. John. On St. Georye .—From Roberts’s mill to the west side of a gully in Smith’s land (now Claybury), a straight line intersecting the boundary of St. Joseph’s. On St. Joseph. —From a rock on the sea-side called the Three Boys, to a beef-wood tree on the edge of the south-east side of Hill’s alias Rowley’s mill (now Malvern), to the west side of a gully in Smith’s land, a straight line. St. George. On St. Joseph. —The last-described line continued straight to a stone set up between the lands of Fort and Hooper, on the south side of the road (this mark is now in Fisher-pond land). On St. Thomas. —From the said stone to Ridgeway’s corner tree, a Fiddle-wood tree standing on the south side of the road, a straight line (this is in the middle of the road opposite the Exchange gap). On St. Michael. —From Ridgeway’s corner tree a straight line ranging wdth the north-east corner of Kirton’s house till it intersects the boundary of Christ Church in Berney’s land (now Hanson’s). St. Michael. On St. Thomas and St. James. —From Ridgeway’s corner tree by the north end of Piggott’s house to the sea, a straight line. St. Thomas. On St. James. —From the boundary of St. Michael, in Bullard’s land (now Clermont), through Bullard’s mill to Dotin’s and Maverick’s corner plum- tree, a straight line; from thence to Gibbes’s mill (now Plum-tree), a straight line; from thence to Walter’s south mill, a straight line. On St. Andrew and St. Joseph. —From Walter’s south mill (now Apes’ Hill) to the eastward 704 HISTORY OT BARBADOS. end of Peake’s house (Teake’s house in Mayo’s map), a straight line; from thence to a rock in Savory’s land, a straight line; from thence to a stone set up between the lands of Fort and Hooper, on the south side of the road on the boundary of St. George, a straight line. St. Joseph. On St. Andrew .—From the boundary of St. Thomas, in Taitt’s land, to the south-east corner of Mallard’s land to a cherry-tree on a hill, a straight line ; from thence to a stone erected on a chalky Hill (Chalky Mount 1) near the sea, and to the sea, a straight line. St. Andrew. On St. James .—From Walter’s south mill (Apes’ Hill), to Alleyne’s mill (since destroyed), a straight line. On St. Peter .—From Alleyne’s mill to Husband’s mill, a straight line ; from thence to Pico Teneritfe and to the sea, a straight line. St. James. ♦ On St. Peter .—From Alleyne’s mill to Margaret’s fort or battery and to the sea, a straight line. St. Peter. On St. Lucy .—From the sea through the centre of Maverick’s mill, Gray’s house (now Oxford), Rupert’s fort, and to the sea, a straight line. VIII. (Page 244.) Limits of Bridgetown. An Act (No. 46 of George IV.) passed the Legislature on the 2/th of August 1822, according to which the limits of Bridgetown were fixed as fol¬ lows :—“ From the Barrier bridge, in the direction of Bay-street, including the houses to the south-west of said bridge, as far as the Crown lands, from said bridge in a direct line to the cross road at Enmore House, marked by four pieces of cannon; from thence down Chepstow road to the river in front of the property of the late Samuel Ames, deceased, and from thence along the course of the river between the property of Dr. Straghan and the range of buildings called the Gully houses, in a line to the garden house, the property of Forster Clarke, Esq., and from thence along the road in front of Duncinane, across White-Park road, along Passage road and across Paxter’s road to the comer of the road leading to Westbury, and from thence in a straight line to the beach, opposite the north-west point of Bird Island ; according to the plan thereof hereunto annexed, marked with the letter A ; and all houses that now are, or shall, or may at any time or times hereafter be erected within the afore¬ said limits, save and except such houses as shall have ten or more acres of land attached thereto, shall be deemed, taken and considered as Town pro¬ perty, and as such be subject and liable to be assessed and taxed by the said Vestry for the said parish of Saint Michael in their annual or other assess¬ ments.” APPENDIX IX. 705 IX. (Page 217.) Size of the Parish Churches and principal Chapels in Barbados, and cost (in pounds sterling) of those which were erected or rebuilt after the hurricane in 1831. [From Mr. Phillips’s Barbados Almanac.] Parish of St. Michael. —The Cathedral and Parish Church of St. Michael, 134 by 60 feet; rebuilt in 1789. St. Mary’s Chapel, 84 by 54 feet; built 1827 ; cost j28666. St. Matthew’s Chapel, 68 by 30 feet; built 1829, destroyed 1831 ; re¬ built 1832; cost .£566. St. Giles’s Chapel-school, 50 by 25 feet; cost £333. St. Stephen’s Chapel, 70 by 30 feet; built 1836 ; cost £862. St. Barnabas Chapel-school, 60 by 26 feet; built 1830 ; cost 32800. Christ-Church Parish .—Church, 85 by43 feet; rebuilt 1837; cost324000. St. Bartholomew’s Chapel, 65 by 30feet; built and destroyed in 1831; rebuilt in 1832; cost 32600. St. Matthias’ Chapel, 75 by 45 feet. St. Lawrence Chapel-school, 40 by 21 feet; built 1837 ; cost £ 366. St. David’s Chapel-school, 60 by 30 feet; built 1840 ; cost <£650. St. Patrick’s Chapel-school, 50 by 25 feet; built 1843. Parish of St. Philip. —Church, 86 by 46 feet; rebuilt 1836 ; cost 324000. The Holy Trinity Chapel, 60 by 26 feet; built 1829, destroyed 1831 ; rebuilt 1832; cost £725. St. Martin’s Chapel-school, 45 by 20 feet; built 1837; cost £350. St. Catherine’s Chapel-school, built 1841 ; cost 32250. Parish of St. John. —Church, 80 by 59 feet; rebuilt 1836 ; cost 324000. St. Mark’s Chapel, 60 by 39 feet; built 1823, destroyed 1831 ; rebuilt 1832; cost 32570. Society’s Chapel, 60 by 30, and two wings each 26 by 26 feet; built 1822, destroyed 1831 ; rebuilt 1833; cost 321200. Parish of St. Joseph. —Church, 70 by 41 feet; rebuilt 1839 ; cost 321750. Little St. Joseph’s Chapel-school, 50 by 24 feet; built 1837; cost 32200. Parish of St. Andrew. —Church, 60 by 40 feet; rebuilding. St. Simon’s Chapel-school, 54 by 22 feet; built 1840 ; cost £3 75. Parish of St. Lucy. —Church, 96 by 46^ feet; rebuilt 1837 ; cost £3000. St. Clement’s Chapel; built 1838; cost 32500. St. Swithin’s Chapel-school, 40 by 20 feet; wings 32 by 16 feet. Parish of St. Peter. — Church, 81 by 42 feet; rebuilt 1837; cost £3000. All Saints’ Chapel, 60 by 30 feet. Parish of St. James. —Church, 54 by 40 feet. St. Alban’s Chapel-school, 70 by 21 feet; repaired 1840; cost £330. Parish of St. Thomas. —Church, 83 by 45 feet; rebuilt 1837; cost 322666. Holy Innocents’ Chapel, 65 by 35 feet; built 1839 ; cost £!1333. 2 z TOG HISTORY OF BARBADOS. Parish of St. George. —Church, 80 by 40 feet. St. Luke’s Chapel, 67 by 27 feet; built 1830, destroyed 1831 ; rebuilt 1832; cost £500. St. Jude’s Chapel, 61 by 26 feet; built 1834 ; cost £780. X. (Page 272.) A Declaration of Lord Willoughby and the Legislature of the island of Bar¬ bados against the British Parliament 1 . “ A Declaration of my Lord Willoughby, Lieutenant-General, and Governor of Barbados, and other Carabis Islands; as also the Councel of the Island belonging to it; serving in answer to a certaine Act formerly put forth by the Parliament of England, the 3rd of October 1650. “A Declaration, published by Order of my Lord Lieutenant-General, the 18th of February 1651, the Lords of the Council, and of the As- semblie, being occasioned at the sight of certaine printed Papers, in¬ tituled, An Act forbidding Commerce and Traffick with the Barbados, Virginia, Bermudas, and Antego. “ The Lord Lieutenant-General, together with the Lords of this Council and Assembly, having carefully read over the said printed Papers, and finding them to oppose the freedom, safety, and well-being of this island, have thought themselves bound to communicate the same to all the inhabitants of this island ; as also their observation and resolution concerning it, and to proceed therein after the best manner, wherefore they have ordered the same to be read pub- lickly. “ Concerning the abovesaid Act, by which the least capacity may compre¬ hend how much the inhabitants of this island would be brought into contempt and slavery, if the same be not timely prevented : “ First—They alledge that this island was first settled and inhabited at the charges, and by the esspecial order of the people of England, and therefore ought to be subject to the same nation. It is certain, that we all of us know very well, that wee, the present inhabitants of this island, were and still be that people of England, who with great danger to our persons, and with great charge and trouble, have settled this island in its condition, and inhabited the same, and shall wee therefore be subject to the will and command of those that stay at home ? Shall we he bound to the Government and Lordship of a Parliament in which we have no Representatives, or persons chosen by us, for there to propound and consent to what might be needful to us, as also to oppose and dispute all what should tend to our disadvantage and liarme ? In truth, this would be a slavery far exceeding all that the English nation hath yet suffered. And we doubt not but the courage which hath brought us thus far out of our own country, to seek our beings and livelihoods in this wild country, will maintaine us in our freedoms; without which our lives will be uncomfortable to us. 1 From Grey’s edition of Neale’s History of the Puritans. London, 1739, vol. iv. Appendix 12. APPENDIX X. 707 “Secondly—It is alledged that the inhabitants of this island have, by cunning and force, usurped a power and Government. “ If we, the inhabitants of this island, had been heard what we could have said for ourselves, this allegation had never been printed ; hut those who are destined to be slaves may not enjoy those privileges ; otherwise we might have said and testified with a truth, that the Government now used amongst us, is the same that hath always been ratified, and doth every way agree with the first settlement and Government in these places ; and was given us by the same power and authority that