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^arbarb  College  Hibrarp 


FBOM  THB 

BRIGHT  LEGACY 

One  half  the  income  from  this  Lepcj,  which  wm  re- 
ceived in  1880  under  the  will  of 

JONATHAN  BROWN  BRIGHT 

of  Waltham,  MMsachusetts,  is  to  be  expended  for  books 
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HENRY  BRIGHT,  JR., 
who  died  at  Watertown,  Massachusetts,  in  1686.  In  the 
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/ 


^g^^A 


STURGE  AND     HARVEY 


OM 


THE  WEST  INDIES. 


r.-J 


THE 


WEST     INDIES 


IK 


1837; 

BEING  THE 

JOURNAL  OF  A  VISIT  TO  ANTIGUA, 

MONTSERRAT,  DOMINICA, 
ST.  LUCIA,  BARBADOS,  AND  JAMAICA; 

UNDERTAKEN    FOR 

THE   PURPOSE  OP  ASCERTAINING   THE    ACTUAL  CONDITION  OF  THE 
NBGRO  POPULATION  OF  THOSE  ISLANDS. 


BY 


JOSEPH  STURGE  AND  THOMAS  HARVEY. 


LONDON: 
HAMILTON,  ADAMS,  &  CO.  PATERNOSTER  ROW. 

PRINTED   BY  B.    HUDSON,    BIRMINGHAM. 
MDCCCXXXVIII. 


^/\ilTS.%S 


!    JUL  25  1910 

Bright   Fund 


L 


'1        t 


PREFACE. 


In  order  to  explain  the  circumstances  under  which  the  in- 
formation, detailed  in  this  volume  was  acquired,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  apprize  the  reader,  that  in  the  course  of  last  year, 
one  of  the  individuals,  whose  names  appear  on  the  title  page, 
became  anxious  to  ascertain,  by  personal  inquiry,  the  results 
of  the  Imperial  Abolition  Act  in  the  British  West  India 
Colonies.  To  such  an  investigation  he  was  impelled,  not 
merely  by  the  inconsistent  and  contradictory  statements 
received  from  the  West  Indies,  but  by  observing  the  am- 
biguous character  of  the  Report  of  the  Parliamentary  Com- 
mittee ;  a  document  which  bears  strong  indications  of  hav- 
ing emanated  from  a  tribunal,  in  which  the  accused  parties 
were  themselves  judges. 

Having  consulted  several  friends,  on  whose  judgment  he 
could  depend,  and  having  completed  the  arrangements  for 
the  proposed  mission,  he  embarked  for  the  West  Indies, 
accompanied  by  John  Scoble  and  Thomas  Harvey.* — 
William  Lloyd,  M.  D.  was  also  of  the  party ;  not  as  di- 
rectly connected  with  their  object,  though  affording  his  co- 

•  It  may  be  expedient  to  inform  the  general  reader,  that,  with 
the  exception  of  John  Scoble,  the  whole  party  consisted  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Society  of  Friends.  It  will  not,  it  is  trusted,  be  con- 
sidered to  be  obtrusive  on  this  occasion,  to  introduce  the  following 
extract  from  a  volume  entitled  "  Cliristianity  and  Slavery ;  in  a 
course  of  Lectures  preached  at  the  Cathedral  and  Parish  Church  of 
St.  Michael,  Barbados,  by  Edward  Eliot,  B.  D.  Archdeacon  of 
Barbados."— (Hatchard,  1833. )  The  author  writes, ."  While  the  first 
settlers  and  plantera  in  this  colony,  were  impressed  with  the  im- 
portance of  a  religious  establishment,  ....  they  appear  to 
have  been  altogether  regardless  of  the  duty  which  devolved  more 
A    3 


VI  PRBFACS. 

operation  in  canying  it  into  effect.  The  undertaking^ 
throughout,  was  entirely  independent  of  any  Anti -Slavery 
Society.  The  party  were  not,  in  any  sense  of  the  word 
agents ;  hut  private  persons,  yet  engaged  in  what  was 
properly  a  puhhc  object.  The  expenses  of  the  individual 
with  whom  the  design  originated,  were  defrayed  by  himself ; 
and  those  of  two  others,  his  professed  associates,  were  liber- 
ally  borne  by  a  few  friends,  who  felt  a  deep  interest  in  the 
result  of  the  inquiry. 

Soon  after  their  arrival  at  Barbados,  Dr.  Lloyd  and 
John  Scoblb  sailed  for  British  Guiana  ;  and  the  latter  sub- 
sequently returned  to  England,  being  the  bearer  of  impor- 
tant information  respecting  the  present  state  of  Slavery  in 
the  colonies  comprised  in  that  province.  The  present 
volume  relates  principally  to  Antigua  and  Jamaica.  The 
first  of  these  important  islands  is  now  a  scene  of  new  and 
distinct  interest ;  as  affording  practical  evidence  of  the  safety 
and  rising  prosperity,  consequent  on  immediate  and  com- 
plete Emancipation.  Jamaica  was  investigated  with  a  soli- 
citude due  to  the  anomalous  condition  of  the  largest  negro 
population  in  the  British  West  Indies.  To  these  islands  the 
public  attention  is  thus  mcore  emphatically  invited. 

Should  it  be  objected,  that  in  the  following  Narrative^ 
details  of  a  nature,  tending,  in  certain  instances,  to  the  dis- 
credit of  personal  character,  have  been  disclosed,  it  may  be 
pleaded,  that  such  information  has  a  most  imp(»tant  bearing 
upon  the  gi-eat  question ;  and  that  it  waa  legitimately  ac- 

i  mmediately  on  their  ministers,  bnt  which  was  imperative  also  on 
themselves,  of  preaching  or  publishing  the  gospel  to  the  imported 
AMcan  slaves.  ....  In  the  few  instances  where  the  endea- 
vour was  made  by  proprietors  to  christianize  their  slaves,  according 
to  their  own  belief  and  form  of  worship,  the  opposition  to  the  measore 
was  so  strong,  that  it  led  to  repeated  prohibitory  laws,  some  of  which 
possess  the  harshest  features  of  persecution.  I  allude  to  the  pious, 
though  unsuccessful  exertions  of  the  early  colonists,  of  the  Society 
of  Friends.  Theirs  is  the  praise  of  having  first  attempted,  amidst 
obloquy  and  suffering,  to  preach  the  gospel  in  this  island  to  the 
heathen  African  slave." — (pp.  11.  12.) 


qdored.  '^e  object  of  the  Tistton  was  perfectly  underetood 
in.  the  iiUnds ;  and  it  was  known  that  the  rctults  wonld,  or 
niighi  be,  unreservedly  published  on  their  return.  No  feets, 
bowever,  are  stated,  which  were  originally  related  on  any 
condition  of  secresy;  and  where  confidence  was  even  im« 
plied,  it  has  not  been  consciously  violated.  Fidelity  to  their 
object  has  alone  directed  them,  in  placing  any  of  the  follow, 
ing  details  on  record.  They  are  not  aware  that  any  hostile 
feeling  has  mingled  itself  with  their  better  motives.  It  would 
indeed,  have  been  far  more  agreeable  to  their  feelings,  to 
have  used  the  language  of  praise,  rather  than  of  reprehension  ; 
for  they  entertain  a  warm  and  grateful  sense  of  the  courtesy, 
kindness,  and  hospitality,  with  which  they  were  treated  in 
the  colonies,  by  planters,  public  functionaries,  and  ministers 
of  religion. 

How  far  those,  who  thus  offer  the  present  volume  to  pub- 
lic examination  have  accomplished  their  proposed  object,  is 
left  to  the  decision  of  competent  judges.  In  this  point  of 
view  alone,  they  invite,  and  indeed  claim  attention.  To  any 
practised  skill  in  literary  composition,  they  do  not  pretend. 
It  is  the  subject  to  which  they  are  desirous  of  attracting  even 
a  nation's  r^ard.  They  are  actuated  by  an  anxiety  deeper 
than  can  be  expressed,  to  awi&en  the  public  mind  to  its  im- 
portance; and  to  stimulate  the  benevolent,  the  christian 
patriot,  to  lively  sympathy,  and  to  animated  exertion  in  be- 
half of  the  oppressed. 

It  may  surprise  many  to  be  assured,  that  their  subse- 
quent details  are  stated  with  moderation ;  and  that  a  vast 
mass  of  facts  is  yet  in  reserve,  capable,  not  only  of  con- 
firming what  is  now  narrated,  but  of  deepening  the  shades 
of  their  darkest  representations.  The  reader's  considera- 
tio&  i»  particularly  directed  to  the  Appendix,  as  containing 
infbnnation,  collected  with  considerable  labor,  and  carefully 
compfled.  The  writers  much  regret  the  circumstances  of 
baate  under  which  this  publication  has  been  prepared.  But 
the  cas^  admits  no  delay ;  and  they,  therefore,  cast  the  fruit 
of  their  investigation,  like  bread  upon  the  waters,   with  the 


Vlll.  PRBFACR. 

hope,  that  a  blessing  may  accompany  it ;  and,  that  it  may 
promote,  in  however  small  a  degree,  the  glory  of  God,  and 
the  happiness  of  that  injured,  oppressed,  and  still  enslaved 
portion  of  their  fellow  men  and  fellow  subjects,  who  hav« 
been  the  objects  of  their  labors,  anxieties,  and  prayers, 
nth  MONTH.  30th,  (NOV.)  1837. 


We  embarked  at  Falmouth,  on  board  the  Skylark 
Packet,  commanded  by  Lieutenant  C.  P.  Ladd,  R.  N.,  on 
the  1 7th  of  10th  Month  (October)  1836  ;  and  after  a  plea- 
sant voyage,  came  in  sight  of  land  on  the  12th  of  11th  Month 
(November.)  Land  was  announced  from  the  mast-head 
about  eight  o'clock  a.  m.,  and  in  three  or  four  hours  the 
dark  outline  of  the  eastern  shore  of  Barbados  was  visible 
from  the  deck.  We  cast  anchor  in  Carlisle  Bay  before  mid- 
night. On  the  following  morning  most  of  the  passengers 
were  on  deck  at  sunrise  ;  some  ready  to  greet  the  familiar 
appearance  of  a  well  known  shore,  and  others  to  receive  the 
novel  impressions  of  a  tropical  clime  and  country.  The 
view  of  the  town  and  Bay  is  very  beautiful.  Bridgetown  ex- 
tends almost  from  point  to  point,  along  two  or  three  miles 
of  a  curved  shore.  The  white  houses  are  interepersed  with 
cocoa-nut  and  palmetto  trees.  After  leaving  the  vessel,  we 
realised  in  our  first  brief  hour  on  land,  our  earliest  and  pro- 
bably our  deepest  impressions  of  the  characteristic  features 
of  the  country.  The  vegetation  is  wholly  different  from 
that  of  Europe.  The  larger  trees  are  chiefly  palms,  and  the 
smaller  beautiful  flowering  shrubs.  Many  of  the  fences  are 
composed  of  a  gigantic  species  of  cactus,  the  prickly  pear. 
It  seemed  extraordinary  to  see  the  sickly  exotics  of  an  Eng- 
lish conservatory,  growing  in  such  luxuriant  vigour.  Our 
feelings  also  were  deeply  interested  in  finding  ourselves  in 
the  midst  of  a  dark  population.  There  were  all  shades  of 
color,  from  fair  mulatto  to  black.  We  could  not  avoid  being 
struck  with  the  beautiful  and  intelligent  countenances  and 
European  foreheads  of  many  of  the  colored  children. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAP.  I. 

PAOB 

Barbados I 

CHAP.  II. 
Voyage  to  Antigua 9 

CHAP.  III. 
Antigua    18 

CHAP.  IV. 
Besults  op  Emancipation  in  Antigua 69 

CHAP.  V. 
Montserrat 80 

CHAP.  VI. 
Dominica 90 

CHAP.  VII. 
Martinique , 108 

CHAP.  vin. 

St.  Lucia  ., 119 

CHAP.  IX. 
Barbados .^*,.*, ••• 128 

CHAP.  X.j 
Barbados, — General  Remarks 150 

CHAP.  XI. 
Jamaica 156 

CHAP.  XII. 
Jamaica — Journal  of  William  Lloyd  and  Thomas 

Harvey 287 

CHAP.  xni. 

Results  of  the  Apprenticeship  in  Jamaica 344 

CHAP.  XIV. 
Conclusion  ..••..•• • 373 


CONTENTS  OF  APPENDIX. 


[A]  ANTIGUA. 

PAGE 

Section  I. — Population  i. 

IF. — Commerce  and  Agriculture    ii. 

IIF. — Religion,   Morals  and  Education  v. 

IV. — Local  Government viii. 

V. — Laws  op  Antigua xi. 

VI. — The  Abolition  Act xiv. 

VII. — ^The  Four  &  HALF  PER  cent  Duties  xiv- 

VIII. — Waste  Lands xv. 

[B.]  DOMINICA. 
Section  I. — ^Table  op  Increase  and  Decrease  op 

THE  Negros  on  Various  Estates       xvi. 

II. — ^Local  Government xviii. 

III. — ^TflE  Late  Governor xx. 

IV. — Comparative   Condition    op    the 

Negros ' xx. 

[C]  MARTINIQUE. 
Section  I. — Petitions  op  the  Colored  Propri- 
etors POR  Immediate  Abolition  . .        xxii. 

[D] 
II. — Barbuda    xxiv. 

[E]  BARBADOS. 
Section  I. — Pauper  Population xxvi. 

II. — Stipendiary  Administration  ofthe 

Abolition  Law  , . ,  ^ xxvi. 


CONTENTS   OF     APPENDIX.  XU 

Section  III. — Scale  of  Labor xxxii. 

IV. — The  Late  Governor xxxiii, 

V. — Apprenticeship  op  Free  Children     xxxiv. 

[F]  JAMAICA. 

Section  I. — Priscilla  Taylor xxxv. 

II. — Halfway  Tree  Workhouse xxxv. 

in. — Nonregistered  Slaves xxxvi. 

IV. — Statements   of    the  Apprentices  xxxvii. 

V. — James  Williams Ixviii. 

VI. — Arcadia  Estate Ixxi. 

VII. — Statistical  Tables Ixxvi. 

VIII. — ^The  Baptist  Mission     Ixxxii. 

IX. — William  Hamilton Ixxxiii. 

X. — ^Religious  Instruction  and  Educa- 
tion      Ixxxv. 

XI. — ^Valuations    Ixxxvi. 

XII. — Marriages  of  Apprentices   ....  Ixxxviii. 

XIII. — A.  L.  Palmer Ixxxix. 

XIV. — Computed  Value    op   "Extra 

Allowances"  in  Extra  Labor.  xcii. 


CHAPTER  I. 


BARBADOS. 

nth  Month,  ISth,  C  November  J  1836. 

The  Sabbath. — We  took  up  our  quarters  at 
Lewis's  Hotel,  An  improved  state  of  public  opinion 
appears  to  have  elevated  this  establishment  to  the  level  * 
of  European  notions  of  propriety.  The  other  principal 
hotels  in  Bridgetown  are  reported  to  be  a  standing  re- 
proach to  the  morals  of  the  colony. 

The  first  s^pearance  of  West  India  houses  is  strik- 
ing to  a  European.  We  were  ushered  into  a  spacious 
room,  without  carpet  or  hangings  for  the  walls  5  these 
and  many  other  things  necessary  to  comfort  and  clean- 
liness in  Englapd  being  here  almost  incompatible  with 
both.  The  doors  and  windows  are  usually  kept  wide 
open,  and  the  partitions  between  the  rooms  and  pas- 
sages are  sometimes  nothing  more  than  jalousies,  or 
framed  Venetian  blinds,  so  that  the  apartments  are 
thoroughly  ventilated  by  the  constant  current  of  air, 
which  tempers  the  heat  of  the  climate.  Glass  win- 
dows also  are  to  a  great  extent  superfluous ;  the  ja- 
lousies being  a  sufficient  protection  from  the  weather. 
These  arrangements  are  of  course  irreconcilable  with 
that  retirement  which  is  so  justly  valued  in  our  own 
country. 

The  last  few  months  have  been  unusually  hot.  The 
thermometer  stood  this  morning  at  86^  in  our  sitting 


2  BARBADOS. 

room.  One  of  our  fellow  passengers^  a  resident  for 
many  years  in  the  West  Indies^  told  us  he  never  felt 
it  so  oppressive.  In  the  evening  we  went  to  the  Wes- 
leyan  chapel^  a  spacious  and  elegant  buildings  which 
was  completely  filled  by  a  respectable  and  well-dressed 
congregation.  The  white  persons  appeared  to  be  in 
the  proportion  of  one  in  fifteen.  No  distinction  was 
observed  in  the  seats.  We  were  much  struck  with  the 
silence  and  complete  decorum  which  prevailed^  and 
with  the  harmony  of  the  singings  which  was  led  by 
two  or  three  black  men,  one  of  whom  we  were  informed 
occasionally  officiates  as  a  local  preacher.  After  the 
service,  we  had  an  interview  with  the  excellent  mis- 
sionary who  occupied  the  pulpit.  His  name  is  Moys- 
TER.  He  was  formerly  stationed  on  the  African  shore, 
near  the  post  now  ccupied  by  Thomas  Dove  among 
the  Foulahs. 

14th. — We  made  an  excursion  early  this  morning 
into  the  interior  of  the  island.  Barbados  has  rather 
a  sterile  aspect  towards  the  coast,  but  our  route  was 
through  a  district  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  The 
land  was  entirely  occupied  by  cane  grounds,  fields  of 
(juinea  corn,  plots  of  yams,  &c.  We  saw  several 
gangs  of  negros  at  work  with  their  hoes,  under  the 
superintendence  of  a  driver,  who  having  been  deprived 
of  his  whip,  now  carries  a  staff  as  a  badge  of  authority. 
The  number  of  women  seemed  to  preponderate. 
They  were  sufficiently  clothed.  Their  huts  are  wretch- 
ed little  thatched  hovels,  crowded  irregularly  together. 
The  views  from  the  rising  ground  of  the  estates'  build- 
ings, the  houses  with  their  avenues  of  cocoa  palms,  and 
the  boiling  houses  with  their  windmills,  are  often  very 
picturesque.  We  called  on  our  return  at  a  Moravian 
mission  station,  to  the  minister  of  which.  Brother 
Klose,  we  had  a  letter  of  introduction.     He  informed 


BARBADOS.  3 

US  that  about  fifteen  hundred  apprentices  attend  his 
chapel^  of  whom  about  one  thousand  are  considered  to 
be  in  membership.  An  infant  school  has  been  estab^ 
lished  on  the  premises.  We  observed  some  little  chil- 
dren sitting  on  the  steps  of  the  scfaoolhouse^  although 
it  was  at  least  an  hour  too  early.  They  often  come^ 
we  were  told,  at  six  o'clock,  when  their  parents  go  to 
the  field.  Another  schoolhouse  for  the  older  children 
is  about  to  be  erected,  partly  with  aid  obtained  from 
the  government  grant. 

In  the  course  of  the  day  John  Scoblb  and  Joseph 
Sturg£  met  by  appointment  the  superintendent  of  the 
Wesley  an  mission,  and  another  of  their  ministers. 
They  professed  themselves  willing  to  aid  our  inquiries 
^^  as  far  as  was  consistent  with  their  instructions  from 
home.''  In  eflfect,  those  instructions  appeared  to  us  to 
preclude  their  giving  information  as  to  the  physical 
condition  of  the  negros.  They  fully  confirmed  our 
previous  information  of  the  general  desire  of  all  classes 
of  the  apprentices  to  learn;  and  said  that  they  made 
the  best  use  of  the  opportunities  within  their  reach. 
The  cost  of  erecting  schoolhouses  of  simple  construc- 
tion, capable  of  accommodating  one  hundred  children, 
is  about  £25  sterling ;  besides  land,  which  averages 
from  £30  to  £50  sterling  per  acre.  There  is  no  gene- 
ral disposition  on  the  part  of  the  planters  to  encourage 
education.  The  local  legislature  has  not  yet  sanction- 
ed the  legality  of  dissenting  marriages,  so  that  difficul- 
ties in  this  respect  have  rather  increased  than  decreased 
since  1834.  Another  individual  whom  we  saw  to-day, 
informed  us  that  the  mortality  among  the  free  chil- 
dren had  been  very  great  since  1834,  particularly  in 
the  early  part  of  the  new  era.  This  he  attributed  in 
part  to  the  prevalence  of  measles  and  other  epidemics. 


4  BARB^DOf. 

The  children  however  had  not  proper  attendance  when 
sick,  as  their  parents  were  usually  compelled  to  repay 
the  time  they  devoted  to  them.  The  planters  expected 
the  parents  would  apprentice  their  ehildren,  and  re- 
sorted to  severe  measures  to  compel  them  to  do  so ;  but 
the  mothers  resisted  to  extremity.  It  was  at  length 
found  that  it  would  not  do  to  be  so  hard  upon  mothers. 
Some  of  the  planters  are  now  considerate,  others  se- 
vere. A  great  grievance  to  which  negros  are  subjected^ 
is  the  practice  of  fining  gangs  in  time  for  bad  work. 
If  an  overseer  is,  or  pretends  to  be,  dissatisfied,  he  calls 
in  one  or  two  persons  to  look  at  the  work,  and  then 
summons  his  people  before  the  magistrate ;  who  mulcts 
the  whole  gang,  idle  and  industrious  together,  in  two, 
four,  or  even  eight,  of  their  Saturdays. 

It  may  here  be  mentioned,  that  we  met  in  this  is- 
land a  missionary  from  Berbice,  who  informed  us  that 
the  apprentices  in  that  colony  were  in  a  wretched  state. 
He  considered  the  apprenticeship  to  be  a  complete 
failure.  There  was  not  and  could  not  be  a  medium 
between  slavery  and  personal  freedom.  The  magis- 
trates were  in  the  hands  of  the  planters.  The  gover- 
nor was  well-meaning,  but  very  much  in  the  dark  as 
to  the  actual  working  of  the  system ;  as  he  formed  his 
opinion  on  the  official  reports  which  he  received. 
Very  little  is  to  be  seen  of  the  true  state  of  the  predial 
population  of  the  colonies  in  or  near  the  towns.  The 
negros  are  greatly  defrauded  of  their  time.  Speaking 
of  their  desire  for  instruction,  he  said  many  of  them 
would  gladly  fetch  and  bring  back  on  their  shoulders, 
boys  from  his  school  to  their  own  huts,  a  distance  of 
three  miles,  in  order  to  take  a  lesson  from  them  in  read- 
ing ;  and  that  they  were  delighted  when  they  could 
obtain  his  permission  for  their  little  teachers  to  remain 
all  night  with  them. 


BARBADOS. 


Joseph  Sturge  and  Thomas  Harvey  embarked 
this  afternoon  for  Antigua  in  the  ms^il-boat. 


Dr.  Llotd  and  John  Sgobi^e  remained  a  day  or 
two  longer  in  Barbados  before  proceeding  to  Demerara. 
The  following  account  of  their  visit  to  the  jail  at 
Bridgetown^  is  given  by  the  latter. 

^^  From  the  council  chamber  we  proceeded  into  the 
jail  yard,  where  were  collected  a  large  number  of  ne- 
gros  employed  in  breaking  stones.  The  male  negros 
are  required  to  break  thirty  baskets  a  day — ^the  women 
twenty  five  baskets  a  day.  The  stones  are  very  hard 
and  the  hammers  very  soft;  the  consequence  is,  that  it 
is  a  most  laborious  operation.  In  failure  of  their  ap« 
pomted  tasks,  they  are  flogged  both  male  and  female  ! 
This  I  learned  on  the  spot.  Among  the  women  thus 
employed  was  one  very  far  advanced  in  pregnancy. 
I  was  very  much  pleased  to  learn  that  some  of  the 
more  powerfal  negros  would  break  a  few  more  baskets 
than  their  required  amount,  and  give  their  surplus  to 
the  weaker,  to  save  them  a  flogging.  From  this  part 
of  the  yard  we  proceeded  to  the  back  of  the  prison  to 
inspect  the  tread-mill.  It  was  going  when  we  reached 
it — fifteen  male  negros  of  different  ages,  from  boys  to 
men,  were  on  it,  and  the  cat  was  in  constant  requisition 
on  their  sides,  shoulders,  and  legs,  to  keep  them  up  to 
their  work ;  and  even  when  the  miserable  creatures  kept 
step  properly,  if  they  did  not  tread  down  they  were 
flogged.  On  the  top  of  the  tread-mill  were  a  number 
of  negros  who  secured  the  arms  of  those  that  were  too 
weak  to  hold  on  by  the  rail.  The  usual  time  for  them 
to  be  on  the  tread-mill  is  ten  minutes.  From  the  mill 
we  proceeded  to  the  jail.  The  first  room  we  entered 
was  about  thirty  by  thirty-five  feet,  in  which  one  hun-» 
b3 


D  BARBADOS. 

dred  and  ten  negros  are  at  present  obliged  to  herd  to- 
gether from  four  in  the  afternoon  until  next  morning ; 
how  they  can  live  in  such  an  atmosphere  as  must  be 
created  by  so  large  a  number  of  persons  being  congre- 
gated together  in  a  tropical  climate,  I  cannot  tell. — 
The  next  apartment  visited  was  about  half  the  size. 
There  were  confined  in  it  thirty-five  males,  committed 
for  various  felonies.     The  jailer  informed  me  that  some- 
times  negros   were  incarcerated  there  twelve  months 
previous  to  trial,  and  are  then  discharged  without  it. 
Often  when  it  is  inconvenient  for  the  prosecutor  to  ap- 
pear, or  he  does  not  choose  to  appear,  cases  are  ad- 
journed to  the  next  Sessionct,  a  period  of  six  months. 
How  iniquitous  a  system  is  this  !     We  returned  back 
to  the  treiad-mill.     The  women  wei'e  then  on  ;  such  a 
sight  I  never  saw  before ;  they  were  dressed  in  coarse 
dowlas,  descending  from  the  hips  like  trowsers,  below 
the  knees,  and  upwards  to  the  bosom,  leaving  the  neck 
exposed,  fitting  close  round  the  body.     The  arms  from 
below   the   shoulders  bare,  the  legs  bare  also.     The 
heads  shaved    quite  close,  with  a  handkerchief  tied 
round  them.     They  were  up  for  ten  minutes,  and  had 
been  up   during  the  morning  four  times  before,  and 
were  to  be  put  up  twice  after  we  left.     No  diflference 
whatever  was  made  between  them  as  to  the  amount  of 
punishment.      When  we   arrived,  they  had  been  up 
about  three  minutes,  and  the  brutal  driver  was  flogging 
them  with  the  cat  with  as  much  severity  as  he  had  pre- 
viously flogged  the  men;    he  cut  them  wherever   he 
listed,  and  as  often  as  he  pleased.     We  were  dreadfully 
shocked,but  determined  to  witness  the  whole  proceeding. 
On  the  mill  there  was  a  mulatto  woman,  perhaps  about 
thirty,  dreadfully  exhausted — indeed  she  could  not  step 
any  more,  although  she  had  been  on  only  a  few  minutes. 


BARBADOS.  7 

The  driver  flogged  her  repeatedly,  aud  she  as  often 
made  the  attempt  to  tread  the  mill^  but  nature  was 
worn  out .  She  was  literally  suspended  by  the  bend 
of  the  elbow  of  one  arm^  a  negro  holding  down  the 
wrist  at  the  top  of  the  mill  for  some  minutes;  and  her 
poor  legs  knocking  against  the  revolving  steps  of  the 
mill  until  her  blood  marked  them.  There  she  hung 
groaning,  and  anon  receiving  a  cut  from  the  driver,  to 
which  she  appeared  almost  indifferent.  When  the 
ten  minutes  were  up,  the  negro  above  released  her 
arm,  and  she  fell  on  the  floor  utterly  unable  to  support 
herself,  and  at  last  managed  to  stagger  out  of  the 
place.  Her  sufferings  must  have  been  terrible.  But 
she  was  not  the  only  one  who  suffered.  A  black  girl, 
apparently  about  eighteen,  was  equally  exhausted. 
When  we  arrived,  she  was  moaning  piteously.  Her 
moans  were  answered  by  the  cut  of  the  whip.  She 
endeavoured  again  and  again  to  tread  the  mill,  but 
was  utterly  unable.  She  had  lost  all  power,  and  hung, 
in  the  same  helpless  way  with  the  mulatto  woman^  sus- 
pended by  the  left  arm,  held  on  by  the  wrist  by  a 
negro  above.  The  bend  of  the  arm  passed  over  the 
rail,  and  the  wrist  was  held  down  tightly,  so  that  she 
could  not  alter  her  position,  or  get  the  least  ease  by 
moving.  It  was  most  affecting  to  hear  her  appeals  to 
the  driver,  ^  Sweet  massa,  do  pity  me — do  sweet 
massa^  pity  me — my  arm  is  broke.'  Her  entreaties  to 
be  relieved  were  answered  by  cuts  from  the  whip,  and 
threats  that  did  she  not  cease  to  make  a  noise,  he 
would  have  her  down  and  flog  her.  The  fear  that  he 
would  carry  this  threat  into  execution  led  her  to  sup- 
press her  feelings  as  well  as  she  could.  I  then  engaged 
the  attention  of  the  driver  in  a  conversation,  and  ma- 
naged to  place  him  towards  me  in  such  a  position  that 


8  BARBADOS. 

he  could  not  see  the  mill^  and  by  a  multitude  of  ques- 
tions^  occupied  about  two  minutes  of  the  time^  until 
the  glass  had  run  down ;  thus  saving  the  poor  creature 
any  more  flogging.  When  let  go,  she  sunk  on  the 
ground  exhausted^  but  managed  shortly  after  to  crawl 
away  from  the  scene  of  her  suffering.  Dr.  Lloyd  and  I 
went  shortly  after  to  that  part  of  the  mill  where  the 
women  are  kept ;  the  whole  of  them  were  in  a  state 
of  profuse  perspiration,  and  scarcely  able  to  speak. 
We  examined  the  legs  of  the  mulatto  woman,  and 
found*them  shockingly  bruised,  the  skin  in  one  part 
about  the  size  of  a  dollar  torn  away.  The  poor  black 
girl  had  lost  the  skin  off  the  bend  of  her  arm,  and  was 
suffering  dreadfully  from  the  cramp.  In  reference  to 
the  latter  female,  I  observed  the  driver  cut  her  across 
the  naked  ancles,  leaving  the  mark  of  his  cat  visible. 
I  spoke  a  few  kind  words,  which  greatly  affected 
them.  Thus  then,  it  appears,  that  in  Barbados  wo- 
men committed  to  the  tread-mill  are  catted  ad  libU 
turn — the  driver's  feelings  alone  being  the  rule  which 
governs  him  in  the  use  of  his  scourge.  During  the 
whole  time  these  scenes  were  transacting,  the  Barba- 
dos Legislature  were  holding  their  Sessions  within 
thirty  yards  of  the  tread-mill.'' 


CHAPTER   II. 


VOYAGE    TO    ANTIGUA. 

nth  Month,  Uth,  (November)  1836. 

One  of  our  fellow  passengers  is  from  Demerara, 
and  has  with  him  two  negros.  He  informs  us  that  he 
is  buying  out,  in  different  Colonies,  the  time  of  such 
apprentices  as  are  disposed  to  emigrate  to  Demerara. 

15th. — ^The  first  island  at  which  we  touch  is  St. 
Lucia.  Early  this  morning  we  were  in  sight  of  it, 
and  also  of  St.  Vincent,  and  Martinique.  St.  Lucia 
is  one  cluster  of  moimtains  covered  to  their  very  sum- 
mits with  trees  and  brushwood.  It  is  impassable  ex- 
cept on  foot  or  horseback.  The  cane  and  coffee  grounds 
are  situated  in  the  fertile  gorges  and  ravines.  With 
a  telescope  we  could  discover  many  of  the  houses  of 
the  planters,  their  sugar  works  and  negro  villages. 
The  outlines  of  the  mountains  are  remarkably  bold ; 
an  effect  partly  owing  to  the  clearness  of  the  atmos- 
phere. Clouds  are  always  floating  about  or  resting 
on  some  of  the  summits  ;  but  rain  and  mist,  although 
frequent,  are  of  almost  momentary  duration.  A  pe- 
culiar feature  of  the  island  are  its  three  conical  hills 
called  the  pitons  or  sugar  loaves,  one  of  which  is  in- 
accessible. The  inailboat  stopped  for  an  hour  at  the 
port  of  Castries,  which  gave  us  an  opportunity  of  see- 
ing the  town.  Like  Bridgetown  it  is  dirty,  straggling, 
and  disagreeable.    The  English  West  India  towns. 


10  VOYAGE   TO 

judging  from  these  specimens^  are  very  ill  constructed 
for  the  purposes  of  health  in  such  a  climate. 

Most  of  the  vessels  we  have  seen  have  been  sloops 
bringing  supplies  of  cattle  and  mules  from  Porto  Rico 
to  the  French  and  English  islands.  Barbados  is  the 
only  considerable  English  colony  which  raises  provi- 
sions and  stock  enough  for  its  own  consumpticm  and 
for  export ;  and  to  this  its  superior  prosperity  is  main- 
ly owing.  St.  Lucia  and  most  of  the  other  islands, 
notwithstanding  their  boundless  fertility,  are  depend- 
ent to  a  deplorable  extent  on  imported  supplies  i  so 
that  one  or  two  successive  seasons  of  short  crops  and 
low  prices  of  produce  occasion  a  general  depression ; 
as  the  out-goings  of  the  planters  are  large  and  con- 
stant. 

16th. — Martinique  is  in  sight  of  St.  Lucia.  We 
passed  the  celebrated  Diamond  rock  about  sunset. 
This  morning  when  we  came  on  deck,  we  were  in  full 
view  of  the  beautiful  bay  and  town  of  St.  Pierre. 
Martinique  is  one  of  the  finest  of  the  lesser  Antilles. 
Its  mountains  are  higher  than  those  of  St.  Lucia,  and 
it  possesses  also  a  considerable  extent  of  fine  table 
land,  which,  with  the  sides  of  the  ravines,  and  every 
accessible  and  many  apparently  inaccessible  spots,  is 
brought  into  cultivation.  We  could  distinguish  seve- 
ral very  numerous  gangs  of  negros  at  work  in  the  cane 
fields.  The  town  of  St.  Pierre  has  an  aspect  of  com- 
fort and  opulence.  A  line  of  tamarind  trees  runs 
along  the  beach.  The  streets  are  built  in  two  or  three 
long  ranges  parallel  with  the  shore.  They  are  shaded 
by  the  height  of  the  houses,  and  kept  cool  by  a  stream 
of  water  perpetually  gurgling  down  a  stone  channel 
in  the  centre.  The  town  is  abundantly  supplied  with 
this  luxurious  element.     It  is  built  on  a  narrow  strip 


ANTIGUA.  11 

of  land,  which  is  almost  overhung  by  mountains  rising 
immediately  behind  it.  The  black  population  were 
well  dressed  and  seemed  to  share  the  general  prospe- 
rity. A  casual  visitor  of  the  ports  of  these  islands^ 
where  slavery  prevails  in  its  unmitigated  form^  might 
be  easily  misled  as  to  the  character  of  the  system  by 
the  appearance  of  the  population. 

We  reached  Dominica  in  about  four  hours  from 
St.  Pierre.     It  presents  a  still  bolder  and  more  pre- 
cipitous wall  of  mountains  to  the  sea  than  Martinique 
or  St.  Lucia ;  and^  as  in  those  islands^  many  spots  are 
cultivated^  from  which  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  how 
the  produce  can  be  conveyed.     It  is  the  most  subject 
to  hurricanes  of  all  the  islands^  and  during  the  last 
few  years  has  suffered  from  the  prevalence  of  a  coffee 
blight.     Coffee^  which  used  to  be  its  staple,  is  now 
being  fast  supplanted  by  sugar.     We  landed  at  Roseau 
about  sunset,  in  a  canoe  manned  by  free  blacks,  which 
shot  through  the  water  at  the  rate  of  six  or  seven  miles 
an  hour.     There  were  crowds  of  black  and  colored 
people  on  the  beach,  jabbering  in  their  French  patois. 
The  little  knot  of  whites  were  very  angry  that  the 
mails  should  be  landed  in  such  confusion ;  and  displayed 
a  bitter  spirit  towards  the    free  blacks,  whom  they 
stigmatized  as  thieves,  brutes,  skulking  drones,  &c. 
&c.     The  aspect  of  the  town  of  Koseau  is  very  foreign, 
17th. — We  were  all  night  becalmed  under  the  lee  of 
Dominica.     The  principal  ports  of  these  islands  are 
situated  on  their  western  or  south-western  coasts  to 
the  leeward,  which  renders  the  navigation   from  one 
to  another,  in  sailing  vessels,  very  tedious  and  uncer- 
tain.    A  breeze  this  morning  soon  carried  us  to  Gua- 
daloupe,  but  left  us  again  under  the  lee  of  that  island ; 
so  that  we  were  some  hours  toiling  to  Basseterre. 


12  VOYAGE   TO 

Guadaloupe  is  less  beautiful  than  Martinique,  and  did 
not  appear  to  us  so  highly  cultivated.     The  town  of 
Basseterre  is  situated  near  its  south-western  extremity 
on  extensive  lowlands,   sloping  gradually  upwards  to 
the   bases   of   an   amphitheatre  of  mountains.      We 
availed  ourselves  as  usual  of  the  opportunity  of  land- 
ing for  a  few  minutes.     The  principal  street  is  wide 
and  enlivened  by  fountains.     An  avenue  of  beautiful 
tamarind  trees  runs   down   its    whole  length,   under 
which  the  inhabitants  meet  to  spend  their  evenings. 
The  number  of  military,  officers  of  customs,  guarda 
costcLSy  &c.  to  be  seen  here  and  at  Martinique,  marks 
the  difference  between  the  French  colonial  system  and 
our  own.     We  saw  few  white  people  in  Guadaloupe. 
The  prejudice  against  color  is  probably  not  so  strong 
as  in  our  own  islands,  as  we  observed  several  persons^ 
white,  brown,  and  black,  working  together  on  a  tailor's 
board ;   we  witnessed,  however,  a  specimen  of  bar- 
barism which  we  had  not  expected  to  find — several 
copper-colored  boys  in  a  boat  in  an  entire   state  of 
nudity ;  they  were  of  Spanish-Indian  and  negro  blood. 
18th, — We   were  again  yesterday  becalmed  under 
the  lee  of  Guadaloupe.     To  a  lover  of  the  picturesque 
who  had  no  stronger  impulse  to  carry  him  onward,  a 
detention  amidst  this  beautiful  archipelago  of  islands 
would  be  delightful.     The  hills  of  round,  conical,  and 
irregular  figures,  rising  abruptly  from  the  ocean,  and 
cleft  into  the  most  romantic  gorges  and  ravines,  are 
covered  with  perennial  verdure,  and  clothed  to  their 
summits  with  primeval  forest :  they  are  evidently  of 
volcanic  origin.     In  St.  Vincent  there  is  still  an  active 
volcano,  and  in  several  of  the  other  islands  are  hot 
springs   and   sotiffrieres.       This  morning  we  passed 
near  Montserrat,  and  several  of  the  smaller  islands. 


ANTIGUA.  13 

and  saw  the  mountains  of  Nevis  and  St.  Kitt's  in  the 
distance.  We  at  length  made  Antigua^  and  after  some 
hours  spent  in  tacking  and  beating  about  with  a  con- 
trary wind,  succeeded  in  entering  the  harbor  of  St. 
John's ;  which,  though  of  difficult  access,  is  spacious 
and  secure.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  black  and  colored 
population  find  employment  in  great  numbers  in  fish- 
ing  and  pilot  boats.  We  bought  a  quantity  of  fish 
from  one  of  their  boats,  of  brilliant  colors,  such  as  we 
have  little  idea  of  in  Europe.  One  of  them  was  barred 
with  a  rainbow,  covered  with  green  spots,  with  fins 
and  tail  painted  in  green  and  red  stripes.  As  we  ap* 
proached  the  island,  we  could  hear  at  a  distance  of  one 
or  two  miles,  the  shrill,  constant,  ringing  noise  of 
insects  and  reptiles.  We  landed  at  St.  John's,  late  in 
the  evening. 

Our  fellow  passenger  from  Demerara,  above  men- 
tioned, was  engaged  in  a  traffic  which  has  not  been 
inappropriately  termed  in  these  islands  the  Demerara 
slave-trade.  He  was  a  man  of  insinuating  address, 
well  informed  and  intelligent,  and  appeared  to  be  on 
terms  of  intimacy  with  persons  of  respectability  in 
the  different  islands.  He  spoke  of  the  object  he  was 
pursuing  without  any  reserve  or  concealment,  and 
even  furnished  us  with  some  documentary  information 
respecting  it.  He  informed  us  that  the  labor  of  un- 
attached predials  is  worth  from  five- sixths  of  a  dollar 
to  a  dollar  per  day  in  Demerara.  The  cost  of  their 
maintenance  is  less  than  half  a  dollar  per  week.  They 
work  seven  and  half  hours  per  diem  for  six  days  in  the 
week.  In  answer  to  our  inquiries  how  the  amount 
of  labor  was  ascertained  which  a  negro  could  perform 
in  seven  and  half  hours,  he  said  they  knew  pretty  well 
*'  what  was  the  most  that  they  could  get  out  of  them." 
c 


14  VOYAGE   TO 

The  apprentices  may  leave  work  after  the  seven  and 
half  hours  are  out,  unless  they  choose  to  work  in  their 
extra  time,  which  they  frequently  do  at  a  low  rate. 
The  estates  in  Demerara  are  geneitdly  on  a  lai^r  scale 
than  in  the  other  colonies.  One  with  250  negros  will 
yield  a  revenue  of  about  £4000  sterling  annually.  The 
negros  are  very  fond  of  living  near  town,  and  on  this 
accoimt  he  thinks  the  distant  estates  will  have  to  be 
abandoned  after  1840.  The  Governor,  Sir  J.  C.  Smtth^ 
was  determined  to  enforce  the  Abolition  Law,  and 
therefore,  he  said,  ^^we  don*t  like  him."  He  spoke  highly 
of  the  liberality  of  the  British  Government  in  the  matter 
of  compensation.  ^*  You  may  depend  upon  it,"  he  said, 
"  though  few  like  to  acknowledge  it,  it  has  been  the  sal* 
vation  of  nine-tenths  of  us."  He  knew  thirty  or 
forty  planters  whose  mortgages  would  have  been  fore- 
closed ere  this,  had  not  the  question  been  settled  at  the 
time  and  in  the  way  it  was.  He  informed  us  that  he 
had  imported  into  Demerara,  three  cargoes  of  laborers, 
consisting  either  of  free  persons  from  Antigua,  or  ap- 
prentices, whose  time  he  had  purchased  from  the  other 
colonies.  They  were  all  indented  to  himself  for  a  longer 
or  shorter  period,  and  were  principally  domestic  ser- 
vants or  handicraft  laborers.  He  would  have  pre- 
ferred predials,  but  they  were  more  difficult  to  obtain. 
His  present  object  is  to  collect  eighty  predial  labor- 
ers at  Tortola,  in  order  to  take  them  to  Demerara.  The 
expense  of  transport  and  maintenance  averages  nearly 
twenty  dollars  per  head.  Of  the  two  negros  who  were 
on  board,  one  was  his  personal  servant,  and  appeared 
to  us  to  be  employed  in  the  respectable  vocation  of  a 
decoy;  the  other  was  a  young  man  about  eighteen, 
whose  time  he  had  purchased  at  Barbados  for  the 
low  price  of  forty-eight  dollars.    His  former  master  did 


ANTIGUA.  16 

Dot  like  him^  nor  he  his  master;  indeed  the  youth's  wish 
to  emigrate  was  so  strong  that  he  had  indented  him- 
self for  more  than  the  four  years,  yet  remaining  of  the 
apprenticeship.  Of  the  previous  importations,  fourteen 
had  been  obtained  from  Nevis,  who  had  cost  him  on 
the  average  eighty  dollars  each ;  a  few  ^Iso  from  St. 
Kitts,  where  the  disposition  to  emigrate  is  very  great ; 
and  though  at  present  it  is  successfully  resisted  by 
the  planters,  he  thinks  the  island  will  be  nearly  depo- 
pulated after  1840.  Besides  these  he  had  obtained 
laborers'  from  Montserrat  and  Antigua.  From  two 
lists^  with  which  he  furnished  us,  of  names  and  other 
particulars,  it  appeared  that  he  had  bought  at  Mont- 
serrat the  term  of  apprenticeship  of  thirty  field  la- 
borers and  one  domestic,  at  various  rates  of  from 
fifty  to  one  hundred  dollars  each.  Small  sums  of  from 
one  to  four  dollars  were  paid  to  them  in  advance  as 
presents,  and  they  were  indented  till  August  1st,  1840, 
under  an  agreement  to  receive  two  dollars  per  month 
wages.  In  Antigua  he  had  induced  thirty-two  negros 
of  both  sexes,  carpenters,  sailors,  house-servants,  and 
a  few  field-laborers,  to  indent  themselves  for  various 
periods  of  one  to  four  years,  at  a  rate  of  wages  of 
three  to  seven  dollars  per  month,  and  generally 
on  higher  terms  after  the  first  year.  The  various 
amounts  advanced  to  them  were  to  be  deducted  from 
their  earnings.  The  indenture  stipulated  that  the  ser- 
vant ^^  shall  perform  all  lawftil  hours  of  assiduous  labor 

for  the  fiill  term  of years  ;  all  sick  and  absent 

days  to  be  made  good;''  and  that  the  master,  besides 
the  specified  amount  of  wages,  shall  supply  ^^  food, 
clothing,  and  medical  attendance,  according  to  the 
usages  of  the  colony  of  British  Guiana.''  In  order  to 
obviate  the  inconvenience  of  this  singularly  vague  do- 


16  TOYAGB  TO 

cumeqt  being  disputed,  the  local  aathorities  of  Demc- 
rara  have  passed  an  ordinance  declaring  such  agree- 
iBcnts  valid,  whether  executed  in  that  or  in  any  other 
British  or  Foreign  Colony,  in  the  presence  of  a  ma- 
gistrate or  otherwise,  and  by  any  negro  of  the  age  of 
fifteen  years  or  upwards.  A  statement  of  the  cost  of 
negros  thus  conveyed  to  Demerara,  deducted  from  the 
profit  of  their  labor  as  apprenticed  field-laborers,  and 
allowing  one-fourth  for  casualties,  shews  a  profit  upon 
each  of  upwards  of  £100  sterling ;  an  inducement 
sufficiently  strong  to  give  a  great  impulse  to  this  re- 
vived form  of  the  slave-trade.  Our  informant  com- 
plained bitterly  of  the  opposition  of  the  authorities  of 
Antigua.  He  said  that  the  laborers  of  that  colony  were 
in  a  wretched  condition ;  and  yet  those  who  wished  to 
Nii%rate,  were  impeded  by  fictitious  charges  of  breach 
of  contract,  and  other  obstacles  thrown  in  their  way 
by  the  planters. 

The  following  occurrence,  as  we  were  entering  the 
Harbor  of  St.  John's,  threw  a  little  light  on  the  senti- 
ments of  some  of  the  colored  people  of  that  island,  on 
this  kind  of  emigration.  A  fine  intelligent  young  man 
came  on  board,  to  offer  us  the  use  of  his  boat.  Our 
fellow  passenger,  who  seemed  to  know  every  body, 
immediately  addressed  him ;  ^^  Do  yo  know  *  *  *  ? ' ' 
"Yes  Sir.''  "Where  is  she  now?"  "Idontknow,sir.'' 
"  Well,  I  can  tell  you ;  she  is  in  Demerara."  "  I  hope 
so,  sir."  ^^  Now  do  you  believe  she  is  iii  Demerara,  or 
on  the  Spanish  Main  ?"  "I  dont  know,  sir ;  that's  a 
delicate  question,  sir."  In  the  course  of  the  preceding 
dialogue,  he  turned  to  us  and  said,  that  an  idea  was 
entertained,  that  the  emigrants  were  taken  to  the  Span- 
ish Main  and  sold  as  slaves.  We  do  not  perceive  that 
that  they  have  any  security  against  being  carried  to 


ANTIGUA.  17 


New  Orleans,  Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  or  some  part  of  the 
Spanish  Main,  and  there  sold  as  slaves,  other  than  the 
enormous  profit  which  is  made  by  the  safer  specula- 
tion of  carrying  them  to  Demerara,  and  selling  them 
there  to  the  highest  bidder  as  apprentices. 


c  3 


CHAPTER  III. 


ANTIGUA. 

nth  Month,  «0M,  (November)  1836. 

The  Sabbath. — We  went  this  morning  to  the 
Moravian  Chapel.  The  congregation  consisted  of  from 
six  to  eight  hundred  black  and  colored  persons ;  a 
large  proportion  of  whom  appeared  to  belong  to  the 
predial  class.  Their  attention  and  silence  were  strik- 
ing^ and  their  dresses  remarkable  for  neatness  and 
simplicity.  The  singing  and  chaunting  were  very 
harmonious.  In  looking  over  a  congregation  of  blacks, 
it  is  not  difficult  to  lose  the  impression  of  their  color. 
There  is  among  them  the  same  diversity  of  coimte- 
nance  and  complexion  as  among  Europeans ;  and  it 
is  doing  violence  to  one's  own  feelings,  to  suppose  for 
a  moment  that  they  are  not  made  of  the  same  blood  as 
ourselves.  There  is  only  one  white  person,  besides 
the  ministers  and  their  families,  who  is  a  member  of  the 
Moravian  Church  in  Antigua, — ^Joseph  Phillips  ; 
who  is  known  in  England  in  connexion  with  the  Anti- 
Slavery  cause.  There  were  however  present  several 
other  whites  ;  besides  some  who  bear  very  slight  traces, 
either  in  complexion  or  feature,  of  their  African  des- 
cent. After  the  service  we  were  introduced  to  the 
minister,  Bbnnbt  Harvey,  and  to  several  other  per- 
sons. The  mission  premises  are  rather  extensive. 
The  buildings  are  of  wood,  very  complete,  and  nicely 


ANTIGUA.  19 

arranged.  The  grave-yard^  which  is  imdistinguisbed 
by  mounds^  tombstones^  or  monuments^  is  planted  with 
cocoa  nut  trees,  and  enclosed  with  palings  and  a  fence 
of  the  great  American  aloe.  We  noticed  a  consider- 
able number  of  negros^men  and  women,  near  one  of  the 
doors  of  the  chapel,  waiting  their  examination  as  candi« 
dates  for  commimion.  Another  body  of  them  was  col- 
lected about  a  large  round  building,  used  as  a  rain-water 
cistern,  drinking  the  pure  element  from  a  calabash. 

Antigua  is  dependent  on  the  heavens  for  its  sup- 
plies of  water.  There  are  only  two  or  three  wells  in 
the  island  which  are  not  brackish.  We  looked  into 
the  Sunday  school.  The  attendance  was  not  numerous, 
as  the  morning  had  been  rainy.  A  class  of  little  girls 
were  called  out  to  read  to  us,  which  they  did  very 
nicely,  and  answered  their  teacher's  questions  with 
vivacity  and  intdligence.  In  the  course  of  the  after- 
noon and  evening,  one  of  us  attended  the  parish  church 
and  Wesleyan  chapel.  In  each  case,  the  congregation 
was  nearly  as  numerous  as  the  Moravian.  They  ex- 
hibited much  more  gaiety  of  dress,  especially  at  the 
former ;.  but  the  distinction  in  seats  seemed  to  be  regu- 
lated at  least  as  much  by  the  aristocracy  of  wealth  as 
color. 

22nd. — ^We  waited  this  morning  upon  the  Governor, 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Light,  who  received  us  very  cour- 
teously, and  kindly  offered  his  assistance  in  the  prose- 
cution of  our  inquiries.  He  spoke  very  favorably  of 
the  working  of  the  new  system,  observing  that  the  ex- 
pense of  cultivating  estates  was  less  than  formerly, 
and  that  the  laborers  were  more  industrious.  He  did 
not  however,  consider  that  the  improvement  in  the  mor- 
als of  the  people  was  co-extensive  with  their  opportuni- 
ties of  instruction.    He  stated  that  much  good  had  been 


20  ANTIGUA. 

done  by  the  Benefit  Societies^  formed  in  connexion  with 
the  different  religious  communities.  The  Governor's 
secretary^  (pro.  tem.)  who  introduced  us^  is  an  agreeable, 
intelligent,  young  man  of  color. 

We  afterwards  visited  the  day  school  of  the  Mora- 
vians. There  were  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  chil- 
dren present,  an  attendance  rather  smaller  than  the 
average.  Part  of  them  belonged  to  the  infant  school, 
which  is  held  in  a  detached  building,  from  ten  o'clock 
till  twelve,  daily.  They  were  now  sitting  round  the 
room,  waiting  for  their  elder  brothers  and  sisters,  who 
attend  school  two  hours  later.  We  were  disappointed 
to  find  that  not  more  than  one  eighth  of  the  children 
could  read  in  the  Testament.  Their  teacher  informed 
us  that  they  were  very  backward  also  in  arithmetic. 
We  saw  some  of  their  copy  books,  a  few  of  which  were 
nicely  written.  In  conclusion,  a  number  of  the  scho- 
lars recited  some  passages  of  scripture,  and  the  whole 
school  sung  a  hymn  before  breaking  up,  exercises 
which  they  performed  very  well.  Dreadful  evils  are 
occasioned  to  some  of  these  scholars,  from  the  lax 
morals  of  apart  of  the  white  inhabitants  of  the  colony. 
Within  the  last  three  months,  three  girls  have  left  the 
school  in  consequence  of  having  formed  improper  con« 
nexions  with  white  men.  The  last  instance  was  one  of 
their  most  promising  scholars,  a  girl  about  seventeen, 
who  it  is  believed,  was  sacrificed  by  her  mother  for 
gain.  The  authority  of  parents  is  much  greater  among 
the  negros  than  in  Europe,  and  it  is  sometimes  thus 
horribly  abused. 

On  our  return,  we  visited  the  cells  in  which  crimi- 
nal slaves  were  formerly  confined.  They  appeared 
sufficiently  spacious  and  airy,  and  are  now  occupied  by 
offenders  against  the  police  laws.     In  one  of  them  was 


ANTIGUA.  21 

a  little  colored  boy^  about  eight  years  old,  who  had 
been  put  in  for  the  night  by  one  of  the  police  ;  solely 
at  the  request  of  his  mother,  whom  he  had  displeased. 
We  learn  that  considerable  distress  prevails  among 
the  aged  and  infirm  part  of  the  population.  When  the 
Abolition  Bill  was  passed,  a  number  of  these  were  su- 
perannuated and  pensioned  on  the  different  estates; 
but  the  provision  made  for  them  is  too  often  totally 
inadequate  to  their  maintenance.  We  heard  to-day, 
of  a  poor  woman  who  was  allowed  only  a  dog,  which 
is  about  three  farthings  sterling,  per  day,  from  the  es- 
tate on  which  she  had  spent  her  youth  and  strength  as 
a  slave. 

23rd.— In  the  course  of  a  morning's  ride,  we  saw 
many  estates,  and  gangs  of  negros  at  work.  The  usual 
employment  was  digging  cane-holes  with  the  hoe, 
which  is  very  severe  labor.  The  overlookers,  as  the 
ci  devant  drivers  are  now  called,  had  no  sticks  of  of- 
fice 5  except  such  of  them  as  carried  a  staff,  to  denote 
that  they  were  rural  constables.  One  of  the  most  in- 
telligent negros  on  each  estate  is  usually  invested 
with  this  authority.  Our  guide,  an  intelligent  black, 
told  us  that  the  people  worked  as  well  as  formerly ; 
but  that  niany  of  the  women  did  not  now  come  into  the 
field  before  break&st,  a3  they  staid  at  home  to  pre- 
pare the  morning  meal  for  their  husbands  and  children. 
In  t^ese  cases  they  receive  wage^  only  for  three  quar- 
ters of  a  day.  The  huts  we  saw  looked  larger  and  more 
comfortable  than  in  Barbados,  but  they  are  clustered 
together  in  a  way  that  must  impede  ventilation,  and  be 
injurious  to  health.  The  siteb  of  the  villages  are  often 
badly  chosen. 

Ahe  last  fifteen  months  in  Antigua,  have  been  a 
time  of  extreme  drought,  a  visitation  to  which  the  is- 


32  ANTIGUA* 

land  18  periodically  subject.  The  coming  crop  there- 
fore will  fall  considerably  short  of  an  average.  Many 
fields  of  canes  have  arrowed^  as  the  flowering  of  the 
plant  is  technically  termed;  which  shews  that  they  have 
reached  a  too  rapid  maturity.  We  called  in  the  course 
of  the  day  upon  Jambs  Cox,  the  Superintendent  of  the 
Wesleyan  Mission,  who  kindly  promised  to  give  us 
information  respecting  the  state  of  education,  &c. 
among  the  members.  In  the  course  of  a  general  con- 
versation, he  told  us  that  he  thought  the  most  sangume 
expectations  of  abolitionists,  had  been  realised  in  An- 
tigua. He  did  not  think  there  was  a  man  in  the 
island  who  would  be  willing  to  return  to  Slavery.  He 
presented  us  with  a  catechism  on  civil,  moral,  and  so- 
cial duties,  drawn  up  by  their  missionaries,  and  printed 
by  the  legislature,  for  general  circulation.  On  looking 
it  over,  we  find  that  what  it  contains  is  very  excellent, 
and  largely  supported  by  scripture  quotations.  Fifteen 
pages,  however,  are  devoted  to  the  inculcation  of  subor- 
dination, and  other  duties  of  the  lower  classes,  and 
one  page  only  to  the  duties  of  the  upper  classes  ;  an 
inequality  which  we  hope  will  disappear  in  future 
editions  ;  as  ignorance  and  the  imperfect  performance 
of  relative  duties  are  quite  as  prevalent  among  the 
latter  as  the  former.  A  minister  from  another  part 
of  the  island,  who  was  present,  informed  us,  in  reply 
to  our  inquiries,  that  the  old  and  infirm  people  were 
not  supported  on  all  the  estates,  and  on  some  received 
but  a  miserable  pittance.  We  called  upon  several 
other  persons  in  the  course  of  the  morning.  One  of 
them  gave  us  some  interesting  information  respecting 
the  passing  of  the  Abolition  Bill,  by  the  local  legisla- 
ture. It  appears  that  the  proprietors  of  Antigua  de- 
serve less  credit  than  they  claim  for  this  beneficent 


ANTIGUA.  23 

measure.  It  was  first  proposed  at  a  meeting  of  pro- 
prietors^ by  a  planter,  who  produced  statements  to 
shew^  that  under  a  free  system  he  would  have  to  pay 
wages  to  one  third  only  of  the  negros  whom  he  should 
be  required  to  support  as  apprentices ;  and  that  he 
could  work  his  estates  equally  well  by  free  labor,  at  a 
less  expense.  The  proposition  excited  some  commo- 
tion at  first.  The  cry  was  raised  that  he  was  betraying 
the  secrets  of  the  planters,  and  that  if  this  came  to  the 
ears  of  government,  they  would  get  no  compensation. 
A  persuasion,  however,  of  the  superiority  of  the  free 
system,  gained  ground  in  future  discussions,  and  now 
the  most  bigoted  adherents  of  slavery  acknowledge 
that  free  labor  is  best  and  cheapest. 

24th. — ^We  called  this  morning  upon  a  gentleman 
who  had  kindly  introduced  himself,  and  offered  to  give 
us  information  on  the  cultivation  of  the  island.  He  is 
the  Town  Agent  for  a  large  number  of  estates,  and  a 
resident  of  thirty  years  standing.  His  intelligence, 
experience,  and  piety,  give  great  weight  to  his  state- 
ments. He  furnished  us  with  calculations  and  com« 
parative  statements,  to  which  we  shall  have  hereafter 
occasion  to  allude.  We  called  subsequently  at  the 
mission  station  of  the  brethren;  where  we  found  bro- 
ther MoRRisH  from  the  interior.  While  we  were 
sitting  with  them,  an  old  man  came  for  relief. 
He  was  a  member  of  their  church ;  and  appeared 
to  be  upwards  of  eighty  years  of  age,  and  quite 
blind.  He  said  that  he  was  allowed  only  six  pints 
of  corn-meal  a  week  from  the  estate,  and  that  last 
week  he  did  not  get  even  that.  These  poor  and 
destitute  persons  are  relieved  in  part,  out  of  a  sum 
annually  supplied  by  some  charitable  persons  in  Lon- 
don,  who  are  unconnected    with  the  island,    and  of 


24  ANTIGUA. 

whom  Bbnnbt  Harvby  is  the  almoner ;  and  in  part 
also  out  of  the  funds  of  two  Benefit  Societies  in  St. 
John's^  existing  in  connection  with  the  Moravian 
Church.  These  institutions^  one  of  which  is  composed 
of  town  and  the  other  of  country  members,  are  formed 
like  the  English  Friendly  Societies,  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  a  fund  available  for  the  members  in  sickness 
and  old  age.  The  setting  aside  a  portion  of  the  fund 
for  the  benefit  of  those  who  do  not  contribute  to  it,  is 
however,  a  feature  of  benevolence  peculiar  to  the  sub- 
scribers. Besides  administering  casual  relief,  the  com« 
mittee  of  the  Town  Benefit  Society  have  established  a 
hospital  on  the  mission  premises,  consisting  of  a  num- 
ber of  small,  moveable,  wooden  houses,  in  which  are 
supported  twelve  persons  who  are  unable  to  work, 
from  age  or  disease.  We  went  to  see  this  interesting 
establishment.  Several  of  its  inmates  are  afflicted  witib, 
the  dreadful  diseases  of  leprosy  and  elephantiasis; 
their  loathsome  condition  cannot  shut  them  out  from 
the  active  and  benevolent  sympathies  of  a  society, 
whose  members  were  nearly  all  slaves  three  years  ago. 
On  our  return  we  visited  the  Jail,  and  House  of  Cor- 
rection, which  consist  of  contiguous  buildings  and 
premises ;  twenty  eight  are  now  waiting  their  trial, 
of  whom  twelve  are  for  sheep-stealing  which  is  felony. 
Of  minor  offences,  cane  stealing  or  breaking,  constitutes 
a  very  large  proportion.  Of  the  prisoners  who  are  un- 
dergoing punishment,  about  eighty  are  employed  in  a 
penal  gang  on  the  public  roads.  They  do  not  work 
in  chains,  with  the  exception  of  five  or  six  whose 
sentences  of  death  have  been  commuted ;  and  require 
only  a  very  slight  superintendence.  The  refractory 
are  punished  by  being  put  upon  the  tread-mill  on  their 
return  at  night.    Some  petty  offenders  were  breaking 


ANTIGUA.  25 

stones  in  the  court  yard.  We  observed  a  little  boy 
of  eight  yeara  old,  who  was  committed,  as  we  after- 
wards learned,  for  stealing  a  single  cane,  whilst  passing 
through  the  fields  on  his  way  to  town  on  an  errand. 
For  this  he  was  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  seven  dol- 
larSy  and  in  default  of  payment,  to  imprisonment  and 
hard  labor.  Not  to  speak  of  the  impolicy  of  making 
a  criminal  of  such  a  child  as  this,  the  fine  imposed  is 
equivalent  to  his  earnings  for  about  three  months,  and 
is  about  a  hundred  and  twenty  times  more  than  the 
value  of  the  property  stolen.  The  situation  of  these 
buildings  is  very  cool  and  airy,  and  the  rooms  are 
spacious  and  clean.  The  prisoners  are  usually  allowed 
nine-pence  currency  per  diem  for  their  support,  which 
In  consideration  of  the  present  scarcity  has  been  in- 
creased to  ten-pence,  which  is  laid  out  for  them  by  the 
superintendent.  A  chapel  has  recently  been  fitted  up 
in  one  of  the  upper  rooms,  in  which  service  is  perform- 
ed by  the  Rector  of  St.  John's,  early  in  the  morning 
of  the  Sabbath. 

-  We  had  a  conversation  in  the  evening  with  two  of 
the  Moravian  missionaries ;  to  whose  society  nearly 
half  the  laboring  population  of  the  island  belongs. 
About  nine-tenths  of  their  people  are  negros.  They 
are  members  by  birthright,  unless  they  forfeit  their 
privileges  by  misconduct;  but  all  are  actually  under 
the  superintendence  and  religious  care  of  the  mission- 
aries. The  chapels  are  not  sufficiently  numerous  to 
hirfd  all  their  members ;  who  are  therefore  compelled 
to  attend,  as  it  were,  on  alternate  Sabbaths.  Not 
more  than  two  or  three  of  their  people  are  qualified  to 
assist  them  in  their  schools.  Infant  schools,  in  their 
opinion,  are  much  better  calculated  than  any  other  in- 
stitutions to  raise  the  character  of  the  next  generation ; 
J} 


ANTIGUA. 

as  well  as,  by  bringing  them  up  together  from  childhood 
under  the  same  course  of  discipline,  to  extinguish  the 
prejudice  of  caste,  which  exists  between  the  colored 
and  black  population.  The  disposition  of  the  negros 
is  decidedly  pacific ;  yet  the  Christmas  following  the 
1st  of  August,  1834,  was  the  first  for  thirty  years  that 
had  been  celebrated  without  the  proclamation  of  mar- 
tial law.  Since  emancipation  ten  or  twelve  riotous  feU 
lows,  as  they  were  termed,  have  been  known  to  be  car- 
ried to  jail  by  a  single  constable.  The  1st  of  August, 
1834,  was  a  day  of  deep  and  solemn  religious  observ- 
ance. The  Moravians  are  the  only  body  who  have 
thrown  open  their  chapels  on  the  subsequent  anniver- 
saries of  that  glorious  day,  many  of  the  proprietors 
having  set  their  faces  against  its  celebration. 

25th. — Our  attention  has  been  called  to  the  mischief 
resulting  from  the  non-recognition  of  the  validity  of 
marriages  by  Dissenting  Ministers.  An  obsolete  local 
Act,  of  the  date  of  1692,  imposes  a  penalty  upon  any 
minister,  not  qualified  according  to  the  regulations  of 
the  Church  of  England,  who  shall  celebrate  the  mar- 
riage ceremony.  Other  Acts  also  exist,  which  forbid 
the  intermarriage  of  slaves  and  free  persons;  and 
discourage  the  marriages  of  slaves  with  each  other. 
About  twenty  years  ago,  these  acts  began  to  be  ge- 
nerally disregarded  by  the  missionaries.  From  1S04 
to  1834,  the  number  of  marriages  of  slaves  registered 
at  the  Moravian  Mission  in  St.  John's,  was  nine  hun- 
dred and  four,  and  the  number  of  divorces  ten.  Their 
example  and  that  of  the  Wesleyans,  were  followed  by 
the  present  Rector  of  St.  John's,  and  subsequently  by 
the  other  established  clergy.  The  Emancipation  Act 
having  given  the  Establishment  the  power  of  receiving 
fees  for    the   marriage  of  negros,   and  the  ceremony 


ANTIGUA.  27 

having  acquired  a  civil  character,  affecting  the  legal 
union  of  the  parties,  and  the  rights  of  inheritance  of 
their  children,  the  dissenting  ministers  received  an 
intimation  that  they  must  discontinue  marrying; 
which  they  have  done  accordingly.  One  evil  conse- 
quence resulting  from  this  state  of  things,  is  to  dis- 
courage marriage ;  as  the  fees  of  the  clergy  are  heavier 
than  the  negros  can  always  afford  to  pay.  It  is  right 
however  to  add,  that  the  excellent  incumbent  of  the 
Metropolitan  parish  has  made  both  marriage  and  bu- 
rial fees,  a  free  will  offering,  and  his  example  has  been 
followed  by  at  least  one  other  clergyman.  The  follow- 
ing relation  forcibly  illustrates  the  glaring  evils  which 
result  from  the  nonvalidity  of  what  are  called  sectarian 
marriages ;  a  question  which  the  Act  of  Emancipation 
has  raided  into  importance.  Many  years  ago,  a  free 
black  woman  purchased  a  colored  slave,  gave  him  his 
freedom,  and  was  married  to  him  by  a  Wesleyan  min- 
ister. The  1st  of  August,  1834,  was  in  his  estimation 
K  day  of  general  release y  even  from  the  connubial  bond; 
and  he  proceeded  to  take  another  and  younger  wife  of 
his  own  comple^don.  A  license  Was  obtained ;  but  the 
clergyman,  being  timely  apprised  of  the  facts,  refused 
to  perform  the  ceremony ;  legal  proceedings  were 
threatened ;  but  at  length  the  parties  paid  a  visit  to 
a  neighbouring  foreign  colony,  and  after  a  short  ab- 
sence, returned  to  Antigua — married.  It  is  said,  that 
other  persons,  similarly  circumstanced,  were  waiting 
the  result ;  whose  wishes  were  only  defeated  by  the 
firmness  of  the  established  clergy.  In  other  instances, 
we  are  informed,  the  parents  of  numerous  families  have 
taken  advantage  of  the  law,  to  dissolve  their  unions  of 
many  years  duration.  In  some  of  the  colonies  also, 
and  even  in  Antigua^  proprietors  have  been  found  ca- 


28  ANTIGUA. 

pable  of  taking  advantage  of  the  non-recognition  of 
marriages,  to  forbid  husbands  and  wives,  resident,  as  is 
generally  the  case,  on  different  estates,  from  visiting 
each  other  in  their  hours  of  rest  and  recreation. 

We  visited  this  morning  the  Methodist  infant 
school.  There  were  one  hundred  and  thirty  children 
present,  of  from  two  to  seven  years  of  age,  and  of  every 
color ;  three  or  four  white,  twenty  or  thirty  black,  and 
the  rest  of  every  intermediate  shade  of  complexion. 
Some  of  them  repeated  to  us  their  usual  rhythmical 
exercises,  and  a  class  of  them  read  very  nicely  in  the 
6th  Chapter  of  Matthew  ;  the  whole  sung  a  hymn  at 
the  conclusion  ;  the  faces  of  the  children  were  expres- 
sive of  happiness  and  intelligence.  The  school  appear- 
ed to  be  in  an  efficient  state,  and  we  thought  it  would 
bear  comparison  with  the  average  of  infant  schools  in 
England.  The  teachers  were  two  colored  youngs 
women. 

26th. — ^We  went  this  morning  through  the  market, 
which  was  largely  attended.  Almost  every  sort  of 
eatable  commodity  was  exposed  for  sale ;  fruit,  fish, 
meal,  besides  bundles  of  sticks  and  grass,  cotton 
prints,  &c.  &c.  The  scene  was  a  highly  animated  one, 
but  the  proceedings  were  conducted  with  great  order. 
Previously  to  the  Abolition  of  Slavery,  the  market  was 
principally  supplied  by  the  agricultural  peasantry,  with 
articles  of  their  own  raising ;  but  now  this  class  are 
more  generally  buyers  than  sellers  ;  and  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  merchandise  is  of  foreign  growth  or 
manufacture.  The  increase  of  trade  thus  created,  is 
one  consequence  of  the  payment  of  labor  in  wslges. 
A  Police  Act  came  into  operation  about  a  fortnight 
ago,  which  affords  an  illustration  of  the  new  forms  in 
which   oppression  will  learn  to  exhibit  itself  in  the 


A.NTI6CA.  29 

West  Indies  ;  one  of  its  clauses  prohibits  eountiy  peo- 
ple from  brihging  their  goods  to  market  without  a  pass 
from  the  manager  of  the  estate  oti  which  they  reside. 
Unless  they  are  provided  with  this  pass,  the  police 
seize  and  confiscate  their  property,  whether  it  be  pro- 
duce, poultry,  or  other  stock  of  their  own  raising,  or 
grass  and  wood  cdUiected  on  the  estate,  foy  the  ma- 
nager's  permission.  We  had  a  long  talk  to-day  with 
a  negro,  introduced  to  us  by  a  friend  as  ope  on  whose 
veracity  we  might  depend.  He  appeared  to  be  a  se- 
rious, respectable  man.  The  substance  of  his  state- 
ment was,  that  their  wages  of  one  shilling  currency, 
a  day,  (about  five-pence  halfpenny  sterling,)  were  not 
sufficient  to  maintain  them.  He  had  a  wife  and  six 
children,  and  an  old  mother  to  support ;  of  whom,  two 
of  the  childn^n  only  were  able  to  earn  any  thing. 
They  could  not  manage  without  *^  minding*'  their  little 
stock.  He  said  that  if  a  laborer  was  five  minutes  after 
time  in  the  morning,  the  manager  stopped  his  pay  for 
the  day.  He  complained  also  that  he  had  just  received 
thirty  days  notice  to  quit,  because  he  refused  to  allow 
one  of  his  children  whom  he  wished  to  put  to  a  trade, 
to  go  to  tiie  field,  although  he  promised  that  all  his 
other  children  should  be  brought  up  to  estate  labor. 
Men  are  sometimes  taken  before  the  magistrate  and 
fined  for  trespass,  for  visiting  their  wives,  living  on 
different  properties.  In  conclusion,  however,  as  the 
laborers  could  not  now  be  locked  up  in  the  dungeon 
and  flogged,  the  change  in  their  circumstances  was  yet 
as  he  emphatically  expressed  it,  "  Thank  Clod,  a  great 
deliverance  from  bondage.'* 

27th. — ^We  went  this  morning  to  the   Moravian 
Chapel.     Several  of  the  brethren  reside  at  the  station 
in  St.  John's.     The  one  who  occupied  the  pulpit  to- 
D  3 


30  ANTIGUA. 

day  wa8  a  German  ;  and  his  diiicourse  was  nearly  uu* 
intelligible  to  uh.  The  propriety  of  sending  any  but 
English  missionaries  to  labor  in  our  West  India  Colo- 
nies may  well  be  doubted,  unless  the  German  brethren 
possess  the  faculty  of  easily  acquiring  a  new  language, 
in  addition  to  the  evangelical  zeal  and  piety,  which 
doubtless  many  of  them  do  possess.  A  gentleman  of 
great  intelligence,  and  long  resident  here,  remarked  to 
us  to-day,  that  the  people  have  improved  much  in  dress 
and  general  appearance,  since  Emancipation.  The 
very  features  of  the  negros  have  altered  within  his 
memory,  in  consequence,  as  he  believes,  of  their  eleva- 
tion by  education,  and  religious  instruction.  Their 
countenances  express  much  more  intelligence,  and 
much  less  of  the  malignant  passions.  A  belief  m  the 
Obeah,  and  other  superstitions,  is  not  quite  worn  out 
even  among  the  members  of  churches.  Fears  of  poison- 
ing used  to  be  common  among  cruel  masters  and 
managers.  Such  would  lock  up  the  filtering  apparatus 
which  supplied  them  with  water,  and  commit  the  key 
to  a  favorite  slave.  Others,  would  employ  none  but 
hired  servants  in  their  houses,  not  daring  to  trust 
their  slaves.  We  visited  the  Wesleyan  Sunday  school 
in  the  course  of  the  day.  There  were  upwards  of 
three  hundred  children  present,  of  various  ages,  and  of 
all  shades  of  color.  The  school  appeared  to  be  in  an 
efficient  state,  and  was  conducted  in  its  various  classes 
by  a  large  number  of  teachers ;  all  of  whom  were 
black  or  colored  young  men  and  women.  The  children 
as  usual,  looked  happy  and  animated.  Their  bodily 
and  mental  faculties,  certainly  appear  to  be  more 
rapidly  developed,  than  in  our  colder  climate ;  a  cir- 
cumstance which  renders  the  extensive  introduction  of 
the  infant  system,  into  the  West  Indies  a  matter  of 
the  most  urgent  importance. 


ANTIGUA.  31 

28th. — We  left  St.  John's  this  morning,  on  a  little 
journey  into  the  interior,  being  kindly  invited  to  New- 
field,  one  of  the  stations  of  the  Brethren.  We  called 
on  our  way  on  a  planter,  residing  on  his  own  estate, 
who  is  also  a  clergyman  of  the  established  church,  and 
has  built  a  little  chapel  of  ease  over  his  boiling  house, 
in  which  he  preaches  to  his  people  on  the  Sabbath. 
He  informed  us,  that  he  had  formerly  two  himdred 
slaves,  of  whom  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  all  ages 
were  employed.  He  has  now  one  hundred  on  his  pay 
list,  including  children  ;  and  the  cultivation  of  his 
estate  is  kept  up  as  well  as  before,  the  deficiency  being 
supplied  by  the  introduction  of  the  plough.  It  was  not 
unfrequent  formerly  to  have  twenty  or  thirty  at  a  time 
in  the  sick-house.  Sham  sickness  has  now  entirely 
disappeared ;  as  the  laborers  suffer  by  the  loss  of  time 
themselves.  One  of  the  chief  disadvantages  of  the  new 
system,  resulted  from  the  idea  of  degradation  attached 
to  field  labor.  On  this  account  he  never  took  his  do- 
mestics, as  formerly  from  the  field ;  because  if  they 
did  not  please  him  in  their  new  capacity,  they  invari- 
ably refused  to  return  to  their  agricultural  labor. 
Speaking  of  the  general  question  of  Emancipation,  he 
said,  that  he  preferred  the  free  system  for  himself, 
because  he  could  employ  many  or  few  hands  as  he 
pleased.  The  expense  of  working  estates  was,  he  be- 
lieved, about  the  same  as  before.  On  the  whole  per- 
haps, there  had  been  an  improvement  in  the  moral  con- 
dition of  the  people.  There  were  no  such  outbreaks 
now,  of  the  malignant  passions  as  were  frequent  for- 
merly. Things  were  managed  with  much  less  dis- 
comfort to  the  proprietor  on  this  account.  He  ob- 
served that  Antigua  presented  the  only  instance  of  a 
body  of  agricultural  slaves,  being  emancipated  without 


32  ANTIGUA. 

being  made  to  pass  through  a  transitloii  state.  It  was 
in  the  power  of  the  proprietors  to  revert  to  such  a 
state,  and  it  might  be  desirable  to  do  so  by  giving  the 
people  their  houses  and  grounds  oh  lease,  ou  condition 
of  their  paying  a  rent  of  so  many  days  labor  in  the  year. 
This  would  attach  them  to  the  soil.  We  proceeded 
from  thence  to  Newfield.  In  the  course  of  the  day,  our 
kind  host.  Brother  MoaaisH,  accompanied  us  to  seve- 
ral of  the  neighbouring  plantations.  The  first  gentle- 
man to  whom  he  introduced  us,  who  had  always  been 
esteemed  an  indulgent  master,  carried  us  to  see  his 
negro  village,  part  of  which  has  been  rebuilt,  and  other- 
wise improved,  since  1834.  The  houses  are  now  very 
comfortable ;  consisting  of  one,  and  sometimes  two 
rooms,  of  from  ten  to  fourteen  feet  square,  and  k^t 
very  clean,  a  few  of  which  are  furnished  with  a  four- 
post  bed,  and  other  household  goods.  Each  kitchen 
is  a  little  detached  shed,  thatched,  and  without  chim- 
ney, apparently  so  ill  adapted  to  culinary  processes, 
that  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  how  the  villages  escape  an 
occasional  conflagration.  The  huts  are  also  thatched 
with  cane-trash,  thrown  on  in  a  very  slovenly  manner, 
but  the  interior  roof  is  constructed  of  strips  of  palm 
leaves  neatly  plaited.  In  one  which  we  entered,  a 
young  woman  was  sitting  on  the  ground,  with  a  very 
young  child  in  her  lap,  which  had  on  an  obi  necklace 
of  horsehair,  because  its  neck  was  "  limber,''  as  she 
expressed  it.  The  minister  took  off  the  necklace,  and 
spoke  to  her  very  appropriately  on  her  sinful  habits 
and  superstition.     She  was  not  married. 

We  made  inquiries  of  this  gentleman  respecting  the 
comparative  cost  of  cultivation  under  the  present  and 
former  system,  and  subsequently  received  two  letters 
from  him  on  that  subject.     He  was  unable  to  furnish  us 


u 


ANTIGUA.  33 

with  a  statement  in  figures  ;  but  he  believed  the  cost 
of  working  his  two  estates  under  the  new  system  was 
greater  than  before,  as  they  had  always  been  full  hand- 
ed^  and  used  to  raise  annually  a  supply  of  provisions 
sufficient  for  six  or  ten  months'  consumption.  On  the 
average  of  estates  he  did  not  think  that  the  free  system 
was  dearer  than  slavery.  He  observed  that  there  had 
not  been  even  ^^  moderately  good  weather*'  since  eman- 
cipation,  so  as  to  give  it  a  fair  trial  in  other  respects  ; 
but  he  fears  that  it  will  be  found  difficult  to  take  off  an 

abundant  crop  within  the  usual  time.*^  Another 
planter  whom  we  called  upon  told  us  that  the  people 

gave  him  much  less  trouble  than  before  emancipation. 
He  mentioned  one  estate  in  the  island  which  had 
netted  £5000  sterling  this  year ;  he  thought,  there- 
fore, the  free  system  must  answer  for  some  parties. 
In  the  evening,  we  had  an  interesting  opportunity  of 
observing  the  manner  of  exercising  the  discipline  of 
the  church  amongst  the  Brethren,  which  convinced  us 
that  a  real  oversight  is  maintained  over  their  large  body 
of  members.  Certain  evenings  in  the  week  are  set  apart 
for  the  members  to  come  to  have  *^  a  speaking*'  with 
the  minister  ;  and  the  arrangements  are  such  that  the 
whole  pass  before  him  once  in  six  or  eight  weeks,  and 
receive  advice  suitable  to  their  condition.  There  is 
also,  on  each  estate,  a  religious  negro  called  a  ^^  helper,'* 
who  watches  over  the  members,  and  brings  all  delin- 
quencies and  disputes  before  the  minister.  Several 
cases  were  thus  brought  before  him  this  evening.  Two 
were  of  a  serious  character ;  the  individuals  being  ac- 

•  We  have  found  that  many  planters  participate  in  this  belief ; 
but  we  are  happy  to  add,  that,  on  the  few  estates  which  were  fa* 
▼ored  last  year  with  good  weather  and  a  large  crop,  these  fears  have 
not  been  realized. 


34  ANTIGUA. 

cused  of  living  with  women  to  whom  they  were  not 
married  : — ^their  Bentences  were,  to  be  put  out  of  the 
church.  Another  case  was  that  of  a  husband  charged 
with  beating  his  wife : — sentence^  suspension.  These 
decisions  are  taken  to  the  monthly  conference  of  the 
missionaries  for  confirmation.  The  addresses  of  the 
minister  to  the  offenders  were  affectionately  solenm 
and  appropriate ;  and  appeared  to  produce  a  deep  im* 
pression.  The  people  are  more  in  fear  of  the  church 
discipline  than  of  legal  punishment ;  and  some  planters 
employ  the  authority  of  the  minister^  rather  than  that 
of  the  magistrate^  in  enforcing  due  discipline  and 
subordination  on  their  estates. 

29th — We  went  after  breakfast  to  see  a  part  of  the 
Mission  property  ;  which  has  been  let  off  in  little 
plots  to  laborers  on  adjoining  estates,  who  esteem  it 
a  privilege  to  tenant  them ;  though  they  receive  no 
equivalent  increase  of  wages,  in  lieu  of  the  hut  and 
ground  which  they  would  otherwise  occupy  on  the 
estate.  The  rent  is  six  shillings  currency,  (two  shil- 
lings and  eight-pence  sterling)  per  month  for  a  cottage, 
and  a  quarter  of  an  acre  of  land.  One  boy  of  fifteen, 
who  has  an  aged  mother  to  support,  applied  for  a 
piece  of  land ;  and,  when  the  minister  hesitated,  said 
^^  O  massa,  I  can  manage  to  pay  the  rent,*'  He  im- 
mediately set  about  clearing  it  with  great  spirit ;  and 
has  now  got  it  into  nice  order,  and  part  of  it  planted 
with  yams.  The  free  cottage  system  has  been  tried  to  a 
small  extent  in  one  or  two  other  places ;  and  hitherto 
with  complete  success.  At  present,  however,  except- 
ing in  the  tovms,  there  are  perhaps,  not  fifty  independ- 
ent cottages  in  the  island.  A  part  of  the  mission  land 
has  been  also  appropriated  to  the  children  of  Bro- 
ther Morrish's  infant  school,  who  have  little  gardens 


ANTIGUA.  85 

to  cultivate  in  their  spare  time.    They  are  thus  brought 
up   to   associate  pleasurable  instead  of  painful  ideas 
with  agricultural  employments.   We  called  in  the  course 
of  this  morning  upon  the  Rector  of  the  parish^  (St. 
Philip's)  with  whom  we  had  an  interesting  conversation 
on  the  state  of  education.     His  statements  confirmed 
our  own  observation^  that  the  island  possesses  schools 
in  abundance^  but  that  many  of  the  teachers  are  ineffi- 
cient,   and  that  a   normal   school  is  greatly   needed. 
Speaking  of  the  state  of  agriculture,  he  observed  that 
he  had  always  understood  from  the  conversation  of  pro- 
prietors and  attorneys  that  the  free   system  was  less 
expensive  than  slavery,  and  that  property  was  increased 
in  value.     A  grazing  estate  of  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
six  acres^  the  half  of  which  was  offered  two  years  ago 
to  a   gentleman  of  his  acquaintance  for  four  hundred 
pounds,  was  then  about  to  be  sold  by  auction,  and  was 
expected  to  fetch  not  less  than  two   thousand  pounds. 
This  estate  we  subsequently  ascertained  was  sold  for 
two  thousand  six  hundred  pounds.     He  related  an  an- 
ecdote to  us  of  a  negro,  who  was  employed  to  bring 
some  vrine  from  St.  John's,  to  a  house  eleven  miles 
distant.     The  price  agreed  upon  was  one  dollar  and  a 
half,  for  the  whole  quantity  of  fifteen  dozen ;  which  he 
earned  by  making  two  journies  a  day,  equal  to  forty- 
four  miles ;  bringing  one  dozen  and  a  half  upon  his 
head  each  time.     We  afterwards  paid  our  respects  to 
Dr.  Nugent,  the  speaker  of  the  House  of  Assembly ; 
who  resides  in  this  neighbourhood.     He  received  u& 
very  courteously;  and,  with  characteristic  liberality  and 
candor,  consented  to  give  us  information  on  the  vari- 
ous subjects  in  which  we  expressed  an  interest.     Ano- 
ther planter,  whom  we  called  upon   on   our  way  to 
Willoughby  Bay,  gave  us  a  most  encouraging  account 


36  ANTIGUA. 

indeed  of  the  success  of  freedom.  Before  1834,  there 
were  one  hundred  and  ten  slaves  on  the  property,  of 
whom  he  could  sometimes  scarcely  muster  seventeen 
or  twenty  in  the  field.  Their  average  weekly  expense 
of  clothing  and  allowances  was  twenty-seven  pounds. 
He  has  now  double  the  amount  of  effective  labor ; 
namely  fifty-seven  persons  whose  wages  amount  only 
to  fifteen  pounds  weekly.*  The  estate  derives  a  con- 
siderable profit  also  from  the  sale  of  ground  provisions 
to  the  laborers.  He  observed  to  us  that  the  other 
colonies  would  have  done  well  to  have  followed  the  ex- 
ample of  Antigua;  but  complained  bitterly  of  the 
small  thanks  they  had  received  from  the  Home  Govern- 
ment. It  appears  to  be  a  general  sentiment  here  that 
Antigua  is  in  disgrace  at  the  colonial  office  in  conse- 
quence of  the  rejection  of  the  apprenticeship.  We 
called  at  Willoughby  Bay  upon  Charles  Thwaites, 
the  venerable  father  of  education  in  Antigua.  He  has 
lived  thirty-nine  years  in  the  island,  the  last  twenty  of 
which  have  been  devoted  to  this  work.  We  visited 
with  him  a  large  school  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
children  ;  of  whom  only  twenty  are  in  the  alphabet 
class.  The  rest  can  read  in  one  or  two  syllables ; 
and  some  of  them  in  any  part  of  the  Bible.  The  prin- 
cipal teacher,  a  negro  young  man,  governed  the  school, 
we  were  told,  successfully,  and  in  the  spirit  of  love : 
yet  it  appeared  to  us  that  he  taught  the  children  rather 
by  rote  than  intelligently.  The  children  spelt  correctly ; 
and  were  quick  in  reply  to  scripture  questions  proposed 
by  ourselves,  or  C.  Thwaffes.  In  the  evening  we  pro- 
ceeded to  Grace  Hill,  another  Moravian  station,  where, 
though  entire  strangers,  we  were  kindly  received  by 

•  See  Appendix  A.  Sec.  II. 


ANTIGUA.  37 

the  Brethren  Baynes  and  Mijller.  We  esteem  it  a 
privilege  to  be  permitted  to  witness  the  good  which 
the  missionaries  are  doing.  Harmony^  simplicity^  and 
love^  appear  to  reign  in  their  households^  and  shine 
forth  in  their  conduct  and  conversation.  We  heard 
to  day  a  distressing  account  of  a  poor  man^  who  was 
starved  to  death.  He  was  unable  to  work ;  and  had 
been  detected  stealing  canes^  to  which  he  was  probably 
impelled  by  hunger ;  as  he  had  no  allowance  from  the 
estate  on  which  he  lived.  He  ran  away  for  fear  of 
punishment^  and  was  found  dead  in  the  open  country 
at  some  distance  from  home.  The  most  painful  fea- 
ture in  the  state  of  Antigua  at  the  present  moment  is 
the  destitute  condition  of  the  old  and  infirm,  owing  to 
the  absence  of  a  legal  provision  for  them,  and  to  the 
present  distress  from  the  long  period  of  drought. 

