.:'.¦¦ .. ¦''.. ¦ '.: ¦¦¦¦ ¦ .-'¦ ; . .¦¦:.. '¦¦ ¦ ' '., .¦.¦¦¦'¦¦ ' ..¦, ' . ' .. ¦-¦¦ , YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Gift of Dr. Wm. C. Minor, 1910 LETTERS FROM THE WEST INDIES, DURING- A VISIT JN THE AUTUMN OF MDCC CXXXVI, AND THH / -SPRING OF MDCCCXXXVII; BY WILLIAM LLOYD, M.D. "Every thing being ready, tho ivholc party cmbarlccd, about tho setting of tbe Pleiades, or seven stars, according to Aiustobulus ; that is, about f ho end of October." Roll ire. "One glance of wonder, aa vro pass, rtcservo The Books of Time. Productive was the world In many things, but most in books." LONDON : DARTON AND HARVEY, GRACECHURCH-STREET. BIRMINGHAM: B. HUDSON. PREFACE. Having accompanied my friends, Joseph Sturge, Thomas IIauvey, and John Scoiile, ou a visit to the West Indies, the Letters, now presented lo the public, performed the office of a Journal ; those circumstances, and incidents which I thought would interest my friends, were forwarded to them, through this medium. I made no search after afflictions and distresses, eidier to promote or substantiate any particular object : ray mind was unprejudiced, rather inclining to hope that the state of things iii the West Indies, might be better than had been represented, as occurring under the momentous experiment of the Apprenticeship system. I attended but few of the Special Magistrates' Courts : they were so rife with contrarieties, discrepancies, persecutions, and animosities, my mind came to tho conclusion, that men who could be governed by the apprenticeship laws, could be governed by the laws of freemen; and fully adopted Dr. Maddens sentiment; "my opinion is, that tbe nc- gros arc qualified for complete aud immediate freedom.'' IV PRKFACE. On my arrival at New York, I waa unwilling to leave Uio United Slates, wilhontbccomingalittle acquainted with them; accordingly I deferred my return to England up wards of eleven months, and landed at Liverpool very recently. The West Indies in 1837, by Stuuge and Harvey, had been sent out to me, and I had much satisfac tion in perusing their work. On returning home, I found that the public had welcomed it with great interest ; and ,al Ul° Cil'cle of my acquaintance was willing, and many of them desirous, to read more on the same subject ; and as my friends' book could not refer to Demerara, from their not having been there; it was natural to think some infer- nation from that Colony, would prove interesting. I had however, „„ manuscript in my possession ; but the letters which I 1,afl forwarded, had been carefully preserved, and n" had come safe to hand. These then, I have revised and improved, with the assistance of mv memory. How ever imperfect they may be, they will,' at least, serve as a memento of my visit; and the publication affords me the opportunity of introducing a few Prints from my sketches, which may at least claim the credit of being tolerably correct representations. It is with pleasure I make the acknowledgement, of baring taken several of my statistical remarks from li. Montgomery Mabtxn's interesting and lucid history „f the West Indies. Many doubtless are the faults and imperfections in this little publication ; and should rnBFAcE. these be pointed out to me, in a spirit of kindness, that kindness shall be felt and acknowledged ; but should the critics' darts fall thick and envenomed upon mo, the re membrance of the following sentiment and accompanying advice, may enable me to sustain them. " Severe ourselves, at last our works appear, When ah ! wo find our readers more severe." " jEcjuara memento rebus in arduis servare incntcin.1 DIRECTIONS FOR PLACING PLATES, et cet. Map to faco tho Titlo Pago. Pa [ik in, Entrancoto Dcmcrara Itivcr j tbo Building on tho oxtremc loft is tho back of Camp House, tho Governor's residence. TAnft 2(1. London Missionary Sooioty's Chapel— Boys' School Room— and Minister's Rosidonco over jt, Georgo Town ; also, I/ondon Missionary Society's Chapel, and Infant School Boom; this is a nidc vimv of tho same Chapel, one en trance to which is rt'pi'oxontod iu Lho pvcvioUH plato. 1 Pa. in ;)1. Public Buildings, Gcorgo Town — Dcmcrara. I'AOE 4(j. Main Street, South Cuminaburg, George Town. Page SC. Rasidences in South Cuminsburg, Goorgo Town. PaoC fid. Now Amsterdam— Crab Island— and llerbico River ; the Puhlio Build ings of Bcrbicc are exhibited in this Print. Page (10. New Amsterdam looking up Bcrbicc River; tho houses stand so far back, it was impossiblo to sketch more than ono without being opposite to them. Paop. 136.. Tho Town, Harbour, and Island of St. Thomas. The elevated building like a Church to tho right, was formerly the residence of a Buccaneer, named Blue Beard; this drawing was taken too hastily for the wholo of the Town to ho correctly sketched. Pagk 1/0. Baptist Missionary Station at Vallahs j the service was performed in the Cottacje to tho right, previous to tho croction of the New Chapel — the New School House is bohind tho centre tree. Paoe 1114. C'lic.pci on the Bclvidoro Estate, built by tho Apprentices. CONTENTS LETTER I. Embark at Falmouth— Extracts from Sea Journal— Arrival at Barbadocs. ~~~~~„~„„„_„ pane 1. LETTER II. Remarks on Barbadoos— "Visit to the House of Assembly andGaol. ---„„„_„..„„„.. Pagc w, LETTER III. 1 iepnrluro for Domerara — Arrival there. ~ ~ Page V.). LETTER IV. Description of Gcorgo Town— Elucidations of tho Appren ticeship System. ~~~ --„_„„„„ Pafje 32- LETTER V. Observations on Missionary Services— And on a Sugar Estate,- ~~~~~~-.„_„„„„ Page'iG. - ' LETTER VI. Visit to New Amsterdam Bcrbicc River— Occurrences there. ¦r Page Gl. LETTER VII. Continuation of Proceedings at New Amsterdam W. Lloyd leaves J. Scohle to pursue his Investigations— Sails for George Town and Barbadocs. ~ ~ ~ ~ _ „ „ page go. LETTER VIII. Incidents at Barbadocs— Proceeds in the Northern Mail Boat to St. Thomas's— Arrival there— Sails for Santa Cruz. Page 101. LETTER IX. Description of Santa Cruz— Allusions to American Inva lids. „„„.. „-„„„„„„„„ Pagc 120# vm CONTEXTS. LETTER X. Leaves Santa Crux for St. Thomas's— St. Thomas for Ja maica—Pleasant Voyage— Moots his friends Joseph Sturgo and Thomas tlavvoy in Kingston. ~ *. „ „ „ pUgc 137, LETTER XI. Various Occurrences during a few days tarriance at „„„„,. „„„„„„ pnge ]5r(- LETTER XII. Accompanies T. II. on a visit to St. Thomas in tho East, LETTER XIII. Continuation of tho Journey — Various Incidents — Return to Kingston. „-„-„„„„„„„„ page 1 j> 1 . LETTER XIV. Excursion into the Port Royal Mountains — also to Spanish Town and Sligo Ville. ~~~~~ ,.,„„„ Page 215. LETTER XV. Embarks from Jamaica — Arrival at Now York, with Re marks thereon. - ~ - - ~ ~ ~ ~ „ „ „ j'agc 233. Appendix. „----..„_.. page 275 to 203. Kingston. et cet. ERRATA. V'ogo II, line 14, read Idtlr-find-a-/m//. Pago Hi, line 11, omit as. I'll go 32, line 5, for toroiigli rend thorough. pagr :n, Tine 13, for CO*0 read 6° 10'- tAigo :;3, lino lf>, omit and. I'.i^O 04, last lino, for their accord, read their own accord, I>ago 114, labt line, for embark, rend dim titlark, PflEfC Do, line 1?, l>jr iy tho, read /or the. I'iif.'j 224, line 14, foi- fweni.y feci, rend hrcity feet high. r«gc 2;w, Ii3ic .*¦*, for debarked, rend evil'itrU'iL LETTER I. Barbadoes, lllh. Month, 13th., 183C. .My Dear F r. We landed here after a favourable voyage of twenty-six days, having passed the Nightingale Mail packet, which left Falmouth a fortnight before us. In order that .thou mayest picture our embarkation and debarkation, I will copy for thy. perusal from my sea journal the first and two last dates. loth. Month, nth. At a quarter to twelve, A. m. we left the har bour of Falmouth, on board the Mail Barque, Skylark, Captain Lieut. Ladd, bound to Bar badoes. Our party were Joseph Sturge and myself, of Birmingham ; John Scoble, of Lon don, and Thomas Harvey, of Barnslcy. We were accompanied to the ship by my brother-in- law, Alfred Fox, John Sturge, and Barclay Fox. The demand of the boatmen was half a guinea each, an excessive charge, allowed by the rules of the port. We had been on board two hours, when our Captain arrived in his cocked hat and uniform with the Mails : we had occu pied the time iu making acquaintance with the 11 LETTERS FROM ship, and I cannot say our first ascent upon deck, and descent into the cabin were gratifying • he bulwarks were forbiddingly high, tlie deck was wet, the top of the cabin lights was covered with meat in its recently slaughtered state ; joints being also hung around in various parts of the vessel, interspersed with cauliflowers, cabbages, and turnips, an abundant provision, but unpleasant to the sight, as we were already squeamish from the rolling of the ship, though at anchor. In the cnbin it was impossible lo stand upright from the low ceiling: there were berths only for twelve, whereas there were fifteen gentlemen and three ladies. The quarter deck was level with the mam deck, aud no view over the bulwarks except by mounting on the gangways, or on the poop, winch having no defence at the sides was evi dently not intended for much perambulation; the whole had a prison like effect. We learnt that our Skylark was an old ten gun barque, a kind of vessel disliked by all navigators for its inconvenience; there are now but few in the service, and I believe the new Mail packets are elegant and convenient. Wc -set to work getting our moveables placed into our berths, and made light of petty inconveniences. We cordially bid onr friends adieu ; they returned in the boat, and the hoisting of sail began: our sailing master took his station upon the poop, and gave his orders with the utmost volubility 3 which, conjoined with the ready willingness and THE WEST INDIES. 3 alertness of the crew, gave the impression that master and man were fully competent to the working of the ship ; the sails being set and the wind favourable, we quickly left St. Mawes and Pendennis castles frowning on either hand, and reached the open sea. The sun broke out, and we could descry every well known object with the greatest case ; it was an hour of sombre en joyment, in which the light despondency of leaving home, was mingled with a thought of thankfulness at having many favourable auspices inviting us onward. Pendennis castle and Wodc- housc-placc faded from our view ; then the light houses at the Land's End : the motion of the vessel increased; we took no notice either of the ¦dinner or tea bell, and ere the evening came, were all ill and prostrate in our berths. 11th. Month, 12th. We, have now been at sea rather more than three weeks, and yesterday evening our sailing master informed us we should see land this morn ing by eight o'clock. I rose early not being able to sleep from the excessive heat, and witnessed a beautiful sun-rise. Both the rising and setting of the sun are niorc mellowed than in England, the colours change more rapidly ; and before the rays are quite extinct in the west, the stars arc visible ; the duration of twilight not being more than twenty minutes ; at least after that lapse of time one cannot read a book. At eight o'clock "Land O," was shouted from LETTERS FROM the mast head, and after breakfast it was visible from the deck ; which proved the truth of the master's reckoning, and he had praise from all at being so successful in his land fall. The sight was cheering, and occasioned great bustle, as we expected to land ; but the breeze dying away wc soon saw we should be disappointed. The coast though not mountainous, was elevated and picturesque, as we looked upon the hilly part of the island called Scotland. The heat was oppressive, being 85° in our cabin : and we have suffered most by night, owing to the number of passengers. During the day the awning pro tects from the sun, but our nights are sad, from the sky-lights being closed ; the passengers who sleep on the table, on the benches, and on the floor, are afraid of cold from the night air ; wc in our berths are therefore melted, and by morning really gasping for breath. No Captain should take more passengers than he can comfortably accommodate, and especially through the tropics, where it becomes a most serious inconvenience. Our party appeared to suffer less than the West Indians, which I attributed to our Temperance habits : they who had drunk wine daily, com plained of head ache and other feverish symptoms. On the whole we have had a pleasant voyage, though our Captain quarrelled three successive days with his sailing Master, who was at last put in arrest, and wc had to beg him off from a Court Martial. THE WEST INDIES. On entering the tropics, Neptune paid his usual visit, to demand his tribute for the enrol ment of his new children and to shave poor sailor boys ; and it was a day of much hilarity for the crew. Neptune is a cunning deity, his dominion extends twenty-five degrees on each side of the line; and entering the tropics does not make his children wholly free, as when they cross the line they must pay again. 13th. Yesterday wore away, and afforded us considerable pleasure in approaching the land; but the breeze dying away, we soon gave up the idea of landing by day light. . We had a lunch yesterday and to-day, instead of regular dinners, by which means we escaped earlier from the . hot cabin. It is a trial to be long at dinner when one is panting for breath : the right plan -would be to dine off one dish, and then away; whereas we have soup, — then a wait for fish,; — then a long wait for a course of meat, — then a tedious wait for a course of pastry, — then a tiresome wait for the dessert ; and long before that is finished, we 'arc wiping our foreheads : in fact the greater part of our company have left the table the last few days before the dinner was over. There is some temptation to eat and drink too much at sea ; we have coffee at six a.m.; breakfast at eight ; lunch at twelve ; dinner at four ; coffee immediately after; tea at seven;' and supper at nine : happily however there -is no compulsion to partake of all. To-day wc watched the land till sun-set, and LETTERS FROM having a young moon, it aided us to observe our progress, and to see our course, for there is no light house on the south point of the Island round which wc had to turn for Carlisle Bay, and into which we entered and cast anchor at half-past ten, p. m. A shout of congratulation escaped from our company, when the cessasion of noise proved the anchor had found its rest, and much bustle ensued. Some would go ashore that in stant ; Captain Laud, with his cocked hat and sword, hastened to pay his devoirs, as in duty bound, to his superior officer, the Captain of the Bclvidarc Frigate, then in the harbour, and which had been stationed there for some months. The rest of us turned into our ovens for the last stewing, endeavouring to woo a little hot sleep: this was soon disturbed by our Captain's return, who brought word that a fever was raging at Bridge Town ; and this at once deranged our plan, as Joseph Sturge quickly decided it would be best not to stay in Barbadocs. This morning I rose early, the dawn commenced, and I gazed with vivid interest upon the first tropical shore I had ever beheld. I soon discovered the cabbage tree, (Palma Altissima) and cocoa nut, (CocosNu- cifcra.) The richness of their green huge pen dent leaves burst upon my sight; every thing- had a foreign aspect ; and our introduction into a southern clime was at once evident. The purple azure of sun-rise was again glori ous ; the evidence of Negro inhabitants was before the west indies. us ; boats came from two different hotels with black rowers, each with a Negro woman as steerer, to deliver their cards of recommendation. The women came on board and politely invited us to the shore. We had previously made up our minds to go to one of the most retired, and therefore took the cards of H. Lewis, who had been recommended as very respectable, and her house being upon the shore made it desirable. We were now about to reach the shore, and had for a length of time the evening before endeavoured to discern it, but the moon set, and except a few solitary lights, we saw nothing of the land when the an chor was let go ; but we had been much pleased with the phosphorescence of the ocean during the heaving of the lead, which had been kept going- all the evening; a circle of light marked the place where it fell, and when the lead was pulled up, there was a line of glowing light followed the line as it cut through the water : we had also a few days earlier, the opportunity of seeing a flying fish which came on board. Tlie sea was now behind, and the land drew us with strong at tractions ; and after the adieus, good wishes, et ceteras, of a large party breaking up, we set off with four black rowers, and our Negro woman to steer us. We soon landed, and reached the inn about nine. How new every thing appeared! the jet black of the Negros contrasted .strangely with the gay livery of the vegetation in a tropical climate. The 10 LETTERS FROM LETTER II. Barbados, 11th Month, lGtli, 1S3C. My Dear F R. Our party lately crowded and inconveni enced on board the Skylark packet, has now finally separated, each to pursue their respec tive objects. We had for companions during our voyage, three gentlemen from Trinidad, two from St. Thomas, one from St. Vincent, another from Jamaica, and from Barbadocs a physician of some eminence. They soon became acquainted with our views and motives, and Ave heard much in their conversation ' to interest us ; and not withstanding dissatisfaction expressed at the change of events, it was evident that their pockets had been comfortably assisted by the compensation money, and that estates and pro perty in general were rapidly advancing in value. According to our new arrangement, J. Scoble and myself proceed to Demarara ; and J. Sturge and T. Harvey are now on their way to Antigua, having embarked in the Mail boat on the 14th. There are four or five of these Mail boats which start the dav after the arrival of the Falmouth THE WEST INDIES. 11 packet for the different Islands ; and the steam boat for Jamiiica sails on the day of arrival ; in this way letters are quickly forwarded to their destination, and passengers to their respective homes. Barbadocs is twenty-one miles long by fourteen broad, and is interesting from its being the oldest British Colony. The English took possession of it in 1605 ; there were no inhabitants, having been deserted, as is supposed, by the Caribs. In 1027 it was patented by Charles I. to the Earl of Carlisle : this patent was afterwards surrendered by the Earl of Kinnaird, heir to the Carlisle charter, on a payment to him of four-and-a- per cent, duty on all exports: the duty still continues, and is a great annoyauce to the Planters. It is now iu possession ofthe Crown; and from the high state of cultivation of the Island and valuable exports, realizes a large sum. I cannot speak as to its expenditure, though I believe the Governor's salary is paid out of it. A Scotch brig, the Harmony, having called at Bridge Town on its way to Demarara, there was no necessity for our hurrying away by the Mail boat, and it has enabled J. Scoblk and myself to become a little acquainted with the . town. The population of Bridge Town is said to be 30,000, that of the wdiole Island 115,709; thus divided, 82,807 apprentices, 20,105 free coloured, 12,79/ whites. The Island is known to be more 12 LETTERS FROM thickly peopled than even the "Celestial Em pire;''' yet, owing to its systematic culture, it is enabled to support its inhabitants and export to a large amount. All strangers on their arrival are expected, to pay their respects to the Governor, and if not at home, they enter their names in a book kept for the purpose. The present Governor is Sir Evan John Murray M'Gregor, who succeeded Sir Lionel Smith : his Governorship includes Bar badocs, Grenada, St. Vincent's, and Tobago. Wc embraced an early opportunity, and rode up to Pilgrim House, but had not the satis faction of seeing the Governor ; the house stands pleasantly in a park, on an eminence, one mile from the town ; and owing to late rains, the tro pical shrubs were luxuriant in their foliage, and the grounds were very ornamental. It was pleas ing to sec, under so hot a sun, the vegetation unfadcd and green ; and as the cane fields were uncut, the scenery was in perfection. I observe little difference as to temperature in the tropics ; the range of the thermometer being between 74° and 860 at the present season ;* but the periodical rains divide the months into wet and dry; tlie principal rains fall in the 7th, 8th and Oth months, after which the canes rapidly advance to perfec tion ; the harvest commencing in the 12th month, * This temperature does not apply to tho mountains in • •'funnirn, &o. II. M. Martin gives a greater range from Jf to 1)0°, i was not there in tho hottest months. THE WEST INDIES. 13 and continuing for several in succession. During the harvest months there arc also some showers, which enable the young cane plants to strike root. Each plant is two or three joints off the top of the ripe cane. They are planted in rows, the plants very near each other, but the rows nearly two feet apart, to admit of hoeing and cleaning. The thick ripe cane must be planted when there are not sufficient tops, and hence a reduction of the produce of sugar on an estate. We afterwards visited the House of Assembly, which commenced its sittings this week. The Council consists of, twelve ; the House of Assem bly of twenty-two Members ; but twelve form a quorum. It was advertised to meet at ten A. m. As no Members had arrived at that hour wc em ployed ourselves ¦ in looking at the gaol, the wards of which are under the Assembly House : as J. S. intends to transmit particular details, I shall not fully describe the horrors of this barba rous prison. The wards formed the basement of the building on each side ; a passage running from end to end, and one was devoted to men prisoners waiting their trial. The door was unlocked for us, and we went in. They were much crowded, and had no accommodation for the night, except a stone seat, which extended round the room three feet in height ; and here they might remain for months, from not being brought to the bar ; or their trials being delayed for want of witnesses, several months elapsing between the meetings of the 14 LETTERS FROM Assize Court. Those who had been tried were at the tread wheel, or in the yard, breaking stones. The task seemed heavy, "thirty baskets per day, with only an abatement of four for women. This stone breaking was a subject of controversy in the papers, and no wonder/for the stones were described as being hard and rc- , fraetory, and the hammers as soft : and their night accommodation -was the same, crowded together, with nothing to sit or lie on but the stone bench or floor. There was one apartment for the men, and one for the women ; that for the men was about twenty feet by twenty-five, and into this confined hole, a large number of human beings were crowded every night. We saw the dinner for those in the untried ward served up; it ap peared to be simple yam, without salt fish or meat. The women are treated in a similar man ner, in a similar darksome room. We walked over to the tread wheel on one side of the yard, and saw it in full operation ; it was literally a breaking on the wheel. Men were stationed above, holding the womens' arms over a bar : several lost the step, and were catted on their naked backs and legs, but being too weak could not regain the wheel, and dangled ; their shins were broken by its revolution ; blood be sprinkled the steps ; and when the ten minutes spell was up, and their arms were loosed, two in particular dropt as if shot: they were insensible for awhile to the call of the driver, and when able THE WEST INDIES. 15 to crawl to their resting shed, they again lay down moaning in agony. I examined the arm of one of them, and found it much bruised by the rail ; the whole scene was so shocking, that I could scarcely credit what I had witnessed. One party being off, another of men or women is put on, and so the wheel goes round from morn to night, aud without any profitable return ; for there is no machinery attached to it. This outrage on humanity was in sight from the House of As sembly where the legislators were assembling. At a quarter to one, sufficient were present to form a house. A long Police Act was read and passed, (ncminc contradicente ;) not one obser vation was made upon il, it was a burlesque on legislation, for the Bill comprised matters of great moment to the Negros ; but the scenes which were transacting close by, were no bur lesque on human suffering. We left, convinced that the friends of the Negro need not be afraid of doing too much. As yet I had seen nothing in the system of Apprenticeship which would bear the light of investigation. We have had some opportunity of observing the Negro's character, and see nothing to warrant the assertion, that lie is idle and lazy, and requires compulsion and cruelty to make him labour. I have never seen greater activity than on the wharfs here ; and the competition to hire their services reminds one of the Thames watermen. The Negro features arc to me disagreeable, and I heir " lalkc, tnlke," 16 LliTTERS FROM a most unintelligible lingo ; yet their behaviour is most orderly and respectful, free from imperti nence or begging, and if they were whites, their respectful behaviour would become a theme for praise. They have a risible propensity; and on looking at them, they frequently return it with a smile : how preferable this is to the tiresome clamour of European beggars. I have walked through the town, and about the outskirts, and there is much less to annoy than in many of our public streets. The back streets here are as much superior to the liberties of Dublin, having an appearance of cleanliness and neatness. The Apprenticeship is yet adding another proof of the patience of the Negro, of the un christian nature of Slavery, and of the cruelty of the whole system, from the ceaseless perse cutions of the poor Blacks, whilst they remain in the power of others. My attention has been drawn to the stillness of a tropical noon-day, and to the rising music of the evening. One can see nothing, yet every step, when walking out about sun-set, seems to be in the midst of chirping crickets and other insects ; it is a concert of invisibles, welcoming the coolness and darkness of the night, and almost loud enough to interrupt conversation ; this is quite a contrast to the cawing rooks and screaming jays of an English noon, and the peaceful stillness of rural evening scenes in Eng land. We have been introduced by Lieut. L/Vdd THE WEST INDIES. 1/ to J. Prescod, at present editor of the New Times, a liberal paper ; he is a coloured * gentle man, liberally educated, and resides at the edge of the town, in an elegant cottage. He gave us much interesting information, dwelling forcibly on the disabilities of the free coloured inhabitants of Bridge Town.f We thought we had seldom met with more refinement and intelligence; he is happily married, has no distinguishing marks of negro complexion, and in England he would be esteemed as a gentleman, whilst in Barbadoes he is in some degree despised as a coloured man. Our waiter at the hotel possesses considerable information ; he is a married man, and his mis tress allows him a certain sum per week to main tain his wife and family. He mentioned to us an imposition which had been practised on domestics, thus; their owners finding that emancipation must take place, from the tenour of the news from Eng land, thought, in addition to the compensation money, they could obtain more from their slaves ; so they told them that freedom was very uncertain, that the bill might be thrown out, but if they would pay so much every year for four years, they should be free : this they complied with, and so were purchasing their freedom ; whereas they * The word colour is applied to all African doscendents, however remote. t Tho qualification for coloured freeholders is freehold property, of the annual value of thirty pounds ; that for white electors, ton pounds. D 18 LETTERS FROM would be free quite as ' soon by the Imperial Act of Parliament, which -was shortly after sanctioned by the Island. I could scarcely credit that such mean ingenuity would be attempted, and have simply told it as it was related. Captain LaDd has been very attentive to us, and wc have been able to take considerable exercise under the shade of umbrellas. The streets in Bridge Town are white sand, and the reflection of light so strong, it is difficult to open our eyes. One species of Cactus (Cactus opunlia) here is quite a weed, flourishing in every vacant corner. The stores are large and airy, and are protected from the sun by piazzas, which reach from the second floor to the roof; they extend over the foot ways, and being jalousied, admit the air freely, and form pleasant sitting compartments, and when neatly painted have a picturesque appearance. We hope to sail this evening for Dcmerara, and in the mean time, I remain, &c. o 2; 3 fafa h3 ^ C5s Ci fa 'r-t CD IJ (S •« £ 5 1> c R Cm O CD a CJ O u J] o -55 ^ m "? b? ,P P *3 cuvx cm CD ° P. Cm CD .Ja CD b/5 «S p P o ci U-* o QJ a pfa «- CJ M CD 3 OJ O J3. *"^ ro ^ -P to ¦ P O K- -m O 13 ^ nd o ,-7-g p o O O CJ 1 — ' P Ch ci bT _E *. 1-1 &P cd n?„ C? .Si •= -P o +-> -^ « s « " P o ci O ci H-3 H cs tn (13 • m 0 - 8 I o g£ o vi p P o ¦9~ p ci CHS ¦. .2 S-^ 6SO a nd Cft fij a 13 0 0 fa .—1 s C5 < PJ «\ 0 0 a0 13 «fci .« 0a +J u *j tj: to ni S « g C5? s CQ O CJ S ^ 03 ri g • o ci Cm S «" o » ri -^ .m O >i P S s 'S cj S p a a p ci p ^ -J3AT-JJ ejlEJ-BUISQ 04 J-JTiVXlUj JijJ, ''^g&iigjgS^^fj:: W^kr^^'^/-- i:^'-: -"*%^&?„ •ll^""'' -'"V4PT'.— X.*^-,^i<,:-"" -«nf"i4**''-"*'-i'7l^a- - ', "¦"-"-^•"":'-' ¦"¦<-''¦¦-,.", ''"^ '"'-1 ;ss»t^— - ^1 P .--# -,\if \,g- / \\iv/j i -S-l v- ¦¦-¦x> .fS,'|:itf<- .-{"&' -f vi" ,;2e • Cs-d! - '"^ '¦ 1 -:ii''s ¦*&&-z^ HTi 20 LETTEUS I'TtOM had passed on board the Skylark packet ; where, according to the rules of the British naval service, the crew, in clean dresses, are assembled on the quarter deck, flags are hung round to enclose it for a chapel, and the Captain then reads prayers, and a printed sermon. Lieutenant Ladd would not allow one of his men to be absent ; it must have a beneficial effect on the minds of the crew. They, know there is a care extended to them; whereas on most merchant vessels little attention is paid to their Sabbath appearance, as though wholly neglected by their Captain. One Sabbath, ou the Skylark packet, wc had a striking contrast. After the prayers, &e., the rules of war were read, and they ill assimilated to the peaceful precepts of the GoJpel. It is the regulation of the service for these rules to be read once a month. At sea the attention is particularly awakened, and voyagers are always looking out for inci dents, for ships, for changes in the heavens above, and seas beneath, for birds and fishes, &c, &c. .- we had not many in this short passage. The tropical sea birds, (boobies,) so named from their habit of settling on the rigging, and allowing themselves to be caught, were frequently around . us. One was taken in this manner, and was to be added to my collection, but it escaped in the night, and thus falsified its name. Land birds frequently rest on ships ; on coming out skylarks were caught on our vessel, several hundred miles THE WEST INDIES. 21 from the coast of Spain ; they were rcdnced to mere skeletons. Birds are blown off by the wind, and then arc unable to regain the shore j I have no doubt from this cause many perish in the sea. Our cook also caught three bonetos ; the bait was red rag on a hook. They arc not unlike to salmon in their form. This fish is not esteemed, but wc found them tolerably good eating. They do not swim in the wake of a vessel, but under the bows, as if to amuse themselves with the spray and uproar. But the most pleasing tropi cal attendant was one of the large gaudy butter flies, which visited us thirty miles from the shore ; its call was short, as if disliking our appearance, and as if in search of more flowery existences. We did not suffer from the heat, the thermome ter being lower than at Bridge Town ; in our cabin it stood at 81°, and we are now seasoned to this. A black pilot met us at sea long before we. saw land, for it is low and muddy ; the river is therefore difficult to enter. What we first ob served was the sea becoming discoloured, then in the distance a low continuous line of green marking the beach, next the taller palms, as cocoa nuts and cabbage trees. In a short time this green shore extended far over the horizon, and became dis tinct, with here and there a plantation house, aud smoke ascending from the tall engine chimney, or from the boiling house : the appearance con veys the. idea of inexhaustible fertility, and has a character solely its own. Wc approached at 22 LETTERS PROM noon, and the hot tropical sun, the cloudless sues around, the horizon of verdant green, and the sea muddy and discoloured, formed a picture not to be erased from memory. Our pilot was an old man, a Kroo, kidnapped when a boy. He said he was too old to care for being free ; and therefore content as an apprentice. He had been nve days out waiting for a vessel. Here again was food for reflection. This poor despised Slack denounced as idle, dissolute, and incapa ble of caring for his own person, is sent as a pilot to, bring the rich merchantman into port • nay, her Majesty's proudest Admiral, with his seventy-four first rate, would yield to his experi ence, and for a time be subject to his direction ; and yet after skilfully conducting through a diffi cult navigation a ship into port, the reward of that labour goes to a whue man, who perhaps cannot take a boat across the stream.* After crossing the bar we quickly came to anchorage opposite the lighthouse, at the mouth of the river; vessels not being allowed to enter till visited by the Harbour Master. It was evidently a port of large commerce, for the wide river was crowded with ships; we were not detained long, * As a proof that skill is requisite, we passed near to the wreck of a vessel; the masts arc alone visible. 11ns ship some time before was leaving the port with a full cargo, and wont down into tho mud, and tho naked xuasts now serve as a buoy to guard tho unwary. Noros in tho Colomes aro of various tribes, as Mandingocs, Coro- TIIE WEST INDIES. 23 and soon after accompanied the Captain in his gig to the shore. No sable apprentices from the hotels came off with their cards of invitation as at Bridge Town ; and this was accounted for by the fact, that though a town of 12,000* inhabi tants, there is not an hotel in the place. I believe the Temperance Society cannot have the credit of this. The cause simply is, there has been no necessity ; Planters who come to town from the country, have their agents, who hos pitably entertain them ; others are accommodated by store keepers or residents to whom they may be introduced ; and two or three boarding houses have generally been sufficient to supply the wants of casual visitors. On nearing the wharf, the stores, we observed, were built upon piles, each having a wooden pier jutting into the river. These piers are called stellings, and have boat room at their sides I thought of Venice, but drop the comparison, never having seen that ancient city, whose gorge ous churches and magnificent palaces I imaJ oH 0* H o J • THE WEST INDIES. 29 rf r-3 O r2 o c _c o .Ci, ,!f '1 "%, "' ."' >"" *'-/*'!•&• 1 o i-1 sionary, devotes herself to benevolence, visiting the sick on the estates, et cet., which in this climate is a great exertion, without the convenience of a vehicle. J. Ketley has also established an In fant School, the first, in the. Colony; and for which Lady Smyth has. shown considerable in terest, as also for the Bible Society. How cheer ing is the. company of devoted Missionaries; their speaking and treatment of the Ncgros as human beings is as cordial to my mind ; whilst the con versation of Planters is harsh and grating : these never speak of Negros as any thing more than goods and chattels, defend their right to this pro perty, and cannot broach any interference. At our lodgings we have had abundance of conversation on these grounds with the Berbice Planters, but they do not quarrel with the compensation money : the twenty millions has evidently pleased them. G. C. says he received fourteen thousand pounds compensation money, and that ; the British nation was gulled ; that they only held their slaves by sufferance, till the act of registration took place; (this act was passed to prevent the admission of fresh Negros, but it riveted the bonds of West Indian Slaves ;) that the Colony would be ruined after 1840; the plantations would become a wilderness, from the drains and culture being neglected, for free Negros would not work and the estates would then be abandoned ; and yet said G. C. I have seen traits in the Negro character which brought tears into my eyes. The above " 30 LETTERS FROM statement, as to ruin, is falsified by one fact, that the Planters themselves are buying property, and increasing their works. There are few Planters who take precautionary measures for the future. The free children on the estates are neglected; and hence an improvident idle race may spring np. If then there should be some confusion, it will be from the Planters' neglect ; I do not fear the result. My good opinion is partly founded from seeing them at their places of worship. Peo ple who behave so seriously and orderly must be under the influence of their ministers and religion, and will be guided, I doubt not, as their ministers may direct. Now, if in bondage the gospel has had such weight, what will be the case when the free gospel is preached to the captive set free ? The minister may then truly say the blessings of the gospel are dispensed to all, because the Go vernor and governed will be under its influence ; whereas now they preach a gospel which is con trolled and opposed by those who have assumed the name of Christians, and who pay no atten tion to the dictate of "do unto others, as you would others should do unto you." Education is of the highest • importance. D. T.'s Negro apprentice, who has waited on us, said he was anxious to learn, to read, but his mistress would not let him go to school ; yet she is said to be the richest woman in George Town. Slavery is a poison to society, undermining the Christian virtues iu the upper classes, who ought THE WEST INDIES. 31 to protect the lower orders. Housekeepers com plain how little apprentices will do ; they have no inducement to work. A Scotch lady told J. S. she paid the mistress of her servant £12 per annum, and clothed the girl. She is an appren tice, and let out to her on those terms, having no reward herself. Now her first owner re ceived compensation money, and now receives the whole of the girl's earnings. This is slavery, except the name. I remain, &c. 32 LETTERS FROM LETTER IV. George Town, Dcmcrara, VZth Month, \th, 183G. My Dear F R. We have now engaged comfortable lodgings at K. A's, being quite tired of our previous nightly unsettlcment. Wc are becoming familiar with the town, which is very interesting to a European, from its torough tropical character. British Guiana includes the settlements on the Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice rivers. These were origi nally Dutch Colonies, which after changing hands at several periods, were again taken possession of by England in 1803, and have been retained from that time. In 1812 the name of the capital was changed from Stabroek to George Town, situated on the Demerara river ; it is estimated to contain 12,004 inhabitants, — viz., whites, 1,620; free- black aud coloured, 4,368 ; apprentices, 6,616. The population of the whole district is 100,000; — viz., whites, 6,555; free- coloured, 9,366; ap prentices, S4,915 ; which were determined, under the Emancipation Act, to be of the value of £114 each. Eastward, on the Berbice river, is situated New Amsterdam. There is no town on the banks W o a THE WEST INDIES. 33 of the Essequiboi Demerara is a Crbwn Colony ; Which means that since its conquest it has not been governed on the representative system^ re turning its House of Assembly, et cet., but by Orders in Council ; the Council continues to pos sess the form of Government which it had before its conquest; It has the name of the Court of Policy, constituted originally of four Official Members, appointed by the Sovereign, and four from amongst the inhabitants, by the College of Keizcrs. Since 1831 It has been enlarged to ten members. British Guiana is situated on the maiii of South America; latitude 06' LO* north of the equator. Its soil is alluvial* and believed to be the richest in the world ; in other words inex haustible. The climate is very rainy, and though generally said to have two wet aud two dry seasons ; others think this is arbitrary, and not established by fact, rain ajt times falling in every hionth. The course of the river Demerara is from south to north, but the shore extending nearly east and west, the river in its general course is nearly at right angles with it, and is about two" miles wide at the mouth. Its waters, and those of the Essequibo, and of the Berbice rivers, are always muddy, — a reddish brown ; aud such is the quantity of fresh water and alluvial matters pouring forth, that the waters many miles from shore have the same character. The flowing tide makes no difference in the colour ; and thus the blue sea is never seen from the land. George Town 34 LETTERS FROM has increased rapidly since its possession by tlie British ; and from Camp House, at the mouth of the river, to the public buildings, may be two miles, and the town extends farther. The public buildings are magnificent, erected at a cost of £50,000. Except Water-street, which runs near the river, the others are very wide, with one water course down the middle, or with two, one at each side. The first process in this Colony has been to cut large canals from the river, and erect sluices, into which canals the watercourses enter ; the same plan is folio rved for a plantation. A main barge canal is cut through the estate, then smaller ones, which falling into it, drain the land, the waters being let out by the sluices -when the tide has ebbed. The houses, chiefly of wood, are separate from each other, and the very wide streets, with towering vegetation on every side, give it the character of a town in a tropical Eden. The houses are built upon piles or brick piers, and the ground floor is generally used as a stable, store house, et cet. ; the apartments above are shaded by verandahs and jalousies, and are large and elegant. The roads are tolerably good, and great indeed must have been the labour to rm\k_e them. The noon day is hot and quiet, as in Barbadocs; but if the evening chirrup there, attracted my attention, well might my ears be astounded by a Guiana evening serenade. As the sun sinks in the west, the water courses appear to be the ITIE WEST INDIES. 35 abodes of innumerable frogs, differing in speech, but all wonderfully talkative. The frog croaking in England, for a week or two in the spring, is not annoying ; but here it rests not, ceases not the live-long year ; the effect is compound, the mind rejoices in the hilarity and happiness of animated nature; but when weary, is disappointed, that, after the fatigues of the day, there should not be the " stilly night," to renew exhausted powers. Neither pen or pencil can describe the concert ; the prevailing sound is like the word " which," uttered sharply, and this is conjoined with the deep croak of the larger species. But frogs arc not alone in the converzatione- ; crickets and grasshoppers lend their aid ; and exactly at six p. m., the rhinoceros beetle, or razor grinder, begins to saw a twig, by fastening on it with its horns, and spinning round it ; the sound is like grinding an edge tool, and interested me from the regular time it commenced. "Activity and noise remind us only of this world, but silence and repose lead us to a world to come." Now the fire-flies coruscate through the air, and about and through the trees, in the most effulgent manner. There are several species, some no larger than flies, with the phosphorescence under the wings ; others large as beetles, with a lamp on each side of the head. Now, also, old musquitoe bites renew their nightly irritation, and fresh ones are planted. Woe be to the new comer who dares to sit without boots of some kind to protect his ankles, or to sit without gloves on his hands. 