New England hold theirs ; against whom the Act makes no objection. “ And the Government here in subjection, is the nearest model of conformity to that under which our predecessors of the English nation have lived and flourished for above a thousand years. Therefore we conclude, that the rule of reason and discourse is most strangely mistaken, if the continuation and submission to a right well-settled Government be judged to be an usurping of a new power, and to the contrarie, the usurpation of a new Government be held a continuation of the old. “ Thirdly—By the abovesaid Act all outlandish nations are forbidden to hold any correspondency or traffick with the inhabitants of this island; although all the antient inhabitants know very well, how greatly they have been obliged to those of the Low Countries for their subsistence, and how difficult it would have been for us, without their assistance, ever to have in¬ habited these places, or to have brought them into order: and we are yet dayly sensible, what necessary comfort they bring to us dayly, and that they do sell their commodities a great deal cheaper than our own nation wall doe : But this cumfort must be taken from us by those whose will must be a Law to us : But we declare, that we will never be so unthankful to the Nether- landers for their former help and assistance, as to deny or forbid them, or any other nation, the freedom of our harbours, and the protection of our Laws, by which they may continue, if they please, all freedom of commerce and traffick with us. “ Fourthly—For to perfect and accomplish our intended slavery, and to make our necks pliable for to undergo the yoake, they got and forbid to our own countrymen, to hold any correspondency, commerce, or traffick with us, nor to suffer any to come at us, but such who have obtained particular licences from some persons, who are expressly ordered for that purpose, by whose means it might be brought about, that noe other goods or merchandizes shall be brought hither, than such as the licensed persons shall please and think fit to give way to ; and that they are to sell the same at such a price, as they shall please to impose on them ; and suffer no other ships to come hither but their own : As likewise that no inhabitants of this island may send home upon their own account any island goods of this place, but shall be as slaves to the Companie, who shall have the abovesaid licences, and submit to them the whole advantage of our labour and industry. “Wherefore, having rightly considered, we declare, that as we would not be wanting to use all honest means for the obtaining of a continuance of com¬ merce, trade, and good correspondence with our country, soe wee will not 2 z 2 708 HISTORY OF BARBADOS. alienate ourselves from those old heroick virtues of true English men, to prostitute our freedom and privileges, to which we are borne, to the will and opinion of any one; neither do we thinke our number so contemptible, nor our resolution so weake, to be forced or persuaded to so ignoble a submission, and we cannot think, that there are any amonyst us, who are soe simple, and soe unworthily minded, that they would not rather chuse a noble death, than forsake their ould liberties and privileges THE END. INDEX. Abolition of slavery, Buxton’s motion for, 457 ; act for the, 459; proclamation of the, in Barbados, 460. Accounts of the public to he kept in sterling money, 509. Acres, number of, in Barbados, 152 ; in cul¬ tivation, 152. Acts and statutes published by Jennings, 203; by Rawlins, 203 ; by Hall, 204; passed by the legislature to be printed, and copies to be sent to the Colonial office, 388. Acts of the legislature, and assented to by the Governor, valid although they have not been confirmed especially by the king, 414 (and note); of the British Parliament do not extend to the colonies, 420 ; passed for the termination of the apprenticeship, 483. African company, royal, 296, 298. African institution, 457. Agents appointed for Barbados in England, 304, 310, 335, 337, 349, 368, 416, 426. Agriculture and commerce, 140; great fer¬ tility of the soil during the 17th century, 141 ; introduction of sugar-cane, 143 ; In¬ dian slaves, 143 ; Europeanlabourers, 144 ; African slaves and slave-trade, 145 ; royal African company, 145 ; other chartered companies for carrying on the slave-trade, 145 ; number of slaves in Barbados at dif¬ ferent periods, 145, 146; compensation received, 146. Albemarle, duke of, arrives at Barbados, 301. Alien act disallowed, 425. Alleyne, Colonel, in the interest of the com¬ monwealth, 271 ; killed on landing to at¬ tack Lord Willoughby’s forces, 278. Alleyne, Colonel, tears his cockade from his hat and resigns his commission, 335. Alleyne, John Foster, administers the go¬ vernment, 401. Anabaptists, 97. Animal-flower cave, 226. Antiilia, Antilles, names of the West Indies, 2, 3. Ants :—sugar ant, 643; cushi or great¬ headed ant, 643; small red ant, 644 ; wood ant or wood-lice, 644. Ants’ eggs or ground-pearl, 644. Apes’ hill gully, 236. Apprenticeship, unsatisfactory working of the, 477; of children repealed by a colo¬ nial act, 479; petition for the cessation of, 480, 481; R. B. Clarke’s opinion re¬ specting the abolition of the, 482 ; James S. Bascom introduces a bill for the termi¬ nation of the, 483; termination of the, 483. Archer, J. G., found guilty of manslaughter, having been indicted for the murder of his slave, 422. Arnold, William, one of the first settlers, 259. Assembly, the first general, 266, 267 ; the first under the commonwealth, 283 ; li¬ mited to one year, 285 ; address to the throne under Sir Richard Dutton’s admi¬ nistration, 298 ; assumes the right of ap¬ pointing a store-keeper, 308 ; defection of one-third of the members, 310; thirteen members to constitute a quorum, and the house to be locked when a number suffi¬ cient have met, 311 ; vote citron-water to the members of her majesty’s privy coun¬ cil in England, 312 ; dissolved illegally by President Sharpe, 312 ; Queen Anne con¬ firms their authority of appointing a trea¬ surer, 313; confers a salary of six thousand pounds upon Governor Worsley, 317; claims the unconstitutional control over public money, 319; President Barwick sends the provost-marshal to adjourn the, 319 ; members assemble privately, 319 ; the house dissolved, 319 ; vote two thou¬ sand five hundred pounds to Lady Howe, 323; John Adams expelled from the house and his re-election, 330 ; expulsion does not create disqualification, 331; the Speaker claims the privileges enjoyed by the House of Commons for the assembly, 331; rule that a member by leaving the island vacates his seat, 332 ; address to the king in consequence of the great scarcity, 334; declare their undoubted right to address the throne, 335; refuse to burden their constituency with taxes for the defence of the island, 336 ; sums voted for the defence of the island, and various other arrangements for that purpose, 336, 337 ; encroachment of the Council upon their privileges, 337; condemn the Council’s proceeding as indecent and unparliament¬ ary, 338 ; attacked with invectives and threats by Governor Cunninghame, 339 ; declare their being determined to insist upon their privileges, 339 ; refuse to pass a levy-bill, 340, 345 ; condemn the Gover- 710 INDEX. nor’s illegal extortion of fees, 3-10; ad¬ journ of their own authority, 341 ; dis¬ solved by proclamation, 341, 346; vote two thousand pounds sterling for the re¬ lief of the sufferers in Ireland, 344 ; ad¬ dress of thanks to the king for having removed General Cunninghame, 348 ; un¬ becoming haste in passing a money-bill, 350 ; the repeal of a rule only to be moved at the first meeting or in a full house, 350; vote Prince William Henry a sword, 351; condemn the plan of raising black troops, 356; pass several bills for putting the island in a state of defence, 360; authorize the Governor to proclaim martial law, 360 ; consider his having declared martial law highly unconstitutional, 362 ; declare the Governor’s answer unsatisfactory and dis¬ respectful, 363; attempt to introduce a bill to extend the continuance of the as¬ sembly to three years, 374; public meet¬ ings held to remonstrate against this mea¬ sure, 374 ; a silver mace provided, 380 ; protest against the interference of the British parliament in legislating for the colonies, 394; address a petition to the Prince Regent to prevent the passing of the registry hill, 394 ; disapprove of LordCom- hermere’s having made a grant to St. Lucia, 402; rupture between the Governor and the house, 402, 404; enter a regula¬ tion to the effect that an indignity had been offered to the house by not being officially informed of the king’s death, 407; a committee appointed to inquire into the causes of the dismissal of Moe and Lane from the magistracy, 407 ; the Go¬ vernor dissolves the house by proclama¬ tion, 408 ; censures the conduct of the le¬ gislative council, 410; an especial call of Governor Warde’s, without explanation, considered an attempt to dictate, 415 ; harsh resolution against the free coloured inhabitants, 417 ; decide that the Speaker should not make or second a motion un¬ less in committee, 426 ; apply to the pre¬ sident for the official despatch which con¬ tained the Rev.W. M. Harte’s pardon, which is refused, 428; revive the proceeding in the Court of Common Pleas by an espe¬ cial act, 430; request that all messages from the Council should be i.i writing, 430 ; proceedings and steps taken on the occasion of the great hurricane in 1831, 436; vote an address of thanks to the king for the suspension of import duties after the great hurricane in 1831, 439; vote of thanks to Mr. Mayers, 439 ; vote of thanks to the Governor, to the Lord Bishop, and to the sister colonies, for as¬ sistance, 443 ; object to the order in Coun¬ cil, 443 ; apply for documents to the pre¬ sident respecting the reasons which led to respite the sentence of the slave James, 445 ; resolutions in consequence of the president’s refusal, 445 ; resolve on a pe¬ tition to the throne to remove the pre¬ sident, 445 ; protest against the decision of the Lords of the Treasury to pay the salaries of the custom-house officers, 446 ; legal proceedings against the collectors of the customs resolved upon, 447 ; allow the deduction of 10 per cent, from the import duties to defray the expenses of collection, 449 ; legal proceedings stayed, 449 ; pro¬ test against the undue interference of the Imperial Parliament, and Lord Stanley’s opinion, 450 (and note); reply to Sir Lionel Smith, and their opinion on the changes in the government, 454; angry despatch to Sir Lionel Smith, 462; altercations between Sir Lionel Smith and the, 465 ; their re¬ solutions in consequence of the Governor’s dictatorial messages, 468 ; address to Sir Lionel Smith on his departure, 474 ; reply to the speech of Sir Evan MacGregor, 476 ; rent a house for a new town-hall, 477 ; Sir Evan MacGregor communicates the satisfaction of the Colonial minister with legislative proceedings, 479 ; resolve to wait in a body upon the representative of the Crown, 495 ; address to the Governor Sir Charles Grey, 495; address to the Lord Bishop, 499; first session after the new franchise act, 499 ; new session for 1845, 506; reply to the Governor’s speech in 1845, 507; resolve that the presence of strangers at their sessions is upon suffer¬ ance, 508 ; resolutions in favour of a rail¬ way, 512; committee appointed to report upon the common jail, 512; address Sir Charles Grey upon his communication of his probable departure, 516, 519. Atkins, Sir Jonathan, appointed as Governor, 294 ; fixes his seat at Fontabelle, 295 ; the island reaches its greatest prosperity, 297 ; recalled from the government, 297. Atkinson, government contractor, his dis¬ interested conduct in the time of scarcity, 336. Attorney-General, a resident, appointed for Barbados, 492. Ayscue, Sir George, appointed to the com¬ mand of a squadron against Barbados, 272 ; arrives at Barbados, 276; attacks the castle and is repulsed, 277 ; storms Fort Royal, 278; lands at Barbados and pro¬ claims the authority of parliament, 279 ; consents to a treaty, 279 ; articles of agreement, 280; leaves Barbados, 284. Bachelor’s Cave, 227. Banks :—West India, 169 ; colonial, 169. Baptisms, 90 ; of adults, 101. Barbados, its geographical position, 5 ; de¬ rivation of its name, 6 ; is mentioned at an earlier period than stated in geographies, 6, 255 ; climatology and meteorological phenomena, 28 ; capitulates to Sir George Ayscue, 195, 280 ; past and present state, 196; Barbudos, Baruodo, &c., early names of Barbados, 256, 257 ; permanently inha¬ bited by Indians, 257; taken possession of by the crew of the Olive Blossom, 258 ; settled by Englishmen, 259 ; inhabitants INDEX. 711 of, declared traitors to the commonwealth, 271 ; the charter of, or articles of agree¬ ment at the surrender, 280 ; royalists of, banished from the island, 283; statutes published in the churches, 284; inhabit¬ ants of, dispute the claim of the earl of Car¬ lisle, 287 ; great prosperity under Sir Jona¬ than Atkins, 297 ; great distress and de¬ crease of the number of whites, 305 ; about forty sugar estates abandoned, 308 ; com¬ merce of, burdened by restrictions, 318; inhabitants of, refuse to pay the heavy tax for raising Governor Worsley’s salary, 318 ; Gazette, the first newspaper printed in the island, 321 ; inhabitants contribute to supply the troops before Martinique, 353 ; a rendezvous for the troops destined against the French islands, 354 ; upwards of thirteen thousand pounds contributed for the prosecution of the war by private subscriptions, 356; preparations for de¬ fence against the French, 360 ; merchants purchase a brig called the Brave and fit her out as the Barbados frigate, 367 ; erected into an episcopacy, 418 ; inhabitants sub¬ scribe a sum of money as a token of esteem for Sir James Lyon, 450; declared the seat of the Windward government, 451 ; inha¬ bitants of, address Sir Lionel Smith on his departure, 475. Barbados frigate fitted out by the merchants, 367; laid up, 368 ; refitted and recom¬ missioned, 380. Barbados, head-quarters of her Majesty’s forces in the Windward and Leeward Is¬ lands, 195. Barbados regiments, under Sir Timothy Thornhill, 301; under Colonels Salter and Boteler, 305; under Sir John Yeamans, 330 ; under Mr. Thornhill, 348. Barbados green tar or petroleum, 12, 571. Barometer, its rise and fall in Barbados, 30, 35 ; its regular rise and fall within the tropics, 32; supposed influence of the moon on the, 32,33, 34 ; its tropical hours in Barbados, 33 ; affected by particular winds, 34, 35. Baronets made by Charles the Second in Barbados, 286. Barracks erected for the accommodation of the 89th regiment, 337. Barwick, Samuel, appointed Deputy-go¬ vernor, 290 ; administers the government, 319; dissolves the assembly, 319; ad¬ dresses the legislature in his own house, 319 ; his death and character, 320. Bascom, James S., gives notice and intro- troduces a bill for the termination of the apprenticeship, 483. Bath, the, 219. Bathsheba and Tent-bay, 240. Beckles, John, Attorney-general and Speaker for twenty years, his death, 416. Beckwith, Lieut.-General Sir George, ap¬ pointed Governor of Barbados, 376; com¬ mands the expedition against Martinique, 376 ; receives the Order of the Bath, 377 ; assumes the government, 379; convenes the legislature for important business and declares the ports open, 382 ; takes leave of the legislature, 388 ; the legislature vote him a service of plate, 388. Seek, Captain James, one of the first set¬ tlers, erects a public wharf, 294. Bell, Captain Philip, Lieutenant-Governor, 266; receives a commission as Governor, 266 ; his judicious government, 267 ; is superseded by Lord Willoughby, 271. Belhaven, Lord, appointed as Governor, is lost in the Royal Anne galley, 317. Birds, list of, 681. Bishop, William, administers the government, 352, 356; suspends Mr. Weekes, judge of the Court of Vice-Admiralty, for mal-prac- tices, 352. Bishop’s hill, sad accident in 1809, 217. Bissexhill, 239. Bituminous coal or asphalt, 550, 569. Black regiments raised in the West Indies, 353, 355. Blenman, Jonathan, committed by Governor Lowtlier to jail, 315; his triumph over the Governor, 315 ; Attorney-general, 318 ; Judge of Vice-Admiralty Court, 353. Blight, the, or blast, 646. Boiling spring, 12, 223, 570. Bond, Francis, administers the government, 307. Borer, the, or yellow blast, 645; the large, 646. Boscobelle, 238, 543. Botany of Barbados : —Thallogens, 580 ; Acrogens or Ferns, 582 ; Rhizogens, 583 ; Endogens, 585 ; Dictyogens, 591; Gym- nogens, 591 ; Exogens, 591 ; Index of vernacular names, 621. Bounty upon the importation of fish and lumber, 367, 368, 380. Bovell, James, prosecuted for publishing an essay, 381. Bridge, Sir Tobias, arrives with a regiment of troops, 292. Bridgeman, Orlando, appointed as Governor, but declines, 317. Bridgetown, description of, 240 ; called In¬ dian bridge, 240 ; and the town of St. Michael’s, 241; its appearance in 1656, 241; in 1700, 242; Fontabelle, the Go¬ vernor’s residence, 242 ; Pilgrim purchased for the Governor’s residence, 243; its situation, 249 ; erected into a city, 244 ; number of houses, 244 ; Trafalgar-square, 245 ; Nelson’s statue, 245 ; the cathedral, 247 ; St. Mary’s church, 247 ; St. Paul’s chapel, 247 ; chapels, 248 ; Central and Harrison’s school, 248; Queen’s house, 248; Commercial hall, 248 ; masonic lodges, 249 ; Bishop’s court, 249 ; mar¬ ket-place, 249 ; Indian river, 249 ; Hast¬ ings, 250; Worthing, 250; injured by fire, 241, 243, 293, 332, 505 ; outrages fo».want of a police, 418 ; attempts to pro¬ cure a royal charter of incorporation, 421; petition of the inhabitants for increased INDEX. 1 *> 1 (V representation, 455 ; establishment of a police, 461, 471 ; by-laws, ordinances and regnlations, 471 (note); establishment of a market-place, 472 ; sends for the first time two representatives, 499 ; heavy taxes in, 509, 511. Brougham, Lord, bis opinion of the 4£ per cent, duty, 484. Bruce, Judge, his motion for retrenchment, 326. Building materials, 572. Bulkley, S., one of the first settlers, 262. Burch, Colonel, one of the leaders of the moderate party, 277. Burials, 90. Burnt district purchased by the legislature, 244, 506. Burnt-hill, 233, 553. Butterflies and moths, list of, 615. Buxton, Sir Thomas F., his imputation of the Barbados legislature and letters to the Solicitor-general of Barbados, 479. Byng, Hon. Robert, appointed as Governor, 325; his disappointment at a reduced salary, 325 ; his death, 326. Byron’s, Lord, groundwork of his description of the shipwreck in Don Juan, 323. Cane-fly or Yine-fretter, 646 ; insect, 648. Carburetted hydrogen, 569. Carliola, name of the Caribbean islands, 261. Carlisle, Earl of, receives a grant of the Ca¬ ribbean islands, 260; becomes the sole proprietor of the Caribbee islands, 261 ; receives a second patent as proprietor of Barbados, 263 ; his death, 268; his son, the second earl, enters into negotiations with Francis Lord Willoughby of Parham, 268, 269; his right to Barbados dis¬ puted, 287 ; the second earl dies and be¬ queathes his right in the West Indies to the Earl of Kinnoul, 287. Carriages and vehicles in Bridgetown, 245. Carrington, George, elected colonial agent, 416 ; his protest against defraying the ex¬ pense of the West India bishopric out of the 4§ per cent, duty, 419 ; resigns as agent, 426. Caterpillars, large number of, 651. Catholics, 97. Cattle and provisions prohibited from being exported, 323. Census of Barbados in 1844, 86, 502. Central manufactories, 526. Chalky mount, 223, 548. Chalybeate waters, 12, 571. Charter of Barbados, 280. Cherry hill, 238. Chetwynd, Walter, appointed as Governor, but dies previous to his departure, 325. Children, great mortality of, 75, 491. Churches, chapels and schools in Barbados in 1837, 100; cost of building and repair¬ ing, 101; churches and chapels in 1846, 103; act for rebuilding, 470; size and cost of, Appendix, No. 