30th. — At  Grace  Hill  the  missionaries  are  about 
to  let  off  a  part  of  the  mission  property  on  the  cottage 
system,  as  at  Newfield.  A  considerable  portion  also 
of  a  neighbouring  estate  has  been  sold  in  acres,  and 
half-acres,  to  the  laborers ;  who  have  built  cottages 
thereon  for  themselves,  and  still  continue  to  work  on 
the  adjoining  properties.  The  price  paid  has  been 
thirty-five  dollars  per  acre,  and  six  dollars  for  the  con- 
veyance. We  left  early  this  morning  for  English  Har- 
bor. One  of  the  Brethren  kindly  accompanied  us  as 
far  as  Falmouth  ;  where  he  introduced  us  to  Dr.  Mur- 
EAV,  whose  lady  has  established  an  interesting  infant 
school  of  about  thirty  children.  They  read  and  spelt 
pretty  well,  and  were  neatly  dressed.  The  Doctor  con- 
firmed a  statement  we  have  frequently  heard  ;  that 
there  has  been  a  great  decrease  of  sickness  on  the 
estates  since  Emancipation.  On  our  way  to  English 
Harbor,  we  were  overtaken  by  a  gentleman  who  in- 


38  ANTIGUA. 

vited  U8  to  accompany  him  to  the  police  office,  where 
he  was  going  to  preside  as  a  magistrate.     We  staid 
there   several   hours.      The   cases    disposed  of    were 
nearly  as  follows: — I.  A  young  woman,  with  an  in- 
fant in  armsy  charged  with  going  to  town  to  market  on 
Monday,  after  having  been  refused  leave.     Sentenced 
to  pay  one  dollar  to  the  estate.     A  fee  of  half  a  dollar 
is  due  to  the  treasury  on  each  complaint ;  which  is 
paid  by  the  complainant,  where  the  charge  is  not  sus- 
tained ;  otherwise  by  the  defendant,  in  addition  to  any 
other  fine  which   may  be  imposed.      Until  very  re- 
cently the  magistrate  was  entitled  to  receive  a  fee  of 
six  shillings  currency,  (two  shillings  and  eight  pence) 
from  complainants  who  did  not  sustain  their  charge  ; 
or   twelve   shillings   from   defendants    on   conviction. 
This  gave  rise  to  great  abuses  and  oppressions  till  the 
fees   were   happily  abolished  by  a  recent  act  of  the 
legislature.     The  defendant  in  the  above  instance  paid 
the  money  in  court,  and  immediately  gave  her  manager 
thirty  days  notice  to  quit. — ^2.  A  young  man  charged 
with  breaking  forty-eight  canes — fined  three  dollars  to 
the  treasury,  and  four  to  the  estate.     The  amount  was 
paid  by  his  mother. — 3.  A  man  charged  with  stealing 
canes  and  corn,  on  an  estate  different  to  the  one  on 
which  he  lived  ;  the  watchman  of  that  estate  with  con- 
nivance ;  and  a  girl  with  receiving  part  as  a  gift.     The 
case  against  the  watchman  was   dismissed ;  the  girl 
admonished  and  directed  to  pay  the  treasury  fee ;  and 
the  principal  offender  sentenced  to  pay  seven  dollars  as 
in  the  preceding  case.     There  was  no  one  to  advance 
the  money  for  him,  and  he  was  therefore  sent  to  hard 
labor  in  the  House  of  Correction  for  three  months. 
He  burst  into  tears  on  hearing  the  sentence.     4.  An  old 
man  charged  with  stealing  yams  and  cane- trash.     He 


ANTIGUA. 


39 


was  in  the  weeding  gang  at  nine-pence  per  diem  (four- 
pence  sterling.)  He  had  heen  sick  for  a  week,  during 
which  he  received  no  pay,  and  was  compelled  by  hun- 
ger to  take  the  yams  to  eat,  and  the  cane-trash  to  boil 
them — ^fined  one  dollar  to  the  estate.  The  manager 
advanced  the  treasury  fee  for  him,  and  is  to  stop  the 
amount  from  his  wages.  He  acknowledged  the  defend- 
ant was  very  attentive  to  his  work.  It  appears  evident 
to  us,  that,  in  this  deplorable  case,  want  was  the  ex- 
citing cause  of  the  offence.  The  penalty,  if  exacted, 
will  be  wrung  from  his  bare  means  of  existence. — 
5,  Two  girls  charged  with  trespass — The  case  against 
one  of  them  was  not  sustained,  as  she  had  not  been 
warned  off  the  property.  The  other  was  admonished 
and  dismissed,  on  payment  of  the  usual  fee  to  the  trea- 
sury. The  complainant  was  directed  to  pay  the  same 
fee  for  the  other  case ;  but  this  was  not  finally  insisted 
ou.     He  appeared  surprised  and  dissatisfied,  and  said 

in  an  under  tone,  to  the  magistrate,  that  Mr. (his 

employer)  expected  the  girl  would  have  been  fined 
five  pounds. — 6.  Several  other  cases  of  cane  breaking 
were  disposed  of  in  a  similar  manner  to  the  preceding. 
One  woman,  with  an  infant  in  arms,  was  fined  a  dollar 
for  having  a  single  cane  in  her  possession.  The  Super- 
intendent of  Police,  who  acted  as  clerk,  told  us  that 
taking  canes  was  a  temptation  the  negros  could  scarce- 
ly resist.  They  had  been  accustomed  to  do  so  from 
childhood ;  and  little  notice  was  taken  of  it  during 
slavery  The  preceding  cases,  bcbides  others  not  affect- 
ing the  predial  class,  were  disposed  of  summarily  ^ 
without  cross  examination.  The  culprits  had  no  ad- 
viser, and  often  could  scarcely  make  themselves  under- 
stood. The  fines  in  most  cases  appeared  to  us  exces- 
sive, bearing  no  proportion  to  the   value  of  the  pro- 


40  ANTIGUA. 

perty  destroyed.  No  allowance  was  made  on  account 
of  the  high  price  of  provisions,  and  the  low  rate  of 
wages ;  and  none  for  the  ancient  custom  and  almost 
recognised  right  of  the  negro  to  take  canes  for  their 
own  consumption.  No  moral  admonition  was  bestow- 
ed upon  them — ^no  remark  on  the  sin  of  stealing. 
The  penalty  was  the  only  motive  held  out  to  them^  to 
act  differently  in  future.  The  complaining  overseers 
displayed  a  bitter  and  overbearing  spirit  towards  the 
people.  The  fines  appeared,  when  paid,  to  be  raised 
by  general  contribution,  amongst  the  friends  of  the 
defendants,  and  must  be  a  heavy  drain  upon  their  re- 
sources. We  were  shewn,  at  the  Police  OflBce,  the 
orderly  book  of  the  parish.  The  vestry  are  chosen  by 
the  freeholders,  with  power  to  tax  the  parish  for  the 
payment  of  the  clergy,  repairs  and  expenses  of  the 
church,  relief  of  the  poor,  &c.  They  do  not  appear 
to  extend  relief  to  worn-out  field-  laborers.  Subse- 
quently we  visited  a  large  school  under  the  care  of  the 
Established  Church,  which  did  not  seem  to  be  eflBci- 
ently  conducted.  We  went  also  to  see  the  **  Refuge 
for  Female  Orphans  ;"  an  interesting  and  most  useful 
institution,  which  is  dependent  on  the  English  "  La- 
dies Society.'*  It  was  declining  for  want  of  attention, 
its  chief  support  had  been  Mrs.  Gilbert,  an  excel- 
lent lady  of  "color,  now  dead.  Falmouth  and  English 
Harbor,  though  called  towns,  are  scarcely  worthy  of 
the  name.  Each  of  them  is  situated  on  a  small  but 
very  beautiful  bay.  On  our  way  back  to  St.  John's, 
we  met  several  negros  of  whom  we  inquired  respecting 
the  change  in  their  condition.  They  acknowledged  that 
it  was  much  improved .  "  Thank  God,"  said  one, 
^'  we  are  a  hundred  times  better  off  than  before."  The 
particular  amelioration  which  they  chiefly  dwelt  upon 


ANTIGUA.  41 

was^  that  they  could  not  be  flogged.  They  complain- 
ed^ however^  that  it  was  hard  for  a  man  who  had  a 
family,  to  live  on  one  shilling  a  day.  They  were  all 
members  of  churches.  It  is  not  difficult  to  tell  by  a 
negro's  countenance,  whether  he  is  in  Christian  com- 
munion. Those  at  the  Police  Office  were  evidently  of 
the  '^  baser  sort,''  and  one  of  the  magistrates  acknow- 
ledged to  us,  that  it  was  not  common  for  a  Moravian 
to  be  brought  before  them. 

12th  Month,  1st,  (December,) — One  of  us  went 
this  morning  to  attend  the  sitting  of  the  House  of  As- 
sembly. In  the  lobby  he  was  introduced  to  the  Chief 
Justice  of  the  island,  who  said,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
minutes'  conversation,  that  it  was  not  to  be  supposed, 
that  crime  had  really  increased  because  there  were  now 
heavy  calendars.  Cases  came  before  the  magistrate, 
which  were  formerly  decided  by  the  masters.  The 
peaceable  and  orderly  conduct  of  the  people  had  ex- 
ceeded his  anticipations  ;  and  there  was  no  one  he  be- 
lieved, who  would  deny,  that  the  general  result  of 
Emancipation  had  more  than  equalled  his  expectations. 
From  twelve  to  eighteen  members  were  present  at  the 
assembly  to-day.  One  of  the  most  animated  debates, 
was  on  the  state  of  a  piece  of  road.  The  way- wardens 
had  requested  the  visiting  magistrate  to  employ  the 
criminal  gang  to  repair  it,  which  they  refused,  on  the 
ground  that  it  would  be  injurious  to  the  health  of  the 
prisoners.  A  petition  was  presented  against  the  de- 
cision by  an  hon.  member,  himself  the  chief  party  in- 
terested. He  acknowledged  that  the  place  was  mala- 
rious, but  said  that  to  employ  voluntary  labor  at  a  high 
rate  upon  the  improvement  of  it,  *^  would  be  detrimen- 
tal to  the  whole  planting  interest.*'  It  was  a  work  of 
necessity,  and  the  health  of  prisoners  ought  not  to 
a  3 


42  ANTIGUA. 

be  considered,  before  that  of  the  peaceable  and  orderly 
peasantry.     To  this  it  was  replied,  that  the  prisoners 
were  condemned  to  imprisonment  and  hard  labor,  and 
not  to  sickness  and  death.    They  had  no  change  of 
clothes,  and  would  have  to  be  shut  up  together  at  night 
to  resist  the  influences  of  the  malaria,  under  the  most 
unfavorable   circumstances.      As,  however,   it  was   a 
work  of  necessity,  it  would  be  perfectly  justifiable  to 
employ  voluntary  labor  upon  it ;  and  it  was  well  known 
that   men    would  undertnke  any   thing  for  money. 
Though  a  good  deal  was  said  on  the  inconveniences 
likely  to  result  from  the  employment  of  laborers  at  a 
higher  rate  than  one  shilling  a  day,  the  discussion  on 
the  whole  was  highly  creditable  to  the  House  ;  and  the 
question  was  finally  decided  in  favor  of  the  prisoners. 
It  was  stated  in  the  course  of  the  debate,  that  the  ne- 
gros  are  much  more  careful  of  their  health  than  for- 
merly.    They  did  not  use  to  mind  working  in  the  rain, 
but  now  a  shower  sends  them  flying  in  all  directions 
for  shelter.     A  letter  was  read  to  the  House,  from  their 
agent  in  London,  on  the  subject  of  a  severe  despatch  of 
Lord  Glenelg,  against  the  late  House  of  Assembly, 
in  the  matter  of  a  recent  quarrel  with  the  Government. 
The  Agent  said,  that  the  despatch  in  question  could 
not  have  proceeded  from  the  amiable  mind  of  his  Lord- 
ship, but  "  appeared  to  emanate  from  the  invariable 
atmosphere   of  the  colonial  ofl&ce."      He  quoted  the 
parody  of  the  Morning  Post,  on  Lord  Glenelg,  "  nul 
lem  quod  tetigit  non  damnavit  ;*'  and  said,  he  did  not 
believe  his  Lordship  had  written,  or  even  that  he  had 
ever  read  the  dispatch  in  question  ;  and  he  exhorted  the 
House  not  to  rest  satisfied  with  having  made  out  such 
a  clear  case  in  their  reply  to  it ;  but  to  cause  Lord 
Glenelg  "to  wince,"  by  publishing  to  the  world,  a 
series  of  stringent  resolutions  on  his  conduct. 


ANTIGUA.  43 

A  petition  was  presented  for  the  cleansing  of  a 
pond  which  supplied  the  town  of  English  Harbor  with 
water.  The  hon.  member  stated,  that  the  old  act  had 
become  obsolete,  which  provided  that  these  ponds 
should  he  kept  in  order  by  contribution  from  the  dif-  ■ 
ferent  estates  of  slave  labor,  which  "  had  now  happily 
ceased  to  exist."  Another  gentleman  proposed,  that 
as  these  ponds  were  equally  for  the  beneUt  of  rich  and 
poor,  that  the  laboring  classes  should  be  taxed  to  con- 
tribute their  quota  towards  this  object,  either  in  labor 
or  money.  He  complained  that  they  required  higher 
wages  for  such  labor,  than  the  regular  rate  of  one  shit- 
ling  a  day.  A  letter  of  thanks  was  read  from  James 
Cox,  on  behalf  of  the  Wesleyan  missionaries,  for  the 
grant  of  a  piece  of  ground,  in  St.  John's,  for  the  erec- 
tion of  a  new  chapel  and  school.  The  proceedings 
were  concluded  by  the  reading  of  several  bills,  not  of 
general  interest. 

2nd. — To-day  was  the  commencement  of  the  Grand 
Sessions  of  the  Court  of  Khig's  Bench.  The  business 
was  begun  amidst  some  disorder  and  confusion ;  the 
witnesses,  prisoner,  prosecutor,  jurors  and  judges, 
speaking  and  asking  questions  indiscriminately.  In 
one  of  the  indictments  were  several  mistakes  of  dates 
and  places,  which  would  probably  have  quashed  the 
proceedings  in  an  English  Court.  The  witnesses 
usually  gave  their  testimony  in  a  clear,  straightforward 
manner,  without  being  prompted  by  interrogatories. 
The  sentences  were  lenient ;  iti  which  respect  they 
differed  much  from  the  decisions  of  the  magistrates  at 
the  police  court  of  English  Harbor.  We  called  in  the 
evening  upon  K.  Holberton,  the  Rector  of  St.  John's, 
who  is  deeply  interested  in  the  condition  of  the  negro 
population,  and  a  most  active  and  zealous  supporter  of 


44  ANTIGUA. 

schools  and  other  institutions  for  their  benefit.  He 
told  us  that  when  he  came  from  St.  Vincent's,  eight 
years  ago,  he  was  much  struck  with  the  superiority 
of  the  Antigua  negros,  in  aspect,  dress,  and  manners. 

3rd. — We  attended  this  morning  the  Police  Office 
in  St.  John's.  The  cases  were  principaUy  for  assault 
and  battery,  and  breach  of  contract ;  with  recrimina- 
tory complaints  of  abuse,  disorderly  conduct,  &c. 
The  decisions  of  the  magistrates  were  just  and  impar- 
tial, and  the  penalties  lenient.  Some  of  the  cases  were 
serious ;  others  of  a  very  trifling  character.  The  ap- 
peal to  the  magistrate,  is  a  privilege,  of  which  perhaps 
the  emancipated  portion  of  the  community  avail  them- 
selves on  too  trifling  occasions.  This  remark  does  not 
however,  apply  to  the  agricultural  population ;  in  their 
case  a  counterpart  observation  may  be  made  on  their 
superiors. 

We  called  in  the  afternoon  at  the  mission  station  of 
the  Brethren.  The  minister  was  engaged  in  receiving 
and  paying  money,  on  account  of  his  Benefit  Societies. 
In  addition  to  the  sums  disbursed  for  sickness,  one 
man  received  a  dollar  for  a  sheep,  which  had  died,  and 
another,  half  a  dollar  for  a  pig  3  a  new  example  of  the 
modes  in  which  the  principle  of  mutual  assistance  is 
carried  out  in  these  generous  institutions.  We  went 
afterwards  to  the  school-room,  where  we  found  the 
teacher  engaged  with  three  or  four  negros,  whom  he 
teaches  to  write  on  the  Saturday.  They  were  fine  in- 
telligent men.  One  of  them  told  us,  that  notwithstand- 
ing the  hard  times,  and  dearness  of  provisions,  "  he 
praised  God  every  day  for  freedom."  On  the  estate 
on  which  he  lived,  the  people  were  never  taken  before 
the  magistrate,  or  their  wages  checked,  unless  there 
was  cause  for  it.     The  old  people,  however,  were  not 


ANTIGUA.  45 

supported  ;  he  and  his  brother  had  to  maintain  their 
aged  mother.  He  complained  too,  that  they  could  not 
take  their  property  to  market  without  a  pass,  which 
was  never  required  from  them  during  slavery.  He  ac- 
knowledged they  did  not  work  quite  so  hard  as  before, 
unless  they  received  some  extra  indulgence  or  gratuity. 
Another  of  the  men  gave  us  similar  testimony.  We 
explained  to  them  the  principle  of  Savings'  Banks,  of 
which  they  appeared  perfectly  to  comprehend,  and  ap- 
preciate the  advantages.  These  institutions  would  be 
an  invaluable  auxiliary  to  the  Friendly  Societies.  We 
had  an  opportunity  in  the  course  of  the  evening,  of 
conversing  with  several  other  negros.  The  first  was 
formerly  on  an  estate  of  Sir  C.  B.  Codrington,  and 
left  it  when  freedom  came,  because  he  used  to  be  flog- 
ged when  a  slave.  On  that  estate  the  first  gang,  which 
then  numbered  one  hundred  and  fifty,  now  musters  only 
fifty.  He  complained  of  the  low  rate  of  wages.  Ano- 
ther negro,  an  intelligent  man  upwards  of  sixty  years 
old,  told  us  that  on  the  estate  on  which  he  lived,  the 
manager  broke  up  the  provision  grounds  of  the  people, 
the  week  before  August,  1834.  He  was  a  driver  on  the 
estate,  but  since  they  became  free,  he  had  been  com- 
pelled to  sell  his  stock,  and  quit  the  estate  with  his 
family,  on  account  of  the  harsh  treatment  which  he 
received  from  the  manager  ;  he  has  since  been  employ- 
ed in  tending  the  cattle  on  another  property,  at  nine- 
pence  currency,  (four-pence)  per  day.  Although  this 
old  man  had  suffered  in  his  circumstances  by  the 
change,  yet  even  he  laughed  at  the  idea  of  preferring 
slavery  to  freedom.  He  gave  us  a  graphic  description 
of  the  severe  labor  of  the  boiling  house  in  times  past,* 

•  An  intelligent  manager  observes,  "  As  regards  the  mode  of  re- 
muneration for  night  work,  however  the  man£tger*s  sense  bf  justice 


46  ANTIGUA. 

continued  through  the  night  to  the  second  crowing,  or 
even  till  day- break.  If  there  was  not  enough  syrup 
produced,  he  used  to  be  flogged  for  not  flogging  the 
firemen,  and  other  negros,  in  the  boiling-house  ;  or  if 
the  supply  of  canes  slackened  at  the  mill,  the  field  dri- 
ver was  flogged  for  not  flogging  the  cane  cutters.  On 
being  asked  if  he  would  prefer  slavery  if  the  King  gave 
orders  that  they  should  have  their  former  allowances, 
and  be  in  other  respects  on  their  former  footing,  with- 
out being  liable  to  be  flogged  :  he  said  *^  the  King 
might  order,  but  the  King  no  know  what  they  do."  He 
seemed  fully  sensible  of  the  advantage  of  being  able  to 
change  masters.  A  female  whom  we  saw  was  one  of 
Lord  Crawford's  slaves,  emancipated  under  his  will 
in  1832.  After  being  made  free,  she  continued  to 
work  in  the  field  at  the  rate  of  seven  shillings  and  six- 
pence currency,  (three  shillings  and  four-pence,)  for 
five  days  labor  per  week,  besides  all  the  slave  allowan- 
ces of  food  and  clothing.  After  August  1834,  her 
wages  were  reduced  to  one  shilling  a  day ;  when  she 
left  the  plantation  and  came  to  get  her  living  in  town. 
Most  of  Lord  Crawford's  people  continued  to  work 
in  the  field  after  they  became  free.* 

and  right  might  have  operated  in  favor  of  the  laborer,  the  principle 
of  claim  to  remuneration  was  not  admitted.  In  general,  however,  I 
think  it  was  afforded  in  a  greater  or  less  degree.  An  extra  quart  of 
meal,  or  yams,  &c.  and  a  '*  lUile  syrup,''^  (i.  e.  three  or  four  pints) 
wafi  the  most  that  was  desired,  and  not  unfrequently  obtained  by  the 
persons  immediately  about  the  mill.  The  poor  field  workers  used  to 
fare  much  worse  on  those  estates,  where,  want  of  means  and  mis- 
management, rendered  their  attendance  necessary  to  procure  fuel, 
so  long  as  the  boiling  continued.  They  seldom  received  more  than 
as  much  hot  liquor  as  they  pleased  to  drink,  for  their  extra  work." 

•  It  has  always  been  asserted  by  the  advocates  of  slavery,  that 
emancipated  negros  invariably  forsook  estate  labor.  This  is  a  fact 
in  contradiction  to  that  statement.    Undoubtedly  the  gi*eater  num< 


ANTIGUA.  47 

4th, — ^Thb  Sabbath. — We  went  in  the  morning 
to  the  parish  church,  which  is  a  spacious  and  elegant 
building,  and  on  this  occasion,  filled  with  a  congrega- 
tion of  about  fifteen  hundred  persons.  We  are  inform- 
ed that  distinctions  of  color  are  manifestly  less  observ- 
ed within  its  walls  than  they  were  a  year  ago.  It 
appears  to  be  the  custom  of  the  upper  classes  to  at- 
tend public  worship ;  and  the  general  observance  of 
the  Sabbath  in  the  island  is  very  exemplary. 

5th. — ^We  spent  the  greater  part  of  the  day  with  Dr. 
Nugent,  who  very  kindly  gave  up  his  time  to  us.  The 
subjoined  memoranda  are  a  correct,  though  incomplete 
representation  of  the  valuable  information  he  commu- 
nicated. We  assure  ourselves  that  he  will  not  object 
to  be  cited  as  a  witness  to  the  favourable  results  of  that 
great  measure,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  ablest  and 
most  earnest  supporters.  He  is  of  opinion  that  under 
the  free  system  the  saving  is  great  in  those  cases 
where  the  slaves  were  supported  entirely  on  imported 
supplies,  and  less  where  they  were  fed  on  rations  of 
ground  provisions  grown  upon  the  estate.  Different 
estates  grew  provisions  for  various  periods  of  two,  four, 
eight  or  ten  months ;  the  average  being  about  five 
months.  In  the  latter  instances,  the  annual  cash  out- 
lay would  be  greater  than  before  ;  but  on  the  average 
of  the  whole  island,  he  believes  the  saving  under  the 

ber  used  to  seek  out  some  other  employment,  upon  which  the  stigma 
of  degradation  was  less  deeply  impressed.  In  but  few  instances, 
even  when  willing,  would  they  have  been  allowed  to  continue  on  the 
estates  as  field  laborers.  In  all  slave  countries,  however,  freedom 
18  a  kind  of  patent  of  nobility ;  and  hence  the  lowest  order  of  free 
persons,  both  white  and  black,  being  too  proud  to  labor,  are  usually 
more  wretched  and  degraded  than  the  slaves  themselves.  It  is  an 
error  to  suppose  that  the  baleful  influences  of  slavery  are  limited  to 
the  unfortunate  class  who  are  its  immediate  victims. 


48  ANTIGUA. 

present  system,  to  be  considerable.     One  important 
economical   reform   was    introduced  the   year   before 
emancipation,  by  the  repeal  of  the  "Deficiency  Law," 
which  required  a  white  man  to  be  maintained  on  each 
estate  for  every  forty  slaves,  under  a  penalty  of  thirty 
pounds  a  year.     Two  white  women  were  considered 
equivalent,  for  the  purposes  of  this  Act,  to  one  man. 
Many   estates  paid   two,   four,  or   more  deficiencies. 
This  partial  and  oppressive  tax  also  prevented  the  em- 
ployment of  colored  overseers,  who  are  now  graduaUy 
re-placing  the  whites,  at  a  reduction  of  salary  of  about 
twenty  pounds  a  year  each.     A  purchasing  and  con- 
suming population  is  beginning  to  be  formed  within 
the  island  itself.     The  sale  of  ground   provisions   to 
their  laborers  is  already  become  a  source  of  profit  to 
estates.     A  negro  will  sometimes  go  the  store-keeper 
to  buy  a  gallon  of  molasses,  and  though  this  retail  sale 
is  at  present  more  troublesome  than  profitable  to  pro- 
prietors, it  will  eventually  become  a  source  of  revenue 
to  them.     The  reduction  of  medical  expenses  is  con- 
siderable.    The  estate  hospitals  have  become  useless. 
On  a   Monday  morning,  during   slavery,   the   doctor 
would  find  eight,  ten,  or  even  twenty  in  the  sick-house. 
Now,  he  has  comparatively  nothing  to  do.     He  is  paid 
one- third  less  per  head  than  before;  but  his  duties 
have   diminished   in   a  much  greater   ratio.      Before 
emancipation  some  estates  were  eaten  up  by  their  over- 
population.    On   one  belonging  to  a  relative  of  his, 
with  three  hundred  and  twenty  negros,  the  saving  ef- 
fected by  reducing  the  number  of  negros  had  been  im- 
mense.    In  such  cases  there  was  generally  some  im- 
pediment to  the  transfer,  or  sale  of  the  superfluous 
negros  ;  either  the  estate  was  mortgaged,  or  had  seve- 
ral owners,  or  was  in  trust,  or  in  chancery,  or  entailed. 


ANTIGUA. 


49 


Several  properties  in  this  situation  were  on  the  point 
of  being  abandoned.    Nothing  could  have  saved  them 
but  a  legislative  measure  of  Emancipation.     A  proper- 
ty was  instanced^  possessing  four  hundred  of  the  finest 
negros  in  the  island,  which  appeared  to  be  inextricably- 
involved.     The  proprietor,  residing  in  England,  had 
turned  his  back  upon  it,  and  refused  to  receive  or  an- 
swer, the  letters  of  his  agent,  who  was  thereby  placed 
in  a  most  painful  situation.     He  had  no  means  of  car- 
rying on  the  cultivation ;  he  could  get  no  help  from 
home ;  and  though  a  man  of  humanity,  was  embarras- 
sed by  prosecutions  for  not  furnishing  the  people  with 
the  legal  supplies.     On  the  passing  of  the  Emancipa- 
tion Bill,  the  compensation   money  enabled  the  mort- 
gagees to  make  some  settlement  of  the  affairs ;  super- 
fluous hands,  or  rather  mouths,  were  dismissed ;  the 
cultivation  resumed  with  a  fair  Jirpspect  of  success ; 
and  "the  agent  has  been   a  happy  man  ever  since." 
With  regard  to  the  general  welfare  of  the  colony,  he 
told  us  that  the  proprietary  body  are  more  prosperous 
than  before.     Some  estates  have  thrown  off  their  load 
of   debt,    others   have   passed   into   the   possession  of 
capitalists,   by  whom  their   cultivation   can  be   more 
effectively  carried  on.     An  estate  was  mentioned  which 
cost,  ten  years  ago,  forty  thousand  pounds.     He  would 
give  as  much  for  this  very  estate  now  without  the  slaves, 
and  consider  it  a  safer  and  better  investment.     Another 
small  estate  was  instanced,  belonging  to  three  equal 
proprietors.     Just  before  Emancipation  two  of  them 
sold  their  shares  for  one  thousand  five  hundred  pounds 
currency  each ;  the  third  now  stands  out  for  more,  one 
proof  amongst  many,  that  property  has  risen  in  value. 
Every  one  acquainted  with  the  town  of  St.  John's  will 
acknowledge,  that  it  is  much  more  bustling  and  pros  • 


50  ANTIGUA. 

perouB.  PersoDS,  returning  to  it  after  a  year  or  two's 
absence^  have  been  astonished  at  the  change.  The 
credit  of  planters  is  improved,  and  confidence  restored. 
A  few  years  ago,  a  gentleman  offered  to  consign  bis 
produce  to  a  mercantile  house,  on  condition,  that  it 
would  make  him  an  advance  to  discharge  a  debt,  due 
to  his  present  merchants.  The  answer  was  negative. 
He  has  lately  received  a  letter  from  the  same  party^ 
offering  advances.  Another  English  firm,  who,  before 
Emancipation,  were  seeking  to  reduce  their  securities 
on  estates  as  much  as  possible,  have  since  sent  out  an 
agent  to  Antigua,  to  see  if  there  were  any  openings  to 
extend  them.  During  the  last  fifteen  or  twenty  years, 
many  estates,  chiefly  in  the  mountains,  or  poorer  lands, 
have  gone  out  of  cultivation.  Some  of  these  doubtless 
will  again  come  under  culture.  One  has  already  been 
resumed  ;  the  proprietor  of  which  is  paying  his  negros 
two  shillings  a  day,  greatly  to  the  disturbance  of  his 
neighbours. 

But  there  are  important  exceptions.  A  few 
estates  have  been  disorganised,  if  not  ruined,  by  the 
change  3  but  in  most  instances,  if  not  in  all,  this  can 
be  traced  to  the  harsh  and  injudicious  conduct  of  the 
owners  or  their  agents.  With  regard  to  changes,  pre- 
sent and  prospective,  our  informant  said,  that  the  cane 
cultivation  has  been  somewhat  lessened,  from  several 
causes  :  1st.  An  anticipation,  well  or  ill  founded,  that 
it  would  be  necessary  to  lessen  it.  2nd.  Because  too 
many  canes  were  cultivated  before,  the  land  not  having 
been  sufficiently  cleaned  and  manured ;  and  lastly,  be- 
cause a  few  laborers  have  forsaken  the  field,  whose 
deficiency  is  not  yet  supplied  by  agricultural  improve- 
ments. There  has  also  been  in  the  last  year  or  two,  an 
"  invasion"  of  couch  grass,  which  gives  immense  trou- 


ANTIGUA.  51 

ble.  There  are  much  fewer  ground  provisions  grown 
than  before ;  for,  as  it  is  not  now  the  proprietor's  duty 
to  subsist  his  negros,  he  turns  his  attention  to  the  most 
profitable  article,  sugar ;  and  also  because  the  negros 
at  first  manifested  a  good  deal  of  caprice,  in  refusing  to 
purchase  provisions  from  the  estate  stores — preferring 
corn-meal,  rice,  &c.  from  the  town.  The  planters  have 
ceased  to  cultivate,  perhaps  to  too  great  an  extent ;  but 
these  things  will  find  their  own  level.  There  are  as 
yet  no  non-resident  laborers.  All  have  a  hut,  piece  of 
ground,  and  medical  attendance,  as  before.  No  extra 
labor,  therefore,  is  in  the  market,  except  that  the  plan- 
ters occasionally  hire  the  Saturdays  of  the  people  from 
neighbouring  properties.  Every  estate  maintains  its 
full  complement  of  laborers,  both  in  and  out  of  crop. 
There  are  no  independent  villages  whatever,  and  though 
the  people  have  the  strongest  desire  to  acquire  what 
they  call  "  a  pot  of  land,''  meaning  about  an  acre,  yet 
great  obstacles  exist,  because  there  are  no  suitable 
spots,  except  parts  of  actual  estates,  which  the  propri- 
etors are  unwilling,  or  unable  to  dispose  of.  The 
island  can  never  realise  the  full  benefits  of  the  new 
system,  till  there  are  such  villages,  which  would  be  to 
the  planters  as  "reservoirs  of  surplus  labor,"  enabling 
them  to  employ  many  or  few  hands,  according  to  their 
actual  wants.  The  economical  advantages  of  free  labor 
are  indeed  only  beginning  to  be  felt.  Laborers  and 
servants  will  become  more  efficient,  A  family  requires 
at  present  three  times  as  many  domestics  as  in  Eng- 
land. In  the  field,  two  or  three  men  are  required  to 
manage  a  team  in  a  plough,  cart,  or  waggon.  Agricul- 
tural implements,  cane  mills,  and  other  machinery, 
will  be  improved.  The  plough  has  long  been  used  in 
the  islaud  3  but  on  many  estates  its  judicious  use  is 


52  ANTIGUA. 

still  a  novelty.  These  and  many  other  improvements, 
will  be  stimulated  by  a  diminished  supply  of  human 
labor. 

The  comparative  improvements  in  the  condition  of 
the  rural  population  are  not  to  be  enumerated.  They 
are  not  flogged,*  or  locked  up.  They  arc  their  own 
masters,  free  to  go  or  stay.  They  receive  money  wages, 
whilst  they  retain  all  their  old  privileges,  except  their 
allowances  of  food  and  clothing.  A  common  source 
of  dissatisfaction  formerly  was  their  food.  They  be- 
came tired  of  yams  and  Indian  com.  Eddoes,  (another 
farinaceous  root,)  would  almost  create  mutiny.  The 
law  too  did  not  prescribe  how  their  rations  should  be 
distributed ;  so  that  corn  was  sometimes  given  them 
in  the  ear  ;  and  thereby  a  vast  increase  of  their  labor 
occasioned,  perhaps  in  crop,  by  their  having  to  parch 
and  pound  it.  Now,  they  provide  themselves  with 
what  they  like ;  and  are  therefore  better,  if  less  abund- 
antly fed.  They  are  also  much  better  dressed.  Many 
make  themselves  ridiculously  fine  on  Sundays.  It  is 
not  uncommon,  on  that  day,  to  see  ladiesy  who  toil 
under  a  burning  sun  during  six  days  of  the  week,  at- 
tired on  the  seventh,  in  silk  stockings,  and  straw  bon- 
net, with  parasol,  and  gloves  y  and  the  gentlemen  in 
black  coats  and  fancy  waistcoats.  This  extravagance 
is  partly  owing  to  the  absence  of  an  intermediate  class^ 
for  them  to  imitate.  They  are  probably  possessed  of 
more  money  than  during  slavery,  but  have  less  live 
stock ;  as  immediately  before  August  1834  they  con- 

*  It  is  due  to  Dr.  N.  to  state,  that  the  whip  was  disused  on  the 
estate  on]  which  he  resides  during  the  last  fifteen  years  of  slave- 
ry ;  one  consequence  of  which  humane  system  is  seen  in  the  fact^ 
that  only  one  of  the  negros  has  left  the  estate  since  they  became 
free. 


ANTIGUA.  53 

verted  much  of  their  property  into  coin,  as  is  custo- 
mary in  every  anticipation  of  e:d;ensive  changes  and 
revolutions.  If  they  cultivate  their  grounds  less  than 
before,  it  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  drought,  which  has 
rendered  it  unprofitable  to  expend  labor  upon  them. 
They  do  not  work  so  well  on  the  estates  except  when 
they  are  on  task  work ;  but  though  task  work  has  not 
yet  been  extensively  introduced,  the  cane  cultivation  is 
well  adapted  to  it.  Drunkenness  is  not  a  vice  of  the 
negro.  His  temptations  are  stealing  and  lying. 
Dances  are  a  great  source  of  demoralization.  They 
sometimes  aspire  to  suppers  and  even  champagne,  so 
called ;  and  most  absurdly  give  sums  of  four  or  five 
dollars  for  the  honor  of  opening  the  ball,  besides 
money  to  their  partners.  This  tempts  to  robbery. 
If  any  change  for  the  worse  has  taken  place  in  their 
morals,  it  is  in  the  case  of  domestic  servants.  House- 
breaking, stealing  money,  &c.  are  sometimes  heard  of, 
which  were  before  unknown  :  the  oflFenders  are  usually 
dissolute  free  people,  or  former  domestics. 

The  people  are  much  more  easily  and  pleasantly 
governed  than  during  slavery.  The  proprietor  has  less 
^^cark"  and  care;  less  bodily  and  mental  fatigue,  and 
infinitely  less  annoyance  of  all  descriptions.  Every 
difficulty  used  to  be  referred  to  him  ;  constant  disputes 
were  to  be  settled,  as  to  the  work  to  be  done  by  fe- 
males, &c. ;  now  he  has  no  need  to  interfere.  The 
disputes  are  carried  to  the  magistrate.  No  one  can  con- 
ceive the  irritation  engendered  by  the  old  system ;  in  ad- 
dition to  which,  the  obloquy  thrown  upon  the  planters 
was  become  almost  insupportable.  All  this  was  swept 
away  by  Emancipation.  **  He  did  not  believe  there 
was  a  man  in  the  colony  who  could  lay  his  hand 
upon  his  heart  and  say,  he  would  wish  to  return  to  the 
F  3 


64  ANTlOIfA^ 

old  state  of  things."  Were  there  no  other  considera- 
tion, it  gave  him  great  pleasure  to  see  men  working  in 
the  fields^  as  free  agents  as  himself.  He  sometimes 
pointed  to  a  well  dressed  gang  of  laborers,  and  asked 
his  friends  whether  it  was  not  an  exhilarating  sight. 
Some  would  reply  to  him,  that  it  was  all  rery  well  if 
it  did  but  last ;  but  that  now,  every  child  was  being 
educated  ;  and  that  the  next  generation  would  be  too 
much  of  gentlemen  and  ladies  to  work  in  the  field. 
He  however  maintained,  that  there  was  more  danger  in 
partial  than  general  education. 

6th. — We  went  this  morning  to  see  the  national 
schools  in  St.  John's,  where  we  were  joined  by  the 
Rector,  who  kindly  devoted  the  morning  to  us.  Both 
the  boys'  and  girls'  schools  were  in  a  more  efficient 
state  than  others  which  we  have  visited.  A  large  pro- 
portion of  the  children  were  emancipated  in  August, 
1834,  viz.  seventy-eight  of  one  hundred  and  seventeen 
boys,  and  seventy-five  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  two 
girls.  Some  of  these  were  very  fair.  We  noticed  one 
little  girl  in  particular;  and  were  much  astonished, 
when  she  held  up  her  hand  with  the  rest  that  were 
made  free.  Her  complexion  was  fair  and  clear ;  her 
hair  flaxen,  and  with  features  perfectly  European.  The 
schoolmistress,  an  energetic  old  lady,  appeared  to 
take  the  most  lively  interest  in  her  scholars,  and  seem- 
ed to  be  intimately  acquainted  with  their  individual 
histories,  &c.  Straw  plaiting  has  been  carried  on  in 
both  schools ;  and  in  the  boys',  the  making  of  shoes 
and  trowsers,  but  the  latter  -  is  at  present  suspended. 
We  were  next  taken  to  see  the  Rector's  infant  school ; 
a  most  interesting  little  establishment.  Here  the  chil- 
dren were  nearly  all  of  the  emancipated  class.  A  little 
regiment  of  them  come  every  morning  from  a  neigh- 


ANTIGUA.  55 

bouring  estate,  under  the  guidance  of  an  old  woman, 
who  carries  their  provisions  in  a  basket  on  her  head, 
and  waits  to  take  them  home  at  night.  The  teacher, 
a  young  negress,  is  the  most  efficient  native  instructor 
we  have  seen,  and  the  results  are  very  perceptible  in 
the  superior  forwardness  of  the  scholars.  She  was  very 
intelligent,  and  clever  in  her  questions  to  the  children. 
The  Rector  has  five  schools  under  his  care  in  this 
parish.  We  next  visited  with  him,  the  hospital  of  the 
^^  Daily  Meal  Society."  This  is  the  only  public  in- 
stitution the  destitute  and  diseased  can  resort  to ;  and 
it  is  quite  insufficient  for  the  wants  of  the  island.  It 
is  supported  by  voluntary  contributions.  A  meal  of 
soup  and  bread  is  served  once  a  day,  to  about  eighty 
persons ;  and  there  are  fourteen  or  sixteen  in-door 
patients.  A  new,  large  building  is  erecting  for  their 
accommodation.  At  present,  they  live  in  the  moveable 
wooden  houses  of  the  country ;  an  arrangement,  which 
appeared  to  us  to  possess  some  peculiar  advantages 
over  the  large  wards  of  a  hospital,  for  which  it  is 
about  to  be  exchanged.  Most  of  the  inmates  are 
pitiable  objects,  afflicted  with  leprosy  and  elephanti- 
asis, which  dreadful  disorders  are  nearly,  if  not  quite, 
confined  to  the  black  and  colored  races.  We  called  in 
the  evening  upon  James  Cox.  He  gave  us  some  pleas- 
ing details  of  the  introduction  and  progress  of  the  Tem- 
perance reformation.  Teetotalism  appears  to  adapt 
itself  as  readily  to  this,  as  to  a  colder  climate.  The 
Wesleyans  have  several  little  Temperance  Societies  on 
estates.  James  Cox  is  deeply  interested  in  this  cause, 
and  is  himself  a  fine,  florid  specimen  of  water  drinking. 
A  gentleman,  whom  we  accidentally  met  with  to-day, 
read  to  us  part  of  a  letter  which  he  had  just  received 
from  the  neighbouring  island  of  Nevis,     It  gave  a  de- 


56  ANTIGUA. 

plorable  account  of  the  condition  of  the  apprentices 
there.  Many  of  them  were  in  a  state  bordering  on 
starvation^  because  the  proprietors  had  given  them 
larger  provision  grounds,  and  a  day  in  the  week  to  cul- 
tivate them^  in  lieu  of  their  former  allowances^  and  the 
dry  weather  had  rendered  their  grounds  unproductive. 
From  the  same  cause,  there  had  been  a  great  faUing  o£F 
in  the  attendance  of  the  schools^  the  parents  not  having 
food  to  give  their  children  to  take  with  them.  The 
letter  concluded  by  wishing  "this  system  of  apprentice- 
ship at  the  bottom  of  the  sea." 

7th. — We  went  this  morning  to  breakfast  with  the 
manager  of  an  estate,  which  furnishes  a  striking  proof 
of  what  may  be  done  under  a  free  system^  liberally  ad- 
ministered. He  kindly  furnished  us  with  some  valu- 
able statistical  information,  and  practical  remarks. 
This  estate,  comprising  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
acres  of  cane  ground,  produced  last  year,  two  hundred 
and  twelve  heavy  hogsheads  of  sugar^  being  sixty  hogs- 
heads more  than  its  average  for  the  last  twenty  years. 
Amidst  the  general  drought,  this  and  two  or  three  ad- 
joining properties,  were  favored  with  seasonable  rains. 
The  result  completely  falsifies  the  fears  expressed  to  us 
by  many  planters,  that  a  large  crop  could  not  be  taken 
off  without  loss,  by  free  labor.*  This  gentleman,  on 
the  contrary  says,  ^^  Give  me  a  supply  of  cash,  and  I 
will  take  off  the  largest  crop  it  may  please  Providence 
to  send."      The  number  of  efficient  laborers  is  rather 

*  A  note  received  since  the  commencement  of  the  present  year, 
from  this  gentleman,  speaking  of  the  crop  about  to  be  taken  off, 
when  we  left  Antigua,  observes,  "  In  five  weeks  we  have  cut  seventy- 
seven  acres  of  canes,  made  fifty  hogsheads,  and  more  than  half  done 
crop.  So  far  from  our  people  not  being  willing  to  labor,  I  believe 
they  wish  they  had  two  hundred  instead  of  forty  more  to  make. 
We  only  want  atich  a  year  as  1834,  for  free  labor  to  tell,^* 


ANTIGUA.  57 

less  than  during  slavery^  but  their  loss  has  been  sup- 
plied by  the  more  extensive  introduction  of  the  plough 
and  task'Work^  both  which  are  employed  to  a  greater 
extent  than  on  any  estate  we  have  yet  visited.  Task- 
work has  also  been  made  the  means  of  obviating  the 
inconveniences  which  result  from  the  present  high 
price  of  provisions ;  the  people  earning  from  fifty  to 
one  hundred  per  cent,  more  than  the  customary  rate  of 
wages.  Our  host  assured  us^  that  his  people  worked 
more  regularly  than  during  slavery  ;  a  fact  which  was 
evident  also  from  an  inspection^  which  we  were  per- 
mitted to  make  of  the  pay  list  of  the  estate,  during  the 
earliest  period  of  the  free  system  in  1834,  and  the  cor- 
responding months  of  1836.  The  increased  amounts 
earned  by  the  same  number  of  laborers  in  the  latter 
period,  shewed  an  increase  of  industrious  exertion. 
The  negro  houses  on  this  estate,  are  large  and  comfort- 
able. Some  are  about  to  be  rebuilt  at  the  expence  of 
the  proprietor.  The  attention  of  the  people  to  the 
cultivation  of  their  own  grounds,  is  a  striking  proof  of 
their  industry  and  settled  habits.  We  saw  a  piece  of 
rocky  ground,  which  had  been  taken  in  by  permission, 
and  converted  into  a  garden,  at  an  immense  expense  of 
labor,  both  in  carrying  mould  and  manure  to  it  from  a 
considerable  distance,  and  in  enclosing  it  by  a  stone 
wall.  Their  cottages  have  been  also  generally  enclosed 
by  neat  fences,  since  1834 ;  and. the  whole  conduct  of 
the  people  exhibits  as  much  stability,  as  though  their 
leaving  the  estate  was  as  unlikely  to  happen  as  during 
slavery,  when  it  was  nearly  an  impossible  event. 
There  is  a  nice  little  chapel  on  the  estate,  constructed 
out  of  one  of  the  largest  negro  houses,  in  which  service 
is  frequently  performed  on  the  Sabbath,  by  one  of  the 
Westeyan  missionaries ;  and  in  which  also  is  kept  a 


58  ANTIGUA. 

school  for  the  children,  during  the  long  noon  interval 
of  labor,  by  a  woman  remunerated  by  a  trifling  sum 
weekly,  in  addition  to  the  privileges  of  her  house  and 
ground  rent  free.  Besides  this  school,  an  adult  class 
has  been  voluntarily  formed  and  taught,  by  a  n^ro 
domestic  servant  of  the  manager ;  and  a  third  school 
has  been  instituted  by  the  Archdeacon  in  one  of  the 
negro  houses,  chiefly  for  the  adults  and  elder  children 
of  this  and  adjoining  estates.  On  this  estate  there  are 
fourteen  mothers  of  families,  who  work,  on  the  average, 
only  half  their  time;  and  two  who  have  withdrawn 
altogether  from  estate  labor.  The  cash  outlay  on  this 
estate,  has  been  upwards  of  six  hundred  pounds  cur- 
rency, (about  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  sterling,) 
per  annum  more  than  during  slavery.  The  crop  how- 
ever has  averaged  considerably  more  ;  and  though  this 
may  be  attributed  to  favorable  seasons,  yet  the  mana- 
ger observes,  that  '*  as  we  plant  only  half  the  quantity 
of  provisions,  the  greater  part  of  our  cane-land  may  be 
prepared  out  of  crop,  and  the  canes  planted  in  better 
time.  They  will  also,  I  am  confident,  be  more  pro- 
ductive after  the  land  has  been  in  fallow,  than  after 
provisions.  The  cattle  also  get  a  little  more  feeding." 
Before  returning  to  town  we  visited  another  estate 
in  the  same  neighbourhood ;  the  circumstances  of 
which,  in  all  important  particulars,  corresponded 
with  the  preceding ;  and  from  whose  intelligent  ma- 
nager we  received  accounts  equally  satisfactory  of  the 
favorable  effects  of  freedom.*     The  proprietor  of  it  is 

*  From  a  number  of  answers  to  some  written  questions,  which  we 
proposed  to  this  gentleman,  we  extract  the  following.  "  Ist — The 
change  in  our  system  is  nothing  like  what  might  have  been  imagined. 
As  yet,  the  substitution  of  reward  for  punishment,  and  some  faint  ef- 
forts to  economize  labor,  are  all  that  indicate  a  change.    2nd. — The 


ANTIGUA.  59 

erecting  new  works  and  thirty  new  houses  for  the  peo- 
ple of  a  very  superior  class^  at  an  expense  of  several 
thousand  pounds  sterling.  The  cottages  are  being 
built  on  three  sides  of  a  large  square,  in  the  centre  of 
which  we  understood  it  was  intended  to  erect  a  school. 
The  proprietor  already  supports  an  infant  school  on 
the  estate  which  is  held  in  a  large  room  that  also 
serves  on  occasion  as  a  chapel.  The  children  were  in 
the  usual  state  of  forwardness.  It  is  almost  needless 
to  add  that  the  managers  of  these  two  estates  are  men 
of  serious  character  and  really  concerned  to  promote 
the  welfare  of  their  people.  They  were  both  friendly 
to  Emancipation,  yet  they  assured  us  in  strong  terms 

difference  of  the  cost  of  cultivation,  varies  according  to  the  locality 
and  former  circumstances  of  the  Estates.  Some  estates  used  to 
grow  food  sufficient  for  their  own  consumption,  without  prejudice  to 
their  staple  crop ;  a  few  more  than  sufficient,  many  for  six  or  eight 
months ;  and  the  rest  for  three  or  four  months.  The  first  class,  it  is 
obvious  lose  by  the  change.  The  second  I  presume  to  be  at  par ; 
whilst  the  third  are  decidedly  gainers.  It  is  however  a  question, 
whether  the  first  class  will  be  ultimately  losers ;  presuming  they  con- 
tinue to  fallow  such  lands  as  were  formerly  appropriated  to  the 
growth  of  provisions.  3rd. — None,  unacquainted  with  the  negro 
character  and  habits,  could  easily  comprehend  the  way  in  which, 
with  an  income  in  money  of  five-pence  halfpenny  sterling  per  day. 
they  manage  to  exhibit  such  finery  and  extravagance  in  their  dress^ 
To  us  it  is  painfully  manifest,  that  this  weakness  is  indulged  at  the 
expense  of  all  domestic  enjoyments  and  comforts.  Ordinarily,  a 
mere  fraction  of  their  earnings  is  appropriated  to  their  support ;  the 
cheapest  and  coarsest  food,  with  the  addition  of  herbs,  &c.  gathered 
on  the  estate  wiU  suffice.  They  take  no  thought  for  the  future,  an- 
ticipate no  evil,  provide  nothing  for  sickness  and  old  age,  but  spend 
all  they  can  obtain  in  articles  of  dress,  the  most  extravagant  and  un- 
suitable to  their  condition  in  life.  They  are  yet  slaves  in  habit  and 
feeling,  and  tee  musi  not  he  surprised  if  it  be  left  for  succeeding  genera- 
tUmSy  to  develope  the  entire  blessedness  of  the  change  that  has  passed  upon 
us.  4th.—- Some  attention  is  paid,  to  avoid  that  waste  of  labor,  which 
was  but  little  regarded  formerly ;  so  that  manual  labor  is  lessened^ 
though  the  substitHtes  for  it  are  not  yet  extensively  employed.    Our 


60  ANTIGUA. 

that  the  measure  had  succeeded  far  beyond  their  utmost 
expectations. 

In  the  afternoon  we  drove  over  to  Parham,  a  little 
village  interesting  to  us,  both  as  a  missionary  and  po- 
lice station.  The  Wesleyan  minister*  is  a  man  of  color, 
and  was  born  a  slave  in  Bermuda.  His  history  is  re- 
markable. He  is  not,  we  believe,  inferior  either  in 
education,  qualifications,  or  usefulness,  to  any  of  his 
brethren  in  the  ministry.  The  school  under  his  care 
is  in  good  order,  and  very  numerously  attended.  The 
children  are  all  emancipated  but  two  ;  a  circumstance 
which  is  employed  to  instil  into  their  breasts  sentiments 
of  fervent  loyalty.  They  were  told  we  came  from  Eng- 
land ;  and  asked  "  Who  lives  in  England  ?"  —  «  The 

ag^riculiural  labors,  during  the  manufacturing  months,  can  only  be 
performed  by  hand.  The  planting  and  weeding  of  canes,  to  which 
I  chiefly  allude,  have  both  been  attempted  by  the  plough,  but  un- 
successfully. The  consequence  of  this  untoward  coincidence  is,  that 
a  greater  number  of  hands  must  be  kept  on,  than  we  should  know 
well  how  to  employ,  in  combination  with  an  extensive  use  of  the 
plough  and  other  machinery  ;  and  there  is  sucli  a  tenacity  respect- 
ing our  laborers,  that,  on  no  account  will  we  trust  them  from  under 
our  control ;  hence  some  estates  are  burdened  with  many  more  than 
they  will  employ,  yet  permit  them  to  remain  resident,  in  reserve  for 
future  contingencies,  whilst  neighbouring  estates  are  suffering  from 
present  want  of  laborers,  dth. — ^The  cultivation  of  cane  has  not,  so 
far  as  I  know,  either  increased  or  lessened.  On  this  estate,  a  por- 
tion of  the  land  formerly  appropriated  to  provisions,  is  being  brought 
into  the  routine  of  the  sugar  crop,  suppose  from  ten  to  fifteen  acres 
annually.  6th. — The  proprietary  body,  must  with  some  exceptions, 
be  bettered  by  the  change,  allowing  the  rise  in  sugar  its  proper 
influence.  Their  credit  is  better,  their  capital  at  stake  less  ;  their 
personal  responsibility  also  le&s;  their  properties  are  increased  in 
value ;  their  management  and  appropriation  more  free  and  uncon- 
trolled. Bankruptcy  was  written  on  us  in  legible  characters  as  an 
island ;  and  most  of  the  estates  must  have  inevitably  passed  info  the 
possession  of  the  merchants." 

*  Edward  Frazer,  who  has  since  visited  England. 


ANTIGUA.  61 

King/'  ''  What  has  the  King  done  for  you  ?'*— "  He 
make  us  free^^'  was  responded  by  upwards  of  one  hun- 
dred little  voices^  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm. 

The  police  district  of  Parham  comprises  a  circle 
of  forty  estates.  The  oflfences  are  chiefly  breach 
of  contract,  trespass,  absenting  from  work,  and  cane 
breaking.  The  officers  mentioned  to  us  several  cases 
of  distress,  where  the  parties,  becoming  imable  to 
work,  had  been  compelled  to  quit  the  estates.  In 
one  instance,  a  woman  with  three  children,  left  the 
estate  on  which  she  was  formerly  a  slave,  and  went 
to  reside  with  her  husband  on  another.  She  became 
diseased  in  her  feet,  and  unable  to  work,  and  her  hus- 
band discarded  her,  although  they  had  been  regularly 
married  by  a  Wesleyan  minister.  She  and  her  child- 
ren were  turned  off  the  estate.  This  is  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  consequences  of  the  non-recognition  of 
Dissenters'  marriages,  and  also  of  their  being  no 
public  resource  for  the  destitute  poor. 

9th. — With  the  Governor's  permission  we  obtained 
some  extracts  from  the  police  records.  We  also  at- 
tended another  sitting  of  the  Court  of  King's  Bench. — 
We  have  before  noticed  the  character  of  the  proceed- 
ings, and  the  leniency  of  the  punishments.  The  last, 
we  find,  is  partly  owing  to  the  expense  of  transporta* 
tion  and  long  imprisonments. 

We  visited  this  morning  a  planter  who  is  the  lessee 
of  MacKinnon's  estate,  which  has  been  alluded  to  in 
the  British  Parliament,  as  an  illustration  of  the  econo- 
mical advantages  of  free  labor. 

He  gave  us  much  interesting  information  respecting 
tropical  productions.  Sugar,  molasses  and  rum,  besides 
a  little  arrow-root,  raised  by  the  negros,  are  the  only 
articles  of  export  from  Antigua.     Cotton,  Indigo,  and 


62 


ANTIGUA. 


Tobacco  used  to  be  its  staples.  The  two  former  plants 
still  grow  wild  in  great  abundance ;  and,  as  wdl  as 
many  others,  might  probably  be  made  profitable  arti- 
cles of  commerce.  Among  these  is  a  species  of  acacia, 
which  bears  a  great  quantity  of  seed-pods,  contwiing 
large  proportions  of  gallic  acid  and  tannin.  The 
natives  make  ink  and  a  black  dye  of  them  ;  and  they 
have  been  exported  to  Europe,  but  for  what  purposes 
and  with  what  results  is  unknown.  Great  inconveni- 
ences result  from  the  exclusive  cultivation  of  the  cane  ; 
and  but  few  of  the  planters,  even  since  the  compensa- 
tion, are  sufficiently  independent  to  be  able  to  turn 
their  attention  to  any  other  article.  He  alluded  in 
very  strong  terms  to  the  annoyances  of  the  old  slave 
system  to  proprietors  ;  of  which  he  gave  us  some  strik- 
ing illustrations.  It  is  apparent  that  the  Abolition 
Act  emancipated  both  planters  and  negros.  One  of 
the  former  on  one  occasion  exprcbsed  their  connection 
with  slave  property  by  an  allusion  to  the  Siamese 
Twins — a  ligament  of  unnatural  inconveniences.  This 
gentleman  complained  of  the  great  ingratitude  which 
some  of  his  negros,  who  had  been  very  kindly  treated, 
had  displayed  in  leaving  him.  On  the  other  hand, 
some  had  been  stimulated  to  more  industrious  habits. 
One  of  the  most  worthless  women  on  the  property,  once 
always  pretending  sickness  and  inability  to  work,  had 
become  as  industrious  a  laborer  as  any  on  the  estate. 
He  asked  her  on  one  occasion  the  reason  of  the  change 
in  her  habits.  She  replied  significantly,  "  me  get  no 
money  then,  massa."  Speaking  of  the  apparent  in- 
crease of  crime,  he  told  us  that  many  not  only  minor 
offences  but  crimes  were  left  to  the  summary  judg- 
ment of  the  master,  and  that  many  culprits  went  en- 
tirely unpunished.     The  law  took  no  cognizance  of  the 


ANTIGUA.  63 

offences  of  slaves^  except  such  as  were  of  a  very  heinous 
character  or  committed  against  the  public  peace.  The 
crop  had  commenced  on  this  estate ;  being  from  four 
to  six  weeks  earlier  than  usual.  We  inspected,  with 
much  interest^  the  various  processes  at  the  mill,  boil- 
ing house  and  distillery.  The  buildings  were  large, 
well  ventilated,  and  cooler  than  we  had  expected  to 
find  them. 

10th*  We  paid  a  second  visit  to  the  gaol.  The 
condemned  cells  are  small,  exceedingly  ill  ventilated, 
and  quite  dark.  There  are  at  present  two  occupants 
of  them,  capitally  convicted ;  one  whose  sentence  has 
been  changed  to  banishment ;  and  another,  waiting  the 
result  of  an  application  to  the  authorities  at  home,  on 
a  point  of  law.  We  visited  also  the  refuge  for  female 
orphans  in  St.  John's  ;  an  institution  similar  to  the 
one  at  English  Harbour,  but  in  more  active  operation. 
The  little  girls,  seventeen  in  number,  were  engaged  in 
making  strawplait.  They  appeared  to  be  very  com- 
fortable and  kindly  attended  to.  The  President  of  the 
institution  told  us,  that  the  number  of  applications  for 
them,  as  servants,  was  four  times  greater  than  they 
could  supply ;  and  that  those  whom  they  had  brought 
up  had  usually  done  credit  to  their  care.  They  have 
been,  of  late  years,  limited  in  their  funds  ;  in  conse- 
quence of  the  numerous  demands  made  upon  the 
benevolent  portion  of  the  public,  by  schools  and  other 
more  recent  institutions.  In  the  present  condition  of 
Colonial  Society,  establishments  like  these  are  deserv- 
ing the  warmest  encouragement ;  as  they  not  only 
provide  a  maintenance  and  education  for  a  particular 
class  of  orphans,  but  rescue  them  from  a  life  of  almost 
inevitable  degradation  and  profligacy.  One  institution 
would  su£Glce  for  this  small  island.  .  We  suggested  a 


64  ANTIGUA. 

union  of  the  two,  at  present  existing ;  which  we  find 
had  been  proposed,  but  not  effected.  It  would  save  the 
expense  of  two  houses,  two  sets  of  instructors,  ser- 
vants,  &c.  There  appear  to  be  no  material  obstacles 
in  the  way.  The  junction  might  be  readily  brought 
about  by  the  '^  Ladies  Society,''  the  chief  patrons 
of  the  Refuge  at  English  Harbour.  We  called  in  the 
course  of  the  day  upon  Brother  Harvey,  at  the  Mora* 
vian  Institution.  He  informed  us,  that  though  the 
education  of  the  young  is  now  so  general,  he  did  not 
think  that  more  than  one-tenth  of  their  adult  members 
could  read.  We  spent  the  evening  with  the  gentle- 
man mentioned  in  our  journal  of  the  24th.  ult.  He 
attributes  the  advantages  Antigua  has  possessed,  to 
the  early  success  which  distinguished  Missionary 
efforts.  Sixty  years  ago  the  Speaker  of  the  Assembly 
was  a  lay  preacher  of  the  Gospel ;  and  there  has  always 
been,  since,  a  succession  of  persons  who  have  main- 
tained the  truth;  till  at  length  religion  has  become 
fashionable;  and  it  is  now  no  cross  to  become  a 
Church  member.  Some  interesting  fEicts  were  men- 
tioned relative  to  the  former  and  present  condition  of 
the  negros.  During  slavery  the  people  declined  in 
numbers ;  especially  on  the  estates  near  town..  This 
was  partly,  we  were  told,  to  be  attributed  to  the  fact, 
that  women,  in  an  advanced  stage  of  pregnancy^ 
after  discontinuing  estate  labor,  would  employ  them- 
selves in  bringing  heavy  loads  of  sticks  and  grass  to 
market,  for  their  own  benefit.  On  certain  estates, 
which  were  named,  the  slaves  declined  in  numbers 
from  twelve  hundred  to  eight  hundred  ;  dating  from 
the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade.  In  such  cases, 
it  was  often  impossible  to  contract  the  cultivation 
proportionably ;   in  consequence    of  the  iiicuinbran- 


AN'HGUA.  65 

ces  of  mortgages  or  settlements ;  so  that  the  dimi- 
nished nmnber  was  compelled  to  perform  an  increased 
amount  of  labor^  and  thus  the  destructive  ratio  of  de- 
crease was  accelerated.  Some  striking  instances  were 
mentioned  to  us  of  the  extravagance  of  negro  weddings. 
^ome  of  them  must  absorb  a  year  or  two  of  the  income 
of  the  parties  ;  if  they  are  not  paid  for,  as  they  pro- 
bably are,  by  general  contribution  amongst  their 
friends.  Many  live  together  unmarried,  because  they 
cannot  afford  this  foolish  expenditure;  but  it  is  an 
evil  which  would  be  checked,  in  some  degree,  if  Dis- 
senters were  allowed  to  perform  the  ceremony. 

12th.  We  visited  this  morning  an  estate  about 
twelve  miles  distant  from  St.  John's,  in  the  district 
called  Bermudian  Valley.  It  was  purchased  by  two 
gentlemen,  immediately  after  the  1st  of  August,  1834; 
and  though  a  losing  concern  to  its  former  proprietor, 
now  yields,  as  we  were  informed  by  one  of  its  present 
owners,  a  liberal  profit  per  annum  clear  of  expenses  and 
interest.  Our  route  was  through  the  finest  part  of  the 
island.  We  had  little  conception,  that  any  part  of  An- 
tigua was  so  beautiful  as  the  quarter  in  which  this  es- 
tate is  situated.  The  hills  are  of  considerable  eleva- 
tiouy  and  covered  with  forest.  The  climate  is  less 
arid ;  the  natural  vegetation  far  more  luxuriant.  The 
stiff  soil  does  not,  however,  so  well  repay  cultivation 
as  the  light  calcareous  mould  of  the  other  less  inter- 
esting, but  more  profitable  parts  of  the  island. 
Another  estate,  and  part  of  the  one  we  visited,  occupy 
an  entire  basin  of  great  extent,  and  the  surrounding  am- 
phitheatre of  hills.  On  such  properties  the  negros  are 
allowed  to  cultivatie  any  part  of  the  woodland  they 
please,  for  their  own  benefit.  Their  distance  from 
town,  however,  prevents  them  from  making  much  pe- 
6  3 


66  ANTIGUA. 

cuuiary  profit  of  this  privilege.  They  generally  choose 
their  ground  on  the  sides  of  the  mountains^  as  far  out 
of  sight  as  possible  ;  a  remnant,  as  was  observed  to  us, 
of  Slavery ;  when  they  were  always  afraid  to  let  the 
Overseer  know  what  they  were  doing.  This  is  one  of 
the  estates  that  has  derived  advantage  from  the  acces- 
sion of  laborers  since  Emancipation.  The  number  on 
the  pay  list  is  exactly  one  hundred;  and  their  attend- 
ance in  the  field  is  very  regular.  The  manager  com- 
plained that  he  had  not  yet  been  able  to  induce  them 
to  undertake  task  work.  The  habitual  distrust  of  the 
negro,  and  his  ignorance  of  calculation,  frequently  in- 
terpose obstacles  to  the  substitution  of  task  work, 
which  managers  have  not  always  the  patience  and  tact 
to  remove. 

We  proceeded  about  noon  to  Grace  Bay ;  a  station 
of  the  United  Brethren,  very  beautifully  situated  on  the 
sea  coast,  opposite  Mountserrat.  We  were  kindly 
welcomed  by  the  missionaries.  Brother  Mohnb  and  his 
wife.  Their  school  is  held  in  the  church,  and  is  at- 
tended by  seventy  children.;  there  were  but  forty 
present  this  morning.  Many  come  from  a  great  dis- 
tance, as  this  part  of  the  island  is  much  less  thickly 
peopled  than  any  other.  About  one-third  of  .  the 
children  could  read  nicely  in  the  New  Testament ;.  and 
their  teacher,  a  young  negress,  questioned  them  in  such 
a  way  as  to  shew  that  she  might  soon  be  qualified  to 
conduct  an  infant  school  efficiently.  We  drove  to 
town,  through  a  very  beautiful  district,  abounding 
with  some  of  the  most  interesting  tropical  trees,  and 
shrubs ;  particularly  with  singular  and  gigantic  varie- 
ties of  the  cactus  tribe.  The  poisonous  manchineal 
is  in  great  abundance  by  the  sea  shore ;  and,  like 
other  large   trees,   frequently  loaded  with   creepers^ 


ANTIGUA.  67 

and  parasitical  plants.  We  called  on  our  way,  at 
Cedar  Hall ;  jthus  completing  our  circuit  of  the  Mora- 
vian stations  in  thia  island,  which  has  been  the -scene 
of  their  most  successful  labors.  Two  of  the  Brethren 
are  stationed  here-— one  of  them  is  seventy-four  years 
of  Age,  and  has  been  thirty  years  resident.  He  is  pro- 
bably the  oldest  missionary  in  the  West  Indies.  He 
told  ns,  that  when  he  came  out,  the  missionaries  dare 
not  be  known  to  keep  a  school;  but  taught  a  few  by 
stealth  on  one  evening  in  the  week. 

12th.  One  of  us  called  this  morning  upon  the  Hon. 
Samuel  Warnbr,  President  of  the  Council,  whose 
testimony,  like  that  of  the  speaker,  was  decidedly  fa- 
vorable to  the  results  of  the  Emancipation.  There 
was  not  much  difference,  he  thought,  in  the  expense  of 
cultivating  his  estate  before  and  since  1834.  The  ne- 
gros  did  less  than  before,  when  they  worked  by  the 
day  ;  but  much  more  when  they  were  on  task  work. 
Lately  a  field  of  cane-holes  was  opened  on  the  latter 
plan,  by  a  gang  of  his  people,  consisting  of  fewer  than 
twenty  to  the  acre,  in  the  same  space  of  time  that 
would  have  been  taken  by  forty  to  the  acre  under  the 
slave  system. 

15th.  We  called  this  morning  upon  the  Governor  to 
take  leave  ;  and  to  thank  him  for  his  kindness  in  for- 
warding our  views,  by  permitting  us  access  to  the  re- 
cords of  the  Police  Offices,  and  Court  of  King's  Bench, 
&c.  He  mentioned  to  us,  that  a  gentleman,  who  was 
a  proprietor,  and  also  Attorney  for  sixteen  estates,  and 
who  had  been  strongly  opposed  to  Emancipation,  had 
lately  told  him  that  he  was  at  length  satisfied  with  the 
change,  and  would  be  sorry  to  return  to  the  slave  sys- 
tem. In  the  course  of  the  morning  we  were  surprised 
and  pleased  by  the  arrival  of  two  gentlemen,  of  the 


--^ 


68  ANTIGUA. 

names  of  Thomb  and  Kimball,  from  the  United 
States,  on  a  tour  of  inquiry  like  our  own,  into  the  re- 
sults of  Emancipation  in  these  islands.  We  trust  they 
will  find  the  way  opened  to  them,  in  some  degree,  by 
our  previous  investigation.  Several  gentlemen  called 
upon  us  to  take  leave ;  and  we  made  a  number  of  calls 
with  the  same  object.  In  the  evening  we  went  on 
board  a  little  schooner,  chartered  to  convey  us  through 
the  islands  to  Barbados.  In  thus  concluding  the  jour- 
nal of  our  visit  to  Antigua,  we  acknowledge  with  thank- 
fulness, that  amidst  many  discouragements  we  have 
been  enabled  to  pursue  our  inquiries  with  a  good  de- 
gree of  success ;  and  we  trust,  we  shall  yet  be  assisted 
by  a  strength,  not  of  ourselves,  in  the  much  more  ar- 
duous undertaking  we  have  immediately  in  prospect  in 
the  islands  where  the  apprenticeship  is  in  operation. 
We  should  not  do  justice  to  our  own  feelings,  if  we 
did  not  record  here  our  grateful  sease  of  the  readiness 
displayed  by  all  classes  in  the  colony,  to  afford  us  fa- 
cilities of  inquiry. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


RESULTS  OP  EMANCIPATION  IN  ANTIGUA. 

Antigua^  being  the  only  one  of  our  intertropical 
colonies  which  has  substituted  for  the  apprenticeship 
complete  emancipation,  a  careful  and  even  minute  ex- 
amination of  the  results  of  that  great  measiu*e,  after 
more  than  two  years  of  trial,  is  confessedly  of  the  very 
highest  importance.  In  the  preceding  pages*  we  have 
recorded  our  observations  during  a  stay  of  four  weeks  ; 
and  though  we  have  already  incurred  the  risk  of  weary- 
ing the  reader  by  detail,  a  large  additional  amount  has 
been  omitted  of  evidence  in  our  possession,  illustrative 
of  the  various  points  embraced  in  the  investigation. 
Our  opportunities  of  personal  observation  were  exten- 
sive. We  availed  ourselves  of  the  access  publicly  af- 
forded to  the  Legislative  Assembly,  the  Chief  Criminal 
Court,  the  Police  Offices,  the  places  of  worship,  and 
the  different  schools.  We  had  also  the  privilege  of 
free  communication  with  the  most  intelligent  and  in 
fluential  persons  in  the  colony;  with  the  Governor,  and 
others  high  in  office  }  with  members  of  the  council  and 
assembly ;  judges,  barristers  and  medical  men,  minis- 
ters of  religion,  and  schoolmastersi  proprietors  and 
managers  of  estates,  persons  of  color,  and  lastly,  the 
uegros  themselves*    There  is  one  subject  upon  which 

*  And  also  in  Appendix  A. 


70  RESULTS   OF 

all  are  agreed — that  the  great  experiment  of  abolition 
has  succeeded  beyond  the  expectations  of  its  most  san- 
guine advocates.  Some  indeed  affect  to  regard  the 
future  with  apprehension  ;  but  none  will  deny  that 
the  new  system  has  hitherto  worked  well ;  or  will 
hazard  a  declaration  of  preference  for  slavery.  Many 
speak  in  emphatic  terms^  of  the  annoyances  they  have 
escaped  by  the  change,  and  of  the  comparative  com- 
fort with  which  they  now  manage  their  estates.  The 
measure  has  been  felt  to  be  one  of  emancipation  of 
masters,  as  well  as  slaves,  from  a  most  oppressive 
bondage,  except  by  such  as  clung  to  their  authority 
with  a  tenacious  avarice  of  power,  and  are  not  yet 
weaned  from  a  love  of  dominion. 

It  may  be  asserted  also,  without  fear  of  contradic- 
tion, that  the  proprietors  are,  in  a  pecuniary  sense,  far 
more  prosperous  than  before  Emancipation,  notwith- 
standing the  occurrence,  subsequently,  of  two  succes- 
sive unfavorable  seasons,  and  independently  of  the 
compensation  they  have  received.  The  annual  cost  of 
cultivation  is  believed,  by  the  most  intelligent  resi- 
dent planters,  to  be  on  the  average,  one-fifth  or  one- 
sixth  less  than  formerly  ;  so  that  free  labor  is  mani- 
festly advantageous,  taking  even  the  narrowest 
view  of  the  subject.*  The  general  advantages 
however,  of  the  change,  imperfectly  as  they  have  been 
yet  developed,  would  have  more  than  compensated  for 
a  considerably  increased  expenditure.  There  has  been 
an  augmentation  of  the  import  trade  of  the  island. 
Houses  and  land  have  risen  in  value.  Estates  are  now 
worth  as  much  as  they  were,  with  the  slaves  attached 
to  them,  before  the  alleged  depreciation  in  their  value, 

*  See  appendix  A,  Sec.  11. 


BBiANCIPATION    IN   ANTIGUA.  71 

in  consequence  of  the  agitation  of  the  abolition  ques- 
tion. The  cultivation  of  one  estate^  which  had  been 
thrown  up  for  twenty  years,  and  of  others  which  were 
on  the  point  of  being  abandoned,  has  been  resumed. 
The  few  sold  since  1834  have  been  eagerly  bought  up  at 
very  high  prices.  The  estates  which  were  over  popu- 
lated have  largely  benefited  by  the  dismission  of  their 
superfluous  numbers  :  whilst  the  under  peopled  proper- 
ties have  profited  by  availing  themselves  of  the  labor 
thus  thrown  into  the  market.  The  credit  of  planters 
with  their  merchants  is  much  improved.  A  purchasing 
as  well  as  consuming  population  has  been  formed  with- 
in the  island  itself.  The  negros  buy  considerable 
quantities  of  provisions  from  the  plantation  stores,  and 
occasionally  other  agricultural  produce.  The  success 
of  emancipation  on  the  different  estates  has  been  to  a 
great  extent  determined  by  the  character  of  the  mana- 
gers. It  has  been  most  distinguished,  wheil  an  en- 
lightened and  indulged  course  has  been  pursued  to- 
wards the  people.  There  are  indeed  some  striking 
exceptions  to  the  general  prosperity,  of  which  several 
fine  estates,  belonging  to  a  weathy  English  baronet, 
present  the  most  painful  example.  These  were  under 
the  care  of  an  attorney*  from  Barbados,  who  adopted 
a  system  of  such  excessive  severity,  that  the  number  of 
slaves  was  diminished  by  nearly  one  hundred  in  a  few 
years.  He  was  accustomed  to  complain  that  none  of 
the  children  were  reared;  notwithstanding  his  great 
anxiety  for  their  welfare,  and  frequent  consultations  of 
the  faculty.  He  commenced  the  new  era  on  the  1st  of 
August,  1834,  by  turning  the  cattle  of  the  estates  into 

*  An  attorney,  in  colonial  phraseology,  is  one  who  holds  a  power  of 
attorney,  for  managing  the  affairs  of  an  absent  proprietor. 


72  RESULTS   OF 

the  negro  provision  grounds,  and  endeavoured  to  re- 
duce their  wages  to  a  minimum.  In  consequence  of 
which  conduct,  the  majority  of  his  effective  laborers 
forsook  the  estate  to  seek  a  subsistence  elsewhere^  The 
lands  are  now  overrun  with  destructive  weeds;  and 
though  this  attorney  is  since  dead,  and  his  succesBcur 
has  adopted  a  different  policy,  it  will  be  many  years  be- 
fore what  has  been  thus  mismanaged  can  be  recovered. 
The  prospective  advantages  of  freedom  are  however 
far  greater  than  any  thing  hitherto  accomplished.  No 
one  will  venture  to  compare  slave  laborers,  in  point  of 
efficiency,  with  the  agricultural  population  of  a  free 
country.  The  negros  although  free  by  law,  are  still 
necessarily  located  on  the  estates  ;  and  therefore  pre- 
vented by  circumstances  from  rapidly  becoming  a  body 
of  independent  peasantry.  They  evince,  however,  a 
disposition  to  elevate  themselves  in  the  social  scale,  by 
their  anxiety  to  purchase  or  lease  small  lots  of  land : 
few  indeed  have  thus  succeeded,  in  consequence  of  a 
groundless  fear  of  their  forsaking  estate  labor ;  yet, 
doubtless,  the  true  interests  of  the  Proprietary  body 
will  at  length  prevail  over  prejudice ;  and  two  great 
classes  of  landlords  and  yeomen,  at  present  unknown 
in  the  Colonies,  will  be  gradually  formed.*  Under 
present  arrangements,  the  estates  are  burdened,  during 
the  whole  year,  with  the  support  of  the  fiill  comple- 
ment of  laborers,  required  during  the  crop ;  which  is 
a  great  check  to  the  introduction  of  animal  labor  and 
machinery.  The  manufacturing  processes,  occurring 
at  a  season  when  labor  is  never  in  excess,  are  many 
years  in  advance  of  the  methods  of  agriculture  which 
continue  to  be  carried  on  by  two  or  three  times  the 

*  See  Appendix,  Sect.  vii. 


EMANCIPATION    IN   ANTIGUA.  /S 

immediate  amomit  of  hmnan  labor  which  would  be  re- 
quired under  a  more  perfect  system.  Great  improve- 
ments in  fEirming,  and  particidarly  the  extensive  intro- 
duction of,  and  best  mode  of  working,  the  plough ; 
together  with  a  change  of  the  present  unvarying  rou- 
tine of  cultivation  by  the  alternation  of  green  and  cereal 
crops  with  the  cane,  have  long  ago  been  demonstrated 
to  be  necessary  and  practicable ;  and  particularly  by 
Da,  NuGSNT,  in  an  able  paper,  drawn  up  several  years 
ago,  and  adopted  as  their  Report  by  the  Antigua  Agri- 
cultural Association.  Slavery,  however,  interposed  in- 
superable obstacles  to  change.  Free  labor,  on  the 
contrary  will  give  an  energetic  impulse  to  improvement. 
In  cases  of  insolvency  or  mismanagement,  the  weekly 
amounts  for  laborers'  wages,  though  less  in  the  aggre- 
gate than  the  cost  of  their  former  allowances,  will 
bring  about  a  crisis  before  the  estates  become  so  in- 
extricably involved,  as  was  frequent  during  slavery. 
The  embarrassed  Planter  will  no  longer  have  the  op- 
portunity of  purchasing  his  annual  supplies  of  food  and 
clothing  fot  his  negros,  at  usurious  prices.  His  es- 
tates will  pass  in  time  into  other  hands,  which  can 
carry  on  the  cultivation  efficiently.  It  is  anticipated 
that  the  present  expensive  and  absurd  system  of  agen- 
cy and  management  will  be  gradually  changed,  by  ab- 
sentee proprietors,  leasing  their  estates  to  tenants,  or 
other  representatives ;  who  will  thus  acquire,  as  a 
resident  proprietary,  a  direct  interest  in  the  improve- 
ment of  the  island.  The  planters  will  gradually  release 
themselves  from  their  servile  dependance  on  the  mer- 
chants. Under  the  present  system,  with  a  few  excep- 
tions, they  are  obliged  to  consign  their  produce  to  one 
mercantile  house,  instead  of  being  able  to  choose  the 
best  market.     They  pay  commissions  more  numerous 

H 


74  RESULTS    OF 

,and  exorbitant  than  are  known  in  any  other  branch  of 
commerce.  They  are  compelled  to  purchase  planta- 
tion stores  from  their  merchant  at  a  hi^  rate.  They 
pay  compound  interest  on  the  advances  required,  and 
finally 9  they  are  most  injuriously  controlled  in  the  ma- 
nagement of  their  property,  as  they  are  limited  to 
the  cultivation  of  such  articles,  as  bring  profitable 
freights  to  the  ship-owners,  and  commissions  to  the 
merchants. 

The  advantages  which  the  laborers  have  derived 
from  Emancipation  are  numerous  and  complete  enough 
to  call  for  devout  gratitude,  on  their  behalf,  from  all 
who  are  interested  in  the  progress  of  human  happiness. 
The  exuvice  of  slavery  still  hang  about  them,  as  well  as 
their  masters,  but  they  possess  now  the  capacity  of 
elevating  themselves  in  the  scale  of  being ;  and  they 
have  means  in  their  own  power  of  escaping  from  op- 
pression, by  the  choice  of  masters.  A  cursory  obser- 
ver might  suppose  there  was  little  to  distinguish 
the  agricultural  districts  from  a  slave  community,  seen 
under  favorable  circumstances,  except  the  absence  of 
the  vulgar  symbols  of  coercive  power ;  but  inquiry 
would  convince  him,  that  the  one  was  a  degraded  con- 
dition, which  could  at  best,  by  the  most  painful  eflTorts, 
scarcely  maintain  the  status  quo,  while  the  other  con- 
tained active  elements  of  prosperity.  When  the 
change  took  place,  the  masters  were  as  little  acquainted 
with  the  respect  due  to  the  rights  of  their  free  peasan- 
try as  the  latter  with  the  exercise  of  their  newborn 
prerogatives.  A  combination  was  entered  into  to  de- 
stroy competition  for  labor  by  enforcing  a  low  and  uni- 
form tariff  of  wages.  This  succeeded  for  a  time,  but 
it  was  soon  perceived,  that  though  the  planters  might 
agree  to  pay  able-bodied  laborers  a  shilling  a  day,  (five- 


EMANCIPATION    IN    ANTIGUA.  /& 

pence  halfipenny  sterling,)  they  no  longer  porisessed 
the  power  of  compelling  them  to  perform  more  than  a 
fidr  equivalent  of  labor.  This  agreement,  therefore, 
is  now  evaded  in  a  variety  of  ways,  some  openly  disre- 
gard it,  others  bid  higher  for  the  Saturday  holidays  of 
the  laborers,  and  others  supersede  day  labor  by  contract 
or  taskwork.  In  the  first  year  caprice  was  frequently 
manifested  on  the  one  hand,  and  a  love  of  oppression 
on  the  other ;  but  in  this,,  the  third  year  of  freedom, 
the  records  of  the  Police  Courts  shew  that  both  have 
materially  decreased.  The  planters  have  little  cause 
now  to  complain  of  love  of  change,  want  of  industry, 
or  irregular  attendance  on  the  part  of  their  laborers  ; 
and  the  latter  are  less  frequently  annoyed  by  frivolous 
complaints  before  the  magistrate.  Freedom  is  "an 
ever-germinating  principle,"  its  gradual  and  progressive 
o^ration  rather  than  the  amount  of  good,  considerable 
as  it  is,  which  has  hitherto  been  effected,  mark's  the 
contrast  in  Antigua  between  the  present  and  the  past. 
To  appreciate  fully  the  results  of  Emancipation, 
it  is  necessary  to  revert  to  the  evils  of  the  state  it  sue-- 
ceeded.  At  a  distance,  the  physical  sufferings  of  slaves 
from  direct  cruelty  and  from  the  exaction  of  oppressive 
labor,  are  the  most  vividly  realised  by  the  imagination  ; 
but,  in  the  presence  of  an  enslaved  people,  the  consi- 
iieration  of  these  is  almost  superseded  by  that  of  their 
moral  degradation.  As  a  citizen,  a  slave  has  no  ex- 
istence ;  and  therefore  neither  rights  nor  duties.  As 
a  private  individual,  he  has  no  responsibilities,  no  cares 
for  the  present  or  the  future ;  nothing  to  stimulate  his 
dormant  intellectual  energies  into  life.  He  has  no 
filial  or  parental  duties.  His  wife  and  children  depend 
not  on  his  exertions  or  bis  love  for  their  comfort  or 
subsistence  ;  they  belong  not  to  him  bqt  to  their  own- 


70  RESULTS    OF 

• 

er^  whose  care  it  is  to  provide  for  their  animal  wauts. 
A  slave  has  no  power  of  self-protection^  but  his  skill 
in  lying  and  deception.  He  has  no  property  but  by 
sufferance^  and  is  therefore  feebly  impressed  with  a 
sense  of  the  rights  of  property  in  others.  He  is  ex- 
posed  to  a  continual  system  of  selfish  fraud ;  no  one 
keeps  faith  with  him,  and  he  is  therefore  filled  with 
suspicion  and  distrust.  Labor,  a  great  blessing  in  dis- 
guise to  man,  brings  him  no  wealth,  comfort,  or  honor. 
It  is  degraded  in  his  eyes  by  associations  of  coercion 
and  punishment.  Domestic  comfort  is  unknown. 
Husbands  and  wives  are  not  helpmeets  to  one  another ; 
they  rarely  reside  in  the  same  hut,  or  even  on  the  same 
estate ;  for  a  slave  does  not,  more  than  an  European, 
choose  his  partner  from  the  females  of  his  own  village. 
They  work  in  the  field  without  distinction  of  sex.  The 
decencies  of  civilized  life  are  to  a  most  revolting  and 
guilty  extent  unobserved.  Wives  and  daughters  are 
subject  to  the  brutal  caprice  and  absolute  will  of  their 
owners.  The  sacred  character  of  the  marriage  tie  is 
therefore  little  understood,  or  lightly  esteemed.  Such 
is  an  imperfect  catalogue  of  the  evils  of  slavery.  As 
far  as  a  system  can  degrade  man  to  the  level  of  the  lower 
creation,  he  is  so  animalised  by  slavery,  that  the  most 
successful  efforts  of  missionaries  and  teachers,  and  even 
of  humane  proprietors,  can  only  palliate  its  inherent 
malignity.  The  Antigua  negros,  as  a  body,*  are  not 
elevated  above  the  stage  of  moral  and  intellectual  child- 
hood. Their  character  is  distinguished  by  shrewdness, 
by  petty  vice,  great  want  of  reflection,  and  above  a]l 
by  distrust.  They  are,  however,  in  a  rapid  course  of 
improvement.  They  are  gaining  prudence  and  fore- 
sight from  the  influence  of  newly  acquired  responsi- 
bilities.     They  feel  the  security  of   their  property. 


BMANOtPATION    IN    ANTIGUA.  ^^ 

They  uv  acquirikig  domestic  habits.  Marriages  are 
taore  frequent.  Husbands  and  wives  begin  to  dwell 
together^  and  mothers  of  families  to  withdraw  from 
field  labor  tb  their  household  aflkirs^ — germs  of  rising 
chlM^^b^^  '"which  contain  most  encouraging  promises 
of  advancement. 

^et«  is,  pirobably  at  the  present  moment,  a  larger 
^tofioirtidu  of  persons  under  the  pastoral  care  of  min- 
isters df  religion,  and  also  of  children  receiving  educa- 
tion  in  the  schools,  than  in  any  part  of  the  Parent 

tsM^lYy.  A  mere  perusal  of  the  religious  and  educa- 
tional statistics  of  the  island,  unaccompanied  by  ex- 
planation, would  however  convey  incorrect  ideas  of  its 
state  in  bodi  these  reispects.  The  children  in  the  schools 
are  Very  docile,  and  give  abundant  proofs  of  natural 
^ickness  and  capacity.  They  easily  acquire  the  more 
mechanical  parts  of  learning,  as  reciting,  singing,  read- 
iii^,  tmd  writing.  Opportunity  is  rarely  afforded  them 
of  advancing  beyond  a  certain  point,  as  they  enjoy 
only  the  benefits  of  the  routine  of  the  English  infant 
and  Lancastrian  systems.  Their  native  instructors  as 
a  body,  are  inefficient,  though  many  of  them  display 
takot,  atod  a  capacity  of  becoming,  with  the  usual  iklvan- 
tagds  of  normal  instruction,  both  able  and  intelligent 
teadbers.  At  'present,  the  inteiUgent  instruction  which 
the  children  receive,  is  chiefly  communicated  by  their 
ministers  and  others,  whose  attendance,  from  the 
pi^sstfre  of  their  more  immediate  duties,  is  necessarily 
irregular.  Thi^s  subject  is  the  more  important,  on  ac- 
count of  the  interesting  position  which  Antigua  main- 
tains among  the  ieeward  islands.  The  neighbouring 
colonrifes,  whtece  the  'sons  of  respectable  persons  of 
color  «i*e  frequently  sent  to  this  idand  for  ediication, 
arre^ow  looking  to  her  for  a  supply  of  teachers  for  the 
H  3 


78  RESULTS   OF 

offspring  of  their  apprentice  population^  and  a  few, 
such  as  they  are,  have  already  been  sent  to  Montserrat 
and  elsewhere. 