36 LETTERS FROM All strangers suffer from the irritation of these bites; they are frequently- accompanied with con siderable fever, the legs become inflamed and swollen, and the itching so intolerable, that the only resource is to bathe them with Eau de Cologne, or spirits of camphor, and thus change the sensation into a smart ; for scratching quickly produces irritable sores, which are difficult to heal, and cause serious inconvenience. After a time the bites do not inflame, though the enemy is unconquerable. This alluvial shore is perfectly flat; there is not the least elevation till wc ascend the river twenty- five miles, when sand hills appear. It would have interested me to have seen these, but there is no public conveyance. There are several sawing mill establishments in George Town. The trees on the coast are not much prized, but those at a distance from the river are valuable : as the wallaba, ballo, green and purple heart, and many others. Woodcutters are sent up the river, in an open barge, with a supply of plantains and other provisions, and live in the woods in a rude man ner for months together. I have had the offer of such accommodation, but it requires considera tion. Round the coast, the trees are neither so\ many as to variety, or so valuable in quality ; the ^ principal are the mora, the courada, the man grove, et cet. The residences in town are orna mented with the plantain, the almond, the sea side grape, tree, the sand-box tree, but especially THE WEST INDIES. 37 by the cocoa nuts, and cabbage trees. These last are planted in avenues before the houses, and on each side of the road, for miles. They are said to grow two hundred feet high, but are hand somest about sixty or seventy feet ; their graceful plumes, their towering spikes, and their lofty stems, at once arrest the attention. The spike is the close sheaths of the unfolded leaves, and interesting it is to see one burst out, and stretching its foliage, as if to woo the sun. At the base of the spike, green shining spathes appear, each enclosing a many flowered spadix. The fruits are berries. From the point where the spathes appear, to the top of the spike, the colour is a beautiful green, and the surface smooth ; whilst the trunk below is brown and rough. In the heart of the green part of the stem, the cabbage is contained; I believe it is the incipient leaf. I have eaten of it, and could have mistaken it for the early York ; it does not often come to table, as a tree must be cut down to procure it ; a sacrifice few will make. The cocos nucifera is very distinguishable, the leaves are more straggling, and hence less tufted ; the foliage is a lighter green, it has no spike, and the nuts appear at the root of the leaves, many of them in one bunch. I have counted twelve dozen cocoa nuts on a tree, con tained in three or four bunches. The ripe nut is seldom eaten here, but when green, esteemed as wholesome and nutritious ; the pulp is then soft and can be scooped out. The market here is 00 LETTERS FROM abundantly supplied with them; as also with many other fruits ; my favourites are the orange, shaddock, and pine apple; especially the shad dock, which has the appearance of a lemon, though very much larger; its flavour is between the lemon and orange; it is also distinguished by the name of forbidden fruit, why, no one can tell ; it certainly has not one characteristic of the apple. Pine apples are excellent in flavour, and fourpeiicc each. Fish and poultry are good, but other meats execrable ; hard, lean, and stringy, they even resist boiling as regards being made tender. We paid an early visit to the gaol, the super intendent, P. Horan, showed us every attention ; the regulations are very creditable, when com pared with Barbadoes ; the tread-mill, however, goes uselessly round and round, not even working a ventilator. Women are placed upon it, but are not flogged : many women are sentenced to break stone ; the task is half a ton each per diem; these we saw in an enclosed yard, exposed to the sun ; many held their infants in their left arms, whilst breaking stone with the right : having their chil dren with them is considered ^a privilege, when no one mil take charge of them. Negro women have the character of extreme fondness for their offspring. The solitary cells were not very gloomy. H * * said that confinement in these cells whiten ed the skin, and he had a prisoner, time back, whose master did not know him from this! cause ; this favours the doctrine of " a tropical sun ja black. THE WEST INDIES. 39 skin ;" though physiologists have satisfactorily , proved the true cause exists in the rete mucosum. In this prison there is a distinction made in the diet between the black and white : the negro has twelve plantains and twelve ounces of salt fish per diem ; a white man has at least one third more, and meat two days a week ; judging from appear ances the negro ought to have the most, in this climate he is certainly the most vigorous looking. P. H. informed us it was the custom to execute the sentences of flogging, openly at the market, and this is the prevailing punishment, from twenty to forty lashes ; and that here negros would be flogged by the public buildings, on a certain morning, at six a. m. We went, but none ap peared.* Prisoners are not confined long before trial, as the High Sheriff's court sits every month : the court consists of four, viz, the High Sheriff, and three magistrates, no jury being nominated ; they hear a number of cases, then consult and pronounce judgment; and the judgment is fearfully on one side ; and naturally so, for the High Sheriff is a wealthy planter ; the negros have to plead and defend their own causes, and of course do it imperfectly. We have attended this court ; one man, a Scotchman, appeared against two vof his negro labourers. This Scotchman loft his native * .T. S. tells me since his return, that these public floggings wcro not executed any more whilst hu remained in the colony. 40 LETTERS FROM country as a ploughman, but having a white skin, soon obtained notice; he employed himself in rais ing sand mixed with broken shell, for garden walks; he engaged some indented labourers, who dis pleased him ; he sent them to gaol, and they Were tried and condemned to be punished. There is a systematic. plan for procuring these indented labourers. A vessel is sent to Barbadoes, Antigua, Tortola; et cet., on which islands there •is a superabundance of hands. Agents on the islands, are instructed to buy up the terms of apprenticeship, from planters willing to sell. The negros are persuaded by prospects held out, and then the abolition law allows their removal; they are carried to Demerara, and enter into an agree ment to work out their apprenticeship, on certain terms. It might be wrong to call this the slave trade, but it may safely be called the apprentice ship trade, and over which the abolition act has no control.* It is so imperative for the planters to get rich out of human sinews, that I am sure the negros can never effect their freedom. They will owe it, if ever procured, to the watchful anxiety of abolitionists. The apprenticeship, as regards negro women, is more heart rending than • A dispatch from Lord Glenelg, No. 142, dated 19th. of August, lG,'i7; as also Her Majesty's Order iu Council, ofthe 12th. of July, 1837, have been published in the Koyal Gazette at George Town. These documents authorize the planters to import Hill Coolies, from Calcutta to Demerara, for live years, as indented THE WEST INDIES. 41 slavery; under the latter, the indulgences were many in clothes and provisions ; the masters had an interest in the children, and took care of the mothers, having nurses and nurseries for their well doing. The change is sad, the planters' in terest remaining in the mothers, and that ceasing in a few years, he forces them to the field, heed less of their sufferings ; there is no matron to take charge of the children, and doubtless many have perished from -this cause ; yet the mothers prefer they should die, than bind them appren tices for twenty one years, which the local acts authorise. But not a single instance has trans pired of a mother binding her child for any term. No, indeed, the six years apprenticeship they are enduring, is teaching them a lesson, which they are determined their children shall never learn. 11th. It rains almost every day; tropical rains are very heavy. The clouds are sur charged from the much greater absorption caused by a tropical sun. Owing, perhaps to the mois ture of the climate, I have had several nights an oppression of breathing. I have a few times felt the same inconvenience in England; but the labourers. Labourers m tho East Indies, have tho name of Coolies, and those coming from the hills, some distance from Calcutta, aro called Hill Coolies. The information has recently arrived, that this outrage ou humanity is already in operation two vessels laden with these unfortunate beings, having re- cenlly arrived at .Dcmcrara. G 42 LETTERS FROM sitting up, and throwing the window open, quickly relieved me. One window of my bed room is open, having jalousies ; I therefore fancied the musquitoe net increased the oppres sion, and one night sat outside and dosed till morning ; but my legs above my cloth boots, and my temples were so musquitoed, I durst not re peat this plan, aud without any particular care the inconvenience has subsided. " The learned tribe A change of air for stubborn ills prescribe ; Fur doing nothing often has prevailed, When ten physicians have prescribed and failed." ' We have been kindly noticed by Captain Southey, brother to the Laureate ; he has an appointment as harbour master. He has written a chronological history of the West Indies, and is a friend to the Negro. He has a son and daugh ter living with him, who are accomplished and in teresting. We have dined at his house, and met Mr. Ross, Stipendiary Magistrate, of George Town, and Captain Allen, a Magistrate, up the river; all persecuted men for their-, principles. Captain S. said it was the first Anti-Slavery party that had met at Demerara since the Aboli tion Act. One of the party said some time back he had been to the public sale rooms to buy some castors, and was astonished to find them selling apprentices by auction one by one. He repre sented the case to the Governor; the other party THE WEST INDIES. 43 prepared affidavits to prove the statement false. He had no witness, so could not maintain his ground; but the shaft of revenge was levelled at him ; and as they could not effect his removal, they endeavoured to ruin him, by voting him a less income. An individual case of oppression has much interested us : an apprentice, (Jupiter,) on the H estate, with an anchy-losed elbow, was pronounced by Dr. P , medical visiter of the estate, to be fit for hard work. The man could not work, and came to Mr. Ross, who sent him for examination to the army surgeon, who declared him incapable. Jupiter, on returning to the estate, was confined in the dark hole. His diet was plantains and water; and because he could not work, he was banished to the back dam, there to be watchman, never to appear at the Negro huts. The back dam is the outside embankment of an estate, lonesome and solitary; where for weeks it might happen no one would see him. The two doctors have been quill quarelling man fully in the newspapers ; but Dr. P's statements have a sandy foundation. Jupiter has called upon me ; he is totally unfit for field work ; the elbow joint of the affected arm is anchy-losed, having but slight motion, and the muscles above and below are much wasted; the disease is severe, and of long continuance. One arm is sound, and he might be usefully employed in many ways ; but because he is unable to do hard work, he is 44 LK'IT'ERS FROM condemned by the Special Magistrate not'to work at all, but to live like a hermit, walking round the dam ; most paltry revenge. Thus it is, that the poor Negros, acknowledged on all hands never to be wanting in gratitude, are driven to desperation. Jupiter, quite consistently with his name and situation, might have exclaimed with the poet : — " Proclaim the woe, Ye woods, and tell it to the doleful winds, And doleful winds wail to the howling hills, And howling hills mourn to the dismal vales, And dismal vales sigh to the sorrowing brooks, And sorrowing brooks weep to the weeping stream." The Planters say the apprenticeship works well ; may be so for them ; but it works most wretchedly for the Negros. How I wish their freedom was sealed ; they are only treated and spoken of as^, chattels ; as free men they will flourish. There is a fine field for industry, labourers being much wanted. A respectable druggist, I am acquainted with, (his shop is larger and handsomer than any chemist's in Birmingham,) told me he had no fear as to the Negros after 1840. Any one said he can earn a dollar per diem. He pointed out to me an old man near the window, apparently in firm and fit for little. I have hired him out, said the druggist, at one hundred dollars per annum ; disgraceful income ! Man it is said shall live by the sweat of his brow ; but here he lives by the sweat of another's ; and in this way numbers are THE AVEST INDIES. 45 supported by hiring out their apprentices. Com pensation money came first, and now an annual income ; and this gain from the oppressed, con tinues to be so sweet, that freedom, I fear, will be made very tortuous ; and under the screwing operation of police and vagrant laws, it will be twisted into a very questionable shape. Anti- police, and anti- vagrant exertions will be wanted as much as anti-apprenticeship are at the present time. Do not then relax ; continue to awaken a British interest for the poor and the afflicted. In my opinion Anti-Slavery Societies have not always been on the right plan. Their funds have been expended in publishing, whereas they should have been spent in missions to get at facts. This private mission (for we do not spend the funds of any society) will enlighten the public more, and be of more benefit to the Negro, than printing tracts for five years in London. He who would hunt the lion, must seek him in his lair; and so Anti-Slavery Societies must maintain their ground by positive facts, and trusty correspondents abroad, in whom they can confide. The appren ticeship could have been reasoned upon in Eng land, but it could not have been seen without going to the West Indies. " If you wish to seek your real foe, " Ho is encamped on the Mountain of Bentomiz.' I remain, &c. irzijJ.* u.i-'i -tfeTZvciu , uv-. Msun Street, South. framings our d. George To svn. 3 a 1-1 C3 H to ^ to A !>. en •— o 3 aj fcn ^3 u CJ .3 oj -a CJ U Sh s_ - -3 GJ o £7-3 f_i T3 o aj cj R Ch33 ** 3 a g .-• „> g> bo-3 -a o o «? «s nl -3 i to cj ¦- O OJ . GJ f-i W . 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In casting one's eyes over such an assembly, many of whom are apprentices, the query darts through the mind, is it possible that white men, who are worshipping beneath yonder spire, should claim an ownership in you, who are thus met to praise and glorify the same great Creator, whose har mony is as sweet to, and whose sincerity will be equally rewarded by, that Almighty Being ? It is needful to come here to grasp the glorious subject of missionary enterprise ; it is only by seeing them amidst their labours that we can duly appreciate the importance of their exertions. A Missionary goes forth with a scanty allowance from some societ)!-, erects a small chapel, with a few rooms over it as a residence, and devotes himself to his flock : in time, with contributions, et cet., he builds a commodious and elegant meeting house, and converts his first chapel into a school room ; and having accomplished this, the congregation support him. But is the property his own ? by no means, it is made over to individuals in trust, for the Parent Society ; and if the Missionary dies, which often happens, his wife has no interest or claim upon it, but leaves her husband's vine yard to be cultivated by another ; surely such are widows indeed, and deserve great sympathy. Apprentices come from a considerable distance, sit in the chapel between the services, and return home in the evening and night; it is the practice of J. Ketley to converse with these, aud to give 48 LETTERS FROM them instruction in reading, et cet. Under such influences it may be safely affirmed that all the predictions of future evil will be falsified ; but let us give the praise where it is due, to the Almighty and his servants, and not to the British Legislators, who contributed the Imperial Apprenticeship to fit the slaves for freedom ! We have received what is intended Jjpr a casti- gation, from the Guiana Chronicle, a paper sub servient to what is falsely termed colonial interests; I am described as a skulking naturalist, and J. Scoble as an hired spy from Aldcrmanbuiy. This shows the envy and malice ofthe slavery advocat ing press. There is another government paper here, but no really independent liberal one, to advocate the cause of the coloured people ; there is, con sequently, much mental slavery for want of, more daring independence ; few are bold enough to say what they think; they boast of being abolitionists, and they apply this as unction to their consciences, so that they may wipe their hands of crime, and and then say they "we have no power ; first slavery was, and now the apprenticeship is, sanctioned by law." My opinion is, that the West India Colonies ' are nests of prejudice ; for if individuals do not foster the colonial temper, they are marked men. The Southeys tell us they have formed the subjects of twenty leading articles in the above named paper, though they arc of the high church party, but abolitionism denounces them. The free coloured people will not undertake the cause THE WEST INDIES. 49 of the apprentices ; they are supine^and dare not, being shopkeepers, et cet., they fear persecution. There is only one way, the negros must be made free, and then they will stand their ground and defend themselves; they are not an idle people; I never see them idling or loitering in the streets ; many of the women and children one meets are carrying burdens, such as vegetables, fruits, et cet. Negros carry every thing on their heads, if only one pound weight ; thus never stooping iu their walk, they have a remarkably erect position. Prejudice has taken deep root, and it is hard to say when the, whites will lay it aside, and charity be cultivated. From society, from balls, and parties, the coloured people are excluded, though many of them are fairer than Europeans, and as well educated. A very respectable creole coloured neighbour of ours (creole means born in the West Indies, and applies to white or black) told us she had lost her eldest son ; for after he was expen sively educated in England, where he was treated as a gentleman, he would not return to Deme rara to be despised, and therefore went to the East Indies. The negros arc, and have been, a patient suffering people, and I do not doubt they will make industrious English subjects ; and I shall rejoice when they are free, seeing that en slaving man destroys many good qualities in the enslaver's heart, till sooner or later he opposes the christian virtues. The slave trade carried on, as it now is, under Portuguese colours, unfolds h 50 LETTERS FROM a sad prospect of the continued deterioration of the human mind, and proves that the love of gain, or in other words money, is the root of all evil. Near to J. Ketley 's Chapel is a very large burial ground, the long grass shades the tomb stones. Here Missionary Smith was buried. He was charged with abetting an insurrection of the Slaves in 1823. Ee was tried and condemned to death ; a sentence which the Home Govern ment changed to banishment. He however died in prison, and J. Whay, the oldest Missionary in the Colony, and who was a resident at the time, and acquainted with the- circumstances of the trial, says, that the witnesses against Smith have nearly all come to a miserable end, and that those now alive, and who were in affluence when they appeared against him, are now beggars; a striking instance of retributive justice. As I walk by, I endeavour to picture to myself what he endured, hurled from his pulpit to a loathsome prison, incarcerated as a malefactor, and perhaps dying unattended. He was not forsaken in his affliction; faithfully believing and hopefully trust ing, he was one of those, whom, as the historian observes, "fearing the Deity most, was least afraid of men." He might have exclaimed with Mary Queen of Scots, " Lament not, good Mel ville, but rather rejoice, since thou shalt see me this day released from all my earthly miseries." " O, ye, that shudder at this awful strife, This wrestling agony of death and life, THE WEST INDIES. Think not that He, on whom my soul is cast, Will leave me thus forsaken at the last. Nature's infirmity alono you see ; My chains are breaking, I shall soon be free." 51 Agents of the French Government, conveyed by a French Man of War, have been here investi gating the apprenticeship ; they sailed again yes terday to visit Trinidad, et cet. They did not fall into the hands of the parties the Editor of the Chronicle wished; so he makes it a subject to feed a corrupted taste ; in proof I send thee his last paper. In my walks I have had great pleasure in watching the humming birds extracting sweets from trees in blossom, balanced on the wing ; the motion of their wings is too quick and rapid to be seen, and their restless bodies dart in every direc tion. My Christmas will here be spent in a sunny clime, with humming birds around ; whilst thy garden is disrobed of every beauty, and the fire has become the chief attraction. I have not seen a fire since I left Falmouth, except once on the packet ; and the idea of one is unpleasant to me. I should like a puff from the cold north. We have spent a day at the Stirling Plantation ; proprietor, Mr. Rettymaeu, and Receiver Ge neral of the Colony ; of Dutch extraction. He is a kind master, therefore not ashamed of showing his property. He has erected a school for the Negro children, which is very creditable ; the free 52 LETTERS FROM children being so much neglected, is one great evil of the apprenticeship. The Colonies, at a future day, will be either prosperous or disturbed, according as the rising generation is industrious or dissolute. We had much pleasure in seeing the interest manifested by the children ; they were of many colours. Large indeed is the capital required, and great is the labour to bring a part of this mud Savannah into profitable return ; for independent of the clearing and canals, there are wanted engine house, great house, boiling house, coffee loge, and Negro village, et cet., et cet. The mill here is on the most approved principle for economising labour ; it stands near the canal. In Demerara, cane is nourished by water, brought to the mill by water, and the sugar is carried off by water. Some philosopher said if he was to live a thousand years he could not discover all the bene fits of cold water. In the canal lay a boat laden with canes ; Negros were throwing these canes on to an inclined plane, which the engine works. On arriving at the horizontal crushing rollers, a Negro directed them through ; pasing through once expresses the juice. On the other side the cane stalks, now called magass, fall upon another ascending inclined plane, which carries it up to the top of the magass house, and there as the revolv ing plane goes round, it is tumbled off. This magass, when dry, is fuel for the boiling house, and it is believed necessary for making good sugar. The evaporating liquor at different stages THE WEST INDIES. 53 requires different degrees of heat ; this magass answers the purpose; it burns rapidly, producing a great flare and high temperature ; and then at any time by not continually feeding, the fire is nearly extinguished. Here then is one reason why rich lands are required for the cane, because the stalks being burnt, there is less spoil for manure. Canes however throw up much flag ; this partly falls off, part is trimmed off, and is left on the fields to decay ; and in the Islands it is of moment for the purpose of benefiting the soil, but in Demerara is not needed. From the rollers the juice falls into a spout, and thence runs to the boiling house. There are four or five boilers at work in a line over the fire flue ; the first is filled with fresh liquor, and as it inspissates, it is ladled on to the next, and so to the farthest one ; and from thence it runs to the crystallising vat, from which, in twelve hours it is carried to the hogsheads ; these hogsheads stand on timbers several inches apart, in a warehouse, over an under ground cistern, and the treacle drains from them into this dark vault. It is known to be a receptacle for many unclean things, as cock roaches (cacerlackes) scorpions, and especially for rats ; nothing escaping when once in, but lying as a scum on the surface ; and the chamber is rarely cleaned out. The treacle is pumped up into puncheons ; but the Negros have an idea that, the molasses partakes more or less of such accidental impurities, and therefore have lost all taste for ratified treacle. 5G LETTERS FROM so that there may be a great mortality and little evidence. Since our arrival one clergyman, and three medical men. have died in this neighbour hood, and a little way up the river there is a station, where four ministers died in less than two years. Where Europeans have daily out door duties to perform, the climate is very trying! exertion producing great exhaustion; but other wise with those who can be at ease in the shade, as storekeepers, et cet. ; one, an acquaintance of mine, has been in George Town six years, and had excellent health. 26th. Yesterday was Christmas as well as the Sabbath day. The Christmas holidays are dear to the Negros ; they have two days' holiday. They make each other presents, feast together, and then dance the African dance, called " Joe and Johnny." The day in George Town was orderly and quiet as any English Sabbath till sun-down, when a few dances were in operation. They are open to any one ; are performed at the back of the houses ; the doors are thrown open for all inclining to walk through ; a circle is formed, but the space is so small I could jump across it ; as many as choose recite or sing to a very rude drum, (called gombayj " Which sounds like something, and yet it rings but hollow," played upon by the knuckles ; and two or at most four are in the circle at a time performing the evo lutions, which are continuous. One party being to o ¦ :y.-1Vr.'l_'\": THE WEST INDIES. 57 tired, they hand out others and rest; and so the dance goes on for hours, it may be the whole night. Each one recites what he likes ; perhaps ridicules the " true Barbadian," who assumes considerable consequence, from its being the oldest British Colony. The amusement is simple, and I saw no intoxicating liquors handed about, yet very ob jectionable for a Sabbath Christmas eve ; but do the great set a better example ? A son of one of the principal inhabitants, with his companions, started off up the river yesterday. The tide being against them they became weary, and coming to the shore, called at the Stirling Estate. The Manager was at Church ; but they made quite free to lunch, and quite alarmed the domestics, who took them for sailors. They en deavoured to borrow horses, and not succeeding, they strolled towards town. The Manager coming home met them ; and though acquainted with the young man, on this Sabbath and Christmas day, he took him and his companions to be common sailors. We breakfasted this morning at the Stirling Estate. Mr. ReTty- maer accompanied us. The apprentices were in. their best clothes, it being the holidays. It was a pleasant morning, and they all came to ask their master how he did. We made them some presents, as spoons, knives, et cet., which they joyfully received. They had much to say, and many favours to ask. They heartily expressed themselves regarding the presence of their master, 58 LETTERS FROM as ^a great treat. This was as it should be. "Not the mere mouth homage which betrays itself by the cold precision of the language in which it is couched, but the ebulition of feeling, rushing pure from the heart, and leaping the bar riers of ceremony in its honest, ardour." There are near three hundred apprentices on this estate, in cluding children. We went into the hospital, alias sick-house, or hot-house, a suitable building ; there were some patients, who were visited nearly every day by a medical man. One of thcftrouble- some complaints is dysentery; the remedy is an infusion of ipecacuanhas ; at first it vomits, but longer persisted in, removes the complaint. In every sick house is a drug store ; the apothecary is a Negro, perhaps an apprentice. The Me dical Officer writes his prescriptions in a book in English, and leaves Sambo to administer them. The surgeon receives one dollar and a half, or more, for every adult on the estate, whether sick or not, per annum ; supplies the medicines; and generally becomes a rich man ; certainly so, if prudent, and having the charge of several estates ; especially if residing in George Town, the estate practice not interfering at all with his private, he rides over to the estates before breakfast, which leaves him the rest of the clay. The apprentices of this neighbourhood are under the notice of au evan gelical clergyman, of the name of Strong, and lie is doing great good, and putting to shame all the oilier ministers, except tlie Missionaries. He THE WEST INDIES. 59 has a large Sunday school room purposely built near the Church ; and this being their annual ex amination, on our return we went in. At least two hundred black and coloured children were present. When the examinations had closed, they were to have refreshment, which was laid out in the room, covered with a cloth. We staid -whilst three classes of twenty-five each were ex amined. They read Scripture lessons, and ac quitted themselves so well, 1 could have believed they had tuition every day in the week, rather than once. Here then was proof that Negros wish their children to be instructed, and that the children love the instruction. They were all neatly dressed, and many had walked miles, from the different estates. Some visitors were present, and the clergyman's lady had evidently her heart in the cause; instead of being dressed out, she might have been taken for the mistress, and ar ranged the classes herself, walking amongst the pupils. Mr. Strong dislikes the "Joe and Johnny" dancing; and the apprentices are so de sirous of pleasing him, it is thought there will be none this Christmas. Were all the Whites, Planters, et cet., such duty performing Christians, there would be no present gloom, nor future evil forebodings ; for as " hope enlarges happiness, fear aggravates calamity." The motto here should be "nan est vivere, sed valere vita," aud thus the " IcEdcntla would be changed for the juvautia." An intelligent author observes, "The (JO LETTERS FROM great end of education, if it corresponds to the great end of life, is by no means advancement in the world, but to inculcate such principles, and lead to such habits as will enable men to pass with integrity and real honour through life, and to be inflexibly just, benevolent, and good." _ In going to the Stirling Estate, we pass by the ring; this is the fashionable drive, and after four o'clock, i\ M., parties may be daily seen on then- way to it. I was curious to sec this ring ; it may be two miles from town ; the road passes by se veral fine estates, La Penitence, et cet., through an avenue of cabbage palms : it is merely a turn round for carriages on one side the road; so round the ring they wheel, and back again. There is however near to the town, an extensive ring with a grand stand upon it, viz., a race course. How appropriate this would be for evening drives. How much more beneficial than debarring it, ex cept once or twice a year, when the races occur. About this time last year I was skaiting at Bewdley, where I much admired the hoar frost, and could gather the " moss of many winters." I am now breathing an atmosphere of 84° six de grees from the line ; the former was the most in vigorating. I remain, &c. THE WEST INDIES. Cl LETTER VI. New Amsterdam, Berbice River, 1st. Month, 1st, 1637. My Dear F r. There are several Indian tribes around British Guiana '; the nearest to the settlements are the Arrawaaks, and next the Accawaies : numbers of these two tribes we saw daily in George Town previous to the Christmas holidays. They have festivities at this time, whether acquired from the negros I know not; the Indians are not generally copyists. They come down the river in their corials, or canoes, to make purchases; several times chiefs were with them. The sight is so common, few remark upon it, but our curi osity was much excited ; I saw them shopping ; they paid for the articles in silver coin, under standing the prices asked, as if acquainted with the English language. The chiefs were orna mented with feathers, and other finery; tho dress of the others was an apron ; infants were in the arms of the mothers ; they bring various articles for sale ; a common one is a pegall, or nest of baskets of wicker work ; the baskets diminish 02 LETTERS FROM in size gradually, and the internal one is small, Short stature, symmetrical figure, red skin, and lank black hair, are their characteristics ; they are exceedingly hospitable at their wig warns ; and Herbert Southey, who has frequently visited them, has met with true generosity and good nature : when under the influence of " fire water" they will part with their most valuable commodities, and in this way the very head dress of a chief may be obtained : in George Town they appear quite at case, walking independently and fearlessly. Negros cannot compare with them as to features, their facial angle is so inferior. Not understanding their language was a barrier to social acquaintance. Charles Waterton, Esq. in his wanderings, mentions a large shed on the banks of the river, a little distance from town, erected by government for the use of the Indians, where presents were given to them, and where parrots, and other curiosities might be bought ; I walked several times to this shed, it is much dilapidated, the shingles having fallen off; there were generally a few Indians idling in their ham mocks, or sitting down, making a temporary abode there, but they had neither animals or birds to dispose of; and a more comfortless resting place I never beheld. The Indians were the original possessors of the soil, and now all the accommodation they can procure in George Town is a roofless shed : they are deserving of more attention. THE WEST INDIES. 63 Though I pitied the scanty clothing of the Indians and negros, for I have not seen a gang at work with any more clothing on than a girdle, there was one class of the community I pitied equally for having too much, viz. the soldiers ; those I saw, wore the regimental dress of Eng land, red cloth jackets. Red cloth jackets to patrol guard, in a noon-day tropical sun ! in conceivable state of discomfort ! I spoke to one, he said there was nothing cheap in the colony but rum and tobacco, and that he was heartily tired. Soldiers in the tropics should have two , dresses in use, a linen one for the day, and a cloth one for night duty. I was liberally pro vided with flannel waistcoats, recommended as necessary to insure my health ; but the idea of flannel when in the tropics, made me feel feverish. I was never comfortable except in a dressing gown, or light linen jacket : these jackets, with a panama hat, are worn by all classes. When we were introduced to the Governor, at the public buildings, he had a round-about on : when con sidering the fearful sacrifice of life, which at times takes place amongst the troops in the West Indies, one feels anxious their comfort should be promoted to the utmost. Government has a sloop to carry dispatches to Berbice and back, it goes and returns every week ; it is allowed to take passengers, but they must find their own refreshment, knife and fork, and plate, et cet. Wc left George Town by this boat on the C4 LETTERS FROM 2/th., in the evening; it is a small affair, and no separate cabin for the ladies, the distance to Berbice river by sea, is near seventy miles : we escaped serious uneasiness, and yet comfort is not synonymous in my mind with a Stabroek dis patch boat ; " mcque jucundus somnus reliquit." I had therefore time to recollect our animated conversations with the Berbice planters, on our first landing at Stabroek, and howwell J. Scoble, "respondere paratus," maintained his ground. One evening it was amusing; Mr. H. " omni- fariam doctus" boldly maintained the planters' cause. J. S. drove him from one position to another, till he endeavoured to shelter himself under Bible authority; this proved untenable, and he came back to profane history, bringing Hero dotus into the field: and who/ asked J. S., was Herodotus, and when did he write; and whom will you quote next ? Mr. H. reflected, paused ; tlie silence was felt, no answer came. J. S. saw his confusion, and replied, Herodotus wrote four hundred and eighty four years B. C, aud_ was the father of history. The father of history closed the debate, and we retired to bed. 1 reflected on the persecutions that Captain Southey, and Magistrates Allen and Ross were subject to ; the latter during our visit, was threat ened with an action, because he would not consent a woman should leave her reputed husband, and be sold to Pomaroon, in the Essequibo district, which is considered the Botany Bay of the colony: THE WEST INDIES. G5 this woman was working hard for her master in George Town, but, nevertheless, he had sold her for the Wilderness. Mr. Ross has to hear and judge from, thirty to forty complaints every day ; yet when acting up to the letter of the Imperial Act, is threatened with law proceedings. I recalled our conversation with Dr. B. , he left Belfast an abolitionist some years back, was taken into part nership by Dr. S , and advancing rapidly to fame and fortune, beheld the poor Africans through the Colonial lens. " Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views, At evening from the top of Pesold." But the Colonial optic glass is not famed for de veloping all the wonders of creation ; on the other hand, it disfigures and disparages the Almighty's most glorious work, man, made in his image. The Colonial atmosphere freezes as it were the current of sympathy ; like a deadly upas tree, it corrupts every thing within its influence ,• and so every one who acquires gain, produced by the poor Negros' " thews and sinews," becomes sooner or later inclined to foster the evil, and ere lon£r cm- barks with "Those who travel far, and sail To purchase human flesh; to wreath tlie yoke Of vassalage round beauteous liberty ; Or suck large fortune from the sweat of Slaves." Melancholy is the change which too frequently occurs ; and the argumentative reasoning from K GG LETTERS FROM false premises, on the ground of public and private right, independent of Christian principle, was always painful to my mind ; a wish arose that I might be restored to a country, where Christian principle was acknowledged, and where a man might boldly become its advocate without being accused of undermining and convulsing society. Society in the Colonies is not held together by the innumerable, indissoluble, invisible links of Christian compact, but by a single tremendous one, — power. The whites have got possession . of this link, and are so pleased with its magnitude and proportions, they compel the Negros to bear it about, that all whites may have the satisfaction of beholding the treasure ; and when philanthro pists say it is too heavy, it c'ant be borne ; it presses the Negros to the earth ; we must lighten it ; then bursts forth the hue and cry, " you are ruining the Colonies, you are disorganizing so ciety." I remembered our conversations with J. Ketley and Dr. C, the latter had been medical attendant to several estates; but sympathising with the Negros, and not countenancing the un just application of the Imperial Act, he had to retire altogether from the estates, and devote himself to private practice in George Town. As an explanation of this unusual course, the whites said he was deranged. In the morning we observed a large object afloat in the sea before us ; the captain had never before seen any thing like it ; in a short THE WEST INDIES. C7 time the mystery vanished ; we passed near, and beheld a large steam engine boiler afloat : no doubt some vessel afraid to near the shore, had discharged it, and it was waiting a boat from some neighbouring estate to tow it to land. The verdurous shore formed the horizon on our right, and sailing on, we made the mouth of the Ber bice river, and beheld Crab Island, low and ever green ; it may be two miles in circumference, un inhabited, covered with mangroves, courada, and other timber. Sailing slowly through the ebbing tide, we had a continuous view of the low muddy banks. The waders were very numerous and at tractive, from the contrast of colours. The little egret heron, (ardea garzetta,) snowy white ; the blue heron, {ardea cceruleaj and the red curlew genus, (scolopax ;) their local names are -white and blue galding, and currie currie ; these birds, white, blue, and scarlet, stalking at ease along the water's edge, beneath the living green, which knows no change, at once characterised tropical Guiana. As we ascended the river, numbers of the Turkey buzzard (vultur aura) stood moping in the sun. This is the untiring scaven ger of southern latitudes, and protected by law : hence their tameness. Its appearance is disgust ing, and the effluvia from its body, when in the hand, offensive ; but on high it is the most grace ful of aeronauts ; speed is not its object, but to pry into every darksome hole and corner, where deatli ami corruption can shelter. Poised on its 68 LETTEUS FROM outstretched wings, it rises and falls without ap. parently moving them ; its gyres arc now close to the earth, and then it wheels aloft, anxious to snuff an odoriferous carcase in the coming breeze.* rheir plumage is a dark dingy brown ; there are no feathers on the head and half way down the neck • so that their hooked bills can plunge deep into carrion, without any danger of their feathers being soiled. At night they perch side by side on the horizontal leaves of the tallest cocoa nuts, in quiet broodings and melancholy musings, till awoke by the morning light, their silent search begins for the savoury morsel, here and there, and every where Ihey acquired the name of turkey from the plumage and wattled head and neck. History says that the first discoverers of Jamaica, were overjoyed at the abundance of these birds, and hastily endeavoured to make ready a turkey feast. The turkeys were knocked down, and this was the only preparation, as I believe they were left unplucked. Since skinning one of these birds my relish has lessened for the true dindon ; so much is in a name. On becoming acquainted with Guiana, the mind thinks it may have been easily conquered by the * They are not so numerous in Ucorgc Town, from bein- too much disturbed, or too little protected ; hut in New Amsterdam, 1 daily walked within a lew feet of them T throw out a little offal before our lodgings occasionally; to notmc how soon they would find it ; tho gift was always quick ly partaken of, and oaten on the premises ; proving they were honest beggars. ' 4P-1 i? bd o> 1_J . H ¦ ¦"¦" -^ . $c- THE WEST INDIES. 