9. Chief Justice, a permanent, appointed for Barbados, 492. Chigo or Jiger, 652. Cholera, Asiatic, precautions adopted against its introduction, 444. Christian servants, their bad treatment, 144. Citadel of St. Anne, 193,195. Clark, Sir James, advice to invalids, 78. Clarke, Robert B., refuses to produce the do¬ cuments of the prothonotary’s office, 411. Clarke, R. B., Solicitor-general, his opinion respecting a complete emancipation of the apprenticed labourers, 482 ; receives knighthood, 489; is installed as Chief- justice, 492 ; perspicuity of his charge on Thomas’s trial, 501 (note). Clarkson, Adam, his prize essay, 357, 456. Claims of the colonies upon the mother- country, 384. Clays of Barbados prohibited from being exported, 323. Clergy, stipends of the, 92, 94, 102, 424 ; comparative number of the, in the diocese of Barbados in 1812, 1825 and 1834, 99, 101; in Barbados in 1846, 102. Climate in general, 13; mean temperature, 14 ; evaporation, 14 ; dew, 15 ; clouds, 15 ; rain, 16; electricity, 16; trade-wind, 17; sea and land breezes, 18; rotatory motion of the wind, 18 ; volcanoes and earth¬ quakes, 20 ; zone of rains, 21; rainy sea¬ son, 22 ; table of the limits of the trade- winds, 23; highest degree of heat under the tropics, 24 ; influence of forests on the humidity of a district, 25 ; size of drops of rain, 27 ; its influence on the human health, 74; number of deaths in Barbados, 74; healthy state of Barbados, 76. Climatology in Barbados, 28; weather and range of the thermometer during the dif¬ ferent months, 28, 29; Dr. Hillary's ob¬ servations on the climate, 29 ; Mr. Young’s observations, 30; half-hourly observations, Appendix No. 2 ; rain during the different phases of the moon, 31; the supposed influence of the moon on the barometer, 32,33, 34; rise and fall of the barometer, 30, 35; range of thermometer, 30, 35; table of prevailing winds, 35; rain, 36; evaporation, 37; observations on hurricanes in general, 37; hurricanes in Barbados, 45; thunder-storms, 63; waterspouts, 64; great waves, 65 ; land-slips, 67; remark¬ able phamomenon on the 1st of May, 69. Cobblers’ rocks, 9, 218. Cochrane, Admiral, his arrival in Barbados, 361; five hundred pounds voted to him by the underwriters in Barbados, 367. Cockroaches, 653. Cocoa-nut insect, 649. Codrington, Colonel Christopher, Deputy- governor, 293, 294 ; numerous laws passed during his administration, 294 ; removes to Antigua, 294 (note); probable reason of his absence from the board of Council, 295 ; appointed Governor of the Leeward islands, 301; applies for assistance against the French, 301 ; appointed Commander- in-Chief, 302. INDEX. 713 Codrington, Christopher (son of the prece¬ ding), Governor-General of the Leeward islands, his death and will, and foundation of Codrington College, 111, 313. Codrington college and foundation school, 111; erected into a university, 116; first election of exhibitioners, 118 ; opening of the college, 119 ; injury to the college in 1831, 119; change in the requisite age for admission, 120 ; admission of students from Great Britain, 121; retrospect view, 121; names of students matriculated since the opening as a university, Appendix No.6; description of, 231. Coins, monevs of account, 169 ; current value of, in 1704, 312. Coleridge, Dr., Lord Bishop of the Wind¬ ward and Leeward Islands, arrives in Barbados, 99, 419 ; vote of thanks to him for his exertions after the hurricane, 443 ; bis resignation and departure from Barba¬ dos, 102, 489. Cole’s cave, 235. Colleton, Sir Peter, administers the govern¬ ment, 294. Combermere, Lord, appointed as governor, 400; rupture between the Governor and the House of Assembly, 403, 407 ; insists upon the prerogative of the Crown and dissolves the house, 408 ; his farewell ad¬ dress, 409; institutes the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, and the Colonial charity schools, 410. Commerce, external, of Barbados, 161; with Great Britain, 162; foreign States in Eu¬ rope, 162 ; British colonies of North Ame¬ rica, 163; United States, 163; East In¬ dies, Ichaboe, &c., 165; inter-colonial trade with the British West Indies, 165; with the foreign colonies, 166; large num¬ ber of horses imported, 168. Commission tf> inquire into the administra¬ tion of justice, 418. Compensation fund, committee for the dis¬ tribution of the, 460; amount for Barba¬ dos, 146, 461. Concessions required by the British colonists to cope with the slave colonies, 526. Congress of West India, delegates in Barba¬ dos, 433. Constitution of Barbados, 205; Governor and Council, 206, 207; House of Assem¬ bly, 208; administration of justice, 210; Court of Chancery, 211 ; Court of Com¬ mon Pleas, 212 ; Court of Exchequer, 212 ; Court of Ordinary, 212; Court of Admi¬ ralty, 213; Court of Appeal and Error, 213; Court of Escheat, 213; Court of Grand Sessions, 213 ; Admiralty Sessions, 214 ; law's of the island, 214. Convict establishment at Barbados, 144 (note). Cook, Bernard, his case and persecution, 316; publicly whipped, 316; his judges re¬ moved from the commission of the peace, 317. Corals at Two Miles’ Hill, 540 ; at Sandy- lane, 541; list of, 562. Coral animals, 635 ; depth to which they build their structure, 538. Cotton tower, 240. Council of Barbados honoured with the name of his Majesty’s Council, 294; in case of death or absence of the Governor to exer¬ cise executive authority, 294; the names of the members inserted in the Governor’s instructions, 295, 297 ; four members sus¬ pended by Sir Bevil Granville, 310 ; tyran¬ nical conduct of Governor Lowther in sus¬ pending several members, 313; Guy Ball and Francis Bond removed from the coun¬ cil board for illegal proceedings against Bernard Cook, 317; Cox and Salter re¬ moved by Governor Lowther and restored by the Lords Justices, 317; reject the ex¬ cise bill, 319 ; encroach upon the privilege of the House of Assembly, 337; express their opinion of the injudicious saving in reducing Governor Cunningliame’s salary, 338; new attempt to encroach upon the privileges of the house, 349, 351; repel the accusation of the Assembly to have acted unconstitutionally by advising the Governor to proclaim martial law, 364 ; declare it the undoubted prerogative of the Crown to declare martial law, 369; advise the Governor not to suspend any Act of Parliament in consequence of the prevailing scarcity in 1829, 427 ; increase of the members in 1835, 469; their ad¬ dress to Sir Lionel Smith on his departure, 473; reply to Sir Charles Grey’s speech, 497. Court of Grand Sessions of Oyer and Ter¬ miner, 203; of Grievance under Governor Lowther and his council declared illegal, 316 ; of Common Pleas, suspension of pro¬ ceedings, 430; the proceedings revised by an act of the Assembly, 430; of Arbitra¬ tion and Reconciliation, 487. Courteen, Sir William, receives information of Barbados, 258; one of his vessels touches at Barbados, 259; fits out two ships for commencing a settlement at Barbados,259; his interest in Barbados suppressed, 264; elegy on his death, 264. Cox, Samuel, administers the government, 317; arraigned for corrupt and illegal conduct, 318. Crane, the, 218. Criminal statistics, 136 to 139. Crowe, Mitford, appointed Governor and re¬ moved, 313. Crustacea, list of, 654. Cummin’s hole, 218. Cunningliame, Major-General James,appoint¬ ed Governor, 337 ; his government one of the most tyrannical, 338; fixes an illegal table of fees, 339 ; charged with fraud and duplicity, 347; recalled from his govern¬ ment, 347. Currency, 169 ; the dollar fixed at six shil¬ lings colonial currency, 312 ; paper cur¬ rency fictitious, 312 ; impolicy of this step and remonstrances, 312; is repealed by 714 INDEX. the Queen in council, 313 j inconvenience of island, 508. Dandy fever, 425. Darling, Major-General, appointed as Lieut.- Governor, 491. Darwin, Charles, observations on coral reefs, 533, 538, 540, 554. Dawlish, 218. Deane, William, elected Governor, 260; ten¬ ders his adherence to Wolferstone, 263; marches against the Leeward-men, 263; sent in irons to England, 263. Deaths, number of, in Barbados, 75; in comparison with other countries, 75, 76. Death of George the Third, 407 ; of George the Fourth, 430; of William the Fourth, 477. Declaration of Lord Willoughby and the Legislature against the Parliament, 272, and Appendix No. 10; to defend the island, 277. Defence of the island at various periods, 192; fortifications vested in the principal officers of her Majesty’s ordnance, 194. Delegates from the West Indies meet at Barbados, 433; resolutions come to, 433. Denny, Joseph, murders a white man, 354; tumult in consequence of receiving his Majesty’s pardon, 355 ; is transported from the island, 355. Description of new fossil shells from Bar¬ bados, 565 ; of a new lichen, 581; of new fishes, 665 to 678. Devil’s Bowling Alley, 240. Diamond rock commissioned as a sloop of war, 358 (note) ; capitulates to the French, 366. Diatomaceae are of animal and vegetable origin, 574. Diocese of Barbados in 1825, 99 ; 1842, 102, 499. Division of the island into parishes, 215. Dogs suffer from hydrophobia, 683. Dotin, James, administers the government, 320, 323, 326. Dotin, John, administers the government, 337, 348. Dotin, Chief Governor, accused of having embezzled the gunpowder of the public, 334. Dove, H. W., his theory on wind, 18. Dover hill, 237. Drax, Sir James, 221, 286. Drax hall, 221. Drogheda prisoners sold as slaves to Barba¬ dos, 144. Drought, uncommon, 149, 322. Duke, Solicitor-general, suspended by Go¬ vernor Hay, 334; moves a reduction of the Governor’s salary, 338; his death, 341. Dutch vessels landed for refreshments in Barbados, 258. Dutch, liberality of the, towards the first settlers, 268; their interest in Barbados, 268; illicit trade of Barbados considered one of the causes of war, 272; intercourse prohibited, 272. Dutton, Sir Richard, appointed Governor, 297 ; arbitrary conduct and spoliation of, 298; proclaims James the Second, 299; proceedings of Sir John Witham against him, 300 ; recalled, and ordered to