The  state  of  Antigua,  as  regards  the  public  peace, 
would  also  be  erroneously  inferred  from  an  unexplained 
statistical  comparison  of  criminal  calendars  and  police 
records.  There  has  been  an  apparent  increase  of  of- 
fences, owing  to  the  fact,  that  Emancipation  gave  near- 
ly thirty  thousand  citizens  to  the  state  ;  and  that  the 
magistrate  now  takes  formal  cognizance  of  oiFences 
which  previously  were  summarily  punished  by  the  mas- 
ter. A  large  proportion  of  the  middle  class  in  the 
towns,  are  people  of  color,  many  of  whom  are  persons 
of  intelligence,  education,  and  true  respectability.  The 
standard  of  morals  is  far  more  elevated  among  them, 
as  well  as  the  whites,  than  in  the  other  colonies,  though 
still  in  some  respects  lamentably  below  that  of  the 
mother  country.  The  Sabbath  is  however  more  strictly 
observed  than  in  England,  and  the  attendance  on  pub- 
lic worship  very  exemplary.  Although  the  island  suf- 
fers from  absenteeism,  it  has  proportionably  a  more  nu- 
merous resident  proprietarythanany  other  colony,except 
Barbados.  To  this  circumstance  has  been  attributed, 
with  apparent  justice,  its  adoption  of  the  complete 
abolition  of  slavery,  in  preference  to  the  Apprenticeship; 
the  legislatures  of  the  other  islands  being  filled  with 
attorneys,  who  form  themselves  a  part  of  existing  abu- 
ses, and  whose  interests  are  wholly  identified  with  the 
maintenance  of  the  present  order  of  things. 

We  cannot  conclude  without  observing,  that  though 
it  is  impossible  to  convey  upon  paper,  the  strong  im- 
pression on  our  own  minds,  of  the  benefits  which  have 
resulted  to  all  classes,  from  immediate  Emancipation  ; 
yet,  that  those  benefits  would  be  greatly  increased  by 


EMANCIPATION    IN   ANTIGUA.  79 

such  refonns  as  the  GoyemmeDt  at  home  might  effect 
in  the  legislative  and  administrative  departments  of  the 
colony.*  It  is  not  however  our  intention  to  reflect 
with  undue  severity  on  the  local  authorities.  Their 
enlightened  policy^  in  substituting  a  real  Emancipation 
for  the  delusive  measure  of  the  Imperial  Parliament, 
will  claim  for  them  the  praise  of  future  ages,  and  the 
gratitude  of  the  African  race  in  every  part  of  the  world. 


*  See  Appendix  A.  passim. 


CHAPTER  V. 


MONTSERRAT . 

I2th  Month,  I6th,  (December,)  1836. 

We  made  the  short  passage  from  Antigua  to  Mont- 
serrat  in  the  night,  and  landed  early  this  morning  at 
Plymouth,  the  town  and  port  of  the  island.  We  met 
here  Henry  Loving,  Esq.,  who  was  filling  temporarily 
the  oflSce  of  Island  Secretary.  He  is  known  in  Eng- 
land as  the  delegate  of  the  people  of  color  in  Antigua, 
and  the  able  and  successful  advocate  of  their  claims. 
We  were  also  introduced  to  Francis  Burke,  a  gentle- 
man of  uncommon  intelligence  and  enterprize  ;  he  has 
been  the  importer  of  the  Acasee  seeds  into  England, 
which  we  have  before  mentioned  as  possessing  the 
quality  of  Aleppo  galls.  The  speculation  failed,  in 
consequence,  as  he  believes,  of  the  mismanagement  of 
the  party  to  whose  care  they  were  consigned.  He  has 
also  been  concerned  in  working  the  SouflFrieres  in  Mont- 
serrat  and  Dominica.  The  ore  in  the  latter  contains 
seventy-two  per  cent  of  sulphur ;  in  the  former  it  is 
less  pure.  It  has  been  shipped  to  America  at  a  cost,  on 
board,  of  four  dollars  per  ton.  The  expense  of  freight 
forbids  its  being  sent  to  England.  His  attention  is  at 
present  occupied  with  the  introduction  of  mulberry 
trees  and  silkworms.  These  succeed  well  in  the  neigh- 
bouring French  colony  of  Guadaloupe,  where  several 


MONTSBRBAT.  81 

thousand  pounds  weight  of  silk  of  the  first  quality, 
were  last  year  produced.     It  promises  to  be  a  valuable 
colonial  product^    as   its  introduction  would    supply 
work  of  a  light  description  for  the  population  of  the 
towns,  and  for  young  and  infirm  persons,  who  are  quite 
imfit  for  severe  field  labor.     Our  informant  took  us  to 
see  his  mulberry  trees,  which,  though  raised  within 
the  last  ten  months  from  seed,  are  already  large  flou- 
rbhing  bushes  j  they  are  the  white  variety.     Whilst 
we  were  examining  them,  the  President  of  the  island, 
Henry  Hamilton,  Esq.,   and Polhill,  Col- 
lector of  Customs  passed,  with  whom  we  were  made 
acquainted,  and  who  kindly  gave  us  some  information 
in  addition  to  what  we  had  already  learned  in  Antigua, 
respecting  the  measure  introducred  last  year  into  the 
legislature  of  this  colony,  for  the  abolition  of  the  re- 
maining term  of  Apprenticeship.     The  Bill  passed  the 
Council,  but  was  lost  in  the  Assembly  by  a  majority  of 
owe,  in   consequence  of  some   of  the  representatives 
being  proprietors  of  jobbing  or   task   gangs.     Their 
profit  from  their  laborers  would  have  entirely  ceased  by 
Emancipation,  instead  of  being  increased,  like  those  of 
the  owners  of  estates,  by  the  change  of  apprentices  into 
free  laborers.    On  the  rejection  of  the  Bill,  three  of 
the  members  of  the  Council,  and  two  other  proprietors 
adopted  it  individually,  by  releasing  their  apprenibices 
from  further  servitude.     The  policy  which  originated 
the  measure,  was  of  a  selfish  character.    The  planters 
had  made  an   agreement  with  their  negros,  to  allow 
them  provision  grounds  and  two  entire  days,  besides 
the  Sabbath,  in  lieu  of  all  allowances ;  the  latter  per- 
forming the  legal  amount  of  forty  hours  labor  per  week, 
in  four  days  of  ten  hours  each.    This  arrangement  is, 
under  ordinary  circumstances,  as  compared  with  other 


82  MOVrSKRRAT. 

coloiiiesy  a  very  advantageous  one  for  the  apprentices ; 
but  about  a  year  ago^  a  hurricane^  followed  by  a  se^ 
vere  drought,  so  completely  destroyed  their  grounds^ 
that  the  planters  feared  they  would  be  obliged  to  sup* 
port  them  by  rations  according  to  the  provisions  of  the 
Leeward  Islands'  Amelioration  Act.  They  therefore 
proposed  to  surrender  the  Apprenticeship.  The  five  es- 
tates on  which  the  apprentices  were  liberated,  are  quite 
as  efficiently  cultivated  by  free  labor,  as  they  were 
before. 

The  Collector  informed  us,  that  the  imports  of  the 
island  had  greatly  increased  since  1834,  which  was 
owing  he  said,  to  the  payment  of  wages  to  the  laborers 
on  these  five  estates,  and  on  four  others  on  which  the 
apprentices  receive  wages,  but  remain  attached  to  the 
soil,  and  under  the  authority  of  the  Stipendiary.  The 
rate  is  a  bitt  a  day,  (four-pence  sterling,)  and  two  bitts 
for  the  Saturday.  The  other  apprentices  in  the  island, 
frequently  work  on  the  estates  on  the  Friday  and 
Saturday,  which  are  their  own  days.  They  prefer 
working  for  wages,  although  they  have  fine  provision 
grounds.  F.  Burke  says  he  finds  no  diffictilty,  by 
offering  a  trifle  more  than  the  customary  rate,  in  prO'- 
curing  laborers  to  pick  the  pods  of  the  thorny  acasee, 
and  to  work  the  Souffriere ;  one  of  them  a  most  dis^ 
agreeable,  and  the  other  a  most  laborious  employment. 
Although  there  are  extensive,  unoccupied  lands,  which 
they  might  obtain  at  a  very  cheap  rate,  the  appreheii'- 
sion,  so  general  in  the  Colonies  similarly  situated,  that 
the  negros  will  quit  the  estates  when  free,  does  not 
exist  in  Montserrat. 

We  called  in  the  course  of  the  morning  upon  J. 
CoLUNs,  Rector  of  the  principal  parish,  who  is  zealous 
in  his  endeavours  to  promote  the  good  of  the  people  ; 


MONTSERRAT.  83 

and  also  upon  the  resident  Wesleyan  minister,  — • — 


Walton,  an  intelligent  and  energetic  missionary.  The 
moral  state  of  the  apprentices  is  very  degraded,  in  con-  ' 
sequence  of  the  dreadful  example  of  the  white  and 
colored  classes.  Some  improvement,  however,  has 
taken  place  within  these  few  years.  Marriage  is  be- 
coming more  general  among  the  apprentices,  though 
a  great  majority  still  live  in  concubinage.  Many  of 
those  who  are  church  members  afford  indisputable  evi- 
dences of  piety.  They  display  a  lively  gratitude  to 
their  spiritual  teachers,  of  which  the  following  is  an 
affecting:  instance.  A  rumour  prevailed  in  the  island 
that  the  Rector  was  going  to  leave  it ;  a  number  of  his 
apprentice  congregation  came  to  him,  to  entreat  him  to 
stay,  and  offering  as  an  inducement  to  provide  him  a 
house  free  of  expense  from  their  scanty  means.  Hap- 
pily their  alarm  was  groundless.  Nominal  education 
is  general  in  the  colony,  but  the  want  of  teachers  and 
of  school-houses  is  severely  felt ;  the  native  instructors 
are  very  inefficient  and  irregular  in  their  attendance. 
The  legislature  has  passed  an  Act  authorising  the  Wes- 
leyans  to  perform  the  marriage  ceremony,  and  lega- 
lizing those  heretofore  celebrated  by  them.  The  mis- 
sionary informed  us  that  he  had  lately  visited  Guada- 
loupe,  where  he  had  been  courteously  received  by  many 
planters,  to  whom  he  had  introduced  himself  as  a  pro- 
testant  missionary.  He  describes  them  as  tremblingly 
alive  to  the  progress  of  Emancipation  in  our  colonies. 
They  appeared  to  have  given  up  the  idea  of  preventing 
the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  were  only  fearful  that  their 
government  would  grant  them  no  compensation.  A 
commission  was  lately  sent  to  Antigua,  which  to  the 
surprise  of  the  French  colonists,  reported  favorably 
on   their  return    of  the  working  of  the   free   system. 


84  MoNTssaaAT. 

The  head  of  it  was  immediately  dispatched  to  France 
with  his  Report. 

We  attended  the  sitting  of  the  House  of  Assembly 
and  Council.  The  latter  usually  meets  with  closed 
doors;  but  through  the  politeness  of  the  Collector^  who 
is  a  member  of  it^  one  of  us  was  permitted  to  be  pre- 
sent, and  in  the  intervals  of  business  received  various 
interesting  statements  from  the  gentlemen  present. 
Several  of  them  expressed  their  willingness  to  abandon 
the  Apprenticeship,  if  the  four  and  a  half  per  cent  du- 
ties were  remitted,  or  any  equivalent  encouragement 
held  out  to  them  by  government.  One,  who  had  intro- 
duced on  his  estate  a  system  of  remuneration  and  task- 
work observed,  that  the  negros  now  did  more  work  in  six 
days  than  formerly  in  eighteen.  Another,  the  owner 
and  attorney  of  several  estates,  observed  that  his  peo- 
ple did  more  work  in  the  last  two  days  in  the  week  for 
which  they  received  wages,  than  in  the  other  four ;  and 
a  third,  who  had  conferred  complete  freedom  on  his 
apprentices,  said  that  they  were  more  industrious  than 
before,  and  that  his  property  suffered  less  from  pilfer- 
ing. In  reply  to  an  inquiry  whether  the  emancipated 
negros  shewed  any  gratitude  for  the  boon  of  freedom, 
it  was  observed  by  one  of  the  non-emancipationists  that 
they  well  knew  it  was  self-interest  that,  dictated  the 
measure.  The  Assembly  was  composed  of  a  majority 
of  persons  of  color.  The  business  of  the  House  to 
day  was  of  little  interest  or  importance,  being  chiefly 
the  petty  details  of  the  Poor  Law  expences  of  the 
island.  We  were  told  that  it  was  liberal  in  its  general 
policy,  and  transacted  affairs  in  a  business-like  manner. 
After  the  breaking  up  of  the  legislature,  we  were  intro- 
duced to  Dr.  Dybtt,  the  Speaker  of  the  Assembly ; 
he  is  one  of  the  few  of  his  class,  who  lends  his  support 


liONTSSRRAT.  85 

to  the  cause  of  religion  and  morality  in  the  colony. 
He  kindly  gave  his  company  to  us  for  half  an  hour, 
thou^  the  prevalence  of  an  epidemic,  creates  pressing 
oaUs  upon  his  time.  Montserrat  hap  always  hitherto 
been  i^umbered  among  the  healthy  islands,  being  free 
from  marshes  and  swamps ;  but  during  the  last  three 
years  fever  has  prevailed,  which  Ikt,  Dystt  attribptes 
to  the  introduction  of  a  prepared  compost  from  Eng- 
land by  a  large  absentee  proprietor.  This  practice 
would  seem  a  very  useless  and  unprofitable  way  of 
manuring  land,  in  a  country  abounding  with  pasturage 
and  rank  vegetation,  and  which  would  apparently  afford 
means  of  forming  compoet  in  any  quantity  by  the  keep- 
ing of  stock.  The  Sever  this  year  attacked  six  hundred 
persons,  and  has  been  fatal  in  about  one  case  in  thirty. 
It  was  previiUing  in  three  of  the  families  we  visited  this 
morning.  Ihi.  Dtbtt  gave  us  a  deplorable  account  of 
the  prevalence  <rf  intemperate  habits.  The  free  negros 
and  apprentices  are  much  addicted  to  rum,  which  is 
the  greatest  bar  to  their  moral  advancement.  He  con- 
firmed a  lingular  tact,  which  came  under  our  notice  in 
Antigua,  by  stating,  that  on  the  emancipated  estate^ 
in  this  colony,  and  on  those  where  wages  are  paid,  the 
necessity  for  his  professional  attendance  bad  very  much 
diminished.  We  next  called  at  the  office  of  the  sti- 
pendiary magistrate.  He  had  just  disposed  of  the 
cases  iHTOught  before  him.  He  informed  us,  that  his 
duties  were  becoming  less  onerous  by  the  decrease  of 
offences.  He  observed  also,  that  the  apprentices  dis- 
played a  love  of  dress,  and  that  money  was  become 
quite  a  necessary  to  them  ;  and  that  thoi^h  they  could 
easily  maintain  themselves  by  working  during  their 
own  two  days  in  their  ample  grounds,  yet  they  usually 
preferred  to  be  employed  on   the  estates  for  wages* 


86  MONTSBRRAT. 

Their  own  time  was  however,  sometimes  borrowed  by 
their  masters ;  in  which  case  they  were  often  greatly 
defrauded  in  the  repayment  of  it.  He  shewed  us  in 
his  rough  journal^  an  instance  where  the  complaints, 
from  one  estate  in  one  month,  extended  over  two  pages 
and  a  half;  and  where  next  month  they  were  nearly 
comprised  in  as  many  lines.  The  estate  was  under 
the  attorneyship  of  a  member  of  the  Council^  who  put 
it  under  the  care  of  a  brutal  manager.  Such  represen- 
tations were  accordingly  made,  through  Sir  Evan  Mac 
Gregor,  to  the  Colonial  OflBce,  as  brought  directions 
from  thence,  to  remove  his  employer  from  the  Council^, 
unless  he  were  dismissed.  His  consequent  dismissal 
explained  the  striking  decrease  of  complaints  above 
noticed.  Some  managers  had  endeavoured  to  make 
women,  in  an  advanced  stage  of  pregnancy,  perform 
their  full  quota  of  work;  but  the  Stipendiary  had  insist- 
ed upon  allowing  them  six  weeks  before,  and  six  weeks 
after  confinement,  as  was  usual  during  slavery.  In  one 
case  a  woman  was  brought  before  him  late  at  night ; 
not  aware  of  her  situation,  he  directed  her  to  be' locked 
up,  intending  to  investigate  her  case  in  the  morning. 
She  was  seized  with  the  pains  of  labor,  and  delivered 
in  the  course  of  the  night.  The  complaint  against  her 
was  refusmg  to  work.  Both  the  magistrate  and  ano- 
ther gentleman  who  was  present,  agreed  that  there  had 
been  a  large  proportion  of  deaths  among  the  free  chil- 
dren ;  but  as  no  registers  were  kept,  there  was  no 
means  of  ascertaining  the  exact  truth.  If  the  pay- 
ment of  the  compensation  had  been  deferred  till  the 
end  of  the  Apprenticeship,  they  believed  that  many 
lives  would  have  been  saved,  as  the  greatest  care  would 
ha%'e  been  taken  of  the  children  and  old  people.  The 
slave  population  of  Montserrat,  when  the  Apprentice- 


MONTSERRAT.  87 

ship  Act  came  into  operation,  was  six  thousand  four 
hundred  and  one ;  of  whom  one  thousand  one  hundred 
and  thirty  were  freed  on  the  first  of  August,  being 
under  six  years  of  age ;   of  the  others    two  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  twenty-eight  are  females,  and  two 
thousand   one  hundred  and  sixty-three    males.      The 
remaining  one  hundred  and  eighty  includes  those  who 
have  been  since  manumitted,   as  well  as  a  considerable 
number  who  have  been  sold  to  Demerara.     This  dis- 
graceful traffic   has   been    successfully   carried  on  in 
this  little  and  poverty-stricken  colony ;  the  ignorant 
apprentices  having  been  induced  by  presents  of  a  few 
dollars,  and  delusive  representations,  to  have  themselves 
appraised.    The  money  is  advanced  by  the  apprentice 
trader,  who  immediately  takes  them  on  board  his  ship, 
where  they  receive  a  mock  form  of  manumission,  and 
then  indent  themselves  to  servitude  in  British  Guiana. 
Many  of  the  proprietors  have  set  their  faces  against 
these  proceedings  ;  but  others,  of  whom  a  few  are  in 
high  station,  have  countenanced  them,  and  have  them- 
selves driven  a  lucrative  trade  in  the  sinews  of  their 
apprentices.     As  we  had  reason  to  believe  that  in  many 
of  the  colonies  the  apprentices  had  been  fraudulently 
classified,  we  inquired  of  various  persons,  and  find  that 
all  the  plantation  negros  were  returned  by  the  valuers 
as  predial  attached  laborers,  by  which  this  island,  on 
the  supposition  that  the  other  colonies  were  more  hon- 
est, obtained  a  disproportionate  share  of  the  Compen- 
sation.    There  is  also  every  reason  to  fear,  that  when 
the  1st  of  August,  1838,   arrives,  the  domestics,  and 
tradesmen  or   mechanics  on  the  plantations,  will  be 
detained  in  servitude,  or  obtain  their  freedom  according 
as  their  owners  are  conscientious  or  otherwise.     This 
will  assuredly  occur  if  the  Government  do  not  take  into 


88  MONTSBRRAT. 

their  own  bands  this  important  subject.  The  appren- 
tices have  no  voice  to  plead  their  own  wrongs^  and  we 
fear  the  Stipendiary  will  fail  them,  when  they  most 
need  bis  protection,  as  he  is  in  some  degree  under  plan- 
ter influence^  in  consequence  of  his  holding  Xbe  appoint- 
ment conferred  by  the  President,  of  Serjeant  of  Police, 
at  a  salary  of  one  hundred  and  ten  pounds  currency, 
(forty-eight  sterling,)  per  annum,  from  the  Island  Trea^ 
sury.  By  this  reconciliation  of  obviously  incompatible 
functions  in  his  own  person,  he  receives^  as  Serjeant, 
orders  from  himself  as  Magistrate ;  and  is  responsible 
also  to  himself  as  Magistrate,  for  his  good  behaviour 
as  Serjeant.  Again,  as  Serjeant  of  Police,  he  appre- 
hends an  oiTendiDg  apprentice ;  as  Magistrate  decides 
the  case  ;  and  as  Serjeant  executes  his  own  sentence.  - 

The  President  administering  the  Government  of 
Montserrat  is  himself  a  jplanter  and  apprentice-holder. 
The  Constitution  of  the  Assembly  is  nK)re  liberal  than 
in  Antigua,  as  the  elective  franchise  is  a  forty- shilling 
freehold.  The  Courts  of  Law,  however,  are  of  the 
same  character  as  in  that  island,  but  still  more  objec- 
tionable on  account  of  the  smallness  of  the  community. 
We  were  fortunate  during  our  brief  stay  in  having 
the  opportunity  of  attending  a  sitting  of  the  legisla- 
ture, and  also  in  meeting  nearly  every  person  in  the 
colony,  official  or  otherwise,  who  could  afford  us  infor- 
mation. Many  of  the  persons  we  conversed  with, 
freely  expressed  to  us  their  opinion,  that  the  Appren- 
ticeship was  the  only  bar  to  a  revival  of  the  prosperity 
of  the  island.  The  ministers  of  religion  are  looking 
forward  to  1840  for  a  great  extension  of  their  useful- 
ness. We  fear  there  is  little  hope  of  the  measure  of 
complete  abolition  before  referred  to,  being  re-intro- 
duced, in  consequence  of  the  money  value  of  the  ap- 


MONTS£RRAT.  89 

prentices  having  been  so  much  increased  by  the  specu- 
lations of  the  Demerara  traders.  When  we  re-embark- 
ed in  the  evening,  Robert  Dybtt,  our  landlord,  and  a 
man  of  color,  refused  any  compensation  for  our  enter- 
tainment, in  consequence  of  his  considering  us  asso- 
ciated with  those  in  England,  who  have  always  mani- 
fested a  sympathy  with  his  class,  (when  loaded  with 
disabilities)  as  well  as  with  the  slaves. 


I  3 


CHAPTER   VI. 


<ka^ 


DOMINICA. 

12M  Month,  \9th,  (December,)  1836. 

The  voyage  from  Montserrat  to  this  island  is  fre- 
quently performed  in  less  than  twenty- four  hours^  but 
we  encountered  such  boisterous  weather,  that  we  did 
not  arrive  at  Roseau  till  this  morning.  Sailing  iu  a 
small  vessel,  with  contrary  winds,  in  a  heavy  sea,  is 
not  the  smallest  of  the  miseries  of  human  life,  so  at 
least  one  is  apt  to  think  while  it  endures.  We  were 
too  sea-sick  to  be  sensible  of  danger,  but  our  Captain 
told  us  he  never  before  experienced  such  weather  in 
these  seas,  and  our  little  schooner  lost  a  jib,  and  sus- 
tained some  injury  in  her  sails. 

In  the  course  of  the  morning  we  visited  the  prison. 
The  treadmill  was  under  repair.  The  keeper  of  the 
jail  admitted  that  the  man  who  superintended  it,  when 
in  use,  carried  a  cat ;  but  he  would  not  acknowledge  that 
it  was  used,  except  to  a  trifling  extent.  The  prisoners 
are  put  upon  it  fourteen  times  a  day,  for  fifteen  minutes 
each  time.  The  upper  rooms  of  the  prison  are  airy 
and  large,  but  too  many  persons  are  confined  in  each ; 
the  lower  range  are  equally  large  but  close,  crowded, 
and  ill-ventilated.  The  present  number  of  prisoners 
is  thirty  five.  We  next  called  on  the  Rector,  George 
Clarke.     He  is  much  impressed  with  the  importance 


DOMINICA.  91 

of  education.  Nearly  the  whole  population  are  Roman 
Catholic,  and  speak  the  French  language,  yet  the  de* 
sire  for  education,  and  the  wish  to  learn  English  are 
so  general,  that  he  has  no  doubt  he  would  be  able  to 
fill  eight  or  ten  schools,  if  the  means  were  supplied  to 
buUd  them  and  to  pay  teachers.  Much  of  the  good  he 
has  been  able  to  effect  has  been  by  education.  The 
natural  obstacles  which  the  mountainous  character  of 
the  island,  and  the  isolation  of  the  estates  present  to  his 
extended  efforts,  are  very  great,  but  they  are  not  insu- 
perable. He  believes  also  that  the  negros  would  come 
to  learn  notwithstanding  their  diffierent  language  and 
religion ;  they  would  choose  the  best  school,  as  they 
choose  the  cheapest  store.  The  Rector  took  us  to  see 
an  infant  school,  and  also  two  schools  for  boys  and 
girls*  In  the  former,  the  children  learn  little  besides 
the  very  first  elements,  and  the  usual  recitations  and 
motions ;  but  they  acquire,  what  are  very  important, 
habits  of  order  and  attention,  and  the  English  language. 
They  are  then  removed  into  the  upper  schools.  The 
children  in  these,  read  surprisingly  well,  considering 
that  most  of  them  have  had  to  surmount  the  difficulty 
of  learning  a  foreign  language.  They  are  also  pro- 
ficient in  spelling  and  the  tables,  and  the  specimens  of 
their  writing  shewn  to  us  were  very  neat.  In  point  of 
intelligence  and  general  proficiency,  they  would  bear  a 
favori^le  comparison  with  the  children  in  the  best 
schools  we  visited  in  Antigua.  A  large  proportion  of 
them,  however,  are  children  of  parents  in  the  middle 
class,  who  ought  to  pay  for  their  instruction.  The  at- 
tendance in  the  three  schools  was  about  one  hundred ; 
•but  nearly  as  many,  we  were  told,  had  been  kept  away 
by  the  stormy  weather  this  morning.  There  is  another 
school  at  St.  Joseph's,  under  the  Rector's  care,  also 


92  DOMINICA. 

attended  by  about  one  hundred.  From  a  meTno«*anduin 
furnished  us  by  C.  A.  Fillan,  an  intelligent  young 
man  of  color,  it  appears,  that  the  Wesleyan  Society,  of 
which  he  is  a  member,  have  one  large  Sunday  school 
in  Roseau,  a  day  school  at  Prince  Rupert's,  seven  or 
eight  noon  and  night  schools  on  estates,  in  which  chil- 
dren are  taught  by  the  negro  who  can  read  best ;  and 
also  ^^  at  Layou,  a  competent  free  man  has  lately  been 
sent  to  instruct  seven  or  eight,  in  order  to  qualify  them 
to  teach.  He  also  gives  lessons  to  the  children,  but 
he  cannot  be  supported  long." 

We  introduced  ourselves  in  the  course  of  the  day, 
to  William  Lynch,  Esq.  one  of  the  stipendiary  magis  ~ 
trates.  He  is  a  man  of  color,  and  justly  valued  by 
those  who  have  the  pleasure  of  his  friendship,  both  in 
England  and  the  West  Indies,  for  his  intelligence  and 
piety.  He  told  us,  that  the  duties  of  the  stipendiaries 
have  become  less  onerous  from  the  decrease  of  com- 
plaints. The  apprentices  understand  better  than  they 
did,  what  is  expected  of  them.  Little  is  being  done, 
however,  to  fit  them  for  the  change  in  1840.  We  can- 
not perhaps  give  a  better  idea  of  the  religious  and  edu- 
cational wants  of  the  island,  than  is  conveyed  in  the 
following  remark  of  this  gentleman,  on  the  state  of  his 
own  district,  which  comprises  a  population  of  two  thou- 
sand apprentices  and  their  free  children,  and  includes 
several  large  English  estates,  on  which  the  negros 
are  considered  to  be  more  intelligent  than  elsewhere. 
"  My  official  intercourse  with  the  laboring  classes,  en- 
ables me  to  discover  their  ignorance  of  letters,  and  too 
general  disregard  of  the  Sabbath  ;  as  well  as  the  other 
moral  obligations  of  civil  and  religious  society.  I  fear 
there  are  not  eight  of  them  to  be  found  in  my  district, 
who  can  read  in  any  book.     The  pastoral  visits  of  min- 


DOMINICA. 


93 


isters  of  religion  are  exceedingly  infrequent,  and  in- 
struction of  any  kind^  rarely  within  their  reach."  We 
met  at  bis  dinner  table,  ten  other  gentlemen  and  three 
ladies,  all  of  the  colored  class ;  three  of  the  former 
were  members  of  Assembly.  They  are  relatives,  and 
are  just  come  into  joint  possession  of  an  estate.  They 
have  commenced  paying  wages  for  the  day  and  a  half, 
of  tbeir  apprentices'  own  time,  at  the  rate  of  three  bitts 
a  day,  (eleven  pence  sterling.)  We  have  learned  from 
several  sources,  that  the  proprietors  and  attornies  of  the 
island  generally,  compensate  their  apprentices  for  their 
own  time,  either  by  payments  of  fish,  or  by  returning 
the  time  at  their  own  convenience.  They  studiously 
avoid  paying  wages  —  a  short-sighted  policy,  which 
originates  in  prejudice  and  interest ;  the  attornies  being 
also  merchants,  and  receiving  a  profit  on  the  fish  sup- 
plied to  the  estates.  We  were  informed  that  the  re- 
fugees from  Martinique,  of  whom  there  are  from  three 
to  four  hundred  in  the  island,  are  as  a  body,  peaceable, 
well-disposed  and  industrious.  The  gentlemen  above 
mentioned  have  twelve  of  them  on  their  estate,  who 
work  satisfactorily  ^for  wages.  They  are  rarely  em- 
ployed, or  in  any  way  encouraged  by  the  other  planters. 
In  some  instances,  even  where  negros  who  have  bought 
their  time,  have  been  willing  to  remain  as  free  laborers, 
they  have  been  discharged  from  the  estates.  One  of 
us  called  in  the  afternoon  on  Joseph  Fadelle,  Esq., 
known  in  England  for  his  fearless  exposure  of  colonial 
wickedness  in  high  places."^  He  observed,  that  though 
there  was  less  oppression  than  at  the  commencement 
of  the  Apprenticeship,  he  did  ^not  consider  the  con- 
dition of  the  people  even  now,  better  than  during  sla- 

*  Vide  Appendix  B.  Sec.  iii. 


94  DOMINICA. 

very.  Had  this  visit  been  paid  him  twelve  or  eighteen 
months  ago^  four  or  five  would  probably  have  been 
publicly  flogged  within  sight  during  the  interview. 
There  was  a  vessel  to-day  in  the  harbor,  freighted  with 
emigrants  to  Demerara.  One  of  us  went  on  board,  and 
ascertained  by  conversation  with  the  people,  that  they 
were  going  of  their  own  free  will.  They  were  chiefly 
mechanics,  free  persons  of  color,  from  the  Swedish  and 
Danish  islands  of  St.  Barts.  and  St.  Thomas.  Some 
of  them  appeared  very  intelligent.  They  gave  as  a 
reason  for  indentmg  themselves,  that  they  could  not 
set  up  in  their  respective  trades  in  Demerara,  without 
serving  at  least  one  year.  Not  a  single  apprentice  has 
been  hitherto  induced  to  leave  Dominica. 

20th. — ^We  left  at  seven  this  morning  in  a  canoe 
with  Wm.  Lynch,  to  visit  one  or  two  estates  in  his 
district,  on  the  North  West  side  of  the  island.  The 
ocean  is  the  high- way  from  i^oseau  to  most  of  the 
estates.  The  island  is,  however,  encompassed,  and 
also  intersected  in  various  directions  by  roads,  which 
are  impassable  except  on  mules  or  horses.  The  negros 
are  expert  rowers,  and  their  long  narrow  boats,  formed 
out  of  a  single  tree,  cut  through  the  water  at  the  rate 
of  five  or  six  miles  an  hour.  We  had  an  opportunity 
of  observing  the  mode  of  fishing  among  them.  Three 
or  four  canoes,  loaded  with  stones,  take  a  large  net 
about  ten  feet  deep,  and  from  sixty  to  one  hundred 
yards  in  length,  to  some  distance  from  the  shore,  which 
they  let  down ;  the  lower  edge  being  weighted  with 
lead,  and  the  upper  supported  by  pieces  of  cork.  The 
stones  in  the  canoes  are  then  thrown  with  great  vio- 
lence into  the  sea  in  such  a  direction  as  to  frighten  the 
fish  towards  the  shore,  when  a  canoe  at  each  extremity 
drags  the  net  rapidly  to  the  beach,  and  the  fish  is  se- 


DOMINICA.  95 

cured.  The  near  view^  from  the  sea^  of  the  hills  and 
ravines  is  extremely  grand.  They  are  covered  with 
luxuriant  tropical  verdure,  and  trees  loaded  with  fruit 
and  flowering  shrubs,  to  the  water's  edge ;  except  where 
the  cliff,,  sometimes  for  considerable  distances,  presents 
a  perpendicular  face  of  rock.  Dominica  is  truly  a  high- 
land country,  a  land  of  mist,  and  rainbows,  and  moun- 
tain torrents.  The  beds  of  the  valleys  are  the  sites  of 
the  principal  estates,  and  the  light  green  of  the  cane 
fields  is  in  beautiful  contrast  with  the  deep,  rich  ver- 
dure of  the  hills,  which  enclose  them  on  either  side. 
We  arrived  in  about  two  hours  at  our  destination, — a 
free  village  at  the  mouth  of  a  considerable  stream.  We 
proceeded  to  the  cottage  of  a  respectable  old  negro 
woman,  who  keeps  a  shop  for  the  sale  of  bread  and 
provisions,  the  only  one,  we  believe,  in  the  island,  ex- 
cept in  the  towns.  The  Stipendiary  has  taken  a  room 
in  her  house,  which  has  been  fitted  up  for  his  accom- 
modation, when  imavoidably  compelled  to  be  more 
than  a  day  from  home.  His  landlady  has  been  ten 
years  free.  She  is  now  upwards  of  eighty  years  of  age, 
has  never  been  married,  but  has  always  borne  an  irre- 
proachable character.  She  appears  to  be  a  person  of 
very  cheerful  piety,  and  exercises,  we  are  told,  the 
happiest  influence  over  her  neighbours.  She  is  a  class 
leader  amongst  the  Wesleyans,  who  have  a  chapel  in 
the  village,  where  service  is  usually  performed  every 
Sabbath,  by  one  of  the  missionaries  or  a  local  preacher- 
She  is  a  bright  example  of  usefulness  and  true  respec- 
tability in  a  very  humble  sphere.  Her  house  was  in 
nice  order  and  very  clean,  and  the  adjoining  gardens 
neatly  fenced.  We  met  here  a  young  man  from  Sierra 
Leone,  who  had  been  brought  all  the  way  from  his 
native  country,  by  a  letter  from  an  uncle  in  Dominica. 


96  DOMINICA. 

He  is  now  anxious  to  retom.  He  is  sn  intelligeiit^ 
well-disposed  negro,  and  a  tokraible  scholar,  and  is 
employed  by  W.  Lynch,  to  teach  a  few  of  the  chil- 
dren in  the  village  and  from  the  neighbouring  estates. 

Having  sent  a  message  to  the  manager  of  Hilk- 
borough,  the  adjoining  estate,  he  kindly  4sent  his  boat 
for  us  to  cross  die  river,  whidi  for  half  a  mile  Irom  the 
sea,  is  three  hundred  yards  broad,  and  of  considerairfe 
depth,  beyond  which  it  is  obstructed  by  rapids,  ft 
abounds  in  fish.  Its  banks  are  covered  with  the  bam- 
boo, guava,  &c.  Coming  &om  Antigua,  the  rank  hixu- 
riance  of  this  more  humid  climate,  struck  us  with  asto- 
nishment. The  orange,  shaddock,  lime,  guava  and 
other  fruit  trees  grow  wild  in  great  profusion ;  the 
soil  throws  up  natural  rank  grasses ;  creepers  and 
shrubs  hang  about  the  steep  sides  of  the  cliSs,  while 
the  summits  and  more  gentle  declivities  are  covered 
with  thick  forest  and  brushwood.  Hie  cane  grows  too 
rank  and  luxuriant  for  the  full  secretion  and  matura- 
tion of  its  saccharine  juices,  so  that  it  is  less  productive  / 
than  in  the  dry,  exhausted  soils  of  Antigua  and  Bar- 
bados. The  estate  we  visited  is  one  of  the  finest  in 
the  island.  It  occupies  a  perfectly  level  plain  of  con- 
siderable extent,  limited  on  one  side  by  the  line  of  bam- 
boo, which  mark-s  the  course  of  the  river,  and  shut  in 
on  the  other,  in  the  form  of  a  half  circle,  by  a  hill, 
apparently  almost  perpendicular,  except  on  one  sloping 
side,  which  is  occupied  by  the  negro  gardens  and  huts. 
On  the  height  above  them  is  the  manager's  house, 
which  is  again  overtopped  by  mountains,  but  which 
is  still  lofty  enough  to  command  a  view  of  the  works 
and  cane  fields,  spread  out  like  a  map,  with  the  sea 
front  in  the  distance.  A  large  stone  vault,  at  some 
distance  from  the  house,  is  used  as  the  burying  place 


IKIMINICA.  VJ 

of  the  white  residents  ;  and  near  the  same  spot  also  ia 
a  handsome  tomb  erected  over  the  remains  of  a  former 
attorney  of  the  estate^  at  each  end  of  which  is  a  magni- 
nificent  palmetto,  or  cabbage-tree,  with  trunks  as 
straight  and  columnar  as  if  chiselled  out  of  marble. 
This  is  a  much  more  beautiful  palm  than  the  cocoa 
nut  tree,  though  at  first  sight  they  would  usually  be 
confounded  by  an  European.  The  cabbage  is  the  upper 
part  of  the  trunk,  which  has  a  green  appearance,  and  is 
of  a  pulpy,  vegetable  consistence.  From  the  summit 
of  this,  branches  out  a  graceful  crown  of  gigantic  leaves. 
The  cabbage  is  described  as  very  palatable,  but  unfor- 
tunately the  tree  must  be  destroyed  to  obtain  it.  The 
manager  kindly  provided  us  with  horses  and  mules  to 
make  a  little  excursion  up  the  valley.  Our  path  was 
just  wide  enough  for  the  animals  to  pass,  with  the  river 
below  us  on  one  side,  and  a  wall  of  rock  many  hundred 
feet  high  on  the  other,  sometimes  so  absolutely  perpen- 
dicular as  to  be  free  from  vegetation,  but  usually  cover- 
ed with  shrubs  and  creepers.  One  beautiful  spot  in 
this  valley  was  marked  by  the  tomb  of  an  overseer  of  a 
neighbouring  estate,  who  had  died  from  fever  produced 
by  the  fatigue  of  a  three  days^  hunt  of  wild  hogs  in  the 
woods. 

The  day  was  so  showery,  that  we  were  soon  com-' 
pelled  to  return,  but  as  far  as  we  could  see,  all  seemed 
to  possess  the  same  features  of  grandeur,  and  the  same 
wild  character  of  unsophisticated  nature.  Little  of 
Dominica,  except  the  river  levels  and  the  fertile  sides 
of  the  ravines,  has  been  brought  into  cultivation.  Not 
a  hundredth  part  of  its  resources  has  yet  been  drawn 
upon  ;  for  the  traces  of  man^s  dominion  over  it  are 
slight  indeed.  Almost  all  tropical  productions  may  be 
cultivated  here,  and  many  grow  wild,  as  the  cotton 

K 


96  DOMINICA. 

tree^  the  varieties  of  the  citron  tribe^  some  of  the 
spices,  the  plaintain,  banana  and  several  farinaceous 
roots,  the  palma  christi,  medicinal  aloe,  and  many- 
others,  which  produce  valuable  articles  for  consump- 
tion or  export ;  and  some  of  which,  even  in  the  West 
Indies,  are  frequently  the  objects  of  difficult  and  costly 
culture.  The  island  imports  great  quantities  of  tim- 
ber, and  numbers  of  cattle  and  horses,  though  valuable 
trees  grow  on  every  estate,  and  there  is  pasturage  suffi- 
cient, without  cultivation,  to  support  uncounted  herds. 
If  it  be  asked,  why  man  does  not  put  forth  his  hand 
and  gather  the  good  things  which  nature  provides 
with  such  spontaneous  bounty,  the  reply  is,  that  there 
is  no  surplus  labor  to  devote  to  such  minor  matters; 
the  sugar  and  coffee  cultivation  absorb  all  the  resources 
of  the  island.  Nothing  would  be  easier  than  to  turn 
its  natural  wealth  to  most  profitable  account,  if  the  two 
great  desiderata  of  capital  and  labor,  were  but  supplied. 
Fourteen  thousand  laborers  are  lost  in  such  a  fertile 
wilderness.  When  the  sin  and  stain  of  slavery  is 
wholly  removed,  we  may  indulge  the  hope  that  the  tide 
of  emigration  will  set  in  to  this,  and  other  of  these 
beautiful  and  almost  uninhabited  islands. 

Many  parts  of  the  island  have  never  been  explored, 
except  by  the  Maroons  or  runaway  negros,  and  the 
rangers  who  were  employed  about  twenty  years  ago, 
in  the  war  of  extermination  against  them.  They  were 
at  that  time  about  one  thousand  five  hundred  in  num- 
ber, but  were  entirely  destroyed.  Many  were  brought 
to  Roseau  and  butchered  in  cold  blood ;  and  there  is 
a  well  there,  which  though  of  sweet  water,  and  in  the 
centre  of  the  market  place,  remains  unused  to  this  day, 
from  a  belief  that  it  is  defiled  with  the  blood  of  these 
unfortunate   people.      The   governor   who   sanctioned 


BOMINICA,  99 

these  atrocities  was  recalled.  There  are  many  wild 
hogs  in  the  woods^  and  a  small  species  of  boa  constrictor^ 
the  guana  is  not  uncommon ;  and  there  is  a  large  edible 
frog^  which  is  caught  in  great  numbers,  and  esteemed 
a  delicacy.  There  are  also  two  species  of  parroquets. 
The  n^ros  are  a  hardy,  muscular  race,  but  far  beneath 
those  of  Antigua  in  appearance  and  intelligence.  They 
have  a  downcast,  distrustful  look.  Such  at  least  was 
our  observation  on  Hillsborough  estate,  where  they 
speak  chiefly  English,  and  are  considered  superior,  to 
most  in  the  island.  Complaints  have  almost  ceased  on 
this  estate,  in  consequence  of  a  change  of  system  on  the 
part  of  the  manager  and  his  attorney  ;  the  latter  having 
lately  adopted  liberal  views.  The  number  of  negros 
is  one  hundred  and  three,  including  old  people  and 
children;  the  females  being  nearly  as  two  to  one.  Nine 
infants  have  been  born  since  the  Apprenticeship,  of 
whom  six  have  died.  The  manager  attributes  this 
great  mortality  to  the  negligence  and  ignorance  of 
mothers,  who  think  that  the  estate  will  have  a  claim 
upon  their  children,  if  they  take  them  to  the  hospital 
when  sick,  or  if  they  allow  the  older  ones  to  pick  grass, 
tend  goats,  and  do  other  work  suitable  to  their  years. 
The  same  want  of  confidence  prevents  the  people  from 
undertaking  task-work,  and  from  working  willingly  for 
remuneration  in  their  own  time.  In  the  former  case 
we  were  told  by  one  who  had  good  opportunity  of 
knowing  their  dispositions,  that  they  thought  that  task- 
work was  offered  them  as  a  bait  to  see  how  much  they 
could  do  in  a  given  time,  in  order  to  increase  their 
daily  quota.  While  we  were  on  this  estate,  a  woman 
with  an  infant  a  few  weeks  old,  in  her  arms,  came  to 
complain  to  the  Stipendiary  that  the  father  of  her  child 
would  not  contribute  to  its  support.      He,  it  appear- 


100  DOMINICA. 

ed,  denied  the  paternity  of  it,  being  regularly  married 
to  another  woman,  by  whom  he  has  a  family.  The 
magistrate  spoke  to  her  on  her  sinfid  habits,  but  she 
seemed  dead  to  all  sense  of  shame,  and  went  away  in  a 
sullen  temper.  She  was  very  slightly  dressed,  and 
her  back  was  marked  with  the  weals  of  former  flaggel- 
lations  when  a  slave.  The  most  deplorable  conse- 
quences have  resulted  from  the  promiscuous  intercourse 
and  profligacy,  which  slavery  has  created.  The  ferti- 
lity of  the  people  has  been  impaired,  and  their  natural 
a£fection  for  their  offspring  weakened.  The  ^^ites 
have  incurred  a  fearful  responsibility  by  the  example 
they  have  set  the  other  classes.  Deplorable,  however, 
as  is  the  present  state  of  things,  all  agree  that  in  this 
respect  it  is  improving.  Marriages  are  increasing 
among  the  uegros,  and  the  character  of  the  married 
people,  is  manifestly  better  than  that  of  the  others* 
We  asked  to  see  the  hospital,  but  after  waiting  some 
time,  were  told,  that  the  woman  who  had  the  key  was 
on  her  provision  ground  at  a  distance.  As  we  had 
learned  in  Antigua  that  sham-sickness,  or  what  was 
reputed  such,  was  a  marked  feature  of  slavery,  we  were 
surprised  to  learn  that  this  estate  was  free  from  it,  till 
the  circumstance  was  explained  by  the  fact,  that  the 
negros  thought  the  hospital  was  haunted  by  a  jumboe, 
who  made  noises  at  night,  a  superstition  which  the 
manager  took  no  pains  to  remove.  We  were  shewn 
the  cachot  or  lock-up,  a  building  suitable  for  solitary 
confinement.  The  manager  told  us  that  he  knew  one 
estate  where  the  cachot  was  so  constructed,  that  a  pri- 
soner could  neither  stand  erect  nor  lie  down.  The 
Aegros  in  this  island  are  addicted  to  rum,  an  appetite 
created  and  fostered  by  their  being  rewarded  with  drams 
of  spirits  for  extra  labor,  and  as  an  encouragement  in 


DOMINICA.  101 

damp  weather.  They  receive  no  allowance's  at  all  ex- 
cept of  clothing,  and  presents  of  pork,  flour  and  fish  at 
Christmas.  They  support  themselves  by  cultivating 
their  grounds  on  the  steep  sides  of  the  mountains^  and 
by  catching  sea  and  river  fish.  We  expressed  to  the 
manager  our  convictioiij  that  it  would  be  good  policy 
to  begin  paying  money  wages  instead  of  salt  fish  ;  there- 
by encouraging  a  desire  for  those  comforts  vrhich 
money  only  can  procure.  He  agreed  with  us  and  said 
that  he  had  some  time  before  attempted  to  act  upon 
such  views,  but  that  ^*  he  had  brought  the  neighbour- 
ing planters  down  upon  him."  At  present  all  the 
money  which  the  negros  acquire,  is  earned  by  taking 
the  surplus  produce  of  their  grounds  to  Roseau,  and 
the  other  markets.  Sometimes  they  offer  the  salt  fish, 
which  is  so  injudiciously  forced  upon  them,  for  sale  or 
barter  at  the  shops.  Of  their  privilege  of  attending 
market  they  are  so  jealous,  that  they  will  scarcely  sell 
their  poultry  or  other  produce  on  their  own  estate  or 
on  the  road,  even  at  a  higher  price. 

We  had  enquired  of  one  of  the  negros  who  had  rowed 
us  down  the  river,  what  difference  he  found  between 
Slavery  and  Apprenticeship.  He  said  that  he  had  not 
yet  discovered  any.  He  had  once  received  thirty-nine 
by  order  of  a  former  magistrate,  while  he  never  was 
flogged  when  a  slave.  On  that  occasion,  he  acknow- 
ledged he  had  been  guilty  of  tipsy  and  riotous  conduct. 
In  reply  to  the  same  enquiry,  the  manager  observed, 
that  he  did  not  think  the  apprentices  were  better  off 
than  during  Slavery,*  and  that  total  emancipation 
would  be  advantageous  for  all  parties.  He  did  not 
fear  being  able  to  carry  on  the  cultivation  under  a  sys- 

*  See  Appendix  B.  iv. 
K    3 


102  DOMINICA. 

tern  of  freedom.     Very  few  apprentices  on  this  or  the 
other  plantations^  have  been  registered  as  non-'prediahf 
of  those  who  are  immediately  employed  as  domestics. 
The  manager  said  they  preferred  to  be  predials^  with 
the  privilege  of  their  large  grounds,  and  related  an  in- 
stance to  us,  where  a  non-predial  had  been  made  a  pre- 
dial at  his  own  request,  giving  as  a  reason,  that  when 
his  mistress  was  not  at  home,  '^  he  did  not  get  fed/^ — 
It  i^pears  to  us  that  the  domestics  and  mechanics  of 
Dominica,  as  of  some  other  colonies,  have  been  ext^ii- 
sively  defrauded  in  the  classification,  by  being  regis- 
tered as  predials.     The  temptation  to  cane  stealing  is 
not  so  great  here  as  in  Antigua,  as  the  negros  can  grow 
canes  in  their  own  grounds.     In  one  instance  on  this 
estate,  a  considerable  quantity  were  raised  by  some 
apprentices,  which  the  attorney  directed  to  be  cofi- 
T^ted  into  sugar  for  them,  receiving  one  third  of  the 
produce  for  the  use  of  the  mill.     This  meteyer  system 
will  probably  extend  in  some  of  the  colonies.     We  re- 
turned to  Roseau  in  the  afternoon  in  our  canoe.     The 
day  was  so  continually  showery,  that  we  were  pre- 
vented visiting  an  adjoining  estate.     The  climate  of 
Dominica  is  considered  unhealthy,  but  will  doubtless 
become  more  salubrious  and  less  humid,  as  it  is  more 
extensively  cleared  and  cultivated.     We  have  found  it 
quite  bracing,  and  very  different  to  the  dry,  relaxing 
air  of  Antigua,  which  is  usually  numbered  among  the 
healthiest   islands.      It  is  probable  that  each  island 
might  be  beneficially  resorted  to,  by  invfdids  from  the 
other.     One  of  the  great  recommendations  of  Dominica, 
are  its  delicious  rivers,  which  supply  a  beverage,  the 
luxury  of  which,  can  only  be  appreciated  in  a  tropical 
climate,  and  by  those  who  have  been  recently  restricted 
to  the  cistern  rain  water  of  Antigua.     The  last  hurri- 


DOMINICA.  103 

€ane  in  Dominica^  did  much  mischief  to  the  estates' 
IraildingS)  and  negro  houses.  A  loan  was  obtained 
ftbm  Goremmeut  to  rebuild  them,  which  some  of  the 
planters  openly  declare  their  intention  of  never  repay- 
ing. It  is  secured  upon  the  estates.  We  heard  of  one 
estate  where  the  negro  houses  and  other  buildings  had 
been  destroyed,  on  which  the  loan,  instead  of  being 
applied  to  its  specific  object,  Was  laid  out  in  the  gene- 
ral improvement  of  the  property,  and  after  consider- 
able delay,  tiie  negros  were  compelled  to  rebuild  their 
dwellings  themselves,  in  their  own  time.  The  manager 
in  this  case^  was  fined  in  a  trifling  sum  by  the  Stipen- 
diary, but  the  poor  negros  received  no  compensation. 

21st. — ^The  coffee  estates  in  this  island,  are  neatly 
destroyed  by  the  blight  and  hurricane.  They  are  most- 
ly small  properties,  in  the  hands  of  the  old  French 
residents.  Such  is  th^ir  depreciation,  that  the  negros 
on  many  of  them  might  be  purchased  for  ten  pounds 
sterling  each  ;  but  happily  they  cannot  be  sold  without 
their  own  consent,  and  will  not  emigrate,  or  suffer 
themselves  to  be  transferred  to  sugar  estates.  The 
coffee  trees  are  fast  being  displaced  by  canes.  On  some 
of  these  properties  the  cane  juice  is  manufactured  into 
syrup  in  a  rude  way,  by  the  simplest  machinery,  and 
sold  in  Roseau  by  the  bottle.  It  is  often  made  and 
sold  on  the  same  day. 

We  left  Roseau  this  afternoon  in  a  canoe,  for  the 
Souffriere,  distant  about  eight  miles,  near  the  south 
west  extremity  of  the  island,  leaving  directions  for  our 
schooner  to  follow  us  in  the  evening.  J.  Fadblle  and 
Lkwis  Bellot  kindly  accompanied  us.  The  coast  is  of 
a  somewhat  different  character,  from  what  we  surveyed 
yesterday.  The  mountains  are  higher  and  bolder,  but 
the  climate  is  less  moist,  and  the  vegetation  less  luxu- 


104  DOMINICA. 

riant*  The  Souffiiere  Bay  is  formed  by  two  projecting 
reefs.  The  valley  is  extremely  beautiful,  and  occupied 
by  a  very  fine  estate,  the  manager  of  which,  kindly 
lent  us  horses  and  mules  to  proceed  to  the  Souf- 
friere^  which  is  about  two  miles  from  the  sea,  on  the 
first  breast  of  a  mountain.  It  appears  at  a  distance, 
like  a  large  white  or  yellow  field  on  the  side  of  a  hill. 
The  whole  neighbourhood  is  filled  with  sulphureous  va- 
pors. A  boiling  spring  issues  from  the  hill,  and  forms 
a  considerable  stream.  After  crossing  it,  the  fragments 
of  wood  and  roots  of  trees  appear  converted  into  char- 
coal ;  the  ground  is  perceptibly  warm,  and  covered 
with  fragments  of  almost  pure  sulphur.  We  ascended 
with  some  difficulty,  striding  over  the  hot  rivulet, 
wading  through  the  bushes,  and  in  fear  of  dipping  our 
feet  into  fissures  filled  with  boiling  mud,  to  the  prin- 
cipal sulphur  field,  where  the  side  of  the  hill  seemed  to 
consist  almost  entirely  of  sulphur.  Immediately  above 
it,  three  springs  of  boiling  water  gush  out  of  the  rock, 
from  circular  orifices,  one  or  two  inches  in  diameter. 
They  fall  into  a  natural  caldron  below,  which  was 
nearly  hidden  by  the  steam  of  the  falling  water.  The 
bed  of  the  rivulet,  which  they  form,  for  the  first  one  or 
two  hundred  yards,  is  stained  so  black  as  to  give  it  the 
appearance  of  a  river  of  ink.  There  is  no  crater,  and 
no  other  evidence  of  volcanic  action,  except  the  boiling 
springs  and  this  formation  of  sulphur ;  but  we  were 
told  that  earthquakes  are  often  sensibly  felt,  and  are 
sometimes  even  accompanied  by  a  rumbling  noise  at 
certain  seasons  of  the  year.  A  description  of  the 
scenery  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Souflfriere,  would 
seem  the  language  of  hyperbole.  The  bed  of  the  valley 
is  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  We  proceeded  from 
hence,  across  the  island,  which  is  here  not  more  than 


DOMINICA.  105 

three  or  four  miles  in  breadth^  to  visit  several  proper- 
ties. The  first  we  called  at,  was  that  of  a  French  pro- 
prietor, an  agreeable  middle  aged  man  of  liberal  prin- 
ciples, and  modest,  retiring  character.  We  saw  on 
his  estate,  sad  evidences  of  the  ruinous  effects  of  the 
blight.  Coffee  is  generally  grown  on  the  precipitous 
sides  of  the  hills,  where  the  rain  speedily  drains  off. 
A  plantation  of  it  in  these  smsdler  islands  may  be  dis- 
tinguished at  a  great  distance,  as  it  is  cultivated  in 
small  diamond  shaped  fields,  fenced  in  by  a  stronger 
and  taller  shrub,  to  shield  it  from  the  sea  breeze.  We 
next  visited  an  estate,  formerly  belonging  to  a  French 
proprietor,  now  dead,  and  still  under  the  management 
of  his  nephew*  He  instructed  his  negros  himself,  with 
a  view  to  emancipate  them,  but  died  before  his  property 
was  sufficiently  unincumbered  to  enable  him  to  carry 
hisL  intentions  into  effect.  We  saw  numbers  of  the 
people,  who  bore  witness  by  their  appearance  and  man- 
ners, to  the  advantages  they  had  enjoyed,  A  group  of 
happy  looking  children  ran  away  at  our  approach,  but 
curiosity  overcoming  fear,  soon  brought  them  back 
again.  We  prevailed  upon  a  little  boy  and  girl  to 
read  to  us,  in  a  book  of  moral  lessons  in  French,  which 
they  had  with  them.  The  boy  read  fluently,  the  girl 
was  too  timid.  We  gave  each  of  them  a  small  silver 
piece,  when  it  suddenly  appeared  that  many  others 
could  read.  The  proprietor  of  this  estate,  used  to  pre- 
sent mothers  with  the  freedom  of  their  first  child,  bom 
in  lawful  wedlock,  a  measure  attended  with  the  hap- 
piest results.  Several  of  the  people  have  bought  their 
apprentices  since  1834.  They  are  allowed  to  occupy 
their  former  houses  and  grounds,  and  to  cultivate  cof- 
fee, paying  half  the  produce  of  the  latter  to  the  estate. 
The  manager  did  not  seem  to  be  satisfied  with  this  ar- 
rangement, but  he  thought  they  would  not  consent  to 


106  DOMINICA. 

work  regularly  for  wages^  though  he  acknowlodged  he 
had  never  put  them  to  the  test.  We  proceeded  from 
hence  to  an  estate  belonging  to  the  grandfather  of  one 
of  our  companions.  It  is  situated  immediately  above 
the  sea,  and  there  is  a  parapet  wall  to  prevent  children 
and  animals  from  falling  down  a  precipice  of  several 
hundred  feet  into  the  water.  This  like  the  two  prece- 
ding, was  a  coffee  plantation,  in  a  state  of  transition  into 
a  sugar  estate.  The  proprietor  is  eighty- five  years 
old,  and  of  most  venerable  appearance  ;  his  long,  white 
hair  flowing  down  upon  his  shoulders.  He  is  believed 
to  be  the  oldest  white  person  in  the  island.  He  is  very 
infirm,  but  retains  his  mental  powers,  and  much  of  his 
French  vivacity.  His  wife  is  slightly  colored,  and  still 
older  than  himself.  He  seemed  delighted  to  see  and  to 
converse  with  us.  His  reminiscences  extended  over 
nearly  three  quarters  of  a  century.  Forty  years  ago 
he  remembered  expressing  to  an  Irish  Catholic  priest, 
his  conviction  that  the  negros  would  some  time  or  other 
be  emancipated.  He  mentioned  also  some  great  lady 
having  told  him,  that  the  nineteenth  century  would  be 
distinguished  by  great  earthquakes  and  commotions, 
which  he  considered  to  be  a  metaphor  prophetic  of 
Abolition.  He  was  very  much  amused  by  one  of  us 
telling  him,  when  asked  to  take  wine,  that  he  had  drank 
only  water  for  the  last  eight  years.  He  said  ^Hhe 
frogs  drink  water,"  ^'you  are  a  frog,"  &c.  Though, 
however,  the  idea  of  total  abstinence  from  distilled  and 
fermented  drinks,  appeared  both  to  amuse  and  astonish 
him,  yet  he  acknowledged  he  owed  his  advanced  age  to 
his  temperance.  He  drank  a  glass  of  wine  himself, 
^*  to  the  success  of  our  good  cause."  This  benevolent 
old  gentleman,  seemed  to  live  in  patriarchial  style  in 
the  midst  of  his  people.  Some  of  the  young  .children 
almost  lived  in  his  house,  and  served  to  amuse  him 


DOMINICA.  107 

with  their  play ;  one  who  was  present,  received  his 
supper  from  the  table.  The  negros  on  this  property, 
we  were  told,  have  doubled  their  numbers  within  the 
last  twenty  years.  Nothing  can  be  a  greater  contrast, 
than  the  condition,  appearance,  and  manners,  of  the 
people  on  some  of  these  properties  of  the  old  French 
residents,  and  of  those,  on  even  the  well  managed  Eng- 
lish estates.  On  the  former,  there  has  generally  been 
an  increase,  and  on  the  latter  a  striking  decrease  of 
numbers.*  The  population  of  the  island  has  been 
nearly  stationary.  The  great  discrepancy  of  the  sexes, 
.  in  favor  of  the  females,  will  operate  unfavorably  for  a 
series  of  years.  After  supper  we  took  leave  of  this 
venerable  couple,  and  by  the  light  of  a  full  moon,  re- 
turned to  the  Souflfriere  Bay,  where  we  found  our  ves- 
sel awaiting  us,  and  embarked  at  ten  p.  m.  The  moun- 
tain roads  of  Dominica  appear  dangerous,  but  the  horses 
apd  mules  of  the  country  are  very  sure-footed.  The 
island  .was  named  by  Columbus  from  its  being  dis- 
covered on  a  Sunday.  When  asked  by  the  King  of  Spain 
for  a  description  of  it,  he  is  said  to  have  crushed  a 
sheet  of  paper  in  his  hand  and  presented  it  as  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  extreme  irregularity  of  its  surface.  It 
would  be  difl&cult,  perhaps,  to  describe  it  better. — 
Notwithstanding  the  apparent  fertility  of  the  island, 
the  cultivation  of  the  cane  is  described  as  very  laborious. 
The  yearly  amount  of  sugar  produced  does  not  exceed 
three  thousand  hogsheads.  Coflfee  was  formerly  its 
staple,  but  nearly  all  the  properties  on  which  it  was 
cultivated  have  been  ruined  by  the  prevalence  of  **  the 
white  fly,""  during  the  last  six  years,  by  which  many 
of  the  smaller  proprietors  have  been  reduced  to  poverty. 

•  See  Appendix  B.  Sec.  i. 


CHAPTER  VIL 


MARTINIQUE, 

I9th  Month,  22nd,  (December)  1836. 

Some  of  our  friends  in  Dominica  put  into  our  hands 
copies  of  several  petitions  to  the  French  Chambers^  the 
last  of  which  is  dated  only  a  month  ago^*  from  the 
colored  inhabitants  of  M artinique^  (many  of  whom  are 
themselves  slaveholders^)  for  the  immediate  abolition  of 
slavery.  The  views  of  the  petitioners  are  just  and  ad- 
mirably expressed,  and  coming  from  persons  living  in 
immediate  contact  with  slavery^  possess  a  peculiar 
value.  As  we  must  pass  by  Martinique,  on  our  way 
to  St.  Lucia,  we  concluded  to  spend  a  day  or  two  in 
St.  Pierre  and  Fort  Royal,  in  the  hope  of  obtaining 
additional  information  respecting  this  anti-slavery 
movement.  We  reached  St.  Pierre,  about  ten  o'clock 
a.  m.  A  colored  gentleman,  to  whom  we  had  an 
introduction,  came  to  us  immediately  on  learning  our 
arrival,  and  staid  with  us  during  the  few  hours  we  re- 
mained. He  was  a  decided  abolitionist,  but  was  not 
one  of  those  principally  concerned  in  the  petitions, 
though  his  signature  was  attached  to  them.  Our 
short  stay  and  the  disadvantage  we  were  under  in  not 
being  able  to  converse  fluently  in  French,  prevented 

•  See  Appendix  C. 


MARTINIQUE.  109 

our  seeking  the  acquaiatance  of  the  parties  principally 
concerned  in  the  affair.     Our  informant  stated   that 
there  was   a  general  belief  in  the  colony,  that  the 
Government  would   abolish   slavery  within   the  next 
two  years.     There  was  also  an  impression  among  the 
slaves,  that  they  would  be  emancipated.     The  hours  of 
labor  on  the  estates  are  from  five  a.  m.  to  six  p.  m., 
with  intervals  of  one  hour  for  breakfast,  and  two  for 
dinner.      They  receive  no  allowances,  but  have   the 
Saturday  for  cultivating  their  own  grounds,  and  Sun- 
day for  market  day.     He  mentioned  an  instance  of  a 
slave,  who  had  a  free  wife  and  children,  and  who  pos- 
sessed slaves   and  other  property  himself;  but   who 
could  never  induce  his  master  to  sell  him  his  own  free- 
dom.    The  trade  of  the  island  is  now  considerably  de- 
pressed, in  consequence  of  the  uncertain  aspect  of  the 
future.     The  value  of  slaves  has  been  much  affected 
by  the  fear  that  they   will   speedily   be   emancipated 
without    compensation.      Fine,    strong,    young   men, 
recently  worth  three  to  four  hundred  dollars,  will  now 
only  realise  from  sixty  to  one  hundred,  when  sold  at 
public  vente.      The  number  of  soldiers  in  the  colony 
has   been  increased^  and  they  are  stationed  in  small 
bodies  all  over  the  island,  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the 
slaves  to  Dominica  and  St.  Lucia.     About  one  hun- 
dred planters  are  wealthy,  but  the  majority  of  estates 
are  encumbered  to  a  greater  amount  than  they  are 
worth.     There  has  been  no  clandestine  importation  of 
slaves  into  Martinique,  since  the  accession  of  Louis 
Philippe.     We  were  informed  it  was  generally  report- 
ed and  believed,  that  the   British  West  Indies  were 
ruined;  that  England  was  obliged    to  import   sugar 
from  France,  and  that  some  of  the  Antigua  negros,  not 
liking   the   new   r^gimey   had    made  their  escape   to 


1 10  MARTINIQUE. 

Guadaloupe !  !  Our  companion  introduced  us  to  his 
father,  who  is  a  planter,  and  of  different  sentiments  to 
himself.  He  confirmed  what  his  son  had  said  respect 
ing  the  depressed  condition  of  the  colony,  and  the  low 
price  to  which  slaves  had  fallen,  and  also  repeated 
some  of  the  current  rumours  about  the  British  islands. 
He  observed  that  the  slaves  in  our  colonies  were 
**  perfectly  happy'*  before  Emancipation,  because  they 
had  legal  protection.  In  Martinique,  however,  a  mas- 
ter could  do  any  thing  with  his  slave,  short  of  putting 
him  to  death  ;  and  even  in  that  case,  if  prosecuted,  he 
would  be  sure  to  escape  conviction.  Since  the  change  in  the 
British  colonies,  the  discipline  on  the  estates  had  much 
relaxed ;  the  slaves  worked  less  and  were  less  harshly 
treated.  A  strong  proof,  he  thought,  that  the  French 
Government  contemplated  the  early  and  entire  aboli- 
tion of  slavery,  was,  that  it  passed  no  ameliorating  laws. 
No  doubts  were  entertained,  that  the  slaves  would  con- 
tinue on  the  estates  and  work  if  made  free,  but  he 
feared  that  the  cultivation  could  not  be  carried  on  pro- 
fitably. During  our  stay  at  this  gentleman's  house, 
we  drank  some  eau  sucr^,  made  of  an  inferior  refined 
sugar;  which  on  enquiring  we  found  was  French  beet- 
root sugar. 

We  went  afterwards  to  the  Botanic  Garden  of  St, 
Pierre,  a  scene  of  extraordinary  luxuriance  and  beauty. 
It  is  situated  in  the  basin,  and  on  the  sides  of  a  circle 
of  mountains,  and  is  a  complete  labarynth  of  walks 
with  fish-ponds,  cascades,  &c.  It  is  devoted  chiefly 
to  tropical  trees  and  shrubs  of  the  Eastern  hemisphere, 
with  which  it  is  supplied  in  great  profusion  and  variety. 

St.  Pierre  has  from  twenty- five  to  thirty  thousand 
inhabitants.     It  is  a  place  of  great  trade,  and  the  prin 
cipal  port  in  the  island,  though  the  harbor  is  much  ex- 


MARTINIQUE.  Ill 

posed.  We  left  Si,  Pierre  about  four  p.  m.  in  a  canoe 
to  Fort  Royal,  leaving  directions  for  our  schooner  to 
follow  us.  It  was  rowed  by  five  men,  one  steering 
with  a  paddle.  They  were  all  naked,  except  pantaloons, 
and  had  rather  a  savage  appearance.  One  or  two  of 
them  spoke  a  little  English,  but  we  could  not  under- 
stand a  word  of  their  French  patois.  The  chest,  shoul- 
ders, and  trunk  of  the  negro  are  usually  a  model  of 
anatomical  symmetry,  and  remind  us  of  the  antique 
bronzes.  His  head  and  limbs  do  not  harmonize  with 
European  ideas  of  beauty.  Two  of  our  rowers  were 
mulattos,  the  diflference  of  their  form  was  strongly 
marked.  Our  canoe  was  lined  at  the  bottom,  and  on 
the  sides,  with  a  mat  of  soft  reeds,  on  which  we  lay, 
with  a  roof  over  our  heads  supported  on  wooden  pil- 
lars. We  were  obliged  to  follow  the  inlets  and  outlets 
of  the  shore,  which  made  our  voyage  tedious,  and  we 
did  not  arrive  till  two  hours  after  sunset.  We  met 
two  vessels  of  considerable  burthen,  employed  as  dro- 
ghero,  for  the  shipment  of  produce,  immediately  from 
the  estates  on  the  coast.  They  were  each  rowed  by 
tenor  twelve  slaves,  who  were  some  of  them  quite 
naked,  and  all  nearly  so.  They  stood  on  benches, 
placed  at  intervals  across  the  vessel,  and  took  a  stroke 
with  their  long  oars  till  they  almost  reached  in  a  reclin- 
ing position,  the  planks  or  benches  behind  them. 
They  had  then  to  step  with  one  foot  on  the  deck  below, 
before  they  could  recover  their  position  on  the  benches 
to  renew  the  effort.  Nothing  could  be  more  wretched 
in  appearance  than  the  slaves  engaged  in  this  painful 
and  laborious  employment. 

We  reached  Fort  Royal  about  nine  p.  m.,  and  with 
one  of  our  men  as  guide,  proceeded  in  search  of  the 
co/fe,  to  which  we  had  been  recommended.     We  could 


112  MARTINIQUK. 

not  find  it,  and  after  enquiring  at  several  hotels  which 
were  full,  we  were  taken  at  length  to  one  ^  rather  an 
inferior  description,  which  was  undergoing  A  complete 
whitewashing.  We  found,  however,  the  acCt»ymoda- 
tions  tolerable,  after  divesting  our  minds  of  all  English 
ideas  of  comfort.  We  met  here  a  gentleman,  who  spoke 
English  well,  and  who  gave  us  information  precisely 
corresponding  with  what  we  had  heard  in  St.  Pierre,  of 
the  depreciation  in  the  value  of  slaves,  and  of  the  large 
military  force  maintained  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the 
colony,  and  to  prevent  their  escape  to  the  British 
islands.  Our  landlady  mentioned,  that  a  gentleman  of 
her  acquaintance,  had  lately  bought  twelve  slaves,  at 
a  very  low  price,  on  the  speculation  that  the  Govern- 
ment would  abolish  slavery  and  grant  compensation. 
The  same  individual  advised  her  not  to  sell  one  of  her 
women  that  she  wished  to  part  with,  for  the  same 
reason.  Her  own  opinion,  however,  was  that  no  com- 
pensation would  be  given. 

23rd. — ^Though  the  seat  of  Government,  and  pos- 
sessing the  advantages  of  a  spacious  and  secure  harbor 
and  a  more  central  situation,  Fort  Royal  has  not  half 
the  commerce  or  population  of  St.  Pierre,  and  it  is 
daily  declining.  It  is  built  with  great  regularity,  and 
is  capable  of  being  rendered  a  beautiful  town.  On  the 
South  are  two  sides  of  a  large  square,  enclosing  a  lawn 
called  the  Savanna,  with  promenades,  shaded  by  tama- 
rind trees.  Near  this  square  is  the  Hotel  du  Governe- 
ment*  The  present  Governor  is  le  Baron  de  Mackau, 
formerly  Admiral  on  this  station,  and  the  Officer  who 
executed  on  the  part  of  France,  the  treaty  recognising 
the  independence  of  the  Haytian  Republic.  About  a 
year  ago  he  visited  Antigua,  for  the  purpose  of  ascer^ 
taining  the  result  of  Emancipation,  and  the  impressions 


MARTINIQUE.  1 13 

he  received  there,  were  thought  to  be  favorable  to  abo- 
lition.    We  paid  our  respects  to  him  about  noon  to 
day,   and  were  received  with  much   kindness.      The 
Baron  is  past  middle-age,  stout,  and  of  very  benevolent 
aspect ;  he  is  familiar  with  the  colloquial  use  of  the 
English  ianguagie.     We  told  him,  that  having  been  in- 
formed ot  the  interest  he  had  expressed  in  Antigua,  we 
thought  he  might  be  pleased  to  receive  some  recent 
infoi^Kifttion  from  thence.     We  then  stated  as  briefly  as 
we  could,  the  result  of  our  inquiries.     He  listened  to 
us   attentively  and   made   several  observations  which 
shewed,  that  he  was  closely  watching  the  progress  of 
afibirs  in  the  British  colonies.     He  quoted  Sir  Lionel 
$mith's  recent  speech  to  the  Assembly  of  Jamaica, 
from  which  he  concluded,  that  things  must  be  progres- 
sing   unfavorably  in  that   island.     The  subject   was 
one,  he  said,  in  which  he  felt  a  deep  interest,  and  it 
was  closely  occupying  the  attention  of  the  Government. 
It  was  intended  to  enlighten  the  slaves  by  education, 
and  by  increasing  the  number  of  priests.     On  our  en- 
quiring whether  the  planters  were  favorable  to  educa- 
tion, he  said,  some  of  them  were  not,  but  the  (Jovern- 
ment  was  ^•positive,"      The  negros  themselves  were 
much  addicted  to  religious  ceremonies,  but  shewed  no 
great  desire  to  learn  to  read  and  write.     He  observed 
that  the  negros  of  Antigua  were  much  more  enlighten- 
ed than  in  their  islands.   During  his  visit  there,  he  was 
delighted  to  witness  their  attendance  at  church,  and  the 
attention  with  .which  they  listened  "  to  the  speech  of 
the  Doctor.^'     Antigua,  he  observed,  had  been  in  a 
state  of  preparation  for  twenty  years.     We  remarked 
that  it  would  have  made  more  progress  in  five  years 
of  freedom,  than  in  twenty  of  slavery,  to  which  he 
replied  with  a  smile — "  I  see  you  would  lose  no  time;" 


114  MARTINIQUE. 

adding  after  a  pause,  ^^  my  opinion  is  the  same  as 
yours. '^  We  made  some  remarks  on  the  prospects  of 
the  British  colonies^  and  on  the  Apprenticeship ;  but 
fearing  we  might  be  imperfectly  understood,  we  offered 
to  forward  to  him  a  short  memoir  on  the  subject  from 
Barbados,  which  he  said  be  should  be  happy  to  receive* 
We  staid  about  three  quarters  of  an  hour^  and  left 
much  pleased  with  our  reception. 

We  went  on  board  about  two  p.  m.  and  set  sail  for 
St.  Lucia.  The  black  and  colored  people  whom  we 
have  seen  in  St.  Pierre  and  Fort  Royal,  are  very  su- 
perior in  outward  polish  of  manners  to  those  of  the 
English  islands.  The  field  negros,  we  were  told  by 
one  party,  were  more,  and  by  another,  that  they  were 
less  enlightened  than  in  the  English  islands.  They 
are  less  educated  perhaps,  but  their  faculties  are  shar- 
pened by  coming  in  contact  on  the  market  days  with 
so  large  a  body  of  white  and  free  colored  persons,  as  is 
to  be  found  in  the  French  towns.  The  situation  of  the 
French  colonies,  appears  to  be  approaching  a  crisis, 
and  we  believe  it  depends  upon  the  Parent  Government, 
whether  it  shall  issue  in  peace,  prosperity  and  safety, 
or  in  general  ruin  and  bankruptcy,  if  not  in  bloodshed. 
Tlie  present  time  is  favorable  for  a  great  change,  be- 
cause the  minds  of  all  classes  are  in  a  state  of  prepa- 
ration for  it,  whilst  the  uncertainty  of  the  future  is 
exercising  a  ruinous  and  depressing  influence  on  trade 
and  property.  It  is  more  than  probabte,  that  the 
colonies  owe  their  present  tranquillity,  to  the  persuasion 
on  the  minds  of  the  negros,  that  they  will  shortly  be 
made  free ;  and  there  appears  to  be  no  obstacle  what- 
ever to  their  emancipation,  except  the  fears  of  the  plan- 
ters, that  free  labor  will  be  too  expensive.  The  ques- 
tion is  become  a  purely  economical  one.     In  Martinique 


MARTINIQUE.  115 

great    annoyance  and  irritation  exist  respecting  the 
escape  of  slaves  to  the  British  Islands^  which  has  been 
checked  for  a  time,  by  a  large  military  force  picquetted 
io  parties  of  five  or  six  men  all  over  the  island ;  but 
take  away  the  hope  of  freedom  from  the  slaves,  and 
they  will  make  their  escape  in  spite  of  every  precaution  ; 
and  whether  they  drown  in  the  attempt,  or  reach  the 
opposite  shore,  the  loss  is  the  same  to  their  masters 
and  the  colony.     The  distance  from  land  to  land,  to 
Dominica  on  the  one  side,  and  St.  Lucia  on  the  other, 
is  only  twent}^  miles,  and  several  of  the  parties  who  have 
recently  escaped,  have  ventured  across  on  mere  rafts. 
Of  three  thousand  slaves  who  have  thus  disappeared 
from  Martinique,  only  twelve  hundred  are  accounted 
for,  as  having  reached  the  British  islands ;  so  that  it 
would  appear,  that  nearly  two  thirds  perish  in  the  des- 
perate  attempt.      When  it  is  considered  that  these 
slaves  are  chiefly  men,  and  of  the  most  robust  of  the 
people ;  and  that  the  depopulation  of  the  colony  in  a 
still  more  rapid  ratio,  is  prevented  only  by  bringing 
out  from  Europe,  and  maintaining,  a  body  of  two  thou- 
sand soldiers,   the  oppressive  burdens  entailed   upon 
this  small  colony  by  slavery,  may  be  faintly  appreciated. 


CHAPTEIR  VIIL 


ST.  LUCIA. 

12^  Month,  9Uh,  (December.)  1834. 

On  coming  on  deck  this  morning,  we  found  oar- 
selves  lying  securely  at  anchor  in  the  Bay  of  Castries, 
having  had  during  the  night  a  favorable  wind.  This  is 
one  of  the  finest  harbors  in  the  Leeward  islands^  being 
spacious  and  secure,  free  from  shoals,  and  possessing 
good  anchorage,  though  somewhat  difficult  of  access, 
as  it  is  almost  land-locked.  We  called  soon  after  our 
arrival  on  the  Chief  Justice,  the  Hon^  John  Reddib, 
whose  acquaintance  we  had  had  the  pleasure  of  making 
in  England.  We  also  addressed  a  note  to  the  Gover- 
nor, Sir  Dudley  Hill,  to  enquire  when  it  would  be 
convenient  to  him  to  see  us ;  and  in  the  interim,  attend- 
ed the  Court  where  the  Chief  Justice  was  disposing  of 
cases  of  misdemeanour,  &c.  Two  prisoners,  were  suc- 
cessively indicted  for  petty  thefts,  both  of  whom  plead- 
ed guilty,  The  proceedings  were  entirely  in  French. 
The  Governor  whose  cabinet  was  adjoining,  sent  his 
secretary  to  say  he  was  ready  to  receive  us.  He  gave 
us  a  courteous  welcome  to  St.  Lucia,  and  expressed  a 
desire  to  faciliate  our  inquiries.  He  spoke  favorably 
of  the  state  of  the  colony,  and  of  the  condition  of  the 
negros.  He  had  himself  in  his  recent  annual  circuit  of 
the  island,  asked  them  in  the  presence  of  their  masters, 
whether  they  had  any  complaints ;  but  with  one  or  two 


ST,  LUCIA.  117 

exceptions^  the  answer  had  always  been  in  the  negative. 
Great  improvements  had  been  effected  in  the  colony 
since  his  arrivaL  Its  large  debt  was  nearly  liquidated^ 
the  port  had  been  much  improved  by  the  construction 
of  a  wharf,  and  a  road  had  been  made  across  the  island. 
Estates,  he  observed,  had  risen  in  value  since  Emanci- 
pation, The  Martinique  refugees,  were  on  the  whole, 
a  peaceable,  industrious  set  of  laborers.  The  appren- 
tices who  bought  out  their  time,  usually  continued  to 
work  for  wages  on  the  estates.  He  thought  the  ap- 
praisements were  in  some  instances  too  high.  He  had 
endeavoured  to  dissuade  some  of  them  from  purchasing 
their  freedom,  by  telling  them,  that  if  they  would  wait 
till  1840,  they  would  have  their  money  to  commence 
the  world  with ;  but  they  argued  in  reply,  that  wages 
were  now  very  high,  and  would  fall  when  all  became 
free.  We  also  called  upon  the  Rector,  who  is  the  only 
Protestant  minister  in  the  island.  There  are  but  four 
hundred  protestant  inhabitants,  of  whom  all  are  English 
but  two.  The  Rector  has  three  schools  under  his  care, 
of  which  the  one  in  town  is  attended  by  about  forty 
children.  They  learn  rapidly,  though  the  lessons  are 
in  English ;  but  as  soon  as  they  can  read,  their  parents 
think  they  know  enough,  and  remove  them.  The  want 
of  qualified  teachers,  is  a  great  obstacle  to  more  ex- 
tended education.  We  were  introduced  in  the  course 
of  the  day,  to  William  Muter,  a  proprietor  of  several 
estates,  and  an  extensive  merchant  and  ship-owner ;  and 
also  to  Dr.  Robinson,  both  of  whom  are  members  of 
Council,  and  actively  concerned  in  promoting  the  wel- 
fare of  the  colony.  The  former  invited  us  to  visit  his 
estates.  He  has  no  fears  of  his  negros  leaving  him 
after  1840.  He  told  us  that  he  found  it  difficult  to  in« 
duce  them  to  work  for  him  on  the  Saturday,  as  they 


118  ST.  LUCIA. 

are  entirely  dependent  for  support  on  their  labor  in 
their  provision  grounds.     One  woman,  on  his  offering 
her  wages  for  her  Saturday,  asked  him  if  he  did  not  go 
to  church  on  the  Sunday ;  observing,  that  if  she  worked 
on   the   estate  on    Saturday,  she  must  cultivate  her 
ground  on  the  Sunday ;  reasoning  which  admitted  no 
reply.     Dr.  Robinson  observed,  that  he  did  not  think 
the  condition  of  the  negros  in  any  respect  improved 
under  the  new  system,  except  that  they  work  one  hour 
per  day  less )  and  that  unless  different  measures  are 
adopted  by  the  Government,  they  will  be  in  no  better 
state  of  preparation  for  freedom  in   1840,  than  they 
were  in  1834.    The  mortality  among  the  free  children 
has  been  very  great^  both  from  the  want  of  attention 
to  them  on  the  part  of  the  proprietors,  and  from  the 
ignorance  of  mothers,  who  were  however,  by  no  means 
deficient  in  affection  for  their  children.    The  number 
of  females  considerably  preponderates  in  this,  as  in  the 
other  islands,  which  we  have  visited.     Dr.  Robinson 
mentions  the  only  probable  explanation  we  have  yet 
heard  of  this  anomaly.     He  believes  that  an  inspection 
of  the  registry  of  slaves,  from    1815  to  1834,  would 
shew  that  half  the  males  died  before  attaining  the  age 
of  twenty,  while  not  a  third  of  the  females  died  within 
the  same  period ;  a  disparity  which  he  accounts  for,  by 
supposing,  that  the  severe  labor  to  which  both  sexes  are 
subjected  at  th^  same  age,  is  less  destructive  to  the 
female  constitution,  in  consequence  of  its  being  more 
early  matured.     The  population  of  the  island,  has  how- 
ever increased  within  the  last  few  years. 

25th. — Chbistmaj^  Day. — A  military  band  paraded 
the  town  early  this  morning,  and  serenaded  the  pub- 
lic functionaries  in  honor  of  the  day.  Among  other 
tunes,   tbey  played  one  composed  by  the  negros,  and 


ST.  LUCIA.  119 

called  "  President  Jeremie,"  a  name  much  revered  by 
the  blacks.     They  found  in  Jeremie,  for  the  first  time,  * 
a  protector,  and  a  dispenser  of  impartial  justice ;  and 
we  are  assured  that  this  single  circumstance  has  con- 
tributed to  elevate  their  national  character.     The  bene- 
fits of  his  residence,  were  not,  however,  limited  to  the 
negros  5  as  first  President  of  the  Royal  Court,  he  pos- 
sessed, under  the  old  French  Constitution,  a  civil  as 
well  as  judicial  power,  which  he  exercised  in  a  va- 
riety of  ways,  for  the  general  good.     Many  important 
public  works,  and  among  others  the  church, — the  sole 
protestant  place  of  worship,  were  begun  and  perfected 
through  his  exertions  and  influence.     His  efforts  were 
often  frustrated  by  the  continual  local  opposition,  which 
he  encountered,  and  he  was  left  almost  unsupported 
by  the  Home  Government ;  but  his  chief  opponents  are 
now  dead,  and  their  sons,  and  those  of  them  who  re- 
main, do  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  he  was  the  greatest 
man  who  ever  came  to  St.  Lucia.     Through  his  exer- 
tions, the  obstacles  raised  by  the  proprietors  to  good 
government,  have  disappeared,  and  many  of  them  are 
now  willing  to  aid  in  the  work  of  education,  while  those 
who  are  opposed  to  improvement  are  powerless. 

26th. — We  left  Castries  early  this  morning,  on  a 
visit  to  two  of  the  estates  of  W.  Muter.  The  distance 
by  land  is  about  eight  miles,  and  the  road  dangerous, 
fatiguing,  and  almost  impassable,  but  through  scenery 
of  indescribable  beauty.  Our  path  was  over  a  suc- 
cession of  lofty  ridges,  and  through  the  estates  which 
occupied  the  intervening  valleys.  From  the  heights, 
we  had  extensive  prospects  of  mountains  clothed  with 
primitive  forest,  above  and  around  us ;  and  of  ravines 
and  valleys  beneath  us,  in  the  same  wild  and  unculti- 
vated state,    occasionally  diversified  by  extensive  gar- 


120  ST.  LUCIA. 

dens  of  the  plaintain  and  banana,  fields  of  canes,  negro 
villages,  and  sugar  works.    St.  Lucia  is  to  a  greater 
extent  even  than  Dominica,  an  unoccupied  wilderness. 
The  character  of  the  two  islands  is  very  similar ;  both 
possess  a  feature  of  singular  beauty,  in  their  large  and 
perfectly  level  savannas,  enclosed  by  precipitous  hills, 
with  a  stream  running  through  them  to  the  sea.     The 
two  estates  we  came  to  visit,  occupy  one  of  these  val- 
leys.    They  are  very  fine  properties,  and  in  a  high  state 
of  cultivation.    There  were  on  them  both,  about  four 
hundred  and  fifty  negros  in  1834,  of  whom  eleven  have 
since  purchased  their  time.      Three  of  these  remain 
working  for  wages,  of  whom  one  is  a  field  laborer,  re- 
ceiving fourteen-pence  sterling  per  day,  besides  house 
and  ground  rent  free.    We  noticed  a  fine  young  ox  dead 
in  the  pen,  which  was  supposed  to  have  killed  itself  by 
sticking  its  horns  in  the  soft  earth.     The  occurrence 
did  not  excite  much  attention.     The  loss  of  stock  from 
the  unskilfulness  of  the  apprentices,  is  very  great,  and 
ought  to  be  noted  among  the  disadvantages  of  uncom- 
pensated labor.      The  crop  has  commenced  on  these 
estates,  and  is  expected  to  yield  about  four  hundred 
hogsheads  of  sugar.     We  went  over  the  two    boiling 
houses,  at  each  of  which  there  is  a  steam  engine.    In  the 
colonies  which  we  have  visited,  the  night-work  in   the 
boiling  house,  has  been  of  late  years  much  curtailed,  or 
altogether  dispensed  with,  and  so  far  as  we  can  learn, 
without  any  disadvantage.     We  also  went  into  one  of 
the  cane  pieces,  where  a  gang  of  about  fifty  negros, 
chiefly  women  were   employed  in  cutting  the  canes. 
We  spoke  to  the  proprietor,  who  accompanied  us,  of 
the  desirableness  of  married  women,  ceasing  to  be  em- 
ployed regularly  in  the  field,   and   merely  rendering 
assistance  in  the  busy  season.     He  expressed  his  full 


ST.  LUCIA.  121 

concurrence  in  our  views.  Here  as  in  Dominica  the 
cane  is  of  more  luxuriant  growth  than  in  Antigua  or 
Barbados.  It  is  reaped  by  two  strokes  of  a  sort  of 
cutlass ;  the  one  taking  it  off  about  the  middle^  and  the 
other  close  to  the  ground.  The  negro  then  cuts  off  the 
leaves,  and  the  plant,  which  consists  of  the  one  or  two 
incipient  joints  at  the  top  of  the  cane.  The  cane,  the 
plant,  and  the  leaves  are  thrown  into  separate  heaps, 
to  be  carried  away  on  the  backs  of  mules.  In  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  cane,  the  season  for  planting  and  reap- 
ing is  the  same,  and  lasts  from  one  third  to  half  of  the 
year.  The  cane  is  not  indigenous,  and  though  of  such 
vigorous  growth,  it  does  not  go  to  seed  in  the  West 
Indies*  It  is  propagated  by  the  plants  before  mention- 
ed, which  of  course  can  only  be  obtained  daring  crop. 
On  this  estate,  the  piece  which  was  being  planted,  was 
not  holed  in  the  usual  manner,  but  hoed  into  ridges,  in 
which  the  plants  were  inserted  about  twelve  inches 
asunder,  in  rows  running  east  and  west,  that  they 
might  sustain  the  least  injury  from  the  wind.  The 
rows  are  five  feet  apart,  so  as  to  admit  of  the  growing 
plants  being  weeded  with  the  plough  or  horse  hoe. 
This  we  believe  is  the  mode  in  use  in  Mexico.  It  has 
been  partially  tried  on  this  estate,  and  with  success. 
The  saving  of  human  labor,  as  compared  with  the  cus- 
tomary plan,  is  obviously  very  great.  The  proprietor 
intends  on  his  next  visit  to  England,  to  endeavour  to 
bring  out  some  Scotch  peasantry,  young  married  per- 
sons, to  enable  him  to  introduce  the  plough  in  an  effi- 
cient manner.  Even  on  these  well  managed  properties 
many  changes  might  be  advantageously  made.  Among 
others  the  fields  might  be  intersected  by  tram-roads, 
on  which  all  the  canes  could  be  conveyed  to  the  prin- 
cipal boiling  house,  which  is  large  enough  to  manu- 

M 


122  ST.  LUCIA. 

facture  sugar  for  both  estates.  The  persons  employed 
to  feed  the  mill,  and  carry  away  the  magass  or  pressed 
cane- trash,  were  chiefly  women  and  young  persons. 
There  were  six  men  and  one  woman  employed  as  crimi- 
nals, in  the  severer  labor  of  carrying  the  bundles  of  canes 
from  the  olace  where  they  had  been  deposited  by  the 
mules,  up  to  the  mill.  These  had  been  condemned  to 
six  months'  imprisonment  and  hard  labor,  for  attempt- 
ing to  escape  to  Martinique,  at  the  instigation  of  a 
refugee,  who  had  persuaded  them,  that  the  French,  by 
way  of  reprisal,  had  determined  to  set  all  British  ap- 
prentices free,  who  came  over  to  them.  At  the  request 
of  the  proprietor,  they  were  allowed  to  remain  on  the 
estate,  working  under  the  superintendence  of  the  rural 
police,  and  being  locked  up  at  night.  We  visited  the 
hospitals  on  both  estates,  which  are  roomy  and  well 
ventilated  buildings.  There  were  eight  or  ten  patients 
in  each,  chiefly  with  sore  legs.  In  this  moist  climate  a 
slight  scratch  is  liable  to  become  an  obstinate  ulcer, 
unless  it  receives  medical  attention.  It  is  singular,  that 
elephantiasis  and  black  scurvy,  are  rare  here  and  in 
Dominica.  They  are  diseases  of  the  dry  islands.  The 
loss  of  infants  also,  by  convulsions  and  locked  jaw,  so 
common  in  Antigua,  is  almost  unknown.  Dr.  Robin- 
son informs  us,  that  the  greatest  number  of  deaths 
occur  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  months  and  five  or 
six  years ;  which  he  attributes  to  the  unripe  guavas 
and  other  indigestible  fruits,  which  they  gather  and  eat 
when  their  parents  are  at  the  field.  He  believes  that 
infant  schools  would  have  an  important,  though  indi- 
rect advantage  in  this  respect.*     On  these  two  estates 

*A  striking  coniinnationof  this  observation  of  Dr.  Robinson  is  con- 
tained in  the  following  memorandum,  dated  1832,  furnished  us  among 
other  valuable  remarks  by  H.  M.  Scott,  the  benevolent  proprietor 


ST.  LUCIA.  123 

the  free  children  have  had  the  same  attention  as  before, 
and  consequently  there  has  been  no  diminution  of  num- 
bers, by  excess  of  deaths  over  births.  The  proprietor 
took  us  to  see  his  estate  school,  the  only  one  in  the 
island.  The  children  are  taught  by  a  respectable 
colored  man,  who  was  formerly  a  carpenter  on  the 
plantation.  There  were  about  thirty  present,  from  four 
to  twelve  years  of  age,  who  had  been  learning  about  eight 
months.  Some  of  them  read  easy  lessons  of  one  and 
two  syllables,  and  spell  very  correctly.  Their  pro- 
nunciation is  extremely  good,  but  we  found  they  were 
ignorant  of  the  meanings  of  many  of  the  words.  As 
aoon  as  a  few  become  familiar  with  English,  they  will 
be  of  great  use  in  bringing  the  rest  forward.  We  were 
taken  to  see  a  little  girl  in  one  of  the  cottages,  who 
was  an  albino.  Her  skin  was  originally  quite  white, 
but  is  now  sun-burnt  to  a  light  brown  shade ;  her 
head  was  covered  with  .white  wool.  The  parents,  who 
were  both  black,  have  had  two  other  children  distin- 
guished by  the  same  peculiarity. 