09 British, but not so easily settled by the Dutch ; few but Dutchmen would have attempted it; they could not resist the charming similitude to their native country and the darling mud. They re ceived great assistance from the Indians, simply because they treated them kindly. The Bcrbicc river has a northern course similar to the Deme rara, and its shores are equally rich and green, with alluvial fatness. New Amsterdam is upon the eastern shore, two miles from Crab Island. We landed about noon ; it reminded me of the commencement of one of Dr. James Johnson's (of London) chapters in "Home Circuit, versus Foreign Travel," viz.: "As Oban is a little Omuz, so Tobermorry is a little Oban ;" and by the same method of comparison New Am sterdam is a little Stabroek, with one eminent advantage, having a wide road between the s tel lings and stores, so that the river attractions are open to all ; and the dwellings being over the stores, from the apartments there is a pic turesque river view. In the last census of 1827, the Berbice district only numbered 523 whites' free-coloured, 1,161 ; whilst the Slave registra tion for 1831, numbers 20,418. New Amster dam is, I believe, an older settlement than Stabroek, but is now far behind, not being the seat of government, and not having the character of a healthy site. Immediately behind the town is a very extensive lagoon ; this might easily be drained on the Dutch system of canals 'and 70 LETTERS FROM sluices, but it is valued by the inhabitants for its pasturage, and fresh water for their cattle ; and so it remains a Miasma marsh. We settled down in lodgings, previously engaged ; by which means we escaped a repetition of our Stabroek inconvenience. We were kindly noticed by Mrs. Welshman, and a son-in-law, who called and welcomed us. She is a lady of an enlightened mind, and entered feelingly into the subject of Negro oppression. Her father, Mr. C, was one of the wealthiest Planters, so she was well ac quainted with both the Slave and Apprenticeship system. Her heart was however distressed at the degradation and sufferings of the Negros ; and not a single observation escaped her, inclining to the view that the tale of woe had been too deeply coloured; far otherwise. She was delighted to hear the subject developed, reasoned upon, and denounced on Christian principles; and promo ted our visiting Berbice, that some others might have the advantage of hearing enlightened views. Mrs. W. has daily been taught in the school of affliction for some years, and they who have been instructed thereby, can sympathise with the dis tressed. I wish I had liberty to relate her roman tic touching history, but omitted to ask permission. Mrs. W. kindly pressed us the day we landed to dine with her and some of her relations ; but J. S. having a swelled face, we declined. Two days alter, we had a kind invitation from another gentleman ; a little indisposition prevented my THE WEST INDIES. "]\ & accompanying J. S., who went on the day ap pointed. I afterwards became acquainted with tlie occurrences of that evening. My friend found himself in the midst of the leading Planters of Berbice, all " pipkins of the same pottery." Men feel tlieir weakness, and to numbers run, Themselves to strengthen, or themselves lo shun; But though to this our weakness may be prone, Let's learn to live, for wc must die alone." After dinner, and the ladies having retired, one of the company addressed the party figuratively and flowery, and closed by saying he should offer a sen timent, which he hoped no one present would refuse to drink, — " ships, colonies, and commerce." All eyes were turned on J. S. ; he was ready. I can not acknowledge it, he said, exactly in the accepta tion with which Planters receive it : " let ships spread their sails, let commerce double itself, but the colonies must be free." Then came the clash of words ; when " Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war;" forthwith they began " vi et armis" to defend their "peculiar institutions," and to scotch the " spy" in their own waters ; the odds were considerable, J. S. standing alone; nevertheless, I presume his arguments were con clusive, as he had no other such opportunity during my stay at Berbice. The weather is very wet ; the salt at table is like paste ; and in the night the rain is very dis turbing; my bed is just under the shingle's, and 72 LETTERS PROM when it pours, if I were outside, it would not startle me more. New Amsterdam has its news papers, and I have read the following in the last Berbice Gazette; it contains a report of some sentences just passed at the Barbadocs Court :— "One white soldier killed another from provoca tion ; he was sentenced to six month's imprison ment. An apprentice broke into a cellar, and took a bundle of fire wood ; he was sentenced to two years imprisonment, and to be flogged thrice ; thirty-six lashes each time ; and this the whites call even handed justice, and yet these poor apprentices do all the work; no whites can ever do it. The poor blacks ought to be protected; it is their right. Whether they ever will be properly treated no one can say; but the morel see of their arduous duties in this torrid sultry clime, the more oppressed my mind becomes, under a sense of their griev ous hardships and degradation. Whites here take ^ very little exercise, except with horse or gig; as we have no conveyance, I walk a little daily. Dr. II. says I shall have fever ; but where novelty is on every side, one cannot im prison oneself; yet a little distance goes a great way ; two miles is wearying, four exhausting ; whereas in England, T have walked twentv-fivc miles over Derbyshire Hill and Middleton Vale without sitting down. Horses are spirited here, they are kept well on oats aud grass; and on this plan appear in health, with fine glossy coats, THE WEST INDIES. 73 which never become rough and long; there is another cause for their mettle, in the stable and out, they are tormented with musquitoes and flics, which act like spurs on every available part; their bodies are protected partly by netting, but their misery is great in Demerara: they are not so much tormented in the islands. Sheep are forlorn objects, losing all their wool, and the cattle in general are very scraggy ; the long grass which is so abundant, is sour and unpalatable : when they feed on cane tops they thrive. This colony de pends oil the States for flour and corn, and owing to the scarcity there, it is very dear. Horses are also imported in considerable numbers. This is the Sabbath, as well as new year's day ; Christmas, and consequently the first of the new year, falling on Sabbath days, during our abode in Demerara, has Conduced to medi tation ; the present one has been an interesting occasion at J. Wray's Missionary Chapel. There is only one building as a Church here at present, besides the Dutch and Missionary Chapels ; a consequence is, that the Episcopalians have it one Sabbath, and the Presbyterians another; this harmony will soon be ended, as the foundation of a new Episcopal Church will be laid next week. There arc four religious denominations in Deme rara supported by the Government, — Episcopal, Presbyterian, Dutch, and Catholic ; the Ministers of each of which receive five hundred pounds sterling, I believe, per annum. L 74 LETTERS FROM _ 8th. Soon after coming here we received a kind invitation from a planter of Dutch extraction, Van Rossum; he possesses two estates, one a few miles up the river, De Kindren (or the children) and the Edwards, where he resides, nearly op posite our lodgings. Pie is a man of fine literary talent, and had been secretary to a former Go vernor, but for some time has been in difficulties, owing to his benevolence in purchasing the Edwards'; this estate had been long uncultivated and run wild; but the negros were upon it, and to prevent tlieir being sold, and separated wives from reputed husbands, he bought it and them. The ferry belongs to the estate, and the negros now only work the ferry boat ; the con sequence has been he could not meet his engage ments. His creditors threatened to sell the negros ; he clung to them like children and pre vented it ; however, they took possession of the De Kindren, a very profitable coffee estate, net ting about five thousand pounds per annum ; and have held it a few years, till their claims were liquidated, which has recently taken place. V. R. has a large family, and they have resided at De Kindren; but he has never been there since the trustees got possession, having buried himself at tiie Edwards', with one son as a companion. I went over a few days ago to breakfast, believing I was on a visit to first rate quarters. I walked into the hall, was cordially welcomed, and sat down to breakfast ; wc were waited upon by an almost THE WEST INDIES. 7'o naked black girl. V. R. apologised, said he could not clothe his negros, the trustees had taken every thing out of his power ; and if he had not obtained a little money from the ferry, and caught fish, and employed a good hunter, an Indian, he must have famished, often depending for a dinner on fish or game he might obtain in the morning. After a scanty breakfast he took me up into his study, and read and talked to me seven hours successively, viz., till dinner time. He has oc cupied himself in this way during his absence Irom his family, writing long dispatches to Lord Glenelg, Sir Robert Peel, and Fowell Bux ton, Esq.: the character of these writings is that of benevolence ; they have literary merit, and are spiced here and there with ancient lore. Plis conversation ran upon the overwhelming evils of the apprenticeship; and when speaking of Mingo he was much affected. "Mingo's," said he "is a sad tale; he was torn from Africa when a boy; was an apprentice on the Blair Mount -estate, Berbice ; much prized for his good quali ties, and for good conduct and religious pro gress, was deacon in J. Wray's Chapel The manager ofthe estate wished him to be head man id est, driver j in which capacity he would be the floggcr of the negros, when sentenced to the punishment: on this ground he refused; said he was willing to work in the penal gang, or do any menial service, but he could not flog his fellow- workmen : for disobedience the Special Magistrate 70 LETTERS FROM sentenced him to imprisonment and a flogging of twenty lashes ; he was again ordered to drive the gang, again refused, again underwent the same sen tence; was again ordered to be driver, again ob jected, was again flogged, and this was repeated till he had been flogged five times ; at last the Special Magistrate became so enraged, he said he should be flogged as long as the apprenticeship lasted, every time he was brought up. Short sighted man ! soon after these expressions he went over to New Amsterdam, and on returning died of apoplexy; but the tale of horror remains.* Our time passed in my listening to the afflictions of the distressed negros, till dinner was announced at five p. m. After dinner Van Rossum kindly invited me to the study again ; I had had more than a feast, and declined; and would not be persuaded to enter it any more. V. R. kindly offered to go on with his papers, but I proposed a walk to the Missionary, T. Howe, son-in-law to J. Wray, whose abode and Chapel was not more than half a mile distance in the woods, on the land road to George Town, which is near sixty miles long, running through the different estates. In dry weather the road is pleasant, but has the incon venience of crossing three rivers, named creeks ; the Mahaica, Mahaicony, and Abary. Where we walked, it was simply a grass road, cleared of * .1. Scoule has since visited the estate, and conversed with. Miogo, and is ablo to supply all tho details ; my account is simply the heads of the offending. THE WEST INDIES. 77 trees ; we reached T. Howe's cottage adjoining his Chapel at dusk ; he was gone to bed ; but soon came down and apologised, saying he was not strong, and that they retired early to avoid the necessity of lighting candles, which attracted the musquitoes ; it was cheering to sit and converse with a pious man, at this mission station, em bowered in the woods : a cane field was before the door, and deep solitude around.* After saying farewell, we walked pensively homeward, till I was aroused by the gaily nippers, which easily penetrated my Berlin gloves, and carried on their trumpeting assaults availably against my face and neck. On reaching V. R's. residence, I retired to bed, which had no net ; the knowledge of this at once destroyed the faculty of sleeping, and well it was so, or I might have been blind by the morning ; morning was never more wel come to me. " Lovely indeed is morning ; I have drank Its fragrance and its freshness, and have felt Its delicate toucli ; and 'tis a kindlier thing Thatt musiG, or a feast, or medicine." After breakfast V. R. sent his Indian hunter to shoot me some parrots; and accompanied by some of his apprentices, we went net fishing, near * This devoted interesting Missionary, and his venerable father-in-law, J. AVaAY, died a few months after, near together, of tho yellow fever. 7S LETTERS FROM Crab Island: we were not successful, and e're we returned the tide was at its height, covering the muddy shore : at this time the galdings and curries have to perch on branches ; wc shot one of the latter : (this perching was an adaptation of habit to necessity, for European curlews I believe never settle on trees :) the plumage of the one shot was brown ; these birds not acquiring their scarlet colour till the second year : on going amongst the mangroves to pick it up, the negros having no co vering on their backs could not endure the sand flies ; (these arc small as midges and very prevalent on the coast;) but smacked their hands against their naked bodies in all directions. When again at some distance from the trees, Ave were rid of the annoyance. The Indian hunter was awaiting our return with two green parrots, one of which had lacerated his finger severely with a bite. I looked upon him with interest, as he stood in his independent attitude almost naked before us. The Dutch have treated the Indians very kindly from their first occupation of the soil, and this red man had been V. R.Js hunter for many years, having forsaken his tribe. The English have pursued a more hard hearted policy. I now parted from my kind host, and recrossed the ferry. V. R. is certainly eccentric ; his mind appeared to me in a state of conflict, pressed down with a consciousness of the negros' sufferin"-s, and though rather incommoded by his zeal on THE WEST INDIES. 79 their behalf, I felt deeply convinced that Christian benevolence was the main spring of his actions, and could not but wish there were more English and Scotch, like the eccentric Van Rossum. I remain, &c. so LETTERS FROM LETTER VII. Mw Amsterdam, Berbice Bioer, 1st. Month, IM., 1837. My Dear F r. The space of one week in the West Indies brings many occurrences which would interest thee. I can only mention the most prominent. I am desirous that my unfinished pictures should, as far as the colouring goes, at least be true; "magna est Veritas, et prwvalebit ;" but this is a land of contradictions, and soon as a fact has been engrafted in the mind, by the reasoning of what seems indubitable authority, it is shaken and unsettled by another, equally convinced of his own assertions: pro exemplo. Dr. B., of George Town, assured me the Negros were very partial to salt- fish, and that it was necessary for tlieir health; and as a proof of nature's requiring, I observed even whites, however pampered, still retained a relish for it; and it forms a standing dish at all well supplied breakfast tables. Since coming here wc have been introduced to two Special Magistrates, who boldly affirm the Negros do not like salt, and from choice never eat it ; as proof of which, said one of them, the prisoners of the uZ, X o o ¦30, d to 4H-o wmW<-Wwm IW ''¦!• I Ha llf t\\ ¥¦&% ¦M }', iW|f/ ,0'^^*^%^^!Sr=»y>-y^J ft; « '11*1 P'f/it ,* •'"'"-»>*¦ ' , ,.,, d llflf l\ if u » .1 THE WEST INDIES. 81 gaol are not allowed salt.* These two specials . also say if the apprentices have task work, which they can do in five hours, they will be eleven over it, because they like the sun on their bare backs. I am witness that they have the sun on their bare backs, yes, for eleven hours successively; but I heard no expression of joy on the occasion. There is at the present time a gang tit work near our lodgings, digging a main canal; I have walked several times to see them, and am as tonished at their hardihood ; throwing out the mud, knee deep in water. 1 conversed with them; as they spake the Dutch patois, it was not very intelligible. I learnt, however, that they had no enjoyment in it, but that they felt borne down ; they said they were in the ditch twelve hours, and went not home from, morn till ni°-ht. As a day's work under the Imperial Act is seven and- a- half hours, they may have exaggerated • however I was satisfied as to their enjoyment of a * J. S. after my departure investigated this circumstance at the .gaol, and found it to be true, that the prisoners bad not salt, but that it was a most cruel withholding of a very ne cessary article. J. S. exposed this treatment, and had tho satisfaction of knowing before he left the colony, that it was again supplied to the prisoners. One of tbese Special Magistrates, previously to bis appointment, bold a responsi ble situation under Government, as Protector of tho In dians, and this I believe is still continued to him : thus it is evident the Government Protector of the Indians sanctioned the withholding of salt from the poor prisoners in the gaol at Berbico, although it is declared necessary for their health by (he medical faculty. M 82 LETTERS FROM tropical sun on the bare back system, and much pitied them ; feeling exhausted myself, though under the shade of an umbrella, when standing still. This morning I attended divine service at J. Wray's Chapel ; it was solemn and impressive, " cujus etiam a lingua, melle dulcior Jluebat sermo." I looked around upon the "goods and chattels," so called, and saw "fellow man" stamped on their foreheads. Nearly all the hearers were blacks, in their white Sabbath dresses ; patient auditors they were, listening to gospel truths ; whilst the free winds of heaven, circulating through the chapel, drove forward the " light buxom air" to refresh us. The time I hoped was nigh when they would be as free as the air which they breathed, notwithstanding their masters (" f slices in sua errora") continually repeat their favoured argument, — will you break faith witli us, and set at nought a most solemn compact, when all is working so well ; but if human laws work so well, doubtless the divine laws will work still better ; suppose we try. I remarked one un tidy individual, a white sailor without coat or stockings on, 3^et he walked up to the very top of the meeting as if conscious of superior worth. J. Wiiav is a Missionary patriarch; is connected with the London Missionary Society ; the oldest in the West Indies, and has been out nearty thirty years, and first settled in George Town. At that time there was no minister, except a Dutchman, THE WEST INDIES. 83 who seldom or never officiated ; neither was there any regular place of worship. After, establishing that mission he removed to New Amsterdam, where he found the same neglect, and the same want. Pie has lived to see the Episcopal, Pres byterian, Roman Catholic, and Dutch Churches liberally supported by the Government in each town, the ministers of which have houses free from all payments, and a very liberal annual income. As regards this town, these ministers have no Sab bath or day schools; whereas J. Wray is just completing a new school, which is to be open to all sects. On Sabbath days he has for long had scholars at his Chapel from ten to eleven A. m. and from three to five p. m. ; and the only monied favour extended to this worthy minister, has been an exemption from rates; yet will it be believed that at this very hour he is threatened with prosccu- cution if he does not pay the demand of the tax- gatherer.* J. Wray has seen Slavery in all its horrors, when the public sales were accompanied with public floggings if the negros showed any obstinacy. He now hopes to see the day when this incongruous apprenticeship shall lie down with Slavery side by side, fac-similes as they are. He has no doubt as to the negros' fitness for in stantaneous freedom. He has long beheld a lucid proof of their fitness in the Winkle negros ; ^so named, I believe, from an estate they were for- * J. 8. informs mo llio prosocution has been withdrawn. 84 LETTERS FROM merly attached to;) these were liberated by the English Government on taking possession of the Colony, and live at the edge of the town, in a village appropriated to them. It has been the practice to vilify and traduce these descendants of Africa, but through evil report they maintain' their ground as loyal subjects, and worthy mem bers of society; and J. Wray says when the new barracks, a few years since, were to be built at Berbice, no one was found so competent in plans, et cet., as a Winkle negro; and now being finished, they arc acknowledged to be equal to any in the West Indies ; and also so noted are the women for economy and good management, that when a tradesman or Planter wants a thrifty housekeeper, his first inquiry is for a Winkle " Then let not censure, with malignant joy, The harvest of their humble hopes destroy." Facts like these ought to carry conviction along with them ; they prove that the necessity of the apprenticeship has been argued for upon fallacious grounds. Slavery may be compared to a torrent, which overwhelms all the beautiful flowers which would ornament a less deep and impetuous course ; would you wish them again to appear, do not waste time by placing Special Magistrates to protect them from further injury ; no, at once let off the destroying waters, and the blushing petals will bloom of their accord. Thus remove THE WEST INDIES. 85 the curse of Slavery from the negro, and his moral and intellectual worth shall show them selves; they shall adorn his character with au integrity sufficient to silence the bitterness of dis appointed tyranny : Jiat justitia, mat cesium. According to appointment, in the early part of last week, we visited the De Kindren estate a few miles up the river, accompanied by Van Rossum, the proprietor ; he would not go to it whilst in the hands of trustees, but now that the claims against him are liquidated, he had re solved to introduce us to his family, to see how his apprentices were going on, and in fact to reinstate himself as " magister domi." He sent down for his eight- oared barge, and about noon, V. R., J. S., and myself, were seated in the cabin, with eight lusty blacks as oars-men. The size of the boat, and the length of the oars enabled them to row in a manner which amused us ; they all stood up on the rowing seats, and at a signal, splash went their oars, and down went their bodies ; as the oars swept through the water, the negros assumed an horizontal position, almost lying flat, then up they sprang again, balanced their oars with one hand, waved the other arm around in various evolutions, till the true time came for dipping the oars and lowering their bodies. After conversing awhile, Ave asked V. R. to permit the negros to row according to their oAvn "taste-" they at once accompanied their movement with a wild chorus, which added much interest to the 8(J LETTERS FROM scene. Negros are in no wise convinced of the adage, " namque tacere tutum semper erit;" they prefer exercising the faculty of speech. I had previously noticed in going over the ferry, that one of the i-OAvers Avould soliloquise the Avind, and the water ; making at the same time movements Avith his hand, as if the objects he was addressing understood him. On reaching De Kindren, the family Avere wait ing to receive us, and a more interesting one could not well be. Mrs. R. graced the* inter- vieAV Avith her ease and politeness : two sons groAvn up, and two daughters in their teens were present; the tropical sun had sapped the roses, and delicate lilies occupied their place, Avatched over by gently expressive languishing eyes, and croAvned with the charm of creole elegance and grace. V. R. once more rid of the "res august a domi" Avas delighted to be again restored to his family, and the day fled in harmless hilarity and joy. The house is prettily situated one hundred yards from the river, Avith an avenue of cabbage palms before it. After sun down,. V. R. and I Avalked out along the main canal, into the coffee plantation; ere we were far from the great house, a negro overtook us, and conversed earnestly with his master in Dutch, pointing to the moon. V. R. said Ave must re trace our steps ; and told me the purport of the conversation, viz., his negro advised us to turn back, that the moon was hoav up, and it was not safe for us to expose ourselves to its rays, and THE WEST INDIES. 87 the falling cIcavs ; this trait of kindness Avas not lost upon us, we did so ; and made a feAV calls amongst the invalids in the negro village, Avho Avere truly glad once more to see their master. Night's silent Wanderer, 0 tell me whence ! Is thy mysterious, secret power, intense ; Thou dost to all things, smilingly impart, Appropriate charms, although but one thou art ; The dusk of eve, is more mysterious now, And bending twigs, more lowly seem to bow ; Noises are nearer, louder is tho tone, Of " Who are you," and " Whip poor Wiliy's"* moan ; And yet moreover, silence seems more still, As if possessing every power at will : A lover's grief, and then a lover's boon, Some do believe are measured by the moon. If au eccentric man, has one screw loose, Then thy full orb makes him a greater goose : And more than this, when sailors aro asleep, Thou dost their eyes in fatal darkness steep ; When they awake, they cannot Phoebus find, But stand amazed to find themselves moon-blind. The next morning early, V. R. and I Avalked through the coffee plantation ; the trees are in 1-oavs, the size of large currant bushes, and shaded by the forest trees Avhich are left at proper dis tances, for this purpose; the blossom is Avhite and fragrant as the jessamine, and the fruit is the size and colour of a cherry, pleasant to (he taste : inside the pulp arc tAvo seeds, which arc the coffee berries ; when ripe it is gathered, and carried to the pulping mill ; the seeds are next * Two species of the genus, (capriwulgusj or goatsucker. 88 LETTERS FROM spread on a flagged space, (the barbecue,) to dry in the sun ; Avhen dried, the seeds are pressed under revoh'ing perpendicular rollers, to separate the husks, then winnowed similarly to corn ; the decayed and imperfect berries are next picked out ; the coffee is packed in tierces, and shipped off. On account of the richness of the soil, there arc here tAvo crops in the year : the gatherings are in the fifth and ten months. On the trees were ripe berries, the succeeding green berries, and abundance of blossom perfuming the air. The produce varies as the size of the trees, froth one to three pounds ; as, hoAvcvcr, there are many thousands on a plantation, the whole return is large. From ripe berries dropping and growing, there are always sufficient of young trees coming on to replace dead or decayed ones. Though not an object for export from this estate, there were many flourishing chocolate trees {theobramo cacao :) the tree is compact and ele gant, about twelve feet high ; and the fruit does not hang from the tAvigs, but grows directly out from the trunk, aud larger stems ; it is in shape like a pine apple, but longer and more pyrami dal ; the inside is filled with a luscious pulp and with seeds, which are the cocoa nibs of commerce. Plucking this large fruit is much less tedious than gathering coffee berries ; the inside pulp has a plea sant acidulous flavour. We returned to the house about ten a. m. ; I Avas faint from the hot sun, and longed for an English breakfast ; as yet there THE WEST INDIES. 89 Were no signs but the table cloth. V. R. called his family together, and read his own composi tion to us for one hour. It was an address he had prepared for the occasion, descriptive of his sufferings, of their duties, of Negro claims, and of his happy restoration to his paternal estate, ct cet., et cet. He told us he had followed this practice of writing to his family during his ab sence occasionally, that they might not feci for saken. The sentiments on this occasion Avere generous and noble, and the composition talented, amounting to this : " Oh ! remember, that if I have fallen far short in duty, the measure of my love hath been full ;" but in my judgment both it and the breakfast Avere out of place. I did not recover my fatigue the Avhole day, and felt almost as great a dislike to the plantation walk and reading, as I did to the study t at the Edwards'. At eleven avc sat down to an excellent breakfast of soup, meat, et cet. ; aftenvards the apprentices were all admitted into the parlour to see their master ; it was a holiday for the purpose. He spoke to them one by one ; the conversation being in Dutch AA'as lost to us, but the intervieAV was affecting ; the apprentices had evidently been much neglected. V. It. saw that their appearance did not do credit to his Avishcs ; there were present of "the halt, the blind, and the lame;" their naked backs, and the mothers with naked infants, standing in the presence of V. R., his lady, and tAvo daughters, formed a contrast Avhich can only be met with in 90 LETTERS FROM the West Indies. V. R. neVer flogged a slave- .em. had a runaway; yet his estate nkfve thousand pounds per annum. During the day we examined the steam engine and the machinery at ached; also the coffee loge, which is an exten- sive building, suitable for winnowing, picking sonng and packing the coffee. Apprentice"' pie/cr living on coffee plantations, as theyare freed from heavy field Avork, in grubbing cane holes; and picking ripe coffee is not laborious under the shade of the forest trees. The fol lowing morning we bid adieu to this interesting amily re-entered the boat, and were set down at the adjoining estate below, (the Brothers) where avc breakfasted. The estate is under the manage ment of a very agreeable intelligent young man whom Ave had met at George Town. Estates have generally choice names; thus— the three here adjoining, are Love, Children, Brothers, and nearer Berbice is Providence; the mind can easily form a truism from these materials, as the following —it is well for Children to be grateful to a kind Provi dence, and to Love their Brothers. If all tbe ap pliances of estates could be converted into profit able axioms as easily as their sweet soundin- names, it would be very gratifying. It happened to be court day for this and several adjoining estates ; after breakfast the manager from Love estate and others 'arrived, and their apprentices came forward to be tried. The Special Ma-is- u-atc took his scat, opened his case book, THE WEST INDIES. 91 nnd took down the depositions ; previous to this, the manager from Love had ridden off, having no love for J. S. ; he could say with William Penn, " I have seen thee, but d'ont like thee." The complaints brought forward were chiefly for neg lect of work; thus— one apprentice complained of illness, he was sent to Dr. II. at Amsterdam for his advice ; the doctor being out, he had to wait, and thus the day was lost. Some cases were de ferred, and some of the punishments J. S. said were illegal, and boldly maintained his ground, though the court was sitting ; words were at one time quite high enough for my comfort. I was pleased with the behaviour of the apprentices ; their countenances were placid, whilst those of their accusers expressed malice and revenge. The negros made a good defence, from what I could judge, imperfectly understanding them. The ty ranny of this apprenticeship is really detestable. ihe sick house on this estate Avas creditable; there was no prevalent disease amongst the negros at that time; one poor woman was af flicted with an ulcerative disease of the face. An arched vault before the front door attracted my attention. I imagined it covered a cistern; but on a httle door being opened, it disclosed two confined chambers, with just room to sit, and air enough to breathe, admitted from without ; these were the dark holes, not much used now that the negros are approaching the light of a better day. 92 LETTERS FROM We had au opportunity here of seeing the trooly leaf; a schooner Avas unloading a cargo of them, it had brought from the Essequibo. Trooliesgrow on the banks of that river, spring ing direct from the roots like sedges ; they are sohd heavy leaves, twenty feet long and tAvo broad, and are used for covering negro huts, et cet., answering two purposes,— that of ex cluding the rain and the sun's rays ; Avhich lat ter, through a thin covering like shingles, make small apartments oppressively close. ? Wc Avere then kindly accommodated Avith a gig, and drove to Providence estate, Avhere Mrs. W. was residing, it being the property of her son-in-law H. , who was also present. This is a noble sugar estate, exporting, if I am cor rect, five hundred hogsheads per annum; one rick of magass, stored up for fuel on this estate, Avas upAvards of eighty yards long. Before dinner Ave walked to the extensive negro village, opposite the great house on the other side the road ; it forms three sides of a parallelogram; many of the cottages are new, with separate apartments. Mr. II. said he had never been into them before, but was evidently pleased with their creditable ap pearance, and so Avere we. J. S. hoAvever remark ed, " I have something also against thee ;" this something is the folloAving :— Mr. H. bought Fri- bourg estate, with the apprentices; he removed the apprentices to Over Winning, three and-a- half miles from Providence. Having obtained the THE WEST INDIES. 93 apprentices, which was his object, he re-sold Fribourg; he then Avished them to walk three and-a-half miles to Providence, to work there, and return at night. Providence is a sugar estate; they had been brought from a coffee estate ; and knowing this proceeding was contrary to the Im perial Act, they refused to Avork. H. applied to the Special Magistrate; he could not help him. H. insists on his right, and has applied to the Governor, and here the matter rests.* Mr. II. also mentioned another annoyance ; he had lost a valuable apprentice; the man had pur chased his liberty for forty pounds ; H. valued him at one hundred and fifty pounds. Noav the negro had come into his possession since the Abolition Act by purchase; of course he kneAv the man retained the poAver of redeeming himself. Sup pose for a moment this negro had proved idle and Avorthless, Iioav glad IL would have been to be released of him for tAventy or thirty pounds. Planters by thus overvaluing the clever and up right, and making it difficult for them to purchase their liberty, hold out a strong inducement for idleness and Avorthlessness. Amongst the negros at Providence I saAv the disease termed yaAvs ; it 1 he i Imperial Act forbids tho removal of apprentices, ex cept with the consent of two Justices, who must bcliovo il to be for the benefit of the negros. Negros aro strongly attached to tlieir huts ; Van Kossum mentioned to me a caso of an appren tice who had hung himself, to prevent his removal from one es- tute to another. 94 LKTTERS FROM attacks infants and young children ; is an eruptive disease not unlike small pox in its characters ; very infectious, and often fatal; there is some difficulty in the treatment of it, because infants cannot be separated from their mothers, and sent into the sick house. Some of the negros were busy making Cassava bread ; the meal was spread over a hot bake-stone without being formed into a paste ; in a short time it agglutinated to gether, Avas turned, and taken off, in appearance like oat cake, forming a valuable article of diet; it is the root which is prepared. There are two species of Cassava, (jatropha manihot,) one sweet, and one poisonous ; the poisonous matter exists in the juice or sap of the root; this is expressedout after the root is crushed and grated ; the liquor is not throAvn aAA'ay, but boiled, which destroys its noxi ous qualities, and it then becomes a valuable article of trade, forming the chief ingredient in the cele brated Dutch pepper pot : this is a conglomerated savoury dish of different meats and spices ; it is brought to table in an iron pot with a ladle, and is thus used as a seasoning for other things. The pepper pot's glory is, in never being exhausted, fresh additions supplying the continual waste ; these additions are not made knoAvn : a little monkey is said to be connected with the true pepper pot principle : and I understand there are Dutch petter pots in the colony which are never exhausted, having been restored by fresh re newals from the time the colony Avas established. THE AVEST INDIES. 95 From the materials of the pepper pot not being generally known, a joke is current, that a mon key's head makes part and parcel of the same. Negros are remarkable for their skill in the art cuisine, without the needful requisites. A wooden tub, pestle, and two or three platters, being sufficient. The kitchen at our lodgings, in Sta broek, had the appearance of a blacksmith's shop;' with the same kind of fire hearth, and not a plate visible. Dr. B told me he bought all the culinary apparatus of Dr. S for tAventy- one shillings, Avhen the latter sold his moveables, previous to a visit to England. After dining sociably with Mrs. W. and some of her children, and enjoying her conversation, we returned again to our lodgings. An interesting occurrence has taken place here : four slaves, car penters, from Surrinam, have made their escape across the Corantyn river, and succeeded in reach ing Berbice after grievous hardships. They ap-- pliedto Mr. C. for tickets of freedom ; being on English territory, these Avere granted to them, and they -were quickly engaged at one dollar each per diem : this was not preferring idleness to la bour, though a day before they were degraded slaves. They said numbers Avould escape, but the Dutch cordon being very watchful rendered it diffi cult. One of them was much' injured from ill-treat ment Ayhilst a slave. yAll the community seemed to rejoice in the happy change of circumstances for these negros : and we felt proud of our country, 96 LETTERS FROM though near four thousand miles distant from the seat of government. The apprentices suffer here from a cause which ought to be remedied. There has been a scarcity of silver coin ; (and copper coin is not used ;) the store-keepers and planters to meet the want, have circulated bits of paper, from three stivers upAvards, made payable at the stores ; the sig nature is soon effaced in this climate, and then it is said, the parties refuse taking the paper up ; and Avhen an individual dies, there is the same difficulty with the trustees, as occurred in the case of . It is the custom to pay the apprentices for over time, Avith these defaced scraps of paper ; the negros having no clothes on, have no pockets for its safety; and enclosed in the hand, all vestige of writing is soon lost ; if they take it home, it is very liable- to be displaced; and thus the poor apprentices, after laborious Avork, are paid Avith trash, Avhich really represents nothing. This paper is in daily circulation ; I have some of it by me, and I am confident no Birmingham mer chant could tell AAdiat it is. Money in British Guiana is estimated in Dutch currency, con joined with Spanish ; fifteen stivers, one guilder ; three guilders, one dollar ; twenty-two guilders, one joe; sixteen dollars, one doubloon. The pound currency is twelve shillings sterling. THE WEST INDIES. $7 ' George Town, 1st., Month 20th. A few days since I left J. S. at Berbice, and returned to George Tc-Avn, on my way to Bar badocs, that I may avail myself of my letter of credit. Our experience was similar to Dr. Mad- den's : "Wc found the fat of our oavh land oozing out at Our fingers' ends, and the acquisi* tion of the fat of the neAV land, draining our purses, Avith wonderful quickness to their bottoms." J. S. became deeply interested in several inves* tigations, and wished to devote a little more time to them ; he hopes to join me at Barbadoes, and thence we proceed to Jamaica, to meet Joseph Sturge, who Avas disappointed at our tarriancc in Demerara beyond six Aveeks, as at first proposed.* I had not an agreeable passage back to George Town in the dispatch boat ; as it conveyed -one of the Judges, and he chose to have the cabin to him self ; but happily we came by day; if it had been otherwise, the night would have been spent most unpleasantly, in the hold of the vessel, amongst cock roaches, which . towards evening had fine runnings and scamperings. I have paid my fare well visit to J. Ketley, and to the Southeys, * Boon after, I loft George Town, for Barbadoes, the quaran tine laws, on account of small pox, prevented admission at the latter place; and afterwards the yellow fever broke out in Demerara, which continued them. J. S. had no other alter- unlivo than staying in Domcrara; though his friends wcro falling around him, he was favoured with tolerable health, and some months afterwards ombarked direct for Bristol, and vouched homo in safety. 98 LETTERS FROM whose kindness is indelibly impressed on my mind. Herbert Southey "kindly procured me some specimens in Ornithology ; the only return I could make was to set up a few specimens for him, as mementos of my visit. The noisiest bird in George ToAvn is a species of fly-catcher, {musci- capa cayanensis,) from its note, called kis-ke-dis; it is as lively as the English sparrow; flitting about^ and repeating the three syllables in a very distinct, shrill tone; its plumage is elegant, back brown, crown and breast yellow: the most numerous is the black witch, its plumage accords with its 'name, its tale is long, like the English magpie ; the upper mandible rises as high as the croAvn of the head, tapering to a sharp edge ; its flight is a jerk from one bush to another ; and its note is a melancholy Avhine, something like the name. It feeds upon lizards and worms, and therefore is seldom mo lested ; consequently is very tame, allowing the stranger to approach Avithin a couple of yards. I had not the opportunity of seeing any wild animals, except the three-toed sloth, Avhich is in my pos session, the acouri, and a species of crabo dago, or crab dog. Butterflies are numerous, but the red ants quickly destroyed some I procured; these insects swarm up stairs and doAvn : no sooner is any thing eatable laid by, than they assemble from all quarters, an innumerable host. Exactly contrary to musquitoes, they attack the dead, the latter the living. The Governor's secretary granted me a passport THE WEST INDIES. 99 without advertising, on payment of the fee ; and my departure for Barbadoes is at hand. I shall carry fonvard this letter to put in the Post Office at Bridge Town. Since returning from Berbice, another ball has been given near my lodgings and the second edition was quite equal to the first, in the very piercing and deep sounding notes which the negros supplied throughout the night, to every page of occurring incident. The invitations are pretty general, so that families may go to the fountain head of bustle and confusion, and avoid having the dis turbance, as it were, second hand, at their OAvn dAvellings. Barbadoes, 1st. Month, 27th. The Mary Elizabeth schooner, brought me safely here in a little more than three days ; I am not yet sailor enough to be sickless in a schooner ; the pitching is so continuous, that my stomach keeps time, and heaves with emotion; hoAvever, I rallied and much enjoyed the sight of purer waters. Green seas are very refreshing to the eye in a tropical climate; not so the discoloured streams on the main : the Demerara and Berbice rivers, conveyed to my mind an impression of molten metal, or liquid fire; and had no poAver of tempering my heated blood. I learn that Joseph Sturge, and Thomas Harvey have proceeded to Jamaica, unable to Avait longer for us. I shall follow them, though not 100 LETTERS FROM directly, wishing to see a little of some other islands, on my way. As the mail is making up I must conclude. I remain, &c. THE WISST INDIES. 