attend his Majesty, 300. Dwarris, Fortunatus, his reports on the ad¬ ministration of justice, 418. Earthquakes, 68. Earthquake of Guadaloupe, 500. Education, public:—number of public schools, 104 ; central school, 104 ; Harrison’s free school, 105; St. Andrew’s school, 105; Codrington grammar school, 106; private schools, 106; schools of Moravians and Wesleyans, 106, 107; number of scholars attending the schools, 107 ; public grants for education, 106, 108, 110. Ehrenberg, Professor, his discovery of fossil animalcules, 547, 558 ; his opinion on the relative age of the Scotland rocks, 555. Elections, an Act passed to keep inviolate the freedom of, 307. Elliot, Hugh, appointed Governor without accepting the appointment, 375. Embargo upon the shipping in Carlisle Bay, 371. Emigration, restriction put on the, of la¬ bourers, 472. Epidemics in Barbados, 80, 85, 304, 425. Episcopacy of the West India islands, 418. Escape of French prisoners from the prison ship, 382. Europeans sold as slaves to Barbados, 143, 144, 284, 299; not calculated to labour under the tropics in the sun, 144. Evans, Dr., his description of the influence of the climate under the tropics, 74. Evaporation in Barbados, 36. Expedition under Admiral Penn and Colonel Venables, 285; of Lord Francis Willoughby against the French islands, 290; under Lord William Willoughby against Nevis, 292; under Major-General Sir Timothy Thorn¬ hill, 301; under Commodore Wren, 305 ; under Sir Francis Wheeler, 305 ; under Capt.Tyrrel, against the French settlement in Tobago, 327 ; under Commodore Moore and Major-General Hopson, against Mar¬ tinique, 329 ; under Admiral Rodney and General Monckton, 330; under Admiral Rodney and Sir Samuel Hood, 346 ; under General Vaughan, 348; under Sir John Jervis and Sir Charles Grey, 352 ; under Sir Ralph Abercrombie and Admiral Chris¬ tian, 354; of the French under Missiessy and La Grange, 360; under Lieut.-Gen. Beckwith, against Martinique, 376 ; under Lieut.-Gen. Sir James Leith, 393. Expenditure, statement of colonial, during 1845, 176; local, 178; for the destruction of vermin, 178 (note); of Great Britain for military protection, 196; for civil esta¬ blishment, 196. Exports in 1730, 148; in 1740, 1748, 1760, 1770, 1775, 1784, 1786, 1788, 149; in 1792, 150; table of exports of sugar, &c. INDEX. 715 from 1805 to 1840, 150; in 1817, 1840, 1841, 151; in 1838, 152; table of the value of, from 1841 to 1846, 155; articles exported and their value in 1845, 155; comparative statement of exports from 1841 to 1845, 160. Farmer, Colonel, sent a prisoner to England, 289. Farmer, John, administers the government, 309 ; proclaims Queen Anne, 309. Fees, illegal, of General Cunninghame, 339 ; a bill passed to prevent the recurrence of such an evil, 349; of public officers, 385 ; revised, 411. Ferns, list of, 582. Finances, prosperous state of the, 499, 502, 504, 506, 508, 509. Fire in Bridgetown in 1666, 241 ; in 1756, 1766, 1821, 1828, 1837, 243; great, in 1845, 243,505; measures adopted to relieve the misery, 505 ; sums collected for the sufferers, 505; on board ‘ The Majestic ’ transport lying in Carlisle Bay, 375. Fire company associations, 371. Fishes, list of, 665. Fonseca, an island supposed to lie east of Barbados, 7 (note). Fontabelle, the Governor’s residence, 295; abandoned as a residence, 308. Forests and trees, their influence on the humidity of a district, 25. Fort George commenced, 337; artillery re¬ moved to the fort, 347 ; abandoned, 348. Fossils, description of, found at Barbados, 55 7. Four-and-half per cent, duty, its origin, 288 ; Colonel Farmer, for his opposition to the tax, charged with high treason, 289 ; the legislature passes the act for imposing the tax, 290; attempts to relieve the in¬ habitants from the,291,295,337, 340,382, 418; amount of duty produced in Barbados and the other islands, 383; pensions, salaries, &c. paid out of it, 484 (and note); new attempts for its repeal, 484, 485; abolition of the, 486 ; Mr. Mayers' part in effecting it, 486. Franchise Act, first session under the new, 499. Free coloured inhabitants petition the legis¬ lature for amelioration, 381; the publica¬ tion of an essay to recommend the grant¬ ing of the petition declared seditious, 381; their testimony taken in all cases, 401; address to the Governor censured by the legislature, 417; their political disabili¬ ties removed, 432 ; meeting of, and address to Sir Lionel Smith, 453; removal of their grievances, 454. Freeholders, who shall be deemed, 208. Freemasonry and masonic lodges in Barba¬ dos, 249. Free-trade system, 147, 148, 423, 524. Frere, Johu, illegally appointed as president to administer the government, 317; or¬ dered to England to answer for his con¬ duct, 317 ; dies of small-pox, 317. Frere,Henry, administers the government,351. Frogs and toads, 679. Galissioniere rocks, 7. Gambling carried on to great extent, 385. Garrison of St. Anne, 195, 250. Garrison, the first, of Barbados, under Sir Tobias Bridge, 292 ; under Colonel Russel, 307. Gazette, Barbados, the first newspaper print¬ ed in the island, 124, 322. Geological description of Barbados, 531 ; dif¬ ference of structure, 534; coralline for¬ mation, 534 ; theory respecting its forma¬ tion, 539 ; terraces, 541 ; shells imbedded . in the coral rock, 544; Scotland forma¬ tion, 546; marls, earthy, 547; chalky mount, 548; sandstone, 547, 549, 572; bituminous coal or asphalt, 550, 569; Burnt Hill, 553; volcanic ashes, 554 ; relative age of the Scotland formation, 555, 556 ; foreign rocks found at Barbados, 554; list of fossil shells, 562. Germans shipwrecked arrive in Barbados, 359; Lord Seaforth’s proclamation in their favour, 360. Gibbes, Chief Judge, his memorial in favour of a free pardon to Joseph Denny, 354; is suspended from the council board and reinstated by order of the king, 355. Gittens, Judge, his attempt to introduce a bill for the suspension of the proceedings in the courts of justice, 340. Glenelg’s, Lord, aspersions on the colonial legislatures, 481; approval of the measures adopted by the legislature of Barbados, 482. Goding, Dr., Speaker of the House of Assem¬ bly, 517 ; called to the council board, 517 (note). Gold coin, depreciation of, by clipping, de¬ clared punishable with death, 351; its value determined by a standard, 352. Gordon, Rev. Mr., his persecution by Go¬ vernor Lowther, 314. Governments of Barbados, St. Vincent, Gre¬ nada and Tobago, combined, 451. Governor’s instructions in the 17th century, 202; salary paid out of funds provided by Parliament, 451. Grain prohibited to be used in distilleries, 374. Granville, Sir Bevil, appointed Governor, 310 ; selects Pilgrim as his residence, 310; fired at while sitting at the window, 311; his conduct of suspending several mem¬ bers of the council approved of, 311; his resignation and death, 312. Grand jury, address to the throne under Sir Richard Dutton’s administration, 298; presentment to the Assembly respecting nuisances in the island, 385. Grand sessions, time of sitting extended, 501. Grand View in St. Thomas’s, 236. Green hill, 224. Grenville, Honourable Henry, appointed Go¬ vernor, 327; returns to England, 328; a statue erected to bis memory, 328. Grey, Honourable Ralph, appointed Gover¬ nor, 308 ; his resignation, 309. 716 INDEX. Grey, the Right Honourable Sir Charles, ap¬ pointed as Governor, 492 ; his first speech to the legislature, 493; addresses the As¬ sembly on the first session of the Assembly after the new Franchise Act, 449 ; extracts from his speech in 1844,502; in 1845, 506 ; meets with an accident, 511; address on the conclusion of the legislative session in 1846, 515 ; informs the legislature of his intention to issue writs, 516; speech at the opening of the legislative session in November 1846, 517 ; receives an address from the clergy, 519; his departure to assume the government in Jamaica, 520. Grievances of the colonies, 525. Ground-pearls, 644. Grou-grou worm, 646. Gullies in Barbados, 535. Gun-hill, 222. Habeas Corpus Act suspended, 327. Hackleton’s Cliff, 239. Hampden, Renn, his zeal in the case of bringing to punishment the murderer of a slave, 422; his speech in praise of Sir James Lyon, 450. Harewood, Lord, presents the picture of his ancestor to the colony, 412. Harte, Rev. W. M., his case, 427. Hay, Honourable Edward, appointed Gover¬ nor, 333; suspends the Solicitor-general Mr. Duke, 334 ; coolness between him and the Assembly, 335; refuses bis assent to reappoint Mr. Walker agent of the island, 335 ; his death, 337. Hawley, Capt. Henry, Governor, 265 ; su¬ perseded by Major Hunks and sent as pri¬ soner to England, 266. Hawley, Henry, appointed joint Deputy- governor, 290. Healthy state of Barbados, 74, 76. Heights in Barbados, 216. llillaby, the highest elevation, 8, 223. Hinds, Samuel, administers the government, 413. Historical sketch of the administration, 198. Hurricanes in general, 37 ; rotatory motion, 39; great quantity of electricity, 39 ; great height to which the spray of the sea is carried, 40 ; frequently combined with earthquakes, 41 ; signs of an approaching, 42; Mr. Gittens’s observations, 43 ; their rate of progress, 44; time of ihe year when hurricanes generally occur, 44 ; list of, in the West Indies, Appendix No. 4. Hurricanes in Barbados of 1667, 1674, 1675, 1694,1700, 45; 1731,1780, 46, 339; 1786, 1804,50; 1806, 1810, 1813, 1815, 1816, 1817, 1818, 1819, 51, 401; 1831, 53; 1835, 1837, 61 ; 1846, 62. Hurricane in 1831, 53, 435; Sir James Lyon’s great zeal displayed on the occa¬ sion, 435; proceedings of the Assembly, 436; retrenchments, 437 ; the Governor refuses to open the ports, 438 ; the ports opened by Act of the imperial Parliament, 438 ; number of deaths and amount of da¬ mage, 440, Appendix No. 5; vote of the British Parliament in aid of the sufferers, 440 ; sums contributed by the sister colo¬ nies and private individuals, 101, 440, and Appendix No. 5; return of timber, shingles, &c. imported for the restoration of the buildings, 441 (note); votes of thanks of the Assembly for