On  our  return,  we  noticed  on  the  hill  sides,  the 
cottages  and  gardens  of  some  of  the  Martinique  refu- 
gees. One  of  them  has  a  little  plantation  of  canes, 
which  he  manufactures  into  sugar,  in  a  small,  rudely 
constructed  mill,  and  sells  in  Castries.  This  display 
of  industry  and  enterprise,  excited  the  jealousy  of  a 
neighbouring  planter,  who  prosecuted  the  men  for 
stealing  two  trees  from  his  estate,  to  make  a  boat.     The 

of  Hopeton  and  Lennox  estates,  Jamaica.  "  Previous  to  the  estab- 
liishinent  of  a  school  at  Hopeton  in  1824,  the  greatest  degree  of  morta- 
lity prevailed  among  the  children  of  tender  years,  that  is  to  say,  from 
the  time  of  weaning  to  eight  years ;  it  is  remarkable  that  from  the 
commencement  of  the  school,  (a  period  of  nine  years)  only  seven  chil- 
dren, from  two  to  fifteen  years,  have  died,  three  of  whom  fell  victims 
to  the  malignant  dysentery  of  1831. 


124  S»T.  LUCIA. 

refugee  proved  that  he  felled  them  on  the  bit  of  ground 
which  had  been  given  him  to  clear  and  cultivate  for 
himself.     There  are  six  hundred  refugees  in  this  island, 
and  it  is  allovred  that  they  contribute  to  the  prosperity 
of  the  colony.     They  have  introduced  at  Castries,  the 
manufacture  of  tiles,  and  the  porous  water  jars,  so  ex- 
tensively  used   in   the  West  Indies.     One  gentleman, 
whom  we  visited,  has  one  of  them  in  his   service  as  a 
groom,  and  spoke  highly  of  his  industry  and  good  be- 
haviour.    The  young  man  himself  told  us  he  did  not 
love  his  own   country,  "  it  was  no  good.*'     The  ma- 
jority  of  the  refugees,  it  is  said,  bear  an  indifferent 
character,  but  it  is  only  surprising  that  they  are  not 
totally  demoralised  and  discouraged  by  the  conduct  of 
the  government  and  proprietary  body  towards  them. 
We  passed  to-day  through  a  sugar  estate,  which,  though 
possessing  every  advantage  of  situation,  was  in  a  state 
verging  on  ruin,  from  carelessness  and  neglect.     Whole 
fields  of  canes  were  so  choked  with  long  grass  and  weeds, 
as  to  be  fit  for  nothing  but  to  be  ploughed  or  hoed  in. 
We  set  out  on  our  return  about  an  hour  before  sun- set. 
A  shower  had  rendered  the  air  still  more  clear  than  in 
the  morning,  and  the  scenery  was  if  possible  more 
beautiful.     After  sun-set  the  air  was  lighted  up  by  fire 
flies,  floating  about  like  sparks,  one  moment  extinguish- 
ed  and  the   next  re-appearing.      They  seemed  to   be 
governed  by  a  consentaneous  impulse  ;  sometimes  the 
valley  below  us  appeared  like  an  abyss  of  darkness, 
suddenly  it  would  become  an  inverted  firmament,  stud- 
ded with  stars ;  and  then  as  suddenly  relapse  into  dark- 
ness.    The  loud  croaking  of  frogs,  and  the  chirping  of 
grasshoppers,  filled  the  air  with  a  singular  night  music. 
St.  Lucia  abounds  with  serpents,  the  most  remarkable 
of  which,   are  the  boa  constrictor,  and  a  mahogany 


ST.  LUCIA.  125 

colored  snake^  of  a  very  venomous  nature,  which  is  pe- 
culiar to  some  parts  of  North  America,  to  this  island, 
and  to  Martinique.  It  is  frequently  causing  loss  of 
life.  Here  also,  and  at  Martinique,  they  have  a  bird  of 
song  called  the  ^*  rossignol/*  which  is  believed  to  be 
identical  with  the  mock-bird. 

St.  Lucia  produces  chiefly  sugar  and  coffee.  The 
average  yearly  produce  of  the  former  has  declined  from 
ten  thousand  to  three  thousand  hogsheads  since  it  be- 
came a  British  possession.  The  prospects  of  the  com- 
ing crop  are  favorable ;  it  is  expected  to  reach  four 
thousand  hogsheads.  The  coffee  plantations  have  also 
declined,  in  consequence,  as  is  supposed,  of  an  altera- 
tion of  climate ;  but  the  injury  is  less  extensive  and 
severe  than  in  Dominica.  We  passed  to  day  through 
an  abandoned  plantation  of  cacoa,  which  was  once 
extensively  grown,  but  has  declined  in  consequence  of 
the  low  price  to  which  it  has  fallen.  St.  Lucia  is  a 
crown  colony  and  governed  by  Royal  Orders  in  Coun- 
cil. It  has,  however,  a  colonial  Council  appointed 
by  the  crown,  and  consisting  of  an  equal  number  of 
unofficial  members,  and  of  members  holding  import- 
ant offices  under  Government.  It  possesses  legislative 
powers,  but  is  entirely  under  the  control  of  the  Colonial 
Office.  The  ancient  constitution  and  laws  of  the  colony 
are  not  yet  abrogated,  though  they  appear  to  be  gra- 
dually disappearing.  The  French  language  is  almost 
exclusively  spoken  by  all  classes.  The  lady  of  the 
Chief  Justice,  informed  us  that  there  were  only  two 
ladies  in  the  colony  who  spoke  English  till  the  ar- 
rival, a  few  days  since,  of  the  wife  and  daughters  of  one 
of  the  Stipendiary  magistrates. 

St.  Lucia  has  been  more  completely  neglected,  both 
by  the  government  and  people  of  England,  than  any 
m3 


126  ST.  LUCIA. 

other  colony ;  and   its   black   population  is  therefore 
more  degraded  and  ignorant^     It  was  observed  to  us  by 
an  enlightened  and  influential  resident^  that  *'  not  a  ray 
of  light  has  yet  reached  the  island,  from  any  of  the  re- 
ligious or  benevolent  Societies  of  the  moUier  country. 
Another  gentleman  assured  us^  that  it  has  not  received 
twenty  pounds  a  year,  for  educational  purposes  from 
Government,  out  of  the  large  sums  which  have  been 
granted ;  nor  any  assistance  fromany  of  the  Societies. 
The  numbers  at  present  under  instruction,  out  of  a 
laboring  population  of  fourteen  thousand,  does  not  pro- 
bably exceed  one  hundred  children ;  yet  there  is  a  field 
open  to  teachers  and  missionaries,  which  appears  to 
possess  peculiar  advantages  to  compensate  for  its  pecu- 
liar difficulties.     Many  of  the  proprietors,  we  are  as- 
sured, are  ready  to  assist  in  furnishing  suitable  build- 
ings for  schools*    The  Council  are  anxious  to  speed 
the  work,  and  have  more  than  once  brought  the  sub- 
ject under  the  consideration  of  Government,  but  with- 
out effect.     Several  gentlemen  have  given  us  their  opi- 
nion, that  the  obstacles  to  the  education  of  the  negros 
created  by  the  French  language  and  Roman  Catholic 
religion,  would  be  obviated  by  sending  out  natives  of 
Guernsey,  or  others  possessing  a  familiar  acquaintance 
with  French,  and  by  the  use  of  the  books  and  scripture 
lessons  prepared  by  the  Irish  Education  Board.*     It  is 
generally  agreed  that  the  English  language  only  should 
be  taught  in  the  schools,  and  that  its  diffusion  is  essen- 
tial to   the   permanent   improvement   of  the   colony. 

*  These  sentiments  are  recorded,  as  shewing  the  anxiety  of  some 
of  the  principal  colonists  to  second  any  efforts  that  may  be  made  to 
promote  education.  We  would  not  be  understood  as  expressing  any 
opinion  of  our  own  on  the  propriety  of  establishing  a  particular  sys- 
tem. 


ST.  LUCIA.  127 

The  resident  proprietors  are  chiefly  French ;  many  of 
them  are  moral  and  respectable.  A  pleasing  instance 
was  mentioned  to  us^  of  judicious  liberality  on  the  part 
of  one  of  them,  the  proprietor  of  a  coffee  estate.  He 
gave  two  of  his  head  negros  a  piece  of  ground  to  culti- 
vate in  canes,  and  lent  them  money  to  erect  a  little 
mill.  They  made  the  first  year  a  profit  of  sixty  pounds, 
and  he  reasonably  anticipates,  that  they  will  be  glad 
to  continue  as  his  tenants  when  they  become  free. 
This  gentleman  is  actuated  by  native  liberality  and 
benevolence ;  like  many  of  the  French  colonists,  he  has 
never  been  further  from  home  than  Martinique,  where 
they  are  usually  sent  in  early  life  for  education.  The 
dissolute  morals  of  a  part  of  the  white  and  colored 
inhabitants  of  this  colony,  as  well  as  of  those  which 
we  have  previously  visited,  with  the  exception  of  An- 
tigua, cannot  be  described  in  a  work  intended  for  gene- 
ral perusal.  The  only  redeeming  feature  in  the  exist- 
ing state  of  things,  is  the  general  testimony,  that  mar- 
riages are  increasing,  and  that  there  has  been  a  visible 
improvement  in  recent  years,  in  the  morals  of  the 
colored  people  and  apprentices.* 


*  Several  circumstances  were  mentioned  to  us  in  St  Lucia,  which 
it  would  have  been  our  duty  to  have  alluded  to  here,  but  they  have 
subsequently  been  brought  under  the  notice  of  the  Gt)vemment,  and 
we  therefore  await  the  result  of  an  authorised  investigation* 


CHAPTER  IX. 


BARBADOS. 

I2th  Month,  27th,  ^ December,  J  1836. 

Wb  left  St.  Lucia  last  night.  Our  little  schooner^ 
we  find^  belongs  to  the  Superintendent  of  Barbuda ; 
three  of  the  sailors  are  natives  of  that  island,  and  our 
Captain  is  a  colored  man  from  Antigua.* 

28th. — ^We  arrived  at  Carlisle  Bay  this  morning 
after  a  fine  passage.  We  saw  several  small  whales  in 
the  channel  between  Martinique  and  St.  Lucia  ;  and  a 
few  days  ago,  the  sailors  caught  a  dolphin,  which  gave  us 
the  painful  opportunity  of  witnessing  in  its  dying  ago- 
nies, the  changes  of  color,  for  which  it  is  so  celebrated. 
We  thought  them  more  extraordinary  than  beautiful. 

Bridgetown^  Barbados,  I2th  Mo.  29th,  1836. — 
We  called  to-day  upon  A.  Stronnach,  the  agent  of  the 
Mico  Trustees,  who  has  recently  arrived  in  this  colony. 
He  is  busily  engaged  in  raising  a  building,  in  a  densely 
populated  neighbourhood,  for  an  Infant  school.  He 
has  before  him  a  prospect  of  extensive  usefulness, 

I2th  Month,  Ust. — We  paid  a  visit  to  W.  Moyster, 
at  Providence,  in  Christ  Church  Parish,  a  distance  of 
seven  miles  from  Bridgetown.  Our  road,  for  upwards 
of  a  mile,  was  through  the  principal  suburb  of  the  town, 
which  is  a  place  of  great  bustle  and  importance,  com- 

•  See  Appendix  D. 


BARBADOS.  129 

pared  with  the  other  towns  we  have  yet  seen  in  the 
British  islands.  He  related  to  us  an  instance  of  a 
Wesleyan  minister,  formerly  resident  in  this  island, 
who  though  a  good  man  and  an  excellent  preacher,  lost 
the  confidence  of  the  negros  ;  and  with  it  his  usefulness 
among  them  in  the  country  districts,  by  marrying  into 
a  planter's  family.  The  negros  said  of  him,  "  He  eat 
with  manager,  and  drink  with  manager,  and  manager 
tell  him  what  to  say  to  us.*^  We  made  many  inquiries 
of  him  on  the  sulaject  of  education,  and  it  appears 
from  his  statements,  that  the  schools  are  totally  inade- 
quate to  the  wants  of  this  dense  population.  About 
two  hundred  children  attend  the  Sunday  school  at  Pro- 
vidence Chapel,  and  he  had  also  established  at  his  own 
expense  a  day  school,  which  was  attended  by  seventy 
children  ;  but  he  was  about  removing  immediately  to 
St.  Vincent,  and  it  would  depend  upon  his  successor 
whether  it  was  continued.  The  Wesleyan  chapel  here 
was  built  at  the  sole  cost  of  a  neighbouring  planter, 
now  deceased,  who  has  also  left  the  society  a  consi- 
derable reversionary  interest  in  the  estates.  This  gen- 
tleman attached  himself  to  the  Wesleyans  from  their 
first  arrival  in  the  island,  and  shared  in  their  early  per- 
secutions. He  manifested  a  real  concern  to  promote 
the  physical  comfort  and  moral  elevation  of  his  negros, 
and  in  his  will  bequeathed  to  each  of  them  half  an 
acre  of  ground.  We  subsequently  passed  through  a 
part  of  the  estate  which  is  now  in  the  possession  of 
his  widow.  The  negro  houses  are  large  and  commo- 
dious, and  each  of  them  surrounded  by  a  garden  filled 
with  cotton  trees. 

We  were  introduced  to  an  individual  in  this  neigh- 
bourhood, who  is  a  man  of  color,  and  one  of  a  class 
of  small,   independent  freeholders,  which   is  scarcely 


130  BARBADOS. 

knovru  in  our  other  West  India  Colonies.  He  culti- 
vates his  patrimony  of  seven  and  a  half  acres  of  land, 
upon  which  he  has  erected  a  small  mill  and  boiling 
house,  where  he  grinds  and  manufactures  into  sugar, 
his  own  canes,  and  those  of  his  brothers,  wlio  reside 
near  him.  He  receives  a  fair  proportion  of  the  pro- 
duce for  the  use  of  his  works.  He  is  the  owner  of  two 
or  three  apprentices,  and  also  employs,  on  the  Satur- 
day, laborers  from  the  neighbouring  estates,  at  one 
shilling  sterling  per  day ;  a  price,  which  he  thinks 
cannot  be  given,  when  the  cultivation  is  entirely  car- 
ried on  by  free  labor.  The  allowance  of  provisions  to 
the  apprentices  is  thirty  pounds  of  yams  or  sweet 
potatoes,  or  ten  pints  of  Guinea  corn  per  week  ;  two 
pounds  of  salt  fish  per  week,  and  two  suits  of  clothes 
per  annum.  Half  an  acre  of  land  and  twenty-six  days 
in  the  year,  i.  e.  every  alternate  Friday,  are  sometimes 
substituted  for  these  allowances.  Taskwork  was  exten- 
sively introduced  some  time  ago,  but  has  been  gene- 
rally abandoned  ;  because,  as  he  thinks,  the  "  scale  of 
labor ''  was  too  high.* 

We  called  at  the  nearest  parish  school.  The  parish- 
es are  thirteen  in  number,  and  in  most  of  them  the 
Bishop  has  established  a  school.  Being  vacation  week, 
we  could  not  see  the  children,  but  we  had  some  con- 
versation with  the  master  and  two  colored  men,  who 
were  also  schoolmasters.  At  this  school  there  are 
more  than  one  hundred  on  the  list,  of  whom  ninety  is 
the  average  attendance.  From  the  statement  of  the 
masters  it  appeared,  that  their  schools  had  been  in- 
jured by  the  sudden  introduction  of  the  pay  system, 
instead  of  the   gratuitous   plan  on   which  they  were 

*See  Appendix  £.  Sec.  ill. 


BARBADOS.  131 

commenced.  They  complained  also  that  no  uniform 
plan  of  instruction  had  been  adopted;  and  that  the 
clergy  seldom  visited  their  schools^  or  otherwise  mani- 
fested any  interest  in  them. 

We  returned  to  town  by  a  different  route.  In  the 
morning  we  had  seen  many  negros  going  to  market 
with  their  trays  on  their  heads^  and  now  met  numbers 
returning,  having  disposed  of  the  produce  of  their 
grounds^  and  supplied  themselves  with  articles  from 
the  town  in  exchange.  Barbados  is  very  highly  cul- 
tivated. The  weather  during  the  last  year  has  been 
favorable^  and  there  is  a  prospect  of  a  large  crop ; 
the  canes  appear  strong  and  heavy,  and  very  few  of 
them  have  arrowed.  They  present  a  great  contrast  to 
those  of  Antigua. 

1st.  Month  Ist.y  (January J  1837. — ^The  Sabbath. 
— ^We  went  this  morning  to  the  Moravian  Chapel,  in 
a  part  of  the  town  called  the  Roebuck.  There  were 
about  one  hundred  persons  present  at  the  service. 
This  is  a  new  station  of  the  Brethren,  and  one  in 
which  they  have  the  prospect  of  extensive  and  most 
useful  labors ;  being  situated  at  the -edge  of  the  town, 
with  a  dense  and  neglected  population  on  one  side, 
and  a  district  of  estates  on  the  other. 

2nd. — ^We  called  to-day  upon  several  persons  inti- 
mately acquainted  with  the  state  of  the  colony,  and  re- 
gret to  state  that  all  the  information  we  received,  is  of 
an  unsatisfactory  nature;  with  the  single  exception, 
that  the  proprietors  are  prosperous,  and  that  the  island 
was  never  in  a  higher  state  of  cultivation.  One  gentle- 
man, who  is  in  the  interests  of  the  planters,  informs  us 
that  the  small  estates  are  worth  double  what  they  were 
five  years  ago,  and  that  estates  then  valued  at  twenty 
thousand  pounds,  would  now  fetch  thirty -five  thousand. 


132  BARBADOS. 

Our  informant   said,  he  came  out  to  Barbados  with 
English   feelings  on  the  subject  of  slavery ;    but  his 
residence  in  the  colonies^  and  the  acquisition  of  slaves^ 
appeared  to  have  given  him  a  most  unfavorable  im- 
pression of  the  negro  character.     He  complained  par- 
ticularly of  his  domestics.     Though  most  anxious   to 
be  rid  of  them^  he  said  they  were  such  wretches,  that 
for  the  sake  of  society,  he  could  not  conscientiously 
emancipate    them.      He   was   obliged  to    have   three 
grooms  to  look  after  one  horse,  &c.     Without  at  all 
concurring  in  a  general  extension  of  these  sentiments, 
to  the  non-predials,  it  is  generally  allowed  in  the  colo- 
nies, that  the  Apprenticeship  has  had  a  more  unfavor- 
able effect  on  their  character,  than  on  that  of  the  field 
laborers.     Other  disinterested  persons  speak  unfavor- 
ably of  the  condition  of  the  apprentices.     The  Stipen- 
diaries are,  perhaps,  with  a  single  exception,  accustomed 
to  share  the  hospitalities  of  the  planters.  Many  of  the  ap- 
prentices complain,  that  they  have  fewer  privileges  than 
before ;  they  are  not  allowed  to  raise  and  keep  poultry 
and  other  small  stock  to  the  same  extent ;  and  in  con- 
sequence, a  rise  of  prices  has  taken  place  in  Bridgetown 
market.     The  free  children  are  much  neglected.     After 
1834  many  of  the  planters  turned  them  off  the  estates, 
provoked  by  the  disappointment  of  their  expectation, 
that  the  parents  would  consent  to  apprentice  them  ;  an 
expectation  which  was  baffled  by  the  perseverance  of 
the  mothers,  acting  under  the  advice  of  the  Governor, 
Sir  Lionel   Smith.      This  extreme  measure  against 
the  free  children,  was  happily  not  persevered  in  ;  but 
cases  have  recently  occurred,  where  it  has  again  been 
resorted  to.     On  the  estates  of  a  once  humane  resident 
proprietor,  the  children  are  taken  care  of  in  the  estates' 
nurseries  as  before  ;  but  in  the  vast  majority  of  in- 


BARBADOS. 


133 


stances^  they  are  neglected.  If  there  is  an  Infant 
School  in  the  neighbourhood^  they  resort  to  it  several 
hours  before  the  instruction  commences^  simply  be- 
cause they  know  not  where  else  to  pass  the  time  ;  as 
their  parents  lock  their  doors  when  they  go  to  the 
field,  and  the  children  are  not  allowed  to  be  about  the 
estates.  The  mortality  amongst  them  has  been  very 
great  since  1834.  The  boon  of  freedom  granted,  as  if 
in  mockery  to  their  helpless  infants,  has  proved  a  source 
of  misery  and  bitter  persecution  to  the  negro  mothers. 
In  some  cases  where  the  planters  have  changed  the 
allowances  of  the  negros  for  half  an  acre  of  ground, 
and  the  alternate  Fridays,  the  latter  have  suffered  great 
distress,  in  consequence  of  being  left  without  the  means 
of  support  till  their  land  was  brought  into  cultivation. 

3rd. — We  visited  this  morning  the  infant  school, 
under  the  care  of  Brother  Kxose,  the  Moravian  mis- 
sionary at  Sharon.  There  were  from  sixty  to  seventy 
children  present,  of  two  to  eight  years  of  age.  Two 
only  of  the  older  ones  were  apprentices,  and  their  pa- 
rents paid  a  consideration  to  their  masters,  for  the 
privilege  of  sending  them.  A  few  of  the  children 
evinced  a  fair  proficiency  in  reading,  spelling,  and  the 
multiplication  tables.  Some  of  them  wrote  on  slates. 
Speaking  of  the  destitute  whites,  of  whom  there  is  a 
large  number  in  the  island.  Brother  Klose  mentioned 
an  instance  of  a  lady,  whose  property  was  entirely 
destroyed  by  the  hurricane  of  1831,*  and  who  was 
taken  in  and  supported  by  one  of  her  former  slaves,  who 
had  previously  purchased  her  freedom. 

From  Sharon  we  proceeded  to  Government  House. 

•  See  Appendix  E.  Sec.  vi. 

N 


134  BAABA90S. 

The  Gpvernor,  Sir  Evan  Mac  Grsgor,  ceceived  ua 
politely.  He  expressed  himself  decidedly  in  favor  of 
immediate  Emancipation,  as  adopted  by  the  legislature 
of  Antigua ;  but  with  regard  to  the  Apprenticeship,  he 
thought  the  time  was  now  come  for  conciliaidon.  The 
remaining  term  being  comparati«rely  short,  he  thought 
it  of  great  importance,  that  there  should  be  no  unneees-* 
sary  irritati(m  oi  the  planters,  respecting  defects  in  the 
provisions  of  the  local  Abolition  Bill,  or  abuses  which 
will  expire  with  the  Apprenticeship.  He  would  rather 
endeavour  to  convince  them,  that  it  is  their  interest  to 
be  on  good  terms  with  their  laborers,  and  to  induce 
them,  if  possible,  to  anticipate  the  period  of  ultimate 
Emancipation. 

We  had  some  conversation  with  the  Governor,  res- 
pecting the  jail  discipline  of  the  island.  We  had  pre- 
viously heard  of  a  case  which  occurred  recently,  of  a 
woman  who  was  sent  by  one  of  the  Stipendiaries  to 
the  tread-mill.  She  had  an  infant  in  arms,  which  the 
jailer  refused  to  receive,  and  which  was  therefore  left 
on  the  road.  The  circumstance  was  reported  to  the 
Governor,  who  immediately  ordered  her  to  be  released, 
and  gave  instructions  to  the  Stipendiaries,  not  to  send 
women  with  young  children  to  the  tread-mill.  He  has 
since  directed,  that  pregnant  women  should  not  be  put 
upon  it.  We  mentioned  the  details  which  had  been 
sent  to  us,  by  our  fellow  travellers  Scoble  and  Lloyd, 
of  the  scenes  they  witnessed  in  the  jail.  Sir  Evan 
had  then  very  recently  assumed  the  government.  He 
had  already  turned  his  attention  to  the  state  of  the  jail, 
and  had  discovered  and  rectified  some  of  the  abuses. 
He  had  directed  that  the  superintendent  of  the  tread- 
mill should  no  longer  carry  a  cat^  but  that  if  the  prison- 
ers were  refractory,  a  magistrate  should  be  sent  for. 


BARBADOS.  135 

and  they  skoQld  be  summarily  punished  by  his  authori- 
ty. We  requested  to  be  cdlowed  to  inspect  the  monthly 
}oiirnals  of  tiie  Stipendiaries,  which  he  kindly  granted. 
After  leayitt^  Government  House,  we  called  upon 
the  Bisho|>,  who  gave  us  some  valuable  information  on 
tiie  state  -of  education.  Hiere  are  about  eight  thousand 
children  in  the  diocese,  receiving  instruction  in  schools 
under  the  oiHre  of  the  clergy.  The  number  has  declined 
within  the  last  year,  in  consequence  of  an  attempt 
made  to  introduce  the  pay  system,  which  has  failed  ex* 
ccpt  in  Demersura.  No  opposition  is  now  encountered 
on  the  part  of  the  proprietors,  but  many  of  them  mani- 
fest much  apathy,  and  render  no  assistance.  The 
teaches  are  black  and  colored  persons.  The  greatest 
difficulty  experienced  in  this  island,  is  not  the  want  of 
qualificattoB  on  the  part  of  colored  teachers^  but  their 
preference  for  m6re  lucrative  employments.  Besides 
the  children  actually  attending  school,  many  others  re- 
ceive instruction  from  other  children,  and  improve 
tben^dives  by  attending  the  Sunday  schools. 

4th. — One  of  U^  Stipendiary  Magistrates,  has  kindly 
furnished  us  with  a  tabular  statement  of  particulars 
respecting  the  free  children,  which  he  has  collected  with 
considerable  labor.  From  this  document  it  appears, 
that  out  of  eleven  hundred  and  fifty  free  children,  on 
the  forty-nine  estates,  in  the  smallest  district  in  the 
island  j  sixty-two  receive  food,  fifty^one  clothing,  one 
hundred  and  eighty-nine  medical  care,  twenty-seven 
some  kind  of  education,  and  the  remainder  nothing,  from 
the  proprietors  of  the  estates  to  which  their  parents 
are  attached.  Of  those  who  receive  food,  clothing,  and 
medical  attendance,  forty-nine  belong  to  the  estate  of 
one  humane  proprietor. 

We  visited  to-day  Mount  Tabor,  the  third  Mora- 


136  BARBADOS. 

vian  station  in  Barbados,  where  we  inspected  the  in- 
fant school,  in  which  there  were  about  seventy  scholars* 
About  ten  or  twelve  read  in  the  Testament,  and 
spelt  very  creditably.  A  few  also  had  begun  to  write. 
They  were  free  children,  and  the  master  told  us  their 
parents  were  endeavouring  to  have  all  of  them  brought 
up  to  trades,  and  not  to  agriculture.  This  is  one  of  the 
baneful  effects  of  the  Apprenticeship,  which  continues 
and  increases  the  character  of  degradation,  which  is 
attached  to  field  labor  ;  and  creates  an  injurious  dis- 
tinction between  children  of  the  same  parents,  who 
were  above,  an4  those  who  were  under  six  years  of  age 
in  1834. 

5th. — We  availed  ourselves  this  morning,  of  the 
permission  of  the  Governor,  to  look  over  the  journals 
of  the  Stipendiary  magistrates,  which  occupied  us  for 
several  hours.'^  We  have  made  many  inquiries  res- 
pecting the  manner  in  which  the  Stipendiaries  discharge 
their  duties,  but  neither  the  information  we  receive,  nor 
the  primd  facie  evidence  of  their  own  records,  tends  to 
give  us  a  favorable  impression.  The  departure  of  one  of 
the  early  magistrates.  Col.  Bushe,  is  much  regretted  by 
the  friends  of  the  apprentices.  He  was  removed  by 
military  promotion .  Another  of  the  present  magistrates 
has  the  presumptive  evidence  in  his  favor,  of  having 
been  persecuted  by  the  planters,  and  of  having  been 
removed  by  Sir  Lionel  Smith,  from  the  largest  to  the 
smallest  district  in  the  island.  Were  the  magistrates 
disposed,  however,  to  protect  the  apprentices,  the  mas- 
ter possesses  such  powers  of  annoyance  and  persecu- 
tion, that  the  apprentice  can  have  no  effective  remedy, 
in  the  exercise  of  his  right  of  appeal.     In  many  instan- 

*  See  Appendix  E.  Sec.  ii. 


BARBADOS.  13/ 

ces  comphdiUDg  negros  have  bad  their  goats  and  poul- 
try killed ;  in  others,  their  houses  have  been  pulled 
down,  and  sheds  erected  instead,  six  feet  by  seven,  just 
wide  enough  to  come  within  the  letter  of  the  law,  which 
requires  that  they  shall  be  provided  with  "  lodging." 
The  turmqg,  the  free  children  off  the  estates ;  and 
changing  their  mode  of  subsistence  by  giving  them 
half  an  acre  of  rocky,  unproductive  ground,  and 
twenty-six  days  in  the  year,  in  lieu  of  allowances, 
have  been  already  alluded  to.  We  regret  to  state  that 
the  medical  men  are  sometimes  made  parties  to  op- 
pression. Three  women  were  recently  brought  by  a 
manliger  before  a  special  magistrate,  on  a  charge  of  re- 
fusing to  work,  two  of  whom  had  each  a  very  young 
infant  in  arms,  and  the  third  twins.  The  manager  pro- 
duced a  medical  certificate  of  their  capability.  In  this 
instance,  however,^the  Stipendiary  dismissed|the  cases. 
6th. — ^We  went  this  morning  to  the  jail,  and  by 
permission  of  the  Provost  Marshal  were  shewn  over  the 
whole  of  it.  The  wards  are  kept  very  clean,  and  some 
attention  is  paid  to  classification.  We  were  told,  that 
the  prison  was  always  healthy,  and  that  during  the 
prevalence  of  the  fever  last  autumn,  not  a  single  case 
occurred  within  its  walls.  So  far  in  its  praise.  The 
number  of  prisoners  is  two  hundred  and  four  ;  the  ac- 
commodations are  much  too  small,  and  at  night  the 
rooms  are  excessively  crowded.  In  one  room  there  are 
ten  men  waiting  their  trial  at  the  next  sessions ;  and 
among  them,  some  whose  cases  remain  over  from  the 
last  sessions,  at  the  request  of  the  prosecutor,  to  the 
Attorney  General.  As  the  sessions  or  assizes  are  held 
only  once  in  six  months,  these  men  may  endure  a 
twelvemonths'  imprisonment;    at  the  end  of  which, 

they  may  be  declared  innocent,  or  if  it  should  still  not 
N  2 


138  BARBADOS. 

suit  their  prosecutor's  convenience  to  appear  against 
them,  they  may  be  discharged  without  any  trial  at  all. 
It  appears  extraordinary,  seeing  the  inconveniences  ex- 
perienced, by  the  insufficient  accommodation   in  the 
jail,  for  so  large  a  number  of  prisoners,  and  that  all 
the  judges  and  officers  of  the  Court  reside  within  the 
island,  that  there  should  be  a  jail  delivery  only  once  in 
six  months ;  but  that  the  oppressive  consequences  of 
this  arrangement,  should  to  some  unfortunate  prisoners 
who  ought  to  be  presumed  innocent,  till  proved  guilty, 
be  aggravated  by  their  cases  being  remanded  over  to 
the  next  Court,  at  the  wish  of  their  prosecutors,  is  an 
intolerable  abuse.     In  another  room  of  the  jail,  there 
are  twenty  men  who  have  been  tried  and  found  *^  not 
guilty,"    who   are  detained  till  they  have   each   paid 
twelve  and  a  half  dollars  for  the  fees   of  prosecution. 
In  another   small  room,  were  twenty-eight  prisoners 
under  sentence  of  transportation.     We  saw  also  the 
two  sick  wards,  in  which  there  were  but  few  cases. 
Those  who  are  sentenced  to  the  tread-mill,  have  to  work 
out  afterwards  any  time  they  may  lose  by  sickness. 
We  next  went  to  see  the  treadmill.     Several  wo- 
men and   two   or   three  weakly  men   were   upon   it. 
When  they  did  not  keep  step,  the  superintendent  struck 
them  with  his  flat  hand.     There  was  a  cat  suspended  on 
a  nail  in  the  room,  but  we  did  not  see  it  used.     The 
punishment  did  not  appear  too  severe  for  the  physical 
strength  of  the  robust,  but  one  of  the  men  seemed  quite 
unequal  to  the  exertion.     He  was  from  the  first  slower 
than  the  rest,  and  soon  suffered  the  mill  to  revolve 
against  his  knees,  being  held  on  by  the  arms  from  above, 
and  occasionally  making  ineffectual  attempts  to  resume 
the  step.     He  was  suffered  to  hang  till  the  time  expired. 
The  superintendent  told  us,  that  this  was  the  man's 


BARBABOS.  139 

constant  practice^  and  that  it  proceeded  from  sulkiness; 
but  from  an  inquiry  made  |by  the  Provost  Marshal, 
who  was  with  us,  it  appeared  he  had  been  sick.  He 
was  old  and  infirm,  and  we  find  it  difficult  to  believe 
that  he  would  endure  torture  rather  than  submit  to 
punishment. '  Pursuant  to  an  order  of  the  late  Gover- 
"^^ijnor,  Sir  Lionel  Smith,  the  heads  of  all  prisoners  sen- 
tenced to  the  treadmill,  are  shaved.  By  the  females  this 
is  considered  the  most  degrading  part  of  the  punishn^ent. 
It  is  put  in  force,  whether  they  are  committed  for  a 
few  days  or  for  three  months  ;  whether  their  crimes 
are  such  as  imply  a  moral  degradation  of  character,  as 
stealing,  or  whether  they  are  those  nominal  and  con- 
structive offences,  which  form  the  great  mass  of  com- 
plaints against  them  under  the  Apprenticeship  law  ;  as 
alleged  insolence,  insufficiency  or  inequality  of  work, 
&c.  Surely  for  such  offences  of  women,  as  ^^  linen 
badly  washed,  and  impertinence ;"  "  doing  only  half  as 
much  in  potatoe  hoeing  one  day,  as  they  did  the  day 
before;''  ^^the  punishment  of  seven  days  treadmill,  first 
class,''*  would  be  more  than  sufficiently  severe,  with- 
out this  additional  degradation.  These  barbarous  pun- 
ishments appear  to  be  based  upon  the  theory,  that  the 
negro  female  does  not  possess  the  deep  feelings  and 
delicate  sensibilities  of  her  sex  ;  or  if  she  does  possess 
them,  that  they  are  incompatible  with  her  servile  con- 
dition, and  ought  to  be  obliterated.  On  comparing 
our  observations  at  the  jail,  with  those  of  our  friend  J. 
ScoBLB,  when  he  visited  it  six  weeks  ago,  it  appears 
that  some  of  the  more  glaring  abuses,  have  already 
been  corrected  bv  the  new  Governor.  J,  Scoble  ob- 
serves,  that  during  the  whole  time  the  scenes  he  wit- 

*  Journals  of  Stipendiaries. 


140  BARBAI>OS. 

nesaed  were  transacting,  ^'  the  Barbados  Legislature 
were  holding  their  sessions  within  thirty  yards  of  the 
treadmiU."  We  incidentally  learned,  that  Sir  Evan 
Mac  Gregor  first  became  acquainted  with  the  manner 
in  which  the  treadmill  was  worked,  by  observing  it 
from  the  windows  of  the  Council  Chamber.  It  is  im- 
possible to  avoid  the  presumption,  that  under  the  same 
circumstances.  Sir  Liomsi.  Smith  must  often  bavie  wit- 
nessed the  sufferings,  or  heard  the  cries  of  the  unfor- 
tunate victims  of  torture ;  yet  under  his  administration 
these  things  were  permitted  to  continue. 

On  our  return  from  the  jail,  we  called  at  the  office 
of  the  Stipendiary  magistrate  for  the  town  dictrict. 
The  business  for  the  day  was  nearly  concluded.  One 
negro  complained  against  his  master  for  not  giving 
him  his  allowance  of  clothes.  The  magistrate  told 
him  to  bring  his  master  before  him,  but  by  way  of 
warning,  read  to  him  the  clause  of  the  Act,  imposing 
a  penalty  on  apprentices  preferring  false  and  malicious 
charges,  with  an  intimation,  that  he  would  be  punish- 
ed, if  he  did  not  sustain  his  case.  In  another  case  an 
apprentice  summoned  her  master  for  refusing  to  give 
her  a  pass  to  get  employment.  It  appears  that  many 
of  the  nonpredial  apprentices  procure  employment  for 
themselves,  and  pay  their  masters  the  weekly  hire  of 
half  a  dollar,  supporting  themselves  entirely  except  in 
sickness.  In  the  present  case,  the  apprentice  was 
willing  to  pay  her  hire  regularly,  but  insisted  on  choos- 
ing her  own  service,  while  her  master  insisted  on 
choosing  it  for  her.  The  magistrate,  apparently  anx- 
ious to  make  her  understand  the  relation  in  which  she 
stood,  said  to  her,  "  You  are  the  property  of  your  mas- 
ter, and  he  can  do  what  he  likes  with  you.  You  must 
not  think  you  can  go  and  work  where  you  please.     You 


BARBADOS.  141 

are  his  property;  he  can  make  you  stay  at  home  to  do 
his  work,  or  he  can  hire  you  out  to  any  person  he 
thinks  proper.'^  Such  is  the  position  of  the  nominally 
emancipated  negro,  and  such  are  the  doctrines  main- 
tained hy  a  functionary,  appointed  to  carry  into  effect 
an  Act  for  "  The  Abolition  of  Slavery.*'  The  magis- 
trate told  us,  that  the  nonpredials  were  fast  buying  out 
their  time ;  he  sometimes  registered  thirty  manumis- 
sions in  a  knonth. 

We  have  heard  to  day,  that  a  measure  is  in  contem- 
plation, for  apprenticing  the  free  children,  without  the 
consent  of  their  parents.  This  report  has  occasioned 
great  alarm  to  the  friends  of  the  negros.*  A  gentle- 
man with  whom  we  conversed  on  this  subject,  told  us 
that  some  time  ago,  a  woman  came  to  him  with  twins 
in  her  arms,  about  three  months  old,  whom  her  master 
had  desired  to  apprentice ;  and  when  she  refused,  he  in- 
sisted on  sending  them  away  from  the  estate.  They  were 
taken  to  a  charitable  institution  where  one  of  them 
subsequently  died.  He  knew  another  case,  where  a 
master  sent  away  a  child  about  a  month  old,  and  re- 
fused to  allow  its  mother  to  go  to  see  it.  In  this 
instance  the  interference  of  the  late  Governor,  procured 
redress.  He  observed  to  us,  that  he  considered  the 
negro  character  had  been  much  misrepresented.  In 
the  course  of  a  long  experience  he  had  found  them  pa- 
tient, enduring,  and  by  no  means  vindictive.  They 
are  honest  in  great  matters,  though  addicted  to  taking 
trifling  articles,  which  they  do  not  consider  stealing. 
They  have  the  same  natural  affection  for  their  children 
as  Europeans,  notwithstanding  all  assertions  to  the 
contrary.    They  are  of  quick  tempers,  and  apt  in  their 

*  See  Appendix  E.,  Sec.  v. 


142  BARBADOS. 

disputes  to  break  out  into  violent  langua^^  but  rarely 
fight  or  injure  one  another.  They  attach  great  import- 
ance to  being  addressed  in  respectful  language,  and 
always  use  it  in  their  common  intercourse  with  each 
other.  They  are  suspicious  of  their  masters,  and  can 
rarely  be  induced  to  believe,  when  he  offers  them  any 
indulgence,  that  he  has  their  benefit  and  not  his  own 
in  view. 

We  went  this  evening  to  an  adult  s^iool  which  is 
held  for  an  hour  twice  a  week,  in  a  room  provided  for 
the  pmrpose  by  W.  M.  Hartb,  the  Rector  of  St.  Mary's. 
There  were  about  one  hundred  present,  who  were  nearly 
all  apprentices.  Many  have  no  other  education  than 
what  they  receive  here. 

7th. — ^We  called  on  the  Rector  of  St.  Mary's,  who 
gave  us  some  particulars  of  the  useful  results  of  the 
benefit  societies,  formed  in  connection  witii  hi6  church. 
One  of  their  regulations  that  married  persons  only 
shall  become  members  of  them,  has  been  found  very 
beneficial.  Concubinage  is  now  considered  discreditable, 
and  marriages  are  fast  increasing  among  the  colored 
and  black  population. 

An  individual  upon  whom  we  called  to  day,  men- 
tioned to  us  a  case,  of  which  all  the  facts  have  not 
been  ascertained,  because  the  investigation  was  con- 
ducted by  the  special  magistrate,  (Coulthurst,)  with 
closed  doors.  So  far  it  is  known,  that  some  time 
ago  a  letter  was  sent  to  the  Earl  of  Harbwood,  pur- 
porting to  come  from  several  negros  on  one  of  his  es- 
tates, complaining  against  their  manager  for  short 
allowances  and  ill  treatment.  Lord  Harbwood,  de- 
sirous no  doubt  to  have  the  complaint  inquired  into, 
and  if  found  true,  the  abuses  rectified,  sent  the  letter  to 
his  attorney,  who  handed  it  to  the   manager.      The 


BABJBAI>OS.  143 

manager  summoiied  the  negros  before  the  magistrate. 
They  denied  hadng  written  the  letter^  or  having  autho- 
rised any  one  to  write  it  for  them;  but  they  per- 
sisted that  the  facts  stated  in  it  were  true.  They  were 
severdy  punished.  One  of  the  men  was  degraded  to 
an  inferior  employment,  and  to  escape  further  perse- 
cution, has  since  raised  the  means  to  purchase  his  free- 
dom. The  following  circumstance  was  related  to  us 
to  day,  as  illustrative  of  the  advantages  of  immediate 
Emancipation^.  Our  informant  was  some  years  ago  in 
the  colony  of  Berbice,  not  long  after  the  emancipation 
of  the  Winkel  negros,  a  body  of  slaves  belonging  to 
the  Government.  He  inquired  of  a  person  high  in 
office,  how  these  people  were  conducting  themselves. 
The  reply  was,  that  nothing  could  be  more  deplorable, 
than  their  condition ;  they  were  idle  and  dissolute,  and 
the  pest  of  society ;  the  Government  could  not  have 
done  a  greater  injury  to  the  colony,  than  by  emanci- 
pating them.  Shortly  afterwards,  he  saw  the  Protector 
of  slaves,  to  whom  he  expressed  his  regret,  on  hearing 
of  the  conduct  of  these  liberated  negros.  The  Protec- 
tor assured  him,  he  had  received  a  prejudiced  account ; 
that  their  deportment  was  most  satisfactory,  and  that 
not  one  of  them,  that  he  had  heard  of,  had  been  taken  be- 
fore a  magistrate.  Our  informant  subsequently  went  to 
the  village  where  the  Winkel  negros  resided,  in  order  to 
ascertain  which  of  these  contradictory  statements  was 
true.  He  went  into  twenty  of  their  dwellings  in  suc- 
cession, and  found  in  every  one,  evidences  of  industry 
and  domestic  comfort.  In  every  house  there  was  a 
bible  or  testament,  and  in  most  of  them  some  one  of 
the  inmates  eould  read. 

8th. — We  went  this  morning  to  the  adult  Sunday 
school  connected  with  St.  Mary's  church.     Besides  a 


144  BARBADOS. 

large  number  of  old  people,  who  were  under  examina- 
tion as  candidates  for  baptism  ;  there  were  present 
about  sixty  scholars  learning  to  read,  in  three  or  four 
classes.  They  were  from  fourteen  to  upwards  of 
sixty  years  of  age  ;  several  very  old  people  were  even 
in  the  alphabet  class,  and  came,  we  were  told,  a  dis- 
tance of  eight  or  ten  miles  to  the  school ;  an  affecting 
proof  of  the  general  desire  among  the  negros  for  edu- 
cation. From  the  school  we  proceeded  to  church. 
Though  the  Rector  is  free  from  prejudice  himself,  dis- 
tinctions of  color  are  still  kept  up  in  his  congregation. 
Formerly  black  and  colored  persons  were  confined  to 
the  gallery ;  now  they  are  allowed  to  occupy  the  pews 
in  the  lower  half  of  the  body  of  the  church.  The  space 
appropriated  to  them  was  much  crowded.  At  the 
close  of  the  service,  a  collection  was  made  for  paying 
off  the  debt  on  the  building  of  a  new  church  in  a 
neighbouring  parish.  From  a  statement  which  was 
read,  it  appeared  that  one  hundred  pounds  had  been 
contributed  to  this  object,  from  the  ^^  hurricane  fund." 
The  application  of  this  fund,  deserves  to  be  made  a 
isubject  of  parliamentary  enquiry.  The  distribution  of 
it  has  been  by  no  means  satisfactory  to  many  of  the 
sufferers.  It  is  complained  that  some  persons  of  small 
property,  who  were  entirely  ruined  by  the  hurricane, 
had  no  relief  from  it,  while  others  of  large  fortune  ob- 
tained considerable  grants. 

One  of  us  visited  in  the  afternoon,  the  Wesleyan 
Sunday  School,  where  there  were  assembled  about 
three  hundred  scholars  and  sixty  or  seventy  teachers. 
The  conductor  of  it  was  a  negro,  who  made  at  the 
conclusion  a  very  appropriate  address  to  the  children 
and  teachers.  Some  prizes  of  little  books  were  then 
distributed. 


BARBADOS.  145 

9th. — A  gentleman  shewed  us  to  day,  two  old 
maps  of  Barbados,  which  threw  some  light  on  the 
manners  and  customs  of  the  early  colonists.  The 
first  was  of  the  date  of  1675.  The  island  appeared  to 
have  been  at  that  time  but  partially  cleared  of  its 
native  forest.  Among  the  figures  of  the  wild  and  do- 
mestic animals,  was  the  camel,  which  was  used  then 
and  long  afterwards,  as  a  beast  of  burden.  There  was 
also  a  figure  of  a  planter  pursuing  runaway  negros,  and 
firing  at  them  with  his  pistol.  In  another  map  of 
more  recent  date,  five  Quakers'  meeting  houses  were 
marked. 

Archdeacon  Eliot  and  the  Rector  of  St.  Mary's, 
kindly  accompanied  us  to  visit  some  of  the  principal 
schools  in  Bridgetown,  under  the  care  of  the  establish- 
ment. We  went  first  to  the  infant  school,  which  is 
attended  by  one  hundred  and  fifty  children  ;  and  from 
thence  to  the  boys'  school,  where,  though  it  was  the 
first  day  after  the  Christmas  vacation,  the  attendance 
was  about  one  hundred  and  fifty,  out  of  one  hundred 
and  eighty  on  the  list.  We  heard  several  classes  read, 
and  answer  questions,  in  which  they  displayed  con- 
siderable proficiency  as  well  as  in  spelling  and  arith- 
metic. About  fifty  of  the  children  were  apprentices. 
We  had  not  the  opportunity  of  ascertaining  on  what 
terms  they  obtained  leave  to  attend  school,  except  that 
in  one  instance,  the  owner  received  a  consideration 
from  the  boy's  parent,  for  allowing  him  to  come.  The 
master  is  a  negro  ;  he  was  educated  in  the  school  him- 
self, and  is  a  well  qualified  teacher.  In  the  girls' 
school  which  we  next  visited,  the  attendance  was  about 
seventy  out  of  eighty-five.  They  were  nearly  in 
the  same  state  of  discipline  and  proficiency  as  the 
boys.  In  the  first  class  were  several  apprentices  whose 
o 


146  BARBADOS. 

mistresses  voluntarily  sent  them  for  improvement. 
Barbados  is  far  behind  Antigua  in  the  general  spread 
of  education,  but  is  in  advance  of  it^  in  the  character 
of  its  schools.  Besides  those  which  we  visited  to  day, 
which  are  in  a  satisfactory  state  of  efficiency,  there  are 
many  good  private  schools  for  all  classes. 

10th. — We  went  at  noon  to  the  House  of  Assembly. 
This  body,  like  that  of  Antigua,  meets  by  short  ad- 
journments, and  is  always  in  session.  It  is  annually 
elected.  The  proceedings  to  day,  were  not  of  much 
interest.  Several  bills  were  read  a  first,  second  and 
third  time;  and,  so  far  as  the  lower  House  is  concerned, 
were  pushed  through  their  several  stages  in  one  sitting. 
The  Solicitor  General  gave  notice,  in  a  speech  of  con- 
siderable length,  of  a  Bill  to  adopt  on  the  part  of  this 
colony,  the  Imperial  Act  for  a  change  in  the  judicial 
system.  The  Solicitor  General  appears  to  possess 
great  influence  in  the  House,  and  is  reported  to  pos- 
sess great  influence  out  of  it,  particularly  in  the  coun- 
cils of  the  Governor.  He  is  a  young  man  of  agreeable 
manners,  and  a  persuasive  speaker.  He  politely  intro- 
duced himself  to  us,  in  the  lobby  of  the  House,  and 
conversed  with  us  for  a  few  minutes  on  the  state  of 
the  jail,  and  the  administration  of  criminal  justice ;  and 
also  on  the  condition  of  the  free  children.  Their  desti- 
nation, he  observed,  had  become  a  vital  question  to  the 
colony.  They  were  now  being  brought  up  in  habits 
of  idleness  and  petty  stealing.  He  wished  they  could 
be  apprenticed  till  their  mothers  became  free,  were  it 
merely  for  the  purposes  of  maintenance  and  education; 
but  complained  of  the  jealousy  existing  on  this  subject 
in  England,  where  it  was  characterised  as  a  perpetua- 
tion of  slavery.  He  observed,  that  sending  the  children 
away  from  the  estate,  had  only  occurred  in  one  or  two 


BARBADOS.  147 

iostances,  and  he  expressed  much  indignation  at  the 
conduct  of  those  who  had  been  guilty  of  it.  The  great 
desiderata  in  the  colonies  were  schools  combining  agri- 
culture with  learning. 

11th. — ^The  population  of  Barbados  is  supposed  to 
be  above  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand.  Accord- 
ing to  the  ordinary  ratio  of  increase^  the  colony,  with- 
out injury  to  itself^  might  afford  the  other  colonies  several 
thousand  emigrants  annually;  yet  the  legislature  has 
passed  an  Act,  the  effect  of  which  will  be  to  prevent  the 
laboring  population  leaving  the  island.  This  Act  awaits 
the  sanction  of  the  Home  Government  to  become  law. 

We  went  this  morning  to  the  jail  with  the  Rector 
of  SU  Mary's,  who  is  chaplain  to  the  prison.  There 
were  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  present  at  prayers, 
whose  behaviour  was  attentive  and  decorous.  One  only, 
of  the  white  prisoners  attended — the  prejudice  of  caste 
being  preserved  even  among  criminals.  The  minister 
addressed  them,  at  the  conclusion  briefly  and  affec- 
tionately. We  called  in  the  course  of  the  day  at  the 
Secretary's  Office,  and  obtained  permission  to  inspect 
the  registry  of  apprentices.  They  are  duly  classified 
as  predials  or  non-predials,  but  the  return  is  made  by 
the  pl^mters,  and  tradesmen  on  the  plantations  are 
included  in  the  former  class. 

We  met  to  day  a  gentleman  of  great  intelligence 
and  extensive  information,  who  told  us,  that  he  knew 
at  least  one  planter  in  the  island,  an  attorney  for 
several  estates,  who  was  preparing  for  Emancipation 
by  increasing  the  comforts  of  his  negros.  Probably 
there  are  many,  who  adopt  the  same  enlightened  course. 
He  said,  that  in  some  instances,  the  nett  profits  of  the 
last  two  years  were  equal  to  more  than  half  the  value 
of  the  fee  simple  of  the  estates,  and  that  the  prosperity 


148  BARBADOS. 

of  the  planters  was  unexampled.  He  feared  there  was 
little  or  no  improvQjnent  in  the  morals  of  a  certain 
class  of  the  colonists.  He  had  heard  men,  who  were 
accounted  respectable,  boast  of  their  immoralities,  and 
complain  of  the  change  which  had  taken  place  in  the 
sentiments  of  the  colored  people,  and  of  the  presump- 
tion of  the  colored  females  in  aspiring  to  marriage. 

13th. — ^We  went  to  see  the  Wesleyan  day  school. 
It  was  commenced  some  years  ago,  by  a  colored  man, 
who  was  a  cabinet  maker,  in  humble  circumstances. 
He  observed  a  number  of  children,  accustomed  to  play 
in  the  street  before  his  door,  and  conceived  the  idea  of 
occupying  their  time  and  attention  more  profitably  by 
teaching  them  to  read.  He  succeeded,  and  his  scholars 
soon  became  so  numerous,  that  he  was  compelled  to 
seek  other  means  of  having  them  instructed.  His 
efforts  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  present 
school,  which  is  held  in  a  small,  dilapidated  building, 
crowded  with  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  children. 
A  considerable  proportion  of  them  are  apprentices. 
We  heard  the  first  classes,  both  of  boys  and  girls  read 
and  spell,  and  examined  them  also  in  arithmetic. 
Their  performance  was  very  creditable  to  themselves 
and  their  teachers.  They  answered  scripture  question* 
with  unusual  readiness.  Though  the  expenses  of  this 
school  are  very  trifling,  yet  it  is  dependent  from  month 
to  month,  on  casual  assistance. 

A  local  magistrate  mentioned  to  a  gentleman  of  our 
acquaintance,  that  he  had  sent  a  man  to  the  treadmill, 
for  fourteen  days,  on  a  charge  of  trespass.  The  man 
was  found  at  the  house  of  an  apprentice  on  another 
property,  to  whom  he  asserted  he  was  lawfully  mar- 
ried.    On  the  magistrate  being  asked  why  be  inflicted 


BARBADOS.  149 

such  a  penalty,  he  said  the  law  was  imperative.*  When 
the  apprentices  commit  offences  against  any  individual 
who  is  not  their  owner,  or  against  the  public  peace,  they 
are  taken  out  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Stipendiary 
Magistrates.  This  is  sometimes  made  an  engine  of 
oppressiop.  One  flagrant  instance  has  been  mention- 
ed to  us,  where  a  negro  was  accused  of  some  crime  by 
his  master,  and  the  threat  of  prosecution  was  held  in 
terrorem  over  his  head  for  fourteen  months,  during 
which  period,  he  was  subjected  to  much  oppression ; 
and  when  at  length  he  was  wearied  out  and  ready  to 
complain  to  the  Special  Justice,  the  threat  was  carried 
into  execution.  He  was  taken  before  a  local  magistrate, 
who  committed  him  to  to  take  his  trial  for  the  offence. 

We  had  to-day  the  pleasure  of  making  the  acquain- 
tance of  Joseph  Wheeler,  the  agent  of  the  Bible 
Society,  who  has  just  arrived  from  Trinidad.  Some 
time  ago,  he  spent  several  weeks  in  Hayti,  and  his  ob- 
servations on  the  appearance  and  condition  of  its  popu- 
lation, gave  him  a  favorable  impression.  We  have 
heard  several  who  have  visited  Hayli,  speak  of  it  in 
similar  terms ;  but,  usually,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
other  West  India  islands,  are  as  little  acquainted  with 
its  condition,  as  if  it  were  in  the  other  hemisphere. 

We  embarked  this  evening  for  Jamaica,  in  the  Ecro 
Steamer,  which  came  into  port  this  morning,  having 
left  England  four  days  before  the  packet,  which  has 
been  long  expected,  and  is  not  yet  arrived . 


•  Daring  our  stay  in  Antigua,  we  met  a  gentleman  from  this 
island,  who  informed  us  that  he  had  thus  punished  husbands  and 
wives,  residing  on  di£Perent  estates,  for  visiting  each  other,  observing 
that  the  law  allowed  the  magistrate  no  discretion. 

o  3 


CHAPTER  X. 


GENERAL    REMARKS. 

BARBADOS. 

In  all  the  islands  which  we  have  yet  visited,  wherr 
the  Apprenticeship  has  been  introduced,  the  Appren- 
ticed laborers  are  peaceable  and  industrious  ;  in  all  of 
them,  property  has  risen  in  value  since  1834 ;  and, 
independently  of  the  seasons,  the  production  and  ex- 
port are  as  large  as  they  were  during  slavery.  In  Bar- 
bados, the  cultivation  was  never  in  a  better  state  than 
at  this  moment ;  the  ensuing  crop  is  expected  con- 
siderably to  exceed  an  average,  and  estates  have  risen 
very  greatly  in  value.  This  prosperity  is  chiefly  to 
be  attributed  to  the  measures  of  the  Imperial  Parlia- 
ment. The  colony  has  received  an  immense  compen- 
sation, for  losses  which  it  has  not  yet  incurred ;  and 
which  it  is  by  no  means  probable  that  it  will  ever  have 
to  sustain.  The  state  of  things  may  to  this  extent  be 
considered  satisfactory,  but  it  cannot  illustrate  the 
effects  of  Emancipation,  except  that  the  price  given  for 
estates,  proves  that  the  planters  are  at  length  persuaded, 
that  they  will  be  able  to  carry  on  a  profitable  cultiva- 
tion after  the  year  1840.  We  do  not  find  that  the 
most  distant  fears  are  entertained,  that  the  negros  will 
forsake  estate  labor  when  free,  or  will  refuse  to  work 
for  reasonable  wages.  On  the  other  hand,  so  far  as 
the  negro  is  concerned,  the  Apprenticeship  is  a  system 


GBNERAL   REMARKS   ON   BARBADOS.  151 

of  unmixed  evil^  and  though  it  may  appear  in  some 
colonies  to  be  a  source  of  temporary  profit  to  the  plan- 
ter, yet  bis  real  and  permanent  interests  would  have 
been  far  better  secured^  by  adopting  the  course  which 
has  be^  pursued  in  Antigua.  The  Apprenticeship  is 
not  Emancipation^  but  slavery  under  another  name ; 
and  though  it  appears  to  be  in  some  respects  a  modi- 
fied and  mitigated  slavery;  it  has  also  its  peculiar  dis- 
advantages^  which  more  than  counterbalance  whatever 
good  it  contains. '  It  is  not  in  any  sense  a  state  of  pre- 
paration far  freedom.  Its  introduction  was  attended 
vritii  danger^  from  the  disappointment  of  the  excited 
expectations  of  the  negros ;  its  progress  is  marked  by 
continual  irritation,  and  at  its  close,  all  the  real  diffi- 
culties attending  the  change  of  slaves  into  free  laborers, 
remain  to  be  encountered  under  the  most  unfavorable 
auspices* 

Barbados  being  one  of  the  most  important  of  the 
British  Colonies,  and  differing  from  the  other  islands 
in  its  physical  character,  state  of  agriculture^  and 
amount  of  population,  as  well  as  in  some  of  the  general 
features  of  its  social  system,  the  following  ob&erva- 
tions  may  not  be  deemed  unimportant.  Though  an 
undulating  island,  its  highest  hills  are  not  more  than 
a  few  hundred  feet  above  the  sea.  It  is,  in  fact,  a 
coralline  formation,  covered  with  a  thin  layer  of  soil, 
from  six  to  eighteen  inches  deep,  except  in  the  valleys 
and  lowlands,  where  the  mould  is  of  great  depth  and 
richness.  On  the  higher  ground,  the  rock  is  in  many 
places  exposed.  The  coasts  are  so  little  indented,  that 
it  has  scarcely  what  can  be  called  a  harbor,  but  it  pos- 
sesses great  advantages  of  situation,  being,  according 
to  the  regular  course  of  the  trades ,  the  most  windward 
of  the  islands,  and  consequently  a  station  from  which  all 


162  GBNBBAL  EBMAEU 

the  others  are  easily  accessible.  In  one  respect  it  is  an 
exception  among  slave  countries,  being  ao  extoraordi- 
nary  example  of  agricultural  prosperity.  One  of  die 
most  limited  in  its  natural  resources,  it  is  one  of  the 
most  important  of  our  colonies,  in  amount  of  produce, 
wealth,  and  commerce.  In  proportion  to  its  size,  it  is 
more  densely  peopled  than  China,  and  is  cultivated 
like  a  garden.  Its  soil,  though  it  has  long  lost  its 
natural  fertility,  is  the  source  of  far  more  wealth  to  its 
proprietors,  than  the  virgin  lands  of  more  fertile  islands. 
It  has  a  large  and  busy  capital  and  seaport,  a  numerous 
middle  class,  and  a  body  of  native  resident  proprietors, 
who  have  found  it  possible  to  forget  that  England  is 
"  home ;"  and  who  glory  in  the  title  of  *'  Barbadians." 
They  possess  a  real  nationality,  with  characteristics, 
neither  English,  Irish,  nor  Scotch.  Barbados  is  called 
"little  England,"  by  way  of  pre-eminence;  a  name 
which  it  deserves,  from  the  prevalence  of  English  com- 
forts and  refinements ;  though  among  other  features  of 
resemblance  to  the  mother  country,  we  regret  to  notice, 
a  great  body  of  white  paupers,*  and  numerous  licensed 
houses  for  the  sale  of  spirits. 

Paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  it  is  yet  evident,  that 
it  owes  its  superior  wealth  to  its  exhausted  soil  and 
dense  population.  "By  repeated  croppings,  the  soil 
(of  Barbados,)  had  become  less  than  half  a  century 
since,  so  much  worn,  as  to  be  almost  unproductive  in 
the  sugar-cane ;  but  by  the  substitution  of  other  crops, 
particularly  the  Guinea  corn,  a  system  of  soiling  and 
tethering  cattle  was  introduced,  which  has  not  only 
been  the  means  of  retrieving  the  lands,  but  has,  perhaps, 
made  them  more  productive  than   ever ;  adding  at  the 

•See  Appendix  E.  Sec.  i. 


ON   BARBADOS.  153 

same  time  to  those  numberless  conveniences  and  re- 
sources, which  never  fail  to  proceed  from  a  due  atten- 
tion to  the  brute  animals/'*  It  thus  appears,  that  the" 
wholesome  pressure  of  circumstances,  which,  to  the  su- 
perficial observer,  foreboded  nothing  less  than  the  ruin  of 
the  colony,  has  occasioned  the  introduction  of  a  more 
rational  system  of  agriculture,  and  elevated  the  island 
to  its  present  position.  Both  in  the  field  and  in  the 
boiling-house,  the  system  of  the  Barbadian  planter  is 
many  degrees  in  advance  of  those  of  the  colonists  of 
the  other  islands.  In  the  management  of  their  slaves, 
as  slavesj  the  Barbadians  equally  excelled.  Like  good 
farmers,  they  bestowed  the  same  attention  upon  them 
as  upon  their  cattle,  and  if  the  negros  had  been  animals 
and  not  men,  their  success  would  have  done  honor 
even  to  their  humanity.  Their  aim  was  to  keep  them 
in  the  highest  working  and  breeding  condition,  in  which 
they  succeeded ;  and  though  ever  reputed  the  severest 
disciplinarians,  yet  theirs  was  the  only  sugar  colony 
where  the  population  rapidly  increased. 

The  Barbados  legislature  was  the  latest  to  pass  an 
Act  for  the  Abolition  of  Slavery,  as  required  by  the 
Imperial  Government;  and  the  planters  have  since 
succeeded  in  moulding  the  Apprenticeship  into  an  al- 
most perfect  likeness  of  the  system  they  so  unwillingly 
relinquished.  An  equal,  if  not  greater  amount,  of  un- 
compensated labor,  is  now  extorted  &om  the  negros ; 
while,  as  their  owners  have  no  longer  the  same  interest 
in  their  health  and  lives,  their  condition,  and  par- 
ticularly that  of  mothers  and  young  children,  is  in 
many  respects  worse  than  during  slavery.  For  a  com- 
plete exemplification  of  the  character  of  the  Appren- 

*  Dr.  NuoENT  ^'  Report  of  Anti^a  Agrieultural  Association/* 


154  GSNB&AL   REMARKS 

tioeship,  we  refer  to  an  analjmifl  in  the  Appendix^  of  the 
record  of  complaints  and  decisions  in  the  journal  of  a 
Stipendiary  magistrate,  with  illustrative  cases.*  By 
these  it  appears  that  corporal  punishments  are  almost 
laid  aside ;  but  the  negros  are  deprived  of  their  time, 
on  which  they  are  to  a  great  extent  dependent,  for  the 
maintenance  of  themselves  and  their  o£bpring.  Tlie 
operation  of  the  law  which  compels  the  appraitices  to 
refund  Uie  time  lost,  when  they  are  punished  by  im- 
prisonment, (thus  imposing  a  double  penalty  for  the 
same  offence),  and  the  forfeiture  of  their  Saturdays  to 
the  estates,  have  given  the  planters  a  direct  interest  in 
the  punishment  of  their  laborers.  Nor  must  it  be  for- 
gotten, that  there  are  benevolent  planters,  who  never 
have  occasion  to  employ  the  authority  of  the  Stipen- 
diaries ;  and  that  this  penal  and  oppressive  law,  with 
its  costly  and  complicated  administration,  is  upheld 
solely  for  the  purposes  of  jnen,  who  ,know  no  other 
means  of  maintaining  theirs  authority,  than  terror  ^  and 
who  can  comprehend  no  motive  to  induce  their  negros 
to  labor,  but  coercion.  The  little  that  was  wanting  to 
make  the  Apprenticeship  the  heavy  burden,  that  it  now 
is,  to  the  negros,  has  been  supplied  by  Sir  Lionel. 
Smith's  ^*  scale  of  labor.'^t 

The  prejudice  against  color  is  stronger  in  Barbados, 
than  in  any  other  colony,'  although  the  colored  class  of 
its  population,  is  numerous,  wealthy,  and  respectable, 
and  comprises  some  of  the  first  merchants  of  the  island. 
No  colored  student  has  yet  been  admitted  within  the 
walls  of  Codrington  College.  The  public  opinion  of 
the  colony  is  powerful,  and  exercises  an  unfavorable 

•  See  Appendix  E.  Sec.  ii. 
t  See  Appendix  R  Sec.  iii. 


ON    BARBADOS.  155 

iufluence.  There  are  indeed,  two  kinds  of  public 
opinion,  of  unequal  and  opposite  forces  ;  firsts  that  of 
the  English  public,  feeble  and  indirect  in  its  effects, 
but  setting  in  a  strong  tide  against  slavery,  and  its  ac- 
companying abuses  :  secondly,  the  sentiments  of  the 
dominant  party  in  the  colony,  in  favour  of  existing  in- 
stitutions ;  the  belief  that  the  blacks  are  by  nature  of 
an  inferior  race^  and  born  to  a  servile  condition  ;  and 
the  spirit  of  caste  cherished  between  the  white,  mixed, 
and  Mack  races.  In  noneof  the  British  Colonies  is  this 
local  public  opinion  stronger  than  in  Barbados ;  and 
the  slavery  of  mind  among  the  free  classes,  is  scarcely 
less  obvious  than  the  outward  bondage  of  the  negros. 
Many  who  have  a  deep  sense  of  existing  wrongs,  and 
some  even^  who  are  sufferers  in  their  own  persons,  dare 
not  express  their  sentiments ;  and  an  individual  who 
refuses  to  think  and  speak  with  the  multitude,  must 
live  a  life  of  solitude  in  the  midst  of  society.  In  all 
other  respects^  to  one  endowed  witii  moral  courage, 
^^  the  spider's  most  attenuated  thread"  is  not  more 
weak,  than  this  unseen  but  despotic  power,  which  seals 
all  lips,  and  fetters  all  minds.* 


*  The  contrast  between  the  state  of  society  in  this  island  and 
Jamaica,  is  in  this  respect  remarkable.  There  the  proHslavery  fac- 
tion is  louder  and  more  violent ;  and  persecution  has  within  recent 
years,  raged  with  all  its  fury ;  yet  among  those  who  presume  to  dif- 
fer from  the  reigning  opinion,  there  is  a  freedom  of  thought  and  ex- 
pression, and  an  independence  of  action,  which  cannot  be  found 
among  the  salne  class  in  Barbados. 


CHAPTER  XL 


JAMAICA. 

Ut  Month,  22nd,  ('January, J  1837. 

We  came  to  anchor  at  Port  Royal  early  this  morn- 
ing, having  had  a  fine  voyage  and  very  favorable  wea- 
ther since  leaving  Barbados.  Being  in  the  'Hrades^" 
we  did  not  employ  the  steam  till  within  a  day  of  our 
arrival.  The  distant  view  of  Jamaica  from  the  sea  is 
of  the  same  verdant  and  mountainous  character  as  Do- 
minica and  Martinique  but  on  a  more  stupendous  scale. 
The  lofty  summits  of  the  blue  mountains  are  usually 
wrapped  in  clouds.  Our  only  fellow  passengers  were 
Captain  Belcher,  and  two  of  his  officers,  who  were 
going  to  take  the  command  of  a  surveying  expedition 

on  the  Western  coast  of  America.  Their  intention 
was  to  cross  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  proceeding  in 

boats  up  the  river  Shagrees  and  thence  across  the  moun- 
tains on  mules.  As  we  were  entering  the  harbor,  the 
fleet  on  this  station  were  leaving  it,  to  blockade  the 
ports  of  the  Republic  of  Granada,  which  includes  the 
Isthmus.  This  intelligence  threatened  an  unexpected 
obstruction  to  Captain  Belcher's  more  peaceable 
operations,  especially  as  he  had  many  packages  of  valu- 
able apparatus,  which  could  not  be  conveyed  across 
the  mountains  without  the  aid  of  the  natives.  We 
have  met  in  our  several  voyages,  three  officers  who 
have  visited  Pitcairn's  island,  in  the  South  Seas,  and 


^ 


JAMAICA.  157 

each  on  different  occasions.  They  all  give  the  same 
account  of  the  simple  and  amiable  character  of  these 
islanders,  but  observe,  that  they  are  beginning  to  be 
corrupted  by  the  vices  of  the  Europeans  and  Americans, 
whose  whaling  vessels  occasionally  touch  at  Pitcairn's 
iisland  for  water  and  provisions.  The  distance  from 
Port  Royal  across  the  harbour  to  Kingston,  is  about 
five  miles.  We  went  up  in  a  boat  with  the  mail-bags, 
a  circumstance  to  which  we  owed  the  recovery  of  a 
number  of  our  letters  of  introduction  ;  a  parcel  of  them 
having  been  stolen  from  us  during  our  voyage  from 
Barbados  to  Antigua.  Those  addressed  to  parties  in 
Jamaica,  had  been  loosely  wrapped  in  a  parcel,  and  for- 
warded by  the  very  steamer  in  which  we  arrived.  The 
Deputy  Post-master  General  on  opening  the  parcel, 
and  discovering  the  nature  of  its  contents,  politely 
restored  them  to  us,  having  learned  our  arrival  from 
the  young  man  in  charge  of  the  mails.  As  it  was  the 
Sabbath,  we  went  in  the  evening  to  one  of  the  Wesleyan 
chapels,  a  very  large  and  substantial  building,  but  not 
more  than  half  filled.  The  congregation  was  com- 
posed of  black  or  colored  persons ;  the  body  of  it  being 
thrown  open  for  the  poorer  class,  and  the  galleries 
reserved  for  the  more  opulent.  At  the  conclusion  of 
the  service,  notice  was  given  of  sermons  during  every 
day  in  the  ensuing  week ;  and  we  found  on  inquiry, 
that  the  District  meeting,  or  island  Conference  was 
about  to  be  held,  as  well  as  the  anniversaries  of  the 
various  societies,  having  a  religious  or  moral  object. 
We  subsequently  called  upon  Joshua  Tinson,  the 
senior  Baptist  missionary,  who  gave  us  a  kind  welcome 
to  Jamaica. 

23fd. — We  breakfasted  with  J.  Tinson,  at  whose 
house  we  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  W.  Wbmyss 
p 


158  JAMAICA. 

Anderson.  We  were  also  introduced  in  the  course  of 
the  day,  to  the  Attorney  General,  Dowbll  O'Reilly, 
and  to  J.  M.  Trbw,  the  Director  of  the  Mico  Institu* 
tion.  The  Mico  schools  in  Kingston  are  already  estab- 
lished on  a  large  scale  5  their  advantages,  however,  so 
long  as  the  Apprenticeship  exists,  will,  with  few  ex- 
ceptions, be  limited  to  the  free  children.  We  attended 
in  the  evening  the  anniversary  of  the  Jamaica  Bible 
Society.  There  were  five  or  six  hundred  persons  pre- 
sent, of  whom  very  few  were  whites*  The  addresses 
of  the  speakers  were  appropriate  and  excellent.  J,  M. 
Trew,  who  was  in  the  chair,  stated  in  the  course  of  an 
animated  speech,  that  at  one  of  the  Mico  schools  in  the 
coimtry,  he  had  recently  made  a  collection  among  the 
children  for  missionary  objects.  The  little  sums  which 
they  gave,  exceeding  what  he  expected  from  them,  in- 
duced him  to  enquire  how  they  obtained  their  money. 
They  earned  it  by  teaching  their  adult  friends  and 
neighbours  to  read,  after  the  labors  of  the  day  were 
over.  Nearly  every  one  was  occupied  in  teaching  his 
parent,  or  uncle,  or  neighbour,  and  even  in  some  in- 
stances, grandfather  and  grandmother ;  so  highly  do 
even  the  adult  and  the  aged  prize  the  opportunity  of 
learning  to  read.  The  gift  book  of  the  Bible  Society, 
comprising  the  New  Testament  and  Psalms,  has  been 
very  useful  in  encouraging  the  desire  for  instruction 
which  is  at  present  so  general  among  the  negros. 

24th. — We  have  before  alluded  to  the  effect  of  the 
Apprenticeship  on  domestic  servants.  It  has  taken 
away  to  a  great  extent,  the  fear  of  punishment,  with- 
out supplying  any  better  motive  for  exertion,  in  the 
hope  of  reward.  The  landlord  of  the  hotel  to  which 
we  went  on  our  arrival  in  Kingston,  told  us  that  he  had 
twenty-five  apprentices,  of  whose  conduct  he  made  the 


JAMAICA.  159 

most  grievous  complaints.  He  did  not  take  them  be- 
fore the  Special  Magistrate^  because  he  knew  they 
would  then  become  totally  unmanageable.  But  while 
describing  the  annoyances  to  which  lie  was  subjected^ 
and  expressing  his  desire  for  free  servants^  he  com- 
plained^ almost  in  the  same  breathy  of  government^ 
because  it  did  not  send  the  captured  slavers  here,  and 
apprentice  the  negros  to  the  inhabitants.  A  person 
who  has  been  in  the  colonies,  ceases  to  wonder  at  the 
fact,  that  slave-masters  of  European  birth  and  educa- 
tion, are  usually  more  severe  than  those  born  in  the 
West  Indies.  They  are  accustomed  to  the  active  ener- 
gy of  free  servants,  while  the  Creoles,  though  familiar 
from  infancy  with  despotic  power,  are  more  easily 
satisfied  with  the  indolent  languor  and  comparative 
inefficiency  of  their  slaves.     Conversing  on  this  subject 

with  an  estimable  gentleman  of  this  city,  he  observed 
to  us,  that,  in  this  country,  the  heart  and  temper  were 
often  put  to  a  severe  trial ;  and  that  a  man  would  learn 
more  of  his  own  character  in  a  few  months,  than  in 
England  in  as  many  years. 

One  of  the  Special  magistrates,  Stephen  Bourne,* 
called  uppn  us  this  morning,  and  gave  us  an  invitation 
to  his  houaCy  which  is  situated  in  the  mountains,  about 
nine  miles  distant  from  town.  We  drove  thither  in 
the   evening.     The  climate   of  the   elevated   portions 

•  This  gentleman,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  his  hospi- 
tality, and  for  the  opportunity  of  attending  his  Courts,  has  expe- 
rienced much  undeserved  obloquy,  in  consequence  of  his  being  sup- 
posed to  have  made  statements  to  us  prejudicial  to  the  Colonists. 
It  is  due  to  him  to  state,  that  he  expressed  great  anxiety  that  we 
should  see  both  sides  of  the  question,  and  accompanied  us  to  several 
estates  in  his  district,  which  were  likely  to  give  us  a  favorable  im- 
pression of  the  condition  of  the  negros,  and  the  character  of  their 
proprietors. 


160  JAIfAICA. 

of  Jamaica  is  temperate  and  Balubrious.  Our  kind  host 
and  his  wife,  and  their  interesting  family  of  seven 
children,  of  various  ages,  have  enjoyed  uninterrupted 
health,  during  their  two  years  residence  in  the  Colony. 
The  property  on  which  their  house  is  situated,  is  a 
ruinate  coffee  plantation.  Besides,  orange  trees  in 
fiill  bearing,  mangoes,  pines,  and  many  tropical  fruits, 
English  apples,  potatoes,  peas,  and  other  vegetables, 
are  grown  upon  it.  The  latter,  however,  appear  to 
degenerate. 

25th. — ^This  morning  we  accompanied  our  host  to 
Silver-hUl,  an  estate  twelve  miles  distant,  in  the  heart 
of  this  mountainous  district,  where  he  was  going  to 
hold  a  Court.  Four  cases  of  complaint  were  brought 
before  him.  They  were  all  substantiated,  and  the 
offenders  received  suitable  punishments  and  admoni- 
tions. They  thanked  the  magistrate  and  appeared 
satisfied  with  his  decisions,  though  some  had  been  very 
earnest  and  ingenious  in  their  defences.  He  had  lis- 
tened patiently  to  all  they  had  to  say,  and  by  that 
means  appeared  to  obtain  their  confidence.  The  over- 
seer* of  this  estate  is  a  man  of  color ;  he  respects  the 
law,  though  a  strict  disciplinarian.  He  has  kept  a  re- 
gistry of  the  births  and  deaths  of  infants  as  during 
slavery,  from  which  it  appears  that  the  comparative 
number  of  deaths  has  not  increased.  The  children 
have  the  same  medical  care,  and  the  same  treatment  in 
other  respects  as  before.  Not  a  single  free  child  works 
on  the  estate.  The  overseer  asked  a  woman,  in  our 
presence,  to  let  her  eldest  child,  a  boy  of  eight  years, 
do  light  work  for  his  clothing  and  allowance,  but  she 

•  In  Jamaica  an  overseer  is  the  person  who  is  called  manager  in  the 
other  islands ;  and  the  overseers  there  are  here  called  bookkeepers ; 
an  attorney,  of  numerous  estates,  is  called  a  planting  attorney. 


JAMAICA,  161 

replied,  ^^  that  the  child  was  free,  and  she  did  not  wish 
to  bind  him."  The  effect  of  the  apprenticeship  on 
these  children,  is,  in  many  respects,  very  injurious. 
The  overseer  treated  us  during  our  stay  with  great 
courtesy,  and  offered  to  accompany  us  to  visit  several 
neighbouring  estates  if  our  time  had  permitted.  We 
returned  in  the  afternoon.  The  sides  of  the  mountains 
are  devoted  to  coffee,  which  grows  here  without  any 
protecting  fence.  All  the  original  forest  has  disap- 
peared, having  been  at  one  time  cleared  for  cultivation. 
The  estates  are  of  great  extent,  and  it  is  customary 
when  the  soil  is  worn  out,  or  rather  washed  down  by 
the  heavy  rains,  to  plant  in  new  ground  ;  as  the  steep 
mountain  sides  cannot  be  restored  to  fertility  by  til- 
lage. The  scenery  of  this  part  of  the  island,  though 
often  grand  and  beautiful,  has  not  the  freshness  which 
characterises  Dominica  and  St.  Lucia.  Other  parts 
of  Jamaica  are  yet  uncultivated,  and  covered  with 
primitive  forest.  The  waste  lands  belong  to  the  crown, 
but  may  be  patented  by  any  individual  at  a  nominal 
rent.  Many  thousand  acres  have  recently  been  taken 
up  by  various  persons,  which  is  a  proof  that  the  general 
confidence  in  the  stability  and  increased  value  of  real 
estates,  is  not  diminished  by  the  anticipation  of  com- 
plete freedom. 

In  the  course  of  the  evening,  a  negro  came  in  great 
distress  to  the  magistrate,  to  complain  that  his  wife 
residing  in  this  district  had  been  taken  to  the  court 
of  a  neighbouring  magistrate.  Captain  Brownson,  and 
sentenced  to  the  treadmill  for  eight  days.  A  letter  was 
given  her  to  the  Governor.  Though  the  Special  magis- 
trates are  appointed  each  to  a  particular  district,  yet 
their  commissions  extend  over  the  whole  island  ;  and 
one  who  has  the  reputation  of  impartiality  with  the  ap- 
p  3 


162  JABfAICA. 

prentices,  will  frequently  be  applied  to  by  many  not  in 
his  district.     Such  appUcations  are  frequently  made  to 
S.  Bourne,  who  hears  their  cases,  and  is  accustomed 
to  refer  them  with  a  recommendation  to  their  own 
magistrate.     A  line  of  conduct  less  offensive  to  his 
colleagues   can   scarcely    be    conceived;  yet   Captain 
Brownson,  in  a  case  of  this  kind,  which  lately  oc- 
curred, sentenced  four  men  to  hard  labor  and  to  be 
flogged,  whose  offence  was  stated  by  himself  in  their 
warrant  to  be  insubordination  and  ^^  applying  to  Mr. 
Bourne,  instead  of  their  own  magistrate.*'     In  the 
present  instance,  he  himself  sends  an  apprentice  to  the 
treadmill,  who  is  brought  before  him  by  her  master  out 
of  another  magistrate's  jurisdiction.    We  subsequently 
took  pains  to  learn  the  prrticulars  of  this  case.     The 
apprentice  had  obtained  leave  from  her  own  magistrate 
to  take  a  few  days  to  arrange  for  the  valuation  of  her 
daughter,  who  lived  at  a  distance.     Her  owner  sum- 
moned her  before  Captain  Brownson,  on  a  charge  of 
absence   from   work.     Notwithstanding   her   explana- 
tions, and  her  entreaties  to  be  allowed  to  pay  back  the 
time  or  even  double  the  time,   she  was  sent  to  the 
treadmill,  though  far  advanced  in  pregnancy.     After 
making  attempts  on  two  different  days  to  tread  the 
mill,  it  became  evident  that  she  could  not  continue  the 
exertion.     She  earnestly  requested  the  gaoler  not  to 
put  her  on  the  mill  again,  and  for  the  remainder  of  the 
time  she  was  sent  to  work  with  the  penal  gang  in  the 
field,  chained  to  another  woman.    Being  unable  to  keep 
up  with  the  rest,  she  was  locked  up  in  a  cell  on  her 
return  from  the  field  at  night,  and  the  overseer  threat- 
ened to  lock  her  up  the  whole  of  Sunday;  but,  hap- 
pily, the  Governor's  order  for  her  release  arrived  the 
night  before. 


JAliAICA  163 

26th. — ^We  visited  another  coffee  plantation  this 
morning.  The  overseer  appeared  to  be  a  good  tempered, 
frank,  intelligent  man,  and  macle  no  complaints  against 
his  negros.    A  court  was,  however,  held  to  determine 
a  case  afiecting  the  lessee  of  a  neighbouring  property, 
which  is  a  sad  illustration  of  the  heartlessness  of  a  cer- 
tain class  of  the  colonists.     A  summons  was  issued 
requiring  the  defendant's  presence,  and  warrants  for 
two  of  his  apprentices  as   witnesses ;  but  as  he  sent 
a  disrespectful  message  to  the  magistrate,  refusing  to 
attend,  we  had  no  opportunity  of  hearing  any  but  the 
complainant's  case,  which  she  detailed  in  a  long  affida- 
it.     It  was  to  the  effect  that  she  had  lived  with  him 
for  nine  years,  and  was  then  discarded  without  any  pro- 
vision being  made  for  herself,  or  her  two   children  ; 
and  that  when  she  went  to  his  house  to  take  away  some 
of  her  property,  she  was  repulsed  and  assaulted  by  him. 
Although  the  statement  was  ex  parte,  the  principal  facts 
were  confirmed  by  other  persons  present.     The  afiida- 
vit  related  other  particulars  of   a  still  darker  shade, 
which  as  they  refer  to  the  state  of  things  during  slavery, 
we  forbear  to  repeat.     The  overseer  at  whose  house 
we  were  staying,  observed  that  he  had  purchased  the 
freedom  of  his  colored  children  and  their  mother,  and 
given  them  a  home  to  live  in.     It  was  evident,  how- 
ever, that  all  his  sympathies  were  enlisted  on  the  side 
of  the  defendant,  although  we  have  no  doubt  he  was 
himself  incapable  of  similar  conduct.     He  alluded  to 
the    subject  without   any  apparent   consciousness   of 
immorality.      It    appears  absolutely  necessary,  how- 
ever repulsive,  to  detail  some  of  the  facts  which  come 
under   our  notice,   illustrating  the   state  of   colonial 
morals;  in  order  that  it  may  be  known,  what  obstacles 
really  exist  to  the  advancement  of  the  negros,  and  how 


164  JAMAICA. 

futile  it  would  be,  to  expect  that  any  good  will  be  ef- 
fected for  them  9  through  the  agency  of  the  generality 
of  the  present  race  of  white  residents.  On  our  re- 
turn to  night,  as  well  as  on  the  preceding  evening, 
a  specimen  of  the  opposition  which  an  upright  ma- 
gistrate encounters  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty, 
came  under  our  notice.  Our  host  received  two  letters 
from  a  neighbouring  Special  Magistrate,  and  a  plant- 
ing attorney,  both  dated  from  the  residence,  and 
brought  by  the  messenger  of  the  latter.  The  purport 
of  the  first  was  to  complain  of  Bourne's  interference, 
which,  as  before  explained,  consists  in  patiently  listen- 
ing to  those  who  bring  their  complaints  to  him,  and 
referring  them,  with  a  recommendation,  to  the  justice 
or  merciful  consideration  of  their  proper  magistrates 
or  owners.  It  was  stated  that  this  interference  had 
^^  occasioned  more  punishment,  than  the  misconduct 
of  all  the  apprentices  in  the  district.''  The  letter  of 
the  attorney  was  to  the  same  effect.  Besides  the  in- 
sight which  this  incident  gives  into  the  gloomy  des- 
potism of  this  odious  system,"  we  cannot  but  remark 
the  close  alliance  which  is  shewn  to  exist,  between 
some  of  the  magistrates  and  the  planters. 