101 LETTER VIII. Barbadocs, 1st. Month, 29th., 1837. My Dear F r. I have spent several days agreeably on this island, in complimentary appellation frequently called "Little England," being the nearest to the mother country, and having adopted many of its customs ; the oldest colony, and of undoubted loyalty ; healthy in character, and the most ad vanced in culth'ation, by a successful rotation of crops. The beasts of burthen on the estates are chiefly oxen, they are small and remarkably lean ; numbers supply the place of bulk and size. Twelve oxen, yoked to a huge unwieldly Avagon, is a - common sight in Bridge Town ; the employment of them on plantations has answered where'prac- tised. Cane fields have to be prepared similar to the drill culture of fields for turnips : the soil is hoed, or ploughed up, into straight deep ridges. When planted the cane joints are placed in°the furrows, and lightly covered over. Cane holes is, therefore, a Avrong term ; and it is ridging the field' with heavy hoes, (termed digging cane holes) Avhich has greatly oppressed the negros. This operation 102 LETTERS FROM can be well performed by cattle, and when free labour succeeds to forced, will, I hope, be more generally adopted. We entered Carlisle Bay, from Demerara, at mid-day ; having, during our approach, a fine vieAV of the island ; the ground rises gradually behind Bridge ToAvn ; is sprinkled with white houses, and ornamented with strag gling cocoa and cabbage palms; the surface had lost the green hue, which graced it a feAV weeks before. It Avas now harvest time, and many canes had been cut; the broAvn hue of the country con trasted unfavourably with the endless green of De merara. In vegetation Demerara is vastly superior to Barbadoes, but as to its Avaters equally inferior. Round these coral shores, they are of a deep deep blue, refreshing to the eye and invigorating to the spirits; down by those muddy banks, they arc browner than the "heathery hill," and impurer than old " Father Thames." It delighted me again to behold the tropical blue sea : in the tropics a European eye wishes to indulge its vision on nature's gayer scenes, to feed upon beauties wherever it may Avander ; whether ascending to the heavens above, or descending to the waters beneath. The Sabbath after my return, I heard Bishop Coleridge preach a charity sermon on behalf of the education of coloured children ; he evidently spoke from a pious heart, and it was congenial to my feelings, to know this interesting portion of the rising generation had so able an advocate. We ought to rejoice in education being THE WEST INDIES. 103 encouraged ; how different it is in the American slave-states. As the children went by to Church, I was conversing with a young American, from Savannah, in Georgia, who is here for his health ; "education," said he, "is forbidden, as regards the negros, Avith us ; and if a white man opened a Sunday School, or supported a day one at his own expense, he would be imprisoned and tried ; and for the second offence banished, or possibly hung." Through my intelligent acquaintance P , I became acquainted with several colored gentlemen of acquirement and talent. At times the conversa tion was painfully interesting, proving the strong bias of colonial management to be very partial, in favour of the whites ; the disposal of the grant from Parliament, for the hurricane of 1831, had been unsatisfactory. This grant, I understood, Avas one hundred thousand pounds, of Avhich seventy thousand pounds Avere allotted to Barba does : it is said, that the party intrusted, wrote home, desirous of knoAving hoAv it AA^as to be dis posed of: the reply from Government was, bestoAv it on the poor and destitute : after this the distri bution took place ; thirty-eight thousand pounds were therefore allotted to dilapidated churches, et cet., and the remainder, or the greater part, divided ^ amongst wealthy planters: that such an appropriation is accordant with the literal mean ing of poor and destitute is yet doubted. I visited one ofthe schools for coloured children, in company 104 LETTERS FROM with T. H— — -, who kindly drove me along the bay towards the fort, and round by the barracks, Avhich are delightfully situated a mile from the toAvn on elevated ground. Carlisle Bay, with its pure blue Avaters, spreads out beloAV, enlivened with sufficient shipping to vary the scene, and to give it the character of a maritime port. On another occasion I dined in company Avith an elderly gentleman, who had abstained from all fermented liquors for many years ; this was an in teresting fact in the tropics, where there is such a prejudice against pure Avater ; brandy, madeira wine, London porter, and Scotch ale being in re pute. My experience in this matter, as regards the tropics is, Avhere there is delicacy of consti tution, wine need only be used as a medicinal adjunct ; and, Avhere the constitution is vigorous, total abstinence may be safely and advantageously practised. Bridge ToAvn and the neighbourhood show many evidences of the last fearful hurricane in roofless houses and shattered tenements; from this liability, no spires gracefully shoot on high, the cathedral only having a low square tower. The hurricanes take place in the 7th, 8th and 9th months; on these occasions ships try to get to sea, the bay lying so open and exposed, they are otherwise in clanger of stranding on the shore, which north of the toAvii is composed of broken coral and madrepore. I had also here the first opportunity of examining a Avind mill crushing canes ; for this purpose there THE AVEST INDIES. 105 are three perpendicular rollers, one being in the centre ; the fresh cane is drawn in between two, and by a screen behind, the magass is directed between the other two edges, and falls down be fore the door to be carried aAvay ; the feeding only occupies one pair of hands ; the carrying cane into the mill several: Barbadoes is noted for its ex cellent quality of sugar, OAving to the superior cultivation and care in its manufacture; on the other hand, sugars from Demerara are in general coarse in quality. Bridge Toavii derives its name from a bridge over a small stream, which here empties itself into the bay ; the Avharfs extend up to the bridge, alongside which sloops and vessels of small burden are moored ; i'oav boats are always waiting for hire, Avhilst others are going to or re turning from ships in the bay ; so that the scene is lively. The author of " The Wanderings" makes the folloAving observation : — " There was another thing which added to the dulness of Barbadoes, and Avhich seems to have considerable effect in keeping away strangers from the island. The le gislature had passed a most extraordinary bill, by virtue of Avhich every person Avho arrives at Bar badoes is obliged to pay tAvo dollars, and tAvo dollars more on his departure from it. It is called the Alien Bill ; and every Barbadian AAmo leaves or returns to the island, and every Englishman too, pays the tax." The money on leaving is paid for the passport ; the amount is of less conse quence than the time requisite to procure it, the 100 LETTERS FROM name of the party applying having to be advertised three Weeks. My young American friend only intending to stay one week on the island, called upon the Governor's Secretary, and Was told he could not have a passport in less than three weeks; the consequence AVas, he went amongst the vessels in the bay, to find some American captain to be friend him, and succeeded. My intention was only to stay a few days ; and this three weeks shoAving up in the neAvspapers prevented my ap plying for a passport ; I thought my Demerara one might be made to ansAver. Every law passed for general application, and which can never apply, is ridiculous ; this is one. AU passengers by the mail packet staying a night or two on their AVay to other islands, set it at nought, and yet the captains of the vessels by which they leave subject themselves to a penalty. I did not visit the gaol again, my curiosity AVas over indulged on a previous occasion ; the scenes of that day were often before me, and too strongly impressed -ever to be erased. St. Thomas, 2nd Month, loth. The northern mail boat by which I left Barba does had been in quarantine on account of small pox in some of the northern islands, Avhere it had touched on its previous voyage. In embarking, myself and others Avere exchanged from the health officers' boat, to that of the mail boat which came to meet us, and thus a step as it were placed us under the ban of prohibition. In the one boat avc THE WEST INDIES. 107 were esteemed healthy and fit company for the Barbadians ; in the other we were denounced as of the infected, and the governor himself could not have restored ds to the shore till we had fulfilled our quarantine, so sudden is the change of situa tion in this eventful life ; however the anchor was quickly raised apeak, and away Ave Avent, hoping to meet with friendly sills and floors, though "little England" closed her coral doors. I left Barbadoes in company with a captain of engineersj his lady and servant^ and another gen tleman, for St. Kite's ; tAvo gentlemen on their Avay to Porto Ricd, who had come out by the last mail packet, and Avho did not choose to' await its onward route. The Falmouth mail packets stop at Barbadoes a week before sailing north, to col lect the island letters and receive the Jamaica mail at St. Thomas's .• the mail boats sailing the day after the arrival of the English mails, allows one week for the letters to be received and ans wered : this regulation facilitates correspondence admirably. In this trip of four hundred miles and upwards, Ave had plenty of variety ; I may as well enter a little into particulars. The quarrel ling of our captain with his crew very soon at tracted my attention ; I had noticed similar beha viour in coming from Demerara; the cause is ob vious. The captains are white men, the ci'oav free blacks or apprentices ; the former are preju diced against the negros ; are continually scolding and accusing them of being stupid; from this 103 LETTERS FROM continued irritation, the blacks at times become obstinate: much allowance - is, hoAvever, to be made for them on account of their peculiar situa tion ; for instance, the mail boat service, and I should think there Avas none more generous, rIIoavs to each of the ci-cav ten dollars per month, one pound of -beef, one pound of flour per diem. Out of these ten dollars the master of an ap prentice claims eight, leaving the poor tar tAvo ; who thus works half starved day and night, whilst another man pockets his benefit; the tallest and most effective of our ci'cav is one of this description belonging to the harbour master of Bridge ToAvn. In 1831 this negro had a narrow escape; he Avas exposed to the » dreadful hurricane of that year, in a vessel Avhich Avas lost; he Avas then a powerful man, and clung to some part of the Avrcck, on Avhich he Avas ex posed to the ocean for several days exhausted Avith hunger ; he Avas picked up at the last extremity, to eke out his life with other extremities, first as a slave, .now as an apprentice. Wc left Barba does in the evening ¦; the weather became squally, and we soon took to our berths, the motion of a schooner in a heavy sea being very unsettling. The best cabin was given up to the captain of engineers, his lady, and servant; the rest contenting them selves with the second, occupied by luggage and cockroaches ; which commodities Avere unrestrain ed and the former especially changed positions Avith every lurch of the vessel, banging chorusscs to the THE WEST INDIES. 109 moveables on deck. Our skipper's voice rose louder and louder as night advanced, till he quite lost command of his temper, declaring the crew Avould not obey him even when the ship Avas in danger. We lay listening to the effects of anger above and clangor below, and became alarmed, the quarrelling on deck by midnight having as- cumed a more wrathful tone than that of the boisterous elements. At last some one of the creAv would bear his ill treatment no longer, and boldly confronted the skipper, Avho at once sued for mercy : " O ! d'ont touch me, you know I am your master, I am your captain; d'ont touch me." We thought beloAv that they Avere about throwing him overboard, and fully expected a catastrophe. The two recently arrived Europeans repented of their position, reflecting on their voyage out by the Falmouth Packet, on which scarcely a need less word Avas said during the voyage. Sick and sleepless Avas that distressing night, and as morn ing daAvned, I ascended thoughtfully to the deck ; we were then approaching St. Lucia, upborne on troubled AvaA'es. The island had a magnificent, yet fantastic ap pearance ; its mountains Avere clothed Avith trees to their summits, conical in their outline ; at times they " were in the dumps, and pulled the clouds over their noses, aud Avould not let us haA'e even a peep at their high mightinesses." Dr. James Johnson says, "to see Corrivrechan in high feather, with the sense of terror added to the 110 LETTERS FROM sublimity of the scene, it would be necessary to drift into the vortex during a storm, and flood tide;" and so the approach to St. Lucia should be through a storm, Avhen the winds and vapors are in wild career about the mountain sides. Ever and anon the pitons, or sugar loaves showed their pointed cones above the rolling masses, bedecked with trees to their utmost verge : this sight Avas of novel interest. Ben Nevis, Ben Lomond, Piynliinmon, and Snowden, are majes tically naked ; but the arrowy cones of St. Lucia, nourish their towering evergreens, and allow not the vales to surpass them in verdure. We soon entered Castries Bay, and loosed anchor; the Captain took the mail ashore ; I should have had time to walk through the toAvn, but omitted accompanying him, from a feeling of nausea and unfitness. Our skipper returned, and Ave made sail, but here a hcav difficulty arose ; we had cast anchor in the narroAv entrance, and when again underway, the vessel had not room to sheer round to the Aviild, but drifted, towards the rocks ; the anchor was again let go, and on our swinging round again, raised, to no good purpose ; as soon as the anchor was up we drifted towards the pitons. An increase to our difficulty arose from our having no capstan or Avindlass, and the heavy anchor took all the ci-cav to raise it, whereas some should have been at the sails. A dilemma seemed approachingj I kindly roused one of the passengers from a comfortable sleep, THE WEST INDIES. Ill to an uncomfortable alarm ; put my sovereigns in my pocket, and stretched my arms for a sAvim ; -we tried once more, one passenger took posses sion of the wheel, others helped at the anchor, and sails; the jib happily caught the breeze, Avhich steadied the prow, turning us round, and then we dashed out; we had escaped without touching, and concluded that we Avere much better off, than fighting sharks in their notorious haunt of Castries harbour. The wind continued high, and we breasted the main boldly, and swiftly to Martinique, another mountainous and picturesque island, be longing to the French. We had to leave a mail here, the English packets carrying the French letters. The towns on the different Islands are situated on the leeward or western side, and the mountains being lofty, vessels approaching are becalmed under their lee; our sailing had a character from this circumstance. A fine ten knot breeze hurried us on to Martinique, but when under its mountain shades, our progress Avas not more than perceptible. Wo expected to reach St. Pierre, the capital, by tAvo p. M whereas it was nine; we could just descry the diamond rock, so humourously described by Coleridge, in his " Six Months ;" but on enter ing St. Pierre's roadstead, from the darkness, only lamps were to be seen, pointing out the town. It Avould have gratified me to have had an hour's stroll through the streets, and I un- 112 LETTERS FROM willingly gave it up. Our Europeans shortened their journey by going ashore ; they were dis heartened from the difficulties Ave encountered. Our Captain having delivered his bags, returned, and Ave ventured on, but in the night had another alarm. A great disturbance on deck, and pre paration to let go the anchor^ aroused me. I arose and found Ave Avere becalmed under the lee of a lofty hill, and flapping toAvards it by the swell of the sea ; the overhanging shades looked fearful in the night; however, a gully of Avind came doAvn the precipitous sides, and gently wafted us onAvard, and by break of day Ave Avere approach ing Dominica. Soon after Ave entered the road stead, opposite Roseau, where our vessel lay to. I landed, and walked about whilst the Captain delivered his mail. Roseau has the appearance of gone-by prosperity ; the streets are Avell paved, but the grass now disfigures them : it had a French character, and the " habitans" were croAvding into the Catholic Chapel, for morning prayers. The scenery around Avas as romantic as can be im agined, highlands of perennial verdure forming the back ground. The barracks are imposingly situated on an eminence, Morne Bruce, over looking the toAvn. Oranges and other fruits abounded ; a papaAv was gathered for me, not unlike a melon in size and flavour; the tree, ( Curia papaya,) grows from twelve to tAventy feet high, and has the habit of a palm ; the fruit hanging pendent from the top of the stem, under- TUB WEST INDIES. 113 neath the croAvn of leaves. In returning from the shore to our A'essel, Ave passed near another craft; the Captains hailed each other, and on inquiry being made, the stranger told us he Avas black bird hunting ; that is, he was making the tour of the islands, to engage negros as indented ap prentices for Demerara. Great part of the day was occupied in getting from under the lee of Dominica, and then Ave darted across to Gua- daloupe, to be again becalmed : it Avas dark on reaching Basse Tcrre, the capital ; and I accom panied the Captain, with his poste ; we Avere hailed by a guarda costa, but no delay occurred on landing. I at once thought of Paris, the avenue of tamarind trees, with seats beneath in the principal street, reminded me of the Boule vards ; and my eyes Avere cheered with a fountain of water playing, ever ready to refresh the thirsly lounger. After delivering the letter bag to a polite and obliging post master, whom AA'e aroused from bed, Ave pushed off in our gig, hailed our schooner, but Avei'e again laggard on our Avay, checked by mountain influence ; Ave again reached the strait, and shot across to St. John's Antigua, entering its beautiful harbour in the afternoon. The bay is spacious and Avell fortified, but the island Ava3 inferior in appearance, to those Ave had passed. I had sufficient time to see the toAvn ; its situation is pleasant, gentty rising from the Bay, Avith the summit crowned by the Church, from Avhich there is a delightful prospect. At 114 LETTERS FROM seven p. m. we left Antigua, and ran through a wild sea to Plymouth, the capital of Montserrat; here we lay to for the night, the landing being unsafe in the dark ; this was comfortless. The helm Avas lashed, sail was set to steady the vessel, the creAV Avent to sleep, and the vessel drifted to sea. After heavy rain, Ave had another fine morning, and leaving our mail, hastened by Rcdondo, to Nevis and St. Kitts, Avhich are in sight of each other, separated by the Narrows and Booby Island. Nevis has a different character from St. Lucia, having only one toAVering imposing summit, and that not feathered and arrowy : it is holloAved out like a saddle, and bleakly toAvers aloft; it was mice a noisy crater, but is now a silent mountain. There are mineral springs, and a bathing establishment on this island ; and Charles Town, its capital, though mean to walk through, looks tolerably Avell from the Bay. We were not detained long here, our sAvan-like schooner soon ploughed the Narrows, and we entered the open roadstead of St. Kitt's, the same afternoon : several ships were at anchor. We landed through a boister ous surf, which at times, renders the landing and shipping of goods difficult; the boats used for the purpose are peculiar, being very deep ; the negros push them doAvn through the waves, and when fairly afloat, jump in. Basse Terre is the capital of St. Kitts; wc staid some time, our other passengers landing here, and having considerable luggage to embark. The THE WEST INDIES. 115 houses are in general poor buildings with paint- less shutters or jalousies, devoid of glass. It possesses one fine open square ; the trees hoAvever were decrepid, and the centre plot neglected and brown. The handsomest building I saw was the Methodist meeting house ; every AvindoAv and door were open ; no one was by. I Avalked in and over it ; the Bible lay on tlie pulpit desk, apparently safe as tlie chapel itself; I concluded there could not be much dishonesty here amongst the "goods and chattels." The church aviiuIoavs were also open, close adjoining ; the buildings stand near enough for the congregations to be annoyed at each other's singing. The small pox has recently raged in St. Kitts, _of which the grave yard Avas evidence ; this may have given rise to an extra ventilation for places of worship; the community had suffered much from the epidemic Avhich Avas spreading rapidly through the other islands. At sun-set we Avere again on our Avay; I was the only passenger left, and felt lonely at the change. It Avas a fine evening, and I had time and inclina tion to look around and contemplate the scene ; on my left was Nevis's towering cratery cone, and on my right, close at hand, Avere the golden cain slopes and plains of St. Kitts, gradually as cending inland, till a Avilderness of trees occupied the place of Avind mills and plantations ; then more abruptly the hills arose, dimmed and belted by congregating vapors, and higher yet again, to Avhere Mount Misery's awful summit stood pre- 116 LETTERS FROM eminent and alone : how natural with other thoughts to recal Columbus, Avhen sailing by the island named "Christopher" by himself; and how appropriate the comparison, for he had also, his savannahs of promise, his cane fields of hope, and his Mount Misery looking overall; Avhich, risipg higher and higher, its awful crag became the principal object of his vision, and at last over whelmed him. Tn the morning avc passed the Dutch islands St. Eustatia and Saba, and at noon entered amongst the group of Virgin Islands, so named by Columbus, in honour of the eleven thousand virgins in the Romish Ritual. The derivation should be known, for they have little beauty, chiefly boasting of an assemblage of naked rocks, and therefore not graceful enough to compare Avith the beautiful faces of- England, or even of Queen Elizabeth, in honour of whom some have thought the name was given by Sir Francis Drake. Virgin Gorda, Anagada, Tortola, and others, belong to the Eng lish ; the mail Avas left at Tortola, and we entered a spacious and secure harbour ; on our right Avas a negro village running up the mountain sides; it is occupied by the cargo of a slave vessel ; they were liberated by the British Government, and are under its protection. I heard nothing unfavoura ble of the experiment. I was pleased Avith the slight opportunity I had of seeing Tortola ; the toAvn is prettily embayed, the residences comfort able, and the negro market women lively and THE WEST INDIES. 117 amusing. The harvest was progressing at the different islands as avc passed, and the cane fields were luxuriant in appearance, especially at St. Kitts. The wind again filled our sails, and we entered the harbour of the Danish island St. Thomas, in the evening ; our desired haven. St. , Thomas is striking ; the approach is through a narroAv strait, defended by forts, which spreads out into a very spacious land locked bay; a regular Avell built town fronts the entrance. It Avas dusk Avhen Ave cast anchor in front of the wharfs ; the toAvn was dimly seen, but the lights from the houses and in the streets shone brightly, straggling up the mountain sides. " Many a row Of starry lamps, and blazing cressets, fed With Naphtha, and Asphaltus, yielded light, As from a sky." It is built upon three small hills, jutting out from and forming the basement of a lofty mountain, in the immediate back ground. This island formerly belonged to the Buccaneers ; and a residence having something of the appearance of a fort, is still knoAvn as Blue Beard's. Great part of the toAvn has within a fcAv years been rebuilt substan tially Avith stone ; it Avas destroyed by conflagra tion, Avith Avhich the negros are charged. I here bid adieu to our little, active, skilful mail boat skipper; he Avas a native of Cormvall, and Avas ploughing the Caribbean seas as offering greater 118 LETTERS FROM gain than the European waters ; he was impetu ous and completely lost his authority with his crew the first stormy night ; aftenvards he rein stated himself, and his kindness and attention to his passengers were such as to insure him a re membrance Avhen wide spread seas divide. On parting he requested my passport, I gave him the only one I had, viz., that from Demerara ; he looked surprised, and said it Avould not avail him ; I ansAvered that I could not have procured another Avithout staying three Avecks at Bar badoes ; and as I had only landed a few days before, and was desirous of sailing under his1 nautical skill, I thought the old one would suffice, as there Avould be no claim upon him, unless I had left in debt; he acknowledged the difficulty, and smiled acquiescence. On inquiry no vessel offered for Jamaica; from Jamaica to St. Thomas's there is a steamer every fortnight, but it proceeds along the chain of islands to Barbadoes, and thence direct to Jamaica in a continuous course. St. Thomas, therefore, has no direct conveyance to Jamaica ; my remedy Avas to Avait patiently aAvhile, and in the mean time to visit Santa Cruz, which also belongs to the Danes; for this purpose I procured a passport, and am on the point of de parture. Santa Cruz is only forty miles or there about from St. Thomas ; nevertheless, all who pass and repass between the two islands, resident or not, buy a two dollar passport every time ; on the same principle an eight shilling passport THE AVEST INDIES. 119 office might be established between Liverpool and Dublin, but it could not be acted on for a day. Why should there not be the same free inter course betAveen the Colonial subjects of a poAver, as between individuals at the immediate seat of Government ? I remain, &c. 120 LETTERS FROM LETTER IX. Santa Cruz, 2nd. Month, 10th., 1837. My Dear F r. I came over here as I intended in the West End Packet, a commodious and SAvift sailing clipper built schooner, having an American cap tain Avith a creAv of slaves. The vessel is their only home. The merchant owning the packet has bought slaves to work it ; they are placed upon the craft, never to leave it without permis sion ; they are a young, active crew, but the austerity of their captain is enough to freeze the current of their humanity. Santa Cruz is fifteen miles across from east to Avest, each of which shores has atoAvn, — Christian- stcd and Fredericksted, more commonly called Bass End and West End ; the former is the resi dence of the Governor. I am staying at West End, Avhere I found comfortable quarters, at E 's boarding house. The town is very full of American invalids, Avho resort here to shun the rigours of their oavu climate. Santa Cruz ac quires many features from this congregating ; families of great respectability arrange their •IT-IB WEST INDIES. 121 houses for boarders, and they are presided over by the uncoloured ; in the English islands, at the head of boarding departments, there must be colour : such an occupation is menial and de grading for the whites. In Santa Cruz the amor nummi has pushed aside this difficulty ; and there is so great an arrival of moneyed American invalids every season, that the uncoloured have thought Avell to share the harvest, and thus our table is presided over by Erin's oavu, a native of Dublin. At the present time there are two hun dred American visitors, invalids Avith their com panions ; there is something melancholy in this assemblage ; almost Aveekly some of them die, and the frequent burials harrow deeply the feel ings of the survivors. Our hostess only took in boarders, for the first time, a few months since, yet she has lost two of her guests, and another young man is in a hopeless state. A lady who is attending a sick husband told me, " she Avished she had never seen the island, for there was nothing but soitoav ;" truly may it be said, that every Avhere, " sunt lacrym.ee rerum ; et menlevi mortalia tangunt." The number of American invalids, Avho have this season laid doAvn their mortal remains in Santa Cruz, is fifteen ; so that there is a void in many parties : Avhen the hour of death arrives, Santa Cruz can no more bind up the mortal coil, than the wilds of Nova Zembla ; in sunny favoured climes, as on the most inhos pitable shores, a moment arrives in which, " rcd- R 122 I. RITE RS FROM enda est terra terra." The inducements for a sojourn at Santa Cruz, are the temperature not rising higher than 82° in the shade, at this season of the year; the excellent roads, which throughout the island, cannot be surpassed ; the easy access to America; the conveniences to accommodate in valids in poney gigs, for hire ; the reasonable expense of ten dollars per Avcek for board ; and the general character of the toAvn and country residents, which is that of the utmost friendliness and kindness. There is one dniAvback (charges for burial) Avhich affects the survivors, though applying to the dead ; the folloAving is a copy of them : — ¦ Dollars. Cents. Recording death -------- B 4 Informing the public of the death - - ~ 8 0 Attendance of Warden -.~~~~~ 4 0 Permit fol' grave - - - ~ ~ ~> - - 6 40 Digging the grave ------- 4 0 Clerk „__- — --_--- 3 20 Minister reading service 10 dollars, if he preaches --------- 32 0 Total - - - C3 Gi Amounting to tAvelve guineas for the right of interment : this kingly charge disgusts the Ameri cans ; they dislike becoming a prey to royalty after death, uoav that their private and public states are secured from the annoyance. With sonic abatement, oAving to numerous spittoons in the sitting rooms, and the frequent use made of them, cither from habit or necessity, I am rc- THE WEST INDIES. 123 ceiving a large amount of satisfaction in this visit. West End is prettily situated in the centre of an open bay, 'round which is a crescent of cocoa palms ; the town peers underneath their towering plumes, and canes behind crown the very summits of the modest hills ; an excellent road folloAvs the curvatures of the shore ; the eminences are the sites for the great houses, sub stantial and convenient, near which cluster the slave cottages ; huts they arc not, but stone dwellings, Avhite washed, and ornamental to the estates. Jf walking on the shore, the idler may watch the brown pelican (pclecanus fuscus,) suc cessfully practise his expertness as a fisher, rising thirty or forty feet above the water ; omvard he flies with a steady doAvncast eye beneath, until some finny prey appears ; forth Avith he darts Avith an impetus Avhich carries him beneath ; aneAV he spurns the Avave, makes no boast of success, but extending his feathery arms, moves on Avell poised again. This method of fishing, midway between netting and harpooning, may be termed the snap dragon, or rather snap-pelican principle ; far be hind is man Avith his bobbing, Lis worming, and live-bait trolling : nature's fisherman practises no cruelty, not even alloAving the struggles of his victim to be seen. Compassion should always go hand in hand Avith humanity, and cruelty be avoided. When the mind is endowed Avith the love of nature, and Avith admiration of iis avou- ders, it investigates them, without needlessly in flicting pain. ^* LETTERS FROM "One classed the quadrupeds, and one the fowls; Another found in minerals his joy ; And I have seen a man, a worthy man, In happy mood conversing with a fly ; And as lie, through his glass, made by himself, Beheld its wondrous eye and plumage fine, From leaping scarce he kept, for perfect joy." On the shore are innumerable small crabs, ex ploring terra firma; and Avhen some great un known disturbs the explorists, off they scamper in the most amusing manner, not with backs turned, as is the wont of fear, but sidling, as if to bully the giant and throAv a slight ridicule on his boasted laAvs of progression. Wagon loads of conches lie whispering echoes to sea born sounds, brought by the murmuring tides ; these are throAvn away after the fish are extracted, and treated as carelessly, as our cockle shells; the variety in their delicate tints is pleasing to look upon. This pleasant isle has also other attractions; hos pitality opens the Avay for them. Invalids in their walks or rides call at the neighbouring estates, acquaint themselves with the process of sugar making ; explore the gardens to look at the different culture of fruits; visit the boiling-houses, to feast upon sling,* and enjoying the agremens " Slu'S is the inspissated boiled syrup, which adheres to the side of the spout, leading to the crystallizing vat ; it is very adhesive and thick, and being free from all' tho cavernous impurities of molasses, is approved of by tho negros, aud re commended by them as palatable and salubrious; my opinion ipnclily accorded with theirs. (Sou Letter V., pn«-e flit ) THE AVEST INDIES. J 25 around, endeavour to lessen the ailments of the body. ^ AAvaiting a conveyance to Jamaica, I am here in the meantime settling down into the domestic arrangements of invalids ; and if my looks Avere not counteractive, should doubtless receive much pity as I walk about ; great is my present comparative comfort, free from the malice ofthe Guiana Chronicle, from the surmises of some and the shyness of many, I am again a member of a social circle ; all anxious to mitigate each other's inconveniences, and to lighten the weari ness of absence from the domestic hearth ; bound by a strong tie of friendly feeling, the remaining links becoming stronger and stronger, as indi vidual ones slip aAvay. FcIIoav countrymen on a foreign shore are united in a very close bond of sympathy and friendship ; this Avas well evinced here the other day. The Emily packet ship sailing for Sa vannah, a number of Americans more under the in fluence of nostalgia than of real disease, end, i >ccd the opportunity of embarking for the States. The ship weighed anchor in the afternoon, and previ ously to this the small boats took the company on board ; the pier Avhcnce they Avere departing Avas croAvded with Americans, bidding adieu to their countrymen ; the sickly of many stages Avere present, those on whom consumption had fixed a stamp of certain doom, and others Avho yet hoped to undermine the insidious enemy. I mixed Avith the throng, and for a moment Avished to be an 120 LETTERS FROM American, that I might indulge with others, those hallowed feelings of friendship, which earthly trials do but endear. I looked upon the pallid faces around me, and endeavoured to fathom the feelings of each intellectual, reflective, expressive countenance; the "chordae vocales" were not much in requisition, but, doubtless, there were " hearts which knocked rather harder than usual against the bars of their prisons;" and though generally it may be said, " lacryma nihil citius arescit," I believe there were present, especially of the softer sex, some who could acknowledge from experience the parting hour was not easily forgot ten ; feeling the truth of Dr. Johnson's assertion, " there are few things of which, we can say, it is the last, without emotions of sorrow :" the present moment was separating those who were experi encing, — " Ob ! when my friend and I, In some thick wood have wandered heedless on, Hid from the vulgar eye, and sat us down Upon the sloping cowslip covered bank, Where the pure limpid stream has slid along In grateful errors tlirough tho underwood, Sweet murmuring ; methought tbe shrill touguod thrush Mended his song of love j the sooty blackbird Mellowed his pipe, and softened every nolo; The eglantine smclled sweeter, and the roso' Assumed a dye more deep ; whilst every Hewer Vied with his fellow plant in luxury Of dress." The final moment came, the passengers were all on board, the fore top sail was set, the Emily THE WEST INDIES. 127 glided sloAvly aAvay, as if unwilling too suddenly to. break off connection Avith the shore. 26th. Santa Cruz is devoted to sugar culti vation ; there are no mountains, but gently sAvell- ing hills, and these have canes to their summits. The produce varies much with the season ; ge nerally, for the Avhole island, it is estimated at twenty five thousand hogsheads ; last year a hogshead was worth one hundred and twenty dollars. The present is a very dry season, the produce is not expected to exceed thirteen thou sand hogsheads, and the price being reduced to eighty dollars, mercantile gloom is at present felt. I am informed that the King of Denmark receives a greater proportionate revenue from this little spot, than from any other portion of his dominions, arising from an export duty of twelve per cent, and a capitation task. I have spent part of a day with an extensiA^e planter, the brother of our hostess, in the centre of the island ; the road led through an avenue of cocoa nut palms, with cane fields on every hand. It being crop time, the wind-mills rotate daily and gaily ; the boiling houses are .at work, and a luscious fragrance salutes the Avindward traveller. I had much interesting conversation. There are fifteen thousand slaves on the island, and the Danish Government extends a degree of parental care toAvards them. American slave treatment is, in comparison, barbarous and horrid ; and even the British apprenticeship does not stand favour- 128 LETTERS FROM ably by its side. The gentleman I Avas visiting told me, no planter could punish a slave beyond confinement, till complained of to the Judge; (tAvo Judges being appointed for the island ;) that a pregnant Avoman cannot be Avorked at all, in the field, and that mothers cannot be punished in any Avay, till their infants are weaned at tAvelve months old. When slaves are sold, they have the liberty of objecting to a neAV master, and of choosing their OAvn ; therefore, when they know they are to be disposed of, they offer themselves to masters of good character, and Avhom they think they should like. A gang of fifty were at Avork in a cane field near by ; there Avas great order, quietness, and regularity; it was the oc cupation of one to supply the others with water, to quench their thirst. The gaol here is within the fort ; on visiting it, I found the apartments were all deserted ; no prisoners, whilst in health, are kept in close confinement, or tread a mill ; they work daily in the penal pang. This gang may be seen in West End, at different occupa tions ; their appearance is degraded and forlorn. Runaways have a chain round their necks, and a heavy stone at the other end ; Avhen moving, they hug the stone under one arm, and thus nurse their enemy ; others have fetters round their ankles : a driver attends them Avith a switch in his hand, as a mark of authority. The punish ments are awarded by the Judge, Avho sits daily to hear complaints ; they arc generally floggings, THE WEST INDIBS. 120 or rather scarifyings, with tamarind twigs, which are exceedingly pliant and tough ; the place of punishment is the open market place ; two were flogged there the other day. I saw one of them receive the infliction ; my motive, I trust, was not an innate love of cruelty ; the culprit was tied to a tree, Avith his arms over his head ; the striker laid down a bundle of tamarind twigs, picked one out, struck forcibly and sloAvly at the bare back of the negro, and after a few strokes, changed his broken twig for a fresh one ; each stroke Avas counted, and one hundred Avere ad ministered ; his companion had received one hundred and fifty. The punishment Avas very severe, and the flesh Avas lacerated ; the poor slave Avas much distressed, suing for pity during his tying up, and the preparations ; but after the first blow, a spirit of firm resolve seemed to sus tain him, and, save an occasional moan, accom panied with a look of scorn, he was dumb before his persecutors. The judge also decides disputes which do not relate to the negros, and his office is open daily to complaints ; the community is benefited by sources of irritation being quickly healed ; for instance — A young man, one of our boarders, borroAved a double barrelled gun; in firing it off, one of the barrels burst, and shat tered the stock ; the two parties could not agree upon the value of the fowling piece ; they went to the Judge, who gave his decision, the bor- roAver paid his estimate, and the difference ended. 130 LETTERS FROM Sunday markets here are in full operation, and barriers are extended across the streets, that the buyers and sellers may not be disturbed; some stores are open, and tailors may be seen at work ; and no wonder, since the Judge is em ploying masons at his house this very sabbath ; the hammering and chiselling were not prevented during the time of Church service. The English language is generally spoken here, even amongst the negros; this must be OAviil<>', in part, to the intercourse Avith America.. Tlie Episcopalian service is patronised by the wealthy, and it is read iu the English language ; the blacks have an allotted place in the church, but enter it at a different door: disrespect for the Sabbath is fostered by those in authority ; the Governor can remove any minister at a word, and the present Minister, from a sermon preached a fortnight ago, on the duties of the Sabbath, is in danger; one was disposessed of his office a short time back. Mora vians are the only Missionaries patronized, and they are highly valued ; they may be said to be, to the poor slaves, the sole religious instructors ; and the peace and contentment of the island are, in great measure, attributed to them. "O ! Christianity, were thy sublimest truths but a gilded phantom, he would be the deadliest foe to his species, who should seek to tear from before their eyes, the blessed illusion." Slaves on the estates are remarkably grateful for notice, and for .small presents ; in conversation with one, I men- THE WEST INDIES. 131 tioned that I had not tasted the sea side grape ; Ave parted, after a while he overtook me again, bear ing a plate full; he had turned aAvay to his hut to procure them. Their politeness must be in herent, else how could it withstand the terrible assaults made against it? " Good mornin', massa," and "good night, massa," accost the pedestrian here on all hands ; the whites have sought for too much servile flattery, and it has been injurious to their minds ; if they had, however, deserved it, one might belter excuse their love for it. One cannot walk out without seeing the impolicy of slave labour. I lately saw a gang carrying manure. to a field, a few shovels full were placed in a basket, and then lifted on the head ; as each was loaded he marched off to deposit it ; one ox would have drawn more than the whole gang. As the slaves must be maintained on the different estates, and kept from being mischievous, by employment, work is contrived for them in this silly way. I have had the opportunity of seeing the dis ease, "lepra elephantiasis;" the subject was of middle age; it affected, his right leg, which was nearly as large as his body, and consequently un wieldy and powerless ; the enlargement had been gradual in its progress ; it is doubtless a disease of the lymphatics, and of the surrounding cellular tissue ; it is untractable in its nature, the balance being destroyed between the capillary secretory ducts, and the absorbents; and the latter having 134 LETTERS FROM is too rife and rampant to be benefited by any change of air. Slavery on the Avhole bears a mild form in Santa Cruz; nevertheless, injustice protects it, as is the case wherever it is found. Our landlady, ~^~ — j is as kind as most slaveholders, aud a professing catholic ; yet she speaks of her un earned and undeserved gains with the same satis faction and indifference as if justice handed them to her. One of her slaves is a carpenter, clever, and faithful ; in his prime he earned tAventy-six dollars per ^ month, of Avhich his mistress took twenty, leaving him six to clothe and support himself. Now advanced in years, he only earns twelve, of which she takes eight, leaving him one dollar per Aveek for all his necessities, his mistress not even finding him lodging. She informs me he is happy and does not wish for freedom; where, amongst the civilised and educated whites is such patience to be found ? Santa Cruz is suffering from drought; the dry atmosphere has suited me, and I have felt much more energy and elasticity than in Demerara. The evenings are very favourable for enjoyment, enriched by gorge ous curtains moving along the Avcstern horizon, and indeed over tlie whole vault of heaven ; the sun-sets are most magnificent; and Phoebus nightly sinks into a bed of gold, which, as soon as he has laid doAvn his head, is enclosed by the most elegant drapery of " lilac and purple;" but the dies are not lasting, they change momentarily, and THE WEST INDIES. 