individual exertions, 443 ; in 1837, 477 ; exertions of Sir Evan Mac¬ Gregor and the troops, 478 ; vote of thanks to Baron de Mackaw, 478. Hurricane-grants of 1780, 343, 344 ; of 1831, 440. Holder, John, his share in the measure of instituting a paper currency, 312 ; com¬ pelled to refund the per-centage, 313. Iloletown or Jamestown, 238. Hood, Admiral Sir Samuel, his victory over the ‘ Ville de Paris,’ 346; fortifies the Diamond rock, 358 ; his return to Europe, 361. Horses, large number annually imported, 168. Hospitals and benevolent institutions, 127. Hospital, general, 128; receipts and expen¬ diture, 129; statistical report for 1845, 1846, 129. Houses of correction, 470. Howe, Lord Viscount, appointed Governor of Barbados, 320 ; his death and character, 322 ; the Assembly vote two thousand five hundred pounds to Lady Howe, 323. Hydrophobia, occurrence of, in Barbados, 683. Illegitimate children, 90. Imports in 1728 to 1732, 148 ; table of the value of, from 1841 to 1846, 154 ; table of articles imported, and their value, in 1845, 156. Import and export duties, 171, 173. Import duty upon articles the produce of the United States, 380 ; salaries of the officers of customs to be paid out of import du¬ ties, 446, 449. Ince, John, his death on the day appointed for swearing him into office as Command- er-in-Chief of Barbados, 369. Indian cave in St. Lucy's, 225 (note) ; in St. Peter’s, 238 ; in St. Michael’s, 249. Indian castle, 238. Indian slaves, 143. Influence of the climate on health, 73. Infusoria, 558. Inhabitants, different classes of, 84. Inkle and Yarico, 233. Insurrection of slaves in 1649, 267 ; in 1676, 296; in 1693, 305 ; in 1702, 309 ; in 1816, 395 ; proceedings of the colonial agents and principal merchants in London, 397 ; a committee appointed to inquire into the origin of the insurrection, 398 ; vote of thanks to the individuals who assisted in quelling the insurrection, 398; some of the rebels transported to Honduras, 399. Irwin, Lord, appointed as Governor, dies of small-pox, 317. Jail and prisons, 134; punishments, 136; state of the common, 506; documents respecting the, 512 ; insubordination at the, 513. INDEX. 717 James, the slave Robert, tried for rape on a white woman and sentenced to death, 445 ; respited by the President and great ex¬ citement in consequence, 445 ; transported to Bermuda, 446. Jamestown, foundation of, 260. Jews, 97 ; description of their synagogue, 98 ; school, 107 ; their political disabilities removed, 97, 432. Jordan, G. W., colonial agent for Barbados, 368 ; his death, 415. Justice suspended in civil cases, 333. Keimer publishes a newspaper, 124, 321 ; prosecuted for publishing a libel, 322. Kendall, Mr., offers a tax to induce the king to take the sovereignty of Barbados, 288. Kendall, James, appointed Governor, 304; recalled and appointed one of the Lords of the Admiralty, 307. Kitterich, Capt. William, sentenced to be shot, 265. Knighthood conferred by Charles the Second upon gentlemen of Barbados, 286 ; by Wil¬ liam and Mary, 304; by Queen Victoria, 489. Ladies of Barbados request Sir James Lyon to sit for his picture, 450. Landed proprietors in 1840, 153. Landslips, 67. Laws, foundation of, 198 ; of Barbados, 214 ; and statutes of Barbados published in the churches, 284; salutary, passed under De¬ puty-governor Walrond, 286 ; revised, 291 ; printed under Governor Grey, 308 ; Act of the Assembly for printing the laws and statutes disallowed, 432 ; H. E. Sharpe offers to make a compilation of the, 432. Lazaretto, 130. Leeward islands, 2. Leeward-men submit to the authority of the Earl of Carlisle, 263; attack the Carlisle settlement, 263 ; subdued, 264. Legislature declare themselves Governor, Council and Assembly, ad interim, 293 ; first instance of presenting the Governor with money, 301 ; sums granted in that manner to 1743, 301 (note) ; raise a regi¬ ment under Sir Timothy Thornhill, 301; equip two sloops of war for the protection of the trade, 304; two merchant-ships taken into the service and equipped as men-of- war, 305 ; equip two regiments, 305 ; fit out the Marigold brig and other vessels, 307; vote an address to Queen Anne, 309 ; pass an Act for a fictitious paper currency, 312; repealed by the Queen in Council, 313 ; disputes between the two branches, 313; fit out two sloops to guard the coast, 327 ; raise a regiment under Sir John Yea- mans to join General Monckton and Ad¬ miral Rodney, 330; equip two vessels, 336; pass a Bill to prevent the extortion of il¬ legal fees, 349 ; vote to assist the expedi¬ tion under General Vaughan, 353; the armed brig Lord Hawkesbury taken in their service, 353; vote a contribution for the prosecution of the war, 356 ; petition the Prince Regent to prevent the admis¬ sion of East Indian sugar, 384 ; vote Sir George Beckwith a service of plate, 388 ; vote for the relief of the sufferers by the hurricane in St. Lucia, 402 ; Act for the abolition of slavery, 461; establishment of a police for Bridgetown, 461 ; pass im¬ portant Acts in 1835, 462; pass an Act for rebuilding churches, 470; houses of correction, 470 ; injurious imputation cast by the imperial Parliament on the, 479 ; repeal an Act for the apprenticeship of children, 479 ; pass an Act for the termi¬ nation of the apprenticeship, 483 ; vote to the sufferers by the earthquake, 500 ; vote to the sufferers by the fire in Kingston, 501 ; vote for the erection of a sessions- liouse, 501 ; vote to the sufferers by the fire in Bridgetown, 505 ; Sir Charles Grey’s speech at the opening of the session in November 1846, 517. Leith, Lieut.-Gen. Sir James, appointed Lieut.-Governor, 387; assumes the govern¬ ment, 391 ; appointed Governor-in-Chief, 392; embarks for Guadaloupe, 393 ; his return in consequence of the insurrection, 397 ; his death, 400. Lichen, description of a new, 581 (note). Lighthouse, 180, 506. Lillington, George, suspended from the Council-board, 310; accused of firing at the Governor and sentenced to pay a fine of two thousand pounds, 311 ; administers the government, 313. Limits or bounds of parishes, 215, and Ap¬ pendix, No. 7 ; of Bridgetown, Appendix, No. 8. Lindley, Dr., his ‘ Vegetable Kingdom,’ 577 ; his botanical system, 578. Lists of fossil shells, 562 ; ferns, 582 ; flower¬ ing plants, 585; insects, 654; spiders, 654 ; crabs and lobsters, 655 ; shells, 659 ; fishes, 665 ; reptiles, 679; birds, 680 ; qua¬ drupeds, 682. Literature and the public press, 124. Lizards, 679. London merchants, a Society of, obtain ten thousand acres of land, 262. Long Bay in St. Philip’s, 218 ; in St. An¬ drew’s, 224. Long Bay castle, 219. Long pond, 224. Lottery for rebuilding churches, 350. Lowther, Robert, appointed Governor, 313; his tyrannical conduct, 313; is recalled and reappointed, 314 ; his persecution of the Rev. Mr. Gordon and Mr. Hope, 314; presides in person at the court of grand sessions, 315 ; constitutes himself aud his council into a court of grievance, 315; recalled and desired to appear before the Lords Justices, 317 ; ordered to be prose¬ cuted for high crimes, 317; receives the benefit of the act of grace, 317. Lunatic asylum, 129. Lyon, Lieut.-Gen. Sir James, appointed Go¬ vernor, 426 ; his great zeal on the occasion 718 INDEX- of the hurricane in 1831, 435,443; refuses to open the ports, 438; his speech on opening the legislative session after the hurricane in 1831, 442; returns to England, 444 ; regret at his removal, 450; the in¬ habitants present him with a sum of money, 450. MacGregor, Sir E., appointed Governor, 472; his speech to the legislature, 475; his speech on the opening of the legislature in 1837, 478 ; is appointed Governor of the Windward islands, 486 ; his death, 490. MacMahon, Gelasius, incites the inhabitants to resist paying Governor Worsley’s sa¬ lary, 318 ; murders Thomas Keeling, 321; his trial and pardon, 321. Mail-service and projected inland post, 188. Mammalia, list of, 682. Manchester, Duke of, his arrival, 372. Manjack, 551, 569. Maps, early, of Barbados, 6, 256, 257. Market-place in Bridgetown, 182, 471. Marls in Barbados, 546; their qualification for agricultural purposes, 568. Marlborough, Earl of, applies for a patent to secure Barbados, 259 ; compromises with the Earl of Carlisle and relinquishes his claim, 261; his heirs put in a claim, 288. Marquis de Bouille, a piece of plate voted to him, 348. Marriages, number of, 89. Martial law proclaimed by Lord Seaforth, 362 ; disputes on the legality, 363 ; de¬ clared essential as a prerogative of the Crown, 365, 368 ; in 1816, 396. May-dust, and its origin, 69. Mayers, J. P., appointed agent, 426 ; his zeal on occasion of the great hurricane in 1831, 439 ; his remonstrance against the asper¬ sions on the Colonial Legislatures, 481 ; his part in effecting the repeal of the four- and-half per cent, duty, 486. Metals, precious, not likely to occur in Bar¬ bados, 568. Meteorological phenomena in Barbados, 28. Middleton, Capt., a sword voted by the As¬ sembly to, 329. Military posts established at Gun-hill and Moncrieffe, 400. Militia and military defence, 190; state of, ill 1845-46, 191. Militia, 190; a regiment of horse, established, 284; new Act, 297 ; new Militia Act, 307 ; two regiments of horse disbanded, 353 ; royal regiment called out to perform gar¬ rison duty, 354 ; relieved, and a body of three hundred men enlisted, 192, 354 ; an Act to regulate the, in 1805, 360; new Bill in 1809, 377 ; Act erroneously consi¬ dered to have expired in 1822, 413; new Act in 1839,487 ; rendered effective, 504. Mineral waters, 12, 570. Modyford, Colonel Thomas, raises the Wind¬ ward regiment, 270; one of the leaders of the moderate party, 277; secret corre¬ spondence between him and Sir George Ayscue, 278; declares for the Parliiiment, 279; appointed Governor of Barbados, 285 ; removes to Jamaica, 286 (note). Moe Cheeseman and J. B. Lane dismissed from the magistracy, 406; are elected members of the Assembly, 407; demand an inquiry into their conduct as magis¬ trates, 407 ; acquitted by the House, 411. Molehead, 179, 333, 