28th. — We  rode  over  to  Spanish  Town,  which  is 
thirteen  miles  from  Kingston,  and  the  seat  of  Govern- 
ment, in  order  to  pay  our  respects  to  the  Governor, 
Sir  Lionel  Smith,  who  gave  us  a  courteous  reception. 
The  views  he  expressed  during  our  interview  were  si- 
milar to  those  contained  in  his  first  speech  to  the 
Assembly  and  Council,  and  which  appear  to  have  cha- 
racterised his  whole  course  of  policy  since  assuming 
the  Government.  He  considered  the  negros  of  Jamaica 
far  more  degraded  than  those  of  Barbados  or  the  other 
islands.     During  his  predecessor's   administration,  no 


JAMAICA.  165 

progress  had  been  made  in  preparing  them  for  free- 
dom. Tlie  time  had  been  lost  in  ^^  squabbling""  with 
the  planters.  It  was  necessary  to  adopt  a  conciliatory 
policy^  and  to  endeavour  to  induce  the  proprietors  to 
conform  to  the  wishes  of  Government.  He  had  already 
explained  to  some  of  them,  that  they  could  not  other- 
wise expect  that  Government  would  sanction  the  Acts 
which  might  be  necessary  after  1840.  Some  restric- 
tive measures^  he  thought  would  be  required^  both  to 
secure  the  prosperity  of  the  planters  and  the  welfare  of 
the  apprentices.  Both  here  and  in  Barbados^  he  stated 
that  the  resident  large  proprietors  were  humane  men, 
and  that  all  the  oppression  was  caused  by  the  owners 
of  few  negros,  and  the  overseers  of  absentees.  On 
his  arrival  in  the  island,  he  had  found  one  of  the  par- 
ishes almost  in  a  state  of  insurrection ;  he  had  appoint- 
ed a  Commission  to  inquire  into  the  facts,  and  several 
of  the  overseers  had  been  subsequently  dismissed,  and 
peace  in  consequence  restored.  We  believe  the  Go- 
vernor alluded  to  St.  Thomas  in  the  Vale  but  he  did 
not  mention  the  suspension  of  Dr.  Palmer.  On  our 
leaving,  he  obligingly  referred  us  to  Richard  Hill,  the 
Assistant  Secretary,  for  any  information  connected  with 
the  Stipendiary  Magistrates'  department. 

We  became  acquainted  in  the  course  of  the  day 
with  J.  M.  Phillippo,  the  Baptist  Misssionary,  resident 
in  Spanish  Town,  and  with  several  Special  Magistrates* 
An  opportunity  was  unexpectedly  afforded  us  to  day,  of 
learning  the  further  particulars  of  the  case  of  a  woman 
being  chained  to  a  man,  by  order  of  a  Special  Magis- 
trate ;  which  J.  Sturge  had  stated  at  a  public  meeting 
in  England,  on  the  authority  of  a  private  letter.  The 
report  reached  Jamaica,  where  it  was  at  once  met  by 
the  newspapers  with  a  confident  denial  :  a  convenient 


166  JAMAICA. 

and  summary  mode  of  discrediting  facts  which  is  much 
resorted  to  in  the  colonies.  We  learned  that  the 
woman,  Pbiscilla  Taylor,  resided  not  far  from  the 
Ferry  Tavern,  a  well  known  halfway  house  between 
Spanish  Town  and  Kingston.  We  therefore  sent  her 
a  message  to  meet  us  on  our  return,  which  as  it  was 
the  Saturday,  her  own  day,  she  was  able  to  do.  We 
took  down  her  own  statement  of  facts,  which  she  related 
with  simplicity  and  precision,  in  the  presence  of  S. 
Bourne,  who  had  been  to  Spanish  Town,  and  accom* 
panied  us  on  our  return.  She  appeared  to  be  a  decent, 
respectable  woman,  rather  above  her  class.  She  sud, 
"  that  B.  (her  master)  had  sent  her  to  fetch  a  pail  of 
water,  and  complained  when  she  came  back,  that  she 
had  been  too  long.  In  the  evening  (Friday)  she  was 
put  in  the  dark  house,  where  she  staid  till  Sunday 
afternoon.  On  the  Monday  she  went  to  L.  (the  Spe- 
cial Magistrate)  to  complain,  who  said  he  would  come 
next  day  to  the  property.  He  came,  and  sentenced  her 
on  the  complaint  of  her  master,  to  work  in  the  field 
chained  to  a  Mongola  man,  named  Joe  Buckstone, 
who  was  standing  by,  and  who  had  an  iron  collar  round 
his  neck,  which  he  had  had  on  some  time.  She  was 
chained  in  the  presence  of  the  magistrate,  by  the  over- 
seer— the  constable  standing  by.  She  said  to  L.  ^' don't 
chain  me  to  a  man,  I  never  had  a  chain  round  my  neck 
in  my  life."  She  also  told  him  that  she  was  a  married 
woman,  and  could  not  bear  to  be  chained  to  a  man. 
She  was  suckling  a  young  child  at  the  time.  L. 
refused  to  listen  to  her.  She  and  the  man  were  ordered 
to  the  field,  where  she  persuaded  him  to  escape  with 
her  to  Spanish  Town.  They  went  first  to  the  Gover- 
nor's house,  and  afterwards  to  C.  a  Special  Magistrate, 
to  whom  she  said  ^*  Massa  and  L.  two  friends,  whatever 


JABfAICA.  167 

massa  tell  L.  he  will  grant  him  the  Mendship  to  do  it/' 
She  b^ged  C  to  give  her  a  paper  to  go  into  the  work* 
house  ;  he  did  so,  and  there  they  unchained  her  from 
the  man,  and  chained  her  to  another  woman,  and  the 
man  to  another  man.  She  was  punished  two  weeks  in 
the  workhouse  at  Spanish  Town.  B.  then  sent  his 
overseer  and  the  constable  to  fetch  her  home.  She 
was  then  again  chained  to  the  man  and  sent  to  the 
field.  She  offered  to  work  if  the  chain  was  taken  off, 
but  positively  refused  to  work  chained  to  the  man. 
She  was  then  taken  to  the  dark  house,  where  she  was 
confined  for  two  weeks.  During  the  early  part  of  the 
time  the  same  man  was  locked  up  with  her  at  night, 
when  he  came  from  the  field.  At  the  end  of  that  time 
she  was  again  taken  before  L.  and  sent  to  the  work- 
house at  Halfway  Tree,  where  she  worked  in  the  penal 
gang  for  a  month."* 

On  our  way  home  we  called  at  Halfway  Tree  work- 
house ;  our  companion  being  the  bearer  of  an  order 
from  the  Governor  for  the  release  of  the  poor  woman, 
mentioned  a  few  days  ago,  who  had  been  sentenced  by 
Captain  Brownson  to  the  treadmill.  We  saw  several 
of  the  same  magistrate's  commitments.  In  one  of 
them  part  of  the  sentence  was  underlined,  and  ran 
thus  : — "The  twenty-five  lashes  not  to  be  inflicted 
at  present,  but  to  remain  suspended  over  his  head  for 
two  months,  and  remitted  if  he  behaves  well  during 
that  time.' '  We  ascertained  this  mode  of  re-placing  the 
lost  power  of  the  lash  in  the  hands  of  the  planters  to  be 
quite  customary  with  him. 

30th. — ^We  came  this  evening  to  the  Botanic  Gar- 
den in  the  St.  Andrews's  Mountains,  where  we   took 

•  See  Appendix  F.  Sec.  i. 


168  JAMAICA. 

lodgings  for  a  short  time,  in  order  that  we  might  attend 
some  of  the  Courts  of  the  Special  Magistrates,  Bourne 
and  Hamilton.  The  garden  was  formed  about  forty 
years  ago,  in  order  to  receive  part  of  the  collection  of 
trees  from  the  East  Indies  and  South  Sea  Islands, 
brought  hither  by  Captain  Bligh.  It  is  now  a  coffee 
plantation  and  private  property,  having  been  long  given 
up  by  the  Legislature.  There  is  still  however  a  large 
collection  of  exotic  trees. 

31  St. — We  went  this  morning  to  breakfast  with 
Robert  Osborn,  one  of  the  proprietors  and  editors  of 
the  Watchman  newspaper,  at  whose  house  we  met  his 
estimable  partner,  Edward  Jordan.     It  was  a  high 
gratification  to  us  to  become  acquainted  with  men,  who 
have  done  and  suffered  so  much  in  the  cause  of  free- 
dom.     The  former  accompanied  us    to  the  Halfway 
Tree  workhouse,  as  the  St.  Andrew's  House  of  Cor- 
rection is  called.     We  noticed  in  the  yard  on  entering, 
about  a  dozen  negros,  men  and  women,   standing  in  a 
line   near  the  door,  who  were   heavily  chained.     On 
inquiring  whether  they  were  the  penal  gang,  we  were 
told  they  were  apprentices  from  the  estates,  waiting* 
to  be  tried  at  the  Court  of  Special  Justice  Brownson 
this  morning.     It  was  the  practice,  we  were  informed, 
to   put  them  in  chains  before  trial.      In  going  over 
the  buildings,  we  remarked  that  the  solitary  cells   are 
excessively  close,  with  scarcely  any  ventilation  ;  and 
that  the  other  rooms,  though  for  the  most  part  clean, 
afford  very  insufl&cient  accommodation  for  the  number 
of  prisoners.     There  were  many  prisoners  in  the  yard 
almost  in  a  state  of  nudity.     The  supervisor,  (as  the 
principal  officer  of  these  institutions  is  called  in  Jamaica) 

•  See  Appendix  F.,  Sec.  ii. 


JAMAICA.  169 

said  he  was  out  of  clothing,  and  expecting  a  sup- 
ply ;  but  we  attach  little  value  to  such  explanations 
elicited  by  our  inquiries  or  observations.  One  man 
had  marks  of  blood  on  his  shirt;  and  on  inquiry  we  found 
he  had  been  seriously  injured  by  a  blow  from  the  dri- 
ver, when  on  the  treadmill.  The  supervisor  inquired 
in  a  very  harsh  manner,  why  he  had  not  mentioned  it 
to  him,  when  he  asked  the  prisoners  if  they  had  any 
complaints.  We  spoke  also  to  another  negro,  who 
was  sick  from  the  effects  of  a  severe  flogging ;  his 
back  was  a  white  mass  of  suppuration.  Another  piti- 
able object  was  lying  about,  whose  body  and  limbs 
were  swoln  and  ulcerated.  He  seemed  a  mass  of  dis- 
ease, and  was  apparently  of  weak  intellect.  He  was  a 
watchman  on  Chester  Vale  estate,  and  had  been  sent 
there  for  suffering  the  cattle  to  trespass.  So  far  from 
possessing  activity  enough  to  be  a  watchman,  we  do 
not  think  he  could  have  walked  across  the  yard.  Even 
the  supervisor  said  he  ought  not  to  have  been  sent. 
We  next  went  to  see  the  treadmill.  There  were 
two  gangs  of  men  and  women,  who,  we  were  told, 
worked  alternate  spells  of  fifteen  minutes  each ;  an 
almost  incredible  amount  of  punishment.  The  men 
were  put  upon  it  during  our  stay ;  they  were  in  the  same 
state  of  exposure  as  before  noticed.  The  women  were 
standing  near  them  waiting  their  turn.  No  regard  was 
paid  to  decency  in  providing  the  latter  with  a  suitable 
dress  to  work  on  the  mill.  We  saw  also  in  the  work- 
house, a  young  man  of  color  named  M'c  Vicar,  whose 
case  has  recently  excited  public  attention.  He  is  free, 
and  in  respectable  circumstances,  and  was  sent  to  the 
workhouse  for  twenty  days,  for  an  offence  of  a  merely 
colorable  character.  The  supervisor  put  him  on  the 
treadmill,  which  formed  no  part  of  his   sentence ;  and 

Q 


1/0  JAMAICA. 

which  brought  on  a  severe  attack  of  hemorrhage.  He 
appeared  determined  to  seek  redress  by  a  suit  at  law. 
On  looking  over  the  visiting  magistrates'  journal,  we 
observed^  that  no  complaints  were  made  by  the  prison- 
ers, a  circumstance  which  it  is  evident  does  not  arise 
from  the  non-existence  of  abuses.  There  were  many 
complaints  of  the  supervisor,  against  the  prisoners,  and 
the  written  direction  of  the  magistrate  in  each  case  was, 
"give  him  a  few  spells  on  the  treadmill."  As  no  ex- 
tent of  punishment  is  specified,  the  jailor  on  such  au- 
thority may  punish  the  prisoners  ad  libitum.  We 
wereshe  wn  the  corn  meal  and  shads  with  which  the 
prisoners  are  fed,  which  were  of  good  quality.  They 
receive  one  quart  of  the  former,  and  one  fish  per  diem. 
We  afterwards  heard  a  complaint  that  they  were  given 
with  little  preparation  by  cooking. 

After  leaving  the  workhouse,  we  proceeded  to  the 
court-house  adjacent,  and  attended  a  meeting  of  the 
vestry,  convened  to  address  Sir  Lionel  Smith,  on  his 
assumption  of  the  Government.  At  the  close  of  the 
meeting,  the  Gustos  of  the  parish*  detained  the  magis- 
trates present,  and  in  a  very  passionate  speech,  laid 
before  them  some  charges  brought  against  him  by 
Lord  Sligo,  who  in  a  dispatch  to  Lord  Glenelg,  had 
stated  some  of  the  gross  abuses  in  the  Halfway  Tree 
workhouse,  and  had  implicated  the  Gustos  as  cognizant 
of  their  existence. f  Accusations  of  calumny  and  false- 
hood were  unsparingly  heaped  on  Lord  Sligo.     The 

*  A  parish  in  Jamaica,  iii  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  island,  is 
ecjuivalent  to  a  county  in  England.  The  Custodes  of  the  several 
parishes  have  corresponding  duties  with  the  Lord  Lieutenants,  and 
Chairmen  of  Quarter  Sessions  in  the  Mother  Country. 

t  See  Appendix  F.  Sec.  ii. 


JAMAICA.  171 

other  magistrates  expressed  their  indignation  at  Lord 
Sligo's  conduct,  and  their  warm  sympathy  with  the 
CustoSy  who,  in  reply,  promised  to  send  a  triumphant 
refutation  of  the  charges,  which  he  observed  affected 
all  the  magistrates  of  the  parish  as  well  as  himself. 

After  these  proceedings  were  concluded,  we  attended 
the  Court  of  the  Special  Magistrate.  Several  negros 
were  valued ;  one  family  of  five  persons  for  two  hundred 
and  ten  pounds,*  a  weakly  woman  for  fifty  pounds, 
and  a  tradesmanf  on  a  plantation,  for  one  hundred  and 
twenty-two  pounds  ten  shillings.  The  owner  of  this 
last  was  a  local  magistrate,  who  had  been  previously 
sitting  at  the  table  assisting  in  the  other  valuations. 
He  enumerated  all  the  good  qualities  of  the  man,  his 
uncommon  cleverness  in  his  trade,  his  industry  and 
honesty  ;  adding  that  he  was  not  buying  his  own  free- 
dom, but  that  some  other  planter,  who  wished  to  secure 
his  services  was  going  to  advance  the  money  for  him. 
The  present  mode  of  valuations  is  a  premium  on 
worthlessness  ;  and  the  honesty  and  faithfulness  of  a 
negro,  are  his  greatest  misfortunes,  inasmuch  as  they 
frequently  enhance  his  value  beyond  his  means  of  pur- 
chase. After  the  valuations,  several  cases  of  complaint 
were  disposed  of  by  the  magistrate,  of  which  the  most 
interesting,  was  one  against  two  negros  for  refusing 
to  work.  They  claimed  to  be  free,  and  a  man  of  color, 
an  attorney's  clerk,  attended  as  their  advocate.  They 
had  been  slaves  to  a  Spaniard  in  Carthagena,  and  had 
been  brought  from  thence  many  years  ago,  to  Jamaica 

•  Amounts  hereafter  will  always  be  stated  in  Jamaica  currency 
of  which  five  pounds  or  shillings  are  equal  to  three  sterling. 

f  The  carpenters,  coopers,   smiths,  &c.  on    estates,  are    called 
tradesmen. 


172  JABiAICA. 

by  their  master.     They  remained  with  him  till  bis 
death,  though  they  had  never  been  registered  as  slaves 
according  to  law,  either  in  1817  or  subsequently.     The 
Special  Magistrate,  who  ought  either  to  have  declared 
the  men  free,  or  to  have  at  once  declined  exercising  a 
jurisdiction  in  the  case,  sent  for  two  local  mi^istrates 
to  advise  him  as  to  the  proper  course  of  proceeding. 
They  declared  without  hesitation,  that  it  had  been  de- 
cided both  in  the  Colony,  and  in  England,  that  non- 
registration did   not  confer  freedom ;  and  that  there 
could  be  no  doubt  the  men  were  apprentices.    They 
concluded  however,  that  the  case  ought  to  be  refeired 
to  a  superior  tribunal.     One  of  them  turned  to  the  ad- 
viser of  the  two  negros,  and  rebuked  him  sharply  for 
his  interference,  accusing  him  of  disturbing  their  n^inds 
and  making  them  uncomfortable,  as  they  were  ^^  per- 
fectly happy  where  they  were,  and  must  work  some- 
where ;"  it  was,  he  said,  ^^  not  doing  as  he  would  be 
done  by,  to  interfere  between  a  gentleman  and  his  ap- 
prentices."    The  individual  who  was  thus  addressed, 
seemed  quite  abashed,  he  looked  confused  and  guilty  ; 
such  is  the  force  of  a  vicious  public  opinion.     He  stam- 
mered out  in  excuse,  that  he  should  be  sorry  to  inter- 
fere between  master  and  apprentice,  but  that  these  ne- 
gros ^^never  had  been  even  slaves  in  the  eye  of  the  law." 
There   are   a  considerable  number  of  non-registered 
slaves  in  this  colony,  who  to  this  day,  contrary  to  the 
plain  letter  of  the  Abolition  law,  have  been  detained  in 
bondage.* 

2nd.  Month,  \st,^  (February.) — ^We  went  this 
morning  by  invitation,  to  breakfast  with  Joseph  Gor- 
don, one  of  the  large  planting  attornies,  and  a  member 

•  See  Appendix  F.  Sec.  iii. 


JAMAICA  1 73 

xyf  Assembly. "  He  afterwards  shewed  us  the  works 
and  hospital  on  his- estate.  The  latter  is  a  large,  con- 
venient building,  and  in  a  favorable  situation  ;  there 
were  only  three  patients  in  it.  We  saw  also  a  few  of 
the  negro  houses,  which  were  comfortable,  consisting  of 
two  and  sometimes  three  apartments.  The  best  of 
them  belonged  to  the  hospital  nurse  and  midwife,  a 
very  intelligent  old  woman,  with  whom  we  conversed 
for  a  short  time.  She  told  us  that  the  number  of  deaths 
of  infants  was  not  greater  than  before  1834.  There 
are  about  one  hundred  and  forty  negros  on  this  estate, 
and  twenty-six  free  children.  The  overseer  observed 
that  a  greater  insult  could  not  be  offered  to  a  mother, 
than  by  asking  her  free  child  to  work.  He  related  an 
instance  where  he  had  made  such  a  proposition,  with^ 
out  success ;  it  was  evident  even  from  his  own  account, 
that  he  had  acted  in  a  harsh  manner,  and  did  not  offer 
money  wages  as  an  inducement.  We  passed  twice  to- 
day through  the  Hope  estate  belonging  to  the  Duke 
of  Buckingham,  where  we  saw  three  white  immigrants 
ploughing  in  the  same  field,  in  which  a  gang  of  negros 
were  at  work  with  the  hoe.  About  fifty  Europeans 
have  been  brought  out  to  this  estate,  under  an  agree- 
ment which  entails  an  enormous  annual  expense  on  its 
proprietor.  No  preparation  was  in  the  first  instance 
made  for  their  reception,  and  the  hardships  they  en- 
dured, and  their  own  intemperate  habits,  carried  many 
of  them  off.  Those  who  remain,  are  more  comfortably 
circumstanced,  and  a  few  of  them  work  steadily,  but 
in  this  climate  one  negro  is  worth  two  or  three  Euro- 
peans. 

2nd. — We  attended    a  Court  held  by  two  Special 
Magistrates,  Bourne  and  Hamilton,  on  a  large  coffee 
plantation  in  St.   Andrews,  called  Dublin  Castle,  the 
Q  3 


174  JAMAICA. 

property  of  Alderman  Atkins.  Mauy  of  the  complaints 
brought  by  the  overseer  against  the  people  were 
adjudged  frivolous,  and  were  dismissed.  One  was 
against  four  women  in  a  late  state  of  pregnancy,  for 
the  loss  of  a  few  minutes  in  coming  late  to  work,  and 
for  insolence.  The  overseer's  own  witnesses  proved 
that  he  had  behaved  towards  them  with  great  harshness 
and  ill-temper ;  and  also,  that  the  women  picked  as 
much  coffee  as  used  to  be  exacted  from  them  during 
slavery.  The  attorney  for  the  estate,  who  was  present, 
did  not  agree  with  the  magistrates  in  their  notions  of 
government :  he  said  in  reference  to  the  case  of  a  man, 
who  had  been  punished  by  a  fine  of  time,  that  negros 
could  not  be  managed  without  being  occasionally 
flogged.  He  made  heavy  complaints  against  the  people 
for  idleness  and  general  insubordination;  and  said  they 
did  not  even  cultivate  their  own  grounds.  A  warm 
altercation  occurred  between  him  and  one  of  the  magis- 
trates (Bourne)  ;  the  former  declaring,  that  these 
negros  were  a  quiet,  orderly,  set  of  people,  before  the 
latter  came  into  the  district ;  to  which  the  magistrate 
replied,  by  stating,  that  forty- nine  cases  were  brought 
before  him  and  Doctor  Palmer,  on  the  very  first  occa- 
sion of  his  holding  a  court  on  the  property.  Before 
leaving  the  estate,  we  were  permitted  to  inspect  the 
hospital,  which  is  a  sufficiently  good  building,  but  was 
in  a  most  filthy  condition. 

3rd. — We  accompanied  the  same  magistrates  to 
Craig- hill,  a  small  coffee  plantation,  with  fewer  than 
forty  apprentices ;  and  one,  therefore,  which  they  are 
not  required  by  law  to  visit.  It  is  on  the  boundary  of 
their  respective  districts,  and  so  many  complaints  had 
been  made  by  the  apprentices,  to  each  of  the  magis- 
trates, that  they  concluded  to  visit  it,  and  hold  a  joint 


JAMAICA.  175 

court.  Nearly  the  whole  of  the  negros  on  the  pro- 
perty attended  the  court,  heiug  concerned  either  as 
defendants^  complainants,  or  witnesses.  The  first  case 
was  a  charge  made  by  the  overseer  against  an  appren- 
tice, for  stealing  proyisions.  The  offence  was  proved 
and  punished.  Next  ah  old  woman  complained  against 
one  of  her  sons,  that  he  had  sold  his  provision  ground 
in  which  she  asserted  a  joint  property.  She  was  an 
Afrii^an,  and  spoke  very  unintelligibly,  but  was  elo^ 
quent  in  gesture  and  animation.  She  had  had  eight 
children,  of  whom,  she  said,  "the  best  had  gone  be- 
fore;"' and  those  who  were  left,  neglected,  and  ill- 
treated  her.  Her  son's  offence  was  not,  however, 
cognizable  by  the  court.  He  in  his  turn  complained 
that  he  had  been  compelled  to  sell  his  ground  to 
another  apprentice,  in  order  to  buy  medicines  and 
applications  for  an  ulcerated  foot.  It  appeared  in 
evidence,  that  there  was  no  hospital  and  no  medical 
attendant  for  the  estate.  Another  case  of  similar  neg- 
lect was  brought  forward  and  fully  substantiated  against 
the  estate,  which  was  fined  five  pounds.  The  next 
case  was  the  complaint  of  an  apprentice  against  the 
overseer  for  locking  her  up  for  eighteen  hours,  without 
food  or  water,  and  sending  his  children,  (two  little 
colored  boys,  of  the  ages  of  twelve  and  five  years,)  to 
call  her  obscene  names.  Her  statement  was  distinct 
and  circumstantial,  and  was  confirmed  by  the  constable 
or  head  negro,  by  her  husband  and  several  other  wit- 
nesses. The  overseer  acknowledged  all  the  charges, 
and  rested  his  defence  on  provocation  and  abusive  lan- 
guage received  first  from  the  complainant.  He  failed, 
however,  in  the  proof  of  his  assertions,  and  was  fined 
five  pounds.  He  remonstrated  against  the  highest 
penalty  of  the  law  being  enforced  against  him;  and 


176  JAMAICA. 

said,  that  the  whole  gang  were  idle,  worthless,  and 
vagabond ;    that  they  were  bought  out  of  the  work- 
house, ^as  convict  slaves,)   for  "  an  old   song."     He 
charged    the   witnesses    with    misrepresenting    facts, 
and   forgetting   what  would  have  made  in  his  favor. 
The  people  warmly  denied  his  imputation,  and  their 
conduct  appeared  to  us  to  be  marked  by  intelligence, 
consistency,  and  regard  for  truth.     The  above  cases 
occupied  so  much  time,  that  many  other  complaints 
of  assault  and  ill-treatment,  of  a  similar  character, 
were  deferred   to   another   occasion.     The  negros  on 
this  property  were,  many  of  them,  almost  in  a  state  of 
nudity.     One  boy,  whom  we  asked,  said  he  had  been 
sent  to  the  treadmill  at  Half-way  Tree,  for  seven  days, 
about  three  weeks  ago  ;  and  that  his  clothes  had  been 
flogged  to  pieces  there.     His  chest  was  sore  from  rub- 
bing against  the  mill,  and  he  is  still  scarcely  able  to 
walk  from  the  eflfects  of  an  injury  in  the  knee,  inflicted 
by  the  revolving  wheel,  when  he  lost  the  step.     He 
declared  that  both  men  and  women  were  flogged  on 
the  treadmill ;  the  former  with  a  cat,  but  the  women 
with  a  strap.     We  fear,  that  the  proceedings  detailed 
above,  are  an  example  of  the  condition  of  the  apprentices 
on  many  of  the  smaller  properties.     It  is  impossible 
for  us  to  express  the  feelings  of  disgust  which  these 
scenes  conveyed  to  our  minds.     During  a  short  visit, 
which  we  paid  in  the  evening  to  S.  Bourne,  a  man 
came  from  Constitution-hill,  another  coffee  estate,  to 
complain,  that  his  master  had  shot  one  of  his  fowls, 
which  had  a  brood  of  chickens.     He  brought  some  of 
them  dead  in  his  basket.     This  is  a  species  of  perse- 
cution, against  which  the  apprentice  has  no  protection. 
4th. — Yesterday  and  to-day,  we  have  had  striking 
proofs,  from  our  own  observation,  of  the  industry  of 


JAMAICA.  177 

the  negros,  when  working  under  a  proper  stimulus* 
As  we  went  to  our  lodgings^  which  are  nine  miles  from 
town,  late  in  the  evening,  we  met  several  parties  of 
two  or  three  men,  women,  and  even  children,  coming 
down  from  the  mountains  with  heavy  loads  of  produce 
cm  their  heads,  from  their  own  grounds  for  the  Kingston 
market.  Some  of  them  had  mules  loaded,  besides  the 
burdens  they  carried  themselves.  We  could  hear  other 
distant  parties  in  the  mountain  passes  and  defiles,  sing- 
ing cheerful  songs  to  beguile  the  tediousness  of  the 
way.  Many  come  a  distance  of  twenty,  or  even  thirty 
miles,  and  pass  the  night  in  the  open  air  on  the  road. 
English  carrots,  cabbages,  and  artichokes,  besides 
yams,  and  other  roots  and  fruits  of  the  country,  were 
among  their  supplies. 

5th. — ^Thb  Sabbath. — We  were  kept  close  prison- 
ers during  the  early  part  of  the  day  by  the  rain. 
About  one  o'clock  we  were  able  to  walk  out,  and  paid 
a  visit  to  the  negro  village  on  the  Botanic  Garden. 
The  negros  generally  observe  the  Sabbath  very  strictly, 
so  far  as  abstinence  from  work  is  concerned.  In  one 
house,  however,  we  found  them  employed  in  shelling  a 
quantity  of  palma  christi  seeds,  preparatory  to  bruising 
and  boiling  them,  in  order  to  obtain  the  castor  oil. 
Near  one  of  the  cottages  was  a  little  wooden  frame, 
in  which  were  set  two  small  rollers,  for  pressing  canes ; 
of  which  a  few  were  cultivated  by  the  negros  for  their 
own  consumption.  There  is  little  division  of  labor  in 
a  slave  country ;  which  is  one  means  by  which  slaves, 
in  every  department,  are  so  much  excelled  by  free 
laborers.  The  negros  construct  their  own  houses, 
make  their  own  clothes,  cultivate  their  provisions  with 
their  own  hands ;  they  use  oil  of  their  own  pressing 
for  their  lamps,  and  wicks  prepared  from  cotton  growing 


178  JAMAICA. 

at  their  own  doors.     We  enquired  of  two  apprentices 
in  one  of  the  huts  if  they  were  married.     They  were 
not,  though  they  had  lived  three  years  together,  and 
appeared  sensible  that  they  ought  to  be.     This  large 
and  extensive  parish,  though  it  is  one  of  the  longest 
settled   in   the  island,   is   nearly  destitute  of  oppor- 
tunities of  religious  improvement.     S.  Bourne,  who 
resides    near    the    Botanic    Garden,    has    a    Sunday 
school  at  his  house,  which  we  visited ;    it  was  attended 
by  ten  men,  who  were  learning  to  read  and  write,  and 
several  boys  in  an  alphabet  class.     One  of  the  former 
was  the  head  man  on  a  neighbouring  large  estate.     He 
was  asked  why  so  few  children  now  attended  the  Sab- 
bath school  from  that  property,  and  replied,  that  the 
attorney  disturbed  and  unsettled  the  people,  or  to  use 
his  own  phrase,  ^^  made  their  minds  chatter.''    He  said, 
that  many  of  the  orange  and  mangoe  trees  growing  on 
the  property,  had  been  cut  down,  in  order  to  deprive 
the  apprentices  of  the  fruit.     One  of  the  boys  present 
was  the  son  of  an  overseer,  who  had  gone  to  reside  on 
another  estate,  and  left  him  without  any  provision,  and 
in  bondage.     The  child  was  purchased  and  made  free, 
and  is  now  supported  by  his  maternal  uncle,  who  was 
present  in  the  other  class,  and  who  is  still  himself  an 
apprentice.     Many  of  these  calumniated  people,  shew 
themselves  superior  in  moral  worth  to  their  haughty 
task-masters. 

6th. — ^We  accompanied  S.  Bourne  to  visit  several 
estates.  Our  route  was  entirely  by  mountain  paths  ; 
and  it  would  be  impossible  to  do  justice  to  the  pic- 
turesque grandeur  of  the  scenery.  The  hills  abound 
with  torrents  and  springs,  and  the  vegetation,  there- 
fore, is  very  luxuriant.  Sometimes  we  caught  a  dis- 
tant glimpse  of  the  sea.     We  crossed  on  our  journey  a 


JAMAICA.  179 

lofty  ridge,  running  directly  across  an  immense  valley. 
The  pass  was  so  narrow  as  not  to  admit  of  two  riding 
abreast.     We  breakfasted  at  the  house  of  an  old  gen- 
tleman of  the  name  of  Wiles,  who  was  the  botanist 
on  Captain  Bligh's  expedition,  and  came  with  him  to 
Jamaica,  forty-four  years  ago.     He  was  induced  to  re- 
main by  the  Assembly,  and  to  undertake  the  superin- 
tendence of  the  Botanic  Garden,  formed  for  the  recep- 
tion of  the  plants  which  they  had  brought.     For  many 
years  past  he  has  been  a  coffee  planter,  and  though 
now  upwards  of  seventy  years  old,  is  in  full  possession 
of  the  powers  of  an  intelligent  and  well-stored  mind. 
He  told  us,  that  the  bread  fruit  tree,  has  not  succeeded 
so  well  as  had  been  anticipated.     It  thrives  in  moist 
situations,  but  never  reaches  the  luxuriant  growth  of 
its  native  climate.     The  mosf  valuable  tree,  he  said, 
which  has   been    introduced  into  Jamaica,  in   recent 
times,  is  the  mangoe ;   a  few  plants  of  which  were  taken 
out  of  a  French  prize,  captured  about  half  a  century 
ago,   by   Lord   Rodney.      It   has   spread   with   great 
rapidity,    and    is    now   found    in    every    part   of  the 
island;    the  fruit,  which  it   produces   in   very   great 
abundance,   is   dessert   for   the   whites   and   food   for 
the  negros,  as  well  as    for  cattle,  horses,  and  hogs. 
Our  host  had  no  complaints  against  his  apprentices. 
We  next  visited  a  small  estate,  on  which  there  were 
about  fifty  apprentices,  under   the  care  of  an  over- 
seer, who  was  himself  a  negro,  and  had  formerly  been 
a  slave.     He  also  governed  the  people  with  little  aid 
from  the  magistrate.     They  had  however  their  troubles, 
the  estate  being  partly  under  the  superintendence  of  a 
white- overseer,  on  a  neighbouring  plantation.     One  of 
the  apprentices  with  an  infant  in  arms,  complained  to 
the  magistrate  of  a  brutal  assault  committed  on  herself 


180  JABfAICA. 

and  child,  by  this  man.  The  particulars  are  too  gross 
for  publication.  Her  child  was  evidently  much  injured 
by  it.  He  was  fined  fi^e  pounds.  In  the  hospital,  there 
was  a  negro,  who  had  been  sent  about  a  month  ago  to 
the  treadmill,  from  the  effects  oi  which  he  is  not  yet 
sufficiently  recovered  to  be  able  to  work.  The  over- 
seer told  us,  that  he  held  him  up  as  a  warning  to  the 
other  people,  of  what  they  might  expect,  if  they  were 
sent  to  the  workhouse  for  punishment.  The  negros  on 
this  property,  were  a  fine  interesting  set  of  people; 
they  complained  of  their  own  accord^  of  one  of  their 
number,  for  not  cultivating  her  grounds.  She  was 
admonished  and  threatened.  They  had  on  a  former 
occasion^  expressed  a  desire  to  have  their  children 
instructed,  and  were  now  asked  by  the  magistrate  if 
they  were  still  in  the  same  mind ;  they  answered 
unanimously  in  the  affirmative ;  adding,  that  they 
wished  also  to  learn  themselves.  He  accordingly  held 
out  to  them  some  expectation,  that  he  would  endeavour 
to  establish  a  school  either  on  the  estate,  or  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood. From  hence,  calling  at  another  estate  in  our 
way,  we  proceeded  to  the  residence  of  Hinton  East,  who 
had  kindly  engaged  us  to  dine  with  him.  His  house  is 
situated  on  the  summit  of  a  hill,  with  a  climate  rang- 
ing from  64o  to  78®  of  Farhenheit.  It  is  tempered  by 
constant  sea  and  land  breezes.  Captain  East  and  his 
lady  are  surrounded  by  a  young  and  interesting  family. 
Their  experience  during  the  few  years  they  have  resi- 
ded here,  is  in  favor  of  the  salubrity  of  the  climate  of 
the  mountains. 

7th, — We  came  to  Spanish  town  this  morning. 
The  road  from  Kingston  to  the  capital,  crosses  an  im- 
mense fresh  water  swamp,  into  which  one  or  two  con- 
siderable   streams    empty    their   waters,    and    which 


JAMAICA.  181 

extendfi  for  several  miles  to  the  sea.  It  abounds  with 
rare  specimens  of  aquatic  plants,  insects^  and  birds, 
^d  with  eels,  fresh- water  turtle,  &c.  The  road  through 
it,  which  has  been  constructed  at  great  expense,  is 
liable  to  be  frequently  overflowed.  The  exhalations 
from  the  marsh  are  painfully  obvious  to  the  senses  of 
the  traveller,  who  is  unavoidably  compelled  to  cross  it 
after  sunset,  or  before  sunrise.  In  any  other  than  a 
slave  country,  it  would  long  ago  have  been  drained, 
and  would  now  be  teeming  with  exhaustless  supplies 
of  agricultural  wealth.  The  capital  is  situated  on  the 
Rio  Cobre,  about  seven  miles  from  the  sea,  in  a  nar- 
row plain,  which  extends  in  a  curved  direction,  as  far 
as  Kingston  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other  a  consider- 
able distance  into  the  interior  of  the  island.  This  land 
is  occupied  by  a  few  sugar  estates,  and  pens  or  farms 
for  raising  cattle ;  but  the  greater  part  has  been  aban- 
doned, and  is  now  overgrown  with  brushwood,  and  the 
logwood,  and  acacia  trees.  As  its  climate  is  uncertain, 
and  subject  to  fvequent  and  severe  droughts,  the  ap- 
prentices do  not  cultivate  provision  grounds ;  neither 
have  they  any  allowances  of  food  from  their  owners ; 
they  support  themselves  by  cutting  grass  and  fire- 
wood for  the  supply  of  the  inhabitants  of  Spanish 
Town.  They  are  sometimes  reduced  to  extreme  dis- 
tress, when  their  time  has  been  forfeited  by  sentence 
of  the  magistrate ;  and  as  they  can  neither  collect  their 
bundles  of  sticks  and  grass  from  the  property  of  their 
masters,  without  permission,  nor  take  them  to  market 
for  sale,  without  a  written  pass,  they  are  as  completely 
under  irresponsible  control,  as  ever  they  vt^re  during 
slavery. 

In  the  course  of  the  morning,  we  visited  the  metro- 
politan girls'  school,  under  the  care  of  J.  M.  Phillippo, 

R 


182  JAMAICA. 

which  is  supported  chiefly  at  the  expense  of  a  society 
of  ladies  in  England.  There  were  ninety  children 
present,  many  of  whom  were  the  colored  offspring  of 
overseers,  lliere  were  at  one  time  in  this  school,  foi;ur 
or  five  children  of  a  late  Governor,  the  Duke  of  Man- 
chester ;  and  one  of  its  present  teachers  is  the  daugh- 
ter of  the  Duke's  celebrated  secretary  Bullock.  Her 
freedom  was  purchased  some  years  ago,  by  the  English 
patronesses  of  the  school.  The  dreadful  state  of  social 
disorganization  in  Jamaica,  is  legibly  written  even 
on  the  surface  of  society.  Its  ^^  bad  eminence,"  is 
doubtless  to  be  attributed,  in  part,  to  the  corrupting 
influence  of  the  long  administration  of  the  above-men- 
tioned Governor.  The  matron  of  the  school  shewed  us 
some  nice  specimens  of  plain  and  ornamental  needle- 
work. We  also  heard  several  classes  read,  and  ex- 
amined them  in  spelling  and  arithmetic.  The  children 
were  neatly  dressed  and  very  clean.  Many  of  them  are 
apprentices ;  of  whom  fourteen  colored  girls  are  sent 
by  their  attorney  from  a  single  estate  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. They  are  intended  to  become  teachers  of  estates* 
schools.  There  are  five  young  women  employed  as 
teachers,  two  of  whom  conduct  the  school,  and  the 
others  are  qualifying  themselves  to  fill  the  same  station 
elsewhere.  Several  of  them  manifest  great  energy  and 
ability,  and  their  system  of  management  is  well 
adapted  to  ensure  order  and  constant  attention.  At 
the  word  of  command,  the  girls  perform  various  me- 
chanical exercises  with  their  hands ;  and  rise,  turn, 
and  resume  their  seats,  or  form  classes,  with  instan* 
tancQus  promptitude.  J.  M.  Phillipo  told  us,  that  on 
the  first  establishment  of  the  school,  he  had  thought  it 
impossible  to  conduct  it  without  an  European  teacher  ; 
but  that  some  of  the  colored  teachers   have  proved 


JAMAICA.  188 

themselves  as  useful  and  efficient,  as  an  European 
could  be  expected  to  be.  The  principal  teacher,  a 
colored  yoiing  woman,  was  purchased  and  made  free 
by  an  old  negro,  her  grandfather,  who  is  still  him- 
self an  apprentice.  She  did  not  know  a  letter  at  four- 
teen years  of  age.  Besides  the  large  number  of  children 
who  receive  in  this  school  a  scriptural  education,  we 
caniiot  but  regard  it  as  a  valuable  institution  for  quali- 
fying teachers.  It  is  worthy  of  even  a  more  liberal 
support  than  it  already  receives  ;  as  the  young  persons 
who  are  at  present  training  to  conduct  schools,  are 
allowed  only  a  dollar  a  week  for  their  maintenance, 
which  is  less  than  they  could  earn  by  needlework  and 
other  employments.  We  had  not  time  to  visit  the 
metropolitan  boys'  school,  held  in  an  adjoining  room. 
It  is  on  the  same  footing  as  the  girls',  except  that  it 
is  dependent  on  casual  funds,  and  thus  entails  a  heavy 
burden  and  responsibility  on  the  missionary,  and  is 
more  limited  in  its  usefulness  as  a  normal  school. 

We  attended  in  the  course  of  the  day  a  sitting  of 
the  House  of  Assembly,  which  has  been  summoned  at 
this  unusual  period  of  the  year,  for  a  short  session, 
to  dispose  of  a  great  arrear  of  business,  occasioned  by 
the  recent  introduction  of  many  new  laws.  It  was 
occupied  to  day  with  a  bill  to  regulate  the  medical 
faculty  and  register  diplomas,  which  was  warmly  op- 
posed by  two  of  the  members,  who  belonged  to  that 
profession. 

We  were  introduced  to  Alexandre  Bravo,  one 
of  the  most  extensive  resident  proprietors  in  the  island, 
and  a  Gustos  and  member  of  Assembly.  He  is  es- 
teemed liberal  and  humane;  and  in  conversation  with 
us,  expressed  the  most  enlightened  views  of  political 
economy.     He  ridiculed  the  idea  of  independent  cultl- 


t 
I 


184  JAMAICA. 

vation,  and  the  fears  that  are  commonly  expressed^  tiuil 
the  people  will  refuse,  when  free,  to  labor ''  contin- 
uously'' for  wages.  He  finds  no  difficulty  in  purchas- 
ing ail  the  labor  that  his  own  people  have  to  sell, 
besides  the  spare  time  of  many  from  adjoining  estates. 
He  considers  slave  labor,  of  all  others,  the  most  un-eco- 
nomical  and  expensive ;  and  is  persuaded  that  twenty 
free  men  are  equal  to  one  hundred  slaves.  Under  a 
slave  system  too,  agricultural  operations  must  be  car- 
ried on  with  immense  masses  of  men,  which  he  believes 
would  not  be  required,  even  in  West  India  cultivation, 
were  it  placed  on  a  proper  footing. 

8th. — ^We  visited  to-day  several  estates,  called  the 
Caymanas,  accompanied  by  G.  O.  Higgins,  Special 
Magistrate,  the  ArroRNBY-GsNERAL,  and  Joseph 
GrORDON.  The  first  of  them  Ellis's,  is  the  property  of 
Lord  Sbaford,  and  under  the  attorneyship  of  the  last- 
named  gentleman.  The  number  of  negros  is  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-five,  besides  the  free  children  who 
receive  the  same  attention,  as  during  slavery.  The 
manager,  who  has  introduced  taskwork  to  a  consider- 
able extent,  assured  us,  that  the  cultivation  of  the 
estate  was  kept  up  as  effectively  as  at  any  former 
period.  Complaints  are  rarely  brought  before  the 
magistrate.  We  saw  the  hospital,  in  which  were 
twelve  slight  cases  :  it  was  a  good  building  but  very 
dirty.  We  passed  also  through  the  negro  village. 
As  the  people  were  at  work,  most  of  the  houses  were 
locked;  such  as  we  entered  were  comfortable,  clean, 
and  furnished.  The  village  is  situated  in  a  grove  of 
cocoa  niit  trees,  which  belong  to  the  negros,  who  are 
dependent,  in  part,  for  their  subsistence,  on  the  sale  of 
the  fruit  in  Spanish  Town  and  Kingston  markets.  On 
this  estate^  as  well  as  on  several  others  which  we  have 


JAMAICA.  185 

visited,  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  establish  a  school, 
but  without  success.     The  adjoining  estate,  Taylor's 

Caymanas,  is  a  still  finer  property,  and  belongs  to 

EwiNG,  of  Glasgow.  The  resident  attorney  is  arbi- 
trary in  his  ideas  of  government,  and  finds  ample  em- 
ployment for  the  Special  Magistrate.  The  third  Cay- 
manas,  Dawkins",  is  also  a  fine  estate,  under  the  attor- 
neyship of  T.  J.  Bernard.  Like  Ellis*s,  it  is  man- 
aged almost  without  the  interference  of  the  Stipendiary. 
Taskwork  also  has  been  introduced  on  it,  by  an  ar- 
rangement with  the  apprentices.  We  enquired  of  the 
overseer,  why  he  did  not  give  the  negros  their  taskwork 
by  the  week,  so  that  they  might  save  one  or  two  whole 
days  ?  He  replied  that  in  that  case  they  would  over 
work  themselves.  We  were  shewn  a  statement  of 
wages  paid  for  extra  labor  during  crop,  which  amount- 
ed to  one  hundred  and  nine  pounds  for  the  season,  or 
ten  shillings  a  hogshead;  which  when  distributed 
would  be  one  shilling;  for  not  less  than  two  and  a  half 
days  of  severe  extra  labor  per  week,  a  remuneration  so 
trifling  as  to  prove,  (if  the  arrangement  is  not  compul- 
sory,) how  easily  the  apprentices  are  satisfied.  We 
drove  from  hence  to  the  Farm,  a  pen  or  cattle  estate, 
belonging  to  Lord  Carrington,  and  under  the  attor- 
neyship of  Joseph  Gordon.  The  hospital  is  a  large 
well  ventilated  building.  Every  hospital  is  furnished 
with  that  relic  of  former  times,  the  stocks.  The  negro 
village  of  the  Farm,  is  probably  one  of  the  best  in  the 
island.  The  houses  are  scattered  over  a  considerable 
extent  of  ground,  in  groups  of  two  or  three,  in  separate 
neat  inclosures.  It  is  embosomed  in  a  grove  of  cocoa  nut 
trees,  on  which  the  negros  are  in  part  dependent  for 
the  means  of  support.  Many  of  the  cottages  consist 
of  two  or  three  good  rooms,  in  which  are  a  little  furni- 
r3 


186  JAMAICA. 

tare,  and  in  a  few  instances  glasses  and  earthenware. 
Tliey  were  remarkably  clean,  and  the  courts  carefully 
swept.  We  were  introduced  to  Whitbhaix  Ellis, 
the  head  negro,  an  intelligent  man,  who  is  still  as  ac- 
tive and  as  lively  as  a  boy,  though  nearly  seventy  years 
of  age.  He  has  a  numerous  family  of  descendants,  and 
is  a  man  of  considerable  property,  being  possessed  of  a 
tight  tax  cart,  and  a  number  of  cattle  and  sheep.  He 
owned  before  the  1st  of  August,  nine  slaves,  twenty 
head  of  cattle,  and  seventy  sheep,  but  like  other  pros- 
perous men  he  has  experienced  occasional  reverses. 
His  speculations  in  slaves  did  not  turn  out  well ;  he 
gave  us  a  most  amusing  account  of  one  of  them,  who 
stole  some  of  his  cattle,  and  sold  them  for  himself  in 
Kingston  market,  and  then,  pretending  they  were  lost, 
almost  killed  his  master,  by  leading  him  a  wild  goose 
chase  in  search  of  them,  among  the  swamps  and  woods. 
As  he,  being  himself  a  slave,  could  not  hold  slaves  in 
his  own  right,  he  was  likely  also  to  lose  the  Compensa-<. 
tion,  through  the  faithlessness  of  the  friend  in  whose 
name  they  had  been  registered.  Ellis  invited  us  to 
his  house,  which  is  a  large,  comfortable,  and  furnished 
cottage,  with  jalousies  in  the  casements.  He  produced 
a  bottle  of  madeira,  and  wine  glasses,  and  by  so  doing, 
according  to  West  India  notions,  refuted  the  thousand 
and  one  statements  of  the  Anti-slavery  Society,  of  the 
physical  sufferings  of  slaves.  Among  the  negro  houses, 
there  is  a  small  chapel,  in  which  one  of  the  apprentices 
occasionally  preaches.  The  attorney  asked  the  people 
whether  they  would  send  their  children  to  school  if  he 
provided  a  teacher.  They  professed  great  anxiety  to 
avail  themselves  of  his  offer.  As  we  were  leaving,  a 
woman  came  forward  to  petition  for  assistance  towards 
rebuilding  or   repairing  her  cottage.     She  manifested 


JABIAICA.  187 

much  distress.  Old  Ellis  rebuked  her  sharply ;  "  did 
she  wish  to  bring  massa's  property  into  disgrace  before 
the  gentlemen  ?"  "Where  were  her  manners?"  &c. 
The  negros  on  this  estate^  are  a  fine,  muscular  race  of 
people,  and  both  their  appearance  and  that  of  their 
dwellings,  was  one  of  comfort.  It  may  be  thought 
that  they  demonstrated  the  compatibility  of  slavery  with 
happiness,  but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that  their 
privileges  depended  on  the  double  accident  of  their  be- 
longing to  a  wealthy  and  humane  proprietor,  and  being 
under  the  government  of  kind  overseers.  Many  of  the 
negros  on  Farm,  are  active,  intelligent,  and  enterpris- 
ing ;  why  should  such  men  be  prevented  from  having 
free  scope  to  increase  their  own  wealth  and  that  of  the 
community  ?  On  the  other  hand,  so  far  from  complete 
emancipation  being  injurious  to  such  estates  as  these, 
the  people  when  free,  will  be  too  unwilling  to  leave 
tiieir  cottages  and  gardens,  and  fruit  trees,  the  heir- 
looms handed  down  to  them  from  their  ancestors,  to  be 
likely  to  forsake  the  estates.  Humane  proprietors  will 
have  every  advantage  in  procuring  the  labor  of  their 
free  peasantry  on  the  most  advantageous  terms. 

9th. — ^The  Rector  of  Spanish  Town  kindly  accom- 
panied us  to  the  schools  under  the  care  of  the  establish- 
ment. Of  these,  there  are  three  under  one  master  and 
mistress,  held  in  the  same  building.  Two,  Beckford*s 
and  Smith's,  are  charitable  foundations  with  conside- 
rable funds,  and  the  third  is  a  school  of  industry,  so 
named  in  consequence  of  an  intention  which  has  never 
been  carried  into  effect,  of  associating  some  manual 
occupation  with  learning.  The  two  former  consist  of 
thirty  children  each,  and  the  latter  of  sixty.  The  chil- 
dren were  principally  colored,  and  apparently  not  of 
the  lowest  grade  of  society.     We  examined  all  but  the 


188  JABIAICA. 

alphabet  class,  which  is  a  very  numerous  one.  The 
proficiency  of  the  children  is  below  the  average  except 
in  writings  in  which  they  excelled. 

We  had  the  pleasure  of  making  the  acquaintance  of 
Chablbs  Harv£y,  of  Spanish  Town,  one  of  the  few 
members  of  the  legal  profession,  who  will  undertake 
the  causes  of  oppressed  negros.  He  has  largely  sacri- 
ficed his  interests  at  the  shrine  of  principle. 

We  again  attended  a  sitting  of  the  House  of  Assem- 
bly, and  heard  during  the  debate  one  of  those  violent 
attacks  on  Lord  Sligo,  in  which  certain  members  of 
this  notorious  House,  are  accustomed  to  indulge.  The 
Marquis  was  described  as  the  calamity  of  Jamaica,  and 
threatened  with  impeachment.  One  of  the  members  told 
us,  that  the  annual  militia  bill  was  about  to  be  intro- 
duced, which  he  intended  to  oppose,  though  in  a  House 
composed  of  Colonels  and  Generals,  he  feared  with  little 
chance  of  success.  The  militia,  he  observed,  was  for- 
merly necessary  on  account  of  the  insecurity  of  slave 
property ;  now  it  is  not  only  useless,  but  burdensome, 
and  discourages  persons  from  settling  in  the  colonies. 
Throughout  the  islands,  every  free  man  of  suitable  age, 
is  compelled  to  serve  in  this  mock  military  force,  ex- 
cept that  a  property  qualification  has  been  recently  in- 
troduced to  exclude  the  emancipated  classes. 

In  the  evening,  we  proceeded  some  distance  into  the 
interior.  At  the  Rectory  Tavern,  in  St.  Thomas  in 
the  Vale,  where  we  staid  for  the  night,  we  unexpectedly 
met  R.  S.  Cooper,  S.  M.  to  whom  we  had  an  intro- 
duction. He  had  just  received  a  challenge  to  fight  a 
duel  from  a  planter  in  the  district,  because  he  had  yes- 
terday refused  to  punish  an  apprentice,  whom  the  for- 
mer accused  of  striking  his  child,  a  charge  which  was 
not  sustained  by  the  evidence.     We  subsequently  learn- 


JAMAICA.  189 

ed>  that  this  case  was  afterwards  taken  before  local 
magistrates,  who  sentenced  the  woman  for  a  month,  to 
the  House  of  Correction.  It  is  therefore  a  double  illus- 
tration of  the  degree  of  respect  paid  to  the  Special  Ma- 
gistrates, and  of  the  facility  with  which  the  law  is 
evaded. 

11th. — ^Early  this  morning  we  drove  over  to  Jeri- 
cho, the  residence  of  John  Clarke,  one  of  the  Bap- 
tist Missionaries.  He  was  absent  from  home,  but  we 
were  kindly  invited  by  his  wife,  to  stay  breakfast.  Be- 
fore we  left,  several  apprentices  called  to  be  examined 
by  the  minister  as  candidates  for  Baptism.  From  their 
answers  to  our  inquiries,  it  appeared,  that  the  authority 
of  the  Stipendiary  is  employed  to  enforce  a  compulsory 
arrangement  for  extra  labor  during  crop.  Many  of  the 
negros  are  compelled  to  work  by  spells  of  eight  hours 
in  the  field  one  day,  and  sixteen  hours  in  and  about 
the  boiling  house  the  next  day,  giving  up  their  half 
Friday,  for  which  amount  of  extra  labor  they  receive  an 
amount  equal  to  two  shillings  and  one  penny  per  week. 
Soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  apprenticeship, 
four  negros  on  the  principal  estate  in  this  parish,  were 
flogged  because  they  refused  to  assent  to  this  arrange- 
ment. Though  they  now  submit  to  it  quietly,  the  ap- 
prentices are  not  consenting  parties  ;  it  is  only  agreed 
upon  between  the  overseer  and  the  magistrate.  These 
people  complained  also,  that  the  Special  Magistrate, 
Captain  Reynolds,  would  never  hear  what  they  had  to 
say  in  their  own  defence,  when  brought  before  him. 
We  next  visited  Rodney  Hall  workhouse,  in  which  we 
found  but  two  or  three  prisoners,  besides  life  convicts. 
The  penal  gang  was  at  work  in  the  neighbourhood,  and 
consisted  chiefly  of  the  latter,  who  were  chained  two 
and  two.     Most  of  them  had  been  condemned  under 


100 


JAMAICA. 


the  old  slave  lawn,  as  incorrigible  runaways.     In  look- 
iug  cursorily  over  the  workhouse,  the  only  observations 
of  importance  that  we  made,  were   that  the  insecure 
state  of  the  building  rendered  it  necessary  to  fasten  the 
legs  of  the  prisoners  to  an  iron  staple  at  night,  on  the 
inclined  board,  on  which  they  slept.     Two  being  chain- 
ed together,  and  the  leg  of  one  of  them  secured  to  the 
staple.     The   treadmill  also  is  a  machine  of  dreadful 
construction.     It  is  so  great  a  height  from  the  ground, 
that  the   prisoners  ascend  a  rude  ladder  to  a  sort  of 
platform,  from  which  they  step  on  the  mill.     They  are 
then  strapped  to  the  beam  above  the  mill,  and  the  plat- 
form is  removed.     If  they  are  unable  to  keep  the  step, 
they  hang  by  the  wrists  and  are  liable  to  sustain  the 
most  serious  injuries  from  the  mill  revolving  against 
their  breasts  and   legs.     There  was  no  machinery  to 
regulate  its  speed.     The  supervisor  acknowledged  that 
it  was  so  severe  a  punishment,  that  it  could  not  safely 
be  inflicted  more  than  two  or  three  times  a  day.     The 
prisoners  are  usually  put  upon  it  morning  and  evening, 
for  fifteen   minutes   each  time.     During  our  stay  two 
Special  Magistrates,  Reynolds  and  Cooper,  arrived  to 
hold  a  court  for  disposing  of  some  valuations.     We 
took  the  opportunity  of  inquiring  respecting  the  rate 
paid  for  extra  labor  during  crop.     They  both  confirmed 
the  statements  we  had  heard  in  the  morning,  of  the 
amount  of  time  required  from  the  apprentices.     One  of 
them  said  it  was  a  work  of  necessity,  and  in  reply  to 
our  inquiry  how  the  people  were  paid,  said,  the  amount 
was  very  low,  but  that  the  negros  appeared  satisfied 
with  it.     The  other  contrasted  the  remuneration  which 
the  apprentices  received  during  crop,  with  the  extrava- 
gant price  at  which  their  labor  was  rated  when  they 
came  to  purchase  their  freedom.     The  time  was  so  far 


JAMAICA.  191 

spent  in  waiting  for  two  local  magistrates,  that  we 
could  only  stay  to  witness  one  valuation,  that  of  a 
negro  man  and  field  laborer.  His  master  and  mistress, 
persons  of  color,  were  very  angry  with  him  for  wish- 
ing to  be  valued,  and  even  used  insulting  language  to 
the  Special  Magistrate  ;  but  amidst  all  their  wrath  did 
not  forget  to  insist  on  the  man's  honesty  and  industry. 
The  Special  and  Local  Magistrates  could  not  agree ; 
the  latter  rating  him  at  two  shillings  and  sixpence  per 
day,  and  justifying  their  exorbitant  valuation  on  the 
plea,  that  a  laborer  could  not  be  replaced, 

12th. — We  went  this  morning  to  a  church  in  King- 
ston, the  minister  of  which  is  one  of  the  most  popular 
clergymen  in  the  island.  It  was  quite  full,  and  we 
were  pleased  to  observe,  that  there  appeared  to  be  no 
distinction  of  complexion  observed  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  seats. 

15th. — We  visited  the  Central  Mico  Schools.  In 
the  infant  school,  there  were  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  children,  from  two  to  seven  years  of  age ;  they 
were  nearly  all  black ;  the  only  while  child  being  the 
son  of  a  clergyman.  They  were  in  excellent  order, 
and  many  of  them  shewed  great  quickness  and  intelli- 
gence, especially  in  asking  and  answering  questions  on 
scripture  narratives,  recited  to  them  by  their  teacher. 
In  each  of  the  other  schools  for  older  boys  and  girls, 
there  were  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  children.  We 
examined  most  of  the  classes  in  the  former,  and  found 
their  proficiency  such  as  did  them  great  credit.  Seve- 
ral of  the  monitors  displayed  great  energy  and  talent, 
particularly  a  negro  youth  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  of 
age,  whom  J.  M.  Trew,  the  agent  of  the  Mico  Trus- 
tees, is  about  to  take  with  him  to  Trinidad,  to  assist  in 
organising  the  schools  there.     The  copy  books  were  as 


193  JAMAICA. 

usual,  well  written,  and  kept  very  clean.  In  the  gpils' 
Bchool,  besides  going  cursorily  over  the  dasses,  we 
were  shewn  some  specimens  of  needlework,  whidi  ap- 
peared to  be  very  nicely  executed.  The  Mico  agenta 
have  already  between  three  and  four  thousand  childieii 
under  their  care,  in  different  parts  of  the  island,  and 
the  attendance  at  their  schools  is  increasing.  They 
have  adopted  the  weekly  pay  system  with  success. 
They  could  not  probably  contribute  more  to  the  cause 
in  which  they  are  embarked,  than  by  rendering  their 
central  establishment  a  series  of  model  schools  as  per- 
fect as  possible,  for  the  training  of  teachers. 

16th. — We  attended  to-day  the  Assize  Court  at 
Spanish  Town,  and  heard  part  of  the  proceedings  in 
case  of  Maclean  v.  Bourns.  This  is  one  of  those 
actions  pending  against  Special  Magistrates,  of  which 
the  public  has  recently  heard  so  much.  Its  progress 
is  a  most  unfavorable  comment,  not  only  on  the  feel- 
ings of  the  planters,  but  on  the  character  of  the  Courts 
of  Law,  and  the  injudicious  conduct  of  the  Home 
Government. 

We  afterwards  visited  the  workhouse  and  jail» 
accompanied  by  Major  Wilkie,  the  Custos  of  the 
parish.  In  the  workhouse,  the  apartments  are  clean 
and  well  ventilated.  The  treadmill  appeared  to  be  of 
the  same  construction  as  is  usual  in  England,  but  there 
was  no  machinery  to  regulate  its  speed,  which  would 
therefore  be  slow  or  rapid,  according  to  the  number  of 
prisoners  upon  it.  The  food  of  the  prisoners,  is  the 
same  in  quality  as  at  Halfway  Tree.  There  were  seve- 
ral white  prisoners,  who  the  Custos  observed  are  kept 
quite  distinct  from  the  rest.  They  have  a  separate 
sleeping  room,  and  are  never  chained  or  sent  out  with 
the  penal  gang  to  work  in  the  streets.     The  latter  have 


JAMAICA.  193 

inm  collars  on  their  necks,  and  work  chained  in  pairs, 
two  BKn  or  two  women.  The  pvemises  forming  the 
county  jail,  which  we  next  visited,  are  divided  hy  a 
wall;  one  side  being  occupied  by  debtors,  and  the 
other  by  criminals.  The  acconunodations  for  the  debl^ 
ors  are  good,  and  a  great  contrast  to  the  crowded, 
confined,  miseraUe  iq>artme»ts  and  cells  allotted  to  the 
prisonccs.  In  the  yard  were  maay  prisoners,  tried  and 
untried,  eadi  with  a  heavy  iron  bolt  attached  to  one  of 
his  legs,  which  in  waHdng  he  was  compelled  to  lift  up, 
by  a  string  held  in  the  hand.  There  was  but  one  white 
prisoner,  who  had  been  tried  for  the  murder  o!  his 
wife,  a  colored  wottian,  and  to  the  great  surprise  of 
the  court  auMi  the  public,  found  guilty  only  of  man* 
slangbter.  He  was  sentenced  to  three  years  imprison* 
ment,  the  extreme  punishment  of  the  island  law  for 
that  oflbnce.  He  was  living  in  a  light  and  spacious 
i^stairs  room,  unshackled  by  chains  or  iron  collar,  and 
enjoying  the  range  of  a  gallery  to  walk  in.  little  pre* 
caution  was  taken  to  ensure  his  security^  but  the  few 
inconveniences  to  which  he  was  subjected^  left  him  at 
little  motive  for  attempting  to  escape.  At  the  end  of 
the  gallery,  in  which  this  individual  is  domiciled,  a 
permanent  gallows  has  been  erected  since  Lord  Sijgo's 
departure  in  front  of  the  market-place.  This  is  justly 
reprobated  by  many  as  a  brutal  and  disgracefol  exhi- 
bition. It  is  intended  to  strike  terror  into  the  minds 
of  the  lower  orders,  and  is  a  singular  exemplieation 
of  the  prevailing  notions  respecting  punishments  and 
prison  discipline. 

We  attended  for  a  short  time  the  sitting  of  the 

House  of  Assembly.     A  bill  was  announced  to  regulate 

the  classification  of  the  apprentices.    The  plan«  which 

is  likely  to  be  adopted,  is  that  of  associating  two  ma* 

s 


194  JAMAICA. 

giBtrates  nominated  by  the  master  with  the  Special 
Magistrate  of  the  district,  to  adjudicate  all  doubtfiil 
cases.  The  rights  of  the  apprentices,  in  that  case,  will 
be  treated  with  as  little  ceremony  as  they  are  before  a 
similar  tribunal  in  valuations.  We  were  introduced  in 
the  course  of  the  day  to  S.  M.  Barrett,  a  member  of 
council,  who  kindly  invited  us  to  visit  his  estates. 

17th.  We  accepted  to  day  a  polite  invitation  of 
Ai^xandrb  Bravo,  to  visit  two  of  his  estates,  about 
ten  miles  from  Spanish  Town.  Our  route  was  through 
a  district  of  level  country,  which  was  for  the  most  part 
abandoned  to  trees  and  brushwood.  It  had  formerly, 
we  were  told,  been  occupied  by  fine  cattle  estates,  from 
whence  the  negros  had  been  removed  to  cultivate  sugar 
in  the  more  mountainous  parishes,  which  have  a  more 
fertile  soil  and  moister  climate.  On  the  first  estate 
which  we  visited,  our  host  is  erecting  one  of  the  most 
handsome  and  substantial  mansions  in  the  island.  It 
is  beautifully  situated  on  a  gentle  acclivity  commanding 
a  view  of  the  sea,  from  which  it  is  distant  three  or  four 
miles.  It  is  built  by  the  labor  of  his  own  apprentices, 
with  materials  supplied  from  his  different  estates.  The 
work  would  do  credit  to  English  artificers.  We  could 
not  but  regard  it  is  a  monument  of  the  confidence  of  a 
liberal  and  enlightened  proprietor  in  the  permanent 
prosperity  of  the  country  under  a  free  system.  On 
these  estates,  the  most  judicious  means  have  been 
adopted,  to  habituate  the  people  to  work  cheerfully  for 
wages,  and  we  are  assured  with  complete  success. 
The  proprietor  has  introduced  taskwork  and  remunera- 
tion, and  has  recently  substituted  money  payments  on  a 
liberal  scale,  in  lieu  of  all  allowances  of  clothing,  salt- 
fish,  sugar,  rum,  &c. ;  and  in  order  to  accustom  his 
people  to  spend  money,  as  well  as  earn  it,  he  has  esta- 


JAMAICA.  195 

bliBhed  a  shop  on  one  or  more  of  his  estates.  Many  of 
his  principal  negros  receive  salaries  varying  from  five  to 
sixteen  pounds  per  annum^  besides  liberal  wages  for  their 
extra  time^  their  house  and  groimds  rent  free^  and  the 
pasturage  of  a  few  hogs^  cattle^  or  horses.  We  were 
requested  to  make  our  own  inquiries  of  the  negros,  and 
accordingly  entered  into  conversation  with  a  number  of 
them*  One  complained  of  the  discontinuance  of  their 
allowances  of  salt- fish,  &c.  since  Christmas.  He  was 
reckoning  up,  in  the  most  perspicuous  way,  the  value 
af  each,  according  to  the  quantity  allowed,  when  his 
master  came  in  and  listened  very  patiently  to  his 
charges,  and  then  replied,  by  shewing,  that  the  money 
which  he  gave  them,  was  a  full  equivalent  for  those 
indulgences.  A  discussion  of  several  other  minor 
points  followed,  which  terminated  in  the  same  manner. 
The  principal  oiator,  on  the  part  of  the  negros,  cer- 
tainly exhibited  an  ingenious  display  of  special  plead- 
ing 5  but  it  was  really  pleasant  to  see  the  independent 
and  free  spirit  of  the  negros,  and  the  good  feeling  sub- 
sisting between  Ihem  and  their  master  ;  which,  so  far 
as  our  observati(»n  extends,  is  a  rare  exception  to  the 
general  rule.  The  latter  related  to  us  several  anecdotes 
of  similar  disputes  with  his  people,  and  said  it  was  a 
mistake  to  suppose  that  the  negro  was  not  a  reasonable 
being.  On  our  return  to  town  we  called  at  the  Whim 
sugar  estate,  on  which  there  are  two  hundred  and 
thirty  apprentices.  Its  average  production  is  one 
hundred  and  thirty  hogsheads,  but  during  the  last  two 
years,  it  has  reached  two  hundred  hogsheads  per  annum. 
The  attorney,  who  is  esteemed  a  good  agriculturist, 
attributes  the  large  crops  to  favorable  seasons,  though 
he  acknowledged  also,  that  the  cultivation  was  kept  up 
as  efficiently  as  during  slavery.     He  complained,  how- 


196  JAMAICA. 

ever,  that  the  people  neglected  their  own  grounds^  and 
refused  to  work  for  wages  in  their  extra  time.  He 
adheres  to  the  eight-hour  system,  a  circumstance  which 
b  sufficient  to  account  for  a  large  amount  of  disaffec* 
tion.  On  our  way  home,  we  passed  through  Bushy 
Park  estate,  one  of  the  largest  and  most  popukma  in 
the  island.  We  have  been  favored  by  the  overseer  of 
Busby  Park  with  a  table  of  births  and  deaths  on  that 
estate,  from  which  it  appears,  that  the  former,  since 
eighteen  hundred  and  thirty-four,  have  been  forty* 
seven,  and  the  latter  eleven,  from  which  it  may  be  in* 
ferred,  that  the  infants  and  pregnant  women,  and 
nursing  mothers,  have  received  the  same  indulgences, 
as  during  slavery,  which  we  are  sorry  to  say,  is  not 
generally  the  case, 

19th. — ^Thb  Sabbath. — ^We  attended  this  morning 
the  various  services  at  the  station  of  the  baptist  mis- 
sion in  Spanish  Town.    The  first  of  these  was  a  prayer 
meeting,  held  very  early  in  the  morning,  attended  by 
about  six  hundred  persons.    At  nine  o'clock  we  visited 
the  Sunday  schools,  in  which  were  about  one  hundred 
children,  chiefly  in  the  alphabet  class,  who  have  no 
other  means  of  instruction.     At  eleven  the  morning 
service  commenced.     The  meeting-house,  which  holds 
about  fifteen  hundred,  was  densely  crowded,  chiefly  by 
apprentices  from  the  surrounding  estates,  who  were 
very  attentive  and  decorous  in  their  deportment.     At 
the  conclusion,  the  minister  married  a  young  couple, 
who  were  apprentices  on  an  estate  some  miles  distant. 
The  formula  was  that  of  the  church  of  England  abbre- 
viated, to  which  was  added  a  suitable  exhortation  and 
prayer.     J.   M.  Phillippo  has   married   about  three 
hundred   of  the   apprentices   within    the   last   twelve 
months. 


JAMAICA.  197 

We  were  introduced  afterwards  to  a  number  of  the 
deacons  and  leaders  of  the  church,  who  were  assembled 
in  a  room  adjoining  the  chapel.  Some  of  them  were 
free,  but  others  were  apprentices  from  the  estates  ^ 
many  of  them,  fully  equal  in  intelligence  and  informa- 
tion to  English  peasantry,  of  some  of  the  agricultural 
districts.  We  enquired  of  them  respecting  the  ap- 
prenticeship. One  of  them  stood  up  and  said,  that  he 
was  a  constable,  and  that  he  found  it  very  diflftcult  to 
act  according  to  his  oath,  as  he  was  expected  to  do  all 
for  his  master,  and  nothing  for  the  people;  whereas 
he  was  frequently  obliged  to  remonstrate  with  his  over- 
seer about  the  oppressions  which  he  practised ;  that 
the  apprentices  now  receive  none  of  their  former  allow- 
ances of  salt-fish,  and  only  half  their  former  quantity 
of  clothing.  It  was  very  hard  for  them  to  subsist  as 
their  grounds  were  often  burned  up  by  drought ;  and 
that  the  overseer  took  their  own  time  from  them  when- 
ever he  wanted  it,  and  it  was  often  a  hard  thing  to  get 
him  to  repay  it.  On  our  asking  whether  the  people 
would  be  willing  to  work  after  eighteen  hundred  and 
forty,  he  said,  "  nothing  was  sweeter  than  for  a  man 
to  labor  for  his  own  bread ;"  a  sentiment  to  which  all 
present  responded.  They  told  us  that  many  had  been 
flogged  or  sent  to  the  treadmill,  who  had  never  been 
punished  during  slavery.  Two  of  the  individuals  pre- 
sent had  been  sent  to  the  treadmill,  and  sustained  severe 
injury  from  its  effects.  The  offences  were  merely 
nominal,  and  we  were  assured  their  characters  were 
without  reproach.  Another  poor  woman  present,  who 
was  the  mother  of  eight  children,  and  in  declining 
years  and  health,  had  been  sent  to  the  treadmill  be- 
cause she  could  not  work  in  the  first  gang,  after  having 
lived  during  the  last  years  of  slavery  a  life  of  compara- 
s  3 


196  JAMAICA. 

live  ease  and  indulgence.  The  overseer  had  aUo  pulled 
down  her  house  which  was  the  best  on  the  estate. 
All  the  apprentices  complained  that  the  magistrates 
did  not  give  them  a  fair  opportunity  of  speaking  in 
their  own  behalf. 

After  this  conference  was  concluded,  we  had  an 
opportunity  of  witnessing  the  examination  to  which 
the  candidates  for  baptism  are  subjected.  A  poor  old 
woman  was  the  first  examined.  She  was  closely  ques- 
tioned by  the  minister,  but  more  especially  by  the 
deacons  and  leaders,  respecting  the  time  and  cause  of 
her  *^  coming  to  religion  ;"  her  views  in  wishing  to  be 
baptized,  and  on  the  person  and  offices  of  Christ.  She 
appeared  to  be  a  simple-hearted  woman,  anxious  to 
forsake  sin,  and  to  join  herself  to  a  praying  people ; 
but  her  answers  did  not  evince  that  clear  acquaintance 
with  the  leading  doctrines  of  Christianity,  which  was 
deemed  essential;  she  was,  therefore,  deferred.  The 
next  probationer,  a  young  man,  was  deemed  suitable 
to  be  received.  Before  the  decision  is  made,  the  can- 
didate is  requested  to  withdraw,  and  those  present, 
who  are  acquainted  with  him,  give  their  sentiments  on 
the  correctness  of  his  outward  conduct;  what  change 
is  to  be  observed  in  it,  and  whether  he  is  in  their 
opinion  a  converted  character.  If  it  is  concluded  to 
receive  him,  he  is  called  in,  and  after  being  exhorted 
by  the  minister,  not  to  put  his  trust  in  the  outward 
ordinance,  is  informed,  that  the  church  has  unanimously 
concluded  to  admit  him  as  a  member ;  and  on  the  first 
convenient  occasion,  he  is  baptized.  We  again  at- 
tended chapel  in  the  evening.  It  was  as  full  as  in  the 
morning,  with  the  exception  of  the  space  occupied  by 
the  Sunday  school  children ;  the  congregation,  how- 
ever, was  a  different  one,  being  principally  composed 
of  persons  from  the  town. 


JAMAICA.  199 

20th. — On  several  occasions^  we  have  seen  the  penal 
gang  of  men  and  women,  in  chains  and  collars  in  the 
streets  of  Spanish  Town,  and  to  day  observed  two 
pregnant  women  chained  together  in  the  gang.  We 
set  out  this  afternoon  on  a  tour  of  the  western  part  of 
the  island,  and  arrived  late  in  the  evening  at  Jericho, 
in  St.  Thomas-in-the-Vale,  where  we  were  hospitably 
received  by  John  Clarke,  the  baptist  missionary  of 
this  station. 

2l8t. — ^We  had  to  day  the  opportunity  of  meeting 
several  apprentices  from  estates  in  various  parts  of 
the  parish,  of  which  we  gladly  availed  ourselves,  being 
particularly  desirous  of  obtaining  the  free  and  unbiassed 
testimony  of  the  negros  themselves,  respecting  the 
change  which  had  taken  place  in  their  condition,  since 
the  introduction  of  the  apprenticeship.  We  were  care- 
ful to  ioipress  upon  their  minds,  (on  this  as  well  as 
on  all  similar  subsequent  occasions,)  that  it  was  not 
probable  they  would  derive  the  most  distant  benefit 
from  our  visit,  and  that  our  inquiries  were  made  solely 
with  a  view  to  ascertain  the  truth,  for  the  information 
of  ourselves  and  other  of  our  friends  in  England.  The 
statements  of  these  apprentices,  who  were  all  of  them 
members  of  the  church,  and  evidently  persons  both  of 
intelligence  and  moral  worth,  are  referred  to  the  ap- 
pendix.* The  substance  of  them  was  as  follows  :  they 
complained  that  they  were  compelled  by  a  compulsory 
arrangement  between  their  overseers  and  the  Special 
Magistrates,  to  give  their  time  during  crop  for  scarcely 
any  remuneration  ;  and  that  out  of  crop,  they  were  on 
many  estates  obliged  to  work  a  greater  number  of 
hours  than  is  required  by  law.     They  have  been  gene- 

•  Bee  Appendix  F.  Sec.  iv. 


i 


200  JAMAICA. 

rally  deprived  of  the  salt-fish  which  they  used  to  re- 
ceive^ and  have  not  nearly  so  large  an  allowance  of 
clothing.  Their  field  cooks,  (the  women  who  used  to 
bring  them  water  in  the  field,  and  to  cook  the  dinners 
for  the  gang,)  have  been  taken  away.  They  do  not 
receive  the  same  attention  when  sick ;  less  time  is 
allowed  to  pregnant  women  before  and  after  confine- 
ment, who,  on  some  estates,  are  not  allowed  to  leave 
field-work  up  to  the  time  of  their  delivery.  The  only 
advantages  which  they  enumerated,  were  that  they  were 
no  longer  liable  to  be  flogged  and  put  in  the  stocks  at 
the  caprice  of  their  overseers  and  drivers.  One  of  the 
men  was  a  head- carpenter  on  a  large  estate,  who  had 
applied,  about  a  year  ago,  to  purchase  his  freedom,  and 
was  valued  at  three  hundred  and  fifty-two  pounds. 
This  iniquitous  proceeding  excited  attention  both  in 
the  colony  and  at  home  ;  but  the  injured  party  has  ob- 
tained no  redress.  He  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  new 
valuation,  when  he  was  rated  at  two  hundred  and  thirty 
pounds ;  but  though  he  tendered  half  the  money  as  an 
instalment,  it  was  refused,  and  the  valuation  set  aside. 
He  has  now  almost  given  up  the  hope  of  freedom,  and 
thinks  it  will  not  arrive  in  time  to  be  of  much  benefit 
to  him,  as  he  is  in  weak  health,  and  approaching  sixty 
years  of  age.  All  these  people  spoke  very  affectionately 
of  Doctor  Palmer,  and  said  he  was  the  best  magis- 
trate that  ever  came  into  the  parish.  Before  bis  time 
they  never  obtained  their  half  Fridays,  according  to  the 
law,  and  since  he  was  removed,  they  have  again  been 
deprived  of  them.  He  encouraged  them  to  clear  and 
cultivate  new  provision  grounds,  and  now  they  have 
^^jplenty  of  victual  in  them,"  while  before  they  were  so 
unsettled  and  afraid,  that  they  neglected  their  grounds. 
One   of  the    apprentices    suggested    as    an   effectual 


«tAMAItA.  201 

remedy  for  one  of  the  greatest  abuses  to  which  they  are 
exposed,  that  a  cannon  should  be  placed  at  Rodney 
Hall  Workhouse  with  a  soldier  to  fire  it  at  the  proper 
hours  of  shellblow.  It  would  be  heard  on  every  estate 
in  the  vale.  They  said  they  should  be  perfectly  satis- 
fied if  the  law  were  but  fairly  administered ;  but  that 
*^  the  white  people  never  dealt  fairly  by  them,  though 
they  were  always  the  first  to  cry  out,'*  Before  we  took 
leave  of  them,  one  of  them  was  requested  by  the  mis- 
sionary to  oflfer  up  a  prayer,  which  he  did,  in  appro* 
priate  and  affecting  terms,  for  the  general  extension  of 
religion,  for  a  blessing  on  the  church,  on  their  minister 
and  his  family,  and  on  the  friends  of  the  negros  in 
England,  and  lastly,  that  their  minister  might  have 
given  to  him  "  a  voice  like  a  mighty  shell,  to  make  the 
word  of  life  known." 

There  are  connected  with  Jericho,  four  different 
stations,  all  supplied  at  intervals  by  one  missionary. 
In  these  four  churches,  besides  Creoles  of  Jamaica, 
and  a  few  individuals  born  in  Martinique  and  Georgia, 
U.  S.,  there  are  native  Africans  of  fourteen  different 
tribes  and  nations. 

22nd.  We  left  Jericho  very  early  this  morning  for 
St.  Ann's  Bay.  Our  road  for  the  first  eight  or  ten 
miles,  was  over  mount  Diabolo,  which  we  presume 
derives  its  name  from  the  length  and  steepness  of  the 
ascent.  On  looking  back  into  the  vale  we  had  left,  it 
appeared  filled  with  a  dense  white  fog,  which,  without 
a  knowledge  of  the  locality,  might  have  been  taken  for 
the  sea.  Our  first  stage  was  a  tavern  called  the 
Moneague,  near  the  summit  of  the  hill.  St.  Ann's  is 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  parishes  in  the  island.  It  has 
no  sugar  estates  in  the  interior,  but  is  chiefly  occupied 
in  the  cultivation  of  pimento,  or  coffee,  or  by  large 


203  JAMAICA. 

farms  for  the  r&ising  of  horses,  cattle,  and  mules. 
After  leaving  the  mountains,  the  country  opens  into  an 
undulating  champaign  partly  covered  with  forest,  but 
principally  with  pastures  of  guinea  grass  growing  in 
tufts  of  such  gigantic  size,  as  sdmost  to  hide  the  horses 
and  cattle  feeding  in  the  midst  of  them.  Orange  trees  and 
other  varieties  of  the  citron  tribe,loaded  with  their  golden 
fruit,  are  thickly  scattered  over  the  landscape.  The 
scenery  is  of  a  parklike  character,  the  estates  having  no 
fences  except  the  walls  which  bound  them ;  while  the 
gentle  elevations  are  crowned  by  clumps  of  trees,  and 
the  lowlands  occupied  with  herds  of  cattle. 

We  stayed  several  hours  at  the  Moneague,  and 
called  upon  a  gentleman  of  the  name  of  Brydon,  to 
whom  we  had  an  introductory  letter.  He  had  just  sold 
his  estate  in  this  neighbourhood,  as  he  was  anxious  to 
return  home.  He  is  still,  however,  attorney  for  seve* 
ral  estates  in  an  adjoining  parish,  where  he  told  us  all 
the  people  behaved  well,  but  he  allowed  them  their  salt 
fish  and  other  slave  allowances.  On  one  property  they 
were  at  one  time  insubordinate,  but  he  changed  the 
overseer,  and  ordered  that  they  should  receive  the  salt 
fish,  which  had  been  discontinued,  and  their  deport- 
ment has  since  been  satisfactory.  Near  the  Moneague, 
there  is  a  parochial  free  school  called  Walton's,  endow- 
ed with  a  house  and  estate,  and  two  separate  sums  of 
twenty- five  thousand  and  six  thousand  pounds,  both  on 
loan  to  the  island  treasury  at  eight  per  cent.  The 
master  is  a  clergyman,  and  M.A.  and  there  is  also  a 
submaster.  This  wealthy  charity  educates  and  main- 
tains sixteen  parish  scholars,  between  the  ages  of  seven 
and  sixteen  years.  The  head  master  has  also  the  pri- 
vilege of  taking  private  pupils. 

In  some  parts  of  our  journey,   the  trees  on  either 


JAMAICA.  203 

side  of  the  road  were  covered  with  parasites,  the 
abundance  and  variety  of  which  is  a  peculiar  feature 
of  tropical  vegetation.  Some  twine  about  the  trunks 
of  trees,  like  cords  of  all  thicknesses,  from  cable  to 
thread;  others  hang  in  green  festoons,  and  some- 
times they  are  so  densely  woven  together  as  to 
form  a  curtain,  excluding  the  interior  from  view. 
We  drove  to  St.  Ann's  Bay  in  the  evening.  The 
little  town  on  the  Bay  is  beautifully  situated,  but  so 
surrounded  by  sea  swamp  as  to  be  very  unhealthy. 
Th<i  neighbouring  heights  afford  a  pleasant  and  safe  re- 
treat for  the  more  wealthy  inhabitants.  Near  the  coast 
are  many  fine  sugar  estates. 

23rd.  In  the  course  of  the  morning  we  paid  a  visit 
to  the  workhouse  and  jail,   which  are  contiguous  pre- 
mises,   si;parated   only   by   a  party-walL      We   were 
shown  over  them,  in  the  supervisor's  absence,  by  his 
d(;puty.     In  the  jail  there  were  three  prisoners  in  chains, 
and  with   their   feet  in   shackles,    waiting  their  trial. 
We  wejre  told  they  had  attempted  to  escape  ;  the  wall 
was  sufficiently  high,  but  it  appeared   the   door  was 
liable  to  be  left  open,  so  that  they  are  compelled  thus 
to  suffer  because  the  turnkey  is  careless.     In  the  work- 
house there  were  two  prisoners  in  the  solitary  cells. 
One  was  a  female  apprentice,  sentenced  to  that  punish- 
ment and  to  the  treadmill  twice  a  day,  for  deficiency  of 
work.     She  was  evidently  ill,  and  had  been  so,  we  were 
informed,  from  the  time  of  her  coming  in,  so  that  the 
second  part  of  the  sentence  could  not  be  carried  into 
effect.     In  the  women's  sleeping  room  was  a  woman 
suffering  from  an  injury  sustained  on  the  treadmill. 
She  was  in  chains.     A  boy  in  the  men's  ward  was  ill 
from  the  same  cause.      The  deputy  told  us  that  an  old 
woman,  now  at  work  with  the  penal  gang,  had  this 


JAMAICA. 

morning  sustained  similar  injury  from  the  mill.  There 
are  about  seventy  prisoners  in  the  jail  and  workhouse^ 
for  whom  the  sleeping  accommodation  is  very  insuffi- 
cient. A  large  number  of  them  are  life  convicts^  prin- 
cipally **  incorrigible  runaways"  from  slavery.  The 
treadmill  at  this  workhouse  is  a  cylinder  about  eight  feet 
in  diameter^  with  broad  steps.  The  handrail  above  it 
has  eight  pair  of  straps  fastened  to  it^  with  which  the 
wrists  of  the  prisoners  are  always  secured.  The  board 
under  the  rail  descends  perpendicularly,  and  not  in  a 
sloping  direction  9  towards  the  mill,  and  does  not, 
therefore,  aiford  them  the  slightest  protection  when 
they  lose  the  step  and  hang  by  the  wrists.  In  that  case 
the  sharp  steps  of  the  mill,  which  project  twelve  or 
fifteen  inches  from  the  cylinder,  must  revolve  against 
the  bodies  and  legs  of  the  prisoners  with  torturing 
effect.  Such  are  the  faults  in  the  construction  of  the 
mill,  and  the  results  are  such  as  may  have  been  an- 
ticipated. Every  step  is  stained  with  blood  both  re- 
cent and  old ;  the  former  being  that  of  the  poor  old 
woman  whom  the  deputy  mentioned  to  us.  It  had 
been  shed  so  profusely,  that  even  the  sand  on  the  floor 
was  thickly  sprinkled  with  it.  We  asked  him  whether 
the  prisoners  on  the  tread  wheel  were  flogged.  He  re- 
plied that  it  was  necessary  "  to  touch  them  up'* — 
women  as  well  as  men.  The  latter,  he  said,  were  struck 
on  the  back,  but  the  women  on  their  feet.  The  whip, 
which  we  asked  to  see,  is  a  cat  composed  of  nine 
lashes  of  knotted  small  cords.  The  driver  of  the 
penal  gang,  superintendent  of  the  treadmill,  and  other 
similar  officers,  in  this,  as  well  as  in  the  other  work- 
houses, are  taken  out  of  the  gang  of  life  convicts.  It 
is  fearful  to  contemplate  the  abuses  committed  by  these 
petty  tyrants,  who,  being  already  sentenced  to  impri- 


JAMAICA.  205 

sonment  for  life,  are  thus    almost   irresponsible,  and 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  law. 

In  a  subsequent  part  of  the  day,  while  we  were  in 
the  town,  conversing  with  several  persons,  the  Special 
Magistrate  of  the  district  passed  by  in  his  gig.  He 
was  quite  intoxicated,  and  was  being  driven  by  the 
bookkeeper  of  a  neighbouring  estate,  to  which  they 
appeared  to  be  going  to  administer  the  Act  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery.  This  man*s  conduct  and  character 
are  publicly  and  disgracefully  notorious. 

We  called  to-day  upon  the  Baptist  and  Wesley  an 
missionaries.  The  former,  T.  F.  Abbott,  is  engaged 
in  building  a  new  chapel  to  accommodate  his  large  and 
increasing  congregation.  The  latter  also,  —  Williams, 
occupies  a  field  of  extensive  usefulness.  He  informed 
us,  that  their  churches  have  been  increased  by  the 
addition  of  one  thousand  members  in  this  parish  ^lone, 
since  1834.  We  called  also  upon  G.  W.  Bridges,  the 
rector  of  the  parish,  who,  though  almost  overwhelmed 
with  grief  by  a  most  heavy  domestic  affliction,  the  har- 
rowing details  of  which,  have  for  some  weeks  past  filled 
the  public  mind,  received  us  kindly,  and  expressed  a 
lively  interest  in  the  object  of  our  journey. 