135 the heavens gleam Avith the tints of a thousand rainbows. When Apollo's "broad globose" is fairly veiled, then the dance of colours begins ; then is the time to feast the eyes on heaven's rich " colure," to give reins to the mind, and freedom to the thought, and fully to indulge in the reveries created by a tropical sun-set. Very much I enjoy these evenings, pacing the sounding shore, near to or under the stately palms, which are highly picturesque and graceful in the mclloAved light. At times I visit a slave burial ground, situated on the borders of a cane field, along the gurgling shore ; few ofthe graves are unprotected, and many of them have brick tombstones : this attention told much for the slave; yet the proprie tor had not even fenced the ground so sacredly- occupied ; it mattered not, for the occupants, "the weary, were at rest." At other times, leaving the margin of the Avaves, and roaming to one estate or another, I watch the harvest and planting, which proceed simultaneously. The fields are noAv ridged, and in the holloAvs betAveen tlm ridges are placed cut lengths of ripe cane at their proper distances ; as soon as rain falls they will be covered over. On seeing the cane plants thus exposed, I concluded the negros were trust worthy, and not mischievously inclined, or they would carry aAvay tjie cane joints for their pigs, or displace them, to cause confusion ; my opinion is, that if our English farmers left their pota toes bare in a similar manner, a very small chance 136 LETTERS FROM for a crop Avould remain to them. At other times, wishing to indulge my horticultural taste, I visit a garden On a plantation which is open to invalids, and admire the variety of tropical fruit trees ; to be embowered amidst these Caribbean waters on a little spot, one of the smallest of the Antilles, as evening's shades are advancing, preparatory to the fall of night's sable mantle, induces a pensive mood, and an aspiration to Deity, that the moral grandeur of man, through his grace, might be on a par Avith the beauties of nature ; and that as the Caribs have ceased to prey on their fellow men, Europeans might also remove the grievous bur dens Avhich accompany their yoke of bondage : " Ambulant es in horto, audiebant vocem Dei." I remain, &c. ,«¦,,;.,)¦: ' •¦-•: /ii, ¦¦;..,¦' ".:*:¦ S,f a : :t.i^'"-'Jral I;? .1.'/-: :• t'AU' "1 c'¥ *»' ' .'.'', ,V* H* ¦fi$:s 3^tl'¥Pl'W" 'l,l ¦ * a, '>:#^; i>< '•; * fc&^.^lA'. J w THE WEST INDIES. 137 LETTER X. 5/. Thomas, 3rd. Month, 6th., 1S37. Mv Dear F it. Hearing that the brig Oscar, from London, was unloading here, aud Avould probably touch at Kingston, on her way to Campeachy, I left Santa Cruz hastily, lest I should miss the opportunity. I have engaged a passage ; and as the captain does not sail for several days, an opportunity is afforded me of obtaining farther acquaintance with this island. On leaving Santa Cruz by the same schooner in which lAvent over, my mind was pained with the brutal conduct ofthe captain to some of his creAv,^ who were poor slaves . Two of them had had permission to go ashore, with an injunction as to time ; they were not on board when the captain came, preparatory to weighing anchor ; ere long they came off in a boat, and on ascending the deck he flew into a passion, and Avith a cane belaboured them over head, face, neck, and shoulders. The poor blacks bore it as if a fly was settling on them, simply, saying "Massa, do forgive, we only little belated :" if they had shoAvn any retaliation, they would have been sent back, and perhaps committed T 138 LETTERS FROM by the judge to the penal gang. I am inclined to think no planter on the island Avould have been so abusive as this American, who hoAA'ever did not do more than their republican freedom permits, notwithstanding their declaration of independence proclaims. "We hold these truths to be self- evident ; that all men are created equal ; that they are endoAved bv their Creator, with certain and inalienable rights ; that among these arc life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness :" and does not this apply, thought I, " Quamvis Me niger, quamvis ta candidus esses." Are not yonder cane fields indebted to the negros for their waving arroAvs? and does not the continuance of the daily comfort and sustenance of the planter, depend upon their assiduous industry ? Yet thou who boastest of thy liberty, wouldst confine these poor slaves within the precincts of a schooner. I hope the day will come Avhen Americans shall no more dare to say, " de nic/ris non curat lex," but shall be obliged to act in accordance with their OAvn de claration. The Virgin islands are fifty in number, a small .company to represent the eleven thousand virgins in the Romish ritual; many of them are naked rocks: in others the mountains are covered with a red cal careous soil, which produces brush wood ; the trees, if ever existing, arc now extinct. St. Thomas's (not a very appropriate name for a virgin,) is of this character : tlie mountain on either side, projects out, enclosing a very extensive and beau- THE WEST INDIES. 139 tiful bay for shipping; and the toAvn, is built on three montecules, backed by a noble hill ; the ra vines separate the town into three divisions, which make a striking and unique appearance. Existing slave regulations are closely observed, a very active police is organised, and at gun fire at eight p. at., there is a reveille" of drums, police pa- trole the streets, and every slave found abroad is committed. The island grows but few canes, not manufacturing sugar enough for its OAvn con sumption ; nevertheless, there is abundance of v/ealth, arising from a flourishing commerce, oc casioned by having a free port, goods entering, only paying a duty of one per cent.; consequently St. Thomas is a depot to supply the Spanish islands, Porto Rico and Cuba. This port has the character of abetting slavery, they fit out and provision slaA-crs here ; I am informed two slavers recently sailed, and that two others have lately landed their cargoes at Porto Rico, in number upAvards of four hundred : slave A'essels at the present day are of a small class, altogether depend ing upon SAvift sailing ; the risk is so great, that insurances cannot be obtained, even at fifty per cent. Slaves here are, for the most part, domes tics and labourers ; a large building is now erect ing before the " Traveller.' s Home," Avhere my quarters arc ; the burden bearers to the masons are all women, Avho carry the mortar, and bring stones from the wharf ; they are decently dressed, straight as arrows, and go through their 140 LETTERS FROM daily labour sedately and orderly, in this hot sun; they are not worked almost naked as in Demerara, neither are there naked children run ning about. The negro countenance has not any attractions for me, but I admire their figure and gait, walking with chin up, and toes out; no crooked backs or boAved legs are met Avith • the diseases of luxury do not afflict them; one preventive is, they lie upon the boards,- beds for domestics are never thought of; with a mat on the floor, or at the foot of the stairs, they woo the ecstacy of repose, and seldom miss their object. From there being an abundance of hands here, and a scarcity in Demerara, tAvo schooners are at anchor, wishing to engage hands ; two hundred is the number they could convey : one of them had been to Tortola for indented labourers, but was disappointed ; the negros having a suspicion of unfair treatment, had sent a messenger to Demerara, to enquire into the fate of their brethren, and were anxiously awaiting his report and return. I do not believe Demerara will want labourers after 1840, if they find the colony healthy and are made comfortable ; it is thought that some of the islands will be almost depopu lated, after that period, by the population going to Demerara ; which means, that the "idle impro vident negro," will go hundreds of miles after la bour, and its reward. The Danish Governor here is very jealous of the Apprenticeship traders, and has issued an ordinance, that no negro shall leave THE WEST INDIES. 141 St. Thomas's, till he has been free twelve months. A Captain from Newcastle, (England) has this week had his vessel seized ; a hue and cry was raised, after he had left the port, that some slaves Avere missing; he was followed, the wind not favouring his escape, and brought back; it ap peared that he Avas short handed, and engaged two or three blacks, Avithout taking the precau tion of knowing whether they were free or not : he seems Avholly unacquainted with slave laws, and on this ground it is hoped, he may escape penalties and punishment. In one of my rambles I inspected a small cane mill, worked by six mules, three to each end of a beam, but, their distress Avas so great, and the flogging so continuous, I thought humane minds plight properly object to mule sugar. Some sugar is made over the mountain, and it is brought to the town without difficulty : two long poles are braced to the sides of two mules, standing one before the other ; a small cask of sugar is then tied between them, resting on the bars. Up the hill they start, and the leader has quite enough to do, tugging at the poles, with a cask of sugar resting on them, and his companion at the other end ; but once at the top, he comes down to St. Thomas's with evident satisfaction, head first, Avithout any danger of falling; his companion has to keep him up, who is evidently much annoyed at his pulling propensity, and has no other re source than throwing himself upon his haunches, 142 LETTERS FROM and thus in part, moderating the impetus of descent. The view from the top of the mountain is grand; Santa Cruz, Porto Rico, Tortola, St. Johns, and the Windward Keys, are all around, the three latter lie, as. it were, under one's feet; it is a task to accomplish the ascent Avithout a horse, but Avhen there,. no horse is thought of. "But beautiful islands, each ofwhich is a gem, Like to pearls in the crown of some rich diadem." A pleasant fragrance accompanies the pedestrian up the ascent, as if from " sweet Melissa," or from : — — groves of myrth, Or flow'ring odours, cassia, nard, and balm ; A wilderness of sweets ." Here then I stood one eA'ening, and only one ; and ere I left " Beheld the sun in western cadence low From noon; and gentle airs, due at that hour, To fan tho earth now wak'd, and ushered in The evening cool." It has gratified me to renew my acquaintance with L , who was one of our croAvded party from England, and who resides here. He informs me of the death of our fellow passenger, F , who died of fever shortly after reaching St. Thomas. He was the picture of health durin«- our voyage, not at all reminding us by his looks" THE WEST INDIES. 143 that "vita est breva"* In my Avalks I have been surprised at the numerous lizards, ¦ and amused at tlieir whimsical runnings, and inde pendent stare ; they are as plentiful and active in the banks as rabbits iu a Avarren, and look at the passing stranger, as much as to say, I know what I love, won't you treat me. This love is said to be for music ; Avhether or no they are sub ject to its influence I had no means of judging ; they inspected me as if I were a master of the art, and could dispense the treat ; they were mistaken in their Orpheus, as many others besides lizards ¦ have been. Sabbath here is neither accordant with the precepts of St. Thomas, nor with the emblem of Santa Cruz ; it is a day of dealing, and of marketing, with more shops open than shut ; those which are closed belong to the English and Scotch. There is much babblin negros giving full liberty & confusion, free to one little member. There are eggs for sale by thousands of the booby (pelecanus sula,) mentioned before, a perishinc commodity in this climate; they are procured from the neighbouring islands. Some fishes are quite gay in their colours, others astray in their forms, and have fanciful names to accord, as angels, trum peters, et cet. Star fish are very large ; I have preserved some twelve inches from ray to ray. * Since my return home I have heard of tho death of M of Trinidad, another " passager du voyage." His amiable qualities and accomplishments had endeared him to all. 144 LETTERS FROM 23rd, Kingston, Jamaica. One week's pleasant sailing landed nie here, a distance of seven hundred miles. Our captain had never been to Jamaica, and had no chronometer; yet he made a tolerably good land fall. One morning he promised us the land would be in sight at five, p. m., and at that hour he said it was distinct^ though not visible to any one else; bye and bye it loomed in Cynthia's light, and was in appear- ance dangerous ; the eastern point is low, and not being able at that hour to distinguish the blue mountains, the shore appears a threatening reef; the breakers are heard dashing against a dark line m the horizon,— that dark line is Jamaica ; if our course had not been true, how easily we might have run upon it. "One views the long wished head-land from the mast V, ith merry shouts, the far off coast he hails; Each points it out to each, until at last, They lose in present joy, the troubles of the past," The day broke, and very imposing then was the "land of springs,"* not with its water, but with its majestic blue mountains, the summit of which, called the Peak, was toAvering eight thousand feet above ns, and Avhich alone Avas indistinct, some fleecy vapours resting thereon, drawn by the at traction ofthe Aveighty mass; tAvo elements, earth and Ayater, were there combining their inherent qualities to fertilise the -'savannahs beloAV. We * Jamaica is an Indian name, signifying " land of springs." THE WEST INDIES. 145 sailed sufficiently near the shore to distinguish shipping in Morant Ray ; and soon after a boat, containing negros, came alongside, and one of them ascended the deck to conduct our ship into port, as when "A pilot from amidst the Cyclades, Delos, or Samoa, first appearing kens." A gallant sail ; we were all immediately subject to Quashie, because Ave Avere ignorant of coral reefs, with which he was intimately acquainted. "Knowledge is power." Europeans oavii the truth of this axiom ; in the tropics it has been modified to " Avhite skin is poAver ;" this unphilo- sophical change, in practice is found quite op posed to humanity and Christianity : soon after- Avards Ave cast anchor a breast of Port Royal. St. Domingo had been in sight, from our deck, a couple of days; we could distinguish the head lands, as JUtavella, Point Abacou; this, then, was Hayti, Avhich when discovered had a population of two millions of Indians, and in less than a century from that time, not a representative was left ! they had maintained their independence against the Caribs, but they could not preserve their life against the Christians. " Oft (lie pensive muse Bccals in tender thought, tho mournful scone, When the brave Incotel, from yonder rock, His last sad blessing to a weeping train, Dying, bequeathed. Tho hour (he said) arrives, By ancient sages to our sire's foretold ; 146 LETTERS FROM Pierce from tho deep, with heaven's own lightning armed, - Tlie paliid nation comes 4 blood marks their steps ; Man's agonies their sport ; and man their prey." This trip of seven days was a fair specimen of sailing in a sunny 'clime ; a gentle trade wind embraced bj' our wide spread canvass, propelled us pleasantly o'er smiling Avatcrs ; daily avc Avere watched over by the sun, whose tropical bright ness and uprightness unlock nature's secret stores of beauty and grandeur ; and at night wc Avere looked doAvn upon by glorious heavenly orbs, whose clear and lucid rays spread silvery mellowness o'er all the wide expanse. Almost hourly Ave were visited by feathered messengers, Avhose gay plumage was as a passport from the land of evergreens ;. they could not warble the "throssilts cheary note;" but so pleasing to the eye were they, that my sense of hearing might, Avithout difficulty, await its season of appropri ate charm, Avhich would arrive, AAmen iu northern shades, I might listen to the eA'ening songsters. It Avas not amiss, on such an occasion, to recal the lines of our honoured Milton : — " Now gentle gales, Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole Those balmy spoils. As when to thorn who sail Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are past Mozambique, offat.sea; north-east winds blow Sabo?.an odours from the spicy shore, Of Araby the blest;" THE WEST INDIES. 147 Vessels in general sail up the harbour to King ston, but the Oscar, going elseAvhere, cast anchor at Port Royal ; and I, with other passengers, en gaged a small sail boat for the remaining distance, seven miles ; it carried us swiftly up, near to the Palisades ; this is a long strip of land, extending for several miles, from above Kingston to Port Royal, leaving a narrow entrance into the inner bay. Mangroves flourishing on this long, low, narroAv peninsula, have caused it to have the fan ciful name of Palisades :* blue and Avhite egrets, and brown pelicans, have here their haunts, aud add an interest to the scene; overlooked, hoAvever, upon approaching, for the first time, Kingston, in Jamaica. We landed on a public stelling, at which there is an immediate charge made, perhaps, to liquidate the expense of erection ; for myself and luggage it Avas two dollars : such a reception is someAvhat uncourteous, and unworthy of so wealthy a community. I now parted from my felloAV voyagers, amongst whom was a gentle man, Avith wife and family ; he Avas a fond father, but fondness had produced a noxious Aveed, pas sion, in a son four years old : the uncontrollable temper of this boy discomfited the whole cabin, and the language he uttered Avas so aAvful, that of * The naked pendent stems from the branches, which, after reaching the mud, root downwards to shoot upwards, and so on ad infinitum, aro supposed to have a resemblance to a pail fence, — hence palisades. 148 LETTERS FROM him it might truly be said, though young in years, he was old in crime. Kingston is a well built large toAvn, of thirty thousand inhabitants; some streets run parallel Avith the bay, and are crossed by others at right angles ; many of the houses are large, standing alone in enclosures ; the streets are unpaved, and having a surface of loose sand, it is as troublesome as at Southport, Lancashire, where it is said, ladies walk the sand in their shoes, and then en deavour to Avalk it out ; what increases .the incon venience is, there are no proper foot ways ; they vary as to height, and are generally enclosed under the balconies, forming part of the house, Avhere goods are exposed for sale, the owners sitting contentedly by on their chairs. 25th. I had yesterday the pleasure of again meeting my friends Joseph Sturge and Thomas Harvey, on their return from an inland journey of several weeks, having visited a great part of the island. J. S. is intending to return home by an early conveyance; 27th. Yesterday was the Sabbath; we at tended a large Baptist Missionary congregation, under the pastoral care of J. Gardiner.* When crowded, the meeting-house holds two thousand. There are attached, a boys', girls', and infant * This devoted Christian Minister was at the time X wrote. tho picture of health ; hois now no more : ho succeeded the lamented Coiiltiiart, of the Qncen-strcct Chapel, and like him has resigned his earthly tabornaclo. THE WEST INDIES. 149 school. It is pleasant to Avitness education pro ceeding ; children are in general very happy when receiving instruction. In the evening we drank tea with an estimable gentleman, W. H. Ander son, the solicitor-general, who married a young woman, L. K , sent out from England to take charge of the Spanish Toavii Metropolitan girls' school. Their home is one of domestic fe- lecity; and their kindness to us was as sincere as it Avas cordial. W. R. A. is a true philanthro pist, and has sacrificed much time in bringing to justice several oppressors ; but they are made to suffer little, the juries bring in verdicts of damages, one pound fifteen shillings, which do not carry costs ; no verdict under tAvo pounds does, so that he has much discouragement. There is much and fearful oppression here, and a de termined spirit of opposition against the doctrine of "good Avill to man." One subject of our con versation was the overwhelming calamity of W. B , episcopal minister at St. Ann's Bay ; he has been for years a pro-slavery advocate, but is at the present time humbled in the dust Avith affliction, from the harrowing catastrophe of seeing his four lovely and accomplished daughters perish in the bay by a boat upsetting. For some time his mind was in danger ; he could not re concile the severity of the judgment ; he now prays to be brought to a Avillingncss to view it as the only means which Avould bring him to a just estimate of his situation in the Divine sight ; 150 LETTERS FROM and is made willing to see in it the hand of Pro vidence for the salvation of his soul. The ac counts given by those who have visited him, is painfully interesting. He has one little boy left, but cannot receive consolation from so small a representative of his once cheerful circle. 4th Month, 1st. I accompanied Joseph Sturge on a visit to the Papine Estate,- proprietor, J. B. W • An infant school has been established on the estate ; the children behaved well, and had made some progress. This estate is irrigated by the Hope river, diverted from its course by tho purpose. The barracks arc likewise supplied from this source ; and J. B. W. is said to receiAre six hundred pounds per annum for the right. It is truly pleasant to see running Avater in this thirsty clime, and it is so valuable, that the Avhole stream has been made to leave its mountain-bed, which instead of a foaming river, has thus become a rocky barranca. From the Papine avc rode to Grecia Regale, in the St. Catherine mountains, the residence of Stephen Bourne, a Special Magistrate; Avhose conscientious administration of the laAv, in the spirit of the Imperial Act, has brought doAvn upon him ruinous persecution, and he is liable at any time to be sold up under an unjust conviction of one of the Law courts. The ride to the cottage gratifies to the utmost the eye longing aud searching after novel scenery; it is riveted by the wildness and originality of nature's eternal hills, united AA'ith tlie evergreen THE AVEST INDIES. 151 verdure of tropical beauty. On being introduced to Mrs. B and a numerous interesting family, I at once felt at home ; the house is situated on the hill side of a mountain gorge, through which the Hope river tumbles hurriedly along, and by the side of which a capital road has been formed, Avinding higher and higher in its approach to St. Catherine's Peak, a summit five thousand feet high ; being the means of approach to country residences, and coffee plantations, located at the intermediate degrees of elevation. Grecia Regale, a small estate, could not boast of many coffee trees, but there Avere various plants and productions to interest the stranger : before the piazza was an orange tree in full bearing, the "golden rinds hung amiable." Wc gathered them at our pleasure; they Avere as excellent to the taste as pleasant to the eye : oranges gathered before they are ripe, and which ripen on their Northern journey to England, deserve no comparison. Here Avas the sago palm, modestly Ioav, three feet high :* the pimento with its smooth silvery bark and iron hearted stem, sending forth its almost perpendicular branches, thickly clothed with fragrant leaves and fruit. Here the luscious pine apple (anana) growing as openly as our turnip in unsheltered spots ; and the stately mangos, clainiing no other succour This Palm, in tho East Indies, attains tho height of fifty foot ; it delights in moist situations : I never saw it but on ele vated ground, and this may bo the reason of its humble sta ture in the West. 152 LETTERS FROM than common forest trees, and soon rivalling them in height, and surpassing them in a most bountiful lavish return of fragrant fruit ; there are ten species of this valuable productive tree, offering their bounty to horses, goats, and pigs, Avhich animals are very fond of them : the fruit is the size of a moderate sized apple, having, a hard core, from which membranous strings radi ate to the circumference ; these fibres are trouble some to a novice, but the turpentine smack is the most difficult to reconcile ; the palate improves hy practise, and after wounding and throwing many away, I could at last boast of relishing a mango. The delicate tender star apple also, hung pendent from its- parent stem, about tAvelve feet high ; it causes no difficulty ; its thin rind, tinted like the rainboAV, offers little resistance to the escape of its luscious pulp. Amidst this horticultural profusion, my heart for a moment, lost its apprenticeship oppression, and abandoned itself to cheering admiration and useful investi gation : questions about distress, oppression, and misery, I deferred to the more appropriate sites of Half-Avay-trce Avorkhouse, and Spanish Toavu gaol; Grecia Regale eliciting other ideas, from the pleasant impressions conveyed by its Avoody laby rinths, and its fruitful boAvers. Rain in the evening prevented our return, and in the night a thunder storm first aroused us, and then pro moted silence, by its grandeur ; it Avas awful, our little mountain tenement seemed to totter, as if THE AVEST INDIES. 153 made of pasteboard, during the pealing thunders and the hollow mountain reverberations ; the sounds Avere as of the mountains clashing their heads, or as if the " Hills amid the air, encountered hills, Hurled to and fro with jaculation dire." I Avas really afraid our cottage would have been uprooted in the affray, and that Ave should have been tumbled into the river Hope, and sunk in a hopeless river. We rose early, and mounted our horses, whilst every leaf Avas pearled Avith crystal drops. One mile from the house, the road Avhere it Avound under a precipice, was blocked up by huge fragments of rock, which had been precipitated dur ing the storm from above: the reason, who can tell ? there was the fact and proof, one crag had lost its croAvn. As we rode over the Liguanea sandy plain into Kingston, its herbs and herblets were revivify ing and rebudding. Rain in the tropics is the magi cian's AA-and ; it touches the dusty parched leaves, and greenness is theirs ; it moistens the sandy plain brown and sapless as the scattered fern, and the neAvness of spring bursts from its surface, and bedecks it Avith the modest beauties of the vale. This plain betAveen Kingston and the mountains is several miles Avide ; part is uncultivated and occu pied by logwood and acacias, the former is not un like old scraggy thorn bushes, such as may be seen in the Phcenix Park, Dublin ; in the forest, it is a tall imposing tree, but on the plain behind King- x 154 LETTEUS FROM ston, it is the picture of despair. There are also pens;* some of the enclosures are surrounded by an upright cactus, impenetrable; the shoots have different heights, the tallest fifteen feet, and others intermediate, forming barriers which for bid intrusion. Cottages and small plots are ge nerally surrounded by the penguin, which grows much like an aloe, each leaf is armed with a pro truding spike. Occasionally the Spanish dagger (yucca superba) is planted, as a hedge row; but on growing aloft, its stems become bare, and thus pigs walk under what they could not Avalk over. Joseph Sturge, Avhose company has been truly acceptable and encouraging, will be the bearer of my next, in which I shall continue my narrative. I remain, &c. Pen is synonymous with an English country seat. THE WEST INDIES. 155 LETTER XI. Kingston, Jamaica, toh. Month, 2nd., 1837. My Dear F R. There is no want of good boarding houses and taverns in Kingston ; my quarters are a little distance from my friends ; at present there is not room for me in their comfortable abode. I have remarked in the tropics how much the resi dents think of England; all classes, even the negros, calling it " home ;" and Iioav many of the more Avealthy inhabitants have visited and re visited Albion's cliffs ; if natives of Britain, a revisit seems a matter of course. Their oceanic peregrinations produce varied experience. My landlady embarked with many others from Lon don in the Flora, 15th of last 9th month ; they were detained in the channel ; and on the 12th of 10th month, the night the Clarendon was lost, on the Isle of Wight, they gave themselves up for lost, and assembled in the cabin to compose their minds, by hearing the bible read, expecting the event ; the captain having informed them they would be wrecked in one hour, if the wind did not change; soon after it veered a little, and 156 LETTERS FROM enabled them to reach Ryde. The following morning they saAv several corpses of the sufferers by the Clarendon, carried to their graves. The howling storm arose not to abate, E'en hoping against hope at last was gone; Victims they were, of that heart-vending fate, Which late befel tho goodly Clarendon ; For she was wrecked upon tho Isle of Wight, 'Midst storms of darkness, in a wintery night. Of many souls in her, there were no more Than three or iivo escaped that fearful death : Driven by winds upon that dreaded shore; First they were wrecked ; and then their fluttering breath From earthly tabernacles passed and fled, And they 'ere morning's dawn were with the dead. Willi home in sight, almost within their roach, The daDgcrs of the a tian tic left behind; When, lo ! their vessel stranded on tho beajb, Ituin and wreck, and certain death to find ; Strong and with hope she left thy isle, St. Kitts, But Albion saw her shattered into bits. The Avind on the 1/th, which wafted our Sky lark: out of Falmouth, enabled the Flora to pur sue her course, and they reached Jamaica ten weeks after leaving the Thames. The Avife and daughter of J. Tinson, (senior Baptist Mis sionary,) have also lately returned from England ; they were at sea near twelve weeks. The ocean made breaches over them, and burst into their berths ; Avhcrcas avc Avere little more than three THE WEST INDIES. 157 weeks reaching Barbadoes, and had not a breaker over us ; in the latter case making a difference as to time of eight weeks, though Jamaica is not a thousand miles farther from England than Barbadoes. The Oscar, by which I came here, left St. Kitts in the summer of the previous year, Avith the Clarendon, Avhich being the largest and the newest vessel was most approved of. She sailed for England full of passengers, all of whom perished. The Oscar had one solitary individual, Avho reached London in safety. "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong." We have visited Wolmer's free school, which has been founded upwards of a hundred years. A gentleman of that name bequeathed all his estate, real and personal, except some trifling legacies, for that purpose. Some examinations were conducted in our presence, highly satisfac tory. A Mulatto boy was the quickest at arith metic : he answered three questions of pounds, shillings, and pence, complicated in their nature, in three quarters of a minute. An infant school is now attached under the same endowment ; and avc were equally gratified with it. It is superin tended by E. Ruin, Avhose daughter is teacher; he has been head master twenty-three years. There are five hundred scholars in this charity. There are in Kingston tAvo schools on Wolmer's foundation, three national, four Mico, one baptist, one Jamaica union, and ten sunday schools, be- 158 LETTERS FROM sides many respectable private seminaries. We called at the Union school ; it being* Easter there was no attendance. The building is very suitable. This school is supported by subscrip tions, and a grant from the Assembly ; the pupils also pay ; with a feAV exceptions they are all black or coloured ; but at Wolmer's, though there is said to be free admission, not many blacks attend. In company with R. Osborn, a coloured gen tleman, and a proprietor of the Watchman neAvs- paper, we visited the gaol, a most defective place. The condemned and untried are mixed pellmell iu a small yard, thirty yards by eight, in Avhich upwards of sixty are crowded together, chief part with irons on their legs ; some have been prisoners for years, though sentenced to transportation. Rations are not distributed, but money, one shilling and threepence each per diem, Avhich is a great incentive to gambling. A cruel custom is extant here of imprisoning croAvn witnesses, until the assizes, though merely accidental eye Avitnesses. We saw one who had been imprisoned for months, as a croAvn witness, though guilty of no crime ; thus — if a negro beholds an out-break, and the GoArernor takes up the cause, into limbo he or she must go for three or seven months, till the trial is over. Barbarous cruelty this ! The debtor's gaol is attached ; they have a roomy flagged yard, and good apartments, and are alloAvedtwo shillings and sixpence per diem each in money at the island's expense. Money in gaol is a premium for THE WEST INDIES. 159 vice. The debtors appeared to me to be chiefly Avhites : this is one reason they are so Avell off. R. Osborn also accompanied us to the workhouse, situated at some distance ; it is a pattern of clean liness, and I may say elegance, as regards the court yard, and the arrangement of its buildings. Two tread Avheels are in operation here; the dancers are on every alternate quarter of an hour, from six a. m., to five p. m. ; very severe work. They are not tied or held on, but reminded of their duty by a driver with a switch. These Avheels have no machinery attached ; perhaps that is a mercy, though I am inclined to think that it is disheartening, when an individual knows his labour tends to nothing. If the wheels must go round, they might pump water for baths ; great would be such a luxury ; but there is little public spirit : open sea bathing on account of sharks is out of the question. A sailor the other day AA'ould bathe in the harbour ; as he was regaining the boat, all the flesh was torn from his leg, and amputation was necessary. A lazaretto occupies one corner of the yard, there were a feAV cases of lepra leontiasis, knoAvn as the coco bay disease ; in this complaint the extremities drop off little by little ; one poor man had not a single finger left, and mere stumps of toes ; and a woman AAras in a similar melancholy state : this is a very different com plaint to the elephantiasis, which is an excess of deposition ; the leontiasis seems one of innu- 160 LETTERS FROM trition, and otherwise; than of the lymphatics, is a disease of the arteries, but why they should be obstructed and perish, I know not ; "felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas ;" then it might be hoped a remedy would be found, on the prin ciple that " the knoAvledge of a disease is half its cure." Medical men should always bear in mind, " in vivum corpus medicament a agunt ,-" this remembrance would stimulate them to per severe after a remedy ; yes, to search the " ar cana of nature," that poor suffering humanity might be relieved. The complaint is much dread ed as highly infectious ; the poor objects arc dungeoned, never to associate Avith others: negros are alone subject to its influence ; happily it is uncommon. The town hospital afterwards claimed our attention,' a large, clean, and Avell regulated charity, crowded Avith patients : insane are mingled Avith the sick, they are the inoffensive ones ; close at hand is a public lunatic asylum, containing many bad cases ; two of the worst were British, a female servant who had not been out more than fifteen months, and an Irishman : it is humbling to find one's countrymen shut up in cells, so far from home, forlorn and shattered in mind and body: Avhat an amount of real misery may be seen in a feAV hours, in an hospital, a lunatic asylum, a gaol, and house of correction ! How different are the sensations on visiting schools, where youthful life sparkles with the acquirements of knoAvledge ; and Avhere, as yet, THE AVEST INDIES, 161 there has been no blast from the touch of this Avicked world. In one cell Avas an insane negro, who had previously murdered his companion in confinement; yet he was loose, in company Avith two more patients, as if, having despatched one, he might try his hand on two. A hot climate does not, it is clear, prevent insanity; I have never seen more violent and noisy patients, and in the case of the servant girl, Avas it anxiety of mind, or change of temperature which produced it? annoyance often follows removing persons from their native shores. A Scotch servant, avIio accompanied the captain of engineers and his lady to St. Kitts, was much discomfited, and openly reproached them ; she had willingly come as far as Barbadoes, but could not bear the idea of being so far from home as St. Kitts, and her mind acting upon this inconsistency, pacifica tion was not easAr. Dr. Madden, in his "Twelvemonth's Resi dence in the West Indies," gives a singular ac count of an individual being immured in this asylum, who had written to him about his im prisonment. He had once been a planter, after wards a schoolmaster; and for certain political peccadilloes of a poetical kind, he Avas incar cerated in this madhouse. " The man assuredly, (says the Doctor) when I saw him, was no more insane than I was. I sent for the tAvo principal keepers, and the matron of the hospital ; I asked their opinion of the man's sanity ; they all ele- 162 LETTEUS FROM clared that he was perfectly sane. This poof man concludes his letter by assuring me of his sanity of mind ; and, by way of proving it, he encloses me a copy of a song of his. Now this, certainly, might be an equivocal proof of sound ness of mind before a jury of physicians, furiously disposed against the "insana studia" of rhyme, as old Burton speaks of similar inquisi tors ; but though he will have it that all poets are mad, and that he who inflicts his verses on his friends is madder than his fellows, he by no means recommends that all such mad men should be immured. I made up my mind to write no poetry while I was in Jamaica ; from the period of my visit to this poor man, I had a salutary apprehension of a Kingston madhouse." I copy this account with two verses and chorus of the song for thy perusal, that thou mayest sec Iioav much farther the Jamaica literati have ad vanced in their determination to crush Mel pomene than our English reviewers, aud their critical readers. TO LADY LIBERTY* > " Oh ! who comes smiling on thy car, Aurora say — so brilliantly ? Who is tliis other morning star, That dawns with day benignantly ? * This was written after the passing of the British Eman cipation Act. THE AVEST INDIES. 163 Who docs not ken her bonnio smile ? She long has pined in jeopardy; But now I bring to this fair islo Your own sweet lady— Liberty ! We'll lead 'her o'er St. Anna's grove, Thro' fairy dells of spicy trees ; The bonnie dame ! our queen of love, Her weary wings at length shall ease ; Enthroned on yon Blue Mountain peak, View Grande", " rolling rapidly," On Buxton hills the shrine we'll seek, Of our swoet lady— Liberty ! cuo aus. Hark ! now her song Jamaica sings, O'er hill and dale, o'er bower and tree ; Wo consecrate tlie " land of springs" To lovely lady— Liberty !" The Birmingham testimonial, presented to Joseph Sturge before his departure, found its way here, and has firmly stamped him as a true and devoted philanthropist. Planters are like other men, desirous of shoAving attention to men of worth ; and on this occasion they have vied with each other. Many of them are endeavouring to make the best of what they consider a robbery: twenty millions iu the eyes of such men is a very hght matter, in comparison Avith the many tons weight of human flesh they have lost. Society here is in a most unnatural state. Slavery is so accurs ed, it pollutes every spring of society; it is utterly opposed to christian principle; one proof of which 164 LETTERS from is, planters never defend it on that ground, or speak of their apprentices with christian senti- • ments. Now, if Christianity bore slavery on its fruit-bearing branches, planters Avould refer us to that stem for its origin, on the ground that a tree and its fruits are inseparable. How pitiful is that state of society, Avhen a man may sin to the utmost in sins which arc allowed, and as colonists like sinning, and be esteemed! but if he acts up to the law of right and wrong, if that law is uncongenial, he is persecuted with rancour ;— exemplum.— Dr. Palmer.* Slavery is a canker-worm in all its labyrinthical tAA-istings, no matter how named; whether ap prentice ship, rightful owner ship, or proprietary ship ; these ships are all first, cousins to slave ship, which has long been denounced by the unanimous voice of the British public. What is now oc curring is a convincing proof that it is Avell to call things by their right names, and then they can be understood : " aqurc potor,ficum vocoficum." " We have no need to rpiote the Stagyrite, To prove that smoke'asoends, that snow is white." 1 give the planters credit for never having palmed a new name on the British public. Their negros were slaves, and the service they rendered slavery; but the pseudo philanthropy of Lord Stanley discovered that apprenticeship was a better term, * Dr. Palmer married a coloured woman. THE WEST INDIES. 165 and would sound as a logical derivation from that wicked root. It was adopted; but, now, after tAvo years, John Bull, with his argus eyes, sees that it is only a new name for an old enemy; and he is so wrathful, I verily believe he will root out both the parent stock and the derivation; and be more cautious for the future, than to give tAventy millions for the privilege of changing one Avord for another. 4th. I have had the pleasure of visiting J. Tinson, and of partaking of the privilege of christian converse, in his small, polite, and re fined social circle. His family comprises a wife and daughter. On the last Sabbath I attended his Chapel ; it is much smaller than J. Gardiner's, in Queen-street. His service varies a little ; after reading a chapter in the Old Testament, he ex pounds and comments on the verses, and then reads a chapter in the New, and does the same. He finds the negros are more benefited by this method than Avhen the chapters pass Avithout ex planation. His sermon, Avhich was impressive, concluded the service. Previously he prayed earnestly for a blessing on J. Sturcvk's visit of love. J. S. tells me this has been general throughout the island: it warms the heart Avhen in a foreign country, avc find such sympathy and interest. The audience as usual was most quiet : not a cough, not a hem to be heard. The Sab bath is evidently respected in Kingston by all ranks ; there are feAV vehicles to be seen moving; 166 LETTERS FROM hence much quietness in the streets. Negros; deeply value christian observances; and what a blessing it is they have not been Avithheld. In this good cause the missionaries are the labourers; but the government who has sanctioned it, and the Avhole island, arc hoav reaping the benefit. Yes ! the planters are indebted for their safety and prosperity to the prevalence of christian principle by these devoted men ; it has enabled the afflicted, the distressed, the persecuted, to withstand the impetuosity of their enemies Avith patience and endurance ; and the victory will he theirs. From the support and countenance Ave recei\'e, another proof is added that christians need not be afraid of doing good. I believe timorous minds are somewhat fearful of others stepping forward ; who, nevertheless, if they pos sessed the same apprehended duty, Avould be bold and persevering. The Attorney General, Doavel O'Reily; the Solicitor General, W. H. Ander son; W. Ramsay; R. Hij,^ Under Secretary; Charles Harvey, and others, call openly, and visit us. With such advocates by our side, Ave march boldly on in the .path of philanthropy : these, pioneers are clearing the way; and the path Avhich Avas but narrow, is daily becoming wider. The Baptist Minister, James Gardiner, drove me recently to an estate six miles in the country, to sec a member of his congregation, who had been "Obeahed" by an Obi man ; that is, an admin istration of African witchcraft, and it has such THE AVEST INDIES. 