335, 357, 515. Moll, Sam, a slave, commits murder and escapes punishment by manumission, 374. Mollusca, list of, 659. Moncreiffe, 218. Monkeys, 682. Monmouth rebels, 144 ; transported to Bar¬ bados, 299 and note; released, 304. Monopoly in favour of the British distiller of spirits, 524. Montrose, Duke of, packet, lost on the Cob¬ blers, 391. Moravians, 95 ; public school, 106. Mosquitos, 651. Mosquito-worm, 653. Murder of a slave declared felony without benefit of clergy, 422. Mushrooms, 581. Navigation laws, first restrictions of, 148 (note), 272; confirmed by Charles II., 28 7; partly repealed, 423 ; their pressure on the colonists, 459, 524. Nelson, Lord, arrives in the Victory at Car¬ lisle Bay, 366 ; proceeds to Trinidad, 366 ; the news of his victory and death at Tra¬ falgar arrives at Barbados, 366; solemni¬ ties in consequence of it, 366; erection of a statue to his memory, 245. Newenham, Sir E., his contribution to the sufferers by the hurricane in 1780, 344. Ochres, 572. Oistin’s Town, 220. Olive Blossom, the first English vessel which touched at Barbados, 258. Orange-tree insect, 650. Order in Council objected to by the Assem¬ bly, 443. Organic nature, sketch of, 573. Overhill, 222. Packets established, 188, 311 and note; sail¬ ing, 189; steam, royal mail, 189. Paleologus, Ferdinando, a descendant of the Greek emperors, buried at St. John’s, 228 ; his will, 229. Parade-ground at St. Anne’s, 250. Parry, Major David, appointed Governor, 349; his leave and return to Barbados, 351 ; his resignation and death, 352. Parry, the Right Rev. Dr., appointed Lord Bishop, 499. Parish of St. Philip, population and number of estates, 217 ; of Christ church, 219 ; of St. George, 221; of St. Andrew, 222; of St. Lucy, 225 ; of St. John, 227 ; of St. Thomas, 234; of St. Peter, 236; of St. James, 238; of St. Joseph, 239; of St. Michael’s, 240. Parliament, British, issues prohibition against all foreign ships trading with the English colonies, 272; vote ten thousand pounds INDEX. 719 to the island of Barbados for the assistance given to General Monckton, 330; grants at two separate periods, each time five thousand pounds, for the improvement of Bridgetown after the fire, 332; vote five thousand pounds for cleansing the Mole- head, 335 ; grant eighty thousand pounds for the relief of Barbados after the hurri¬ cane in 1780, 343 ; .present an address to the Prince Regent, praying to declare his displeasure at the insurrection in Barba¬ dos, 397; open the ports in Barbados on occasion of the great hurricane in 1831, 438 ; vote one hundred thousand pounds in relief of the sufferers by the hurricane in 1831, 440; grant a loan of one million pounds for the relief of the sufferers by the hurricane in 1831 and insurrection in Ja¬ maica, 441; inability of the, to impose a local tax on the chartered colonies, 449 ; undue interference with colonial legisla¬ tures, 449 ; imputations cast upon the le¬ gislatures in the West Indies, in Parlia¬ ment, 479; measures of, respecting the admission of sugar, 523. Passengers, number of, arriving daily from the country in Bridgetown, table, 187. Patent offices made under the Great Seal of England, 297, 308 and note ; their serious injury, 385; a committee appointed to in¬ quire into, 385 ; Mr. Creevy’s motion in the House of Commons, 385. Peace of Breda, 292 ; between Great Britain and France and Spain, 349 ; of Amiens, 357; of Paris in 1814, 389; with the United States, 390. Peel, Sir Robert, his speech in 1841 on the reduction of the protective sugar duties, 522. Peers, Richard, Deputy-Governor, 265 ; no¬ minated President of the Council, 265. Peers, Speaker of the Assembly, his enmity towards Governor Byng, and suspension from all colonial appointments, 325, 326. Pembroke, Earl of, obtains a grant of Bar¬ bados in trust for Courteen, 262 ; his pa¬ tent revoked and Lord Carlisle reinstated in the possession of Barbados, 262. Petroleum, 12, 553, 569, 571. Pico Teneriffe, 238, 546. Pilgrim, the residence of the Governor, 249, 310. Pinfold, Dr. Charles, appointed Governor, 329 ; his resignation, 331. Pirates in the Mexican and Caribbean seas, their outrage, 416, 458. Plants, catalogue of, 582 ; ferns, 582 ; flow¬ ering plants, 585. Pleas, Court of Common, 200, 210, 286, 294. Police department, 139. Police for Bridgetown, 204,380, 461 ; Mayal Mallalieu appointed Inspector-General, 463; disallowance of this appointment, 464 ; act for the establishment of a rural police considered to infringe upon the royal prerogative, 464; is disallowed, 465 ; Mr. Clarke’s temporary rural police bill, 468 ; establishments and houses of cor¬ rection, 471 ; for Speightstown, 471; for the government of Bridgetown, 471 ; rural police bill, 472 ; treadmill, 472. Police magistrates appointed in 1810, 380. Political parties in Barbados, 405. Polycystina, fossil animalcules from Barba¬ dos, 547, 558. Population in the 17th century, 79, 80; in 1676, 80, 81; in 1683, 82 ; in the 18th and 19th centuries, 85, 86 ; in 1844, 86 ; com¬ parison with other parts of the world, 87, 88; table exhibiting the superficial area and the population for each square mile, 88 ; according to sexes, 88 ; number of marriages, 89 ; baptisms, 90 ; illegiti¬ mate children, 90 ; burials, 90, 91. Porey’s spring, 236. Port and careenage, 178. Ports of British West Indian colonies closed against vessels from the United States, 403. Portland, Duke of, arrives in Barbados, 317. Potteries, 571. Powell, John, captain of the William and John, 259. Powell, John, a son of Captain Powell, elected as leader of the Leeward-men, 263 ; ap¬ pointed Governor of Barbados, 263 ; sent a prisoner to England, 263. Precautions necessary under a tropical cli¬ mate, 77. Prices of produce and merchandise from 1841 to 1845, 183. Privateers, commit great injury upon the trade, 304, 335, 353, 370, 383 ; fitted out in Barbados, 309, 342, 386 ; American, their boldness, 335, 383; cut out the Elizabeth a little beyond Oistin’s hay, 389. Proprietors, number of, 153 ; of ten acres of land or more free from arrest, 429. Provost-marshal appointed, 292. Public money only to be disposed of by war¬ rant under the Governor’s hand, and with the advice and consent of his Council, 308 ; Assembly claims the control of, 319 ; mal¬ versation discovered, 319. Quadrupeds in Barbados, 682. Quakers, 94. Quarter Sessions, 204. Racoon, 683. Railway, projected, 185, 507; petitions in favour of the, 511; resolutions of the House of Assembly, 512. Rain, great, in 1795, 50. Rainy region or belt, 21. Redfield’s theory on winds, 18. Reid, Lieut.-Col., his law of storms, 18; ap¬ pointed Governor of Barbados, 519. Religious and public instruction, 92; at the settlement and during the 17th cen¬ tury, 92, 93; during the 18th and com¬ mencement of the 19th century, 93; Quakers, 94 ; Moravians, 95 ; Wesleyans, 95 ; destruction of their chapels, 96 ; Ana¬ baptists, 97 ; Catholics, 97 ; Jews, 97 ; description of their synagogue, 98 ; erected into a bishopric in 1825, 99 ; state of the 720 INDEX. Established Church in 1812 in the West Indies, 99 ; comparative number of the clergy and schools in Barbados in 1825 and 1834, 100. Restrictions on commerce with the United States, 351, 423, 424. Revenue and expenditure from 1841 to 1845, 174. Rickets, George Poyntz, appointed Governor, 353; tumult in consequence of the free pardon of Denny, 355 ; Legislature vote him one thousand pounds on his leave, 356 ; his death, 356. Ridge, the, 220. Riots, and destruction of a Wesleyan chapel, 96. Riot-act, want of, 419 ; passed by the Legis¬ lature, 486. Rivers and springs, 9. Roads, public, 183; their bad state, 350; turnpikes established, 351. Robinson, Sir Thomas, appointed Governor, 326; his arbitrary proceedings, 327 ; re¬ signs his government, 327. Rodney, Admiral Sir George, 342, 343, 346. Rotatory motion of winds, 18, 19. Round Rock, 220. Rous, Samuel, administers the government, 331,332; grants the usual privileges to the Assembly, 331 ; resigns his claim to the administration in 1779, 337. Royalists of Barbados banished, 283. Russel, Colonel, appointed Governor, 307; death of, 307. Ruyter, De, arrives before Barbados, 290. Ryan, Michael, prosecuted for a libel on the House of Assembly and the Colonial Par¬ liament, 405 ; is acquitted, 406 ; appointed printer to the House of Assembly, 409- St. Lucia included in the government of the Windward Islands, 469, 486. St. Nicholas abbey, 237. Salisbury rebels sold to Barbados, 284. Salt springs, 224. Samalgundi and Pumpkins, 405. Sand hills, 224. Savings’ bank, attempts to institute, 500. Scarcity in Barbados at the outbreak of the American war, 333; address in conse¬ quence to the king, 334; relieved by a grant from the British Government, 336 ; in 1806, 367; Lords Commissioners of the Treasury authorize a bounty, 367; distress in Barbados, 382 ; in 1829, 426 ; petition to encourage the importation of flour from foreign ports, 426. Schools, number of public (see likewise Edu¬ cation), 104. Scolopendra, 653. Scorpion, 653. Scotland, a district in Barbados called, 222. Sea eggs, 638. Sea-fencibles, a body of, enrolled, 360. Seaforth, Lord, appointed Governor, 357; his zeal for the amelioration of the slaves, 358 ; proclaims martial law, 362 ; considers himself only responsible to his Sovereign, 364 ; his proceedings approved of by the Crown, 365; farewell dinner given to him on his departure, 369. Searle, Col. D., appointed Governor, 283. Secretary of the island, permanent salary fixed for the, 502. Septaria, 549, 571. Settlers landed at Barbados, according to tbe memoirs, 79 ; according to Capt. Smith, 259 ; arrive under Charles Wolferstone, 79, 262. Sharpe, William, administers the govern¬ ment, 312, 314; threatened to be arraigned for bribery, 312. Sharpe, H. E., appointed Attornev-General, 492. Shells, fossil, found in Barbados, 562 ; de¬ scription of some new fossil, 565 ; list of, found in the West Indian seas, 659. Shipley, Colonel, the inhabitants vote him a piece of plate on his leaving the island, 369. Ships, number