24th. — We  went  this  morning  to  see  the  treadmill 
at  six  o'clock,  at  which  time  the  prisoners  sentenced 
to  this  punishment,  are  put  upon  it  previously  to  their 
being  sent  to  th?  penal  gang.  Two  mixed  gangs  of 
men  and  women  were  put  upon  it  during  our  stay ; 
the  latter  had  no  suitable  dress,  and  were,  therefore, 
liable  to  be  indecently  exposed.  The  lever,  by  which 
the  speed  of  the  wheel  is  regulated,  was  held  the  whole 
time  by  the  driver,  who  sometimes  relaxed  his  hold  for 
a  few  seconds,  which  made  it  revolve  with  such  ra- 
pidity, as  to  throw  all  the  prisoners  oft     It  is  thus 

T 


206  JAMAICA. 

evident  that  the  punishment  may  be  increased  beyond 
endurance  at  his  caprice.  Nearly  all  the  prisoners 
were  dreadfully  exhausted  at  the  end  of  fifteen  minutes. 
One  of  the  prisoners  told  us  he  was  sent  because  a 
cattle  (a  steer)  died  under  his  charge.  We  observed 
this  morning,  that  not  only  was  the  floor  sprinkled, 
and  the  steps  stained,  but  the  very  drum  of  the  mill 
was  spotted  with  blood.  If  the  prisoners  cannot  keep 
step,  they  are  suffered  to  hang,  battered  by  the  wheel, 
till  the  time  expires.  The  old  woman  mentioned  to  us 
yesterday,  hung  the  whole  time,  as  she  could  not  keep 
step  from  the  commencement.  She  was  so  much  in- 
jured, that  she  could  not  be  put  on  the  mill  this  morn- 
ing ;  but  that  did  not  prevent  her  being  sent  to  work 
in  the  penal  gang  in  chains,  and  an  iron  collar. 

We  called  at  Drax-hall,  one  of  the  large  sugar 
estates  in  the  neighbourhood.  The  quantity  of  sugar 
produced  has  not  diminished  since  1834.  The  overseer 
told  us,  that  he  adopted  the  eight-hour  system,  giving 
direction  to  his  bookkeeeper,  "  to  draw  the  people  off, 
when  they  have  worked  their  time,  according  to  the 
time  they  turn  out  in  the  morning.*'  He  gives  them 
their  salt-fish  as  be  did  during  slavery,  except  when 
they  behave  ill.  We  were  shewn  the  hospital,  a 
wretched  and  filthy  building,  though,  from  its  size, 
capable  of  being  improved  at  a  small  expense.  On 
going  through  the  cane  pieces,  we  met  one  of  the  ap- 
prentices, a  constable  or  head  man.  We  asked  him 
what  he  thought  of  the  apprenticeship,  as  compared 
with  slavery  ;  but,  in  the  presence  of  Busha,  (the  over- 
seer,) we  could  obtain  no  answer. 

On  our  return,  we  rode  to  the  place  where  the 
penal  gang  was  at  work,  and  saw  the  poor  old  woman 
who  had  suffered  so  much  on  the  treadwheel  yesterday. 


JAMAICA.  207 

She  Was  a  small  weakly  creature.  Her  legs  were 
tnost  severely  bruided  and  lacerated.  We  subsequently 
learned  from  some  negros  from  the  same  estate^  that 
the  late  Special  Magistrate  had  permitted  her  to  sit 
down  (discontinue  labor)  ou  account  of  her  age,  and 
that  when  he  was  removed,  she  was  sent  to  mind 
sheep.  One  of  them  died,  and  she  ran  away  two 
ihonths,  through  fear  of  punishment.  This  was  her 
offence.  Several  other  women  also  shewed  us  the 
severe  injuries  which  they  had  sustained  on  the  tread- 
mill. Two  of  them  had  infants  in  arms,  of  two  or 
three  months  old,  and  had  been  sent,  as  the  driver 
expressed  it,  ^^  for  not  being  able  to  please  their  over- 
seer.'* One  old  man  was  a  pitiable  object,  both  his 
body  and  limbs  being  swelled  by  dropsy,  to  a  great 
size.  He  had  been  apprehended  as  a  runaway.  The 
strong  men  in  the  gang  were  employed  in  digging 
materials  for  the  road  out  of  a  deep  gully,  which  the 
women  and  weakly  men  brought  up  by  a  steep  path  in 
baskets  on  their  heads ;  and  this  poor  negro  being  too 
weak  to  carry  a  basket,  was  chained  to  two  others, 
with  whom  he  was  compelled  to  climb  up  and  down 
the  difficult  ascent.  In  the  evening  we  had  the  oppor- 
tunity of  conversing  with  negros  from  seven  different 
estates  in  this  neighbourhood.  Several  of  them  were 
very  intelligent;  all  were  members  of  a  Christian 
church,  and  appeared  respectable,  well-disposed  people. 
As  a  proof  that  they  did  not  complain,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  those  from  one  property,  Carlton  Pen,  ex- 
pressed themselves  satisfied,  and  said,  they  had  all  the 
indulgences  that  were  customary  under  the  old  sys- 
tem.    Their  statements  are  referred  to  the  Appendix.* 

•  See  Appendix  F,  Sec.  iv. 


2(i8  JAMAICA. 

Their   complaints,    which   were   almost   uniform,   in- 
cluded   compult»ory    and    unrequited    labour    during 
crop  ;  frauds  of  time  out  of  crop ;   being  deprived  of 
their  old  allowances ;   inattention  to  the  sick  ;   insuf- 
ficiency of  time  allowed  to  pregnant  women  and  nursing 
mothers ;  general  ill-treatment  by  their  overseers  j  and, 
partiality,  injustice,  and  drunkenness  of  the  Special 
Magistrate.     They  said,  that  all  who  were  sent  to  the 
treadmill,  returned  sick  and  injured,  some  having  to 
stay  in  the  hospital  afterwards  for  two,  three,  or  even 
four  months.     They  were  not  only  daily  defrauded  of 
their  time,  but  were  frequently  mulcted  of  their  Satur- 
days.    The  whole  of  the  people  on  Windsor  estate, 
had  been  fined  three  Saturdays,  for  not  turning  out 
early  in  the  morning,  which,  they  said,  was  a  false 
accusation.     They   were   to   begin   paying   these   to- 
morrow.    The  whole  of  the  apprentices  on  Cranbrook 
and  Blenheim  estates,  had  been  mulcted  five  Saturdays, 
because  a  few  canes  had  been  stolen,  and  the  thief  could 
not  be  discovered.     Watchmen  are  employed  all  nighty 
but  it  is  a  compulsory  service,  for  which  they  receive 
no  remuneration.     To  such  an  extent  are  they  thus 
deprived  of  their  Saturdays,  that  they  are  obliged  to 
work  on  the  Sabbath  for  a  subsistence.   This  statement 
of  these  negros  was  confirmed  by  one  of  the  mission- 
aries, T.  F.  Abbott,  who  mentioned  to  us  in  conver- 
sation yesterday,  that  the  attendance  at  his  chapel  is 
afifected  by  it ;    the  people  being  compelled  to  go  to 
their  grounds  on  the  Sabbath.     The  above-mentioned 
apprentices  told  us,  that  when  they  became  free,  they 
should  be  glad  to  remain  on  the  estates,  working  for 
wages  ;   but,  that  many  of  the  overseers,  told  them 
what  high  rents  they  would  have  to  pay  for  their  cot- 
tages, and  talked  in  such  a  way,  that  they  thought  they 


JAMAICA.  209 

would  be  turned  off,  especially  such  as  were  getting  old 
and  weak. 

25th, — ^We  came  this  morning  to  Brown's  Town, 
a  small  town  in  the  interior  of  the  parish  of  Saint 
Ann's.     Our  route,  for  the  first  ten  miles,  lay  through 
a  succession  of  cane»fields  by  the  sea  side ;  the  view  of 
the  interior  was  bounded  by  beautiful  green  hills.     On 
leaving  the  coast,  the  cultivation  of  the  cane  is  discon- 
tinued, and  our  road  over  the  hills  lay  through  groves 
of  pimento  trees.     Contrary  to   our  expectation,   we 
find  the  climate  of  the  interior  more  tempered  and 
salubrious,  than  that  of  the  coast.    In  the  course  of  the 
morning,  we  rode  over  to  the  Retreat  Pen,  belonging 
to    S.   M.  Barrett,   an  estate  of  great  extent   and 
beauty,  being  several  miles  in  length  and  depth,  and 
comprising  both   pasture  and   mountain  woodland. — 
It  is  managed  by  a  black  overseer,  named  Samuels, 
who  was  born  a  slave  on  one  of  the  estates  of  his  pre- 
sent  master.     He   is   now  free,  and  though  he  can 
neither  read  nor  write,  the  property  under  his  charge 
is  in  the  finest  order,  and  the  people  in  the  best  disci- 
pline.    With  perhaps  the  single  exception  of  the  ap- 
prentices on  Hopeton  and  Lenox  estates,  the  Retreat 
negros   possess,  we  believe,  greater  advantages  than 
those  on  any  property  in  the  island.     We  walked  with 
the  overseer  through  the  negro  village.    The  houses  are 
comfortable,  and  many  of  them  of  considerable  size, 
and  situated  in  the  midst  of  neat  gardens.     They  had 
shingled  roofs,  and  cement  or  boarded  floors.     Most 
of  the  people  wece  at  their  provision   grounds,  but 
Samuels  introduced  us  to  such  as  we  found  in  the 
houses,  as  two  friends  of  their  master,  who  had  come 
from  England  to  see  how  they  lived.   They  all  appeared 
to  be  in  prosperous  condition.     Most  of  the  married 
T  3 


*ilO  JAMAICA. 

people  had  large  fninilies.  The  number  of  apprentices^ 
wc  understoody  to  be  two  hundred  and  twenty-eight, 
and  of  free  children  seventy-six.  After  leaving  the 
village,  we  met  many  of  the  people  returning  from  Uieir 
provision  grounds  with  heavy  baskets,  and  sometimes 
mule-loads  of  provisions,  which  were  either  for  sale  in 
the  market,  or  for  their  own  use  during  the  ensuing 
week.  They  appeared  respectable,  intelligent,  and 
contented.  We  made  many  inquiries  of  them  respect- 
ing the  change  in  their  condition  since  1834,  but  found 
they  had  enjoyed  the  same  privileges  before,  with  the 
exception  of  their  alternate  Fridays.  We  asked  them 
also,  what  they  thought  of  being  free  in  1840 ;  the  men 
usually  replied,  "that  they  liked /ree  well;"  but  the 
women  seemed  almost  to  dread  the  thoughts  of  change. 
Samuels  observed,  that  very  little  alteration  had  oc- 
curred since  1834;  the  whip  had  been  abolished  ever 
since  the  proprietor  first  came  to  reside  in  the  country. 
He  said  the  apprentices  continue  to  receive  their  salt- 
fish  and  other  accustomed  allowances,  and  that  the 
free  children  thrive  "  because  Mr.  Barrett  takes  notice 
of  them;'*  i.  e.,  gives  them  the  same  allowances  of 
clothing,  and  causes  the  same  attention  to  be  paid  to 
them  as  during  slavery.  We  saw  about  sixty  or 
seventy  hogs  grazing  in  the  open  pasture,  which  were 
the  property  of  tlie  apprentices.  They  have  also  eight 
or  ten  horses  among  them,  and  feathered  stock  in 
abundance.  We  enquired  if  they  cultivated  their 
grounds  industriously,  and  were  told  by  the  overseer 
that  they  did,  and  were  even  obliged  to  be  restrained 
from  taking  in  more  new  land.  One  man  who  had 
neglected  his  garden,  had  been  punished  by  taking 
away  two  of  his  Saturdays,  and  sending  him  on  two 
other  days  to  work  in  his  provision  ground,  under  the 


JAMAICA.  211 

superintendence  of  another  apprentice.  The  culprit 
was  so  ashamed  that  he  has  behaved  well  ever  since. 
Samuels  assured  us,  that  the  apprentices  worked  well 
for  the  estate,  and  turned  out  early  in  the  morning. 
A  large  proportion  of  them  are  Wesleyans  and  Bap- 
tists. Before  the  missionaries  came  among  them,  he 
observes,  there  used  to  be  frequent  broils  ;  now,  all  is 
order  and  peace.  A  few  years  ago,  none  of  them  were 
married;  he  himself  first  set  the  example,  and  now 
there  are  only  two  mothers  of  families  on  the  property, 
who  are  unmarried.  He  says,  he  finds  it  much  better 
to  govern  by  kindness,  than  by  punishment,  and  that 
the  people  can  be  made  ashamed  of  bad  practices. 

We  met  in  the  course  of  the  day,  in  Brown's  Town, 
Captain  Rawlinson,  the  Stipendiary  Magistrate,  of 
this  district.  He  informed  us,  that  the  people  on  the 
whole,  behaved  well ;  and  that  the  proprietors  and 
managers,  with  scarcely  an  exception,  are  well-dis- 
posed; that  the  apprentices  have  their  half  Fridays, 
and  that  the  pregnant  women  are  allowed  to  discontinue 
work  two  months  before  confinement,  and  for  several 
weeks  after.  There  are  only  seven  sugar  estates  in  his 
district,  the  rest  being  coffee  or  pimento  properties. 
He  acknowledged  that  the  Saint  Ann's  workhouse, 
which  we  visited  yesterday,  is  a  very  severe  place. 
We  regret  to  observe,  that  his  account  of  the  treatment 
of  the  apprentices,  does  not  at  all  correspond  with  what 
we  subsequently  heard  from  their  own  lips,  nor  with  the 
testimony  of  impartial  witnesses.  We  called  on  the 
resident  baptist  missionary,  John  Clark,  at  whose 
house  we  saw  two  apprentices  from  Penshurst,  the 
property  of  G.  W.  Senior,  One  of  them  was  James 
Williams,  a  negro  youth,  about  eighteen  years  of  age, 
whose  unpremeditated  statements   to   us,  correspond 


212  JAMAICA. 

with  the  more  detailed  account  which  has  since  been 
made  public  in  England.* 

25th. — We  breakfasted  this  morning  at  the  mission 
house,  with  the  teacher  of  the  Mico  school ;  John 
Clark  being  absent  at  a  baptism  by  the  sea-side,  ten 
miles  distant.  There  is  a  large  Sunday  school  at  the 
mission  house,  attended  by  from  four  to  five  hundred 
children  and  adults,  which  is  superintended  by  the 
agent  of  the  Mico  trustees.  The  Mico  school  is  the 
only  day  school,  and  it  is  attended  by  about  sixty 
children,  and  the  number  is  daily  increasing.  The 
teacher  informed  us,  that  those  who  can  afford  it,  pay 
regularly  a  trifling  weekly  amount.  He  mentioned, 
that  a  short  time  ago,  he  was  located  on  an  estate,  in 
the  parish  of  Portland,  where  he  was  furnished  with  a 
house  by  the  proprietor,  on  condition  that  the  appren- 
tices and  their  children  should  be  taught  free  of  ex- 
pense. Those  from  neighbouring  estates  were  required 
to  pay  fivepence  per  week.  Such  was  the  general  de- 
sire to  learn,  that  from  several  estates,  whose  population 
amounted  to  four  hundred  and  seventy ;  three  himdred 
and  sixty-eight  adults,  and  children  were  under  his 
instruction.  Many  of  them  made  considerable  pro- 
gress ;  but,  after  a  short  time,  the  school  was  given 
up,  because  the  proprietor  complained,  that  the  master 
sympathized  too  much  with  the  negros,  and  said,  if 
any  disturbance  took  place,  he  should  attribute  it  to 
that  cause.  Our  informant  observed,  that  the  work  of 
education  may  be  successfully  promoted  by  any  quali- 
fied person  undertaking  it  with  sincere  intentions ; 
but  that  in  order  to  obtain  the  confidence  of  the  people, 
it  is  necessary  to  avoid  the  intimacy  of  the  overseers. 

•  See  Appendix  F,  Sec.  v. 


JAMAICA.  213 

The  minister  returned  about  ten  o'clock,  and  an 
hour   afterwards,   the   morning   worship   commenced. 
Though  this  is  comparatively  a  new  station,  there  were, 
at  least,  one  thousand  persons  crowded  into  the  chapel, 
and  many  could  not  obtain  admittance.     They  listened 
attentively  to  an  earnest  and  faithful  discourse  on  re- 
generation, a  subject  which  was  so  treated  as  to  wean 
their  minds  from  a  dependance  on  the  outward  form  of 
baptism,   of  which   fifty-two   of  them  had  been  that 
morning  partakers.     After  the  service,  a  marriage  was 
celebrated  with  most  appropriate  simplicity,  the  form 
employed  being  a  judicious  selection  of  passages  from 
the  Old  and  New  Testament.     In  the  early  part  of  the 
afternoon,  the  sacrament  was  administered;  after  which 
the  people,  many  of  whom  came  from  estates  at  a  con* 
siderable  distance,  generally  dispersed  to  their  homes. 
In  the  evening  there  was  another  service  attended  by 
about  three  hundred  persons,  chiefly  from  the  town 
and  its  immediate  vicinity. 

During  the  day  and  in  the  evening,  we  availed  our- 
selves of  the  opportimity  of  conversing  with  many  of 
the  members,  who  were  apprentices  on  neighbouring 
properties.  Their  statements  are  referred  to  the  Ap- 
pendix.* It  is  impossible  to  do  justice  to  them  by 
any  general  summary  ;  we  will,  therefore,  observe  that 
they  include  aggravated  forms  of  every  abuse,  which 
we  have  yet  heard  complained  of,  and  reiterated  op- 
pressions and  cruelties  of  masters,  overseers,  and  the 
Special  Magistrate. 

26th. — ^We  left  Brown's  Town  early  this  morning, 
and  drove  over  to  the  Retreat  Pen  to  breakfast.  We 
afterwards  saw  the  estate  school,  which  is  attended  by 

•  See  Appendix  F,  Sec  iv. 


214  JAMAICA. 

all  the  older  free  children,  and  a  few  of  the  apprenticefi. 
The  classc'B  read  and  spelt  correctly,  and  a  few  of  them 
wrote  to  dictation.  The  school  does  great  credit  to 
the  teacher,  a  young  woman,  about  nineteen^  the 
daughter  of  Samckls,  the  overseer.  We  were  after^ 
wards  shewn  over  the  hospital,  which  is  a  good  and 
air}'  building.  We  met  there  the  medical  attendant^ 
who  is  a  colored  man,  and  an  irregular  practitioner,  in 
considerable  practice.  He  was  formerly  a  slave  on  this 
property,  but  purchased  himself  because  his  wife  was 
free  and  lived  at  a  distance. 

Our  next  stage  was  Stewart's  Town,  another  small 
interior  town  in  Saint  Ann's,  on  the  borders  of  the 
parish  of  Trelawney.  We  called  on  the  Wesleyan  and 
Baptist  missionaries.  At  the  house  of  the  latter  we 
met  J.  Vine,  one  of  the  six  missionaries,  sent  out  two 
years  ago,  by  the  London  Missionary  Society.  He 
was  stationed  on  Acadia,  the  estate  of  W.  A.  Hankky^ 
where  his  ministry  had  a  very  auspicious  commence* 
ment,  but  was  at  length  successfully  obstructed  by  the 
attorney,  and  his  longer  residence  rendered  impossible^ 
by  the  want  of  sympathy  and  positive  discouragement 
he  met  with  from  the  proprietor.  His  present  resi- 
dence, where  we  subsequently  visited  him,  is  about 
four  miles  from  Stewart's  Town,  on  the  summit  of  a 
hill,  where  he  has  purchased  a  small  spot  of  ground  for 
a  mission  station.  The  house,  which  consists  of  two 
apartments  and  a  porch  or  hall,  is  in  a  ruinous  condi- 
tion. In  many  places  the  sky  can  be  seen  through  the 
roof.  Two  additional  rooms  are  being  built,  which 
will  make  it  barely  tenantable.  The  missionary,  his 
wife,  and  children,  are  surrounded  by  inconveniences, 
which  nothing  but  a  dedication  to  their  work  could 
enable  them  to  endure.    Their  temporary  chapel  is  a 


JAMAICA.  215 

large  canvass  tent^  which  is  crowded  on  the  Sabbath 
by  Negros  from  neighbouring  and  distant  estates. 
When  it  ceased  to  be  practicable  for  him  to  remain  on 
Arcadia,  J,  Vinb  wished  to  obtain  by  purchase  a  small 
piece  of  ground  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  estate 
by  a  public  road.  He  would  then  have  been  situated 
in  the  centre  of  a  circle,  comprising  a  population  of 
five  thousand  persons,  the  outer  circumference  of  which 
would  have  been  in  every  part,  three  or  four  miles, 
from  any  other  mission  station  whatever.  He  shewed 
us  a  map  of  the  locality,  which  he  had  traced,  exhibit- 
ing its  extent  and  population.  After  a  tantalizing 
correspondence,  his  request  was  refused,  because  in 
the  opinion  of  the  attorney  of  Arcadia,  the  vicinity  of 
chapels  and  schools,  lessens  the  value  of  West  India 
property.  No  similar  situation  could  be  obtained ;  all 
the  land  within  the  circle  described,  being  attached  to 
large  sugar  estates,  and  not  to  be  purchased,  because, 
in  some  instances,  the  estates  were  mortgaged,  and, 
in  others,  worldly  minded  and  hostile  proprietors  re- 
fused to  wave  an  objection,  which  had  such  weight 
with  one  who  was  a  professor  of  religion,  and  a  patron 
of  the  mission.  J.  Vine  obtained  his  present  very  in- 
convenient station  with  considerable  difl&culty  and  at 
an  exorbitant  price.  A  neighbouring  proprietor  told 
the  person  who  sold  it,  that  he  would  have  given  a  still 
higher  price,  rather  than  a  missionary  should  have  had 
it.     It  is  several  miles  from  Arcadia.* 

On  our  way  to  Falmouth,  we  called  for  a  short  time 
at  Hyde  Hall,  an  estate  belonging  to  E.  Shirley, 
which  has  been  mentioned  with  distinction  in  the  first 
report  of  the  apprenticeship  committee  of  the  House  of 

•  See  Appendix  F,  Sec.  vi. 


2IG  JAMAICA. 

Commons.  On  this  and  two  smaller  adjoining  estates 
of  the  same  proprietor,  about  five  thousand  pounds  per 
annum  are  paid  in  wages  for  the  free  labor  of  the  ap- 
prentices in  their  own  time.  The  overseer  told  us  that 
they  had  nothing  to  fear  from  entire  emancipation. 
He  said  he  had  often  heard  of  troublesome  negros,  but 
though  he  had  been  on  several  estates,  he  had  never 
met  with  any  whom  it  was  difficult  to  manage  witJi 
kind  treatment.  We  were  shewn  over  the  buildings. 
The  hospital  is  one  of  the  best  we  have  seen.  There 
were  several  patients ;  some  with  an  eruptive  com- 
plaint, said  to  have  been  imported  by  the  German  immi- 
grants ;  and  a  poor  man,  whose  hand  was  changed 
into  a  mass  of  fungous  ulceration,  proceeding  from  the 
prick  of  a  bamboo.  Ulcers  and  sores  are  much  more 
obstinate  in  the  negro,  than  in  the  European  constitu- 
tion. The  works  on  Hyde  Hall  are  extensive,  and 
economy  of  labor  is  studied ;  the  plough  is  much  used, 
and  tram-roads  are  beginning  to  be  introduced  at  the 
works.  There  is  a  family  of  Sussex  immigrants  on  the 
estate,  consisting  of  a  man,  his  wife,  and  four  or  five 
children,  who  landed  three  weeks  ago,  and  seem  hith- 
erto highly  delighted  with  their  new  country.  The 
overseer  shewed  us  some  specimens  of  the  lace  bark. 
The  tree  which  produces  it  is  rare,  and  grows  only  on 
elevated  situations  in  the  interior.  As  every  lover  of 
specimens,  of  whatever  kind,  must  be  in  this  country, 
his  own  collector  and  curator,  they  are  not  easily  ob- 
tained. 

28th. — Falmouth,  where  we  arrived  late  last 
night,  is  a  town  of  increasing  size  and  importance.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  the  island ;  but  so 
surrounded  by  mangrove  swamps  that,  were  it  all  em- 
bayed, it  would  probably  be  uninhabitable  from  ma- 


JAMAICA.  217 

laria.  Being  on  a  promontory^  it  is  kept  tolerably 
healthy  by  the  constant  sea  and  land  breezes.  We 
breakfasted  with  William  Knibb,  whom  we  found  to 
be  as  ardent  as  ever  in  his  advocacy  of  the  rights  of 
the  negros.  We  afterwards  accompanied  him  to  see 
his  new  chapel,  which  is  nearly  finished,  and  is  large 
enough  to  accommodate  two  thousand  persons.  It  is 
erected  in  place  of  the  building  destroyed  by  the  plant- 
ers after  the  rebellion.  Some  of  the  individuals  who 
distinguished  themselves  as  chapel  destroyers,  are  still 
in  the  magistracy,  and  one  of  them  in  this  parish  has 
been  invested  with  the  Special  Commission. 

In  the  course  of  the  morning  we  visited  the  jail  and 
workhouse,  both  which  institutions  are  superior  in 
cleanliness  and  arrangement,  to  any  we  have  yet  seen. 
The  supervisor  is  said  to  be  a  humane  man.  The 
treadwheel  is  constructed  as  a  machine  for  labor  and 
not  for  torture.  None  but  the  contumacious  are 
strapped  on.  No  cat  is  used.  There  are  in  the  work- 
house no  life  convicts.  The  women,  however,  as  well 
as  the  men,  work  in  the  penal  gang,  in  chains  and 
iron  collars.  There  were  in  one  of  the  rooms  ten 
women  from  Lansquinet  estate,  each  with  an  infant 
about  a  twelve  months  old  in  her  arms.  We  saw  two 
orders  from  the  Special  Justice  connected  with  their 
case.  One  was  for  a  strong  body  of  police  to  be  sent 
on  the  estate,  where  "sl  bairack  was  prepared  for  them,'' 
to  quell,  we  presume,  by  their  presence,  a  rebellion 
among  the  nursing  mothers.*     The  other  order  was  a 

•  The  terms  rebellion  and  insubordination  have  a  different  mean- 
ing in  Jamaica,  from  that  which  belongs  to  them  in  England.  One 
of  the  Special  Magistrates,  in  a  recent  report,  speaks  of  symptoms  of 
rebellion  appearing  in  his  district,  "particularly  amongst  the  women." 
A  few  months  since,  a  peaceable  meeting  of  apprentices  and  others 

U 


*21S  JAMAICA. 

warraot  to  lodge  ten  apprentices,  (no  iMunee  men- 
ttoued,)  in  the  workhoiue  for  three  days.  The  super- 
visor acknowledged  to  us  that  their  children  had  been 
allowed  no  food  during  a  part  of  the  day  and  night  that 
they  had  been  there,  because  they  were  not  mentioiied 
in  the  aimmitment,  and  the  prison  store  contained 
nothing  suitable  for  them.  Tlie  statement  of  the  woman 
was,  that  on  Friday  morning  last,  as  it  was  very  wet, 
and  they  were  obliged  to  carry  their  children  into  the 
field  with  them,  they  did  not  turn  out  before  breakfiist.. 
For  this  they  were  taken  before  the  Special  Magistrate, 
(Prycb,)  on  Monday,  who  sentenced  them  to  pay  six 
Saturdays.  They  told  them  they  could  not,  as  their 
mountain  grounds  were  six  miles  distant,  as  they  were 
deprived  of  their  half  Friday's  and  of  their  salt-fish, 
and  received  now  no  sugar  or  flour  for  the  children ; 
that  without  their  Saturdays,  they  had  no  means  o^ 
obtaining  subsistence.  For  their  contumacy,  they  were 
Hcnt  to  the  workhouse  for  three  days,  and  will  still 
have  to  work  the  six  Saturdays.  We  observed  among 
the  minutes  of  the  visiting  magistrates,  an  order  dated 
some  months  ago,  and  signed  by  two  magistrates,  that 
women  pregnant,  or  with  children  at  the  breast,  should 
not  be  punished  by  imprisonment  in  the  solitary  cells ; 
which  liere,  as  elsewhere,  are  dark  and  ill  ventilated, 
and  in  which  prisoners  are  always  fed  on  low  diet ; 
aUo,  that  those  who  were  confined  in  them,  should  be 
allowed  a  quarter  of  an  hour  per  diem  for  air  and 
exercise.  This  order  was  accompanied  by  a  memo- 
randum signed  by  the  medical  attendant,  stating 
medical  reasons  for  the  necessitv  for  such  an  order.     A 


ill  Upiuiiiih  Town,  was  dispersed  by  reading  the  riot  act,  and  calling 
out  tko  military. 


JAMAICA.  219 

few  v^eekB  sitto^  l^is  order  was  rescinded  by  a  minute 
8igaed  by  the  Ciuitos  of  the  parish,  Williah  Frater, 
who  merdiy  remarks  in  general  terms^  that  he  has  the 
sunetion  o^  the  present  medical  man;  the  former 
havi&g  died  in  the  interim. 

We  next  risited  W.  Knibb's  school)  which  is  under 
Ae  <mre  of  T.  E.  Waai>.  It  is  a  large  and  substantial 
building)  built  upon  a  site  which  has  been  converted 
within  little  more  than  a  twelvemonth,  from  sea  swamp 
into  dry  land^  There  were  one  humlred  children  pre- 
sent! among  whom  we  heard  eight  little  negros  read  in 
the  Testament,  who  did  not  know  a  letter  when  the 
school  was  opened,  eight  months  ago.  We  also  ex- 
amined a  class  in  arithmetic  and  mental  calculation. 
They  answered  difficult  questions  with  great  rapidity. 
We  were  presented  with  specimens  of  their  writing, 
which  exhibit  the  same  rapid  improvement  in  that  art* 
for  which  almost  all  the  negro  and  colored  children  are 
remarkable.  We  afterwards  accompanied  W.  Knibb, 
to  Wilberforce,  one  of  his  mountain  stations^  six  miles 
distant,  where  he  has  recently  built  a  school  and 
chapel.  It  is  efficiently  conducted,  and  is  numerously 
attended,  as  there  is  no  other  nearer  than  Falmouth  in 
any  direction.  In  going  to  this  station,  we  passed 
through  Oxford  estate,  the  property  of  Edward  Bar- 
rett, an  absentee.  There  are  on  it  three  hundred 
Tiegros,  of  whom  nearly  one-third  are  Baptists.  We 
saw  and  conversed  with  one  of  the  head  negros,  who 
had  been  offered  his  freedom  for  his  good  conduct 
during  the  rebellion,  but  had  transferred  the  boon  to 
his  son,  saying  he  could  endure  slavery  better,  as  he 
was  more  accustomed  to  it.  This  estate  is  managed 
on  a  liberal  plan ;  although  few  of  the  old  allowances 
are  continued.   During  crop  the  people  are  paid  wages, 


JAMAICA. 

with  good  faith,  at  the  rate  of  one  shilling  for  eigbt 
hours  extra  labor.  There  have  been  no  punishmentB 
on  the  estate  for  two  years  past^  and  this  old  negro 
assured  us^  that  the  people  did  more  work  than  ever^ 
and  that  there  was  an  annual  increase  in  the  crops. 

3rd  month. — 1st  (March.) — ^We  paid  a  visit  this 
morning,  accompanied  by  —  Kblly^  a  liberal  magis- 
trate,  in  the  local  commission,  and  by  S.  Prtcb,  the 
stipendiary  of  the  district,  to  Goodhope,  the  centre  of 
nine  contiguous  estates,  belonging  to  one  proprietor^ 
and  comprising  a  population  of  two  thousand  appren- 
tices.   The  population   on   Goodhope  is  about  three 
hundred  and  fifty.     '^Fhe  great  house  and  other  build- 
ings are  on  a  very  large  scale.     The  hospital,  which  is 
almost  large  enough  for  a  county  penitentiary,  was 
originally  built  for  the  joint  purposes  of  a  hospital 
and  place  of  punishment  for  the  nine  estates  }   but  i» 
now  appropriated  as  a  hospital,  school,  and  church. 
There  is  a  salaried  medical  man  resident  on  the  estate,, 
and  also  a  clerg^^man,  who,  besides  the  duties  of  the 
Sabbath,  takes  charge  of  the  school  which  is  thrown 
open-  gratuitously  to  the  neighbourhood,  and  nume- 
rously attended  by  the  free  children  of  the  apprentices. 
The  boiling-house  and  mill  on  Goodhope  were  in  full 
operation,  making  about  twelve  hogsheads  of  sugar 
per  week,  of  excellent  quality.     The  overseer  assured 
us  that  the  negros  worked  as  hard  as  durii^  slavery^ 
The  range  of  workhouses  is  extensive;,  nearly  every 
description   of  iron  work,   carpenter's   and   cooper*^8 
work,  and  masonry  being  executed  by  the  apprentice 
tradesmen  of  the  estate,  who  are  very  numerous,  and 
many  of  them  first-rate  workmen. 

On  our  return  we  made  a  short  stay  at  the  house  of 
the  Special  Magistrate,  who  shewed  us  many  of  his- 


JAMAICA.  221 

YepOTti»,  and  gave  us  other  information  respeeting  his 
dififtriet.     It  includes  a  population  of  tight  thousand 
a{^entices  and  fifteen  hundred  free  childr^ ;  among 
trhom  there  is  a  considerable  preponderance  of  females. 
The  reports  frequently  alluded  to  the  sCeady  Md  good 
conduct  of  the  apprentices,  and  to  the  inciap^ity  amd 
obstinacy  of  the  overseers.     In  one  of  them  there  was 
an  order  quoted,  as  entered  by  the  medical  attendant 
of  one  of  the  estates,  in  the  Plantation  Journal,  that 
'*  the  patients  with  sores  should  be  kept  in  the  stocks." 
This  attempt  to  revive  a  brutal  custom  was  fortunately 
defeated.     The  Special  Magistrate  mentioned  that  one 
of  the  largest  proprietors  in  his  district,  a  man  too  of 
liberal  conduct,  when  he  went  into  the  neighbouring 
parishes  of  Westmoreland  and  Hanover,  always    re- 
turned  much   dissatisfied,   declaring  that  the   people 
there  were  taking  off  the  crop  without  wages.     We 
afterwards  learned  during  our  stay  in  those  parishes 
that  this  was  too  true,  and  that  the  apprentices  arfe 
deprived  of  an  enormous  amount  of  time,  without  any 
compensation  whatever.   On  our  return  to  Falmouth,  we 
had  an  opportunity  in  the  evening  of  conversing  with  a 
number  of  apprentices  from  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  two 
estates  belonging  to  a  liberal  proprietor  in  England. 
They  are  very  favorable  instances  compared  with  other 
estates.  Their  statements  will  be  found  in  the  appendix.* 
The  parish  of  Trelawney  is  one  of  the  largest  and 
wealthiest    in   the    island.     It  is   almost   exclusively 
planted  with  canes.     The  estates  occupying  plains  and 
undulating  lands  near  the  coast,  and  the  negroos'  provi- 
sion grounds  being  situated  in  the  mountain  woodlands / 
of  the  interior,  at  distances  varying  from  three  to  even 

•  See  Appendix  F,  Sec.  iv. 

u  3 


222  JAMAICA. 

twenty  miles  from  their  homes.  There  are  only  three 
or  four  resident  proprietors,  although  on  almost  every 
estate,  there  is  a  large  and  substantial  '^  great  house," 
furnished  and  kept  in  order,  but  only  occupied  by  the 
planting  attorneys  on  the  occasion  of  their  hasty  and 
infrequent  visits.  The  number  of  these  expensive  man- 
sions would  indicate  that  the  parish  once  possessed  a. 
numerous  resident  proprietary.  Although  there  are 
fewer  abuses  in  this  parish,  than  in  many  others,  yet 
W.  Knibb,  who  has  the  most  extensive  opportunities 
of  knowing  the  treatment  of  the  apprentices,  said,  that 
during  the  last  eighteen  months,  he  had  never  heard  of 
an  oppressed  apprentice  having  obtained  efiectual  re- 
dress by  making  complaint;  but  that  he  was  acquainted 
with  numerous  instances  when  their  appeals  to  the 
magistrate  had  resulted  in  their  being  punished. 

2nd. — ^We   left  Falmouth   early  this  morning  for 
Montego  Bay,  the  chief  town  and  port  of  the  adjoining 
parish  of  St.  James.      We  visited  the  workhouse  and 
jail.     The  latter  is  a  large,  airy  building,  with  spacious 
and  convenient  court  and  apartments.     The  workhouse 
is  on  a  hill  above  the  town,  in  a  healthy  situation,  but 
the  building  is  too  small  for  its  purposes,  and  in  a  state 
of  dilapidation.     The  treadwheel  was  also  a  ricketty 
and  miserable   macliine.^    Several  of  the  solitary  cells 
were  perfectly  dark  and  very  insufficiently  ventilated.. 
There  are  at  the  present  time  thirty  prisoners  in  the 
workhouse,  including  one  life  convict.      Women   as 
well  as  men  work  in  the  penal  gang  in  chains  and  iron 
collars,  in  this  as  in  other  parts  of  the  island.     We 
called  in  the  course  of  the  day  on  Thomas  Burchkll, 
the  Baptist  missionary,  whose  exertions  and  sufferings 
on  behalf  of  the  negros  are  well  known  in  England,  and 
also  on  his  colleague  S.  Oughton.     We  had  also  the 


JAMAICA.  223 

pleasure  of  making  the  acquaintance  of  J.  L.  Lbwin^ 
a  private  individual  residing  in  Montego  Bay,  who  is 
one  of  the  best  friends  of  the  negros,  and  has  often 
advocated  their  rights. 

3rd. — ^We  visited  Latium  estate,  which  is  situ- 
ated in  this  parish,  and  is  considered  one  of  the  best 
managed  properties  in  the  island.  The  number  of 
slaves  upon  it  in  1834  was  four  hundred  and  fifty. 
The  Special  Magistrate  of  the  district,  W.  Carnaby, 
has  obligingly  furnished  us  with  a  memorandum  of  the 
Courts  he  has  held  upon  it  during  the  last  fourteen 
months.  Out  of  twenty-five  official  visits,  complaints 
were  brought  before  him  on  five  occasions  only,  being 
in  the  whole  thirteen  cases,  in  eleven  of  which  punish- 
ments were  awarded,  including  one  of  flogging. 
From  other  information  we  learn  that  the  apprentices 
are  nearly  all  Baptists,  attending  Salter's  Hill  Chapel 
in  the  immediate  neighbourhood ;  that  there  are  eighty- 
three  married  couples  among  them,  and  that  fifty  of 
the  free  children  attend  the  school  at  the  mission  sta- 
tion, which  has  been  liberally  encouraged  by  pecuniary 
aid  from  the  attorney.  The  apprentices  and  their  free 
children  not  only  receive  all  their  accustomed  allow- 
ances, but  are  left  in  undisturbed  enjoyment  of  their 
half  Fridays  and  Saturdays.  They  are  remunerated 
for  the  extra  labor  required  from  them  during  crop,  as 
well  as  for  as  many  of  their  own  days,  as  they  choose 
to  employ  in  working  on  the  estate.  Under  this  ma- 
nagement the  crops  are  equally  large,  and  the  net 
revenue  from  the  estate  greater  than  at  any  former  pe- 
riod. The  Attorney,  Henry  Hunter,  to  whom  we 
were  introduced,  gave 'us  much  valuable  information. 
The  minutest  details  of  the  management  of  the  planta- 
tion for  a  series  of  years  have  been  reduced  by  him  to 


234  JAMAICA. 

a  tabular  form  at  an  incredible  cost  of  labor.  He 
kindly  presented  us  with  a  copy  of  a  series  of  calcula- 
tions and  statements,  which  show  the  immense  supe- 
riority of  free  over  slave  labor,  as  well  as  the  docility 
and  industry  of  the  negros,  when  encouraged  by  judi- 
cious and  kind  treatment.  These  are  referred  to  the 
Appendix.  Some  extracts  from  these  tables^  exhibiting 
valuable  and  curious  results,  are  given  in  the  Appendix.* 
From  I8I7  to  1834,  the  population  in  Latium  gradu- 
ally decreased ;  since  1834,  the  births  have  been  very 
numerous,  and  it  has  in  consequence  begun  to  increase. 
The  number  of  patients  in  the  hospital  throughoiut 
the  year  has  also  decreased  to  a  very  great  extent.  On 
a  large  pen  and  coffee  estate  in  another  parish  belong- 
ing to  the  same  proprietor,  the  people  have  much  in- 
creased in  number  since  1817*t  We  were  shewn 
through  the  negro  village  and  over  the  hospital,  which 
presented  an  appearance  of  cleanliness  and  comfort. 
We  conversed  with  a  few  of  the  people,  though  as  it 
is  their  own  half-day,  they  were  most  of  them  on  their 
provision  grounds.  The  head  carpenter,  a  very  intelli- 
gent negro,  told  us  that  when  he  became  free,  he  would 
not  leave  Latium  even  if  he  could  obtain  higher  wages 
elsewhere.  The  apprentices  had  been  employed  this 
morning  in  dividing  a  piece  of  fresh  land  contigu- 
ous to  the  fields  where  they  worked,  which  had  just 
been  given  them,  in  addition  to  their  more  extensive, 
distant  gardens,  "for  shellblow  grounds,"  in  which  they 
might  employ  the  time  between  meals,  and  other  short 

•  See  Appendix  F.  Sec.  vii. 

t  The  proprietor  of  the  Retreat  Pen,  which  we  visited  a  few  days 
ago,  informed  us,  that  while  the  population  has  increased  one  hun- 
dred on  that  property,  the  numbers  on  a  large  sugar  estate  in  his 
possession  had  declined  to  an  equal  extent  within  the  same  period. 


JAMAICA.  225 

intervals.  A  circumstance  was  mentioned  to  us  which 
proves  how  great  an  amount  of  injustice  may  be  per- 
petrated, by  both  masters  and  magistrates,  in  deciding 
against  apprentices  on  those  vague  and  general  charges 
so  commonly  preferred  by  the  overseers  and  book-keep- 
ers. On  this  estate  the  overseer  became  dissatisfied 
with  the  quantity  of  work  performed,  and  took  away 
the  allowances  of  salt  fish.  When  the  amount  of  work 
came  to  be  added  up  in  the  plantation  book,  it  was 
found  they  had  done  more  than  at  any  former  period. 
The  arrears  of  allowance  were  therefore  ordered  to  be 
paid  up  by  the  attorney. 

4th, — ^We  inspected  the  day  school  recently  estab- 
lished in  connection  with  the  Baptist  mission.  There 
were  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  children  present  of 
all  ages.  They  were  in  very  good  discipline,  and  their 
progress  during  the  short  time,  satisfactory.  An  in- 
fant and  sewing  school  are  about  to  be  formed  on  the 
same  premises.  These  schools  were  opened  by  a  pub- 
lic celebration  of  an  extraordinary  character.  The 
missionaries  requested  their  country  congregations  con- 
nected with  the  Montego  Bay  station,  to  send  their  chil- 
dren to  be  present.  Many  came  from  great  distances, 
some  nearly  thirty  miles,  sleeping  in  little  groups  in  the 
open  road.  The  whole  number  was  three  thousand  one 
hundred  and  seventy-two.  There  is  also  in  Montego  Bay 
a  flourishing  school  on  the  Mico  foundation,  which  we 
had  not  an  opportunity  of  visiting. 

We  afterwards  attended  the  Saturday  court,  which 
is  held  in  the  town  by  the  Special  Magistrates.  A  man 
and  his  wife,  apprentices  on  adjoining  properties,  com- 
plained that  an  overseer's  horse  had  trespassed  in  their 
ground,  and  entirely  destroyed  their  provisions.  This 
is  an  example  of  a  frequent  and  very  serious  injury  to 


236  aAMAlCA. 

which  the  lippreotioot  are  liable.  The  damage  caniiot 
be  repaired  sometiines  for  a  whole  season,  aod  mean- 
time they  are  destitute  of  food.  In  this  case  one  of 
the  Magistrates  promised  his  interference.  Tliefe  were 
several  valuations ;  one  of  a  non^predialy  a  colored 
young  woman  who  was  very  smartly  dressed,  and  who 
no  doubt  filled  the  situation  of  ''housekeeper"  to  an 
overseer,  or  lxx)k-keeper.  The  transaction  appeared  to 
be  one  of  rivalry  between  two  plantations  imderlings, 
one  of  whom  became  responsible  for  the  amount  of  tihe 
valuation*  Another  case  was  that  of  a  predial,  a  gill  of 
seventeen.  A  witness  valued  her  at  ten  pounds  per  an* 
num.  The  magistrate,  chosen  by  her  owner,  objected 
to  the  amount;  when  the  pliant  evidence  immeeUately 
declared,  he  meant  the  nett  amount,  without  the  usual 
deduction  of  one-third  for  casualties.  This  deduction 
was  however  made.  Another  apprentice  who  wished 
to  purchase  his  time  was  valued  by  his  master,  who 
described  him  as  a  mason  and  cabinet-maker,  at  sixty- 
nine  pounds  per  annum.  This  case  was  adjourned.  It 
appears  to  be  common  in  valuations,  not  only  to  enu- 
merate all  the  virtues  of  the  apprentices,  who  are  at 
other  times  so  unscrupulously  vilified,  but  to  represent 
them  as  very  proficient  in  a  number  of  difl'erent  and  in- 
compatible handicraft  trades, 

5th. — ^Thomas  Burchell,  like  his  brother  mis- 
sionary at  Falmouth,  is  engaged  in  erecting  his  chapel, 
which  was  destroyed  after  the  rebellion.  The  new 
building  when  completed  will  hold  three  thousand  per- 
sons. The  late  persecution  of  the  missionaries  has  given 
an  astonishing  impulse  to  their  religious  labors.  The 
destroyed  chapels  are  replaced  by  much  larger  buildings, 
which  are  yet  inadequate  for  the  accommodation  of  their 
hearers.   The  services  of  the  Sabbath  at  this  station  are 


JABIAICA.  227 

at  present  conducted  in  a  large  dwelling-bouse,  from 
which  most  of  the  interior  walls  and  partitions  have 
been  removed.  According  to  the  usual  custom  in 
Jamaica^  a  prayer  meeting  was  held  early  in  the  morn- 
ing. Three  of  the  negros  took  part  in  it,  one  of  whom 
was  an  old  African;  their  expressions  wei'e  often  beau- 
tiful and  eloquent.  We  afterwards  visited  the  Sunday 
schools^  in  which  there  was  five  hundred  and  fourteen 
children  assembled.  The  extensive  diffusion  of  reli- 
gious instruction  and  education  by  such  an  apparently 
limited  agency  is  remarkable  at  all  the  stations  of 
the  Baptists  which  we  have  visited.  The  morning 
service  conmienced  at  ten,  and  was  attended  by  at  least 
thtee  thousand  persons,  many  of  whom  came  from 
great  distances*  In  the  evening  we  came  to  Mount 
Carey,  a  mountain  station  of  the  baptist  missionaries 
of  Montego  Bay.  There  is  also  a  flourishing  school 
hece^.  attended  on  the  Sabbath  by  five  or  six  hundred 
chikken,  and  on  other  days  by  about  one  hundred. 
On  our  way  thfi  scenes  of  many  of  the  principal  events 
of  th^  late  rebellion  were  pointed  out  to  us. 

6th.-^Mount  Carey  is  in  the  heart  of  the  districts 
involved  in  the  rebellion.  The  works  and  buildings  of 
every  estate  in  its  neighbourhood,  were  destroyed  by 
the  insurgents,  and  on  many  the  effects  of  the  re- 
cent desolation  were  still  visible  in  the  bare  and  un- 
rooffid  walls  of  many  of  the  buildings.  In  the  course 
of  the  mom^)g,  we  visited  Eden,  a  well  managed  estate, 
and  one  which  furnishes  little  employment  for  the 
Special  Magistrate.  Its  population  was  on  the  average 
stationary  from  1817  to  1834,  and  has  since  begun  to 
increase.  We  next  proceeded  to  Wiltshire  estate, 
another  well-conducted  property.  The  resident  Attor- 
ney, — '^ Fbnton,   is   the  only  manager  at  whose 


228  JAMAICA. 

hout»c  Special  Justice  Norcott  ever  condescended  to 
take  refreshment.     That  individual,  amidst  some  eccen- 
tricities, was  distinguished  by  an  inflexible  love  of  jus- 
tice.    His  name  is  held  in  grateful  remembrance   by 
the   negro   population   of  this  parish.     He  was  once 
overtaken  on  this  property  by  a  tropical  shower,  and 
after  waiting  in  vain  for  its  cessation,  he  at  last  con- 
sented to  take  a  glass  of  punch,  but  on  being  asked  to 
stay  dinner,  immediately  took  his  flight  in  the  rain. 
The  Special  Commission  may  be  made  almost  a  sine- 
cure, by  worthless  magistrates,  but  the  difficulties  to 
which  upright  men  are  exposed,  can  only  be  appre- 
ciated by  eye  witnesses.       Their  districts  are  often 
twenty  miles  in  extent  in  a  country  more  mountainous 
than  Wales  or  Scotland ;  frequently  they  cannot  ob- 
tain houses  within  them;  they  are  required  to  visit 
each  estate  twice  a  month,  and  in  order  to  do  this  are 
obliged  to  keep  from  two  to  four  horses,  and  to  incur 
other  charges,  which  their  salaries  in  this  expensive 
country  are  totally  inadequate  to  sustain.     When  to 
these  is  added  the  incessant  persecutions  of  the  plan- 
ters, and  the  harrassing  pursuit  of  their  duties,  under 
a  burning  sun,  it  will  cease  to  surprise,  that  so  many 
ofthcm  have  fallen  victims  to  their  labors,  or  have  with- 
drawn in  disgust.     To  avoid  depending  on  the  hospi- 
talities of  the  overseers  is  nearly  impossible,  for  it  re- 
(|uircs  an  inflexible  resolution,  and  a  capacity  of  endur- 
ing fatigue  and  hunger,  which  few  possess,  and  still  fewer 
have  the  principle  to  bring  such  qualities  into  action. 
The   population   on    Wiltshire    has   increased   for 
many  years  past,  ever  since  it  has  been  under  the  man- 
agement of  its  present  attorney.     He  introduced  the 
remedial  provisions  of  the  Apprenticeship,  two  months 
before  the  Bill  came  into  operation.     There  has  been 


JAMAICA.  1^29 

only  one  punishment  on  the  estate  since,  and  that  in 
a  case  of  theft. 

We  met  here  two  of  the  Special  Magistrates,  Fa- 
cet and  Odbllb,  in  whose  company  we  visited  Mont- 
pelier,  an  estate  belonging  to  Lord  Sbaford.  This 
property  is  in  the  same  situation  as  many  others  be- 
longing to  humane,  well-intentioned  proprietors,  resi- 
ding in  England.  The  authority  of  the  magistrate  is 
in  constant  requisition.  The  overseer  was  absent  on 
militia  duty ;  one  of  the  book-keepers  shewed  us  the 
premises,  though  with  some  appearance  of  reluctance. 
A  new  substantial  stone  dungeon  has  just  been  erected. 
It  consists,  besides  a  narrow  passage,  of  two  arched 
cells,  about  twelve  feet  by  nine,  and  eight  or  nine  feet 
high,  perfectly  dark.  The  erection  of  such  a  building, 
at  a  time  when  penal  confinement  on  estates  ought  to 
have  wholly  ceased,  requires  no  comment ;  and  it  has 
not  been  built  to  remain  untenanted.  One  of  the 
attorneys  without  any  magistrate's  order,  has  twice 
directed  to  be  locked  up  in  it,  thirteen  old  women,  who 
refused  to  cut  grass  on  their  own  days.  They  were 
kept  during  their  confinement  on  a  short  allowance  of 
bread  and  water.  We  saw  also  the  hospital,  which  is 
the  worst  we  have  seen  on  a  large  estate,  and  is  very 
dirty  and  offensive.  It  consists  of  three  rooms  and  a 
passage,  in  which  there  are  about  twenty  patients. 
There  is  a  court  before  it,  enclosed  with  a  lofty  fence 
of  bamboos,  pointed  at  the  top,  so  as  to  exclude  the 
inmates  from  all  communication  with  their  friends,  at 
the  pleasure  of  the  overseer.  We  were  shewn  over  the 
works  and  curing  house.  One  of  the  hogsheads  of 
sugar  had  been  spoiled  by  the  carelessness  of  the  boiler- 
man.  The  book-keeper  told  us,  that  they  never  in- 
terfered  with  the  negros  in  the  manufacture   of  the 


2'M  JAMAICA. 

bugar,  and  that  a  book-keeper  ii»  stationed  in  tlie  boil- 
ing-liouse,  merely  to  see  that  the  negros  commit  no 
depredations  on  the  syrup  or  sugar.  It  appears  then, 
that  the  science  of  sugar  making  is  monopolised  by  the 
despised  apprentices.  One  of  the  Special  Magistrates 
intended  to  bold  his  Court  on  the  estate  to-day,  but 
the  overseer  being  absent,  he  could  only  take  cogni- 
zance of  complaints,  and  promise  to  decide  them  at  his 
next  visit.  Several  men  said  they  had  agreed  to  work 
a  certain  number  of  extra  hours,  but  had  not  been 
fully  paid  the  stipulated  amount ;  a  woman  complained 
against  the  head  book-keeper  for  abusive  language; 
the  estate  against  a  man  for  stealing  sugar ;  a  cattle- 
boy  against  another  apprentice  for  flogging  him ;  and 
lastly,  the  thirteen  old  women  before  mentioned  com- 
plained that  they  had  again  been  deprived  of  their  time* 
lliey  were  all  apparently  upwards  of  sixty  years  of 
age,  and  appeared  quite  unequal  to  any  heavy  employ- 
ment. From  Montpelier  we  proceeded  to  Belvidere. 
Before  the  rebellion  this  estate  is  said  to  have  been 
most  cruelly  managed  For  a  year  past  it  has  been 
under  the  care  of  a  Scotch  peasant,  who  came  out  as  a 
ploughman,  and  has  been  promoted  by  a  judicious 
attorney  to  the  station  of  overseer.  He  is  not  only 
greatly  improving  the  cultivation,  but  adding  to  the 
comforts  of  the  negros.  We  have  met  with  no  one  who 
has  introduced  the  plough  so  extensively.  We  con- 
versed with  several  of  the  negros  in  the  boiling-house. 
They  all  said  they  were  satisfied  with  their  Busha,  and 
would  be  glad  when  free,  to  remain  as  laborers  on 
the  estate.  If  the  same  question  had  been  asked  them 
a  year  before,  they  should  have  given  a  very  different 
answer.  They  receive  two-pence  per  hour  for  extra  labor 
during  crop,  which  is  the  most  liberal  arrangement  we 


JAMAICA.  231 

have  yet  heard  of.  There  are  eighteen  persons  on  this 
estate  past  work,  many  of  whom  have  been  rendered 
so  by  former  ill-treatment,  which  has  induced  prema- 
ture old  age.  As  we  were  leaving  Belvidere,  we  met  a 
number  of  the  "King-free"  children  returning  to  it 
from  the  school  at  Mount  Carey,  which  is  five  miles 
distant ;  so  that  these  little  creatures  have  to  walk  ten 
miles  daily,  to  and  from  school.  During  our  stay  in 
Saint  James's,  we  had  several  opportunities  of  hearing 
the  narrations  of  the  wrongs  and  oppressions  of  the 
apprentices  from  their  own  lips.  Their  statements  are 
given  in  the  Appendix,*  as  examples  of  the  condition 
of  the  apprentices,  and  of  the  mode  in  which  the  aboli- 
tion law  is  administered.  They  include  flagrant  in- 
stances of  the  frauds  of  time  which  are  committed  on 
the  apprentices,  of  the  enforcement  of  extra  labor  in 
•and  out  of  crop  for  little  or  no  remuneration,  of  the 
neglect  of  the  sick,  oppression  of  nursing  mothers, 
pregnant  women,  and  mothers  of  six  children  who 
were  exempt  during  slavery  from  field  labor,  together 
with  instances  of  ill-treatment,  of  which  no  general 
description  can  be  given.  The  worst  cases  are  from 
the  adjoining  parish  of  Hanover.  It  may  be  proper  to 
mention  here  the  following  circumstances  : — One  of 
the  Special  Magistrates  in  this  part  of  the  island,  had 
occasion  to  fine  an  overseer  for  oppression.  The  man 
said,  "he  would  have  it  out  of  the  people's  salt-fish," 
and  sold  two  barrels  of  herrings,  sent  by  the  proprietor 
or  attorney  for  the  apprentices,  and  paid  the  fine  out 
of  the  proceeds.  The  same  magistrate  imposed  a  fine 
recently  in  a  flagrant  case.  The  party  appealed  to  the 
Governor,  who  desired  him  to  conciliate,  and  directed 

•  See  Appendix  F,  Sec.  iv. 


232  JAMAICA. 

him  to  remit  the  fine.  Another  Special  Magistrate 
applied  to  the  Governor  respecting  the  proper  interpre- 
tation of  a  clause  in  the  Act  in  Aid  which  was  used 
to  enforce  nightwork^  but  received  no  answer.  Sinailar 
instances  of  want  o  support  and  countenance  are  not 
infrequent. 

Although  Saint  James's  parish  was  the  seat  of  the 
insurrection,  and  is  still  the  hot- bed  of  colonial  prcjo- 
dice,  yet  in  consequence  of  the  exertions  of  one  or  two 
private  individuals;  the  presence  of  several  Special 
Magistrates  of  superior  moderation  and  justice ;  of  a 
few  humane  and  enlightened  managers  of  estates^  and 
of  one  or  two  large  planting  attorneys,  who  appear  de- 
sirous of  acting  in  a  liberal  spirit ;  there  are  probably 
as  many  estates  on  which  the  apprentices  enjoy  some 
of  the  remedial  provisions  of  the  law,  as  in  any  other 
which  is  chiefly  occupied  in  the  cultivation  of  sugar. 
Saint  James's  is  the  only  parish  where  the  slaves,  who 
were  not  duly  registered,  have  succeeded  in  obtaining 
their  freedom.*  About  three  hundred  have  thus  been 
emancipated,  chiefly  through  the  exertions  of  J.  L. 
Lbwin.  In  this  parish  also,  and  the  adjoining  one  of 
Trelawney,  the  pro-slavery  feeling  and  influence  are 
somewhat  neutralized  by  the  more  liberal  public  opinion 
of  the  fine  flourishing  towns  of  Falmouth  and  Monlego 
Bay. 

7th. — We  arrived  this  morning  at  Lucea,  in  Han- 
over, of  which  parish  it  is  the  port.  It  is  a  small  but 
increasing  town,  situated  near  the  north-west  extre- 
mity of  the  island.  In  the  course  of  the  morning  we 
visited  the  workhouse  and  jail,  which  are  contiguous 
buildings  on  a  promontory,  immediately  above  the  sea. 

•  See  Appendix  F,  Sec.  iii. 


JAMAICA.  233 

The  jail  consists  of  a  court  and  four  rooms^  besides  the 
jailor's  bouse  and  two  apartments  in  the  upper  story 
for  debtors,  which  are  at  present  unoccupied.     The 
premises  were  very  clean,  but  there  appeared  no  attempt 
at  classification,  nor  any  space  to  carry  that  desirable 
object  into  effect.     There  were  nine  or  ten  men,  and 
one  woman  in  the  yard,  waiting  to  take  their  trial  for 
misdemeanors  or  felonies,  or  in  detention  as  witnesses. 
There  were  no  chains,  shackles,  nor  iron  collars,  which 
seem  to  be  reserved  for  the  apprentices.   We  afterwards 
inspected  the  workhouse,  accompanied  by  Alexander 
Campbell,  the  senior  magistrate,  resident  in  Lucea. 
The  prisoners  are  not  secured  at  night  by  shackles, 
and  though  many  of  the  women  and  men  in  the  penal 
gang,  wore  chains  and  collars,  yet  this  degrading  livery 
was  not  universal  in  the  case  of  females.    The  treadmill 
was  of  bad  construction,  and  capable  of  being  made  an 
instrument  of  much  torture.     There  were  five  women 
in  the  solitary  cells  ;  two  of  whom  had  been  mentioned 
to  us  spontaneously  by  some  negros  at  JMontego  Bay 
from  the  same  estate,  called  Newmill.     The  account 
we  had  heard  was  as  follows  : — ^Two  old  women  named 
Lucy  Ann  Stephen  and  Judy  Evans,  who  had  each 
of  them  eight  children,  of  whom  the  youngest  is  now 
about  thirteen,  were  allowed  to  sit  down,  (cease  work,^ 
from  the  time  they  had  their  youngest  child  until  after 
the  rebellion,  when  they  were  compelled  to  cut  grass. 
They  continued  at  this  employment  after  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  apprenticeship,  until  they  lately  refused  on 
account  of  their  age  and  weakness.   They  were  brought 
before  the  magistrate  and  sent  to  the  workhouse.     We 
enquired  the  names  of  the  women  in  the  cells,  and 
found  these  two,  and  a  third  from   Newmill,  under 
the  same  circumstances.     They  were  very  old  and  in- 
X  3 


234  JAMAICA. 

firm,  and  on  our  enquiring  what  they  were  sent  for, 
replied,  '^  too  much  piccaniny  massa,"  i.  e.,  they  had  so 
many  children,  that  they  were  entitled  to  leave  field 
work.  We  saw  the  magistrate's  warrant,  which  di- 
rects them  to  be  put  in  solitary  confinement  for  ten 
days,  and  ^^  fed  on  the  usual  prison  fare  without  her- 
rings." The  case  of  another  woman,  who  was  in  the 
yard,  also  excited  our  attention.  She  bad  been  sent 
from  Savanna  la  Mar  in  Westmoreland,  in  which  town 
the  workhouse  of  that  parish  is  situated,  to  this  work- 
house, by  two  Special  Magistrates,  to  be  punished  for 
fourteen  days  by  penal  labor,  and  put  upon  the  tread-- 
mill  every  other  day.  Her  alleged  offence  was  running 
away  and  refusing  to  work.  She  was  a  domestic  ser- 
vant, and  her  absence  from  her  mistress's  house,  she 
told  us,  was  occasioned  by  illness*  She  was  ill  when 
she  came,  and  was  evidently  so  when  we  saw  her. 
The  supervisor  and  medical  attendant  of  the  workhouse, 
have  more  humanity  than  the  stipendiaries,  and  treat 
her  as  an  invalid.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  send  ap- 
prentices out  of  their  own  parish  to  a  distant  work- 
house ;  the  motive  being  to  send  them  away  from  any 
friend  who  might  assist  or  sympathize  with  them ; 
sometimes  workhouses  are  resorted  to,  that  have  a 
reputation  for  cruel  treatment.  There  are  three  life 
convicts  at  Lucea. 

In  this  parish  several  non-registered  slaves  have 
succeeded  in  recovering  their  freedom.  The  first,  who 
made  the  discovery  and  mooted  the  question,  was 
flogged  by  the  Special  Magistrate  as  a  refractory  ap- 
prentice. He  ran  away  to  Spanish  Town,  a  distance 
of  eighty  or  ninety  miles,  to  appeal  to  the  Governor, 
and  has  not  since  been  molested,  except  that  his  late 
master  has  made  a  claim  upon  the  person  employing 


JAMAICA.  235 

him  for  wages  at  the  rate  of  ten  shillings  a  day>  under 
what  is  4:alled  the  inveigling  clause  in  the  Act  in  Aid. 
Those  who  have  thus  recovered  their  freedom,  have 
succeeded  only  negatively  by  the  refusal  of  the  Special 
Magistrate  to  coerce  them  as  apprentices.  We  have 
been  informed  of  another  case  in  the  neighbourhood, 
in  which  SLtnegra  thus  obtained  his  liberty,  and  hired 
himself  to  work  on  a  plantation.  When  he  applied  for 
his  wages,  the  overseer  told  him  he  should  pay  them 
over  to  his  ownen.  The  case  was  brought  before  the 
local  magistrates ;  but  the  injured  party  could  obtain 
no  redress.  The  rights  of  these  non-registered  negros 
have  been  sacrificed  by  the  supineness  of  the  Home 
Government.  We  saw  to-day  an  apprentice  from,  a 
neighbouring  estate,  who  gave  us  a  striking  account  of 
the  distress  he  and  his  fellow  apprentices  suffered, 
from  the  trespass  of  cattle  on  their  provision  grounds, 
which  are  quite  unprotected  and  seven  miles  distant. 
8th. — We  attended  this  morning  the  weekly  petty 
sessions,  which  are  held  by  three  or  four  local  magis- 
trates. The  only  case  of  interest  was  a  charge  against 
a  negro  for  drunkenness  and  riotous  conduct  in  the 
street.  He  said  he  was  a  sailor  belonging  to  a  Kingston 
vessel,  which  had  left  him  behind.  The  presiding 
magistrate  said,  "  We  do  not  know  that  you  are  a  free 
man;  where  is  your  free  paper?"  He  said  he  had 
lost  it.  The  same  magistrate  then  suggested  in  an 
undertone,  that  he  should  be  committed  to  the  work- 
house as  a  runaway  apprentice ;  but  his  coadjutors 
decided  in  the  negative,  and  the  man  was  fined  two 
dollars.*     We  afterwards,  by  permission,  looked  over 

*  Sir  Lionel  Smith,  in  his  tour  of  the  island,  some  weeks  later 
than  this,  found  a  man  in  Lucea  workhouse,  who  had  been  com- 
mitted there  merely  for  being  without  his  free  paper.    The  practice 


296  JAMAICA. 

the  record  of  the  proceedings  of  this  courts  which  is 
kept  by  the  clerk  of  the  peace.  Numerous  cases  against 
apprentices  for  petty  theft,  trespass,  threatening  lan- 
guage, and  assault,  were  recorded  in  the  decisions  of 
the  local  magistrates.  There  were  also  numerous  in- 
stances of  complaints  by  European  immigrants.  These 
unfortunate,  and  too  often  dissipated  people,  have 
either  died  or  left  this  neighbourhood.  While  they 
remained,  they  appear  to  have  given  much  trouble  to 
the  magistrates.  In  the  same  book  belonging  to  the 
clerk  of  the  petty  sessions,  was  an  accoimt  of  a  coroner's 
inquest  upon  the  body  of  an  old  man,  who  died  about  a 
year  ago,  in  consequence  of  repeated  cruel  floggings  by 
a  former  supervisor  of  the  workhouse.  This  supervisor 
was  subsequently  tried  for  the  wilful  murder  of  this 
man,  and  narrowly  escaped  conviction ;  the  jury  having 
been  locked  up  for  three  days  before  they  could  agree 
upon  a  verdict.  At  a  subsequent  meeting  of  the  vestry 
there  were  found  two  magistrates,  who  are  still  in  the 
commission  of  the  peace,  capable  of  proposing  and  se- 
conding that  he  should  be  retained  in  his  situation, 
"  as  it  was  a  first  offence.'* 

During  our  stay  in  Lucea,  we  were  hospitably  en- 
tertained by  John  Stainsby,  the  rector  of  the  parish. 
He  is  one  of  those  who  has  ever  manifested  a  sympathy 
with  the  oppresed,  and  is  consequently,  together  with 
other  estimable  clergymen  of  the  establishment,  deemed 
"  worse  than  a  Baptist."  We  had  also  the  pleasure 
during  our  stay  of  making  the  acquaintance  of  J.  H. 
Evelyn,  of  the  Customs,  a  gentleman  who  has  likewise 
in  times  past  interfered  to  his  cost  in  the  vain  attempt 

so  abhorrent  to  every  principle  of  justice  of  presuming  a  negro  to  be 
a  slave,  or  according  to  the  new  nomenclature,  an  apprentice,  unless 
he  can  prove  his  freedom,  still  continues. 


JAMAICA.  237 

to  check  or  expose  colonial  abuses.     In  the  afternoon 
we  proceeded  to  Savanna  la  Mar^   in  the  parish   of 
Westmoreland.     Hanorer   is   a   mountainous   parish. 
The  sides  of  the  hills  are  yet,  to  a  great  extent^  uncul- 
tivated ;  the  plains  and  valleys  are  occupied  by  cane- 
fields.     Westmoreland   is    of    a    different   character, 
consisting  chiefly  of  a  plain  of  considerable  extent, 
bounded  on  one  side  by  the  sea,  and  on  the  others  by 
mountains.     It  is  overgrown  with  thickets  of  the  log- 
wood and  acacia,  occasionally  interspersed  with  sugar 
estates.     We  were  overtaken  in  an  early  part  of  our 
journey  to-day  by  the  rain,  which  poured  down   in 
torrents  for  several  hours.     Many  apprentices   have 
mentioned  their  being  compelled  to  work  in  the  rain 
to  the  destruction  of  their  health,  as  a  grievance  to 
which,  they  were  not  subjected  before  the  introduction 
of  the  present  system.     We  had  now  an  opportunity 
of  verifying  the  fact  by  our  own   observation.    We 
passed  midway  on  our  journey  by  Glasgow  estate,  be- 
longing to  R.  Wallace,  M.P.,  for  Greenock,  and  ob- 
served the  gangs  of  negros  still  at  work  in  the  field. 
On  another  large  estate,  the  name  of  which  we  did  not 
learn,  the  apprentices  were  still  remaining  in  the  field, 
sheltering  themselves   as  they  best  could  under  the 
canes.vi 

9th.r-rWe  visited  the  workhouse  this  morning. 
The  premises  are  small  and  confined.  The  supervisor, 
who  appeared  to  be  a  humane  man,  informed  us  that 
there  were  seventy- six  prisoners,  of  whom  eight  were 
life  convicts,  and  the  rest  apprehended  runaways  or 
apprentices  from  estates.  We  arrived  in  time  to  see 
the  penal  gang  collected  previously  to  being  sent  out 
to  their  daily  labor.  The  greater  number  of  both  sexes 
were  in  chains,  and  all  had  iron  collars.     Among  them 


JAMAICA. 

were  three  females  with  infants  at  the  breast^  who  had 
each  been  committed  to  hard  labor  by  the  Special  Ma« 
gistrate ;  one  for  having  three  pints  of  sugar  in  her 
possession;  another  for  quarrelling  with  her  sister; 
and  the  thirds  who  was  a  non-predial,  hired  out,  fof 
not  paying  her  weekly  hire.  In  the  last  case,  it  is  more 
than  probable,  that  the  oiFence  was  unavoidably  created 
by  her  situation  as  a  nursing  mother.  A  history  of 
past  sufferings  was  legibly  inscribed  on  the  backs  of 
many  of  the  prisoners,  who  were  almost  in  a  state 
of  nudity,  in  the  scars  of  severe  floggings.  The  super* 
visor  told  us  that  prison  dresses  were  being  made  for 
them.  The  majority  of  the  prisoners  sleep  in  two  very 
small  apartments,  which  we  saw  soon  after  the  prison-* 
ers  had  left  them  for  the  day ;  they  were  almost  insuf- 
ferable on  account  of  their  closeness.  We  saw  here  two 
women,  named  Sarah  Nelson  and  Bessey  Grant, 
from  Phoenix  Estate,  in  the  parish  of  Hanover,  and 
who  were  sent  to  this  instead  of  their  own  workhouse, 
for  the  oiFence  of  being  unable  to  execute  the  compul- 
sory task-work  imposed  upon  them  by  the  Special 
Magistrate.  That  functionary  resides  in  the  great 
house  on  Phoenix  Estate,  and  the  people  complain  that 
he  coerces  them  without  mercy.*  This  estate  also 
belongs  to  a  professedly  liberal  and  religious  proprietor. 
We  were  permitted  to  look  over  the  files  of  the  Special 
Magistrates'  commitments,  which  frequently  consist  of 
nothing  more  than  lists  of  eight  or  ten  apprentices 
with  their  respective  punishments  affixed,  without  any 
mention  whatever  of  complaints  or  offences.  We  saw 
two  of  the  life  convicts,  both  of  whom  were  condemned 
after  the  rebellion.     One  of  them,  a  very  old  man,  as- 

•  See  Appendix  F,  Sec  iv. 


JAMAICA.  239 

sured  us^  that  the  only  charge  against  him^  was  his 
being  a  Baptist.  The  other  was  a  fine  young  man^ 
who  is  employed  as  a  turnkey.  The  supervisor  gavie 
him  an  excellent  character,  and  his  countenance  ap- 
peared to  express  both  intelligence  and  integrity.  The 
substance  of  his  story,  as  related  to  us  by  himself,  is 
^B  follows  : — Before  the  rebellion,  he  and  other  negros 
agreed,  that  they  would  sit  down  after  Christmas,  and 
tell  their  masters  they  were  free  ;  but  that  they  would 
willingly  continue  to  work  **for  any  small  salary." 
They  did  so,  but  afterwards,  some  of  the  ignorant 
negros,  refusing  to  listen  to  the  more  ^*  sensible,'' 
began  to  set  fire  to  the  buildings,  and  to  make  war 
against  the  white  people.  He  tried  in  vain  to  check 
them,  and  when  he  heard  they  were  searching  for  him 
to  take  his  life,  he  ran  away  till  the  insurrection  was 
over.  He  was  then  apprehended  and  condemned  to 
the  workhouse  for  life.  This  account  is  quite  in  ac- 
cordance with  what  is  known  of  the  origin  of  the  in- 
surrection. The  negros  were  encouraged  to  strike 
work,  by  the  belief  that  the  king  had  set  them  free, 
but  that  their  masters  were  determined  to  retain  them 
in  bondage ;  a  delusion  which  was  produced  by  the 
language,  which  some  of  the  planters  held  to  the 
negros,  and  by  their  conversations  with  each  other  in 
the  presence  of  the  negros  on  the  progress  of  the  anti- 
slavery  cause  ;  at  the  same  time,  that  the  slaves  on 
many  estates^  were  exasperated  by  increased  oppressions 
and  cruelties.  This  conduct  can  scarcely  be  explained 
on  any  other  supposition  than  that  of  a  determination 
to  create  a  disturbance,  which  should  check  any  ten- 
dency in  the  Home  Government  unfavorable  to  the 
continuance  of  unmitigated  slavery.  The  disturbance 
soon,  however,  rose  to  an  alarming  height ;   a  general 


240  JAMAICA. 

panic  spread  among  the  whites,  and  the  estates  were 
abandoned  to  the  insurgents,  by  whom  property  was 
destroyed  to  an  immense  extent.    Very  few  of  the  free 
inhabitants  lost  their  lives  ;  but,  at  the  courts'  martial, 
which  immediately  succeeded  the  insurrection,  hun- 
dreds of  negros  were  sacrificed  to  the  guilt,  cowardice, 
and  terror  of  the  whites.   Many  were  executed  in  parts 
of  the  island  to  which  the  disturbance  never  extended, 
and  among  the  victims  were  some  whose  sole  or  prin- 
cipal offence,   was    that  of  their   being   Baptists   or 
Methodists.     The  rebellion  was  charged  upon  the  mis- 
sionaries, and  was  made  the  pretext  of  that  violent 
persecution  in  which  many  were  driven  from  the  island, 
and  their  chapels  destroyed  by  men  who  held,  and  still 
retain,  the  King's  Commission  as  Justices  of  the  Peace. 
The  sequel  to  these  memorable  events  was  transacted 
in  England.     Some  of  the  accused  missionaries  have 
published  a  ^^  Narrative''  of  the  events  connected  with 
their  mission  during  the  progress  of  the  rebellion,  and 
of   the    proceedings   which   immediately  followed  it. 
Their  statement  was  extensively  circulated,  and  though 
it  contains  an  exposure  of  the  disgraceful  means  adopted 
to  procure  their  crimination,  and  a  great  quantity  of 
facts  and  evidence  which  fix  the  insurrection  upon  its 
real  authors,   yet   the    parties   implicated,   and   their 
organs  the  island  newspapers,  have  observed  the  most 
discreet  silence  respecting  it,  and  still  continue  to  de- 
signate the  rebellion  as  "  the  Baptist  war."     The  in- 
vestigation of  this  subject  is  a  matter  of  no  slight 
interest  at  the  present  moment.    Since  the  introduction 
of  the  present  system,  some  leading  persons  in  a  cer- 
tain district  of  the  island,  made  representations  through 
a  liigh  legal  functionary  to  the  Governor,  that  their 
parishes  were  in  a  disturbed  state,  and  requested  that 


JAMAICA.  241 

troops  might  be  sent.  By  private  inquiries.  Lord 
Slfgo  ascertained  that  the  apprentices  were  industrious 
and  peaceable.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that 
goaded  on  by  oppression,  and  alarmed  by  the  presence 
of  the  mUitary,  they  might  easily  have  been  driven  to 
such  a  general  desertion  of  the  estates  as  would  have 
been  styled  a  rebellion,  and  suppressed  with  the  rigor- 
ous severities  of  martial  law.* 

lOth. — ^This  morning  we  drove  over  to  Paradise 
Pen,  the  residence  of  Thomas  M'c  Neel,  the  Gustos 
of  the  parish,  to  whom  we  had  several  introductory 
letters.  Although  we  found  him  very  much  occupied, 
he  obligingly  gave  up  a  part  of  the  day  to  us.  He  has 
under  his  care  many  estates,  including  an  apprentice 
population  of  four  thousand,  of  whom  he  observed  that 
none  give  much  trouble  to  the  Special  Magistrates. 
On  all  the  estates,  the  old  allowances  are  continued,  to 
the  extent  even  of  clothing  and  medical  attendance  for 
the  free  children.  He  stated  to  us,  that  he  believed 
that  in  the  parish  generally,  things  are  going  on  as 
well  as  in  any  part  of  the  island ;  a  remark,  however, 
which  is  not  borne  out  by  the  crowded  state  of  the 
workhouse  at  Savanna  la  Mar.  The  Gustos  spoke 
strongly  against  the  revolting  practice  of  working 
male  and  female  prisoners  in  the  streets  and  roads  in 

•  More  recently,  on  the  occasion  of  Sir  Lionel  Smithes  tour  of 
the  island,  an  anonymous  letter  was  brought  to  him,  which  had  been 
dropped  in  the  pariah  of  Saint  Elizabeth.  It  purported  to  be  written 
by  an  apprentice  with  the  view  of  exciting  insurrection ;  but  was 
evidently  the  production  of  one  but  imperfectly  acquainted  with 
the  dialect  of  the  Creole  negros,  in  which  it  afiPected  to  be  written. 
Should  any  disturbances  unfortunately  occur  before  the  termination 
of  the  present  system,  we  venture  to  predict  that  the  chief  blame 
will  not  belong  to  the  negros,  who  nave  shewn  themselves  un- 
equalled in  the  patient  endurance  of  fraud  and  oppression. 

y 


242  JAMAICA. 

chains,  and  observed  that  he  had  done  all  he  could  to 
discountenance  it.  He  shewed  us  several  statements 
of  the  increase  and  decrease  of  uegros,  from  which  it 
appeared  that  on  many  of  these  estates,  the  births  and 
deaths  are  as  carefully  registered  as  during  slavery^  and 
that  in  the  last  eight  or  ten  years,  there  has  been  a 
slight  increase  of  the  population  even  on  some  of  the 
sugar  plantations.  We  saw  also  among  the  accounts 
of  expenses,  various  annual  donations  of  from  two  to 
ten  pounds,  to  the  head  people  for  good  conduct ;  also 
accounts  of  the  purchase  of  cattle  from  the  apprentices. 
The  most  striking  remark  which  he  made  to  us  on  his 
mode  of  management,  was  that  the  white  people  on  the 
estates,  required  quite  a^  much  attention  and  oversight 
to  keep  them  in  their  proper  place  as  the  negros.  He 
accompanied  us  to  visit  the  two  estates  of  Lord  Hol- 
land. On  the  first.  Sweet  River  Pen,  the  people  were 
receiving  the  weekly  distribution  of  salt-fish.  About 
fifty  of  them  came  round  the  steps  of  the  great  house 
to  converse  with  us,  and  enquired  very  eagerly  whether 
we  had  seen  Lord  and  Lady  Holland  before  we  left 
England,  and  desired  their  best  respects  to  be  given  to 
them,  saying,  they  had  always  been  very  good  to  them. 
Their  attorney  wished  them  to  explain  what  they  in- 
tended to  do  after  1840.  They  replied  that  they  could 
not  make  any  agreement  till  the  time  came,  as  the 
attorney  might  die  if  they  made  a  bargain  with  him. 
They  expressed  great  anxiety  to  know  what  was  to  be 
done  respecting  their  houses  and  grounds,  and  said, 
the  uncertainty  prevented  their  repairing  or  improving 
them.  They  said,  that  former  times  were  bad  enough  ; 
the  apprenticeship  was  better,  as  they  could  not  be 
flogged  by  the  driver,  but  they  wished  they  might  be 
free  immediately.     One  of  their  complaints  was,  that 


JAMAICA.  243 

they  had  never  seen  their  master,  pointing,  at  the  same 
time,  to  a  very  old  negro,  and  intimating  he  had  never 
seen  his  owner.  They  wished  Lord  Holland  would 
send  out  "  his  piccaninny  or  his  cousin,"  with  whom 
,  they  might  talk  about  the  terms*  upon  which  they  should 
remain  when  free.  As  we  were  leaving,  they  preferred 
a  request  to  their  attorney,  to  exchange  their  half 
Friday  for  every  alternate  Friday,  as  their  grounds 
were  six  miles  distant.  From  Sweet  River  we  pro- 
ceeded  to  Friendship,  a  sugar  estate  belonging  to  Lord 
Holland.  Here  also  we  saw  and  conversed  with  at 
least  fifty  or  sixty  of  the  people  in  the  presence  of  their 
attorney  and  the  overseer.  We  did  not  find  them  very 
communicative.  They  said,  however,  that  they  had  a 
kind  master  and  mistress  (Lord  and  Lady  Holland;) 
and,  when  free,  which  they  wished  might  be  to-morrow, 
they  should  be  glad  to  remain  on  the  estate  and  work 
for  wages,  rather  than  leave  their  houses  and  grounds 
to  begin  the  world  again.  We  asked  them  whether 
the  Special  Magistrate  heard  both  sides  fairly  when 
they  were  brought  before  him.  They  replied  that  he 
would  not  let  them  speak ;  in  confirmation  of  which 
the  Custos  strongly  condemned  the  conduct  of  some  of 
the  stipendiaries.  As  we  were  leaving  the  estate,  a 
number  of  women  surrounded  the  attorney,  and  com- 
plained that  their  half  Fridays  had  been  taken  away  in 
crop,  and  not  repaid  them.  He  reminded  them  of  the 
numerous  indulgences  they  received,  and  said  they 
must  not  reckon  the  time  due  to  them  with  too  much 
nicety.  A  noisy  discussion  ensued,  the  merits  of  which 
we  could  not  understand ;  but  the  deportment  of  the 
people  was  rude  and  discreditable.  We  visited  the 
hospital,  which  is  a  building  on  stone  pillars,  well  con- 
trived for  its  purposes,  but  dirty  and  out  of  repair 


244  JAMAICA. 

There  was  alio  near  it  a  series  of  substantial^  staii€f 
penal  cells,  which  we  hope  are  now  chiefly  vdkied  as 
building  materials.  The  great  house  was  untenanted. 
Its  entrance,  as  well  as  that  on  Paradise  Pen,  was 
graced  by  a  small  cannon.  We  walked  through  a  part 
of  the  n^pro  village.  The  houses  were  of  an  inferior 
description,  but  there  were  some  pleasing  evidences  of 
the  industry  of  the  people  in  their  gardens  and  pbun« 
tain  walks.  The  Custos,  though  himself  a  large  at* 
tomey,  candidly  attributes  the  greatest  evils  to  the 
prevailing  absenteeism,  and  to  the  influence  of  the 
merchants.  He  appears  fully  aware  of  the  importance 
of  keeping  the  era  of  complete  freedom  in  view  in  his 
dealings  with  the  apprentices,  and  has  encouraged  tliose 
on  his  own  estate  by  the  expectation  of  being  set  free 
a  year  before  the  time  fixed  by  law.  He  esqiressed 
a  wish  to  see  estate  schools  generally  established. 
Speaking  of  the  increased  value  of  property,  he  men- 
tioned an  estate  purchased  eighteen  months  ago,  for 
five  thousand  pounds,  for  which  twelve  thousand  pounds 
have  recently  been  offered ;  and  that  he  had  bought 
seventeen  slaves  in  1833  for  nine  pounds  currency 
each,  for  every  one  of  whom  he  had  received  at  least 
twenty  pounds  sterling  compensation. 

11th. — ^We  again  visited  the  workhouse  to  see  the 
treadmill  in  operation.  Four  men  were  first  put  upoa 
it,  whose  vn-ists  were  as  usual  strapped  to  the  handralL 
The  construction  of  this  mill  is  so  slight,  and  its 
cylinder  of  so  small  a  diameter,  that  when  the  prisoners 
all  stepped  at  once,  their  weight  instantly  increased  its 
speed,  so  as  to  throw  them  all  off.  They  were  compelled 
to  throw  themselves  into  a  sidelong  posture,  and  take 
two  or  three  steps  at  a  time,  in  the  most  awkward 
and  painful  manner.     The  wheel  then  moved  by  jerks. 


JAMAICA.  245 

quickly  and  slowly  alternately.     One  young  man  of 
color,  who  waH  put  on  for  the  first  time,  after  many 
ineffectual  attempts  to  catch  the  step,  hung  suspended 
by  the  wrists  during  the  greater  part  of  the  time,  the 
wheel  revolving  against  his  legs.     His  cries  were  most 
piercing ;  **  I  don*t  know  what  they  sent  me  here  for ; 
I  have  done  nothing  to  be  sent  here."     When  he  came 
off  he  appeared  much  exhausted.     He  told  us  that  he 
was  a  carpenter  on  Grove  Plain  estate.     The  constable 
sent  him  to  give  an  order  to  the  gang,  which  he  did, 
but  they  did  not  attend  to  it.     The  constable  was  sent 
by  the  overseer  to  repeat  the  order,  with  directions 
that  if  it  were  not  complied  with,  the  prisoner  and  the 
other  people  should  be  put  in  confinement.     The  con- 
stable, without  repeating  the  order,  locked  him  up  at 
once.     When   released   the   next   day,   he   asked   the 
overseer  what  he  had  done  to  be  locked  up,  for  which 
he  was  taken  before  the  Special  Magistrate  on  a  charge 
of  insolence,  and  sent  to  the  workhouse  and  treadmill 
for  ten  days.   This  account  was  subsequently  confirmed 
to  us   by  an  apprentice  from   the  same   estate,   with 
whom  we  had   an  opportunity  of  conversing.     After 
the  first  spell  was  ended,  the  two  women  from  Phoenix 
estate,  whose  case  has  been  previously  noticed,  were 
put  upon  the  mill.     Being  of  lighter  weight,  the  mill 
revolved  more  slowly,  and  they  kept  the  step  better,  but 
were  quite  exhausted,  and  in  a  profuse  perspiration  when 
the  time  had  expired.     The  supervisor  told  us  that  the 
prisoners  nearly  always  suffered  in  the  manner  above- 
mentioned,  when  first  putupon  the  mill. 

We   saw   this    morning   a   woman    named   Mary 

Saunders,  who  had  been  sent  to  the  workhouse  under 

the  following  circumstances  : — About  a  year  ago,  she 

was  valued  for  nineteen  pounds,  and  paid  the  money  to 

Y  3 


246  JAMAICA. 

Special  Justice  Ph&lp,  who  told  her,  she  was  thea 
free.  Her  master,  however,  dissatisfied  with  the 
amount,  appealed  to  the  Governor,  and  refused  to  re- 
ceive the  money.  She  therefore  obtained  no  acknow- 
ledgment or  ^^free  paper,'"  though  she  acted  as  her 
own  mistress.  Tired  at  length  of  a  state  of  uncer- 
tainty, she  also  appealed  to  the  Governor,  on  which 
the  Special  Magistrate  issued  his  warrant,  after  she  had 
been  free  for  a  year,  and  committed  her  to  the  work- 
house as  a  runaway  apprentice.  She  was  at  the  time 
in  daily  expectation  of  her  confinement,  and  had  been 
delivered  two  days  before  we  saw  her  of  her  tenth  child. 
The  supervisor  appeared  to  have  done  all  he  could  to 
palliate,  by  kind  treatment,  the  inhumanity  of  the  ma- 
gistrate. 