167 influence on the negros, that death has been known to folloAv : on this account, the laws are very severe against the operators, who are imprisoned and tried for their lives. The individual Avhom Ave visited, was an intelligent "quadroon," a book keeper on the estate ; he says that the Obi man called at his house, and asked him to change some silver ; he offered what change he had ; Obi said it would not do, and went away muttering vengeance ; that night the bookkeeper had fright ful dreams about Obi, and a severe pain seized his head and limbs ; he Avent to Obi, and asked him Avhat he had done, and told him he would be punished : a boy afterwards called at his house, and told him he must look at his legs ; there were things to come out, though they had no sores at the time; after examining them, the boy produced a basin with odd things in it, shells, bits of pipe, charcoal, insects, and feathers, which things he said he had extracted. ' The bottle and its con tents I saw, and the man shoAved me his legs ; on one of them, there are now three irritable &ulcers, and two on the other ; the sufferer is reduced so much, as to make his recovery doubtful. The Obi man is imprisoued Availing the event. The book-keeper's present state is one of actual dis ease; and of that kind, and to that degree, Avhich Avould seem to be impossible to be produced solely by a terrified imagination : if not, it Avas a curious coincidence that disease should establish itself at the precise juncture, when Obi said he 168 LETTERS FROM should be " Obeahed." In Africa all the inmates of a house are " Obeahed" at once, by nailing a bundle of Avitchcraft on the door; of which feathers and dead skins form a considerable part. Dr. Mad den remarks, "There are two descriptions of Obeah ; one that is practised by means of incan tations, and the other, by the administering of medicated potions : in* former times, it is said, of poisons ; and these practitioners were called myal men. The "fetish" is the African divinity, invoked by the negros in the practise of Obeah. When they take an oath, they say they " take the fetish ;" and Avhen they Avorship, they " make fetish." "In this, as in many other matters, the exertions of the Missionaries have been evidently beneficial to the negros : Obeah no longer has the poAver of producing mischief to the extent it formerly did." Wc bid adieu to the afflicted book-keeper, Avhose cottage Avas neat and com fortable, and returned to Kingston, in company with an itinerant Baptist Minister, T. Thompson, also agent to the London Bible Society ; his con versation interested me. Some time before when he paid a visit to Hayti, he was treated with cordiality by President Bover, and his black subjects ; T. T.'s opinion is, that their difficul ties are not from idleness, but from other causes : one of which is, the large debt they owe to France, and not being able at present to pay it, all the young men become soldiers, to be prepared against any attempt to reduce them again to bondage : THE WEST INDIK3. 169 another is, the ban under which they have been placed by other communities : the ports of Ja maica are shut against them, though the islands are not one hundred miles apart. Now, what Avould England be, if excommunicated by the rest of the world, and her commerce destroyed ? doubtless as poor. The Prime Minister told T he Avas as tonished at the English having their court of judgment at the Havannah, for the liberated Africans, and Avhich Africans arc allotted out to the Spanish planters in Cuba, as apprentices, on conditions that they make annual returns of them, whether dead or living. For this purpose the planters give them names, and make returns of two or three of these new names dying every year, though their bodies arc still living. By this means the liberated Africans are all nominally registered as dead and buried ; but the slave gang is complete and alive ; in fact the planter has converted the apprenticed Africans into perma nent slaves. Silly John Bull ! in this AA'ay thy money is wasted ; in the outfit of cruizers to ex tinguish the slave trade ; but indeed to supply CubaAvith apprentices, or in simple English, with slaves. Boater's minister said to T , if these Africans Avere sent to Hayti, Ave should be glad of them ; Ave should not require any appren ticeship ; they should be free — really free at once. T informs me that the manners of life as travelling, are much the same as in Jamaica ; that the Avomen and children are much better clothed ; 370 LETTERS FROM and that the Haytians in the arts of civilised life are far advanced. In Port au Prince, the capital, there are five public government schools; all re ligions are tolerated, and T had free permis sion to preach the gospel, and his audiences Avere large ; the languages spoken arc the Spanish and French. Cuba is a dark spot. A Scotch gen tleman, recently from thence, tells me he Avas assured from competent authority, that three thousand African slaves had been landed there in the first two months of this present year. Doubtless all this outrage will terminate in the negros having possession of the countries into which they are transplanted, from the simple reason that they thrive, whilst the whites de generate, unless their loyalty is insured on the basis of equal rights ; when this has taken place in the British colonies, it will secure them to the British empire. I long that Jamaica might be come a beacon to these benighted regions; and' it Avould, Avith a sound spirited governor, and with its ports opened to Hayti, which would be the best of policy; if the home government would be fully just, the planters Avould yield; they are blind at present to their own interests. 6th. This letter folloAvs my last quickly; Joseph Sturge will be the bearer of it ; he has concluded to sail in the Orbit for NeAV York to morrow morning. Thomas Harvey and I re main a few weeks longer, that Ave may extend our observations and investigations to some other parishes not yet visited. I remain, &c. t- 2 a X S3 ^ F* OJ S g s. Sag " a- 5 :¦• 8 5 ci =: o r- en 14 3 d O .— i cj -s cj CJ T3 Cm So ; — j <1> « o -a t3 T! oj y .— ti % a 5 ^ S _r .„ rt S _i* I C! ' — .y ,. en r"d c3 K? in s k: PiW £ CJ CJ ci ^H bo O .5 «j ¦S E o -a — 1 o .-. cj .O *j ii o -p c .s oc be o o 2 o s Ui ci CJ o X! ^2 S ° •-> CJ ,-; co ci "o t^ rS CJ O O 5 o ¦» O ^3 .CJ a i— i M S ^ H o ^i CJ c .2 . c tfl I .ti rf ¦"-* t^ 'Cd en S^ ** •-< O if] ^ CJ +> •3 ^ CO «\ 1^- Sot. — ' Cl, CJ u > tn s o O l-H P s +3 .^H r-> her' CO ^5 C — CJ c3 " fcfl 5; *- en ed jS g fcC'S Ph .5 '? CJ te * O Tj +J +J tn QJ o ^ 5-1 X5 CJ -J3 *CJ ^ cj 35 .2 -5 "^ ^ « a co C3 o i- tD cj o CJJ CJ o 5 M 3 c CJ tio CJ 3 O C CJ > VC '¦0*Bijr}Kr2 £ W-^r '-;;V.t fc'-^V^.v fc- ¦ "rsmm wmmmmm ~M$ r.'' -W -;-'.'. 172 LETTERS FROM horn, Avho has charge of the Queen-street Chapel boys' school ; an estimable character ; the same may be said of the family; one brother has sacri ficed patronage and Avealth, declining the pro fession of laAV, which was open to him, and has devoted himself to the Missionary service ; he iioav occupies a station on the Island ; another, who is in England, has freed his apprentices, and given up his compensation. At ten r. m., J. S. went on board, leaving us to partake of Missionary kindness. Early next morning, T. Harvjsy and I walked round Fort Charles, situated at the point of the Peninsula, and defending the narrow entrance to the inner harbour ; on the opposite shore, Ave descried the apostles' battery, so named from having twelve guns ; a far fetched allusion ; and farther up the Bay, stands Fort Augusta, an imposing military station. The Orbit had Aveighed anchor, was glid ing gently away, and carrying our friend and com panion J. S., onAvard in his orbit of philanthropy and love. We visited the naval hospital, an admirable edifice ; the building is surrounded by a piazza, extending from the ground to the roof ; this balcony, at the sides, is three hundred feet long; the sun is thus shut out from the whole of the Avards, and the convalescents can Avalk in the shade at all times ; the jalousies of the piazza are painted green, giving a picturesque and lively effect to the whole : the hospital, at present, is almost void, yet in a feAV Aveeks, the yclloAV fever TUB WISST INI) IKS. 173 might put every bed in requisition. Excepting the fort and hospital, Port Royal is shabby in its appearance: this is Port Royal the second; it has never rivalled the first, which Avas SAvalloAved up by an earthquake in three minutes, in 1692 : its remains are said to be yet visible at the bottom of the sea, on close inspection : the present, toAvn is a very hot unsheltered place ; and the smell of salt fish, and other sea port effluvia, extend through it. Salt fish is a chief article of diet, and when acted upon by the sun is highly odor iferous ; and inclines him Avho is sensitive, " cor- rugerc narem :" the shops Avhere it is kept, and the negros who carry it about, are perceptible to the olfactory nen'es, at a considerable distance. The annoyance, hoAvever, par eminence, at Port Royal, is the hoAvling of dogs through the night ; one begins, but the solus soon becomes a chorus of twelve or tAventy voices, and the most extra ordinary canine combinations of sounds take place, expelling at once silence and sleep from the toAvn. After an early breakfast, Ave returned to Kingston, a sail of only a feAV miles ; but those few are stamped with the sublimest scenery, embracing the characteristics of European lake and mountain vistas, and possessing other features, peculiar to the tropics. Kingston opens prettily out, ex tending up the gradually ascending Liguanea plain; behind the city is Up-Park Camp, looking down upon the toAvn, the shipping, and the bajr, as if watchful of the interests of all, backed bv the loAvest ranges of hills. i/d* LETTERS from Which are out topt, and these ag-aia o'orlooked ;- Behold St. Catherine's- Peak" outvies them all ; Yet still no mastery, for hills behind Upwards on high ascend, till where they meet That peak so blue, which towers unto the skies. Jamaica scenery acquires one of its features from this blueness of its highest mountain ranges • the nearer heights are beheld clothed with trees, the more distant ones are softened down to a delicate blueishtint, which adds the utmost grace of nature's tinting to the scene; the blue peak itself is often im perceptible, being delicately veiled with a vapoury wreath, even whilst the heavens are clear and bright as crystal; no disfigurement this ; it is the the most tender commingling of earth with hea ven imaginable, and fills the mind with unfading impressions of the glorious harmonies of this one universe. Yesterday, T. Harvey and I left Kingston for this place, nineteen miles ; five o'clock, a. m. is the hour most approved of for journeyino- ; be tween Avhich hour and eight, there is sufficient time to accomplish a long stage, and the same towards evening; by which arrangement horses work as well as they .do at "home," and take the year throughout certainly better. Though Ave Avere moving at this early hour, the "idle ami im provident" Avere up before us ; it Avas market day, * In round numbers St. Catherine's Peak is four thousand feet above the level of the sea, tho Bluo Peak ciaht thousand feet. THE WKST INDIES. 175 and an open market place, at the edge of thetoAvn, was thronged with black hucksters ; others were pouring in, and Ave met very many, laden heavily on, their heads, earnestly trudging for their profit : a busier scene could not be found in industrious England ; yet, this Avas on the Saturday, a day •which the planters said could not be converted into a market day, because the negros had always desecrated the Sabbath to that purpose ! yet the change has been at once effected ; and I believe there is no town in England with as many inhabi tants as Kingston so quiet aud orderly on the sab bath day. With respect to the poor negro, language itself has been turned upside down against him; and next to America, Ave have committed the greatest folly. The Declaration of Independence, signed July 4th., 1776, at Philadelphia, by fifty-six American citizens, is the greatest outrage upon good sense, ever palmed upon the Avorld, Avhen we estimate the sentiments expressed, by the acts of the American people towards the blacks. The British Imperial Act of Apprenticeship, dated 1833, stands second as to perversion of truth. Negros were to learn to be free ; of whom ? of the planters; those planters Avho had acknowledged they never could teach them to be free, but, Avould keep them as slaves ? Were they to learn the cultivation of cane or coffee grounds ? the mas ters were incapable of teaching them, and had need of being taught. What an apprenticeship day Avas this ? binding hundreds of thousands of 176 LETTERS FROM human beings, to persecution, misery, and Avoe, and calling it apprenticeship ; taking the indul gences away from poor lying-in women, and call ing it apprenticeship ; ¦ forcing, the unrecovered mothers into the field, by which numbers of infants have perished, and calling il. apprentice ship. And what a day of premiums ! hundreds of thousands, and millions upon millions, given aAvay so easily, and pocketed so pleasantly by the masters ; many residing in London, who re ceived the money for instructing apprentices, at the distance of from four to five thousand miles ! Well might the negros say, " we understand free dom and slavery, but Ave do'nt understand appren ticeship :" nor will the investigations of "learned pundits," or the " Avit.ty apothegms of professors and syndics," ever enable them to do so. " As the plague distances all lesser diseases," so do the American Declaration of Independence, and the British Imperial Act of Apprenticeship, distance all common sense; the outrage of both these do cuments, falls upon the unfortunate negros ; let them, therefore, descend together, yes side by side, to posterity. To return to our journey '¦ our road lay along the coast, due east ; two miles from town, it winds round the base of a hill, and passes under an archway at Rock Fort, a forti fication Avholly commanding the pass ; here also, is the terminus of the inner Bay ; the narrow strip of land forming it, uniting with the shore. Again Ave left the beach a little, and pursued our THE WEST INDIES. 177 varied route ; sometimes enclosed betwixt • Avails of cactus, tAventy feet high ; then shaded as if in a Warwickshire lane ; for many of the shrubs have an English appearance. We reached J. Tinson's to breakfast, and cordiality welcomed us through an open door. This field engaged J. T's. attention a few years ago ; members of his Kingston congregation resided in this neighbour hood ; he pitied the arduous exertions necessary for their attendance at Chapel. In his first visit to Yallahs, he preached in an outhouse belonging to a tavern keeper; for this indulgence the innkeep- erJs license was taken aAA'ay. He, therefore, bought three acres of land ; has erected a neat Chapel, and is now roofing in a large school house. He has had two hundred pounds towards it from the Lon don Committee; the School building alone will cost more ; the contributions of the negros are his chief resource, but St. David's is a poor parish, being mountainous : when completed J. T. will have no legal interest in the property. A Missionary's Avalk is one of faith and of disinterestedness, un known to worldly minds. After breakfast Ave walked to the negro village, on a neighbouring pen, and looked in upon the apprentices ; Ave were much interested with an old Mandingo, in whose veins royal blood was circulating ; he told us the names of seven different African kings : he reads and writes Arabic, and is very choice of a book in that language, perhaps a Koran : he wrote a grace for us with a steady hand, yet his AA 178 LETTERS ROM life has passed in slavery, and he is too old to benefit by freedom ; nay, he may be turned out of his hut after 1840, and suffer want. Iu his solitude he has found companions ; a brook runs through his master's garden, of which he has charge; and he has taught a large mullet to come and feed out of his hand, at the call of Tom ; great Tom being Avell treated, taught other little Toms to come also ; and now, instead of one, a drove appears, Avhen the invitation goes forth : no unprejudiced mind could behold this scene Avithout moralising, and saying ; is not that royal Man- dingo as capable of appreciating kindness, as those simple mullets? and is not the fact of his having tamed those timorous fish, a proof, that the tenderest chords of humanity vibrate in his bosom, and that he knoAA's so Avell how to apply them, as to be able to dniAv tho finny tribe from their haunts ? those mullets made me ashamed of my whiter skin, knowing Iioav the blacks have been outraged by its assumed authority : exem- plum : a delicate man, a short time since, was Ordered to go from an estate to Montego Bay, thirteen miles, for a firkin of butter ; he went to buslia, (the overseer, bookkeeper, or proprietor) to ask the loan of a mule, as he was unable to carry it ; busha denied him ; he therefore Avent to the field to work ; he Avas had up before the Special Magistrate, avIio ordered him to gaol, and to receive thirty-nine lashes, Avhich were inflicted aa a punishment for disobedience. THE WEST INDIES. 179 In the evening Ave attended scripture reading and prayer, in the Chapel, the neighbours around stepping iu ; it was a peaceful scene. A vener able Missionary reading, the scriptures to poor apprentices, as it were in the wilderness, apart from the censure of man ; a pastor endeavouring to comfort a sickly and weeping flock, made so, by those iioav entrusted with the lofty boon of fitting immortal souls for freedom : vile prosti tution ! can the sacred flame of liberty ever burn brightly over such a polluted stream ? " Quid non mortulia pcclora cogis, Ami sacra fames !" This is the sabbath, and Ave have had a favourable opportunity of witnessing missionary proceedings. J. T. endeavours to visit this station at least once a month ; in the intermediate time he has a lay assistant ; there has been an attend ance to-day of several hundreds ; asses, mules, and horses brought the more distant ones. During the morning, one member was read out, two Avere married, and the sacrament was ad ministered to near one hundred ; it Avas a solemn occasion, and deeply impressed, may I not say, on all present, from the minister's close dealing :. tlie communicants Avere evidently boAved in spirit. At the end of the ceremony, there Avas a collection amongst tlie communicants ; the noise from the silver pieces sounded A\-orldly in my cars; as if dis proving that they Avere buying " Avine Avithout 180 LETTERS FROM money, and without price." I know those, little sums are laid aside for the relief of the aged and destitute, and for sacramental use ; nevertheless, the jingle of silver is. grating and inappropriate at such a time. BetAveen services the minister was engaged in private Avith members of his Hock ; others sat in groups round the chapel and under the trees, par taking of their own 'simple refreshments ; their costumes were various, though white goAvns pre vailed ; and nothing looks better, with a black jetty face, than the showy Avhite of West India drapery. Straw bonnets and hats* are more com mon than in Demerara ; one can hardly realise the belief that such a company is formed of poor ap prentices, but so it is in great measure ; and they will come twenty miles to partake of this christian felloAvship. Great is the attachment shown to a Avorthy pastor, and presents of choice fruits and and vegetables flow in ; Ave have partaken of pine apple, melon, water melon, cocoa nut, star apple, all presented by the kind hands of his auditors. Negros feel a great interest in a station which has risen up under their oavu eyes ; they collect every month towards the expense, and call it their oavu meeting house. 1 1th. Yesterday morning Ave visited the parish * An anecdote may here be mentioned, which has been told me .since 1 returned, as it is very characteristic ofthe negro's aptitude for iniitalion : — They were so delighted with Jo&Ern Stiihge, as to v,r;I> THE AVEST INDIES. 181 workhouse of St. David's, four miles distant ; it has been recently erected, and is scarcely in operation ; it stands near the banks of the Yallahs river, three hundred feet broad ; mountains rise from the very margin. In the rainy season this bed contains an impetuous torrent ; at the present time it is a rivu let; over it a chain bridge was being suspended wide enough for carriages some time back; ere its completion, half the fabric, the Avhole length, gaAre way ; the other half is broad enough for a foot pas senger, it is held up by only one suspension chain ; avc A'cnturcd over for the novelty of crossing a chain bridge in Jamaica ; the effect Avas too much like rope, dancing to be pleasant, I refreshed myself with ripe tamarinds, gathering them from the trees, apparently of no A'alue; the pods are nearly as long as kidney beans, within which are the seeds and acidulous delicious pulp. We re turned by a school under the patronage of Bishop Piiilpotts. Forty children were in attendance — upwards of fifty on the list — they had made good progress : till last autumn there Avas no school in the parish : J. Tinson's would have been finished before now, if he had had funds ; but having begun it Avithout, its progress has been checked : rivalry in good Avorks is very commendable, and there can be no objection to bishops taking the lead. Near to the chapel is a very large silk cotton tree : fecihu :) to retain something to remind them of him ; for this purpose they fixed upon his "broad brim," and resolved to wear ex actly the same pattern, under the title of the Sturge Hat. 182 LETTERS FROM this is one of the feAV deciduous trees Jamaica can boast of; its spring leaves are noAv expanding, and their lighter green .contrasts pleasantly with darker shades around. One peculiarity of this tree consists in its huge limbs, leaving the trunk at right angles. Nature to support them causes roots as large to run along the surface of the ground, and between the two, the trunk projects out, Avhich forms a pillar for the support of the former : hence the stem is not unlike a huge ilutcd column. Amidst such a living mass of timbers and foliage, an architect might advance still further in the study of orders and designs ; he would have no difficulty in imagining amidst the tracery of boughs, porticoes, pediments, corri dors, facades, architraves, and pilasters. This morning Ave left Yallahs, and came to Morant Harbour, twelve miles, to breakfast, ac companied kindly by J. T. : the road is pleasant, in part along the edge of the breakers, sweeping the shore. After breakfast a Missionary of the London Society (M. Hodge) accompanied us to the Court House, Avhere there is a parish school. We inspected a school house, Avhich the Bishop has nearly completed ; then we visited H.'s Missionary School, conducted by a young Englishman, ( — Hoavbll:) this is not gratuitous, the attendance is nevertheless pretty good. Bishoo Piiilpotts is very zealous in fonvarding education : it is said his zeal went so far sonic time since, as to desire to have catechumens amongst the free chil- TllE west indies. 183 dren on each estate, and the overseers were to be the catechists : this was so preposterous, and such an outrage to decency from the character of the overseers, that a satirical article was published, recommending him, if he was so nonsuited for fellow labourers, to send to England for some cast iron clergymen, which Avould advance the interests ,nf religion quite- as fast as overseers; with this recommendation they could do no harm. The Avorthy Bishop, however ignorant he might be of the character of these estate officers, was not to be ridiculed out of his philanthropy and zeal, and he promotes religious instruction to the utmost. We found the gaol empt3r, the penal gang being at AVOl'k at some distance. At the workhouse there Avere thirty undergoing then- sentences. The tread mill was rotating with the poAver of four prisoners : tAvo black men, one black woman, and one white sailor. The old adage, " many hands make light work," is reversed Avith tread wheels; alias shin mills; with them the fewer the legs, the lighter the labour ; the Avheel going slowly, the treaders have time to gain the next descending step. The allotted time for these distressed objects to be on the wheel, was every alternate quarter of an hour through the day, and their diet one herring, and one pound ofloose corn meal, (maize;.) of this they endeavour to make a kind of stir-about. The English sailor Avas under going a month's imprisonment, for deserting ; he complained bitterly, and Avas literally broken J 84 'LETTERS FROM doAvn ; humbled he must have been, for the driver Avas a black man, AA'ith a cow skin in his hand. Our attentive friends, M. Hodge and his lady, accompanied us in "the afternoon to Belvidere ; they are on the point of embarking for Europe, on account of the health of the latter. The Mission aries wives I have been introduced to, are refined and accomplished.; but the climate and their duties, often undermine their health. Belvidere is a noble estate :. the great house has a balcony thirty yards long, fronting the sea ; it may be one mile from the shore; the cane grounds descend thereto, skirted by cocoa nut palms; neighbouring and distant hills form an imposing back ground, and complete the panoramic spectacle. The sick house is a clean, commodious, handsome building, and the children and others confined under a prevalent epidemic, measles, Avell attended to : the negros' cottages were like so many harbors in bowers of ever-greens ; and close at hand, the inmates had built a chapel at their oavu expense, spacious enough for hundreds ; neither mahogany, glass, nor doors, formed part of the structure ; but there Avas a pulpit, and one substantial adornment, simplicity, around and throughout ; service was performed in it every sabbath. An intelligent negro acted as our Cicerone through the village, conducting us into his dwelling, Avhere he Avaited on us Avith due politeness, in handing Avater : from the evident, air of comfort around, I was certain (hat " Aristus Avould not be so amiable, were it TUH WEST INDIES. 185 not for his Aspasia ; nor Aspasia so much es teemed were it not for her Aristus ;" yet distress sits over those unaspiring seats. Count F the proprietor, a French nobleman, resides in France, and he is not at present liberally disposed. The provision grounds arc in the mountains, and the Avatchmen being removed, cattle and thieves destroy the fruits of their exertions; so that instead of having provisions to sell, they suffer scarcity themselves, only being alloAved one pound of salt fish per week ; in crop time they are de frauded and ovenvorked, and these teasing im positions, Avhich are beneath a proprietor's dignity, destroy their peace. 15th. We left Morant Harbor early on the twelfth, and came along the coast to Port Morant, then turned to the left into a mountainous district, reaching Bath to breakfast, a remarkably pretty village, celebrated for its hot sulphur spring : aii avenue of trees (Tahitian apple) ornaments the street ; their crimson blossoms were then falling, and literally strewed the ground with their ruby petals. We Ausited the botanic garden, Avhich, for want of funds, is suffering from neglect ; the head gardener, a negro, Avas conversible ; we. asked him Avhose property he, Avith two or three girls at work, Avere ; he could not tell, but supposed they belonged to the garden. The Mico school interested us, though only established about three months, under the care of R , from England ; a new school room is about being 186 letters from built, as the present one is too crowded : all the instruction is conveyed by singing, even to the multiplication table. The mistress after asking scripture questions, desired her little black pupils to question her on the patriarchs, and very perti nent their questions were. Schools on the Mico foundation are spreading rapidly, and will be the means of incalculable benefit. The funds have been obtained by a decision of Lord Brougham's. Lady Mico, near two centuries ago, left a sura of money to redeem christians out of slavery in Africa ; for Avant of claims the principal accumu lated to one hundred and thirty thousand pounds. Lord Brougham, then Chancellor, decided that he should best act Tip to the spirit of the Avill, by applying the interest to instruct negro children, or in other words, to aid in redeeming Africans from christian bondage: a happy decision. Go vernment has aided the fund also by a very liberal grant ; so that it is not easy to conceive the start Avhich education has taken in Jamaica. In the afternoon Ave walked to the Sulphur Spring, one mile or .more from town, up a deep ravine; a good road conducts' the visitor, and bamboo sheds are erected about every hundred yards to protect him, should it rain. The water flows out at a temperature of 120:; baths have been erected, but feAV visitors are attracted. At a little distance a charitable bath house has been built, which is tumbling down. Iron pipes have also been laid to conduct the water to the town ; the expense THK WEST INDIES. 187 was futile ; they did not fall down like the St. David's chain bridge, but appear to have been bloArn up, and lie exposed and uncared for. The at tendant, an apprentice, accommodated us with a delightful bath; solitude was one ingredient. We asked him Avho he belonged to : he believed to the water ; Iioav amusing ! an apprentice to hot water ! A good premium Avas also paid ; but Avho received it ? The water appeared to be his only companion, except a humming bird, which had built its nest on a branch close by the entrance. I was ashamed the British apprenticeship had found its Avay up this sublime gorge, and 1 felt a strong interest in this negro, but not so much pity as for others. I had rather be an ap prentice in this deep solitude to hot spouting water, than in the open vale, to a dashing tread wheel. We revelled here amidst nature's loveliest growths, the scenery in that abyss being almost overpowering ; numberless were the shades into which sunshine never peeped ; the depths forbad not, but the foliage did. The tree fern is remark ably elegant, from tAvelve to twenty feet high, and crowned Avith its palmy tuft. The graceful bam boo pleased me exceedingly ; its beautiful green canes, eighty or a hundred feet high, with their delicate foliage and pliant nodding stems Avere the acme of elegance. Sometimes we were walking under the shades of these living masts ; then they were seen waving on the hill sides and overtop ping the nearest summit; they appeared placed 188 LETTKRS FROM there as pastime for hurricanes, yet hurricanes hurt them not ; they groAv in clusters, and from their pliancy never clash ; neighbour leans upon neighbour, and all are preserved. In the evening avc walked to the top of the hills forming the ravine, and met AA'ith nature in her sublimest mood : she Avas very communicative ; pointed out to us the blue mountains, which are her highest seat in Jamaica, and when night's curtain fell over them, she riveted our attention to the lesser elevations, and finally attended us into the valley to our lodgings : her company Avas charming ; and admiration her only fee. The next morning Ave pursued our journey to Manchineal, through part of Plantain Garden River district, a most A'crdant valley, devoted to cane cultivation : on our way avc breakfasted at Belle Castle, the station ofa Baptist Missionary, J. Kingdon ; situated amongst Avoods, on the. scar of a hill, commanding a noble sea vicAv ; the trade Avind here felt bracing, after travelling some hours in the valley. It is not uncommon for the hill re sidents to complain of cold, with the thermometer at 79'. We were kindly entertained at J. K's., and very glad to accept his attention, fifteen miles being tedious in a hot sun, along unknown, indif ferent roads : as Ave approached the house I dis appointed the turkey buzzards of a breakfast ; they Avere busy upon a yelloAv snake, dead but warm ; I considered the skin my property so took the reptile into the gig. Some naturalists THE WEST INDIES. 189 say the (vultur aura) only feeds upon carrion ; others say they kill snakes, " lis sub judice est ;" however, here they were round a snake reeking warm, and commencing their dejeuner without an individual in sight, who could have slain it ; cir cumstantial evidence was here strong that they can kill, and confirmed to my mind that they do not con fine themselves to game. During the afternoon avc visited a neighbouring estate, Happy Grove ; the resident proprietor, G. C , Esq., is noted for his excellent manufacture of arroAv root. Aitoav root loA-es rich, moist, shaded soil ; its leaf is not unlike our lily of the valley, the root is the size of a large radish : this root is crushed into a pulp at a mill ; the pulp is mixed Avith water, agitated and repeatedly washed till perfectly clean, thcnalloAved to settle; afterwards it is dried gradu ally in a stove, and finally exposed to the sun ; after Avhich it is packed up in its concrete form for market. Some of the younger apprentices on this estate, Avere wretched in their appearance, being much oppressed and diseased ; one Avas an "aboo" boy, or dirt eater; his master gave up all hopes of his recovery, as he ahvays relapsed into the habit, Avhen from under the strictest vigilance. In the evening we came on to Manchineal, and are visit ing It. Chamberlains, a conscientious Special Magistrate, a coloured gentleman ; his situation is a trying one ; he succeeded a Magistrate who had the credit of being a planter's man, and because he Avill not folloAV on in the same path, a c.unbina- 190 LETTERS FROM tion has been formed against him ; false charges have been draAvn up, and presented to the Governor, with a petition for his removal ; so violent is the feel ing against him, he is doubtful of personal safety : after he has ansAvered the charges, most likely a Commission of Inquiry will be appointed; he does not fear the result ; he is much needed here. Reports of heavy grievances, in this neighbour hood, are already, sounding in our ears. I remain, &c. THE WEST INDIES. 191 LETTER XIII. Kingston, 1th. Month, 22nd., J S3?. My Dear F r. I will endeavour in a summary Avay to run over the incidents which have come under our notice since arriving under R. Chamberlaine's hospitable roof, at Manchineal, on the 13th. T. Harvey's industrious pen will furnish fuller de tails ; he alloAvs nothing of interest to pass by un noticed, and his faithful delineations will be an evidence of his persevering industry. One morn ing Ave visited several estates: Williams' Field, Hector's River, Grange Hill. Though instruc tive, it is very unpleasant to visit estates with an unpopular magistrate. The overseers Avere how ever civil to us, but behaved as if they thought Ave were come to spy out the weakness of the land. My impressions are very unfavourable as to the working of the present system in this neighbourhood; a persecuting spirit is rankling and active ; the sick houses arc the Avorst I have seen. At Grange Hill avc saw a Dr. W. , the son of a methodist minister : he acknowledges he came out anti-slavery, but iioav confesses his 15)2 LETTERS FKOM knowledge of the negros' character has com- pletely changed his views. A little farther ex planation also crossed my mind, which he did not, take into account, and which has been probably an important item in his conversion ; viz. — that he is noAV living at a planter's table, and being paid ¦from his purse. The following day the Court was opened at the Police Station. Dr. W. called upon R. C- on his way to the court ; he had never attended before. During conversation with R. Chamberlain, he enquired, " shall you have many apprentices to cfum' to-day, (meaning to flog,) because it would be something of a treat in this neighbourhood now you are here." He said this as a sneer upon R. C. , knoAving he Avas not a flogging magistrate. We afterwards at tended the Court, Avhich AA'as held at the Police Station, erected on a "Avoodcd knoul," and sur rounded by similar Avooded elevations : it is the site of an old fortification, part of the Avails still exist, and assist in forming the court yard, in the corners of which are the solitary cells, damp with murky vapour. Cowper tells us " solitude has nothing gloomy in it, if the soul points upwards," and I never beheld a more delightful place for solitude than this AA-oody retreat ; it was indeed as if " Birnam wood had come to Dunsinane." " Fair parks spread wide, where Adam Bell might reign, With Clym o' the dough were they alive again." The sight of those sepulchral closets, hoAvever, chased far aAvay my rural reveries ; I had only THE WEST INDIES. 193 to fancy one of the doors shut upon me, to intro duce me to the horrors. Being thus, as it were, impelled back into my apprenticeship cogitations, when on the point of escape, my mind Avas again fitted to attend the Special Magistrate's Court, Avhich, to say the least of it, was most disrepu table to the planters. The folloAving is a short out line of some of the cases : tAvo Avomen Avere brought up to be punished for disobedience; a month before, they consented, on certain conditions, to Avork over time, and Avhen aftenvards requested, they refused. R. C. inquired of the overseer, if he had performed his part of the contract, in affording the indulgences agreed to ? No, he had not complied in any way. Neither shall I comply in punishing them, said R. C, or to that effect, and dismissed them : his predecessor would probably have sent them to the "shin mill." A man was charged with disobedience ; he was a Avatchman, and as a punishment for theft, was ordered to work in the field; he Avent to busha for a hoe, one Avas not given to him, so he went elseAvhere, and Avas therefore brought up to be punished. "Had the man," inquired the Magistrate, "a hoc given him to work with?" No. Dismissed. Another feeble crippled old man, whose office Avas hog tender, had been ordered not to open the gate to the Special Magistrate, Avhen he came on to the estate ; he acted eoutramvise, having opened the gate ; as a punishment he was ordered into the field, to work wilh a huge hoe, c c 194 LETTERS from and which he was not to sharpen in his master's time : the poor man produced a great rusty hoe, which might Avell daunt his weakly arms : R. C. told him he might mind his pigs, and look to him for protection. Another complained that he and his matties had to work task Avork against their con sent; viz., each of them, per diem, to dig up six bushels of arroAV-root, and replant the ground; no matter whether the individual Avas strong or weak, or whether the crop was a good one or not, the same quantity Avas required. The proprietor, G. C, said, "I expect the apprentices will have their oavia way, but my turn -will come soon ;" alluding to the probability of R. C's. removal from office : this case Avas deferred till the ma gistrate visited the estate. Another apprentice, from the same estate, wished to buy his freedom ; his proprietor, to increase the valuation, said he AA'as one of his best men, a carpenter and mason of good workmanship ; on investigation, it came out that the man had doubtlessly, in the course of his life, sawn a board, and that five years before he had plastered a Avail ; but since then he had been in the field : he AA'as valued at sixty pounds ; his OAvner complained that it Avas not near enough, though to hired men he only gave one shilling per diem, which amounts to forty-five pounds for the re- maini ng three years of servitude. Another appren tice wished to be valued ; his master acknoAvledged he was a non-predial, but said there AA'as a verbal agreement betwixt them, entered into in 1834, THE AVEST INDIES. 195 that if the indulgences were continued, he Avould work till 1840; on being questioned as to the agreement, he produced a written one signed in 1836; this being an illegal document, the valu ation was deferred. Two women, one near her confinement, the other more distant, complained of being made to dig cane holes, a full quota ; the overseer sent a letter to the Magistrate, which stated the opinion of tlieir medical attendant to be, that they were both fit for field labour. 11. C. chose to differ from that inhuman doctor, and to be guided by his oavu humanity, rather than by another's science. All the cases were of this tyrannical nature, the decisions gave great offence, and R. Ciiamberlaine Avas openly insulted in his office ; the ill will of the planters boiled over, and Ave were deeply convinced of the difficulty a conscientious Magistrate is subjected to; no sum can repay him, and with only one satisfaction, that of doing right ; he is in hourly danger, from the Governor's yielding to the crafty designs of his enemies, of being displaced. On Sabbath-day, the 16th, we went over to Belle Castle to breakfast. The chapel is attached to the house ; the negros soon began to assemble for worship; yes, an hour before the time, — it ap peared to me that they' were glad to leave the plantation, and come within the missionary en closure. After morning service, we comcrsed with a feAV from each estate ; their situation dis tressed us : this is an exceedingly oppressed dis- 19 A> LETTERS FROM trict. Many were the complaints avc listened to, and many more avc might have heard : but mere listening to grievances Avithout the poAver of re dressing them is heavy Avork : the most heart rending Avere from Hector's River, an estate close at hand. For any or for no offence the poor negros arc shut up in the black hole for days together; and they arc become so sickly and feeble, their numbers arc reducing fast : deaths take place daily. The manager has a character for unmitigated op pression, though he has only one foot out of the grave; one of his sides is paralysed, yet his perse cutions cease not. This individual Ave did not see when we visited the estate the day before ; but Ave saAV another overseer, Brown, very lame and in firm ; and his bitterness is as intense as the mana ger's. The apprentices say their poultry is taken Avithout any acknowledgment; that their grounds arc robbed of vegetables; and that they are in danger of being famished : the tale of miseries per petrating on this estate has completely hectored m}' mind. Properties managed in this Avay will be useless after 1840 ; many of the negros will be dispirited and infirm, and those Avho have strength left, Avill remove elsewhere. Time occupied in hearing complaints from these oppressed and heart broken sufferers Avhose chief comfort seemed to arise from attending worship at the peaceful resi dence of their ministers, passed painfully. In the evening aa'C returned to Manchineal, and the folloAving morning avc rode to Windsor Forest, THE AVEST INDIES. 197 nine miles distant, to breakfast. The road part of the way followed the sinuosities of the coast, with lofty crags on our left hand : these in Europe would have been naked or covered with moss ; here they Avere clothed from bottom to top by a creeping plant, with leaves as large as those of a gourd; its local name is "five fingered," from its leaves being digitated; their effect was most elegant ; spread over the Avhole face of the precipice, as if in the tropics, even rocks could produce the most lavish luxuriance. The scene Avas novel to us, yet one Avhich au artist's skill might have compassed : every item of the combination was .so well defined, asAvell as the colouring. Forthwith the Limner, with his pliant brush, And with his colours, pallet, and his easel, First paints a river, and then paints a rush, The Milk Weed, Golden Hod, and prickly Teasel; Upon his canvass he transplants the scene, Kivers-and rocks embowered in evergreen. This estate belongs to a local magistrate, Quelsh ; he bought it cheap, being out of culti vation, and the slaves sold off; the situation is fine, on an cleA'ation tAvo miles from the sea ; here as is often the case, the children of the domestic apprentices Avalked about the house and parlour as if it were their OAA'n, and stared knOAvingly at us. One seemed rather ahead of his playmates : avc learnt he Avas an incorrigible runaway, and 198 LETTERS FROM was very lately released from the house of cor rection, having been sent there to reform him. He had been found in a trash house, burrowed deep iu the magass, with a hoard of sugar cane stored up as a provident supply, similar to a squirrel or marmot. The ingress and egress of domestics in and out of the houses savors too much of republican freedom for an Englishman. Their office is to fetch and carry if anything is wanted ; for this purpose no name is called, but " some body," " somebody," must do so and so ; this somebody may be man, woman, or child; and as Avhat is every one's office is no one's, it required many repetitions of the word "somebody," to fetch one real body. After breakfast we Avalked over the grounds ; there was no appearance of cane fields, brushwood having grown up ; and yet a tumbling down crushing mill, which had been worked by water, and a boiling house, were evi dences of former prosperity. The plantain ground AA'as in the greatest vigour, and beneath such a "thyrsus of leaves" I never Avalked. The leaves are nearly as large of those of the cocos nucifera; undivided and of a green hue, as smooth as velvet. Many of these palms 'had their huge single bunch of plantains, counting several dozens hanging from a single stalk; their size is that of small girkins. I did not see in Demerara so flourishing a plantain Avalk, in which colony great anxiety is felt, lest this most useful tree should become extinct. Of late years a cankerous disease has attacked it, and I'HE WEST INDIES. 