of, entered Barbados in 1650, 143; in 1676, 1683,1700, 147; table of the comparative number entered and cleared from 1841 to 1846, 158. Shipwreck, repeated instances of, 181; disas¬ trous, of the ship Mary, 323. Signal stations, 195. Skeete, John Bratliwaite, administers the government, 407, 409, 421, 425, 427, 444 ; resolutions of the House of Assembly for his removal, 445 ; resigns as Chief- Justice, 430. Skeyne, appointed Secretary by patent, 308. Slaves, number of, at different periods in Barbados, 145, 146; Englishmen sold as slaves to Barbados, 144, 284, 299 ; French sold as slaves to Barbados, 143; insurrec¬ tion of, in 1649, 267; in 1676, 296 ; in 1693,305; in 1702,309; in 1816, 395 ; attract the commiseration of England, 357 ; Lord Seaforth’s zeal for their ameli¬ oration, 358 ; murder of a slave by a white man formerly merely fineable by £15 cur¬ rency, 370 ; registration of, 394 ; the king addresses a proclamation to the, 417 ; murder of a slave declared felony without benefit of clergy, 422; their evidence ad¬ mitted in any courts of the island, 422 (note); bill for their amelioration in 1827, 425 ; Society for the religious instruction of, 458; abolition of slavery, and act for the emancipation of, 460, 470. Slavery, retrospective view of, 455. Slave-trade, abolition of, 367, 457. Smith, Capt. John, his account of Barbados, 259 (note). Smith, Major-Gen. Sir Lionel, appointed as Governor of Barbados, 450; as Governor- General of the Windward Islands, 451 ; his salary paid out of funds provided by Parliament, 451; his dictatorial messages to the House of Assembly, 465, 467 ; Go¬ vernor-General of the colonies of Deme- rara, Trinidad, and St. Lucia, 469; his speech to the House in 1835, 469 ; ap¬ pointed to the government of Jamaica, INDEX. 721 472; addresses of the Council, Assembly, and inhabitants generally, 473 et seg. Societies:—for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 93; extract from the charter of the Society, 111 (note); for the Conversion and Religious instruction of the Negro Slaves, 93; Ladies’ Associa¬ tion, 130; Meal Society, 131 ; Clothing Society, 131; Samaritan Charitable So¬ ciety, 131; Medical Dispensary Society, 131 ; Auxiliary Bible Society, 131 ; for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 131 ; Li¬ terary Society, 132 ; Library Association, 132; Clerical Library, 133; Military Li¬ brary, 133; Juvenile Library, 133; Gene¬ ral Agricultural Society, 133; St. Philip’s District Agricultural Society, 133; St. Thomas’s District Agricultural Society, 133; Leeward District Agricultural So¬ ciety, 133 ; Commercial Hall, 133. Social-rock Gully, 234. Soils imported from Guiana, 166 (note); composition of, 572. Speaker of the House, the, claims the usual privileges, 331; addresses himself to Ad¬ miral Young to protect commerce against privateers, 336 ; not to make or second a motion unless in Committee, 426. Speightstown or Little Bristol, 237; de¬ pravity prevailing in, 471; establishment of a police, 471. Spiders, 654. Spooner, John, administers the government, 369, 388, 393; lays an embargo upon the shipping, 371; his resignation, 401. Spouts, the, 227. Sprv, Dr. William, appointed as Governor, 332 ; his death, 332. Stamp Act and its proceeds in Barbados, 331. Staple articles of Barbados, 153. Star-chamber, Barbados, 316. Steam-vessel, arrival of the first in Barbados, 424 ; in Demerara, 424 (note). Stede, Edwin, appointed Deputy-Governor, 300 ; receives a commission as Lieut.-Go- vemor, 300 ; legislature present him with one thousand pounds, 301 ; knighthood conferred upon him, 304. Sugar, greatest quantity exported in any year, 152 ; duty on Muscovado and clayed sugars, 299 ; produced at thirty per cent, less expense (in 1685) in foreign planta¬ tions, 299 ; sold at ten and twelve shillings a hundred-weight, 321; importation pro¬ hibited in Ireland, 322; petition of the legislature against admitting East India sugar without restriction, 384 ; reduction of protective duties, 503; question in 1841, 521; under Sir Robert Peel, 523 ; aboli¬ tion of protective duties in 1851, 523. Sugar-ant, 640. Sugar-cane, its introduction, 142. Sugar-mills introduced, 143. Sulphuretted hydrogen, 553, 554, 570. Summers, John, one of the first settlers, 262. Taxes, 170, 173. Taylor, George N., Speaker of the Assembly, 495, 502; resigns, 517; called to the Council-board, 517 (note); speech in fa¬ vour of railways, &c. 528. Taylor’s publication of the Acts of the Legis¬ lature, 502. Taylor, John, arraigned for abduction of labourers, 489. Theatre in Bridgetown, 250; at the garri¬ son, 251. Thermometer, its range at Barbados, 30, 35, Appendix, No. 2. Thomas, John, elected Speaker, 517 (note). Thomas, Poyer, his trial for larceny, 501. Thornhill, Sir Timothy, Major-General, sails with an expedition against the French from Barbados, 301; wounded in his foot, 303 ; sails with his regiment against St. Eustatia and returns to Barbados, 303; the legisla¬ ture vote him their thanks for his gallantry, 303 ; a descendant of, raises a company of soldiers at his own expense, 348. Thunder-storms, 63, 64. Ticks, 652. Tobago, settlement of the French at, 327. Tonnage duty, colonial, 333 ; opinion of the Lords of the Treasury of the inability of the imperial Parliament to impose a local tax, 449. Trade-winds, 20, 21; limits of, 23. Town-hall, new, 476. Townshend packet taken by two American privateers, 383. Tufton, Sir William, appointed Commander- in-chief, 264 ; sentenced to be shot, 265. Turner’s Hall wood, 223. Turtles, 679. Underwriters in Barbados vote five hundred pounds to Admiral Cochrane, 367 ; a piece of plate to Captain Younghusbaud, 367; three hundred guineas to Captain Ballard, 370 ; their liberality in the course of three years, 375. United States, trade with the, 163; inde¬ pendence of the, 333 ; the produce of the, allowed to be imported in British vessels, 349; restrictions upon the intercourse, 351 ; embargo laid by the President upon the shipping, 371; discontent at the em¬ bargo, 372 ; non-intercourse law, 378, 381, 424 ; attack of the United States frigate President on the Little Belt, 381; war declared between the United States and Great Britain, 381; privateers swarm in the West Indian seas, 335, 383; ports in the West Indies closed against the vessels of the, 423 ; trade with the West Indies, 423; commercial relations restored between British West Indies, 431. Unjust proceedings at the trial of Bernard Cook, 316. Vermin, expenditure for destruction of, 178. Vertebral animals, 664. Vessels, number of, belonging to Barbados, 153. Vestry of St. Michael’s, their attempts to procure an abolition of the police-tax, 510. Victoria, Queen, proclamation of, 477. 3 A 722 INDEX. Volunteer associations, 346. Volunteer corps established, 372. Walcott, Robert J., the last who as member of Council presided as temporary judge, 492. Walrond, Colonel Humphry, intrigues against Governor Bell, 270; banished from Barbados, 283; nominated President of the Council and Deputy-Governor, 286. Walrond, Henry, Chief-Justice, fined .£30, 300 ; present of the Assembly and acknow¬ ledgement of his just proceedings, 300. War with Holland, 272, 290, 342; Spain, 285,309, 359 ; France, 290, 301, 309, 329, 336, 352, 358, 391; the North American colonies, 333 ; United States, 381,384; re¬ prisals against Denmark and Russia, 371. Warde, Sir Henry, appointed Governor, 413 ; offers to relinquish £1000 of his salary, 415; his departure to England, 420; public dinner on his return, 421 ; address of the Assembly on his retirement, 425. Warner, Thomas, Governor of Dominica, 292. Wasps or Maribondas, 653. Water, fresh, procured by digging in the sand, 11 ; specific weight of, 11. Watches appointed in the towns, 204; in Bridgetown, paid by the Vestry, 205. Waves, great, 65. Weekes, R., administers the government, 329. Weekes, Judge of Vice-Admiralty, suspended and reinstated, 342; suspended for mal¬ practices, 352; guilty of extortion, 353. Weights and measures, 170. Wells, depth of, 11. Wesleyans, 95 ; public school, 106. West India archipelago, 1. West Indies, geographical division, 3. West India Islands, the whole of the, in possession of the British forces, 379. West India properties, depreciation of, 459. Wheatley, Robert, nominated Governor, 263. ‘ Windsor Castle,’ the action of the, with the privateer ‘ Jeune Richard,’ 371. William Henry, Prince, his arrival at Barba¬ dos, 351. Willoughby, Lord Francis, his earlier history, 268, 269 ; his negotiations with the Earl of Carlisle respecting Barbados, 269; receives a commission as Governor, 270 ; arrives in Barbados, 270 ; proclaims Charles II., 271; letter to Lady Willoughby, 273; his effec¬ tive arrangements to repel Parliamentary forces, 277 ; marches against SirG. Ayscue, 279; enters into a treaty with him, 279; banished from the island, 283; re-appointed afterthe restoration,286; receives a moiety of the revenue, 289 ; arrives in Barbados, 289 ; his expedition against the French islands, 290 ; loses his life in a hurricane, 291. Willoughby, Lieut.-General, sent to reinforce Colonel Wats, 290. Willoughby, Lord William, appointed Go¬ vernor, 291; sails for Nevis, 292; re¬ establishes the colonies of Antigua and Montserrat, 292 ; his resignation and death, 294. Willoughby, Henry, appointed joint Commis¬ sioner or Deputy-Governor, 290. Windward Islands, 2. Windward and Leeward-men, 263. Witham, Sir John, Deputy-Governor, 298; his proceedings against Sir Richard Dutton and Chief-Justice Walrond, 300. Wolferstone, Charles, proceeds to Barbados, 262 ; sent in irons to England, 263. Worcester prisoners sold as slaves to the West Indies, 144. Worsley, Col. H., appointed Governor, 317 ; the Assembly confer upon him £6000 a year,317; opposition of the inhabitants and his memorial to the throne,318; resigns the government, 318; his claims adjusted, 321. Yarico’s pond, 233. Yeamans, Sir John, commands the Barbados regiment, 330. PRINTED BY RICHARD AND JOHN E. 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