In  the  course  of  the  morning  we  attended  the  Spe- 
cial Magistrates'  court.  There  were  three  present  of 
the  names  of  Phei.p,  Emsry,  and  Ouver,  of  whom 
the  first  took  the  most  prominent  part  in  the  pro- 
ceedings. The  first  case  was  that  of  a  runaway  ap- 
prentice complained  of  by  his  attorney,  whose  evidence 
was  altogether  hearsay,  as  he* did  not  reside  on  the 
estate  himself.  It  was  supported  by  that  of  the  head 
constable.  The  presiding  magistrate,  to  remove  all 
doubts,  after  first  browbeating  the  prisoner,  put  leading 
questions  to  him,  which  made  him  criminate  himself. 
He  was  then  sentenced  for  one  month  to  the  house  of 
correction.  The  same  complainant  next  brought  a 
charge  against  the  head  constable,  for  *^  disobedience 
of  orders."  He  had  been  directed  to  bring  to  this 
court  a  woman,  who  had  been  a  runaway  from  the 
estate  for  a  year  and  a-half.  The  constable  said  he 
had  never  seen  her,  and  did  not  know  where  she  was. 
The  attorney  replied,  that  it  was  his  duty  to  produce 


JAMAICA.  247 

any  of  the  gang  when  called  for.  The  case  was  dis- 
missed, the  charge  being  too  absurd  even  for  a  court 
like  this  to  entertain.  The  brother  of  Mary  Saundems 
now  stepped  forward,  and  asked  why  his  sister  bad 
been  sent  to  the  workhouse.  He  had  witnesses  to 
prove  that  the  Special  Magistrate,  (Phblp,)  told  her 
she  was  free,  and  might  go  where  she  liked,  at  the  time 
that  he  received  the  money.  The  same  magistrate 
treated  him  very  insolently,  and  said,  that  she  had 
written  a  letter  to  the  Governor  full  of  lies  about  him, 
and  that  she  was  now  committed  as  a  runaway  by  the 
Governor's  order.^  He  said  he  would  not  be  called  to 
account  by  everybody,  and  ordered  the  man  out  of 
court.  Subsequently,  the  Gustos  entered  the  couit, 
and  spoke  to  the  magistrates  about  this  case.  He  had 
been  one  of  the  local  justices  concerned  in  the  original 
valuation,  and  felt  himself  somewhat  implicated  in  the 
case.  From  the  explanations  which  followed,  it  was 
apparent  that  the  facts  were  as  we  have  already  stated 
them,  and  that  the  conduct  of  the  Special  Magistrate 
had  been  most  grossly  arbitrary  and  illegal.  There 
were  several  cases  of  valuation.  A  sickly  colored  child, 
about  ten  years  old,  was  appraised  at  ten  pounds, 
which  was  paid  by  her  father,  an  overseer.  A  diminu- 
tive woman,  valued  as  a  predial  apprentice,  for  thirty- 

•  Having  the  Governor's  general  permission  to  apply  for  informa- 
tion at  the  Stipendiary  Magistrates'  department  in  Spanish  Town, 
we  availed  ourselves  of  it  to  obtain  a  sight  of  the  officiid  correspond- 
ence in  this  case ;  and  can,  therefore,  state  that  this  assertion  of  the 
magistrates,  was  a  total  misrepresentation  of  the  Grovernor's  in- 
structions in  the  case,  and  that  the  act  of  committal  was  entirely  his 
own.  The  poor  woman  subsequently  memorialized  the  Grovemor, 
but  obtained  no  redress,  till  she  made  a  personal  appeal  to  him,  when 
he  visited  the  workhouse  on  his  tour  round  the  island.  •  He  imme- 
diately ordered  her  release.  The  magistrate,  we  believe,  escaped 
without  censure. 


248  JAMAICA. 

four  pounds  ;   and^  lastly,  a  tall,  sickly,  colored  man^ 
applied  to  be  appraised,  who  was  by  trade  a  cooper* 
His  overseer  swore  that  he  could  make  three  puncheons 
a  week,  and  that  his  weekly  labor  was  worth  twenty 
shillings  to  the  estate.     The  magistrate,  (Phelp^)  put 
leading  questions  to  the  witness,  as  ^'He  is  a  very 
valuable  man,  is  he  not?"     ^^You  say  he  is  a  good 
workman  ?"'  &c.     The  man  pleaded  that  he  was  very 
sickly;  that  he  could  do  little  but  overlook  others ;  and 
that  if  he  worked  himself  for  a  few  weeks,  he  was  some- 
times laid  by  for  months  afterwards.     An  overseer  was 
brought  forward  by  him  as  a  witness,  who  had  formerly 
lived  on  the  property  for  seven  years,  and  who  con- 
firmed  all   these   statements.     The   doctor,  who  had 
attended  the  estate  during  the  last  six  months,  was 
then  called,  who  stated  that  the  man  had  been  under 
his  care  the  whole  time  for  ulcerated  legs ;   but  he  did 
not  consider  the  sores  habitual.     The  Special  Magis- 
trate, who  is  supposed  to  be  especially  entrusted  in 
valuations  with  the  interests  of  the  apprentice,  said  to 
the  two  local  magistrates  associated  with  him,  *'  what- 
ever you   say,  gentlemen,  I  shall  be  satisfied  with," 
One  of  them  appraised  the  man  at  seventy  pounds,  the 
other  at  forty-four   pounds.     The   stipendiary   wrote 
the  two  sums  on  paper,  and  added  sixty  pounds  as  his 
own  estimate ;    the  average  of  which  amounts,   fixed 
the  value  of  the  apprentice  at  fifty-eight  pounds.     We 
heard,  subsequently,  that  this  man  had  been  severely 
flogged  last  week,  by  order  of  the  Special  Magistrate, 
which  determined  him  to  obtain  at  any  price  his  release 
from  bondage.     Several  cases  of  runaways,  and  of  ap- 
prentices charged  with  petty  thefts  of  canes  or  sugar, 
were  subsequently  disposed  of.     The  business  of  this 
court   was   conducted   in   a  manner  and  spirit,  than 


K 


JAMAICA.  249 

which  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  any  thing  more  objec- 
tionable. The  Gustos,  who  was  present  during  the 
subsequent  part  of  the  proceedings,  felt  called  upon, 
though  himself  a  planter,  to  reprove  the  Special  Ma- 
gistrate for  omitting  to  enquire  of  the  prisoners  what 
they  had  to  say  in  defence,  and  for  inveigling  them  by 
his  questions  into  self-crimination. 

We  had  the  pleasure  during  our  stay  at  Savanna  la 
Mar,  of  seeing  nearly  all  the  Baptist  missionaries  in 
the  island,  who  were  assembled  at  the  meeting  of  their 
annual  association.  It  was  truly  a  pleasure  to  us  to 
meet  again  some  of  these  estimable  men,  and  to  make 
the  acquaintance  of  others,  whom  we  had  not  previously 
knowo.  We  availed  ourselves  of  the  opportunity  to 
obtain  from  them  some  statistical  information  relative 
to  the  state  of  education  in  connection  with  their  con* 
gregations.^  They  also  addressed  to  us  the  following 
letter  on  the  subject  of  the  apprenticeship  : — 

^^ Savanna  la  Mar,  March  lOM,  1837. 
*^  G£NTL£MEN, — It  is  with  fecliugs  of  sincere  plea- 
sure that  we  welcome  you  to  the  shores  of  Jamaica, 
more  especially  on  account  of  the  generous  and  bene- 
volent object  of  your  mission.  Several  of  us  have 
labored  in  this  island  for  many  years,  and  have  wit- 
nessed the  horrors  of  slavery,  and  the  oppressions  and 
sufferings  of  the  slaves.  We  lent  our  feeble  efforts 
with  the  thousands  of  British  Christians  in  England  to 
accomplish  the  destruction  of  the  cruel  system,  and 
sincerely  rejoiced  in  the  passing  of  that  Act  which  pro- 
fessed to  abolish  slavery  in  every  part  of  the  British 
West  Indies;   though  we  deeply  regretted  the  inter- 

•  See  Appendix  F,  Sec.  viii. 


250  JAMAICA. 

mediate  state  of  apprenticeship  decided  upon  by  the 
Imperial  Parliament,  and  have  viewed  with  intense 
interest  the  working  of  that  system  during  the  two 
years  and  a- half  that  have  elapsed.  We  feel  ourselves 
called  upon  to  declare  to  you  our  firm  conviction  that 
the  apprentices  have  conducted  themselves  in  the  most 
tranquil  and  peaceable  manner,  and  have  shewn  every 
disposition  to  be  industrious  where  encouragement  has 
been  afforded  them  by  fair  and  equitable  remuneration, 
and  M'here  they  have  not  been  provoked  by  vexatious 
annoyances. 

"  We  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  our  deliberate 
opinion  of  the  total  unfitness  of  the  apprenticeship 
system  as  an  act  of  preparation  for  freedom ;  and  that 
it  is  to  tilie  unparalleled  patience  of  the  apprentices, 
and  not  to  its  tolerant  spirit,  that  the  present  peaceful 
and  prosperous  state  of  the  island  is  attributable.  To 
you  we  unhesitatingly  declare  our  belief,  that  this 
mockery  of  freedom  is  worthless  as  a  preparation  for 
that  state  to  which  it  can  have  no  possible  afi&nity; 
that  while  it  represses  the  energy  of  the  negro,  it  has 
rendered  him  distrustful  of  the  British  public,  by  whom 
he  considers  himself  to  have  been  cheated  by  a  name ; 
that  it  has  entailed,  and  is  still  entailing,  excessive 
suffering,  especially  on  the  mother  and  her  helpless 
and  unavoidably  neglected  oflfspring,  and  that  to  secure 
its  termination,  no  effort  can  be  considered  too  great. 
We  do,  therefore,  most  earnestly  entreat  you  on  your 
return  to  your  native  land,  to  exert  your  influence  to 
effect  the  total  abandonment  of  this  system  in  1838 ; 
but  if  every  eflfort  fail  in  procuring  the  abolition  of  the 
term  of  apprenticeship,  to  the  predial  apprentices,  that 
those  advantages  may  at  least  be  secured  to  them,  to 
which  they  are  entitled  by  the  provisions,  imperfect  as 
they  are,  of  the  Act  for  the  Abolition  of  Slavery. 


JAMAICA.  251 

"  We  further  urge  you  to  watch  with  vigilance  any 
law  which  may  be  introduced  in  the  Imperial  Parlia- 
ment, or  passed  by  any  of  the  colonial  legislatures,  to 
curtail  the  liberty  of  the  negro  after  the  termination  of 
the  present  system ;  and  any  enactments  of  a  restrictive 
and  oppressive  nature  calculated  to  keep  them  more 
degraded  than  any  others  of  their  fellow-subjects  for 
one  moment  beyond  that  period. 

**  Your  own  observations  in  this  colony  must,  we 
think,  have  convinced  you  that  the  costly  apparatus  by 
which  it  was  intended  to  secure  a  measure  of  protection 
to  the  negro,  is  in  many  instances,  made  instrumental 
in  carrying  on  a  system  of  coercion  and  oppression  as 
odious  as  that  from  which  he  was  intended  to  be  freed. 

**  We  cannot  but  express  our  regret  at  the  apathy 
manifested  of  late  by  some  of  those  friends  in  England, 
who  so  long  and  so  zealously  exerted  themselves  in 
behalf  of  the  injured  sons  and  daughters  of  Africa,  and 
must  consider  that  the  responsibility  rests  on  them, 
who  have  the  power  to  obtain  justice  for  this  still  in  - 
jured  people,  for  any  consequences  that  may  take  place. 
Meanwhile  we  shall  continue  to  exert  our  influence  to 
tranquillize  their  minds  under  every  disappointment, 
and  to  induce  them  to  bear  with  patience  the  wrongs 
they  are  called  upon  to  suflfer. 
"We  are.  Gentlemen, 

^*  With  much  esteem  and  respect, 

JOSHUA  TINSON, 
JAMES  M.  PHILLIPPO,  THOMAS  F.  ABBOTT, 

THOMAS  BURCHELL,  WALTER  DENDY, 

WILLIAM  KNIBB,  JOHN  KINGDON, 

HENRY  C.  TAYLOR,  BENJAMIN  B.  DEXTER, 

JOHN  CLARKE,  JOHN   HUTCHINS, 


FRANCIS  GARDNER,  JOHN  CLARK, 

WILLIAM  WHITEHORNE,    SAMUEL  OUGHTON. 


tt 


252  JAMAICA. 

The   preceding  letter,  signed  by  all   the   Baptist 
missionaries  in  the  island,  is  addressed  through  us  to 
the  British  anti-slavery  public,  to  whose  attention  we 
earnestly  recommend   its   important  contents,  which 
express  the  deliberate  and  well-considered  sentiments 
of  men,  who,  of  all  others,  are  the  best  qualified  to 
form  an  unprejudiced  judgment  of  the  condition  of  the 
negros  under  the  apprenticeship,  and  of  their  capacity 
for  a  true  appreciation  of  the   blessings  of  freedom. 
The  testimony  which  it  bears  to  the  abuses  of  the 
existing  system  is  the  result  of  painiul,  personal  obser- 
vation ;  and  is  but  a  reiteration  of  a  similar  and  even 
still  stronger  statement  forwarded  last  year  by  six  of 
the  same  missionaries  to  the  Secretary  of  their  Board 
in  London  ;  and  which,  it  is  much  to  be  regretted,  was 
not  published,  as  was  doubtless  the  intention  of  its 
writers.    In  the  course  of  the  day,  we  saw  a  negro  from 
Glasgow  estate,  the  property  of  R.  Wallace,  M.P., 
for  Greenock,  whose   affecting   narration   is   inserted 
here  as  a  further  illustration  of  the  present  state  of 
negro  slavery  in  Jamaica.     In  the  Appendix  will  be 
found  a  statement^  of  the  same  negro  to  a  gentleman 
resident  in  the  colony,  which  corresponds  with  the 
subjoined  relation  of  the  sufferings  of  himself  and  his 
fellow-apprentices.     We  are  quite  willing  to  believe 
that  the  proprietor  of  this  estate  has  been  kept  in 
ignorance  of  the  treatment  of  his  negros  ;   and  it  is  not 
without  great  regret,  that  we  bring  these  facts  under 
his  notice  and  that  of  the  public  in  the  present  manner; 
but  we  are   strongly  impressed  with  the  conviction, 
that  there  are  no  estates  more  oppressively  and  even 
cruelly  managed,  than  those  of  many  liberal,  humane, 
and   even   religious   proprietors  resident  in  England. 

•  See  Appendix  F,  Sec.  iv. 


JAMAICA.  253 

Statement  of  Cyrus  Wallace^  an  apprentice,  from 
Glasgow  estate : — "  The  old  living  before  was  better  than 
now.  If  we  come  to  the  Bay,  (Savanna  la  Mar,)  to  make 
a  complaint,  we  are  punished  for  it  when  the  magistrate 
come  upon  the  estate.  We  are  obliged  to  work  on  our 
Fridays  and  Saturdays.  The  magistrate  threaten  we 
and  make  we  consent;  he  say,  ^if  any  person  deny 
working  on  Saturday,  bring  them  down  to  the  Bay,  and 
I  shall  cat  them.'  About  four  weeks  ago,  on  a  Friday, 
shellblow,  the  busha,  (overseer,)  ordered  the  gang  to 
work  the  next  day,  (Saturday.)  I  say,  I  can't  work, 
because  I  have  a  pain  in  my  back,  and  want  to  take  a 
dose  of  salts,  as  it  is  my  own  day.  The  constable  said, 
if  I  would  not  make  the  fire,  (throughout  the  day  at 
the  boiling-house,)  he  would  lock  me  up.  I  asked  him 
to  take  me  to  the  busha,  who  said  I  should  be  locked 
up,  and  to-morrow  be  taken  down  to  the  Bay  to  be 
catted.  I  was  locked  up  that  night,  (Friday,)  in  my 
wet  clothes,  and  all  the  next  day  without  food  or 
water ;  and  when  I  was  let  out,  it  was  so  late  I  could 
not  go  to  my  own  house,  but  was  obliged  to  lie  down 
in  the  floor  of  the  hospital :  I  was  not  brought  before 
the  magistrate.  The  constable,  (driver,)  lock  you  up 
when  him  like;  the  bookkeeper  lock  you  up  when 
him  like ;  when  the  busha  come,  they  tell  him,  and  he 
fasten  you  in  the  dark  hole  better.  When  the  magis- 
trate come  on  the  property,  they  bring  you  before  him 
and  he  know  all  about  you  before  you  come.  If  you 
offer  to  speak  for  yourself,  he  hold  his  finger  and  say, 
^not  a  word.'  Mr.  Wallace  property,  worse  than  any 
property  in  the  parish ;  every  property  better  than  we. 
If  any  person  was  to  say — ^hem,  in  the  field,  the  con- 
stable take  and  lock  you  up;  and  if  the  magistrate 
don't  send  you  to  dance  the  treadmill,  he  send  you  to 
z 


254  JAMAICA. 

be  cat^  (flogged.)     There  are  four  men  put  down  to 
get  cat.     We  don't  know  what  we  do.     Busha^  where 
I  working,  he  come  there,  and  why  the  reason  make 
him  sure  he  get  me  cat ;  I  work  three  Saturdays,  and 
no  pay  and  no  day.     I  went  up  to  him,  and  tell  him  I 
want  a  day.   He  says,  devil  a  day  you  get.  I  said,  I  must 
have  a  day,  I  lose  too  much  day ;  you  take  away  three 
day  from  me,  and  this  is  four.     He  says,  you  were  at 
the  boiling-house,  stealing  sugar.     I  says,  me  Sir;  I 
would  not  do  that,  because  I  know  the  property  that 
I  live  upon,  and  would  not  make  fool  of  myself.  When 
he  tell  me  he  won't  give  me  the  day,  I  go  away  and 
take  one  day.     He  would  not  pay  me,  and  I  was  ui 
need.    He  told  me,  you  went  and  took  day  yesterday  ; 
I  said,  yes  Sir.     He  said,  now  you  may  be  sure,  so 
help  me  God,  that  you'll  get  cat.     The  magistrate  hag 
not  yet  been  on  the  property ;  but  whenever  he  does 
come,  the  day  he  comes,  I  get  it;   be  does  whatever 
busha  tell  him.     They  give  more  flogging  now  than 
when   we  were   slave.     Before,   when  they  had  the 
power  of  we,  they  overlook  little  thing ;  not  now.   After 
crop  we  are  continually  obliged  to  watch  (at  night,  by 
turn,)  and  get  no  pay.     Only  those  that  watch  get 
their    six    herrings   every  Monday ;   and   those    that 
won't  watch  get  nothing.     We  don't  get  any  pay  for 
our   half   Fridays.      The  busha  makes  us  work  on 
Saturday  when  he  likes  by  taking  us  before  the  magis- 
trate.  Sometimes  we  get  every  other  Saturday.   When 
we  have  worked  out  four  or  five  Saturdays  according 
to  the  magistrate's  order,  he  send  for  the  magistrate 
again,  and  say,  we  don't  turn  out  soon,  though  we  tmn 
out  at  daylight.     Since  the  law  came  in  we  have  had 
only  about  half  our  Saturdays.     We  turn  out  to  work 
at  daylight,  and  are  allowed  half  an  hour  for  breakfast; 


JAMAiCAv  255 

\hey  promise  we  an  hour  and  a-half  for  dinner  ;  when 
plenty  of  gentlemen  come  upon  the  property  we  get 
an  hour  and  a-half ;  but  when  nobody  come^  the  shell- 
blow  again,  before  we  can  well  catch  a  we  house  (i.  e. 
the  signal  is  heard  for  their  return  to  the  field  almost 
before  they  have  bad  time  to  reach  their  houses,  much 
less  to  dispatch  their  dinners.)  We  looking  to  all  bur 
neighbours  and  they  not  so.  We  never  draw  oflF  till 
dark  5  all  will  not  satisfy.  Massa  think,  pei4)aps,  I 
tell  him  lie ;  but  take  me  off  the  property  and  bring 
the  magistrate,  the  overseer,  the  bookkeeper,  and  the 
constable,  and  I  would  beg  massa  the  favor  to  put  the 
Bible  before  me,  (put  me  on  my  oath.)  In  crop  we 
set  to  work  on  Monday,  and  put  the  mill  about  at  four 
o'clock.  I  am  employed  one  time  making  fire,  and 
another  time  in  the  boiling-house.  They  expect  we  to 
boil  twelve  coppers  and  twelve  skips  of  liquor.  The 
mill-house  people  (feeders  of  the  mill,  and  carriers  of 
cane  and  greentrash,)  work  one  whole  day  ;  and  if  they 
are  not  able  to  finish  they  work  all  night.  If  they  get 
done  once  before  night,  when  they  have  good  canes, 
they  are  not  able  to  do  it  again  for  two  or  three  weeks 
when  they  have  diy  canes.  Next  day  they  go  into  the 
field,  and  another  fresh  spell  work  the  same.  The  mill- 
house  people  will  generally  finish  by  the  middle  of  the 
Saturday  night ;  but,  we  in  the  boiling-house,  are  em- 
ployed till  daylight  on  Sunday  morning.  Not  long  ago, 
the  mill  was  about  till  after  midday  on  Sunday.  The 
boiling-house  people  work  all  night  long ;  sometimes 
they  are  in  the  boHin^-hotise  from  Monday  morning 
till  Sunday  morning.  When  the  millhouse  stop  (for  a 
few  minutes,)  from  sending  liquor,  you  get  a  little 
sleep,  then  when  it  send  down  more  liquor  you  budge 
again.  The  mule  boys,  like  the  boiling-house  people^ 
get  no  sleep.     This  is  a  thing  we  never  were  used  to 


256  JAMAICA. 

do.  They  put  too  much  upon  we.  We  g^  nothii^ 
for  our  nights.  We  get  a  maccaroni^  (one  and  eight- 
pence,)  for  the  extra  time  the  first  four  days ;  tenpence 
for  our  half  Friday,  and  half  dollar  for  Saturday.  If 
we  don't  able  to  make  the  twelve  copper,  we  get  three 
bitts  for  Saturday,  (one  shilling  and  tenpence  halfpenny.) 
When  we  meet  good  cane  we  make  it,  (the  twelve  cop* 
pers ;)  but  when  we  meet  dry  cane,  we  don't  make  it, 
and  yet  they  require  it  from  we.  Every  little  they  pay 
we,  obliged  to  go  for  our  belly.  We  have  no  grounds 
but  a  bit  of  garden  about  our  house,  and  to  this  there 
is  no  fence ;  the  cattle  get  into  it  night  and  day.  No 
gentleman  so  much  fine  woodland  as  massa ;  but  we 
no  time  to  work  it.  We  were  obliged  to  throw  up  our 
old  grounds,  because  the  neighbours'  cattle  trespassed 
in  it.  It  is  now  common  pasture.  Before  the  first  of 
August  we  had  a  fence  to  our  old  grounds  ;  but  since, 
we  have  had  no  time  to  put  it  up  again.  We  used  to 
have  a  watchman  for  our  grounds,  but  now  we  have 
none.  We  heard  magistrate  say,  if  we  won't  watch 
cattle-pen,  the  watchman  should  be  taken  from  our 
ground;  but,  if  we  would  consent  to  watch  the 
cattle,  we  should  have  a  watchman  for  our  ground  ; 
but  busha  take  away  our  watchman,  and  we  con- 
tinue to  watch  the  cattle.  Sunday  we  used  to  attend 
church ;  but  now  when  we  have  nothing  to  eat,  no 
Friday  nor  Saturday,  what  time  else  for  to  cook  victual. 
We  have  no  time  to  go  to  church.  On  Sunday  we 
take  we  hoe,  and  pick  about  a  little,  for  we  to  eat 
through  the  week.  We  have  nobody  to  lean  upon, 
and  so  we  do  every  thing  busha  tell  us  on  purpose  to 
see  if  we  can  get  living  with  him,  but  he  get  worse 
and  worse  every  day.  We  get  our  salt,  (herrings,)  very 
seldom;  now  we  get  none.  We  are  worse  off  than 
before  the  first  of  August.     We  are  all  broken  heart  ; 


JABIAICA.  257 

getting  old  before  our  time.  If  we  go  into  the  hospital 
we  wish  never  to  come  out  again.  From  morning  day- 
light tjiey  swear  and  curse  upon  we  till  shell  blow. 
If  the  parson^  (one  of  the  Scottish  missionaries,)  were 
not  there  to  tell  us  good  word,  we  should  lie  down  like 
cattle  in  the  pasture.  Last  week  foiir  people  have 
been  put  in  the  dark  room  every  night  without  magis- 
trate's order.  Men  and  women  are  put  together  in  one 
dark  room.  One  young  girl  was  put  in  for  three  nights 
because  when  the  bookkeeper  cursed  her  sister,  she 
asked  him  "what  for  cnrse  her  sister?*'  The  hot- 
house is  an  ugly  dirty  place.  When  the  Hanover 
magistrate,  Mr.  Odellb  came,  he  quarrel  much  about 
it,  and  said  it  was  a  hog  place.  Massa  this  is  not  all ; 
it  is  more  than  what  I  can  tell,  I  am  obliged  to  forget." 
13th. — A  few  days  ago  we  received  from  Gborge 
GoliDON,  a  gentleman  who  has  the  control  of  many 
estates,  and  who  is  esteemed  one  of  the  most  judicious 
and  humane  planters  in  the  island,  an  invitation  to  visit 
the  properties  under  his  care.  We  this  morning  availed 
ourselves  of  his  general  permission,  and  drove  over  to 
Meylersfield  estate.  We  saw  there  a  negro,  who  had 
been  punished,  though  apparently  not  with  severity,  to 
the  extent  of  twenty-five  stripes,  by  order  of  the  Spe- 
cial Magistrate.  He  had  been  guilty  of  stealing  sugar 
from  the  boiling  house.  The  overseer  shewed  us  over 
the  works.  A  catechist  attends  twice  a  week  to  teach 
the  negros,  but  his  instructions  are  attended  by  few  of 
the  free  children.  Four  of  the  latter  have  been  appren- 
ticed by  their  mothers  to  the  estate  till  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  which  are  the  first  instances  of  the  kind 
that  have  come  to  our  knowledge. 

During  our  stay  at  Savanna  la  Mar  we  saw  and 
conversed  with  a  great  number  of  apprentices  from  the 
z  3 


258  JAMAICA. 

estates   and    made   memoranda  of  their  statements.* 
Although  each  of  these  might  be  separately  considered 
as  ex  parte,  yet  the  the  miiformity  of  complaint  is  so 
marked  as  to  leave  no  doubt  of  their  substantial  truth. 
The  principal  grievances  are  such  as  we  have  repeat- 
edly enumerated ;  their  being  deprived  of  former  allow- 
ances  and  privileges ;  being  defrauded  of  their  time 
in  and  out  of  crop ;   the   enforcement  of  compulsory 
taskwork ;    the  habitual  use  by   Overseers  of   illegal 
punishments  and  general  ill  treatment  by  Overseers  and 
Special  Magistrates.      The  conviction  is  forced  upon 
us^  that  in  this  part  of  the  island,  upon  the  majority  of 
estates,  the  worst  abuses  of  slavery  including  the  aggra- 
vated oppression  of  excessive  night  work  during  crop, 
still  exist  in  an  unmitigated  form.     We  left  Savanna 
la  Mar  in  the  afternoon  for  Hopeton,  the  residence  of 
Hutchinson  M.  Scott,  accompanied  by Mc.  Mur- 
ray, one  of  the  agents  of  the  Mico  Institution,  who  was 
going  by  the  same  route  to  his  principal  station  in  the 
interior.     Hopeton  is  in  the  mountains  on  the  border 
of  the  parishes  of  Westmoreland  and  Elizabeth.     We 
were   very   hospitably   and  kindly  received.      In  the 
evening  most  of  the  free  children  and  many  of  the  ap- 
prentices  attended   the  family  worship    at   the  great 
house.     Some  came  also  from  the  Bog,  a  neighbouring 
sugar  estate. 

14th. — We  had  the  pleasure  this  morning  of  being 
introduced  to  two  of  the  Moravian  Missionaries,  who 
have  a  station  about  a  mile  distantfrom  Hopeton. 
Their  church,  which  holds  nine  hundred  persons,  is  too 
small  for  their  congregation.  The  prosperity  of  their 
mission  in  this  neighbourhood  is  to   be  attributed  in 

•  See  Appendix  F,  Sec.  iv. 


JAMAICA.  259 

part  to  the  zealous  co-operation  of  the  Hopeton  family^ 
but  chiefly  perhaps  to  the  persecutions  many  of  their 
members  have  had  to  sustain,  before  the  introduction 
of  the  apprenticeship,  from  their  overseers  or  propri- 
etors. Some  striking  instances  were  related  to  us  of 
the  stedfast  and  consistent  lives  of  the  christian  negros. 
One  of  them,  who  is  a  native  African,  and  still  an  ap- 
prentice, was  described  as  very  successful  in  bringing 
numbers  of  his  ignorant  and  degraded  brethren  to  a 
knowledge  of  the  gospel.  A  large  number  of  the  ap- 
prentices as  well  as  the  free  children  attended  the 
family  worship  this  morning.  Some  of  the  Bog  negros 
also  took  advantage  of  their  breakfast  time  to  run  to 
Hopeton  to  attend  it.  We  were  introduced  afterwards 
to  William  Hamilton,  a  man  of  color,  who  is  now 
the  overseer  of  Lenox,  the  sugar  estate  adjoining 
Hopeton,  and  belonging  to  the  same  proprietor.  He 
vtras  formerly  a  slave  on  the  Bog,  and  purchased  his 
freedom  soon  after  the  introduction  of  the  apprentice- 
ship. Though  self-educated,  he  is  evidently  a  person 
of  an  intelligent  and  reflecting  mind,  which  has 
been  improved  by  reading  and  disciplined  by  a  life  of 
adversity  such  as  rarely  falls  even  to  the  lot  of  a  slave. 
We  afterwards  visited  the  school  on  Hopeton.  It 
is  supported  at  the  expence  of  the  proprietor,  super- 
intended by  a  young  man  and  his  wife,  two  excellent 
and  competent  persons,  sent  out  from  England  by  the 
"  Ladies'  Society."  There  were  about  eighty  children 
present,  of  whom  forty  were  free  children  or  appren- 
tices from  Hopeton  and  Lenox,  thirty  free  children 
from  the  Bog,  and  several  the  offspring  of  free  parents. 
They  were  examined  by  their  teacher  and  shewed  great 
proficiency  in  reading  and  arithmetic,  and  answered 
scripture  questions  with  great  readiness.     All  the  scho- 


{ 


900  JAMAICA. 

lars  are  clothed,  and  in  a  great  measure  fed  by  their 
kind  patroness,  the  lady  of  H.  M.  Scott.  It  is  a  itde 
that  idl  shall  labor  during  certain  hours,  when  some  of 
the  elder  children  turn  out  into  the  field  with  their 
little  hoes,  and  others  go  into  the  carpenter's  shop. 
The  little  ones  are  employed  to  pick  stones  off  the 
ground  or  to  carry  cedar  shingles.  The  girls  of  suit* 
able  age  remain  in  school  to  learn  needlework.  They 
work  with  the  same  cheerfulness  with  which  they 
learn.  This  is  the  first  instance  we  have  met  witii  of 
free  children  working  on  an  estate ;  for  not  only  do  tiie 
free  children  of  the  apprentices  on  Hopeton  and  Lenox 
thus  apply  themselves  to  labor,  but  the  free  children 
from  a  neighbouring  estate  and  even  the  children  of 
free  parents.  On  these  estates  the  evils  of  slavery 
have,  we  believe,  been  mitigated  to  a  greater  extent, 
than  on  any  others  in  Jamaica,  and  that  not  only  by  in- 
creasing the  comforts  of  the  negroa^  but  by  an  anxious 
attention  to  their  moral  and  religious  welfare.  Every 
ameliorating  provision  in  the  Abolition  Act  was  in- 
troduced many  years  before  1834,  and  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  apprenticeship  involved  no  change  of  sys^ 
tern.  Night  work  during  crop  had  long  been  abolished, 
and  the  aliowances  of  food  and  clothing  were  on  the 
most  liberal  scale.  The  conduct  of  the  Hopeton  family 
towards  their  slaves  has  been  marked  by  its  disinte- 
restedness. The  proprietor  voluntarily  relinquished 
those  forced  methods  of  cultivation,  which  have 
proved  so  destructive  of  human  life  on  other  sugar 
estates.  With  what  success,  his  system,  so  opposite 
to  that  generally  adopted,  has  been  pursued,  may  be 
imperfectly  learned  from  the  tables  of  the  increase  and 
decrease  of  population  on  the  Hopeton  and  Lenox 
estates.     In  1817,  there  were  two  hundred  and  ninety- 


JAMAICA.  361 

ODe  slaTes,  indadiiig  fifty-six  under  ten  years  of  age ; 
in  I832y  three  hundred  and  fifteen  including  eighty- 
three  under  ten  years.*  The  proprietor  is  accustomed 
to  employ  his  own  people  and  all  others,  who  apply, 
to  work  in  their  own  time,  for  wages.  None  who  are 
willing  to  work  are  sent  away.  Eren  young  children 
and  infirm  people  are  employed  and  remunerated  in 
j^opcntion  to  their  ability.  He  Ls  at  present  engaged 
in  w»g>lriTig  eztensiye  alterations  in  his  house  solely  by 
finee  labor.  Before  the  apprenticeship,  as  was  observed 
to  JMSj  it  was  nerer  contemplated  to  perform  any  work 
but  by  the  labor  of  their  own  slaves.  Now  the  negros 
are  found  to  be  glad  to  work  for  wages,  and  there  is 
modi  less  trouble  and  more  satisfaction  in  employing 
them  as  firee  laborers. 

In  the  evening  we  had  the  opportunity  of  conversing 
with  WiuxAM  Hamilton,  whose  history  has  recently 


*  Modi  TiliuLUe  infomiation  reelecting  his  mode  of  manage- 
is  eontaiiied  in  the  evidence  given  in  December  1833,  by  H.  M. 
SooTT  to  a  '^  Committee  of  the  Assembly  i^ipointed  to  enquire  into 
tbe  moKal  and  rdigioos  improrement  of  the  slares."  He  obso-ves 
"  that  Ids  firopert^  is  exclnsivdiy  omdncted  by  slaves.  Keys  of  stores 
mntaining  large  stocks  of  mm  and  sogar  are  at  this  moment  com- 
BDtled  to  the  cosiody  of  a  servant  liberated  recently."  And  again, 
^  A  generally  received  tqanion,  that  the  cnltore  <^  canes  is  neces- 
sarily hostile  to  hnman  life  seems  destitute  of  any  solid  foundation  ; 
it  is  contiiigent  not  inherent  when  it  becomes  so.  Where  in  the 
cirde  of  the  globe  diall  we  find  an  object  of  cnltore  which  oontri- 
bates  so  largely  to  the  direct  sostenanoe  of  the  laboro',  and  at  the 
same  time  almost  entirely  8u|»ports  every  animal  em^oyed  in  the 
cultivation  of  it  ;  or  one  that  returns  more  to  the  soil  in  manure, 
wkOe  it  supfdies  a  redundance  of  fnd  for  the  manu£M;tnre  of  sugar 
when  it  is  not  destroyed  by  ill-constmcted  machinery.  Nothing 
then  is  wanting  to  mai^e  the  cane  what  a  beneficent  Creator  de- 
signed it  to  be— one  of  his  chosen  gifts  to  man— bat  the  regulations 
of  an  caiKghtencd  Government,  with  some  salutary  diedE  on  the 
copidity  of  the  cultivator." 


26B  JAMAICA. 

excited  public  attentkm^  in  consequeiice  of  circumstao^ 
ces  which  are  elsewhere  aUoded  to.*  Soon  after  the 
first  of  August,  he  purchased  his  freedom  by  raluatioo 
for  two  hundred  and  nine  pounds  ;  and  has  since  been 
employed  as  the  overseer  of  the  Lenox  estate.  He 
has  recently  purchased  seventy  acres  of  land  £Dr  him- 
self, on  which  he  observed,  "  I  employ  as  many  laborers 
as  I  can  get,  and  I  find  the  f^  negros  work  far  better 
and  more  cheerfully  than  the  apprentices,  and  give 
more  satisfaction.  The  negros  will  do  any  thing  for 
money.  On  Lenox  estate,  the  task  is  one  hundred  and 
four  caneholes  a  day.  They  will  occasionally  do  two 
days  work  in  one,  or  more  frequently  three  days  work 
in  two,  and  work  for  money  on  the  leisure  day.''  His 
testimony  as  to  the  effect  of  slavery  on  the  free  classes 
is  equally  striking ;  "  in  consequence  of  labor  having 
hitherto  been  considered  a  degradation,  many  of  the 
free  colored  people  will  stand  a  poor  chance,  (after  1840^ 
in  competition  with  the  best  disposed  and  most  indus- 
trious apprentices,  which  is  the  reason  that  they  are  so 
hostile  to  Emancipation,  as  they  see  plainly  that  some 
of  the  negros  will  rise  above  them.  There  are  many 
who  have  only  two  or  three  apprentices,  upon  whose 
labor  they  chiefly  subsist,  and  fall  themselves  in  con- 
sequence into  idle  habits  and  drunkenness." 

In  the  course  of  the  day  J.  Sturge  proceeded  to 
Black  River,  which  is  the  town  and  port  of  St.  Eliza- 
beth's, where  he  visited  the  jail  and  workhouse.  There 
were  about  fifty  inmates,  of  whom  six  were  life  con- 
victs. The  treadmill  is  one  of  English  construction. 
The  prisoners  sentenced  to  this  punishment  are  put 
upon  it  for  half  an  hour  three  times  a  day,  a  pun- 

•  See  Appendix  F,  Sec.  ix. 


JAAIAICA.  263 

ishinent  probably  less  severe  than  a  single  spell  of  ten 
minutes  lengthy  on  some  of  the  treadmills  ij;i  the  other 
workhouses.  He  also  visited  the  rector  of  the  parish^ 
attached  to  whose  living  are  a  pen  or  glebe,  and  a  num- 
ber of  apprentices.  In  1820,  the  number  of  slaves  was 
sixty-five;  at  the  present  time  there  are  about  one 
hundred  and  ten  apprentices  and  their  children.  This 
ifl  therefore  another  conspicuous  instance  of  the  effects 
of  kind  treatment.  The  people  are  allowed  one  day  in 
tbe  week  in  addition  to  the  time  legaUy  due  to  them, 
in  lieu  of  all  allowances,  an  arrangement  satisfactory 
and  profitable  to  both  parties* 

15th. — We  took  leave  this  morning  of  the  hos- 
pitable family  at  Hopeton.  Their  residence  is  situated 
about  two  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and 
possesses  a  very  fine  climate.  The  mountain  scenery 
on  every  side  is  grand  and  beautiful.     We  left  at  an 

early  hour,  accompanied  by Mc  Murray,  who 

was  proceeding  to  his  residence  at  Comfort,  in  the 
parish  of  Manchester.     Our  first  stage  was  Holland 

estate  in  St.  Elizabeth,  the  property  of Gladstone 

where  we  staid  breakfast.  It  is  a  very  fine  estate  with 
a  large  number  of  apprentices.  During  slavery  the 
numbers  rapidly  declined,  but  are  now  supposed  to  be 
stationary.  The  estate  school  and  the  allowances  of 
the  free  children  have  been  discontinued  in  consequence, 
as  the  book-keeper  informed  us,  of  the  children  refusing 
to  give  one  or  two  days  labor  in  the  week  in  return.  We 
left  this  property  about  eleven  a.  m.  and  called  on  our 
way  at  a  Mico  School  by  the  road  side,  which  has  been 
recently  established.  There  were  seventy  children 
present,  who  were  eating  their  ^^  second  breakfast,"  of 
cold  boiled  yams  and  cocoas,  of  which  their  parents  had 
supplied  them  with  a  very  abundant  meal.    We  after- 


264  JAMAICA. 

wards  heard  a  clatts  of  intelligent  little  girls  read  Bnd 
answer  questions.  The  master,  a  colored  man,  was 
formerly  the  teacher  of  the  Holland  estate  school.  He 
told  us  it  had  been  discontinued  because  the  attorney 
was  ^^dissatisfied  with  the  work  of  the  parents,  and 
thought  they  did  not  behave  as  they  should,  consider- 
ing their  privileges."  It  is  not  without  reason  that  the 
negros  suspect  that  their  proprietors  and  overseers  in 
proposals  made  apparently  for  their  benefit,  have  some 
ulterior  object  in   view.     We  subsequently  called  at 

Wilton,  the  residence  of  Hylton,  an  estimable 

clergj'man  of  the  establishment.  We  visited  a  little 
Mico  School,  held  on  the  premises,  where  thirty  or 
forty  children  were  collected.  It  had  only  recently 
been  formed,  but  the  scholars  were  in  good  order,  and 
appeared  to  have  already  made  some  progress.  We 
arrived  at  Comfort  late  in  the  evening. 

16th. — ^This  morning  we  visited  the  schools,  which 
are  held  in  wattled  structures  of  the  simplest  and  cheap- 
est kind.  The  girl's  school,  which  was  taught  by  a 
colored  young  woman,  was  in  excellent  discipline. 
We  heard  the  principal  class  read,  and  the  whole  school 
answer  scripture  questions.  Some  of  the  scholars  were 
particularly  clever  and  intelligent.  The  boys' .  school 
was  in  a  like  satisfactory  condition.  Before. Christmas 
the  children  were  required  to  make  a  weekly  payment 
of  five-pence,  which  has  since  been  discontinued,  and 
the  attendance  has  in  consequence  increased  from  forty 
to  one  hundred  and  sixty.  We  afterwards  saw  the 
boys  at  breakfast.  The  children  at  this  school  bring 
their  yams  and  other  roots  to  be  cooked  for  them  at  the 
institution.  When  ready,  their  meal  is  laid  on  a  cloth 
in  the  middle  of  thu  floor.  One  of  the  elder  boys  por- 
tions it  out  with  a  knife,  the  children  bringing  their  tins 


JAMAICA.  255 

Or  little  baskets  one  by  one,  till  all  are  served^  when 
grace  is  said,  and  the  meal  commenced.     Sometimes 
children  come  without  food  ;  in  which  case  the  others 
always  manifest  the  utmost  willingness  to  share  with 
them.     We  afterwards  rode  over  to  Fairfield,  the  prin- 
cipal station  of  the  United  Brethren,  passing  on  our 
M^ay  through  Spurtree,  a  large  pen,  on  which  there  are 
about  three  hundred  apprentices.      We   observed  in 
the  negro  grounds,  a  considerable  number  of  tombs, 
all  neatly    constructed,  and  many  of  them   recently 
whitewashed.      Some  were    ornamented    with  carved 
figures  of  idols.     On  this,  and  several  other  adjacent 
properties^  a  night  school  is  held  once  or  twice  a  week, 
by  the  superintendent  of  the  Mico  institution  at  Com- 
fort, or  one  of  his  assistants.    The  parish  of  Manches- 
ter is  of  graet  extent,  and  very  mountainous.     It  is 
chiefly  occupied  by  pens  and  coffee  plantations.     It  has 
only  one  spring  of  fresh  water,  and  the  effects  of  the 
present  long  period   of  drought,  are  in   consequence 
severely  felt.     From  the  ridge  which  we  crossed  to 
Fairfield,  we  had  a  fine  view  of  the  parish  of  St.  Eliza- 
beth, through  which  we  passed  yesterday.     Part  of  it 
is  a  level  savanna,  many  square  miles  in  extent,  bound- 
ed by  lofty  hills.    The  alluvial  plain  is  occupied  with 
sugar  estates  and  pens,  and  the  light  verdure  of  the 
cane  fields,  forms  a  beautiful  contrast  with  the  depth  of 
the  intervening  pastures  of  guinea  grass.     At  Fairfield 
we  were  introduced  to  two  of  the  brethren  and  their 
wives.     We  visited  the  Refuge,  an  institution  estab- 
lished for  the  reception  of  colored  orphan  girls.     We 
had  not  the  pleasure  of  examining  the  children  in  any 
of  their  school  exercises,  but  they  appeared  to  be  in 
exact  order,  and  under  the  care  of  a  competent  mistress. 
They  are  twenty-five  in  number,  of  whom  two  were 

A  A 


266  JAMAICA. 

among  a  cargo  of  African  slaves^  taken  out  of  a  small 
veiiBely  which  was  wrecked  on  the  coast  of  Jamaica 
during  the  administration  of  Lord  Mujlgsavb.  They 
were  named  Kitty  and  Susan  MuijOravb^  after  the 
Countess  of  Muu^ravk«  who  took  them  under  her  own 
protection,  and  placed  them  at  the  Refuge  for  education 
and  maintenance  when  she  left  the  island.  The  eldest 
of  them  is  so  far  advanced  in  leamiugy  as  to  take  a  part 
in  teaching  one  of  the  schools  supported  by  the  '•' La- 
dies' Society."  The  children  at  the  Refuge  are  at  pre- 
sent brought  up  with  a  view  of  their  becoming  teachers, 
but  when  that  class  is  sufficiently  numerous,  they^  will 
be  placed  out  as  domestic  servants.  The  expenceof 
supportbig  each  child,  is  about  ten  pounds  sterling  per 
annum,  but  the  funds  of  the  institution  are  so  limited, 
that  its  directors  have  been  recently  compelled  to  use 
money  raised  to  defray  the  cost  of  building  a  suit- 
able school-room,  for  the  support  of  the  children.— 
It  is  worthy  of  more  liberal  assistance,  as  in  the  pre- 
sent state  of  society  in  Jamaica,  it  presents  almost  the 
only  means  of  rescuing  colored  orphan  girls  from  a  life 
of  profligacy.  There  are  many  schools  in  the  parishes 
of  Manchester,  St.  Elizabeth,  and  Westmoreland  under 
the  superintendence  of  the  United  Brethren,  of  which 
the  only  one  we  have  seen  is  the  excellent  school  on 
Hopeton  before-mentioned.  Of  the  state  of  the  other 
schools  we  are  unable  to  speak  from  observation,  but  a 
statistical  account  of  them,  as  well  as  of  their  congre- 
gations, has  been  obligingly  supplied  by  Brother  Zorn^ 
the  superintendent  of  their  mission,  which  will  be  found 
in  the  Appendix.*  The  Mico  institution  at  Comfort, 
promises  to  be  an  invaluable  institution,  as  the  labors 

•  See  Appendix  F,  Sec.  x. 


JAMAICA.  2ffJ 

of  itd  agents  will  be  expended  among  a  people  who 
htwe  been  hitfatrto  neglected/  Their  establishm^at  is 
situated' at  a  considerable  elevation^  with'  a  Bay  called 
Alligator  Pond  for  its  sea  frbnt  twelve  miles  distant. 
The  intervening  .cotintiy  on  the  right  hand  is  an  exten- 
siire  sa^vanna^  formed'by  the  gradual  slope  of  a  range 
of  fallls.^  It  is  «tudded  with  numerous  locations  of  free 
brown  settlefrsywhoare  coflfe^  planters^  many  of  whbm 
cultivat0;patcfaes  of  •  land  merely  sufficietit  to  serve  as 
covery  for  the  purchase  and  sale  of*  dtolen  produce  fr6m 
thfe  lalrger  plantations.-  They  are  generally  owners  of 
tW«'Or»thtee  apprentices,  and  are  very  great  oppressors, 
b^ng'  extt<emely  degraded,  ignorant,  and  debauched. 
Their  jealousy  frequently  prevents  them  from  allowing 
the  free" children  of  their  apprentices  to  attend 'the 
school  at  Comfort,  while  they  refuse  to  send  theii*  own, 
because  no  difference  is  made  between  the  brown  and 
black  children.  In  the  parishes  of  Manchester  and 
St.  Elizabeth^  the  resident  proprietors  are  more -nu- 
merous than  in  other  parts  of  the  island ;  they  are  also 
generally  married^  and  some  of  them  and  Iheir  families 
are  persons  of  religious  character.  The  only*  mission 
stations  are  those  of  the  United  Brethren^  who>  though 
their- churches  comprise  numerous •  bright  and  lively 
examples  of  personal  piety,  do  not  appear  to  have  pur- 
sued a  system  sufficiently  aggressive,  to  make  much 
impression  on  the  general  mass.  We  are  credibly  in- 
formed, by  various  persons  acquainted  with  their  state, 
that  the  negros  generally  in  this  part  of  the  island,  are 
more  ignorant  and  unenlightened  than  elsewhere.  Du- 
riiig  our  brief  stay  in  these  parishes,  we  had  little  op- 
portunity of  ascertaining  the  physical  condition  of  the 
negros,  except  that  one  gentleman  in  St.  Elizabeth's, 
on  whom  we  called,  informed  us  that  a  neighbouring 


^68 


JAMAICA. 


planter^  who  was  also  a  magistrate^  never  suffered  his 
people  to  leave  the  field  till  after  dark,  and  that  it  was 
evident  by  the  morning  and  evening  shellblows,  that 
he  and  others  defrauded  them  of  much  of  their  time. 

17th. — ^We  took  leave  of  our  hospitable  friends  at 
Comfort,  and  proceeded  to  MandeviUe,  a  little  town, 
delightfully  situated  amidst  the  Manchester  monntuns. 
We  visited  the  workhouse  but  were  told  by  the  Super- 
visor, that  no  visitor  could  be  admitted  without  an  or- 
der from  a  magistrate.  The  only  magistrate  residing 
in  the  vicinity  was  absent  from  home.  He  told  us  that 
a  short  time  before,  ^^  some  sectarian  parsons  had  4X>me 
and  talked  to  the  prisoners  unknown  to  him,  and  that 
five  of  the  life  convicts  broke  prison  afterwards.''  On 
our  making  further  inquiries,  he  added,  that  he  did 
not  mean  to  say  they  broke  out  in  consequence  of  any 
thing  the  missionaries  said  to  them,  and  that  it  was 
a  convict  driver  or  turnkey,  who  had  escaped  and  car- 
ried the  other  four  prisoners  along  with  him.  On 
leaving  Mandeville,  we  called  on  our  way  at  the  house 
of  a  young  man  who  was  sent  out  two  years  ago,  as  a 
schoolmaster  and  catechist,  with  the  London  Society's 
missionaries.  He  informed  us,  that  the  order  which 
had  excluded  us  from  the  prison,  was  made  in  conse- 
quence of  himself  and  two  of  the  missionaries  having 
gone  to  see  an  apprentice,  a  member  of  one  of  their 
churches,  who  had  been  recently  flogged  and  sent  to 
the  workhouse,  on  a  fictitious  charge,  brought  forward 
in  consequence  of  his  giving  notice  to  be  valued,  be- 
cause bis  master  wished  to  remove  him  from  one  estate 
to  another,  many  miles  distant  from  his  home  and 
family.  They  had  shaken  him  by  the  hand,  and  given 
him  some  words  of  comfort,  and  the  deputy  supervisor 
was  standing  by,  while  they  spoke  to  him. 


JAMAICA.  269 

One  of  the  London  missionaries  comes  over  every 
fortnight  to  M^ndevUle  to  preach.     Their  school  at  this 
station  is  large  and  flourishing.     It  has  bieen  formed 
about  a  year,  and  few  of  the  children  knew  their  letters 
at' the  commencement.     We  now  heard  a  class,  of  them 
read  iii  the  Testament.     The  little  negros  pay  pretty 
regularly  two-pence  halfpenny  per  week,  which  is  the 
smallest  coin  in  Jamaica.    There  are  also  some  colored 
children  of  free  parents,  who  pay  one  shiUingand  eight- 
pence  per  week.     As  this  part  of  the  island  i$  nearly 
destitute  of  other  means,  the  efforts  of  the  London 
missionaries  to  extend  education  and  religious  instruc- 
tion, are  likely  to  be  peculiarly  useful.     We  arrived  in 
the  evening  at  Porus  in  Clarendon,  the  station  of  W. 
Slatyer,   one  of  the  London  missionaries.      He  ac- 
companied us  to  Whitney,  an  estate  in  the  neighbour- 
ing mountains,  belonging  to  Lord  Ward.     It  is  in 
point  of  scenery,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  we  have 
seen,  being  perfectly  level,  and  surrounded  by  a  com- 
plete circle  of  hills.     It  appeared  as  if  it  had  once  been 
the  bed  of  a  lake,  or  rather  was  the  bottom  of  an  im- 
mense crater,  whose  innermost  sides  were  covered  with 
native  forest.      The  overseer  received  us  politely,  and 
at  our  request  shewed  us  the  hospital.     We  found  it 
locked,  and   waited  till  the  key  was  fetched.     There 
were  in  it  two  patients.     It  was  very  clean,  having  been 
recently  whitewashed.     The  dark  room  was  locked,  but 
the  overseer  sent  for  the  key.    When  it  was  opened,  the 
light  from  the  door  just  sufficed  to  shew  that  there  was 
some  one  within.     On  being  called,  a  woman  came  out, 
who  was  asked  by  the  overseer,  who  sent  her  ?     She 
replied,   *^  the  bookkeeper.''     "  What  for  ?"     "I  have 
done  nothing.  Sir  ;  the  bookkeeper  said  I  was  laughing.' 
The  overseer  said  something  about  the  bookkeeper^ 
a  a  3 


270  JAMAICA. 

'*  stretch  of  authority^"  and  ordered  the  woman  to  fol- 
low UB  to  the  boiling-house.  He  asked  the  bookkeeper 
why  she  had  been  sent^  and  charged  him  with  an  undue 
exercise  of  power.  The  bookkeeper  said,  ^'  you  ordered 
me  Sir*  to  lock  up  the  people  for  disobedience  of  orders.'' 
He  could  not  however  explain  of  what  the  apprentice 
had  been  guilty,  while  she  anserted  that  he  had  called 
her  obscene  names,  which  he  did  not  deny.  We  after- 
wards ascertained  that  locking  up  is  a  frequent  punish- 
ment on  this  estate,*  and  it  was  evident  that  the  book- 
keeper had  not  exceeded  the  common  usages  on  this  oc- 
casion. By  this  unexpected  occurrence  we  became 
eye  witnesses  of  a  common  species  of  punishment, 
which  is  illegally  practised  on  estates  to  a  great  extent, 
without  any  reference  to  the  Special  Magistrate. 

18th. — We  left  Poms  this  morning  for  Four  Paths, 
in  the  interior  of  the  parish  of  Clarendon,  the  resi- 
dence of  W.  G.  Barrett,  another  of  the  Independent 
Missionaries.  We  attended  the  Special  Magistrates' 
Court,  which  is  held  here  once  a  fortnight.  There  were 
several  Overseers  present,  some  of  whom  were  local 
magistrates.  Notice  was  given  by  four  or  five  appren- 
tices to  be  valued  at  a  future  Court.  Two  were  valued 
to  day.  The  first  was  a  woman  named  Elizabeth 
Francis,  whose  owner,  a  man  of  color,  swore  she  was 
worth  two  shillings  and  sixpence  per  day.  Two  over- 
seers appraised  her  at  the  same  amount.  The  woman 
herself  and  her  husband  both  pleaded  that  she  was 
sickly  and  not  able  to  work  regularly.  In  the  course 
of  the  proceedings  it  incrdentally  appeared,  that  the 
woman  was  accustomed  till  recently  to  work  out  for 

•  We  have  a  list  of  ei;,^iit  apprentices  who  were  puuishcd  in 
this  way  witliout  any  order  from  a  magistrate  by  this  overseer  in 
the  sliort  space  of  one  week. 


JAMAICA.  271 

hire  as  a  domestic^  a  circumstauce  which  made  it  evi- 
dent  she   was   a  non-predial.    This   conclusion   was 

however  carefully  avoided,  and  the  poor  people  were 
too  ignorant  of  their  own  rights  to  be  aware  of  the 

importance  of  the  distinction.  Her  husband  wished  to 
give  evidence  to  the  state  of  her  health,  but  one  of  the 
local  magistrates  silenced  him  by  saying  ^^  Ar'n't  you 
going  to  advance  the  money  ?  We  don't  want  your 
evidence:"  although  they  had  taken  the  evidence  on 
oath  of  her  master,  a  person  equally  interested  on  the 
other  side.  She  was  valued  as  a  predial  for  sixty^three 
pounds.  The  next  valuation  was  of  a  predial  appren- 
tice named  Thomas  Brown,  who  though  a  much 
stronger  and  more  able  negro,  was  also  rated  at  two 
shillings  and  sixpence  per  day,  or  sixty-five  pounds  for 
his  remaining  term  of  apprenticeship.  His  case  how- 
ever was  only  comparatively  less  unjust  than  the  pre- 
ceding, as  a  coffee  planter  in  the  neighbourhood  told 
us  he  could  procure  as  much  labor  as  he  wanted  at  one 
shilling  and  eight-pence  per  d^y.  In  a  case  of  com- 
plaint, which  was  decided  at  this  Court,  where  the  pri- 
soner was  sent  for  five  days  to  the  treadmill,  the 
magistrate,  J.  R.  Dawson,  observed  to  the  overseer, 
"  You  will  understand  when  I  send  apprentices  to  the 
treadmill,  they  are  to  repay  the  time."  This,  though^ 
a  frequent  practice,  is  grossly  illegal  and  contrary  to 
the  express  instructions  of  the  Governor,  and  exposes 
the  apprentice  to  the  dangers  and  temptations  of  starva- 
tion, as  in  Jamaica  the  negros  are  now  solely  dependent 
on  labor  in  their  own  time  for  subsistence. 

In  the  evening  we  accompanied  the  minister  to  a 
station  in  the  Clarendon  mountains,  about  six  miles 
distant  from  Four  Paths.  It  commands  a  beautiful 
view  of  the  adjoining  parish  of  Vere,  which  is  a  level 


373  JA3tAICA. 

plain  extendii^  to  Uie  sea,  and  about  twebne 
square,  with  a  hill  of  ajngntar  fomr  caDed  ''The 
Camps,''  rising  alone  in  the  centre  of  it.  It  is  almost 
ezchisiTely  cohiTated  with  the  cane,  and  contains  a 
population  of  twelre  .thousand  apprentices.  There  is 
DO  resident  missionary  in  the  parish,  a  circumstance  in 
part  accounted  for  bf  the  difficulty  of  procuring  land 
tcfr  buildings,  as  it  is  altogether  occupied  by  large 
estates.  Vere  is  one  of  the  most  wealthy  parishes^  and 
one  therefore  in  which  there  are  not  more^  than  one  or 
two  resident  proprietors.  These  are  most  numerous  in 
the  impoverished  districts,  a  circumstance  worthy  of  re- 
mark, as  proving  that  the  immense  productiveness  of 
the  colonies,  tends  to  enrich  only  the  proprietors  of 
the  soil  residing  in  splendor  at  a  distance,  and  is  of 
little  benefit  to  their  own  agricultural  population.  We 
lodged  at  the  house  of  a  respectable  colored  woman, 
who  cultivates  a  small  coffee  plantation.  In  her  house 
the  minister  had  a  small  evening  congregation  of 
negros. 

19th. — ^This  morning  service  was  held  at  an  early 
hour  in  a  rode  shed,  which  has  been  erected  on  the 
premises  of  an  intelligent  negro^  who  has  purchased  his 
freedom,  and  is  now  cultivating  coffee  and  provisions 
on  his  own  freehold.  The  congregation  consisted  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  persons,  and  the  service  of 
singing  and  prayer,  and  the  practical  and  familiar 
exposition  of  a  psalm.  As  soon  as  it  was  concluded 
we  returned  to  Four  Paths,  most  of  the  congregation 
following  on  foot.  The  remainder  of  the  day  was  al- 
most entirely  occupied  in  teaching  and  the  usual  public 
worship.  The  missionary  and  his  wife  and  sister  have 
taught  nearly  one  hundred  children  who  were  igno- 
rant of  the  alphabet,  to  read   during  their  brief  resi- 


JAMAICA.  273 

dence.  They  have  also  distributed  the  "gift  book'*  to 
about  sixty  of  the  apprentices  whom  they  have  them- 
selves taught  to  read.  This  magnificent  present  of  the 
Bible  Society  still  continues  to  be  exceedingly  useful 
in  inciting  children  and  even  adults  to  learn  to  read. 
In  one  of  the  adult  classes  was  an  old  African  woman, 
who  read  intelligibly  in  the  Testament,  having  been 
taught  from  her  letters.  The  congregation  at  this 
station  was  composed  of  about  two  hundred  persons, 
assembled  in  a  small  temporary  shed,  for  this  purpose, 
used  till  a  chapel  which  is  erecting  shall  be  finished. 
They  were  very  attentive  to  the  sermon  and  exposition 
of  the  scripture. 

A  squalid  old  man  came  this  afternoon  to  the  mis- 
sionary's house,  and  begged  that  we  would  give  him 
a  letter  to  his  master^  that  he  might  return  to  the 
estate^  having  been  in  the  bush  (a  runaway)  five  weeks. 
During  slavery  it  was  a  custom  for  repentant  runaways 
to  get  an  intercessory  letter  from  some  friend  of  their 
masters,  or  even  from  a  stranger^  to  save  them  from 
ptmishment.  It  was  a  point  of  honor  and  of  policy  to 
attend  to  such  requests,  as  the  planters,  in  a  country 
of  mountaiii  fastnesses  like  this,  were  |glad  to  get  their 
laborers  back  on  any  terms.  The  account  this  negro 
gave  was  as  follows  : — ^He  belongs  to  a  neighbouring 
coffee  planter,  whose  apprentices  had  to  work  at  a  dis- 
tance of  seven  or  eight  miles  from  their  homes.  They 
were  expected  to  be  at  the  place  of  work  early  on 
Monday  morning,  though  they  had  to  carry  a  week's 
provisions  on  their  heads  besides  their  hoes.  They 
were  threatened  with  punishment  for  being  late,  on 
which  they  went  to  the  Special  Magistrate,  Chamber- 
i^AiNE,  who  gave  them  a  letter  to  their  master  and  told 
them  that  he  must  allow  them  sufficient  time  to  go  and 


274  .tAMAICA. 

return  every  week.     Their  master  tore  the  paper  up 
before  their  eyes  and  took  them  away  to  Chapeltcm, 
a  distance  of  twenty  miles,  where  a  magistrate  was  to 
be  found  who  gave  general  satisfiEustion  to  the  planters, 
and  who  accordingly  sent  several  of  them  to  the  tread- 
mill for  ten  days,  and  required  thtai  to  repay  the  time 
by  working  on  their  Saturdays.     When  thejr  came 
out  this  man  found  his  provision  ground,   which  was 
near  ■  the  pasture,  destroyed  by  the  cattle,  and  being 
now  bereft  of  his  time,  he  was  left  destitute  of  food. 
He  ran  away  to  Spanish  Town  to  appeal  to  the  -  Go- 
vernor, but  did  not  succeed  in  obtaining  admittance 
at  the  King's  House,  and  being  afraid  bf* punishment 
for  his  absence  fled  to  the  bush.  We  could  not  leleum  how 
he  came  to  hear  of  our  being  at  Four  Paths,  or  to  think 
of  appl3dng  to  us.     His  evident  distress  placed  us  in 
a  painful  dilemma,  as  we  have  hitherto  suffered  nothing 
to  divert  us  from  our  resolution  to  pass  through  the 
country  as  spectators  only.     We  at  length  concluded 
to  give  him  a  letter  to  the  Special  Magistrate,  request- 
ing his  favorable  interference.* 

This  district  of  Clarendon  was  favored  till  recently 
with  the  presence  of  a  faithful  magistrate,  an  intelli- 
gent young  man  of  color  named  Chambbrlainb. 
About  two  months  since  he  was  removed  by  Sir  Lionbl 
Smith,  by  exchange  with  the  present  magistrate,  who 
on  the  other  hand,  had  been  charged  with  oppressive 
conduct  in  his  former  district  in  St.  Thomas  in  the 
East*     Special  Justice  Lyon,  an  intelligent  and  up- 

*  This>  gentleman  has  since  informed  us,  that  the  runaway  was  at 
his  request  pardoned.  His  letter  contains  explanations  intended  to 
give  a  favourable  impression  of  the  treatment  of  the  apprentices  on 
the  estate  in  question  ;  but  all  the  material  points  of  the  preceding 
case  are  admitted  or  feebly  palliated. 


JAMAICA.  275 

right  man,  has^  also  recently  been  removed  from  St. 
Thomas  in  the  East,  to  the  opposite  end  of  the  island, 
mthaut  any  assigned  cause.  The  planters,  encouraged 
by  their  recent  success  in  these  two  instances,  and  in 
that  of  Dri  Palmer,  are  again  plotting  against  several 
of  the  unpopular  magistrates,  who  persist  in  endea- 
vouring to  do  justice  to  the  apprentices.  A  planter, 
who;is  also  a  barrister  and  leading  member  of  Assem- 
bly^  has.  recently  sent  a  circular  letter  to  the  overseers 
in  .his  neighbourhood  requesting  them  to  meet  and 
prepare  a  memorial. and  a£Bidavits  against  Chamber- 
juaine,  who  has  scarcely  been  two  months  in  his  new 
district.  :  He  promises  that  he  will  lay  the  respective 
affidavits  before  the  Governor  and  enforce  them  by  all 
meana  in  his  power,  If  the  upright  magistrates  con- 
tinue >to  be  thus  left  unsupported  by  the  Home  Govern- 
ment, and  exposed  to  these  intrigues  in  the  colony,  not 
one  of  them  will  be  able  to  retain  his  commission. 

'  We  had  several  opportunities  during  our  stay  in 
Clarendon  of  conversing  with  the  iiegros.  Their  state- 
ments Will  be  fcmndwith  others  of  a  similar  kind.^ 
Several  of  th^m;  who  had  been  sent  to  the  treadtnill 
exhibited  on  their  legs  the  scars  of  the  severe  injuries 
which  they  had  received.  Their  complaints  were  prin- 
cipally of  frauds  of  time,  and  of  as  large  or  larger  an 
amount  of  task- work  being  extorted  from  them  than 
during  slavery  in  spite  of  the  legal  restriction  of  the 
hours  of  labor.  There  were  sdso  several  instances  of  a 
common  but  flagrant  abuse,  where  wonien  with  six 
children  or  upwards,  were  compelled  to  work  in  the 
field,  who  had  been  accustomed  during  slavery  to  ^^  sit 
down"  or  required  only  to  attend  to  light  work.    From 

•  See  Appendix  F,  Sec.  iv. 


276  JAMAICA. 

the  information  we  were  able  to  obtain,  it  appeared 
that  the  eight  hour  system*  was  generally  enforced  in 
this  parish  ;  and  that  the  apprentices  were  defrauded 
to  a  great  extent  of  their  time.    There  is  one  propri- 
etor, however,  Alexandre  Bravo,  of  whom  his  negros 
invariably  speak  in  terms  of  gratitude  for  his  just  and 
kind  treatment  of  them.    The  state  of  things  on  many 
of  the  estates  is  indicated  by  the  following  anecdote. 
A  liberal  overseer  of  a  large  estate  complained  to  oar 
informant,  that  ^^he   was  compelled  to  defraud   Uie 
apprentices  every  day  of  their  time.     If  his  make  of 
sugar  were  to  be  reduced,   it  would  be  deemed  no 
excuse  by  his  attorney,  to  say  that  he  could  not  pro- 
duce more  with  the  amount  of  labor,  which  the  appren- 
tices are  by  law  required    to  give.      The  rejoinder 
would  be,  ^'  What  do  they  do  on  the  adjoining  estates }" 
We  did  not  go  into  Vere  and  have  no  information 
of  the  state  of  the  apprentices  in  that  important  parish, 
except  that  the  non-predials  are  likely  to  be  detained 
in  slavery  till  the  year  1840.    Two  of  the  missionaries 
of  the  London  Society  informed  us  that  a  local  magis- 
trate of  Vere  observed  in  their  presence,  that  in  that 

*  Where  the  negros,  as  is  the  case  in  Jamaica,  support  them- 
selves hy  working  in  their  provision  grounds,  they  are  required  by  the 
law  to  work  only  forty  and  half  hours  instead  of  forty-five  hours  per 
week.  Under  the  eight  Ihour  S3nstem  the  forty  and  half  hours  are  di- 
vided into  five  days  of  about  eight  working  hours  each ;  an  arrange- 
ment by  which  the  negros  are  effectually  deprived  of  the  half-day  of 
four  and  a  half  working  hours,  which  was  given  them  by  law  as  an 
equivalent  for  rations  or  suppplies  of  food.  As  their  provision 
grounds  are  usually  several  miles  from  their  houses,  the  distribution 
of  the  time  over  several  days  destroys  it  for  any  useful  purpose  to 
the  negros.  The  enforcement  of  the  eight  hour  system  is  therefore 
oppressive,  besides  which  it  is  frequently  made  the  pretext  of  ex- 
torting five  days  labor  of  nine  or  ten  hours  each,  instead  of  the 
legal  amount  of  forty  and  half  hours. 


JAMAICA.  277 

parish^  "  they  had  abolished  the  distinction  between 
predial  and  non-predial,  by  making  all  the  apprentices 
prediah/* 

20th. — ^We  returned  early  this  morning  to  Spanish 
Town. 

22nd. — ^We  observed  to  day  in  the  streets  six  or 
seven  women,  several  of  whom  were  hand-cuffed,  in 
the  custody  of  the  police  by  whom  they  had  been  appre- 
hended as  runaway  apprentices.  They  were  subse- 
quently taken  before  a  Special  Magistrate,  when  it. 
appeared,  that  there  was  no  proof  that  they  were  ap- 
prentices except  that  they  could  not  produce  their 
*^  free  papers.''  They  were  in  fact  free,  and  had  been 
taken,  some  from  their  own  houses  and  others  from 
their  peaceable  avocations.  They  were  of  course 
liberated,  and  the  police  reprimanded,  but  the  injured 
parties  received  no  compensation  for  their  loss  of  time, 
or  for  the  outrage  committed  on  them. 

We  were  to  day  in  the  company  of  one  of  the  Bap- 
tist missionaries  who  is  a  Creole  by  birth,  and  one 
of  a  family  who  though  they  have  all  been  brought  up 
in  contact  with  slavery,  have  cleared  themselves  from 
its  contaminating  connexion.  His  .  brother,  now  resi- 
dent in  England,  has  manumitted  his  apprentices  and 
directed  a  considerable  amount  received  as  compensa- 
to  be  expended  for  their  benefit.  The  present  esti- 
mable individual  mentioned  to  us,  that  one  old  negro 
is  now  a  member  of  his  church,  who  was  formerly  one 
of  their  domestic  slaves,  and  whom,  he  was  accustomed, 
when  a  boy,  to  strike  and  beat  at  his  pleasure ;  and 
that  the  recollection  of  this  makes  him  deeply  feel  the 
debt  of  kindness  which  he  owes  him. 

23rd. — ^We  arrived  to  day  in  Kingston  where  we 

B  B 


27B  JAMAICil. 

bad  the  pleasure  of  meeting  our  friend  and   fellow 
voyager.  Dr.  Lloyd. 

26th. — We  attended  this  morning  the  Baptist  Cha- 
pel in  East  Queen-street,  the  largest  of  their  congre- 
gations in  Kingston.  The  auditory  comprised  about 
two  thousand  persons,  of  whom  a  large  proportion 
were  negros.    They  were  very  attentive. 

28tb. — We  rode  over  this  morning  to  Papioe^  the 
estate  of  J.  B.  Wildman,  and  saw  the  school  in  which 
were  about  thirty  children,  many  being  absent  in  con- 
sequence of  its  being  Easter  week.  Their  profici^icy 
was  not  remarkable,  but  the  greater  number  were  at  ita 
commencement,  about  a  year  ago,  ignorant  of  their 
letters. 

29th. — ^We  visited  the  school  connected  with  the 
Baptist  church  in  East  Queen-street.  There  were 
about  one  hundred  and  sixty  children  present,  of  whom 
thirty  formed  an  infant  school.  The  attendance  was 
considered  small  in  consequence  of  the  Easter  holidays. 
Many  of  the  scholars  had  made  considerable  prc^ess 
in  geography,  grammar,  and  cyphering,  and  wrote  also 
very  neatly.  A  large  proportion  were  colored,  and  one 
or  two  were  white.  We  were  introduced  to  day  to 
E.  B.  Lyon.  He  informed  us  that  he  had  valued  one 
hundred  and  sixty  apprentices,  since  the  commence- 
ment of  the  present  system.  Nearly  all  of  them  had 
subsequently  been  under  his  own  observation,  and  cmi- 
ducted  themselves  in  the  most  industrious  and  orderly 
manner.*  He  remarked  that  in  the  early  part  of  the 
apprenticeship,  the  valuations  of  predials  by  himself 
and  the  associated  local  magistrates,  averaged  five  and 
six  doubloons  ;  now  for  a  fraction  of  the  term  they  are 

•  See  Appendix  F,  Sec,  xi. 


JAMAICA,  279 

appraised  at  nine   and  ten.      Domestics  were  then 

valued  at  from  four  to  five  doubloons^  who  are  now  for 

the  short  remaining  period  of  their  service  estimated 

at  the  same  rate«     These  remsufks  entirely  coincide 

with  our  own  observations,  and  with  the  facts  stated 

to  us  by  many  other  individuals^ 

30th. — ^We   saw  to  day  Duncan   Patrrson,    an 

apprentice  from  St«  Thomas  in  the  East^  who,  five 
months  ago,  gave  notice  to  be  valued ;  and  from  that 
time  to  the  present^  has  duly  every  week  attended  the 
Court  of  the  Special  Magistrate,  but  has  been  hitherto 
successfully  baffled  by  his  master.  The  following  is 
his  statement^  and  we  learn  from  other  authority  that 
its  particulars  are  true.  ^^  When  my  master  took  a 
a  new  partner  he  made  the  people  very  unhappy,  and 
used  frequently  to  lock  them  up  in  the  dungeon  and 
ordered  their  salt  fish  to  be  taken  from  them.  Three 
times  last  year  I  was  locked  up  in  the  dungeon  from 
night  till  morning  without  food  or  water«  He  com- 
plained that  we  did  not  turn  out  early  on  Monday 
morning,  though  we  had  to  go  ten  or  eleven  miles  to 
work,  with  our  tools  and  a  week's  provision  on  our 
heads.  Tlie  magistrate  ordered  every  other  Saturday 
to  be  taken  from  us.  The  last  time  I  was  locked  up 
was  for  complaining  to  the  magistrate  about  our  allow- 
ance. I  became  so  unhappy  that  about  three  months 
before  Christmas  I  applied  to  Mr.  Hswirr  to  be  valued. 
I  went  to  the  court  house  every  Saturday,  but  my  mas- 
ter got  it  put  oflF  every  week  till  Christmas,  when  he  got 
a  magistrate  who  valued  me  at  ninety-six  pounds 
Mr.  Hbwitt  spoke  against  it  and  wrote  to  the  Gover- 
nor. I  have  been  down  every  Saturday  to'  the  Court 
since  and  have  not  been  able  to  get  it  settled.  I  have 
now  been  to  Spanish  Town,  but  was  not  allowed  to 


280  JAMAICA. 

speak  to  the  Governor,  but  am  seut  back  to  the  same 
magistrate." 

30th. — We  visited  to  day  several  of  the  principal 
public  institutions  in  Kingston,  accompanined  by  R. 
OsBORNj  who  is  a  member  of  the  Corporation.  We 
went  first  to  the  General  Hospital  which  is  supported 
by  the  island  at  a  large  annual  expence.  The  patients 
are  in  small  wards  containing  three  or  four  beds  in  each. 
There  were  nearly  two  hundred,  of  whom  a  large  pro- 
portion were  sailors,  chiefly  Europeans  and  foreigners. 
No  class  however  is  excluded,  except  the  apprentices, 
who  are  presumed  to  be  provided  medical  and  surgical 
attendance  by  their  employers.  The  arrangements  of 
this  institution,  including  the  medical  attendance, 
the  diet,  and  the  admirable  cleanliness  of  the  apart- 
ments, appeared  to  be  well  adapted  to  secure  the  com- 
fort and  convalescence  of  its  inmates,  except  that  the 
number  of  patients  was  too  large  for  the  accommoda- 
tion. Adjoining  the  hospital  were  two  ranges  of  build- 
ings for  the  reception  of  violent  maniacs.  The  want  of 
space  here  also  was  an  obvious  inconvenience.  Three 
or  four  patients  being  frequently  confined  in  a  single 
small  apartment.  We  were  informed  that  several  homi- 
cides had  been  committed  by  these  unfortunate  people  in 
their  paroxysms — the  most  vi()lent  cases  were  Euro- 
peans. 

We  next  visited  Wolmer's  Free  School ;  a  founda- 
tion endowed  with  a  large  sum  of  money,  left  many 
years  ago  by  the  individual  whose  name  it  bears,  for 
the  education  of  white  children.  The  trust  is  admin- 
istered by  the  Corporation,  who  in  1815  threw  it  open 
to  all  classes  without  any  distinction  of  color.  The 
present  master,  Ebenbzer  Reid,  is  not  only  well 
qualified  for  the  situation  he  fills,  but  deeply  interested 


JAMAICA.  281 

in  the  cause  of  education  generally.  As  it  was  the 
Easter  week  the  attendance  at  Wolmer's  was  not  more 
than  one  hundred  and  fifty ;  the  number  on  the  list 
being  about  five  hundred  of  both  sexes^  and  the  aVemge 
attendance  proportionably  large.  Our  time  permitted 
us  to  make  only  a  cursory  survey,  but  we  ate  inclined 
to  pronounce  Wolmer's  the  best  school  we  have  seen 
in  the  West  Indies.  The  plan  comprehends  a  general 
instruction  in  the  physical  sciences  in  addition  to  the 
usual  routine.  The  French  and  Spanish  languages  are 
also  taught,  being  necessary  acquirements  for  those  who 
aspire  to  employment  in  the  stores  and  counting 
houses  of  the  Kingston  merchants.  The  proportion 
of  white  to  colored  children  is  about  one  in  five.  The 
testimony  of  the  master  to  the  intellectual  equality  of 
the  races  is  very  striking.  He  observes  *'  For  the  last 
thirty-eight  years  I  have  been  employed  in  this  city 
in  the  tuition  of  all  classes  and  colors,  and  have  no 
hesitation  in  saying  that  the  children  of  color  are 
equal  both  in  conduct  and  ability  to  the  white«  They 
have  always  carried  off  more  than  their  proportion  of 
prizes,  and  at  one  examination,  out  of  seventy  prizes 
awarded,  sixty- four  were  obtained]by  children  of  color.*' 
Adjoining  Wolmer's  is  an  infant  school  in  an  excel- 
lent state  of  discipline,  which  was  commenced  and  for 
some  years  taught  gratuitously  by  a  daughter  of  E. 
Reid.  It  is  now  supported  by  the  Corporation  out  of 
the  fund  of  Wolmer's  bequest.  There  are  two  other 
public  schools  in  this  neighbourhood,  one  under  the 
patronage  of  the  Bishop,  and  the  other  supported  by 
subscription  and  called  the  ^^  Union  School."  We  are 
are  informed  that  the  Governor  lately  inspected  these 
schools  and  expressed  his  surprise  and  pleasure  at  find- 

bb3 


282  JAMAICA. 

ing  white  children  learning  with  those  of  color ;  observ- 
iug  that  it  was  a  step  in  advance  of  Barbados. 

From  the  schools  we  proceeded  to  the  workhouse. 
To  say  that  the  premises  are  neat^  would  be  too  feeble  ; 
they  are  really  beautiful^  and  suggest  to  a  casual  visitor 
ideas  of  pleasure  rather  than  punishment.  There  is  a 
large  square  courts  surrounded  with  a  border  of  grass^ 
in  which  are  planted  rows  of  pine-apple  plants.  In  the 
centre  of  the  court  are  the  solitary  cells,  and  the  build- 
ing for  the  treadwheels  ;  and  it  is  inclosed  by  ranges 
of  buildings  comprising  the  sleeping  apartments^  store 
rooms^  dispensary,  &c.  The  premises  on  the  south 
side  are  close  to  the  sea,  and  are  devoted  chiefly  to 
idiotic  and  maniacal  patients.  There  are  seventy  pri- 
soners^ of  whom  one  third  are  white  soldiers,  and  the 
remainder  male  and  female  apprentices.  There  were 
about  thirty  sentenced  to  the  treadmills,  of  which  there 
are  two  of  humane  construction,  and,  whose  speed  is 
regulated  by  machinery.  The  prisoners  are  divided 
into  two  spells,  and  work  alternate  quarters  of  an  hour, 
from  six  a.  m.  to  five  p.  m.  with  the  intermission  of  one 
hour  only  for  breakfast.  They  are  not  strapped  on  the 
wheel.  The  women  were  not  supplied  with  a  suitable 
dress,  which  is  indispensable  to  decency  on  the  tread- 
mill. The  male  apprentices  only  are  chained  within 
the  workhouse,  but  the  females  are  also  chained  who 
work  on  the  public  roads  in  the  penal  gang.  No 
shackles  or  fetters  are  used  at  night.  There  was  only 
one  prisoner,  a  white  soldier,  in  the  solitary  cells, 
which  are  better  ^constructed  and  ventilated  than  any 
we  have  yet  seen.  There  are  eleven  life  convicts,  who 
are  chiefly  slaves  convicted  of  burglary.  The  diet  of 
the  prisoners  is  three  pounds  avoirdupois  of  ground 
maize,  and  one  large  shad  per  diem.     In  a  room  and 


Jamaica.  283 

yard  detached  from  the  other  premises,  were  four  pa- 
tients, aflfected  with  the  disease  called  **  cocobay,"  one 
of  the  most  dreadful  forms  of  leprosy,  which  is  happily 
not  very  common  in  Jamaica.  One  of  them  had  lost 
most  of  the  joints  of  his  hands  and  feet,  and  his  ankles 
appeared  to  have  spontaneously  dislocated ;  the  faces 
of  others  were  shockingly  disfigured. 

We  next  visited  the  county  jail,  in  which  also  there 
are  about  seventy  prisoners.  The  premises  are  so 
limited  as  to  render  classification  impossible.  Among 
those  in  confinement,  are  several  crown  witnesses 
against  prisoners  to  be  tried  at  the  next  session,  who 
are  unable  to  find  bail  for  their  appearance.  Their  case 
appears  peculiarly  hard,  as  they  are  cognizant  of  crime 
only  as  accidental  spectators.  One  fine  young  man 
has  been  thus  incarcerated  for  several  months,  who  is 
evidence  against  some  horse  stealers.  Besides  the  irk- 
somehess  of  their  situation,  the  confinement  and  society 
of  the  prison  must  exercise  a  most  deteriorating  effect 
on  the  energies  and  habits  of  laboring  persons.  The 
greater  number  of  the  prisoners  were  collected  for  us 
to  see  them,  and  placed  in  two  separate  rows ;  of  which 
one  consisted  of  those  awaiting  their  trial,  and  the 
other  of  convicts  under  sentence  of  transportation, 
many  of  whom  had  been  waiting  for  several  years  for 
their  sentences  to  be  carried  into  effect.  The  prisoners 
of  both  classes,  with  a  few  exceptions,  had  shackles 
and  bolts  on  their  feet.  They  are  kept  in  utter  idle- 
ness ;  the  only  relief  to  which  is,  that  a  humane  visit- 
ing magistrate  has  recently  ordered  that  one  of  the 
prisoners  shall  teach  the  others  to  read,  which  he  does 
for  a  short  time  every  night  and  morning.  A  separate 
department  of  the  jail  is  appropriated  for  debtors,  who 
are  allowed  two  shillings  and  sixpence  a  day  for  their 


384  JAMAICA. 


support^  and  the  criminalB  one  si 
which  BumB  are  paid  them  in  money.  The  only  agree- 
able feature  in  the  present  state  of  the  jail,  is  the  fiact 
that  there  are  only  seven  or  eight  women  in  the  whok 
number  of  prisoners 

4ih.  Months  2nd.  (April.) — ^We  went  this  morning 
to  the  Kirk,  which  is  the  largest  and  most  cosily  place 
of  worship  in  the  city.  The  minister  is  liberally  sup- 
ported at  the  public  expence.  His  congregation  is 
small,  and  composed  almost  exdusively  of  the  wealthy 
merchants  and  their  families.  The  number  of  black 
and  colored  persons  in  the  small  impewed  portion  of 
the  gallery,  did  not  exceed  twenty.  There  is  but  one 
service  in  the  week. 

3rd. — ^We  were  introduced  to  day  to  Alderman 
Nkthbrsolb,  an  intelligent  and  public  spirited  citi- 
zen ;  and  we  are  informed,  it  is  principally  owing  to 
his  exertions,  that  the  Kingston  Workhouse  is  in  its 
present  creditable  state.  He  is  the  proprietor  of  a 
large  establishment,  for  tanning  and  manufacturing 
leather  articles  of  every  description.  His  numerous 
workmen  and  apprentices  in  the  manufactory,  are  nearly 
all  black  and  colored  free  persons,  and  he  considers 
that  for  skill  and  good  conduct,  they  will  bear  com- 
parison with  those  of  any  English  establishment.  We 
were  shewn  over  the  premises,  and  the  respectable  ap- 
pearance and  industry  of  the  workmen,  and  the  quality 
of  their  manufacture,  as  far  as  we  could  judge  of  it, 
corresponded  with  the  account  we  had  received.  In 
the  tan-yard,  which  we  had  not  time  to  visit,  native 
products  are  used  for  tanning,  of  which  the  principal 
are  the  mangrove,  and  the  seed  pods  of  a  tree  called 
the  divey — divey,  which  is  found  on  the  Spanish  Main* 
The  latter  contains  seventy  per  cent,  of  tanners.     The 


JAMAICA.  285 

tskins  are  tanned  in  six  or  eight  months,  and  the  leather 
is  nearly,  if  not  quite  equal  in  quality  to  that  of  Eng- 
lish manufacture.  Alderman  Nethersole  may  be  said 
to  have  introduced  this  wiw  and  valuable  branch  of 

industry  into  the  colony.  Artizans,  who  have  learned 
their  trade  in  his  establishment,  are  now  setting  up  for 
themselves  in  various  parts  of  the  island.  There  is 
also  in  Kingston  a  large  manufactory,  where  cabinet 
work  is  executed  in  the  native  hard  woods,  in  a  style 
that  would  not  discredit  any  European  establishment. 
We  had  to-day  the  pleasure  of  making  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Richard  Panton,  an  estimable  clergy- 
man of  the  Church  of  England,  now  connected  with 
the  Church  Missionary  Society,  but  who  recently  re- 
sided in  St.  Thomas  in  the  East.  Some  of  the  Special 
Magistrates  in  that  parish,  are  in  the  habit  of  punish- 
ing the  apprentices  by  the  forfeiture  of  their  Satur- 
days to  the  estates.  The  consequences  of  this  practice 
came  under  his  notice  in  the  following  manner  :  It  was 
his  custom  at  church,  to  read  over  the  names  of  the 
apprentice  members  every  Sabbath,  and  require  a  rea- 
sonable excuse  on  behalf  of  such  as  were  absent.  This 
practice  was  adopted  in  order  to  maintain  the  strictest 
pastoral  oversight  over  convicts  so  peculiarly  exposed 
to  the  unfavorable  influences  of  a  degraded  state  of 
society.  A  reason  constantly  given  by  the  negros  for 
absence  was,  that  having  been  deprived  of  their  Satur- 
days by  the  Special  Magistrate,  they  were  compelled  to 
go  to  their  provision  grounds  on  the  Sabbath.  As  an  in- 
stance of  their  acumen,  and  of  their  sense  of  the  degra- 
dation of  slavery,  he  mentioned  that  some  years  ago,  a 
clergyman  preached  in  his  church,  who  addressed  the 
negros  affectionately  and  appropriately,  but  introduced 
that  portion  of  his  discourse  intended  for  them,  with 


DM  JAMAICA. 

the  words,  ^*  my  slave  brethren/'  At  the  condttmooi 
the  negros  appeared  to  manifest  moch  displeasure,  and 
on  being  asked  the  reason  said,  ''  strange  minister  too 
bad  ;*'  and  that  when  they  stood  before  God  in  his  own 
house,  there  was  no  longer  any  distinction  of  condition. 
In  proof  of  which,  they  qooted  the  text,  '^  In  Christ 
there  is  neither  male  nor  female,  bond  nor  free;''  and 
enquired  whether  the  minister  in  addressing  his  con* 
gregation  did  not  always  say,  '*  my  brethren,''  and 
never  ''my  sisters."  Our  informant  acknowledged 
that  the  idea  suggested  in  this  inquiry,  though  con- 
sistent with  his  own  practice,  had  not  occurred  to  him 
before. 

6tii. — ^We  crossed  the  harbour  to  Port  Royal,  and 
late  in  the  evening  Josbph  Sturgb  embarked  on  board 
the  Orbit  packet,  on  his  return,  via  New  York,  to  Eng- 
land. 


» 


CHAPTER  XII. 


I  i\' 


JAMAICA. 

JOURNAL  OP  WILLIAM  LLOYD*  AND  THOMAS  HARVEY. 

8tb. — ^Wb  set  out  to-day  on  a  journey  to  the  e^t 
end  of  the  island.  Our  first  stage  was  Yallajtis'  Bay, 
m  the  p^sh  of  St.  David,  nineteen  miles  fropi  Kiugs- 
tpn.  Our  kind  friend  J*  Tinson,  has  a  stajtioi^  at  Yal- 
l^s,  where  he  wq^  spending  a  few  d^ys  with  his  family. 
TVe  accompanied  him  to  see  an  old  Africap,  reaiduog  a 
short  dist^ce  from  the  Bay,  in  the  negrp  vi^age  of  ^ 
neighbouring  pen,  tie  was  a  man  of  venerable  mien, 
and  though  he  jia^  been  so  long  in  this  country,  he  cap 
scarcely  speak  l^glisb  Uitelligibly,  but  cau  read  and 
write  Arabic.  He  wrote  at  our  request,  his  ovn  Jjdfir 
can  name  Argun A«  and  also  soujue  words  which  be  sdd 
were  a  prayer  before  meat,  a  formula,  we  presume,  be 
was  about  to  use,  as  be  was  just  sitting  down  to  dinner 
when  we  entered*  He  jtold  us  that  be  was  one  of  tbe 
royal  family  of  tbe  ^IJou^i^  tribe  of  the  Mandingoua- 
tion,  and  enunverated  tb^  ^aiues  of  various  tribes  in  the 
vicinity  of  Hpussa,  >rhich  he  said  was  thi:!e!e  months 
from  the  ^oast.    It  h^  been  noticed  that  the  educated 

*  Pr.  Lloyd,  not  having  yet  ^^^urned  to  this  cou|itry,  the  en^uiag 
chapter  has  not  had  the  advantage  of  his  revision,  and  his  companion 
is  therefore  solely  responsible  for  its  contents. 


28H  JAMAICA. 