199 caused much devastation; a premium has been oficred for a remedy. The banana tree is of the same genus, but its fruit is considered coarser. We afterAvards walked to a neighbouring estate, the Grange, in Portland, also out of cultivation ; the negros are still attached, consequently they form a jobbing gang, and their services are hired out. In going through the wood, one of the large yelloAv harmless snakes was coiled round the top of a sappling, just strong enough to bear it; it made no attempt to get away, and Avhen assaulted only hissed defiance ; as flight was its only chance of safety, and as it disdained to make use of those means, Avith Avhich nature had supplied it, I took possession of it, for a specimen, on the ground of laying claim to all snakes Avhich will not get out of the Avay : a small black snake is much more frequently seen, than these larger ones ; the yel- Ioav snake is said to be good eating ; in appearance its flesh is as white as that of a chicken. On reaching the Grange, Ave went to the negro vil lage, and inspected several of the huts, Avhich arc tumbling doAvn ; nevertheless, each contains tAvo or three families, with a mere pretence of fur niture about them ; these poor apprentices have had no clothing for two years, and are in such desolation, language cannot describe their desti tution : the labour of these poor wretches, Avas lately sold for six hundred pounds, to 1840; they are now working at William's Field, near to Manchineal. We sat sometime in the great 200 LETTERS FROM house, and conversed Avith the proprietor, or manager, I forget which : several young ladies groAvn up, made their appearance ; I could not but reflect if they had been educated in England, Avith what sympathy they would have regarded such extreme wretchedness, existing within one hundred yards of their own residence. On the 18th. early, we left Manchineal; J. K. met us on the road, and kindly accompanied us to Amity Hall, in the Plantain Garden River district, the Eden of Jamaica. Amity Hall is remarkable for having a married resident manager, a Mr. Kirkland, who is also joint attorney; this is OAving to the proprietor, though an absentee, being a religious character. We staid dinner as Avell as breakfast, Avere most hospitably entertained, and Ave quite enjoyed being in an accomplished family circle : this estate is said to return nine thousand pounds per annum, so it does not suffer for having an accomplished lady at the head of the domestic department ; the general plan is, if a manager marries to dismiss him the estate. The cane mill here was Avorked by a Avater wheel, the first I had seen : the distillery was very complete. Still houses occupy as much room as the boiling and curing houses together, from the necessity of having so many fermenting vats ; these are very large wooden tanks, arranged side by side, in Avhich the liquor undergoes fermentation, to pre pare it for the still, and each must contain as much as the largest still, from ten to twelve hundred THE WEST INDIES. 201 gallons : the component parts of the liquor are the scummings of the hot cane juice, lees or feculcncies from former distillations, which act the part of yeast, a small proportion of molasses, and water : the colour is added to the rum after- Avards, the spirit coming over colourless, as all spirits do. Yet so accustomed Avas my mind to associate straw colour with rum, that when my vision pointed out the limpid crystal fluid, as the article, I Avas partially disposed to doubt the fact : such a sight as an extensive still-house, is enough to make a tec-totaller despair; he might well pine, to consider that every acre of good cane, produc ing three hogsheads of sugar, produces two hundred gallons of rum; yet temperance may exist, in the very focus of distillation ; the black distiller had not tasted spirits for years ; and it is remarkable, that with rum always, as it Avere, before them, negros should be A'ery seldom seen under its influence; in fact, a tipsy black is a " rara avis," and they are never seen to "run a muck." The "great house" is at a little distance on rising ground, commanding a coup d'ceil of the Avhole plain; hundreds and thousands of acres of canes may be seen at one glance. A school house has been erected near, and a pleasing young man sent out by the Church Missionary Society has charge of it. We were pleased with the good order of the children; many were absent; at present the measles prevail, Avhich maybe one cause. During 202 LE ITERS FROM the day Ave visited a very celebrated estate, Golden GroA'e ; attorney, Thomas M'cCornock, Esq., custos of the parish, answering to our Lord Lieu tenant. The extent of this estate is tAvo thou sand acres ; apprentices five hundred ; and it ex ports near six hundred bogheads of sugar : " com- munibus anuis." All the arrangements, buildings, machinery, et cet., are of a very superior des cription. A very neat Chapel, Avith a toAver and clock close to the principal dwelling, was built by the tradesmen of the estate during the slave re gime ; and such Mas the interest evinced by the slaves for religion, that they subscribed twenty pounds to buy a communion service cup ; it has been appropriately engraved; much might be said on this occurrence. The hospital is also a hand some building, with separate apartments; as in others, there were here many inmates laid up by measles. There was such an air of prosperity and taste about Golden Grove, that I expected if the apprenticeship Avas working well any Avhere, this was the place ; dissatisfaction however existed on both sides, and I am sure the negros had cause. They were short of provisions ; whereas T. M'cCor nock said that during slavery they sent abundance to market. It is surprising to me they have any supply at all : their provision grounds are miles away in the mountains ; the watchmen are re moved ; and as they are not fenced off, they are exposed to the trampling of cattle, and to thieves. THE AVEST INDIES. 203 Whilst Ave were standing near the mill, an appren tice brought iu a bundle of dead rats. These A'ermine are remarkably destructive to the canes, and are so numerous in the Plantain Garden River district, that rat-catching is a necessary occupation for an apprentice ; and he is expected to destroy a large number every AA'eek. There arc also alligators in some of the water courses. In the evening, our road to Bath lay through the length of this fertile garden. As Ave approached this picturesque village, we left the cane's behind, for pasture fields, Avhich in general are of Guinea grass : this valuable herbage was introduced acci dentally by some seeds being throAvn aivay, which a captain of a vessel had brought over from Africa to feed some birds with. The birds having died, those seeds, instead of sustaining the feathered tribe, have become the means of a valuable suste nance for cattle, which are very fond of the grass; and it is as plentiful as SAveet, groAving very luxu riantly. We spent a quiet pleasant evening at Bath ; feasted on the " mountain crab," and endea voured to do so on the "jack fruit." The land or " mountain crab" is considered a great delicacy, and over some other delicacies it has one advan tage, that of not being scarce : it has a migratory amphibious nature, craAvling down to the sea once a year, and there abiding during the spawning sea son : they return Aveak and exhausted, to their burrows in the Avoods, where thev recover their 204 LETTERS FROM condition, after casting their shell, and are then in season ; they are taken in the night, Avhen they ' feed ; and a negro frequently has this specific employment, furnishing so many per Avcek. Montgomery Martin says, "those that feed in grave yards arc the fattest, and richest in flavour," and that in Jamaica, " people talk of being food for crabs, as Ave do in England of being food for Avorins.*' The "jack fruit" is as large as a pumpkin, growing on a tree the size of a horse chesnut, though not so spreading; but a taste for the pulp has to be acquired ; if the smell Avas agreeable, this Avould be easier ; but Pomona, in one of her A'agaries, haA'ing made this forbidding, she must not be surprised if the other is disapproved. The bread fruit tree, brought by Captain Bligh, from Otaheitc, is about the size of the one last mentioned, and ornamental ; as regards its fruit, I know but little ; it Avas not in perfection at the time of our visit, and little Avas said in its favour; Avhere there are so many fruits, and a succession of them aUvays tempting the palate, Avith only the trouble of gathering, it may be that an insipid one is only held in secondary estimation. The papaAv I have mentioned before ; Dr. Madden alludes to a circumstance respecting it, of Avhich I heard mention several times, but had no opportunity of testing the fact; that "the milky juice Avhich exudes from the tree, (on excision,) is thought 1<> possess the property of .rendering the toughest THE AVEST INDIES. 205 meat tender Avhen dressed over with it;" he then adds, " Humboldt says, in comparing the milky juices of the papaAv, the cow tree, and the hevea, (from which the Indian rubber is procured,) " there appears to be a striking analogy between the juices which abound in caseous matter, and those in which caoutchouc prevails, and the ultimate prin ciple of cheese is caoutchouc;" "no Avonder," says the Doctor, " that cheese should be indiges tible, if one cannot eat Stilton, without SAval- loAA'ing Indian rubber." On the 19th we rose early, and road over the Coonah Coonahs to Alta Monte and Moore Town. the former a Scotch, the latter a Maroon settle ment.* This is a magnificent ride for scenery, over a mountain mule-path; the ascent to the gap is six miles, descent five, and the distance through the valley of the Rio Grande to Moore Town, four miles ; the path is through au unbroken forest. These mountains arc three thousand feet above the sea, and their tops arc as verdant as their bases. " It is not only the giants of the forest that are to be found there ; the graceful rivals of the inmates of our conservatories are to be seen in all the native bloom of the wild beauty that de lights in liberty." It is North Wales clothed AA'ith the trees of Worcestershire ; unbroken forests, fes toons of creepers, parasitical plants, tree ferns of • The Maroons woro originally slaves, who rebelled, and obtained their liberty, and have resisted any attempt ts reduce them again to bondage. 206 LETTERS FROM elegant aspect, lofty bamboos with their spiral waving summits, are on every hand. It is a ride of four hours through unnumbered exotics, shaded from the sun, in an enjoyable temperature; the tree ferns and bamboo clumps Avere ever varied, ever new. Dr. Madden observes—" for pic turesque beauty, the clumps of the bamboo, Avhich line some of the mountain roads, exceed, in the depth of shade and gracefulness of umbrage, all other descriptions of natural arbours." These simple reeds hoAvever make more noise than all the trees of the forest; the zephyrs playing amongst their feathery heights agitate the canes, which being in contact rub against each other : this grating is not unlike the labouring sound of heavy machinery. It is listened to with attention amidst the stillness of solitude's oavu domain ; in these forest Avilds silence is intense, and it is made more evident by an occasional plaintive note of some concealed bird, or by the clattering of the canes : this last Avas very pleasant, giving rise to much imagery in my mind, as the sounds increased and died away. We had pleasure in visiting Alta Monte; it is a very recent Scotch settlement, under the superintendence of A. G. Johnston. Each family has a cottage, and a grant of twenty acres, on which they arc expected to build them selves a house, and then resign their first cottage to some other new comer. The first six families are already located ; their gardens arc enclosed ; each has a cow. They have nearly completed a the west indies. 207 new road, on the Avay to Moore Town, through the valley. The climate is pleasant, and as yet every thing smiles. The men are in high spirits ; the Avomenare less so, their little Avants being at present indifferently supplied. There are other settlements of this kind on the island; they are much encouraged by the House of Assembly; each settlement has a grant of three thousand pounds, sterling, Avith Avhich to begin operations. The plan is to introduce the industrious habits of the Scotch amongst the negros ; and this settle ment on the confines of Moore Town, may have good results, as this seems a rational method of developing the resourses of Jamaica : "video me- Hora, -proboque." A. G. Johnston is a scien tific man, he regards the cottagers as his children, feeling a parent's interest towards them. His in tended residence AA'as building on a height, over looking the vale : a Maroon was the builder, and young Maroon Avomen were the serving masons carrying the lime and sand up the hilt on their heads : they are a fine intelligent looking people, having escaped from the debasement of slavery Avhich greatly disfigures the "human form di vine." The Maroons are a proof that slavery has this effect, for they are noble in mien. II. Martineau observes — "It is usual to call the most depressed slaves brutish in appearance; in some sense they arc so ; but I never saw in any brute an expression of countenance so low, so lost. as in the most degraded class of negros. There 208 LETTERS FROM is some life and intelligence in the countenance of every mind, even in that of the silly sheep." What a heavy responsibility rests upon those Avho have thus been reducing man below, the "silly sheep !" and yet how unAvilling is he to make amends for the evil done. " Man will not follow when a rule is shown, liut loves to take a method of his own ; Explain tlie way with all your care and skill, This will he quit, if but to prove ho will." We rode over to Moore Town; two miles, a singularly beautiful village, by the banks of the Rio Grande, not an unsightly rocky bed, but a plentiful stream ; here Avas the site for nature's grand display of luxuriant fancies: slender withes were running up stately trees, and, as it were, mocking their supporting'friends, by the most ex traordinary display of seed pods, several feet in length, and filled with seeds, tAvo inches broad, some of Avhich are in my possession. The Maroon village is picturesque ; the cottages are scattered singly on several eminences, surrounded by nobler mountains; it numbers six hundred inhabitants, and they arc Arery anxious for the maintenance of proper and appointed religious observances : at the time of our visit, these Avere unfortunately suspended, from some jealousies between the Bishop and the Church Missionary Society, Avhich had stationed a Minister here. The Maroons have the presence of a government superintendent, THE AVEST INDIES. 209 (at present Captain Wright) who decides their differences by court martial ; they pay no taxes, and have their oavia form of government, or rather need no government. It has been the policy of the Jamaica legislature to prevent intimacy be tween the Maroons and negros ; to effect this, the Maroons are reAvardcd with so many dollars for each deserting negro they will deliver up ; and so debasing is an unholy love of gain, the Maroons are said first to entice them away from the estates, and then surrender them for the bribe. We called on Captain Wright, he was from home ; but his lady, Avith the utmost refinement, Avel- comed us into an apartment, recherche with shells and curiosities; no grisly warder looked froAvn- iug from a castellated buttress, suspicious of every one's approach, and treating friends the same as enemies ; no, Captain Wright's house has a portal of confidence, supported by Avings of friendship. " Nor doth its entrance front in vain, To old Iona's holy fane." Safety is its outward enclosure, that outAvard en closure is the " Avild Maroon." Captain Wright has held his present office six years, a proof that his situation is not unpleasant. At the folloAving break of day Ave were off, OA'er the Coonah Coonahs. E E 210 LETTERS FROM " As tho calm morn, in the cerulean East, With check of rose, and golden sandall'd foot, Loft her divine pavilion, to salute With smiles, tho world. Long do the . novel features of this extraordi nary ride, deserve to be dAvelt on; I could not sufficiently admire the spiral path, Avinding for miics amongst the unmolested monarchs of the hills, like an inexplicable labyrinth ; occasionally allowing a peep into the vista, and disclosing avoii- ders and beauties, as yet little known to the world; till at last reaching the gap, it descends in a similar manner into the vale beneath. The mind seems inclined to send forth a pressing invitation to the lovers of Dovedale, and to the explorers of Matlock, come hither and see; — or in the words of Waterton — " Kind aud gentle reader, if the feAV remarks in these Avanderings shall have any weight in inviting thee to sally forth, and explore these vast and Avell-stored regions, I have gained my end." To avoid for a few days noticing any com moner track, suffice it to say, Ave again reached Kingston on the date of this letter. 30th. During the past Avcek we have spent a day at Spanish Town, on a visit to J. M. PiiiLii'i'o, the. Baptist Missionary. His large and handsome Chapel is on one side of his dAvclling, and as imposing in appearance as any one in Birmingham. On the other side, is the Metro politan School for boys and girls, well arranged under one roof, having a gateway to divide the the west indies. 211 apartments, which is an advantage, the noise of one school not interrupting the other. Each school has one hundred and forty children on the list, and one hundred in pretty regular attendance. Their clothing is simple, but their general appear ance equal, if not superior, to charity scholars in England. The mistress of the girls' school ap peared to me a clever matron, but a defective teacher, on account cf her deafness. The moni tors were not kept up to their duty ; one large class* read pretty Avell, but mumbled and muttered as negro children are apt to do ; their needle Avork deserved all commendation. There are not many Missionary stations in the world which can sur pass J. ¦ M. Phiuppo's in general appearance : having his neat residence centered between a very handsome meeting house and substantial school rooms. At this Chapel he preaches twice in the Sabbath, and once during the week; close em ployment in this climate. But is this all ? by no means. He has tAvo other stations: one at Sligo Ville, nine miles distant, the other near Fort Au gusta, about eight miles. We attended the week day evening service. Behind the pulpit is a circular gallery, where the scholars sit ; it is appropriate that they should elevate their innocent voices in heavenly hymns, near to their minister. Schools and Chapels engross all the energies of these devoted Missionaries : when Jamaica rises in the scale of Nations, they must have the credit, for they arc the willing' husbandmen. 212 LETTERS FR0JI Spanish Toavii is unattractive ; and having said so, I have few comments to add. The Government square, containing the House of Assembly, and the Governor's residence, arc creditable; but the Baptist Missionary station is that which is Avorth seeing. The situation of the town is very indif ferent ; perhaps the Spaniards built it to be more out of sight of the Indians, or for the benefit of good water : it is on a plain, without any sea vieAv, but Avatered by the Rio Cobre. Such a capital scarcely deserves a good road, and the House of Assembly have provided a bad one. The distance to Kingston is only thirteen miles ; the road is nearly level, and consequently it ought to be faultless, Avhereas it is very indifferent. If each member of the House of Assembly had but one rheumatic joint, to be tortured by the deep holes, causing jolts innumerable, as they are full of dust, and therefore cannot be avoided, it might lead to a remedy; this however is not the land of "rheum or podagrum." Some time since there was a daily coach to Kingston ; but after repeated efforts it Avas given up, being daily set fast, from the uneavenness of the road, and the debility ofthe horses, and the passengers having to abandon it at times mid-way. We understand, since we landed at Jamaica, there has been a slight earth quake, sufficient to aAvaken the people of Spanish Town ; the Kingstonites slept through it ; so that it Avas not very alarming. The Governor, Sir Lionel Smith, is at present absent on a tour THE WEST IN IKES. 213 round the island. He did an act of kindness at Savannah-la Mar, having liberated a woman from gaol, a victim of oppression. This mal-treated apprentice purchased her freedom some months ago ; the valuation was paid into the magistrate's hands ; but her owner complaining of the amount, the stype AA'ould not give her the ticket of freedom. She left, and was apprehended as a runaAvay, and committed to gaol, where, as I understood, she was confined Avith her fifteenth child. In this case a Special Magistrate received the price of freedom, and then refused a ticket, though he re tained the money ; an oppressor receiving four hundred and fifty pounds per annum, public money, and having sworn faithfully to administer the Abolition Act ! this Avas too gross for Sir Lionel Smith to coincide with. I have also seen a letter from R. Chamberlaine, of Manchineal; he expresses himself as considering his life in immi nent danger, the planters having become highly incensed against him ; he is the first conscientious magistrate that has presided there ; the previous one, Dawson, was their tool ; to inquire into whose conduct Lord Sligo appointed a commis sion, his mal-administration having been carried on with the utmost boldness. Sir Lionel Smith, on assuming the Government, quashed the commis sion, only removing Daaatson to another part of the island. Sir Lionel Smith has a larger income than any previous Governor, from his determina tion of holding, "eodem tempore," the office of 214 LETTERS FROM Commander-in-Chief, which has hitherto been dis tinct ; .as he is of a parsimonious disposition, he is supposed to be laying by eight thousand pounds per annum. By the last packet I have received a very ac ceptable letter from my mother; her previous one, and Sampson's, have missed their aim. I imagine a surgeon in the army of my name, stationed at St. Lucia, has had the benefit of them, which is my great loss. I have no doubt the letters will be pro fitable to every one perusing them, yet it is un pleasant to write for unknown individuals'. I am glad mine as yet have escaped similar mishaps, and hoping this may also, I remain, &c. THE AVEST INDIES. 215 LETTER XIV. Kingston, 5th. Month, 1th., IH.'ir. My Dear F K. We had a pleasant excursion last week, passing through St. David's into St. George's in the East. Saints are very numerous in Jamaica, and some of them very tall, (St. Catherine is five thousand feet high.) Our object was to visit Captain Kent, a Special Magistrate, who re sides amongst the Port Royal mountains : S. Bourne kindly accompanied us. We left Grecia Regale in the afternoon, and turning our backs on St. AndreAvs, we commenced a zigzag moun tain ascent of eight miles, which brought us to Guava Gap, aud there we entered St. David's : these spiral roads, or king's paths, were made by the different parishes, and arc remarkably good; they form one of Jamaica's prominent features : a descent of five miles brought us to the Yallahs river ; one feature in the scene Avas stationary before us, the Blue Mountain Peak; other parts were changing their positions and characters every few minutes, as we descended ; suffice it to say, it was Jamaica scenery, unrivalled 216 LETTERS FROM for magnificence; the above is the same stream Avhich has the chain bridge over it, nearer the coast, it is the great outlet of the Port Royal moun tains : these mountains have the same grand features as the Coonali Coonahs, with this dif ference, the latter are clothed with their native evergreens, Avhilst the former are, in great part, denuded, having been cleared for coffee planta tions, Avhich are on all sides, with their mills and their barbecues ; hence the trees are too sparse to check the vieAV ; the eye can range, over the mountain heights, in all directions ; no clouds obstruct or strike chilliness; far otherwise, the higher we ascend the more comfortable we are, the more salubrious is the climate. After cross ing Yallahs river, Ave ascended again to Captain Kent's residence, AA'hich is the " great house" of the Robertsfield estate, situated on a mountain side, over the margin of the river ; it is a large substantial house of heAvn stone, and cost many thousand pounds building ; yet there is no en closed garden, perhaps on the principle, that the whole island is one ; neither is there paddock or lawn ; but coffee trees, pimento, and Avithered grass ; coffee and pimento are not, hoAvever, all that a family require; they have, therefore, to send mules to Kingston near tAventy miles, for their other supplies, which is one little drawback to a residence in the Port Royal Mountains, a second is having to carry all their Avater a quarter of a mile up the precipice, from tlie river. These THE AVEST INDIES. 217 residences and roads could not have been made in a thinly peopled country, unless by the coerced labour of slaves : every stone of this house had to be carried from the bed of the river, and the same may be said of others much higher than it. Captain Kent, with his accomplished lady and daughter, Avere truly hospitable; he is an upright Special Magistrate, and by preserving his inde pendence, in not tasting the sops of the planters, has been enabled to move on in an upright course ; he has suffered a little annoyance where he least expected it. On coining out from Eng land, a relation by marriage, (Dr. S .) offered him the excellent residence of an estate, Chester Vale, rent free, of which Dr. S. was trustee; but on finding that Captain K. would not alloAv the apprentices to be imposed upon, he gave him an intimation to leave the house : Captain K. was desired to change the provision grounds of the Avhole gang; that is, to make them break up fresh grounds at great labour, and at a most inconve nient distance ; and also to make an old nurse, who during slavery, from her age and services, had ceased from field labour, again to resume it, and to walk several miles every day for that purpose, to another estate ; Captain Kent pre ferred changing his residence .to wounding his conscience; knOAving that externals AA'ere of se condary importance. "Without was Paradise, because within Was a keen relish, without taint of sin." F F 218 LETTERS FROM Qr_ g is Said >o have made a fortune by croaking : during the agitation of the emancipa tion bill, he encouraged the belief that the colonics -Were ruined, that the compensation would never be paid ; during the panic of fear, he bought up slaves for a trifle ; the compensation money came, and it enriched him ; so that the tAventy millions have been "ways and means" in many ways. During our visit Captain K. accompanied us to Clifton Mount Estate, situated at the foot of St. Catherine's Peak ; probably the highest coffee plantation in the island, being upwards of four thousand feet above the sea ; its coffee is cele brated. From thence we went to Cold Spring, on the side of the Peak, through Content Gap : this Avas formerly the residence of the Wall'ens'. The house is in ruin ; but trees which they planted still remain, proving that the stone and mortar work of man cannot vie with the tenants of the hills. There Ave met Avith a darling English oak, disdaining to live Avith the exotics in the vale, still retaining its dignity, and aspiring to the loftiest pinnacle ; the Scotch fir Avas in full vigour, gorse luxuriant, strawberry plants around, and ripe blackberries, some of which we gathered ; amongst them grew the tea tree vigorously; since here, as in the plain below, Phoebus " forbad the snow, From cold tv-totiland : and south, us far Beneath Magellan." THE AV)4ST INDIES. 219 How noble was the prospect ! the sea in sight on both the northern and southern shores ofthe island; on one side Avas the Blue Mountain Peak, on the other Kingston, Port Royal, and Spanish Town. In England, at such an elevation, there Avould be a clear prospect once in a while, here daily ; ex cept in the rainy season, the Blue Peak is quite sufficient to support the few fleecy clouds which require a resting place. . ItAvas delightful once more to feel European buoyancy, from a little nearer approach to the "cold north;" the thermometer, at the time of our visit to Clifton Mount, was 7^° Fahrenheit; it is frequent ly much loAver in the day, and always in the night. After a short residence in a temperature of 85°, when the thermometer sinks to 75°, Avith the sea breeze blowing, there is no oppression from heat. C. Chisholm, the intelligent attorney of Clifton Mount, paid us every attention, and pointed out to us many objects of interest; near the steps of his residence I observed some little blackies very busy ; on going up to them I found they were picking chigoes out of each other's feet ; this is an insect like a flea, but it can introduce its whole body beneath the skin, far easier than a flea can insert its piercer ; it makes its domicile on the toes, burying itself beneath the skin, aud there lays its eggs, Ayhich are enclosed in a covering ; these vermes on hatching, give the first notice of their presence, by a delightful itching. I have been told it was a proof of the true creole dis- 220 LETTERS FROM position, for a lady to be partial to a chigoe in her foot, the itching forming a pleasing accompaniment to her languor; the nest, however, must not remain unextracted too long, or a troublesome sore will be the consequence. Negros are very skilful in extracting the chigoe bag unbroken, and there is in most families one domestic, to Avhom the office is entrusted. From experience I can say, I had rather have the itching of three chigoes, than the puncture of one pulex. On our return to Robertsfield, I reflected upon the duties of a magistrate in this Alpine district: imagine a stype perched upon the top of SnoAvdon, Ben Lomond, Ben Nevis, or Helvellyn; give him a dozen estates about the neighbouring mountains to visit, and fancy him scouring these hills in a hot sun, in pursuit of quarrels and bickerings ! if on Helvellyn, away he strides forth for Striden Edge, then scrambles up Catch e de Cam, as if his motto was, "catch who I can," and by the evening, he has become acquainted with com plaints and dissatisfactions enough, to introduce his mind into a state of discomfort, destroying all that composure Avhich nature's sublimity ought to inspire. Though the king's roads from one parish to another are very good, the private roads from one estate to another are very indifferent, of which this day's experience convinced me. Our road Avas at times up the bed of the river Yallahs ; then climbing banks amongst bushes ; then doAvn into THE WEST INDIES. 221 the Avater again. In such a neighbourhood it is very pleasant for once to say I have been such and such an excursion, but far otherwise to say, I go Aveekly. The Special Magistrates in Jamaica have been more than decimated, twenty-six are said to have died; one is knoAvn to have met his end raging mad ; the number stationed on the island is sixty. One gentleman was too cunning to be caught ; he would not engage himself to the office, till he had seen the nature of it; he came out and visited a Special Magistrate a friend of his, before settling doAvn at the station he had in prospect ; he accom panied his friend a feAV rides, and quickly made up his mind to return, saying, I shall have spent one hundred pounds by the time I reach England, but I had rather do so, than ride amongst blue moun tains in danger of the " blues," at the risk of my neck, and hunting after contention. Dr. Madden observes — " The Special Magistrates had some of them thirty miles of country to be scoured in every direction, in daily pursuit of litigation." It has not been possible for a Special Magistrate to go through his engagements with a due regard to his health and personal comfort, Avithout being on good terms Avith the planters. The magistrate has to visit every estate under his jurisdiction, Avithin stated periods, I believe every fortnight. If he is regarded as a friend to the properties, on leaving home, he breakfasts at one, dines at a se cond, and sleeps at a third; and in this Avay goes his round, and on returning can rest during the inter- 222 LETTERS FROM vening time ; whereas, if managers close their hospitalities against him, he must ride out, and return home each evening, to the imminent risk of his health, from constant fatigue ; hence, from the necessities of the case, the kindnesses of planters' toAvards the Special Magistrates, have been too much like placing bits in their mouths, to lead them wherever they chose ; and they who have partaken of the sops and baits held out to tempt them, have quickly lost that independence, Avithout Avhich it is impossible to perform the duties of the office uprightly; their salaries have been advanced from three hundred to four hundred and fifty pounds sterling per annum, yet this is found barely sufficient where an individual has to keep two horses, as many do. We felt quite in debted to Captain Kent and his lady for the infor mation and kindness received at their hands. Ou leaving, the folloAving acrostic crossed my imagi nation : — .. Itobertsfield, 0 ! do not think Of English fields where dew drops blink ; Blue and royal mountains here, Every form, and size appear ; Bagged rooks, and rugged ways ; Travellers with fearful gaze, See the winding puzzling maze. Fruitful nature here unfolds, In her hand her treasure holds ; Evergreens of beauteous form, Lift their waving plumes to morn, Defying hurricanes and storm. THE WEST INDIES. 223 On our return to Grecia Regale we met with Horace Kimball, who AVas paying a visit there. He AVas one of the American Anti- Slavery So ciety's agents, sent out to investigate the working of the Apprenticeship in the West Indies. We had met him and his companion, J. A. Thome, previously in Kingston. H. K. told us his American independence had been set at nought the previous morning. Walking in the road, he AVas at once accosted, and informed he must serve on a jury, then about to sit on a negro Avoman found dead some distance off. lie was a foreigner, in delicate health, and had not break fasted; no excuse would serve; the law was, that the jury should be formed of any twelve men that could be found, and his sen-ices they must have. Nine of the jury were overseers. After walking near a mile, they saw the body lying in the road : it was that of a woman, who had left the Half- Way-Tree house of correction the day before, and had died before she could reach home : she had been committed as a runaway, for fourteen days, during which time she danced the tread wheel. The Magistrate who committed her, is a humane man,. and thought she Avas hardly fit for the tread mill ; the doctor of the estate as sured him she Avas ; the woman is said to ha\'e complained to her acquaintances of harsh treat ment, and to have said, " if she ever lived to reach home, she would persuade her massa's negros never to go to Half- Way-Tree, as it would 224 LETTERS FROM kill them." The jury decided that she came to her death, from some cause unknoAvn, and with out any inquiry, as to her treatment in the work house; I ha\'e seen a Magistrate since, who happened to visit the workhouse before she left, and he noticed one of the women on the wheel Avas dreadfully exhausted ; I doubt not, it was the same individual.* The hill sides for the last Aveek have been extremely gay, with the large American aloe, (agave Americana,) Avhich is iioav in blossoms they are very numerous, and a most noble orna ment for these noble hills; the floAvering stem runs fifteen or tAventy feet, toAvards the top of Avhich are its large bright yelloAV flowers in beautiful clusters ; I have looked again and again, to see if I could trace any semblance betwixt them, and our sickly exotics. "Sight," they say, "is a lively infective sense, and carrieth many persua sions to the heart, Avhich ruleth all the rest;'' mine has convinced me, that an English green house affords a very sickly existence for an (agave Americana.) In Jamaica the leaves, during the day, are too hot to bear the hand upon, and yet a strong breeze is blowing all around ; what conserA-atory can assimilate to this ? I am in- * II. Kimball died of consumption, Cpthisis pulmonalis,) a few months after his return to America. For Kimball and Thome's published account of this inquest, seepage 422 of their Emancipation in the West Indies, which is a most interesting and valuable work. the West indies. 225 dined to thiiik the next improvement for green houses, should be, to introduce the trade wind. There is not a great variety of humming birds in Jamaica ; they have interested trie less than the mockingbird, {sylvia dominica ;) which though plain in plumage, has great skill in melody, and is valued as standing unrivalled in excellence. Sylvia the joyous mocking bird, Is tho Songster should be heard ; It sings with a delightful pipe, When canes and goodly fruits are ripe ; "Varied and cheerful is its song, Low and rapid, loud and long ; Living amongst Jamaica's flowers, It sings alone amidst the bowers. Sligo Ville, 10th. Two days ago Ave came over to Spanish Town, intending to go together to Jericho, on a visit to the Baptist minister, J. Clarke ; feeling very feverish, I concluded to let T. H. go forward alone,* and to rest quietly one day. J. M. Philippo then accompanied me to this Mountain Mission Station, established by him a feAv years since, to instruct the benighted ; and besides the pleasure of doing good, he has the benefit of a change of air ; for at this elevation, between tAvo * .This little indisposition terminated with an attack of " prickly heat," which affected the. skin like scarlet fever ; this complaint which is said to attack "newcomers," was my last tropical annoyance. G G 226 LETTERS FROM and three thousand feet above the sea, the climate is delightful; his garden produces carrots, peas, and potatoes. I enjoy the change, for Kingston and Spanish Town are much too hot for my comfort. The road partakes of those characters and features previously described, as common to Jamaica mountain paths ; the distance may be eight miles, and we brought the gig half way, completing the rest on horseback ; Avild, luxuriant, and varied Avere the views : here and there a patch Avas burnt for a provision ground. In this way the appren tices in mountainous districts maintain them selves ; they burn and clear a plot of ground, and then plant their yams. The soil in the vale near Spanish Town, and up part of the ascent, Avas remarkably red, (subpinguis crocea ;) it is fertile and very favourable for the groAvth of oranges. Not having said as much before, I -will just say iioav that Jamaica is one hundred and fifty miles- long, by forty broad. I have not obtained the exact population ; the folloAving is an approach to the truth :— apprentices, three hundred thousand ; free-coloured, ten thousand ; Maroons, two thou sand; whites, including the army, thirty-five thousand. Spanish Town or St. Jago-de-la-Veo-a, is very much smaller than Kingston, not num bering ten thousand inhabitants. The Govern ment is composed of the Governor, who at present is Lord Chancellor and Commander-in-Chief; the Legislative Council consisting of twelve ; and the House of Assembly of forty-three Members. At THE west indies. 227 Spanish ToAvn we again enjoyed the company of R. Hill, a Special Magistrate, and Secretary for that department. He thinks the only chance for the apprenticeship to have worked at all comfort ably, Avould have been by combining three other prot'isions. First. That no courts should be held at planters' houses. Secondly. That apprentices cruelly used, should be entitled to their freedom. Thirdly. That planters should have no controul over nursing mothers, and those about to nurse ; and that a proper provision should be made for the free children ; at present they depend upon their. mothers for a living, whose time is claimed by the planters. The apprenticeship system, as iioav worked, is a wicked one : exempli. — J. M. Philippo knew an individual attending his congregation who wished to be baptized, and become a member ; ere the proper time arrived she died. On inquiry he found she Avas taken ill ; the overseer said it Avas sham, and ordered her to the field ; feeling herself unable, she came into town for medicine; a doctor gave her a certificate, certifying her inca pability. . Her master on reading it, came into town, abused the medical man; said he Avould make the woman work; vain boast! death claimed her. The poor woman has been buried three Aveeks. Recently a man complained of illness ; he was not alloAved to rest, but ordered a quart of salt Avater with jalape ; he said he was too ill to take it ; he was not allowed any thing else, and shortly died. 228 LETTERS PROM A woman very lately, with an infant, called upon a magistrate in Spanish Town, saying she was turned out of her master's town house, aud ordered to his estate in the country. The child was so ill she thought it would die on the way, so came to the magistrate for advice, who kindly sheltered her two days, when the infant died. He Avas threatened with prosecution for harbouring a runaway. This distressed mother was the mis tress of that master Avho ordered her out. Evil is so rife here, that little brigl'tness is to be seen, save amongst, the Missionaries and their coad jutors. At Sligo Ville, where I noAv write, are three orphans, housed and sheltered by J. M. Philippo, who feelingly knows " ??iens descendo alilur ;" he has therefore taken these three neg lected children: "in loco parentis, ad monendum et docendum :" they are grandchildren of Lord Kenyon, who sent out a natural son to be an overseer; and he having died, these his children are destitute. Morality cannot advance fast, till con scientious governors arc sent out, avIio, by ex ample, shall endeavour to stem the torrent of vice. Adjoining Sligo Ville is a small pimento planta tion. The apprentices are all of one family, con sisting of seven brothers, sister, and mother; we walked to them at work in the field. Their master has made one of the brothers driver of the rest. In conversation he acknowledged he Avas forced to cat his mother and sister, when they -would not work, during the days of slavery ; but iioav said the west indies. 229 he, they d'ont mind me, for my poAver is trans ferred to the Special Magistrate. Yes, thought I, the loss of a great evil has brought the gain of real good ; for doubtless they love thee more. Sir Lionel Smith's motto is "conciliation, conciliation, conciliation," which treplet he is very partial to; but unfortunately it is a one sided treplet. Lord Sligo's character I much admire ; he treated the present governor with the greatest courtesy ; sent his carriage to meet him at Kingston, yet Sir Lionel Smith Avould not buy Lord Sligo's country house and furniture, for one thousand five hundred pounds, though the furniture alone cost many hundreds. Lord Sligo therefore sold it to a private individual, but pulled the telegraph doAvn he had erected to communicate with Spanish ToAvn and Port Royal. Sir L. Smith found however that his town house Avas too hot and confined for a, continued residence, and noAv lives at Highgato, as tcnant-at-will, in the same house he might have purchased with the telegraph much beneath its value. The residence is not more than a quarter of a mile from this Mis sionary Station, which- J. M. Philippo called Sligo Ville, in compliment to Lord Sligo. On becoming acquainted with the state of things here, I- more and more regret Lord Sligo's leaA'ing ; he is one of "nature's noblemen." J. M. P. before his departure asked him his opinion as to slavery ; he replied, "my hand has signed years back many a document to uphold the old system ; but I had 230 LETTERS FROM rather my hand had withered than I had done so ; and if I AA'as only now supported at home, I Avould go hand in hand with the Anti-Slavery Society." Having these views he wrote to Lord GlEnelg, saying, if he was not supported he must resign ; this Avas construed into a resignation, and ac cepted as such. Sligo Ville is an interesting station ; a day and evening school have been established, the latter for the apprentices ; they come willingly six miles after their day's work, stay till nine o'clock, then walk home to be ready for the field, by six a. m. ; few things yield a speedier return than instruction. Negros spare no exertion when they meet with encouragement, "either in the acquirement of learning, or for a maintenance; Avitness the extraordinary loads they carry on their heads to market, walking all night to the Saturday's market, sitting exposed to the sun through the day, and then returning home : a negro woman may be seen driving three laden mules, and carrying a heavy load herself; there is no begging by the road side ; they are like bees going and returning ; they may hail massa going by, with a "good mornin," but never ask for pity and condolence. I do not admire the negro's skin and countenance; but I admire their charac ter, it is full of noble traits ; such as gratitude, domestic and local attachments; and they have' in a great degree, the virtue of cleanliness ; their huts are generally neat. I have never seen a THE WEST INDIES. 231 congregation at worship, but I could, Avithout discomfort, have sat anywhere, when in their Sunday apparel; I cannot say this of England, Ireland, or Scotland ; yet the planters designate them all as rascals : a gentleman told me this day, that an acquaintance came to him, and said, " Avell Mr. R , you arc going to lose your servant; he is a rascal, like the rest of them, a'ynt he ?" " No," replied It., " he is not a rascal, but an excellent domestic ;" " well then, do send him to me," said the other, "for I can't find one." II. replied, "he is not inclined for service, or he would not leave me ; but having married, he wishes to commence business, by opening a shop." Is it not surprising they should treat the whites with so much civility, when they are spoken of and treated in this way ? I firmly believe the efforts of the Missionaries, will develope the negro character : the reading and spelling, in this re cently established school, would do credit to any country; on hearing a young class sing, "per pendicular is to stand upright," I Avas reminded of the little P s ; the variety of tunes is amus ing; nearly all the instruction is conjoined Avith attempted harmony- J. M. Philippo has no funds for his recently established school, at Sligo Ville ; it affords instruction to the apprentices on the neighbouring estates, yet no planter gives a stiver toAvards its support ; but to put it doAvn, would not hundreds soon be raised ? Education Avill turn the tables ; planters will find, that Iioaa'- 232 LETTERS PROM ever unwilling to respect the skin, they must, in spite of their prejudices, respect intelligence and uprightness. J. M. P. has an excellent plan to draw attention and raise funds, for his Spanish Toavii metropolitan schools. In the school* room an annual bazaar is displayed; the articles, as trinkets, books, et cet., are sent by the benevo lent in England, and each stand has a large placard, showing from whence they came, as Peckham stand, Tottenham stand ; "there has been great AVant of a Birmingham stand, as boys pre fer knives and tools, to pincushions : I have been able, from articles I brought out, to furnish a supply for the first Birmingham stand; and I hope, Birmingham will not be behind other places, but keep it up.* 1 lth. Rain is always expected this month, and yesterday it fell gratefully; the drought has been threatening, and the atmosphere has been heated ; the sun is vertical the 20th. of this month, SO that a check to his influence, from clouds and rain, is very Avclcolnc ; this pure, cooler air invigorates me ; my thermometer, this morning, was 72°, in town it Avould have been 82°; and the appear ance around has been novel and striking : the mountain heights Avere clear and distinct, even the Blue Mountain Peak ; but the valleys Avere all filled Avith a dense fog : ocean masses of * Since my return a subscription lias been set on foot.- I shall bo glad to receive donations for this object, or they may be banded to Joseph Sturoe. THE WEST INDIES. 233 clouds, white as snow, and misty vapours, " o'er the Marish glided;" the sun's rays, and the morning breeze, aAvakened up these drowsy mists; standing high above, I watched the growing con fusion ; islands and continents of vapour rolled away, -as if conscious they had lain too long ; it looked solid enough to roll up, and make a ball of ; perhaps I acquired this idea from the in elegant one of " slicing a London fog." The Chapel, at this station, is a A'cry simple one, a large room attached to the dwelling : we attended family Avorship this morning ; the orphans, Avith some other scholars, sang a hymn, though a few months ago they were ignorant of their letters: the interest felt by the negros here, for religious communion, has aroused the zeal of a neighbour ing Clergyman ; he has been recently ordained. I think the Bishop Avould have withheld his sanc tion, if he had known of his singular method for promoting religion; he cannot be esteemed as an apostolic vicar ; he plays the violin on a Saturday evening, to induce the negros to come and dance through the night, that they may not disperse, but be assembled ready for his ministry on the Sabbath ; and he says he could not collect them otherwise. The methodists are promoting edu cation nobly ; this Aveek they lay the foundation stone of a iacav school, the first of nine, to be erected on the government plan ; a Minister is come out to superintend them ; he has visited the metropolitan school, Avithout calling upon J. h h 234 LETTERS PROM M. Philippo: religious distinctions should not destroy the courtesies of life. I cannot imagine Iioav any mind can think, that when slavery has passed awaA', there Avill be an "hiatus valde deflendus ;" for my part I wish it may not be said, " stat umbra nominis." Slavery, in my opinion, destroys domestic com fort; too many individuals arc about the house, who must be provided for ; hence, domestics in the yards, and pickaninnies Avalking about the dwelling, interrupting privacy ; if any one is playing the piano forte, the black servant stands in tlie open door way, to listen to the music ; what occurs at a ball in Demerara, I have elsewhere noticed; these freedoms are indulgences; the per secutions are tolerably well known ; and what is affecting, they teach hoAv to persecute : negro mothers beat their little naked niggers fearfully ; a coav skin smacks on their backs, too much like a cart whip ; the cries are heart-rending ; this frequently occurs in Demerara and Barbadoes, the method of correcting negro children being by flagellation. The cheapest thing in the West Indies is Avarmth ; rt is to be had for nothing, being dispensed freely every day; not by man, he dis penses ill-will, which bye the bye is also cheap. Needful articles are dear enough. Mutton is a shilling per pound ; beef tenpence. Where ex penses are great the means must be proportionate. w , the young man who teaches the Baptist THE WEST INDIES. 235 Queen-street Schools, and occasionally officiates at Port Royal, has a salary of two hundred pounds sterling, and says he could not live for less. A physician's fee is three pounds three shillings ; and a gentleman told me he had paid one hundred pounds per annum for medical at tendance, and his family is small. In a fruitful field like Jamaica, these things ought not to be; abundance of all things needful might be grown ; yet the colonics depend on America for sup plies; yes, even to horse corn. Slavery has been a 3ort of idol, to which all whites are expected to boAv in some Avay or other ; either in abuse of the negros, or in upholding the " peculiar institu tions;" in thought, word, and deed; if not, he is an enemy to " ships, colonies, and commerce." There is great enslavement of the mind ; the minister is afraid of losing his pulpit ; the doctor his patient ; the tradesman his customer ; and all stand in fear of the planters; which would be well, Avere they the patterns of right feeling and action. Slavery is a " canker worm;" apprenticeship is a ''palmer Avorm;" and Avhat the "canker worm has left, the palmer Avorm has eaten ;" in other AA-ords, if any system could more irritate man against man, and awaken deeper malice than slavery, that system is the apprenticeship. Before it, there Avas the benevolence of the despot; but the poAver having been taking out of the planter's hands, irritation rankles in his mind, and it has rooted out Avhat kindness had there a place. 236 LETTERS FROM The climate is healthy for those who need not undergo great exertion, as shop and storekeepers j no shivering or cold feet need be dreaded, and from five to seven a. si. exposure in the open air is delightful. Fragrant breathings accompany the wanderer; beauty is before him, and spicy odours at his right hand ; in short to sum up, there are balmy mornings, scorching noons, placid evenings, star light nights, skins of all colours, quadroon and mustcc, cruelty in man, magnifi cence in nature, Avith iioav and then a sharp hur ricane, and shock of an earthquake. The negro is the man for the West Indies ; he alone can culti vate the soil, and therefore ought to be protected. In Barbadoes, on visiting a cane field, I observed two young men, the proprietors, with very sin gular faces ; on going up to them, I found they had masks on to protect them from the sun. They were sitting on horseback, each holding up an umbrella ; whilst the apprentices, heedless of the heat, were slashing the canes down. It will be long before the negros are able to secure their just and efficient rights, and I would urge the philanthropists of Britain not to relax their efforts, until individually they can say with Joseph Sturge, " quod pottii, feci, faciant meliora po- tenles." Persevere then, let me entreat you, as if stimulated by the energetic advice of the poet : ¦' Press on ! for in the grave there is no work, And no device ; press on ! Avkilc yet ye may.' THE WEST INDIES. 237 We intend to embark for New York on the 14th, by the John White Cater packet. If our voyage is prosperous, I shall write from thence, and in the meantime, I remain, Thy very affectionate son, Willi a m Lloyd. 238 LETTERS FROM LETTER XV. New York, (i/A. Month, Uh., 1837. Mv Dear M r. I seize the present favourable opportunity of answering thy last very acceptable letter, which happily came safe to hand. We debarked from Jamaica as we intended, on the 14th of this month, and landed here on the sixteenth day after wards, which is considered a good passage. The distance is about one thousand four hundred miles. Our company was equal to the ship's accommo dation, amongst whom were the American gentle men, T. A. Thome, and J. H. Kimball, Avhich made !t agreeable; a Jamaica coffee planter, J. F. Pickersgill, travelling for the benefit of very delicate health, who through an introduction placed himself under my care; and also a youn°- man, a Canadian, Felix Hands. To check symp toms of consumption, this young man had avoided a Canadian winter, and spent it in Jamaica. His general appearance did not indicate the ravages of a mortal disease ; but no sooner had we left the balmy tropics, than fatal symptoms began to show themselves. There were several other Ja- THE AVEST INDIES. 239 maica residents on board : one an attorney and planter : their gentlemanly behaviour prevented all possibility of clashing from different vieAvs. The circumstance of J. F. P., placing himself under my care, proved that no ill will was in operation against us. In my invalided friend, J. F. P, I became much interested; he Avas young, only two years married, recently cm- barked in life, and in a precarious state of health. Since the commencement of the apprenticeship he had never brought any complaints before the Special Magistrate, and he had only one negro Avho had occasioned him any trouble. Need there be stronger evidence that the apprentices are trac table when properly treated? No striking in cident occurred during the voyage. The sailors caught a shark soon after leaving Kingston harbour, and avc were exposed to a gale of short continu ance ; it was in our favour, so Ave drove before it : it only occasioned us the slight inconvenience of the loss of a meal, and of our top gallant yard arm, which broke before the sails Avere reefed. We passed Sandy Hook on the evening of the 30th, and cast anchor in the loAver bay shortly afterwards . On the morrow, at day break, Aurora found us all awake ; Stratton Island was before, With neat white houses on tho shore; Whilst on our right Long Island lay, Greon wilh verdure, fresh and gay. 240 LETTERS PROM Bright indeed that eastern hue, Vapours from tho gray morn flew ; For the sun had left his bed, Beams of splendour round to siied : Here was' a goodly prospect, yes, One which the Mariner could bless ; It met us on a vernal day, -s Tho thirtieth of our lovely May ; \ When lavish nature seemed to say, J Welcome stranger, come and see Columbia ! land of mystery !« ^ After breakfast Ave entered the Narrows, which divides the loAver from the upper bay; it is formed by the contiguity in that part of Stratten and Long Island; this pass is strongly defended by batteries : having passed through, the upper mag nificent Bay is seen in its wide expanse ; Long Island bounds it on the right ; Stratten Island and New Jersey on the left ; and on sailing up, the delta of Manhatten Island, on which new York stands, opens out. There are several islands in the Bay, named Blackwclls, Bedloes, and Governors; the latter most arrests the stranger's attention : it is very near the city, and has a circular battery upon it. The city, with its forests of masts, was very imposing in its outline, as we approached : the ships, extending up both the north and east river, enclose the city, and seem like its defensive armour; but long may it be, before * The union of the most degrading slavery, with their boasted republicanism, is mysterious. THE WEST INDIES. 241 these noble vessels, leave on any other errand than those of peace and commerce. Wc landed near the battery; a considerable extent of ground, at the point of the Delta fronting the bay, belong ing to the corporation, and laid, out Avith AA'alks, Avhich arc shaded by trees, for the recreation of the citizens ; the battery itself is fifty yards from the shore, to which there is a bridge; this is a circular fortification, enclosing a considerable area : and, as we are liA'ing in the " piping times of peacc,"-it is fitted up for the display of fireworks, which are exhibited, during summer, several times a Aveek, and is now designated by the name of the Castle Gardens. Our poor young invalid, Felix Hands, drooped at once on reach ing a colder atmosphere : though the sea breezes Avere only invigorating to those in health, his delicate lungs could not bear the shock ; he had been confined to his berth several days, previously to our arrival at NeAv York; it Avas Avith the utmost difficulty, and under the greatest prostra tion of strength, that he left the A'esscl ; and it grieves me to pen the melancholy termination, that on reaching a boarding house, as he AA'as laid on a bed, he simultaneously breathed his last. T. H. and I attended his funeral the folloAA'ing day, as a mark of our respect; AA'e were deeply impressed with the melancholy occasion ; our acquaintance Avas short ; but a fortnight at sea, with a suffering companion, plants a stem of feeling and friendship which is not easily uprooted. i i 2-12 * LETrERs FROM F£lix Hands is gone ! Most suddenly ho fell, Rein I ions there were none, To hear his funeral knoll. The sun was sinking fast, The ship at anchor lay ; Before the eve had past, The spirit left its clay. I nursed him on tho deep; The ocean made us friends; And friends 'tis well lo keep, X''or friendship oft befriends. Then sigh for Felix Hands, Alas ! he is no more ; Death severed life's frail bands, He sank upon the shore. The first impressions, on entering New York- are highly favourable; the buildings generally are good : as leading characteristics, I would say there are no very shabby houses; no artizans,' distinguishable by dirty faces, or beggars • but crowds of genteel persons ; as if England beine the workshop, this was the country where the articles were consumed, and so the residents had no occasion to soil their hands. After a residence in the tropics, where few except negros, are to be seen in the streets • it is very animating again to be where it is not ungenteel for pale faces to walk out; the im pressions are of again meeting one's countrymen and of being one of the community. The Amen* cans have much nationality-in their appearance j THE WEST INDIES. 243 the men are rather tall, Avith penetrating, reflec tive, pale, immoveable expression of countenance, accompanied with a very independent carriage; their dress is marked by an absence of articles which soil, such as shirt collars, light trowsers, orvvhile cotton stockings; the prevailing 'dress being a simple black stock, dark trowsers, and boots ; gloves are seldom worn : I could not but observe the general taste, on landing from the tropics, where tli2 men dress iu white "a capite ad calcem." The ladies, in person, are very thin and pallid, Avith waists imaginary; their walking is a great contrast to the gentlemen's, it being minc ing and restrained, as if they Avere bound by wires; their present fashion of dress is most disfiguring ; they have gone into an opposite extreme to the full sleeves, Avhich are iioav tight, with five or six large frills, or furbelows round each clboAv; loAvalk behind a thin American lady, with this dress on, makes it difficult to restrain a smile, at its ex traordinary iuappropriateness for a spare person. Broad Way is the principal street ; it is several miles long, running from the Castle Gardens, or Battery Place, the whole length of the city ; omnibuses ply up and doAvn, reminding one of home. Our quarters are at the American hotel, which stands about mid-way up it ; before us are the city hall, and post-offices, situated in an open space of ground, called the Park, ver dant Avith grass and trees : on the city hall is a large bell, and a man is ahvays stationed there, 244 LETTERS FROM I am told, to look out for fires. Two fires have already occurred since our arrival ; one was near enough for me to see the flames, and property to a large amount Avas destroyed. The city hall bell first tolled, and then all the " church going bells," or rather fire going, in the city : the city hall bell is struck in a different maimer for every ward, or district of the town; the firemen, therefore, on counting the strokes, knoiv at once where to go, and they go quickly ; a few minutes after the bell tolls, engines are rolling thither from all quar ters. On our right hand is Astor's hotel, which erection cost one hundred thousand pounds ; the proprietor, a foreigner, I believe a German, is still living ; he came over to America a poor boy, and has realised great Avealth ; Washington Living's Astoria, developes the character of this suc cessful man. The American Hotel is also upon a large scale, as hotels generally are here. The customers are of tAvo classes, boarders, and tradesmen ; the former occupy a distinct part of the house, and take their meals at different hours, breakfasting at eight, and dining at four ; whilst the former breakfast at half past seven, and dine at three. The boarders arc married couples, single ladies, and other characters, amongst whom arc casual visitors like ourselves. Wc sit down to table, cat and drink, Avithout being merry; approximate neighbours do not speak, Avithout they arc relations, or intimately ac quainted; no wine is upon the table, no malt THE WEST INDIES. 245 liquor is handed ; but solids are, however, laid out in abundance, and of excellent quality ; the servants arc sufficiently numerous to attend to the wants of each individual. There is a novelty in this independendence, Avhich is attractive; this soli tude amidst society, certainly affords an oppor tunity to make a good dinner ; and Avhere else could such a scene be Avitnessed ; between one and tAvo hundred genteel people sitting at dinner, and not a single voice heard ? Is this one of the arrange ments accruing from republican independence ? Changes are frequently carried beyond the line of usefulness ; the absence of wine at dinner, aud of the decanters afterwards, arc agreeable to those of temperate habits : each leaves the table as his meal is finished ; and those avIio are inclined to drink, must indulge their inclination at the bar; but the monotony of silence, though impressive at first, inclines to the belief, there is a want of of confidence, and sociability in the party. Our friends, Kimball and Thome, are quartered at a Vegetable Hotel, in which neither meats nor stimulants are alloAved, not even coffee; the diet consisting of bread, rice, milk, and such like. It has been opened to the public, in accordance with the A'ieAvs of Dr. Graham, who lectures upon diet, and advocates this system; here the gour mands may reduce themselves, and get rid of hypo, (the term made use of for hypochondria- cism,) and the extra abstemious may folloAv out their favourite principle. I have no doubt many 246 LETTERS FROM invalids will be benefitted, though it will never remove the "flesh pots" of America. One evening Ave met the NeAV York Anti- Slavei'y Committee at their office in Nassau- street, and AA'ere introduced to A. and L. Tai-pan, the unflinching advocates of Negro Emancipation. The members present Avere interested with the information Ave were enabled to give in such a limited period of time, the usual routine of busi ness having first to be gone through; it Avas cheering to become acquainted with philanthro pists of such untiring zeal ; they can uoav meet in safety to discuss their prospects ; whereas only a few years have elapsed since their office was assailed. Perhaps thou Avilt say, how can this be ? Cannot Americans do as they like? Have not the northern states emancipated their slaves, and secured their freedom ? They have, so far as regards personal freedom; but as regards the political rights of freemen, it is only nominal. In this city the Mayor and Corporation Avill not grant a license to a negro to drive a hackney coach, or a ticket to be a porter or carman. What is that freedom worth, where a man is not alloAved to hire out a horse and cart? The system is to keep all methods of livcli-' hood, which the whites are willing to do, in their own hands; on which account the blacks arc liter ally hewers of wood and drawers of water; those therefore Avho have families are Avithheld from ad vancement, yes, from a creditable position in soci ety ; — young colored people live more respectably, THE WEST INDIES. 247 and have someAvhat better dpportunities ; they are waiters at hotels, and on steam-boats ; these situations being open to them. I am not sure they Avould be, if waiters Avere paid here as they are in England ; at present there are no vails to excite the cupidity of the Avhites ; the negros are therefore alloAved to occupy these spheres of use fulness. The disabilities under Avhich the colored population labour in the free states, seem to act upon the negros as if an exterminating principle Avas at work. An individual of close investiga tion informs me, that whilst in the slave breeding states the blacks increase in numbers, in the free states they diminish; and that Jersey, which manumitted her slaves, comparatively speaking only a few years back, has hoaa' but feAV negros within her boundary. These facts do not say much for the kindness of the christian republic. We have been kindly noticed by several English men ; viz. — James Fuller, from Bristol, and F. Metford, son of J. M., of Bath ; Ave break fasted with the latter at W. S.'s, who hospitably entertained us ; it gave us the opportunity of seeing the arrangement of a Ncav York domicile. We sat doAvn to our dejeuner in the basement which corresponds to an English cellar, as to its site, but not as to outfit ; the front basement is fitted up as a dining room, in which apartment all the meals are taken, the table remaining in "statu quo •" and when one meal is concluded, the cloth is again laid for the next in turn. The 248 LETTERS FROM after basement is the kitchen; so that dishes are easily carried from one to the other. The up stairs parlours, which are only divided by folding doors, are thus dapper for callers; neither crumbs from the breakfast, or savour from the dinner table, can possibly annoy those Avho have not partaken ; and on this plan a house is always neat, even with few hands ; and servants being ex pensive inmates in America, it is an object to limit their number. A very inexperienced girl ex pects six dollars per month, Avhich is upAvards of fourteen pounds per annum. Rents have been ex tremely high for some years. F. M. tells me he gives one hundred pounds per annum for his house, Avhich is only two stories high. His parlour has tAA-o AvindoAvs in front. Such a house in England might be had for thirty pounds ; this Avould not include the underground apartments ; and having a great predilection for the basement, (it is cool in summer, and Avarm in winter,) I must add twenty pounds for that; eA'en then, the rents in New York are at least double : for these reasons and others, I am satisfied that fami lies, who come here Avithout a certain prospect of an income, under the idea of economising, are dis appointed in their " el dorado." The atmos phere is very clear, and the days Avarm, but not oppressive to us, so recently from the tropics. The nights try me more ; the reason is, bed rooms at the hotels are mere closets; with a stump bedstead in each, comfortless in appearance. It THE WEST INDIES. 249 is very provoking after taking one's meals in a noble saloon, and musing in a large neAVs-room, to be penned up for the night in one of these close confined nooks. The American system is to accommodate many, . rather than to indulge a few. The mind has one comfort, that, no distinc tion is made, all being served alike, and each one is treated as belonging to the family. On entering an hotel, an individual writes his name at the bar, in a day book kept for the purpose, against Avhich is affixed the number of his bed room ; and as long as he remains, he has no occasion ever to ring a bell : the bells arc rung for him. Ilalf- an-hour before breakfast a domestic rings a bell along every passage, as notice to arise ; it rings again at the breakfast hour, and punctually for each meal ; the last meal is at six p. m., and is called supper ; it is a union of the two previous ones, combining the tea and coffee of breakfast, with the cheese and meat of dinner : after which the boarder, at his own time, goes to his closet, without any necessity having been imposed upon him, of speaking a word for twelve hours. There is one little article (a-spittoon) which Ave allot to corners, here has an admission into drawing, dining, and bed-rooms; and though very numer ous, it is by no means thickly enough planted to save the carpets and floors. The above term at once explains the habit Americans have acquired; it is national, and really detracts from the purity of republican manners. I am inclined to think under K It 250 LETTERS FROM monarchical institutions the force of public opi nion would check it ; every effect has a cause, and the cause of this is cheAving tobacco, the leaves of Avhich are pressed as solid as a board, and sold under the name of cavendish ; a threepenny wedge of which Avill enable any novice to become an expert practioner.* Were it not for this, cleanli ness Avould be more observable, and deserve the meed of praise From the absence of coal smoke, the city has a light airy appearance, the bricks never acquiring the dingy hue of Birmingham ; they are frequently made brighter in their appearance by paint, Avhich together Avith the outside green blinds, give the houses a fresh and lively hue. A stranger cannot trace the effects of the destructive fire of 1835 ; it occurred at Christmas, and oAving to the intense frost, the water froze in the hose, so that the engines Avere useless ; one million pounds sterling of property are estimated to have fallen a sacrifice. The streets are again rebuilt in a very substantial manner. Pearl-street is certainly one of the handsomest commercial throughfares in the world. The exchange in Wall- street is not yet finished, though considerable pro gress has been made. The brothers Tappans fared " Two of my English acquaintances have described the im pression this disgusting habit made on their minds in forcible similes ; one thought it was as if the whole nation was' in a stato of salivation; the other, whilst sitting in a meeting for worship, thought it was raining outside; in reality it was raining tobacco juice within. THE WEST INDIES. 251 better than their neighbours in that fire, from a singular circumstance. On account of their being abolitionists, the New York Fire Insurance Com panies Avould not take the risk of their property, deeming it unsafe from popular commotion; they hiid therefore to insure elsewhere, in Boston and Philadelphia. After the fire, the claims were so great upon the city companies, they could not meet the demands, and were broken up; Avhilst the Tappans, having been sent to a distance, re covered the amount of tlieir insurance. The east river, which separates Long Island from the city of New York, is much narrower than the north river, being about a mile wide. On the shore opposite NeAv York, Brooklyn is situated ; a large toAvn, but with country advan tages, many of the streets having avenues of trees, formed of the Avillow and locust. The heights of Brooklyn look down upon NeAV York, and the residences are charming; many mer chants reside there; aud from the convenience of the ferries, little time is wasted ; there are several of these, as that of South Brooklyn, Fulton, St. Catherine's, and others; whose steam boats ply every five minutes all day, and great part of the night ; carts and carriages drive on to them. The tides here cause no inconvenience ; the rise and fall of water is only a feAV feet ; and to meet this, there are floating gangways ; one end is hinged to the shore, and the other is lowered and raised to the height of the boat by a wheel. 252 LETTERS FROM These Ioav tides are a great advantage to the scenery around New York ; for even at the Castle Gardens, at Ioav water there is only a feAV feet of bare shore, so that the prospect is never sullied by mud. There are ferries also across the north river to Jersey city, WcehaAvken, and Hoboken. At Hoboken are the Elysian Fields, whose rural walks invite the field-loving cit; if not " rus in urbc," it is rus juxta urhem, and a delightful place wherein to escape from town murmurs. Besides these attrac tions, near at hand there arc steam boats morning and evening up the Hudson to Albany and Troy, for those who are anxious to see the "far Avest." These river boats are of a very different mould to our snug sea boats ; some of them have four large chimneys, and the boilers and machinery being upon the deck, the engine beams are much ele vated, one on each side of the boat, each boat having two engines. The accommodation for passengers is extensive, consisting of the dining saloon, beneath the main deck ; this main deck has a^ flat roof, and this flat roof is another deck, called the hurricane, and is covered with an awning. The all engrossing subject of conversation is the panic, and the suspension of specie payments, which took place nearly a month "since, with all the city banks; it is said they Avould all have been drained of specie in one or two more days, if they had not resisted the demand; this, 'in England, would be called a bankruptcy; here it THE AVEST INDIES. 253 is the independent cleverness of bankers, taking care of their gold, or rather of that which belongs to other persons ; consequently, bankers' paper is at a discount, and gold at a premium; a sovereign, which in general is not worth more than four dollars eighty cents, or thereabouts, is iioav worth five dollars and a half. The mer chants are failing on all hands ; there Avere thirty stopt in this city on one day, and I shall send for- Avard Avith this a list of three hundred names, who in a feAV weeks, have exchanged afllucncc for po verty; the suddenness ofthe event is as complete as its extent ; some Avho had their carriages a month ago, are now within the pinching gripe of want. W. N and family, who Avere on board the Oscar, from St. Thomas' to Jamaica, and again of our party from Jamaica here, considered himself a Avealthy man, having built his residence at New York, which, with the plot, cost some thousands of pounds : he had been absent travelling, to see his relations, for several months, and knew no thing of the panic till the pilot came on board ; even then he had little fear, but on stepping ashore, he found N brothers, had stopt pay ment : Avhat a humiliation, what a draw back to the joy of returning home, which he had been fondly anticipating. A stranger on arriving, is not at first aAvare of the state of affairs ; the popiilace are peaceable, the shops are open, and in the midst of confusion, there is abundance ,- he could not tell, from the appearance of New York, 254 LETTERS FROM that anything Avas wrong ; one reason is, there are no bankrupt laws; no names arc published, no" com missions opened, no stores closed ; parties stopping payment, if they can show fair accounts, and forth coming assets, are alloAved by their creditors to conduct the business on their behalf, and eventually to resume it ; if not, they wind it up themselves : what Avould English attorneys say to this method? The Americans, from the extent of their com merce, think, if they lead the way, Europe must follow; and, therefore, predict that the Bank of England will suspend ; perhaps the Bank may be of the same opinion as Sir Francis Head ; who in one of his speeches said, "the first prin ciple of monarchy is honour." This convulsion is supposed to have been occasioned by over trading, and by the late President, General Jack son's overthrow of the United States' Bank ; its charter, which expired in 1834, was not renewed; consequently its branches, established in each State, Avere discontinued, and there has been no proper medium of exchange between the different States since ; the government continue the war against paper money, and will only receive specie for dues ; it is, therefore, a contest betwixt the government and the commercial paper money loving community : time will show which is to be the victor. T. Harvey- has concluded to return to Eng land on the eighth inst., and will be the bearer of this letter : I intend staying a few months in the THE AVEST INDIES. 255 States ; my next companion, for a time, will be J. F. P , the Jamaica resident, mentioned before; from the circumstance of my going hand in hand Avith a coffee planter, ' I think I shall have the credit of having made at least one convert, to my abolition principles. I believe so small an harvest Avould not meet the views of my friend Joseph Sturge, and am inclined to think, he will not be satisfied till he has converted two thirds of the British nation, and through them, a majority of the Island legislatures. I hope all his undertakings will end as prosperously as our visit; it having noAv terminated, Ave feel very thankful for the merciful preservation extended to us by a kind and benign Providence: "The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many Avaters, yea, than the mighty Avaves of the sea." I remain, Thy very affectionate son, William Lloyd. B. Hudson, Pwnteh, BiRMiNcruM. APPENDIX, BARBADOES JAIL. O ! should you over see Barbadoes Jail, Your eyes in truth shall make your hearts to quail, At misery which tyranny must cause, When it can make its own vindictive laws. Hoav well I recollect the horrid den, In which-aijsun-sct they confined the mon ; The room quite small, tho number several score, And yet no limit, there might still bo more. This dank apartment had a bed of stone, Built round against the wall, and that alone, For them to sit or lie on in the night, Till roused for labour at the morning light ; No stool, no board, I hint not at a bed, On which each might recline his drooping head : The place was nothing better than a stye ; . And in this piggery poor negros lie. By day, with hammers soft* they break hard stones, Then pass the night in languishing and groans ; Can fancy picture any harder lot ? Than such exposure, where the sun's so hot ; » See Page 14. 25S APPENDIX. Breaking large stones, as on the ground they lie, ] And then at night confined within that stye ; If this is lifo, 'tis better far to dio : ' j The bruised and broken also leave the mill, Which by revolving, works the planter's will ! Yes, that shin breaking and revolving wheel, Brings hourly anguish in its daily reel; To see poor women's arms across a bar, And men above them, higher perched by far, Forcing their weight upon tlie women's wrist*, And pressing down with heavy grasping fists ; To see each thus suspended by ono arm, Awakens painful feelings of alarm. Two women having lost the proper tread The wheel required, as round and round it sped; Suspended by the elbows they wore hung, And O ! the anguish which from them was wrung; The driver's cow-skin now twists round their legs,' "Whilst each with plaintive voice for mercy bogs ; ' " Massa, me massa, O sweet massa, me, Upon the step again will try to be ;" Their efforts fail; new hear their piercing groans ; Each stop which follows step, skins their shin bones ; From depths of misery tho sighs are deep, And sad the tears when the oppressed weep. To see that wheel stained round with human blood, Whilst driver with his cat behind them stood, Was quite enough to harrow Nero's heart, And mako him from his cruelty depart; But mercy was not there, round the wheel goes, APPENDIX. 259 And from each bruised shin the fresh blood flows. Now when tho minute glass had run its spell, Which was ten minutes, then the Avomen fell; Their wrists being loosed, they dropt like leaden shot, And in their fainting anguish cared not For driver's call, O ! no, they were too faint ; All language fails such dreadful scenes to paint. The agony they at that hour endured, Surely from hearts of flesh would have insured Christian -ompassion ; and a slight attempt To lesson in my mind, anger, contempt : Would such had been ! for at that direful hour Pale Buckrah's breast was sealed 'gainst pity's power. Alas ! poor negros whether ill or well, Day after day you pace each daily spell ; And there are several of ten minutes length, Although the first should quite exhaust your strength : It is no matter, you must take your turn, And broken shins and bruised elbows earn. Enough ! enough ! let others tell the rest ; That which I've penn'd is not from fiction drest. 260 APPENDIX. THE jRIVER DEMERARA. Gmana's sti-cam, what can he said of thee ? Thou art not in thy waters bright and pure; But round thy borders there is seen to bo A rank fertility, winch could allure Pale Buckrah, with his passions from afar ¦ Round thee lie settled, bought poor negro slaves, He made them work, he lashed then to his car, _ Ho whipt tlieir flesh, he pressed them to their graves, That ho might cultivate the luscious cane ;— Most fearlessly he lavished tears and pain. ' Foul Avarice ! how thou dost mar the mind • Below the ignoble brute thou siukest man; Man with his boasted reason falls behind,— And through the fleeting days of his short span, VY ith cruelty he socks for sordid wealth • T,FI* Victims Woccli»8;> '«s the price of blood ; Their hfe, their happiness, their welfare, health, Their temporal aud tlieir eternal good Appear as nothing in his jaundiced eye ¦ As brutes they work, and worse than brutes they die. And by what right is man a despot made ? The white to tyrannise, t'euslave the black? Is ho to bleed, because a darker shade Has been impressed upon his tawny back' And here the negro ought himself bo chief His constitution is the fittest here; From sol's proud orb lie needs but slight relief; that orb which in the tropics bright and clear, J 'arts a bright beam most diXIu-ult to paint Vet one that makes the white man sick and faint APPENDIX. 261 Stabroek ! now George Town ! doubtless there ia much Within, around thee, to admire, and praise, A monument of the industrious Dutch, O'er rank alluvial soil a town to raise ; But was it so ? 0 ! that it had so been !— Poor negros say, " that you were not the means,- You were task masters ; wo were to bo seen The instruments whence so much richness teems ;'' When I behold the work which has been done, I fear the lash, and throats, the conquest won. You aro a hardy race, I've watched you toil, With limbs all bare, 'ncatli a meridian sun, And have admired your efforts on that soil, How yon would not oppressive labour shun ; Daily successive hours you stand exposed To heat, which fevers and destroys white man : Had I not soon, I could not have supposed There had been those upon this earth who can Fndurc to labour, 'neath such burning rays, Year after year, aye, many thousand days. 'Tis wonderful to think that man should bo, To any thing which breathes the vital air, The instrument of savage cruelty ; And that so weak a being, dares to dare The just displeasure of flic Omnipotent; O 1 how can Mercy, though so sparing, spare Him who inflicts deep woo to such extent ? Who for the afflicted fools no Christian care, But having steeled his heart to Mercy's law, Might makes his right, a right without a flaw. 262 APPKNDIX. JAMAICA, HAYTI, AND TIIK INDIANS. Farewell Jamaica ! land of spiings farewell ! A gentle breeze now wafts thee from my sight ; Thy woes, thy griefs, destroyed that pleasing spell, Which else had entertained me day and night. Mine was a short, more temporary, stay, Barely two months winged their excursive flight, Through week, through night, through hour, and through tho day, Whilst I remained amidst thy flowerets bright ; And yet enough to satisfy my mind, Without heart-breaking,— now thou'rt left behind. Around there is a soft and radiant light, O'er land of spices, and o'er land of sun ; Now St. Domingo lies upon our right, And by thy rock Navarez, wc have run. It is not difficult, whore side i are mild ; Tis easy with a favouring breeze to shun Eoeks, which on this, or on that side are piled, Frowning in russet grey or deeper dun. Antillean waters, yo are sweet as canes, Save now and then when swept by hurricanes. Jamaica's peaks, St. Catherine's, and Blue, Shall never more attract my wandering eye ; I have boon one of your admirers true, Gazing upon your altitude so high : Thousands of feet, and yet so bright and clear, Coffee aud many goodly fruits grow nigh, Those lol'iy summits, which in Europe dear, Would seldom have around a clear blue sky ; But bo enveloped in snow, mist and storm, O'erhung by darkness, e'en in vernal morn. APPENDIX. 263 Cape Tiburon of Hayti, now looks down Upon tho circling waters which avc press ; It has a noble aspect in its frown, And is not insignificant, orlesn, Than Yallah's hill, peering near Morant Bay ; Whites do not sully now thy native dress Of w'ild flowers, flourishing in noon-lido ray; Their power is gone, on which they laid such stress. Tyrants they were, tho Blacks have now the start Of those who would inflict their cruel smart. But where aro ye ? poor Indians you arc gone, You've passed away from your luxuriant shades ; Yon sun which bright upon the Christians shone, No more can gladden you, amidst your glades. Millions and millions perished in the mines; The mind Avith pain through your sad history wades : That sun as then upon each mountain shines ; But you have left your tyrants cruel aids. You are but seen in history, known in ink ; And thus the human chain has lost a link.* * St. Domingo or ITayti at the time of its discovery in U:U, ii stated to have had a population of two million Indians; and iu 1 .->-l.~>, not more than one hundred and fifty were alivo. These red men v.-ci-ej ,;=t, generous, and humane, and a different race from the Caribs of the Windward Island?. B. Hudson, Printer, Birmingham. . . :¦,-".'-¦;..'-- . ¦ '' r .- ¦