Mohamuicdau  negros  speak  the  worst  English.    The) 
are   less  frequently  converted  to  Christianity ;  and  in 
cases  where  they  have  become  nominal  believers^  they 
have  been  found  to  blend  it,  with  the  superstitions  of 
their  forefathers.     The  employment  of  this  old  man 
was  to  keep  his  master's  garden  in  order.     A  stream 
ran  through  it,  one  part  of  which  he  had  made  wider 
and  deeper,  and  had  thrown  a  bower  over  it.     In  this 
shaded  reservoir  he  kept  some  mullets  which  came  at 
his  call  to  feed  out  of  his  hand. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  objects  in  this  neigh- 
bourhood is  a  silk  cotton  tree,  of  an  extraordinary  size^ 
growing  on  the  bank  of  a  rivulet.  It  is  about  one 
hundred  feet  in  circumference  and  each  of  its  branches 
is  equal  to  a  large  tree.  The  trunk  of  the  silk  cotton 
tree  is  frequently  smooth  and  rises  gradually  tapering 
to  a  great  height,  at  which  it  throws  out  its  arms  at 
right  angles.  When  the  tree  attains,  as  in:  this 
instance  a  very  vigorous  growth,  the  trunk  near  the 
root  gradually  expands  into  angular  buttresses,  which 
support  the  weight  of  its  immense  limbs.  Two  oppo- 
site arms  of  this  tree  extend  to  a  distance  of  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-three  feet ;  and  its  huge  roots,  stretch- 
ing out  above  the  surface  in  every  direction,  appear  to 
cover  a  rood  of  ground. 

9th. — ^The  Sabbath.  We  were  awakened  this 
morning  by  the  notes  of  the  mock-bird,  which  is  the 
only  one  that  can  be  properly  termed  a  bird  of  song. 
It  is  a  species  of  thrush,  though  universally  in  the 
West  Indies  known  as  the  nightingale.  The  early 
morning,  at  a  distance  from  town,  is  delightful.  The 
fierce  heat  of  a  tropical  sun  is  abated  by  the  cool  and 
refreshing  dews  of  night,  and  all  is  hushed,  but  voices 
and  sounds  expressive  of  the  happiness  of  animated 


JAMAICA.  289 

Qature.  We  were  disappointed  in  our  hope  of  spend- 
ing a  few  quiet  hours  at  our  inn.  Three  or  four  par- 
ties of  overseers  in  gigs,  with  servants  following  them 
with  led  horses,  came  in,  in  succession,  to  breakfast, 
and  soon  converted  the  place  into  a  scene  of  bustle. 
They  were  on  their  way  to  Kingston  Assizes  ;  but  it  is 
not  an  unusual  custom  to  travel  in  this  style  on  the 
Sabbath,  visiting  their  friends  on  distant  estates.  The 
morning  service  at  the  Baptist  mission  station,  com- 
menced at  ten  o'clock.  The  chapel,  which  is  capable 
of  holding  about  three  hundred,  was  completely  filled, 
and  some  remained  standing  outside ;  the  whole  were 
very  attentive  ;  at  the  conclusion,  a  couple  were  mar- 
ried, who  had  been  long  waiting  in  consequence  of  the 
refusal  of  the  Rector  of  the  parish  to  marry  them  with- 
out a  permit  from  the  attorney,  which  they  could  not 
obtain.*  Not  long  after  the  ceremony,  the  Lord's 
Supper  was  administered  to  about  eighty  communi- 
cants. There  was  another  short  service  in  the  evening, 
attended  by  a  few  who  lived  in  the  neighbourhood. 

10th. — In  the  course  of  the  morning,  we  visited  the 
parish  workhouse,  which  is  situated  about  four  miles 
from  the  Bay,  in  a  valley  surrounded  by  high  moun- 
tains, near  the  bed  of  a  mountain  stream.  At  present, 
this  rivulet  is  only  a  few  feet  wide,  but  in  the  rainy 
season,  it  occupies  a  plain,  across  which  a  chain 
bridge  has  been  attempted  to  be  thrown,  but  became  a 
ruin  before  it  was  completed.  Its  span  was  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet.  The  workhouse  is  a  neat,  little 
building,  recently  erected.  It  has  no  treadmill,  and 
its  inmates,  four  or  five  in  number  only,  were  employed 
for  hire  as  a  penal  gang,  on  the  neighbouring  estates, 

•  See  Appendix  F,  Sec.  xii. 

c  c 


290  JAMAICA. 

with  the  exception  of  one  invalid.  Offenders  sentenced 
to  the  treudmill,  are  sent  to  workhouses  in  the  adjoin- 
ing parishes. 

We  called  on  our  return  at  the  school  recently 
established  by  the  bishop.  The  master  and  his  wife, 
two  colored  young  persons,  appeared  to  take  an  interest 
in  th(!ir  occupation  ;  and  the  children  seemed  to  have 
profited  by  the  pains  bestowed  upon  them,  though  the 
school  has  been  established  too  recently  for  any  marked 
proficiency  to  be  manifest.  There  were  fifty-one  scho- 
lars on  the  list.  This  school  is  the  only  one  in  the 
parish,  which  comprises  a  negro  population  of  ten  thour 
sand  souls.  A  building  is  being  erected  on  the  pre- 
mises of  the  Baptist  mission  station,  for  a  school^  but 
is  impeded  by  want  of  funds.  This  appears  to  be  one 
of  the  parishes  most  destitute  of  the  means  of  instruc- 
tion, and  the  nt^gros  are  represented  to  be  among  the 
modt  ignorant  and  benighted. 

11th. — We  proceeded  early  in  the  morning  to  Mo- 
rant  Kay,  in  the  parish  of  St.  Thomas  in  the  East,  a 
little  town  and  port  about  twelve  miles  distant  from 
Yallahs.  We  were  introduced  to  M.  Hodge,  a  mis- 
sionary of  the  London  Society  at  this  station,  who  ig 
on  the  point  of  quitting  the  island.  He  kindly  accom- 
panied us  to  the  parish  school,  where  there  were  about 
forty  children,  chiefly  colored.  We  heard  a  class  con- 
jugate a  difficult  verb,  spontaneously  selected,  in  a  very 
creditable  manner.  We  next  visited  the  school  attached 
to  the  London  mission,  which  is  conducted  by  a  cate- 
chist.  The  average  attendance  of  the  children,  is  about 
fifty.  They  were  in  good  order,  but  they  did  not  ap- 
pear as  yet,  to  have  made  any  considerable  proficiency. 

We  saw  the  jail,  a  small,  confined  building,  in 
which  happily  there  are  no  prisoners.     The  state  of  it 


JAMAICA.  291 

k  sudi  as  inirequency  of  use  alone  can  excuse.  The 
workhouse  is  some  distance  from  the  town,  and  is  a 
convenient  and  well  arranged  set  of  premises.  The 
present  number  of  inmates  is  twenty-nine,  of  whom 
seventeen  are  life  convicts.  Nearly  as  many  more  of 
these  hist  have  escaped,  some  of  whom,  we  were  told, 
had  not  been  heard  of  for  years.  The  penal  gang,  both 
men  and  women,  work  in  chains.  The  treadmill  was 
in  operation.  The  prisoners  work,  as  at  Kingston, 
alternate  quarters  of  an  hour,  from  six  to  five,  with  the 
intermission  of  only  one  hour  for  breakfost.  Tlie  miU 
is  difficult  to  regulate,  and  of  bad  construction,  though 
mnch  better  than  many  others  we  have  seen.  There 
were  four  prisoners  on  it,  one  of  whom  was  a  woman, 
and  another  a  white  man,  a  sailor.  They  had  not 
suitable  dresses.  The  Supervisor  said,  that  both  men 
and  women  were  **  touched  with  the  whip''  when  they 
would  not  tread  the  mill ;  but  they  are  not  strapped  to 
the  handrail  unless  refractory. 

In  the  afternoon  we  accompanied  M.  Hodgk  to 
Belvidere,  a  large  estate,  a  few  miles  distant  from  Mo- 
rant  Bay.  The  apprentices  have  erected  a  chapel  upon 
it,  entirely  by  their  own  labor.  It  is  a  neat  wattled 
structure,  capable  of  holding  five  hundred  persons. 
We  regarded  it  with  no  little  interest,  as  a  convincing 
proof  of  the  desire  of  the  negros  for  religious  instruc- 
tion. M .  Hodge  has  two  estate  stations,  this,  and  one 
at  an  equal  distance  from  the  Bay  on  the  opposite  side, 
at  an  estate  called  Retreat.  These  stations  are  supplied 
every  Sabbath  by  himself  and  the  catechist  in  turn  ; 
and  in  the  afternoon  he  preaches  at  Morant  Bay.  Be- 
sides the  establishment  of  the  principal  school,  he  has 
also  distributed  some  of  the  Gift  Books  to  apprentices, 
who  have  learned  to  read.     Belvidere  is  a  very  fine  cs- 


292  JAMAICA. 

tale,  and  belongs  to  a  French  Nobleman^  Count  FrbB' 
MAN.  His  late  resident  attorney  was  President  of  the 
Council,  and  on  one  or  two  occasions^  administered 
the  Government  of  the  colony.  He  was  kind  and  in- 
dulgent to  the  slaves.  The  present  attorney  also^  is 
said  to  be  liberally  disposed,  while  the  proprietor  has 
directed  certain  allowances  to  be  curtailed.  We  walked 
through  a  part  of  the  negro  village ;  many  of  the  houses 
are  large  and  comfortable.  The  whole  were  almost 
concealed  in  the  shade  of  plantains,  cocoa  nut,  and 
bread  fruit  trees.  We  conversed  with  a  respectable 
and  intelligent  negro,  who  complained  that  the  watch- 
man had  been  taken  away  from  their  provision  grounds, 
and  the  cattle  of  the  estates  turned  into  them.  He  said 
they  were  compelled  to  buy  provisions  from  the  Bay, 
for  their  support,  and  that  their  principal  dependence 
was  now  upon  their  fruit  trees.  The  overseer  told  them 
they  would  soon  be  free,  and  must  not  expect  their  old 
privileges.  He  said  that  during  crop,  they  received 
ten-pence  when  they  worked  in  the  night,  but  that 
their  half  Fridays  were  taken  from  them,  for  which 
they  received  no  pay.  On  our  mentioning  these  cir- 
cumstances to  our  companion,  he  said,  that  the  negros 
on  Belvidere  were  as  fine  a  set  of  well-disposed  laborers 
as  could  be  found  any  where ;  and  that  the  overseer 
had  often  told  him,  they  did  more  work  within  the 
hours  than  formerly ;  it  is  therefore  most  impolitic,  as 
well  as  unjust,  to  pursue  such  a  course  towards  them. 
We  looked  over  the  hospital,  in  which  were  several 
cases  of  fever  and  measles.  The  latter  disease  has 
been  very  prevalent  in  almost  every  part  of  the  island. 
We  have  seen  many  cases  of  it,  but  it  appears  to  as- 
sume a  very  mild  form.  We  have  not  heard  a  single 
instance  in  which  it  has  proved  fatal.     The  great  house 


JAMAICA.  293 

on  Belvidere,  is  one  of  she  best  mansions  we  have  seen, 
and  is  delightfully  situated  on  an  eminence,  immediately 
above  the  cane  grounds.  It  commands  a  fine  view  of 
the  Bay,  the  shore  of  which  is  marked  by  a  long  line 
of  cocoa  nut  trees.  This  beautiful  palm  is  the  first  tree 
that  greets  the  eye  of  the  voyager,  on  approaching  the 
tropics,  and  from  being  introduced  in  all  representa- 
tions of  tropical  scenery,  it  appears  when  first  seen, 
at  once  a  novel  and  familiar  object. 

12th. — We  came  this  morning  to  Bath,  through 
Port  Morant.  Our  route  to  the  latter  place  was  prin- 
cipally by  the  sea  side..  This  country  is  highly  culti- 
vated to  the  base  of  tlie  nearest  range  of  hills  from  the 
coast,  which  are  cleared  of  their  forest,  and  covered  with 
deep  rich  verdure.  Port  Morant  is  situated  on  a  very 
fine  harbor.  After  leaving  it  we  turned  off  into  the 
interior,  through  a  very  beautiful  country.  The  road 
is  rocky  and  mountainous.  Bath  is  so  enveloped  in  its 
grove  of  cocoa  nut,  palmetto  and  bread-fruit  trees, 
as  to  be  invisible  at  a  distance,  though  a  site  «o  marked 
indicates  as  certainly  the  presence  of  human  habitations 
as  a  view  of  spires  or  chimneys  in  Europe.  Bath  is  a 
beautiful  little  town  and  harmonises  in  every  respect 
with  the  magnificent  scenery  in  which  it  is  embosomed. 
It  consists  of  a  single  street  of  houses,  placed  at  con- 
venient distances  apart,  the  road  shaded  on  each  side 
with  trees,  principally  the  palmetto  and  Tahitian  apple, 
the  dust  of  whose  beautiful  crimson  blossoms  almost 
covered  the  road.  In  the  course  of  the  morning  we 
visited  the  Botanic  Garden,  which  like  the  one  in  St. 
Andrews,  has  been  formed  for  the  reception  of  East- 
em  tropical  trees  and  plants.  The  Assembly  has 
recently  discontinued  its  annual  grant,  and  in  conse- 
quence it  is  at  present  neglected,  but  still  contains 
c  c   3 


294  JAMAICA. 

many  fine  trees  and  ahrubs.  There  are  several  appreo* 
tices  attached  to  it,  one  of  whom,  the  head  gardener, 
shewed  us  over  it. 

There  are  two  schools  in  Bath,  one  a  private  day 
school  and  the  other  a  Mico  school;  the  latter  has 
been  established  only  three  months*  It  is  attended 
by  upwards  of  sixty  children,  who  are  all  taught  on 
the  infant  system,  though  some  of  them  are  ten  or 
twelve  years  of  age.  Some  of  the  scholars  have  already 
made  considerable  progress  in  reading.  Their  in- 
structor considers  them  quite  as  capable  as  Europeaa 
children. 

On  our    return   we  partook  of  an  early  dinner 
which   consisted  in   part  of  mountain   crabs,  which 
Bryan     Edwards    pronounces     '^  the  most  savory 
and  delicious   morsels   in   nature;"   a  sentiment    in 
which  all  Creoles  unite.     On  some  estates  in  this  par- 
ish, an  apprentice  is  kept  as  a  crab-catcher,  and  is  .ex- 
pected to  produce  a  tale  of  fifty  or  sixty  crabs  per 
week.     In  the  afternoon  wc  rode  up  to  the  Bath,  which 
is   distant   about  one  mile   and  half  from  the  town. 
The  road  is  a  mountain  path  by  the  side  of  a  rivulet, 
the  banks  of  which    are  covered  with  trumpet  trees 
and  bamboos  of  a  great  size,  which  keep  the  pathway 
in  almost  perpetual  shade.     The  surrounding  mountains 
are  of  immense  height,  and  their  precipitous  sides  are 
covered  with  the  densest  vegetation,  such  as  is  never 
seen  even  in  the  tropics  except  where  there  are  nume- 
rous springs.     The  scenery  is  thought  to  bear  some 
resemblance  to  Matlock,  but  possesses  far  grander  and 
more  extraordinary  features.     Among  the  most  strik- 
ing vegetable  productions  of  the  locality,  is  the  tree 
fern,  which  grows  to  the  height  of  from  twenty  to 
thirty  feet.     It  is  the  most  graceful  of  plants  and  ap- 


Jamaica.  ^95 

pears  like  a  beautiful  palm  in  miniature^  with  its  slen- 
der trunk  and  crown  of  gigantic  leaves.  The  Bath  is 
a  plain  stone  building  consisting  of  several  bathing 
rooms.  A  few  hundred  yards  beyond  it  the  hot  spring 
rises  into  a  stone  cistern^  near  which  is  a  building  in  a 
ruinous  state^  formerly  used  as  the  residence  of  the 
poor  patients.  The  water  possesses  a  slightly  sulphur- 
ous smell  and  a  temperature  of  120o  Fahrenheit.  It  is 
conveyed  down  to  the  principal  bath  in  a  stone  chan- 
nel^ and  is  there  mixed  at  pleasure  with  the  water  of 
the  cold  mountain  stream. 

13th. — ^We  left  Bath  early  this  morning  on  our  way 
to  Manchineal.  Our  road  was  through  a  part  of  the 
plaintain  garden  river  valley,  a  level  savanna  of  great 
beauty  and  fertility.  It  is  ten  miles  in  length,  and  from 
one  to  three  in  breadth,  and  comprehends  the  finest 
estates  in  the  island.  Both  yesterday  and  this  morn- 
ing, in  driving  through  the  estates,  we  have  noticed  the 
negros  generally  at  work  in  the  field  at  half  past  five  or 
before  sunrise,  some  of  them  running  in  great  haste  to 
join  the  gangs.  We  remained  during  part  of  the  day 
at  Belle  Castle,  the  residence  of  John  Kingdon,  Bap- 
tist Missionary.  He  accompanied  us  to  a  neighbour- 
ing plantation,  to  the  proprietor  of  which,  George 
CoDRiNGTON,  wc  had  a  letter  of  introduction.  The 
cultivation  on  this  estate  consists  of  arrowroot,  and  it 
is  the  first  instance  of  that  article,  being  grown  and  ma- 
nufactured on  a  large  scale,  that  has  come  under  our 
notice  in  the  West  Indies.  It  is  usually  grown  by  the 
apprentices,  the  free  settlers,  or  the  maroons.  The 
experiment  of  employing  a  considerable  capital  and 
superior  skill  upon  its  production  and  preparation,  has 
in  this  instance  been  a  profitable  one.  One  of  the  ap- 
prentices on  this  estate  was  pointed  out  as  addicted  to 


S06  iAMAtCA. 

dirt  eating.  He  was  apparently  a  boy  of  fourteen  yeaM 
of  age,  but  was  really,  we  were  told,  upwards  of  twenty. 
Few  large  estates  are  free  from  n^ros  who  have  thii 
unnatural  appetite,  which  ought  undoubtedly  to  be  con- 
sidered as  a  disease,  though  it  has  ever  been  the  cus- 
tom to  treat  it  as  a  crime.  This  boy  was  on  one  occasion 
taken  into  his  master's  house  and  fed  on  generous  diet, 
with  temporary  success,  but  his  craving  for  dirt  re- 
turned when  he  left  the  "  great  house."  We  were  in- 
formed that  the  alkaline  earth  which  is  so  greedily  sought 
for  by  dirt  eaters,  is  sometimes  made  into  cakes  and 
sold  in  Kingston  market.  In  the  evening  we  proceeded 
to  Manchineal  Bay,  where  we  were  introduced  to  the 
special  magistrate,  Richard  Chambbrlaine,  jun.,  an 
intelligent  colored  gentleman.  He  kindly  invited  us 
to  accompany  him  to-morrow  to  several  estates. 

14th. — ^The  first  at  which  we  called  with  the  magis- 
trate, was  Williams-field,  a  fine  sugar   estate,  under 
the   attorneyship  of  James   Cockburn,  a  gentleman 
who  bears  a  high  character  for  humanity  and  respect  to 
the  legal  rights  of  the   apprentices.     Complaints  are 
here  rarely  brought  before  the  magistrate.     The  over- 
seer observed  that  he  thought  the  indulgent  system  was 
decidedly  more  advantageous.     The  number  of  appren- 
tices is  one  hundred  and  twenty-five,  and  of  free  chil- 
pren  twenty-three.     We  were  shown  over  the  hospital, 
which  is  a  miserable  building  almost  in  ruin.     There 
were  in  it  several  cases  of  measles.     There  was  a  small 
jobbing  gang  of  negros  working   on   the  estate,    be- 
longing to  another  estate  nine  miles  distant,  who  came 
to  complain  that  they  were  not  allowed  any  time  for 
going  and  returning  from  work.     The  magistrate  di- 
rected that  their  master  should  allow  them  an  hour  for 
every  .  three  miles,  with  which  they  appeared  satisfied. 


JAMAICA.  297 

We  next  visited  Hector's  River,  a  fine  estate  belonging 
to  Major  Hall,  an  absentee.  The  head  book- 
keeper said  there  were  no  complaints  to  bring  before  the 
magistrate.  The  number  of  apprentices  on  this  estate 
is  two  hundred  and  sixty,  and  of  free  children  fifty. 
The  latter  receive  no  allowance  but  medical  care  at  the 
expense  of  the  estate,  for  which  the  parents,  we  were 
told,  give  no  equivalent.  We  are,  however,  informed 
that  the  apprentices  are  deprived  of  all  their  half 
Fridays  throughout  the  year,  and  all  the  extra  hours 
required  by  day  and  night  during  crop,  without  any 
payment,  though  nominally  in  return  for  the  slave 
allowances.  The  hospital  on  Hector's  River  is  an 
airy  good  building,  but  too  small  for  its  purposes. 
There  were  in  it  several  cases  of  measles,  and  also  of 
obstinate  sores  and  ulcers.  We  afterwards  called  at 
Grange  Hill,  a  fine  estate  belonging  to  Sir  Henry 
FiTZHERBBRT,  which  has  recently  been  turned  into  an 
indigo  plantation.  The  Overseer  told  us  that  he  had 
made  last  year  two  hundred  and  forty-six  pounds  of 
indigo  of  fine  quality,  but  at  an  immense  expense  of 
labor.  He  was  persuaded  it  would  never  succeed  in 
this  part  of  the  island,  though  it  might  perhaps  in  the 
Southern  parishes.  Indigo  was  formerly  extensively 
produced  in  the  West  Indies  ;  this  is  the  first  instance 
we  have  met  with  of  an  attempt  to  restore  its  cultiva- 
tion, and  the  circumstance  of  this  interesting  experi- 
ment being  confided  to  an  Overseer,  and  one  who  has 
made  up  his  mind  beforehand  that  it  will  not  succeed, 
forebodes  an  unfavorable  result.  This  Overseer  ap- 
peared much  irritated  ;  he  broke  out  into  bitter  com- 
plaints againts  his  domestics,  and  talked  of  the  pride 
and  indolence  of  the  mulattos,  of  which  class  the 
domestic  servants  are  generally  composed.    He  said 


296  JAMAICA. 

he  had  no  couplaiuts  to  make  againBt  his  field  people. 
During  our  stay  the  fishermany  un  apprentice  whose 
sole  duty  it  is  to  supply  the  Overseer's  table  with  fish, 
janie  in  with  the  produce  of  his  day's  labor,  conaurtiiig 
of  several  small  fishes.     This  afresh  excited  the  anger 
of  the  Overseer,  who  proposed  to  put  him  on  task" 
work,  asserting,  in  opposition   to  the  pleas    of   the 
negro,  that  chance,  weather,  &c.   had  nothing  to  do 
with  fishing  on  this  favored  coast.     A  negro,  who  was 
the  cook  at  the  great  house,  came  forward  and  com* 
plained   that   his   busha   had   violently  assaulted  and 
beaten  him  this  morning  for  not  preparing  dinner  with 
sufficient  promptitude.     It  was  agreed  between  the  par- 
ties that  the  complaint  should  be  decided  to-morrow  at 
the  weekly  court,  held  at  the  police  station,  at  Manchi- 
neal  Bay.     The  assistant  of  the  principal  medical  man 
of  this  district  resides  on  this  estate  in  the  Overseer's 
house.     He  accompanied  us  to  see  the  hospitaL    It 
was  locked,  and  we  waited  till  the  attendant  with  the 
key  made  his  appearance.     We  found  it  iu  a  wretched 
and   dilapidated  condition.      There  was  one  old  man 
lying  on  the  floor,   who  the  doctor  remarked  was  a 
patient  that  he  had  not  seen  before.     He  did  not  make, 
however,  a  single  inquiry  into  his  case.     The  negro 
himself  said  he  had  been  this  morning  to  the  Overseer 
to  say  he  was  sick,  who  told  him  **  go  away  to  the 
field,  sir."     He  knew,  however,  that  he  was  unable  to 
work,   and  had  therefore  come   to   sit  down   at   the 
hospital. 

On  our  return  we  called  upon  the  Wesleyan  mis- 
sionary, W.  Gregory.  There  is  no  school  in  this 
neighbourhood  except  his  Sunday  school,  which  is  at- 
tended by  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  children  and 
adults.     This  part  of  the  island  is  therefore  very  desti- 


JAMAICA.  299 

tute  of  the  means  of  education.  The  special  magis- 
trate informed  us  to-day  that  he  had  settled  many  ma- 
numissions by  valuation,  and  did  not  know  one  negro 
so  freed  who  did  not  support  himself  creditably  by  bis 
own  industry. 

15th. — ^This  morning. at  an  early  hour,  several  ap- 
prentices came  to  complain  to  the  Special  Magistrate, 
whose  lodgings  are  at  the  only  house  of  public  enter- 
tainment in  Manchineal,  and  consequently  under  the 
same  roof  as  our  own.  Several  of  them  were  from  the 
arrowroot  plantation  we  visited  two  days  ago.  They 
brought  with  them  a  large  basket,  which  would  con- 
tain a  bushel  or  upwards,  and  complained  that  it  was 
used  to  measure  their  task,  and  that  they  were  com- 
pelled, both  strong  and  weak,  to  dig  six  baskets  a-day 
for  five  days  in  the  week,  and  if  they  fell  short,  to 
make  up  the  number  on  Saturday.  Sometimes  they 
said  if  they  chanced  to  work  upon  a  good  bearing 
piece,  they  could  render  their  full  task,  but  otherwise 
they  found  it  quite  impossible.  This  case  was  appoint- 
ed to  be  heard  in  court  to  day.  Another  negro  came 
in  great  distress  to  complain  that  he  was  about  to  be 
flogged.  He  said,  that  he  was  an  apprentice  on  the 
Grange,  a  property  in  this  (CHAMBERLArNs's)  district, 
and  that  he  and  the  rest  of  the  gang  were  compelled 
to  job  out  at  an  estate  called  Williams-fiield,  twelve 
miles  distant  from  their  homes.  Their  grounds  had 
no  provisions  in  them,  the  cattle  having  trespassed  and 
diestroyed  every  thing  growing  there. 

He  was  required  to  dig  seventy  cane  holes  a  day 
in  new,  stiff  soil.  He  had  no  food  to  eat  and  no 
water  carrier  in  the  field  was  allowed  to  their  gang. 
One  day  the  week  before  last,  he  said  as  he  was  eaving 
the  field,  ^^  they  ought  to  have  something  to  eat,  and 


900  JAMAICA. 

that  a  hoftfe  would  not  be  serred  so/'  The  book- 
keeper reported  what  he  said  to  the  OFerseer^  who 
locked  hiQi  up  and  sent  for  the  Special  Magistrate, 
Waddinoton,  to  hear  the  compbdnt  against  hinii«  who 
sentenced  him  to  be  locked  up  again  and  to  reoriTe 
thirty-nine  lashes  the  next  morning.  The  Overseer 
told  him  '^  he  would  gire  him  a  back  to  take  to  shew 
Mr.  CiiAMBERLAiNE,  and  see  whether  he  could  take  it 
off."  He  broke  out  of  the  dungeon  and  ran  away  this 
day  week  for  fear  of  the  fledging.  ''The  reason,"  he 
said,  '*  why  they  had  a  spite  against  him,  was  because 
he  went  to  Spanish  Town  to  see  the  GoTemor,  when 
they  wanted  to  remove  the  people  from  the  Grange. 
We  subsequently  ascertained  that  the  account  of  this 
apprentice  as  to  the  state  of  starvation  to  which  his 
gang  was  reduced,  was  literally  true.  However  hard 
his  case,  as  he  is  under  a  legal  sentence,  there  is  no 
alternative  for  him  but  to  be  sent  back  in  custody  of  a 
police  officer  to  receive  his  flogging  and  answer  for  his 
ad(iiti(»nul  offence  of  desertion. 

About  ten  a.  m.  we  proceeded  to  the  police  office 
where  the  Special  Magistrate  holds  his  court.  Tliere 
is  u  court  yard  behind  this  building  formed  by  the  re- 
maining walls  of  an  old  fortification,  in  two  of  the 
angular  corners  of  which  have  been  constructed,  four 
solitary  cells,  which  are  the  very  worst  we  have  seen 
in  the  ialand.  They  are  so  situated  as  to  be  very  damp 
even  at  the  present  time  after  a  long  period  of  drought, 
and  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  their  condition  during  the 
rainy  season.  They  are  about  eight  feet  long,  six 
feet  high,  and  four  wide ;  they  are  furnished  with  a 
miserable  shelf  for  the  prisoners  to  lie  on,  and  the 
floors  are  the  bare  earth  covered  with  the  rubbish  of 
masons*  and  carpenters'  work.     No  Special  Magistrate 


JAMAICA.  301 

of  common  humanity  would  venture  to  direct  any 
negro  to  be  confined  in  them.  The  Special  Court  was 
numerously  attended,  the  following,  notes  of  cases  will 
shew  the  character  of  the  proceedings. 

1st.  Complaint  against  Lydia  Kino,  an  apprentice 
on  Rural  Vale  Estate,  by  the  proprietor,  for  leaving 
work  at  sunset,  two  hours  before  she  ought  to  have 
done,  as  it  was  crop  time,  and  for  insolence  to  the 
constable.  The  evidence  of  the  constables  sustained 
the  charges.  She  said  she  had  a  young  child  at  the 
breast  and  could  not  therefore  remain  after  dark.  She 
also  brought  counter  complaints  against  the  constable 
and  overseer,  and  in  the  absence  of  her  witnesses,  the 
case  vras  deferred  till  the  magistrate  should  visit  the 
estate.  2nd.  Two  women  from  fhe  same  estate  were 
charged  with  not  feeding  the  mill  with  canes,  so  as  to 
produce  a  pan  of  liquor  after  sunset  according  to  a 
special  agreement.  This  also  was  proved  by  the  con- 
stables. The  proprietor  on  his  cross  examination  ac- 
knowledged, that  the  negros  had  not  had  their  half 
Fridays,  which  was  expressly  stipulated  in  his  part  of 
the  contract.  The  case  was  therefore  dismissed. 
3rd. — ^A  complaint  against  an  apprentice  of  Muirtown 
estate,  that  having  been  sentenced  for  theft  to  dig  five 
hundred  cane-holes  in  his  own  time,  and  to  be  degra- 
ded from  his  ofiice  of  watchman  to  the  rank  of  a  field 
laborer,  he  had  not  dug  the  cane-holes,  and  when  or- 
dered to  the  field  had  refused  to  go.  The  defendant 
stated,  that  he  had  commenced  to  dig  the  cane-holes 
and  applied  to  his  overseer  for  the  requisite  tools  for 
field-work,  a  bill  and  hoe,  which  had  been  refused. 
This  was  admitted  by  the  complainant,  the  book-keeper 
of  Muirtown,  and  the  complaint  was  therefore  dis- 
missed. 

D  D 


rMtt  JAMAICA. 

•Uh.  Agaiust  another  apprentice  of  Muirtown.     The 
head  conMtable  stated,  that  he  had  ordered  him  to  yoke 
cattle  in  I  he  cart  early  in  the  morning,  when  he  declared 
that  this  ber\'ice  was   put  upon  him  oftener  than  the 
rest,  and  was  so  insolent  that  the  overseer  directed 
him  to  be  locked  up  in  the  dark  hole  which  was  done. 
On  incjuiry  he  said  the  magistrate  was   not  informed 
of  this  locking  up,  which  it  mu^t  be  obserred  is  per- 
mitted by  the  local  apprenticeship   law  as  a  measure  of 
security  against  the  escape  of  offenders  only,  and  not 
of  punishment.     I'his    case  was  therefore  dismissed. 
1l)e   constable    laid  great   stress   upon  the    insolence 
which  he  received,  but  could  not  repeat  it  in  words. 
These  constructive  charges  of  insolence  are  very  fre- 
quent, and  draw  down  an  immense  amount  of  punish- 
ment on  the  unfortunate  apprentices.     5th.  An  appren- 
tice on  Grange  Hill,  the  plantation  we  visited  yesterday, 
con)plaini'd  that  his  Overseer  had  boxed  his  face,  re- 
])eatc(lly,  and  kicked  him  for  not  preparing  some  soup 
so  early  as  was  required,  which  was  occasioned  by  his 
having  to  fetch  the  wood  and  water  himself  from  a  dis- 
tance.    The  defendant  aduiitted  the  assault,  but  pleaded 
aggravation,     lie  was  ill  yesterday,  and  could  not  get 
the  soup,  and  does  not  think  he  should  have  got  it  by 
this  time  if  he  "  had  not  kicked  up  a  row."     He  was 
fined  two   pounds,  on  which  he  pulled  out  an  island 
cheek  for  five  pounds,  which  he  held  up  in  complain- 
ant's face,  and  said,  "  here,  would  you  not  like  to  get 
some  of  this,'*   as  if  exulting  in  the  fact  that  the  award 
would  give  no  reparation  to  complainant.     6th.  The 
defendant  in  the  above  case,  preferred  a  counter- charge 
against  the  same  apprentice,  for  disobedience  of  orders 
and  idleness,  which  for  want  of  evidence  was  deferred 
till  the  magistrate's  next  visit  to  the  property.     7th. — 


JAMAICA .  303 

An  apprentice  of  Dr.  Bell,  complained  that  his  master 
had  flogged  him.     He  said  also  that  the  doctor  had 
prevented  a  fellow  apprentice  from  coming  down  to  the 
court,  as  a  witness  of  the  assault.     This  the  doctor  in- 
dignantly denied.     The  magistrate  offered  to  ride  up  to 
his  house  and  decide  the  case,  which  was  agreed  to. 
8th.  An  apprentice  from  Elmwood,  the  estate  of  Ed- 
ward Panton,  the  judge  advocate  general,  complained, 
that  though  he  was  a  cripple,  he  had  been  ordered  to 
go  to  the  field.     He  produced  a  large  heavy  hoe,  which 
had  been  given  to  him,  and  which  he  had  been  for- 
bidden to  sharpen  in  his  master's  time.     His  former 
employment  was   tending  hogs  and  minding  the  gate, 
wliich  it  was  his  duty  to  open  to  all  visitors,  but  he 
had  been  strictly  forbidden  to  admit  the  Special  Magis- 
trate when  he  came  to  the  estate,  and  his  offence  con- 
sisted  in   having   disregarded  these  orders.     He  wi  s 
told  that  he  could  not  be  ccmpelled  to  work  in  the  field 
as  a  punishment,  and  being  also  a  cripple,  was  directed 
to  return  to  his  former  employment.     9th.  Another 
negro  from  the  same  estate  said,  that  one  of  his  fellow 
apprentices  had  received  serious  injury  from  a  fire  in 
the  stillhouse,  where  he  was  working  under  the  super- 
intendence of  the  Overseer's  son.     He  said  this  man 
was  a  very  active,  valuable  negro,  and  had  often  saved 
his  master's  property,  when  it  had  been  on  fire  before ; 
but  that  now  he  was  in  the  hospital,  neglected,  and 
with  no  one  to  attend  him.     The  two  medical  men 
attending  the  estate  were  present,  and  contradicted  this 
statement  warmly.     The  result  of  the  conflicting  testi- 
mony was,  that  the  man  was  very  seriously  burnt.     He 
could  not  feed  himself,  but  was  lying  in  the  hospital, 
which  was  locked  up,  and  his  mother  was  not  allowed 
to  be  with  him,  nor  any  one  but  the  negro  attendant 


304  JAMAICA. 

called  the  hospital  doctor.  The  accident  occurred 
through  the  wilfulness  of  the  bookkeeper,  in  refusing  to 
take  the  advice  of  the  man  who  was  accustomed  to 
work  the  still.  Tliis  complainant  also  repeated  coarse 
abuse,  lavished  upon  the  Special  Magistrate,  by  the 
Overseer  and  others.  10th.  Two  pregnant  women 
from  Hartford  estate,  complained  of  being  compelled 
to  perform  field  work.  One  of  them  was  br  advanced 
in  pregnancy,  and  had  a  diseased  leg,  which  alone 
would  incapacitate  her  from  severe  labor;  the  other 
said  she  had  been  very  sickly  during  her  pregnancy, 
and  yet  was  required  to  turn  out  as  early  as  the  rest. 
The  medical  men  present  were  asked  to  give  an  opinion, 
but  declined,  as  they  did  not  attend  the  estate.  The 
magistrate  received  a  note  from  the  Overseer,  stating^ 
that  the  doctor  declared  one  of  the  women  was  only  in 
her  third  month,  and  might  continue  to  perform  her 
ordinary  work ;  «id  that  the  other,  (the  one  affected 
with  elephantiasis,)  was  between  six  and  seven  months 
gone  in  pregnancy,  and  might  work  another  month  in 
the  second  gang.  It  must  be  observed,  that  the  second 
gang  works  the  same  number  of  hours  as  the  first,  and 
its  labor  is  frequently  as  severe.  The  case  was  de- 
ferred till  the  magistrate's  next  visit  to  the  estate. — 
llth.  An  apprentice,  on  Happy  Grove  plantation,  the 
property  of  Georgk  Codrington,  complained  that  he 
and  his  fellow  apprentices  were  required  to  dig  six 
baskets  of  arrowroot  per  diem,  for  five  days  in  the  week, 
as  before  stated;  also  that  they  were  compelled  to 
watch  at  night  by  turns,  and  if  a  man  missed  a  night, 
he  was  made  to  watch  for  six  nights  in  succession, 
although  they  received  no  pay  for  watching :  also,  that 
when  they  were  able  to  complete  their  task  of  arrow- 
root, they  were  compelled  to  go  and  pick  grass  :  also. 


Jamaica.  306 

that  having  worked  by  agreement,  for  three  days  in 
their  own  time,  for  one  shilling  and  eight-pence  a  day, 
their  master  had  refused  to  pay  them  for  more  than  two 
days.  He  said  the  apprentices  had  made  no  agreement 
to  work  by  the  task ;  their  master  had  forced  it  oii 
them,  and  the  former  magistrate,  (Dawson)  would  not 
hear  a  word  they  had  to  say.  When  they  complained 
recentry  to  their  master,  he  told  them,  they  might  go 
to  Mr.  Chambbrlaine  ;  that  it  was  their  turn  now, 
but  would  be  his  by  and  bye  ;  that  he  would  have  jus- 
tice done  him,  and  would  send  for  Major  Baines,  (a 
magistrate  very  popular  with  the  planters  in  an  adjoin- 
ing district.)  Complainant  also  repeated  offensive  ex- 
pressions used  by  his  master  in  reference  to  the  magis- 
trate's complexion.  The  defendant  in  reply,  admitted 
the  expressions  attributed  to  him,  except  the  last,  which 
he  denied.  He  said  that  his  people  had  worked  by  the 
task  of  six  baskets  a  day, /or  the  last ^f teen  years ^  and 
on  the  introduction  of  the  Apprenticeship  had  continued 
to  do  it,  under  the  sanction  of  Chamberlaine's  pre- 
decessor, (Dawson,)  "  who  was  a  very  fair  magistrate," 
and  he  should  insist  on  their  still  giving  him  the  same 
quantity.  On  the  magistrate  remarking  that  it  was 
illegal  to  impose  taskwork  without  the  consent  of 
the  apprentices,  he  said  he  would  do  it,  adding,  "  Sir 
Lionel  Smith  is  of  a  different  opinion  to  you  Sir,  and 
we  shall  seee  presently  whether  you  will  be  able  to  pre- 
vent it."  On  being  asked  respecting  his  imposing  six 
nights  continuous  watching,  as  a  punishment  on  his 
apprentices  ;  he  said,  *^  he  considered  himself  as  their 
protector,  and  desired  that  they  should  look  up  to  him 
as  suclj,  and  that  the  magistrate  should  not  come  on 
the  property ;  but  now  they  had  called  him  in,  they 
should  have  enough  of  him."  He  enquired  in  his  turn 
dd3 


300  JAMAICA. 

whether  the  magistrate  would  enforce  him  a  proper 
amount  of  labor,  and  whether  he  would  punish  for  in- 
solence. He  did  not  affect  to  defend  the  imposition  of 
grasB  picking,  and  acknowledged  they  had  a  right  to 
refuse  to  do  it.  With  respect  to  the  disagreement 
about  the  three  days,  he  admitted  the  fact  alleged^  but 
said  they  had  left  the  work  which  they  had  agreed  to 
do  unfinished,  and  if  they  had  been  free  laborers^  he 
could  have  had  them  punished.  He  brought  forward 
his  bookkeeper,  and  another  witness,  to  prore  that  the 
task  of  arrowroot  digging,  was  what  they  frequently 
performed  by  two  o'clock  in  the  day  ;  but  as  the  case 
affected  the  entire  gang,  it  was  concluded,  apparently 
by  consent  of  all  parties,  that  the  magistrate  should 
visit  the  property,  and  hold  a  Special  Court  to  decide 
the  case.  12th.  Another  apprentice  on  the  same 
property  came  forward  to  be  valued.  His  master  said 
that  he  was  one  of  his  most  valuable  men,  that  he  was 
a  mason  and  carpenter,  and  occasionally  worked  in  the 
field.  His  bookkeeper  deposed,  that  during  a  two 
years  residence  on*  the  estate^  he  had  never  known  him 
employed  except  in  the  field,  but  that  he  was  a  very 
active,  valuable  man.  Another  bookkeeper  deposed^ 
that  he  had  once  seen  him  some  years  ago  plastering  a 
cottage.  The  next  witness  was  a  colored  man,  who 
had  been  a  slave,  and  had  been  manumitted  by  the 
father  of  its  present  proprietor,  for  his  valuable  servi- 
ces, and  is  still  employed  on  the  estate.  He  swore  that 
the  negro  in  question  could  handle  both  a  trowel  and  a 
saw,  but  was  not  a  good  workman  with  either.  The 
apprentice  himself  said,  lie  had  only  been  sent  to  learn 
to  be  a  mason  for  a  short  period,  several  years  ago, 
and  that  he  had  bad  health.  His  brother  confirmed 
this  statement.     An  Overseer  who  was  standing  by. 


JAMAICA.  307 

rated  his  services  at  forty  pounds  per  annum  nett.  A 
dispute  '.next  arose^  about  the  class  to  which  he  be- 
longed^ as  he  had  been  employed  as  a  domestic  servant 
some  time  previous  to  August,  1H33.  The  local  magis- 
trate, appointed  as  valuer  by  the  proprietor,  pulled  out 
of  his  pocket,  the  island  Act  recently  passed  for  regu- 
lating classifications,  and  read  the  clause  which  gives 
the  master  the  right  of  nominating  a  local  magistrate, 
to  associate  with  the  Stipendiary,  and  in  case  they 
cannot  agree,  to  appoint  a  second  Special  Magistrate  as 
umpire.  This  he  \^ry  truly  observed,  "gave  great 
power  to  the  master''  in  all  disputes  about  classifica- 
tion. He  said  he  should  insist  in  case  of  dispute,  that 
the  case  should  be  decided  in  that  manner.  It  appeared 
at  length  pretty  clear,  that  the  man  was  a  predial,  and 
after  some  further  difficulties,  the  valuation  was  at 
length  fixed  at  sixty  pounds.  Two  important  features 
of  the  system,  were  disclosed  to  our  observation  during 
these  proceedings.  The  Special  Magistrate  reminded 
the  proprietor  of  the  fact  which  had  been  elicited  in  the 
previous  case,  that  he  paid  his  negros  only  one  shilling 
and  eight-pence  for  their  Saturdays,  and  he  remonstra- 
ted with  him  on  his  placing  an  exhorbitant  price  on 
their  services,  when  they  came  to  be  valued.  The  lat- 
ter replied,  that  whatever  the  time  of  his  apprentices 
was  worth,  it  was  nothing  to  any  body,  if  they  chose 
to  sell  it  to  him  for  one  shilling  and  eight-pence  a  day. 
The  local  magistrate,  before  referred  to,  remarked  that 
every  planter  must  get  a  profit  by  the  labor  of  his 
people ;  so  it  appears,  that  in  valuations,  the  local  ma- 
gistrates take  the  market  price  of  labor  ;  adding  thereto 
the  real  or  imaginary  profit,  which  the  master  would 
realiseupon  it  during  the  remainder  of  the  apprenticeship. 
The  other  was  on  a  doctrine  propounded  by  the  same 


306  JAMAICA. 

local  magistrate^  to  the  following  effect : — that  the 
Stipendiary  ought  if  required  to  administer  the  law 
literally^  and  to  require  the  forty  hours  and  half  labor 
per  week,  from  the  apprentices  in  cases  of  sickness,  or 
pregnancy,  and  that  all  needful  relaxations  should 
emanate  from  the  bounty  and  humanity  of  the  proprie- 
tor. Against  these  sentiments  the  Stipendiary  pro- 
tested, and  declared  that  he  would  never  violate  the 
law  of  nature  in  any  such  manner.  13th.-^The  last 
case  was  the  valuation  of  Allick,  an  apprentice  to 
John  Ross,  of  Mullatto  River  estate.  This  appren- 
tice was  a  fine,  intelligent,  negro,  who  has  been 
employed  for  ten  months  past  as  an  overseer  on 
the  estate,  at  a  salary  of  twenty  pounds  per  annum, 
giving  up  all  his  extra  time.  He  was,  however,  so 
good  a  house  servant,  that  his  mistress  had  persuaded 
her  husband  to  reduce  him  again  to  that  capacity, 
which  was  the  cause  of  his  wishing  to  be  valued.  His 
master,  who  was  present,  employed  another  gentleman, 
the  same  local  magistrate,  to  act  for  him  on  account  of 
his  age  and  deafness.  An  agreement  was  produced  to 
fix  the  class  of  the  apprentice  as  a  predial.  The  pur- 
port of  which  was,  that  fourteen  apprentices  therein 
named,  of  whom  Allick  was  one,  should  receive  the 
same  time  and  the  same  quantity  of  provision  ground 
as  the  predial  apprentices,  on  condition  of  their  re- 
maining apprentices  till  1840.  This  had  been  verbally 
settled  between  them  and  their  master  on  the  first  of 
August,  1834,  and  a  year  afterwards  confirmed  by  the 
memorandum  now  produced,  which  was  signed  by  their 
marks,  and  by  the  Special  Magistrate,  Dawson.  The 
agent  for  the  proprietor  observing,  that  the  Stipen- 
diary disregarded  this  agreement,  again  produced  the 
jiew  classification  law,  and  proposed  as  a  local   magis- 


JAMAICA.  309 

trate  the  proprietor  of  Happy  Grove  estate,  to  asso- 
ciate with  Special  Justice  Chamberlaine,  and  a  neigh- 
bouring Special  Justice  of  notorious  character,  to  be 
the  umpire.  To  this  the  Stipendiary  objected,  observ- 
ing, that  the  dispute  was  not  as  to  the  usual  employ* 
ment  of  Allick  for  the  year  preceding  the  1st  of  Au- 
gust, 1833,  which  cases  alone  were  the  object  of  the 
Classififcation  Law,  but  as  to  the  character  of  the  do- 
cument produced,  which  he  contended  was  neither 
legal  nor  valid.     He  deferred  the  question  with  the 

intention  of  submitting  it  to  the  Governor.  The  old 
gentleman  who  was  a  principal  party  in  the  cause, 
paid  at  this  time  five  pounds  ;  an  amount,  which  he  had 
been  fined  on  a  previous  occasion  for  an  assault  on  one 
of  his  afvprentices. 

At  this  Court,  we  could  not  but  observe  the  very 
great  difficulties  the  magistrate  had  to  contend  with, 
nor  sufficiently  admire  the  manner  in  which  he  dis- 
charged his  duties.  The  room  was  filled  with  planters 
and  overseers,  some  of  whom  were  spectators  only ; 
and  when  any  low,  vulgar  abuse  of  the  magistrate  was 
stated  in  evidence  by  the  negros,  it  created  a  general 
laugh.  The  animus  of  the  whole  proceedings  on  the 
part  of  the  planters  was  odious,  and  this  single  day's 
experience  convinced  us,  that  for  general  and  syste- 
matic violations  of  the  Apprenticeship  Act,  this  is  not' 
behind  any  district  in  the  island. 

16th. — ^The  man  who  was  valued  yesterday  from 
Happy  Grove,  came  to  day  in  distress  to  complain, 
that  his  master  had  found  out  the  person  who  was 
going  to  lend  him  the  money,  and  had  been  to  him  to 
induce  him  not  to  do  so. 

We  attended  the  services  at  the  Baptist  mission 
house  at  Belle  Castle.    The  congregation  consisted  of 


310  JAMAICA. 

about  three  hundred  persons;  many  of  them  apprentices 
from  distant  estates. 

17th. — We  paid  a  visit  this  morning  to  Windsor 
Forest^  the  property  and  residence  of  Captain  Queixh. 
It  is  on  the  borders  of  the  parish  of  Portland,  nine 
miles  distant  from  Manchineal.     The  coast  by  which 
our  route  lay  is  very  bold  and  rocky.     The  vegetation 
of  the  hills  immediately  above  the  sea  is  of  the  most 
luxuriant  character.     A  parasitic  species  of  orchis  is 
found  in  great  abundance  on  the  trees,  and  the  fra- 
grance of  its  flowers  at  this  season,  perfumes  the  air 
for   a  considerable  distance.      Windsor  Forest  is  an 
abandoned  sugar  estate  of  six  hundred  acres.     There 
are  only  ten  apprentices  attached  to  it,  who  grow  pro- 
visions and  tend  cattle.     So  small  a  part,  however,  is 
cultivated,  that  trees  and  brushwood  are  fast  regain- 
ing possession  of  the  land.     The  proprietor  is  natur- 
ally  anxious   for  the  labor  of  the  community  to  be 
thrown  into   a  market    open  to    fair  competition,  in 
order  that  he  may  turn  his  property  to  better  account. 
He  bought  this  estate  a  few  years  ago  after  the  negros 
had  been  removed  to  another  by  the  former  proprietor ; 
and  the  first  thing  he  saw  on  coming  to  take  possession, 
was  a  negro  suspended  from  the  bough  of  a  tree,  which 
he  pointed  out  to  us,  near  the  gate.     This  man  was  the 
most  intelligent  and  valuable  slave  in  the  gang,  and 
had  been  heard  to  say  he  never  would  remove  alive. 
Instances   scarcely  less   striking  of   the  strong  local 
attachment  of  the  negros  are  by  no  means  infrequent. 
From  this  estate  we  accompanied  the  Special  Magis- 
trate to   the   Grange   in  the   parish  of  Portland,    the 
estate  to  which  the  negro  belongs,   mentioned  in  our 
journal  two  days  ago,  as  having  broke  out  of  confine- 
ment to  escape  flogging.     There  are  about  forty  peo- 


JAMAICA. 


311 


pie  oil  it,  who  are  a  jobbing  gang  and  are  at  present 
working  at  Williams-field  twelve  miles  from  their 
homes.  They  had  complained  that  they  were  destitute 
of  food  and  clothing,  and  had  scarcely  a  shelter  over 
their  heads,  and  two  Special  Magistrates,  Chamber- 
LAiNE  and  Waddington,  who  were  directed  to  inquire 
into  their  case,  had  ordered  that  they  should  have  time 
allowed  them  to  build  themselves  new  houses  and 
make  new  provision  grounds,  and  in  the  raeau-time  be 
supported  by  their  owner.  We  saw  several  of  the 
people  at  their  huts.  It  would  be  difficult  to  conceive 
any  thing  worse  than  their  condition,  and  impossible 
to  describe  its  wretchedness.  Both  their  appearance 
and  that  of  their  dwellings  were  truly  miserable. 
They  have  only  two  or  three  habitable  houses  among 
them,  in  each  of  which  several  families  are  obliged  to 
shelter  themselves.  They  are  nearly  destitute  of 
clothing,  and  having  no  provision  ground,  have  con- 
sequently no  food.  Their  grounds  had  been  en- 
tirely destroyed  by  cattle  while  they  were  absent  by 
the  week  together  at  their  work,  and  the  only  watch- 
man, who  had  been  allowed  them,  was  a  crippled  young 
man,  whom  we  saw,  and  who  was  not  only  unfit  for 
that  service,  but  incapable  even  of  attending  to  his 
own  wants.  The  proprietor  on  being  asked  to  day  by 
the  Magistrate  whether  they  had  been  supported  agree- 
ably to  his  directions,  replied  that  they  did  not  require 
it  as  "they  had  plenty  of  friends  and  neighbours 
who  would  assist  them,"  meaning  the  negros  on  neigh- 
boring properties.  We  may  add,  that  this  individual 
is  a  local  magistrate. 

During  our  stay  in  this  part  of  the  island  we  con- 
versed with  a  number  of  the  negros  from  different 
estates  in  the  Manchineal  and  Plaintain  Garden  River 


312  JAMAICA. 

districts^  whose  statements  will  be  found  with  others  of 
similar  character,*  and  not  inferior  to  any  in  their 
painful  interest.  We  wish  we  could  convey  the  im- 
pression of  the  appearance  and  demeanor  of  the  indi- 
viduals with  whom  we  conversed,  and  the  natural 
pathos  with  which  many  of  them  related  their  dis- 
tresses. In  no  part  of  the  island  are  the  abuses  greater 
than  in  this,  llie  cases  in  the  Appendix  will  be  found 
to  include  almost  every  variety  of  oppression,  i^al  or 
illegal.  The  negros  throughout  all  the  estates  in  this 
part  of  the  island,  we  believe,  without  a  single  excep- 
tion, have  been  deprived  of  their  half  Fridays,  and  on 
the  greater  number  of  properties,  they  have  been  exten- 
sively defrauded,  by  being  compelled  to  work  more 
than  the  legal  number  of  hours  per  diem.  Instead' of 
forty  hours  and  half,  they  are  made  to  work  about  fifty 
hours  of  severe  uncompensated  labor  per  week  out  of 
crop,  and  in  crop  a  large  amount  of  night- work  has 
been  exacted  from  them  for  which  they  frequently  re- 
ceive no  remuneration,  except  what  are  called  the 
extra  allowances  or  indulgences  of  slavery — viz.  salt 
fish  and  medical  attendance  for  their  free  children.  It 
might  be  argued,  that  both  in  law  and  justice  those 
allowances  are  due  to  the  apprentices,  but  were  it 
otherwise,  this  compulsory  exaction  of  a  most  dispro- 
portionate amount  of  labor  in  lieu  of  them,  would 
characterize  the  system  as  one  of  gross  fraud  and  op- 
pression. On  many  estates  these  arrangements  are 
enforced  under  the  authority  of  pretended  agreements, 
which  have  boen  made  not  with  the  people,  but  between 
the  Stipendiary  and  the  overseer  or  proprietor.  And 
even  if  these  agreements  had  been  made  in  a  bona  fide 

•  See  Appendix  F,  Sec.  iv. 


JAMAICA.  313 

manner^  their  conditions  have  been  rigidly  exacted 
from  the  apprentices,  and  very  imperfectly  fulfilled  by 
the  overseers,  the  distribution  of  salt  fish  having  been 
on  many  estates  very  irregular.  We  have  obtained 
a  copy  of  a  scale  drawn  up  by  a  planting  attorney 
residing  in  this  parish,  upon  which  agreements  had 
been  enforced  by  the  late  Stipendiary  Magistrate  on 
several  estates,  and  which  is  a  specimen  of  the  manner 
in  which  the  apprentices  have  been  treated  throughout 
the  whole  district.  Its  avowed  object  is  to  obtain  their 
half  Fridays  and  extra  labor  during  crop,  in  exchange 
for  what  are  called  the  indulgences  of  slavery,  without 
any  pecuniary  iremuneration.  This  table  with  remarks 
upon  it  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix.*  The  present 
Special  Magistrate,  R.  Chambkrlaine,  has  been  about 
two  months  in  the  district.  His  predecessor  was  J.  K. 
Dawson,  the  character  of  whose  administration  may 
be  inferred  from  the  present  state  of  the  district.  The 
refusal  of  the  former  gentleman,  to  sanction  the  pre- 
tended agreements  of  the  latter,  and  to  carry  on  the 
same  system  of  coercion,  has  excited  a  combined  hos- 
tility against  him  on  the  part  of  the  planters  ;  and  the 
strongest  efforts  are  being  made  to  effect  his  removal. 
There  is  in  fact,  a  conspiracy  in  the  district,  to  re-enact 
the  proceedings,  which  terminated  in  the  removal  of 
Dr.  Palmer,  and  the  issue  of  that  enquiry,  has  in- 
spired the  planters  with  strong  expectations  of  success. 
In  the  midst  of  profound  quiet,  the  minds  of  the  irri- 
tated predial  population  being  tranquillized  by  the  just 
policy  of  their  new  Stipendiary,  the  district  is  begin- 
ning to  be  represented  as  in  a  state  of  insubordination, 
and  these  rumors  may  be  expected  to  increase  till  the 

•  See  Appendix  F,  Sec.  xiv. 
E   E 


314  JAMAICA. 

credulouH  at  a  distance  believe  the  eastern  extremity  of 
the  island  to  be  in  rebellion ;  while  in  fact  all  the  vio- 
lence,  turbulence^  and  defiance  of  the  law^  are  com- 
mitted by  the  white  overseers,  proprietors,  magistrates, 
colonels  of  militia,  and  assistant  judges. 

A  ]iractice  exists  in  Jamaica,  and  it  is  hoped  exists 
there  only  in  the  civilized  world,  of  making  represen- 
tations against  Special  Magistrates,  and  other  obnoxious 
persons,  founded  on  expressions  used  in  the  freedom  of 
social   intercourse  or   qtuisi  friendly   correspondence. 
These  representations  are  sometimes  employed  to  pre- 
judice the  public  mind,  through  the  newspapers,  and 
sometimes,  embodied  in  the  solemn  form  of  affidavit, 
are  forwarded  to  the  King's  house,  to  effect  their  pur- 
pose with  the  Government.      Several  instances  have 
come  under  our  notice  in  different  parts  of  the  island. 
A  gentleman  called  not  long  ago  on  the  Special  Magis- 
trate of  this  district,  and  in  the  course  of  a  friendly 
conversation,  complained  that  his  negros  were  taking 
in  too  much  land  to  cultivate ;  the  magistrate  replied, 
that  they  would  pay  him  more  rent  for  it  after  1840. 
Soon  afterwards,  the  same  individual  wrote  a  letter  to 
the  Governor,  stating,  on  the  authority  of  this  conver- 
sation, that  the  Special  Justice  was  disseminating  ideas 
among  the  negros,  that  they  were  to  forsake  estate  la- 
bor, and  to  rent  independent  parcels  of  land  after  1840. 
18th. — We  left  Manchineal  this  morning  for  Bath, 
on   our   return  to  Kingston.      Nothing  that  we  have 
seen  in  the  West  Indies  is  equal  to  the  vale  of  the 
Plaintain  Garden  River,  seen  in  its  whole  extent  from 
the   neighboring  heights ;  its  level  bed  being  covered 
with   cane  fields,  studded  at  intervals  with  extensive 
estates'  buildings  and  works,  partially  hidden  by  cocoa 
nut  trees.     This  beautiful  savanna  is  about  ten  miles 


JAMAICA.  315 

in  lengthy  and  terminates  at  tbe  sea  coast,  in  a  fine 
harbour  called  Holland  Bay.  It  is  bounded  on  the 
south  by  a  low  range  of  hills^  and  on  the  north  by  an 
ascending  series  of  heights^  terminating  in  the  lofty 
range  of  the  Blue  Mountains.  The  Plaintain  Garden 
River,  at  this  season  an  inconsiderable  stream,  inter- 
sects the  savanna.  Owing  to  the  nearly  uniform  suc- 
cession of  fine  seasons,  this  district  is  one  of  the  most 
4if9<uent  in  the  island,  but  is  reputed  to  be  very  un- 
healthy^ and  has  been  sometimes  termed  the  grave  of 
Europeans.  We  were  accompanied  by  J.  Kingdon, 
with  whom  we  called  at  Amity  Hall,  a  fine  estate  near 
the  centre  of  the  savanna,  and  were  introduced  to 
KiHKLAND,  the  resident  overseer,  and  joint  attor- 
ney of  the  estate.  This  estate  is  managed  with  more 
lenity  than  most  others  in  the  district,  a  circumstance 
which  is  owing  to  the  proprietor  and  his  family  resi- 
ding upon  it  for  a  short  time,  and  to  his  selection  of 
the  present  overseer.  The  apprentices  obtained  their 
half  Fridays,  when  their  owner  was  in  the  island,  but 
have  again  been  deprived  of  them  since  his  departure, 
without,  as  we  learned  from  the  overseer  himself,  any 
agreement  having  been  entered  into,  to  compensate  them 
for  the  loss.*  We  were  shewn  over  the  works,  which 
are  very  complete.  The  boiling-house  has  been  newly 
arranged,  and  is  the  best  we  have  seen  for  economy  of 

•  This  fact  had  been  mentioned  to  ns  previously  by  two  indi- 
viduals acquainted  with  the  circumstances.  The  change  was 
made  through  the  influence  of  the  other  attorney,  one  of  the  mem- 
bers for  the  parish.  The  motive  could  have  been  no  other  than  a 
determination  to  preserve  a  uniformity  of  system  throughout  the 
district,  as  the  example  of  one  estate  legally  administered,  would 
tend  to  excite  discontent  and  resistance  on  the  neighbouring  proper- 
ties. This  is  one  reason  why  the  directions  of  humane  absentee  pro- 
prietors are  rarely  carried  into  effect 


316  JAMAICA. 

labor.     There   is  a  patent  ieachj  as  the  last  boiling 
copper  is  called,  from  which  the  granulating  liquor  is 
drawn  off,  instead  of  being  laded  out,  by  which  means, 
a  saving  is  effected  of  time  and  fuel.     The  hospital  b 
a  very  poor  building,  and  was  full  of  cases  of  measles. 
The  population  of  Amity  Hall  decreased  fast  under  the 
old  system*     We  were  told  that  the  number  of  appren- 
tices is  two  hundred  and  fifty,  and  of  free  children  only 
sixteen,   a  proportion  that  appears  incredibly  smalL 
The  ''great  house"  is  situated  on  the  brow  of  one  of 
the  neighbouring  hills,  and  is  occupied  by  a  catechist 
of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  who  teaches  about 
one  hundred  and  twenty  children  in  a  school  room, 
which  has  been  built  for  the  purpose.     He  appeared  to 
be  an  excellent  young  man,  and  devoted  to  his  duties. 
He  made  the  unusual  complaint  of  the  inattention  of 
parents  and  their  children  to  education.     Tliere  are,  be 
observes,  two  hundred  and  seventy  children  of  suitable 
age,  within  two  miles  of  the  school  on  different  estates, 
while  he  has  not  half  that  number  on  his  list.     The  at- 
tendance was  thin  to-day,  on  account  of  the  extraordi- 
nary  prevalence   of  the   measles.      We   next   visited 
(iolden  Grove,  an  estate  on  the  other  side  of  the  Plain- 
tain  Garden  River,  over  which  is  thrown  an  elegant 
Muspciision    bridge.      Canals  are   conducted  from  the 
river,   through   the  different  estates,  which  set  their 
works  in  motion,  by  means  of  large  undershot  wheels. 
The  present  time  of  drought,  impedes  the  progress  of 
the  crop,  and  renders  it  impossible  to  plant,  so  that 
its  effects  will  be  still  more  sensibly  felt  next  year  than 
they  are  at  present.     The  attorney  of  Golden  Grove, 
Thomas  Mc.  Cornock,  who  is  also  the  Custos  of  the 
parish,  received  us  very  kindly,  and  requested  the  over- 
seer to  shew  us  over  the  works.     Golden  Grove  is  one 


JAMAICA.  317 

of  the  most  productive  estates  in  the  island^  and  has 
upwards  of  five  hundred  apprentices.  The  buildings 
are  very  complete,  and  on  an  extensive  scale^and  the 
mill  is  on  an  improved  plan.  Instead  of  being » placed 
in  a  raised  building,  for  the  purpose  of  allowing  the 
cane  juice  to  run  down  into  the  receiver  in  the  boiling- 
bouse,  so  as  to  require  all  the  canes  to  be  carried  up  in 
bundles,  the  mill  is  placed  on  the  level,  and*  the  cane 
juice  is  raised  by  a  wheel  hung  round  with  buckets, 
moved  by  the  water  wheel  that  sets  the  mill  itself  in 
motion.  It  must  be  remarked  of  this  and  similar  im- 
provements, which  are  at  length  beginning  to  be  intro- 
duced, that  they  not  only  save  the  labor  of  many  hands, 
but  abolish  sdtogether  those  kinds  of  labor,  which  were 
the  most  painful  and  destructive  of  life.  It  is  remark- 
ablcy  however,  that  such  improvements  are  scattered 
singly  over  the  island,  and  we  believe,  no  estate  can, 'be 
pointed  out,  which  combines  them  all.  The  hospital 
at  Golden  Grove  is  roomy,  clean,  and  well  ventilated. 
It  is  full  of  cases  of  measles,  and  the  patients  are  locked 
in  till  convalescent.  The  practice  is  general  through- 
out the  island,  of  permitting  the  apprentice  attendants, 
called  hospital  doctors,  to  bleed  and  compound  medi- 
cines. The  most  interesting  building  on  this  estate,  is 
a  handsome,  little,  brick  church,  built  by  the  proprietor, 
with  materials  supplied  from  his  estate,  and  with  the 
labor  of  his  own  slaves.  It  is  now  thrown  open  to 
the  public,  and  the  minister  is  paid  by  this  and  several 
adjoining  estates.  There  is  a  clock  in  the  tower  of  the 
church,  and  we  enquired  of  the  attorney  whether  the 
people  drew  off  when  it  struck  six ;  he  replied  no,  they 
draw  oiOF  at  sun-set,  and  as  that  is  earlier  than  six  on 
the  short  days,  one  season  conlpensates  for  the  other. 
He   also   acknowledged  they  did  not  have  their  half 

E£   3 


318  JAMAICA. 

Fridays,  and  received  in  lieu,  their  allowance  of  salt 
fish.  The  overseer  mentioned  to  us,  that  the  apprenti- 
ces did  not  cultivate  their  provision  grounds,  nearly  so 
well  as  during  slavery,  and  now  rarely  have  any  to  send 
to  market.  On  Amity  Hall,  we  were  informed  on  the 
contrary,  that  the  negro  houses  and  grounds  were  more 
industriously  attended  to  than  before.  In  the  evening 
we  proceeded  to  Bath. 

19th. — ^Very  early  this  morning  we  rode  over  to 
Altamont,  the  new  immigrant  settlement  situated  in 
the  heart  of  the    Portland   mountains,    about  eleven 
miles  from  Bath,  and  fifteen  from  Port  Antonio.     We 
proceeded  by  a  bridle  path  over  a  ridge  three  thousand 
feet  high,  called  the  Coonah-Coonahs.    After  the  first 
four  or  five  miles  all  traces  of  human  interference  with 
the  wild  domain  of  nature  had  disappeared  excepting 
only  the  track  we  followed.     Below  us  was  a  valley  of 
immense  depth  formed  by  a  long  ridge  on  the  opposite 
side,  and  by  the  one  impending  over  our  heads.     All 
was  one  vast  forest,  whose  solitude  was  broken  only  by 
the  deep-toned  voices  of  birds.      That  delightful  and 
cheerful  songster,  the  mocking  bird  is  a  lover  of  human 
haunts,  and  its  wild  and  merry  notes  cease  to  be  heard 
in  these  deep  recesses  of  the  mountain  forests.     Here 
the   multitude   of  mountain   springs  and   rivers    give 
ten-fold  luxuriance  to  the  productions  of  a  fertile  soil 
vivified  by  a  tropical  sun.     On  the  side  of  the  preci- 
pice, above  which  we  were  travelling,  were  huge  trees, 
rooted  at  a  great  depth  below  us,  but  far  over  shadow- 
ing our  heads  with  their  arms  and  foliage.     Above  us 
on  the  other  side  was  a  canopy  sometimes  so  dense  as 
to  exclude  the  sky.     Among  other  beautiful  trees,  we 
observed  the  down  tree,  with  full  crops  of  its  curious 
pods  of  vegetable  beaver,  and  the  tree  fern  frequently 


JAMAICA.  319 

covered  the  sides  of  the  hills  for  a  considerable  extent. 
Our  path  was  as  thickly  strewn  with  decayed  leaves  as 
in  a  northern  autumn^  while  all  else  bore  the  aspect  of 
summer ;  for  in  this  climate  few  of  the  trees  become 
wholly  or  even  partially  denuded.     After  a  long  and 
difficult  ascent  of  several  miles,  and  a  still    steeper 
descent,  we  came  to  a  place  where  the  valley  opened 
into  a  wider  basin,  in  which  traces  of  cultivation  began 
to  appear.     We  crossed  a  mountain  torrent,  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Rio  Grande,  and  entering  a  beauti- 
ful glade  covered  with  turf  on  which  cattle  were  graz- 
ing, we  came  to  a  farm  house  belonging  to  a  person 
of  color,    near  which  is  the  settlement  of  Altamont. 
A  single  family  have  been  sole  tenants  of  this  wilder- 
ness, for  a  long  period,  during  which  their  only  neigh- 
bours were  the  Maroons,  living  at  Moore  Town,  about 
four  miles  distant.      They  were  formerly  accustomed 
to  exercise  free  hospitality,  but  are  now  compelled  to 
become  hotel  keepers  in  self-defence.     The  new  settle- 
ment is  formed  on  six  hundred  acres  of  land  which  was 
a  part  of  their  estate,   and  has  been  purchased  from 
them  at  thirty  shillings  an  acre.     We  were  fortunate 
enough  to  arrive  soon  after  the  Superintendent  of  the 
immigrants,  A.  G.  Johnston,  to  whom  the  Gustos  had 
given  us  a  letter  of  introduction.     He  is  a  gentleman 
of  great  intelligence,  and  very  sanguine  temperament, 
and  appears  completely  devoted  to  his  new  undertaking. 
Under  his  auspices  the  immigrants  certainly  appear  to 
have  a  good  prospect  of  successfully  contending  with 
the  difficulties  of  their  new  situation.     The  location 
is  delightfully  chosen  in  an  irregular  valley  about  one 
mile  and  half  in  length,  through  which  flows  the  Rio 
Grande.     The  climate  is  very  fine,  and  the  only  obvi- 
ous disadvantage  is  the  difficulty  of  transporting  pro- 


320  JAMAICA. 

duce  to  a  port  or  market.    The  sides  of  the  mountains 
being  crown  land,  afford  ample  scope  for  the  extension 
of  the  settlement.    The  soil  is  virgin  land  of  the  most 
fertile  description,    well   suited  to  the  cultivation  of 
coffee  and  ginger.    The  attention  of  the  Superintend- 
ent is  turned  to  the  introduction  of  indigo,  tobacco, 
the  mulberry,  and  various  other  descriptions  of  pro* 
fitable  cultivation.     The  colony  consists  at  present,  of 
only  six  families,  who  have  been  about  two  months 
in  the  island.      The  commissioners  anticipated  their 
arrival,  b)^  building  some  neat  little  white  cottages, 
which  the  people  themselves  have  since  further  im- 
proved,  and  enclosed  in  little  plots  of  ground,  by  neat 
fences  of  young  rose  trees.     They  are  all  married  per- 
sons with  young  families,  from  the  neighborhood  of 
Aberdeen,  selected  by  a  minister,  who  is  the  brother 
of  a  member  of  Assembly  in  this  island,  one  of  the 
chief  promoters   of   the   colonization   of   Europeans. 
They  have  hitherto  enjoyed  good  health,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  one  family,  who  were  detained  on  a  sugar 
estate,  near  the  coast,  where  the  husband  found  em- 
ployment  as  a  cooper.     There  his  wife  and  children 
were  attacked  by  intermittent  fever,  from  which  they 
have  not  yet  recovered.     Each  family,   besides  being 
permitted  for  the  present  to  occupy  a  house  rent  free, 
cultivates  any   quantity   of  land  they   think    proper. 
They  have  also  a  cow  and  certain  allowances  of  food 
till  they  are  able  to  support  themselves.     An  account 
is  kept  against  them  for  the  two  latter  items  which 
they  will  be  expected  to  repay.     They  are  offered  twenty 
acres  of  land  in  fee,  as  soon  as  they  can  erect  a  house 
upon  it,  so  as  to  leave  their  present  dwellings   for  new 
occupants.     About  twenty  houses  are  either  built,  or 
in  progress,  and  an  additional  number  of  families  are 


JAMAICA.  321 

shortly  expected.  The  Superintendent  appeared  de- 
Jighted  with  the  industry  of  the  immigrants,  and  in- 
deed shewed  us  sufficient  proofs  of  it,  in  the  quantity 
of  land  they  have  already  brought  into  cultivation. 
The  men  are  fine,  athletic  peasants.  They  seemed 
cheerful,  and  expressed  themselves  satisfied  with  their 
new  country  ;  they  were  employed  in  making  a  piece 
of  road,  towards  the  expence  of  which  the  island  has 
granted  a  sum  of  money.  Their  children  looked  happy, 
and  their  blue  eyes,  laughing  faces  and  bare  feet,  re- 
minded us  of  their  native  mountains.  Their  wives, 
however,  generally  appeared  home-sick.  The  circum- 
stance which  gave  us  the  least  satisfaction  was  the  des- 
titution of  the  means  of  religious  instruction.  There 
was  formerly  a  resident  minister,  connected  with  the 
Church  Missionary  Society,  stationed  at  the  Maroon 
Town,  four  miles  distant,  but  he  has  recently  been 
withdravm  by  the  bishop.  It  is  the  intention  of  the 
legislature  to  form  a  colony  of  white  immigrants  in 
each  of  the  three  grand  divisions  of  the  island ;  the 
eastern  part  of  it  called  the  county  of  Surrey,  the  cen- 
tral Middlesex,  and  the  western  Cornwall.  The  one 
in  Cornwall  has  already  been  formed,  and  is  called  Sea- 
ford  Town.  We  did  not  visit  it,  but  heard  a  very 
unfavorable  account  of  its  progress.  The  Middle- 
sex colony  is  not  yet  in  existence.  This,  of  Alta- 
mont  in  Surrey,  has  probably  the  best  promise  of  suc- 
cess, as  considerable  attention  has  been  paid  to  the 
selection  of  the  families.  While,  however,  we  have 
thus  expressed  the  agreeable  impressions  we  received 
from  our  visit  to  Altamont,  we  cannot  but  consider 
the  artificial  system,  upon  which  the  settlement  has 
been  formed,  as  most  unlikely  to  produce,  good  results 
of  a  permanent  nature.     In  addition  to  the  formation 


322  JAMAICA. 

of  the  settlementfly  Europeau  colonization  has  been  en* 
couragedy  by  the  grant  of  an  indiscriminate  bounty  of 
fifteen  pounds  a  head,  to  the  importers  of  immigrants  ; 
a   plan   which  could  promote  no  other  end  than  the 
introduction  of  the   European   vices  of  drunkenness, 
and  housebreaking ;  so  that  in  some  of  the  parishes  a 
further  expence  has  been  incurred  in  order  to  deport 
them.     Europeans  have  also  been  settled  by  individual 
proprietors  on  many  of  the  estates  almost  uniformly, 
with   an  unfavorable  result.     Notwithstanding,   bow- 
ever,  the  experience  of  the  past,  the  mania  for  immi- 
gration still  continues  as  if  there  were  a  charm  in  a 
European   birth,   and  white  complexion.     These  at- 
tempts may  be  traced  to  the  boasted  knowledge,  but 
real  ignorance,  of  the  colonists,  of  the  negro  charac- 
ter.    The  present  condition  of  the  low,  white  popula- 
tion of  Barbados  has  been  forgotten  or  disregarded; 
as  well  as  the  fact  that  the  introduction  of  Europeans, 
as  laborers,  must  in  the  first  instance  be  attended  with 
an  enormous  waste  of  life,  and  when  this  difficulty  is 
overcome,  they  can  never  compete  with  the  superior 
adaptation  of  the  negros  to  a  tropical  climate.     The 
true  motive  of  the  immigration  policy,  appears  to  have 
been  to  create  such  a  considerable  body  of  whites  as 
to  neutralise  the  anticipated  political  importance  of  the 
enfranchised   negros.      Such   schemes,    involving   the 
most  lavish  expenditure  of  money,  deserve  the  scruti- 
nizing attention  of  the  bona  fide  proprietors  of  the  soil, 
whether  resident  or  absentee,  as  it  is  generallj*  believed 
that  the  ^^  power  of  the  purse"  is  in  the  hands  of  men 
in  the  colony,  whose  fortunes  are  no  longer  susceptible 
of  injury,   either  by   private  or  public  extravagance. 
About  mid  day,  we  proceeded  to  Moore  Town,  which 
settlement  is  as  beautiful  in  situation  as  Altamont.     It 


JAMAICA.  323 

consists  of  about  one  hundred  cottages,  larger  and  more 
finished  than  negro  houses  on  estates,  scattered  over  a 
considerable  extent  of  ground  on  the  side  of  a  hill. 
The  residence  of  the  superintendent.  Captain  Wright, 
is  on  an  opposite  height,  which  overlooks  the  town. 
On  a  still  higher  eminence  is  a  large  house,  belonging 
to  one  of  the  Maroons,  which  was  lately  occupied  by 
the  clergyman.     The  Maroons  are  a  fine  race  of  peo- 
ple,   tall,  and  elegant  in  person,  with  features   more 
European  than  the  negros  generally  possess,  and  with 
the  independent   bearing  of  men  who  have  been  for 
generations  free.     Some  of  the  women  are  decidedly 
handsome,  and  except  their  complexion,  more  like  gip- 
sies than  negros.     The  inhabitants  of  this  settlement, 
the  largest  Maroon  town  in  the  island,  have  lately  ac- 
quired a  reputation  for  industry.     We  saw  a  number 
of  women  employed  at  Altamont,  in  carrying  lime  on 
their  heads  a  considerable  distance,  to  the  top  of  ^  hill, 
on  which  a  building  was  in  progress.     A  troop  of  the 
men  sometimes  turn  out,  with  their  negro  captain  at 
their  head,  to  clear  the  pastures  of  such  of  the  neigh- 
bouring planters  who  are  willing  to  employ  them ;  they 
work  with  their  cutlasses,  having  a  sort  of  disdain  for 
the  implements  degraded  by  slavery.     They  also  culti^ 
vate  their  own   grounds  industriously,  and  surround 
themselves    with  many   domestic  comforts ;    and  bid 
fair  in  short,   to  become  industrious  citizens.     Their 
improved  condition  and  habits,  do  great  credit  to  their 
present  superintendent.     It  is  to  be  desired,  when  their 
bloodhound  occupation  of  hunting  out  runaway  negros 
shall  have  ceased  by  the  abolition  of  slavery,  that  their 
exclusive  character  and  privileges  may  be  abolished, 
their  land  divided  among  them  in  fee,  and  themselves 
left  to  merge  into  the  general  community  of  free  per- 


324  JAMAICA. 

HODS.  We  called  at  the  residence  of  Captain  Wright^ 
who  was  from  home^  but  his  lady  politely  gave  us 
what  information  we  desired.  The  present  number  of 
maroons  is  about  six  hundred.  Moore  Town^  and 
Altamont  are  most  accessible  from  Port  Antonio,  from 
whence  there  is  a  carriage  road,  to  within  five  miles 
from  the  former. 

21st. — We  returned  this  morning  to  Bath  ;  and  in 
the  afternoon  to  Port  Morant. 

22nd. — We  returned  to  Kingston  early  this  morning, 
where  we  [had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  J.  A.  Thobcb, 
and  J.  H.  Kimball,  of  the  United  States,  who  have 
been  engaged  in  an  inquiry  into  the  results  of  coniplete 
emancipation  and  the  apprenticeship,  in  Antigua  and 
Barbados. 

23rd. — ^The  following  instance  of  the  inhumanity 
with  which  the  free  children  and  their  mothers  are  treat- 
ed, even  at  the  seat  of  Government,  was  related  to  us, 
by  an  individual,  intimately  acquainted  with  the  cir- 
cumstances. A  few  days  ago,  an  apprentice  at  the 
country  property  of  a  medical  man,  residing  in  Spanish 
Town,  came  to  her  master's  town  residence,  a  distance 
of  nine  miles,  with  her  infant  in  a  dying  condition  ;  he 
refused  to  look  at  the  child,  and  ordered  her  to  return 
immediately  to  her  work.  An  individual  to  whom  she 
applied  in  great  distress,  saying  her  child  would  die  on 
the  way,  if  she  attempted  to  return  home,  suflfered  her  to 
remain  in  his  house,  at  the  risk  of  a  prosecution,  for 
harboring  an  apprentice,  under  a  clause  of  the  Act  in 
Aid.  The  child  died  two  days  afterwards,  and  she 
returned  to  her  labor. 

4th  Month,  2nd,  (April.) — ^We  went  this  morning  to 
pay  a  visit  to  Capt.  Kent,  R.  N.  a  Special  Magistrate, 
in   the  Port  Royal  Mountains.     His  residence  is  the 


JAMAICA.  325 

great  house  of  Robertsfield  Coffee  Estate^  and  is  a  spa- 
cious and  convenient  mansion^  though  very  difficult  of 
access^  being  situated  on  the  breast  of  a  hill,  several 
hundred  feet  high,  the  sides  of  which  are  excessively 
steep.  There  are  many  such  dwellings  in  Jamaica, 
which  excite  our  wonder,  at  the  industry  displayed  in 
the  conveyance  of  building  materials,  for  many  miles 
of  road,  which  might  be  deemed  almost  impracticable 
for  such  purposes.  Robertsfield  commands  a  view  of 
an  immense  valley,  formed  by  the  highest  mountains 
in  the  island,  through  which  runs  the  river  Yallahs, 
contracted  in  this  dry  season  within  very  narrow  limits, 
though  its  spacious  and  rocky  bed  bears  witness  to  its 
usual  size  and  impetuosity.  The  mountain  scenerj^  of 
Port  Royal  and  St.  Andrews,  has  a  different  character 
from  that  of  Portland  and  St.  Thomas  in  the  East. 
The  sides  of  the  hills  are  cleared  of  their  native  timber, 
and  their  huge  masses  and  towering  peaks  are  fully 
exposed  to  view.  So  clear  is  the  atmosphere,  that  they 
are  seen  with  a  distinctness  that  lessens  considerably 
their  apparent  height  and  distance. 

3rd. — After  breakfast,  we  accompanied  Captain 
Kent  to  Clifton  Mount,  a  large  coffee  estate  near  the 
summit  of  St.  Catherine's  Peak.  The  great  house  of 
Clifton  Mount,  is  situated  four  thousand  two  hundred 
feet  above  the  sea,  at  an  elevation  greater  than  that  of 
almost  any  other  residence  in  the  island.  The  Peak 
rises  immediately  before  it,  and  as  seen  from  this  point 
of  view,  is  perfectly  conical  in  form,  and  covered  with 
forest.  It  is  a  conspicuous  landmark  at  sea.  The 
distance  to  the  summit  does  not  exceed  a  mile,  but  it  is 
nearly  seven  hundred  feet  higher  than  Clifton  Mount. 
Next  to  the  Peak  is  the  outline  of  the  still  loftier  moun- 
tain, called  John  Crow  Hill ;  and  the  eye  traces  in  the 

F    F 


If26  JAMAICA. 

same  line,  the  three  Peaks  of  the  Blue  Mountaias,  the 
highest  summits  in  Jamaica.  The  attorney  of  Clifton 
Mount,  Colin  Chisholm,  accompanied  us  to  the  pass 
called  Content  Gap,  from  whence  is  seen  a  magnifkrent 
prospect  of  the  plain  and  mountains  of  Liguanea,  the 
city  and  harbor  of  Kingston,  and  the  adjacent  coasts. 
We  rode  through  the  ^^  Gap,"  and  ascended  by  a  spi- 
ral path  to  Cold  Spring,  the  ruins  of  the  property  and 
seat  of  the  Wallkns,  celebrated  by  Bryan  £d wards. 
The  thermometer  at  this  elevation,  ranges  throughout 
the  year  from  44©  to  70>.  The  cofiFee  and  tea  trees, 
the  Magnolia,  English  and  American  oaks,  firs^  cedars, 
broom,  and  furze  grow  here  together.  The  oaks  com- 
mence their  hybernation  regularly  at  the  same  season  as 
in  our  own  climate.  There  are  two  of  the  old  English 
variety,  of  which  the  largest,  though  still  vegetating, 
was  laid  prostrate  by  the  tempest  of  1815,  a  period  so 
memorable  in  this  mountainous  district,  that  it  is  em- 
ployed by  tiie  negros,  as  an  epoch,  from  whence  to  date 
all  subsequent  events.  Its  effects  are  still  visible,  the 
swoln  torrents  having  torn  away  masses  of  rock,  and 
carried  off  the  soil  from  the  sides  of  the  mountains, 
leaving  in  many  places,  the  bare  rock  or  the  original 
earthy  strata  fully  exposed.  We  ascended  from  Cold 
Spring  nearly  to  the  summit  of  the  Peak.  The  small 
wild  strawberry  and  blackberry  of  our  own  country  are 
common  at  this  height,  but  the  coffee  tree  ceases  to 
flourish  at  a  greater  elevation  than  four  thousand  or 
four  thousand  five  hundred  feet. 

4th. — We  left  Robertsfield  early  this  morning,  and 
called  on  our  way  to  Kingston,  at  the  house  of 
S.  Bourne,  where  we  met  R.  Chisholm,  a  planter  in 
his  district,  who  has  the  credit  of  governing  his  ap- 
prentices with  kindness,  and  without  the  need   of  Sti- 


JAMAICA.  327 

Ipiendiary  interference.  His  estate  is  in  excellent  order, 
and  very  productive,  and  he  assured  us  he  would  not 
take  for  it  one  shilling  less  than  before  the  introduction 
of  the  apprenticeship., 

6th.— *^Two  Special  Magistrates  related  to  us  instan- 
ces of  the  wanton  destruction  of  the  goats  belonging  to 
the  apprentices,  by  the  overseers.  In  one  case,  a  goat 
belonging  to  one  of  the  negros,  which  was  tied  up  in  a 
gulley,  was  destroyed  by  an  overseer  with  his  dog.  In 
the  Other,  a  goat  similarly  secured,  which  was  big  with 
young,  was  beaten  to  death  by  a  brutal  overseer  with 
his  stick.  Numerous  cases  have  been  mentioned  to  us 
of  the  bogs  and  poultry  of  the  negros,  being  shot  by  the 
overseers.  This  species  of  persecution  frequently  fol- 
lows as  an  act  of  retaliation,  when  the  apprentices  seek 
the  protection  of  the  law. 

9th* — ^Yesterday  we  came  to  Jericho,  in  the  parish 
of  St.  Thomas  in  the  Vale,  to  pay  a  short  visit  to  John 
Clarke,  the  Baptist  missionary,  and  called  with  him 
this  morning  on  Nicholas  Gyles,  the  proprietor  of 
Recess  plantation,  an  individual  prominent  in  the  re- 
cent contest,  which  terminated  in  the  dismission  of  Dr. 
Palmer  from  the  magistracy.  He  received  us  cour- 
teously, and  conversed  with  us  for  some  time  on  the 
state  of  the  island.  Among  other  signs  of  the  decline 
of  its  prosperity,  he  mentioned  the  decrease  of  litiga- 
tion, which  he  considered  a  proof  that  there  was  little 
left  worth  contending  for.  He  read  to  us  a  long  letter, 
he  had  just  written  to  a  friend  in  London,  describing 
the  ruin  of  the  colony,  which  concluded  with  the  ex- 
pression, ''that  without  coercion,  no  good  could  be 
done  after  the  termination  of  the  apprenticeship."  He 
did  not  believe  that  his  negros  were  a  worse  set  of  peo- 
ple than  on  any  other  property,  and  when  a  proprietor 


328  JAMAICA* 

praised  his  apprentices,  he  considered  it  a  proof  that 
he  did  not  manage  them  himself,  for  in  his  own  opinion, 
they  could  never  be  changed  nor  improved  '*  so  long  as 
they  vrere  black."  He  said  that  his  negros^  whom 
Dr.  Palmbr  had  instigated  to  rebellion,  were  now 
building  new  houses  for  themselves^  which  was  a  proof 
they  did  not  mean  to  leave  the  estate  after  1840,  though 
he  intimated  they  might  then  intend  to  take  forcible 
possession.  Such  was  their  inconsistency,  that  when 
he  advertised  Recess  a  short  time  since  for  sale,  his 
apprentices  came  to  him  in  a  body,  and  said,  they  did 
not  want  to  belong  to  any  one  else.  He  advertised  it 
as  *Mn  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  notwithstanding 
circumstances,"  an  expression  which  had  been  laid  hold 
of,  to  disprove  the  charges  he  brought  against  the  ad' 
ministration  of  Dr.  Palmer  ;  but  this  high  state  of 
cultivation  was  secured,  he  observed,  by  the  sacrifice  of 
a  part  of  last  year's  crop.  We  requested  to  see  the 
negro  houses  and  hospital,  to  which  he  assented.  Seve* 
ral  of  the  former  which  we  entered,  consisted  of  three 
small  apartments,  which  were  rude,  ill-constructed, 
and  dirty  ;  the  floors  of  bare  earth,  the  walls  were  un- 
plastered,  and  the  whole  had  an  air  of  extreme  dis- 
comfort. He  said  they  were  proofs  of  the  idleness 
of  the  people.  In  another  cottage,  we  noticed  and 
praised  the  healthy  appearance  of  the  free  children. 
The  proprietor  said  it  was  nothing  like  what  it  would 
have  been  in  slavery ;  in  1834  he  returned  twenty- 
four  children  under  six  years  of  age,  out  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  slaves,  and  that  there  were  fewer 
free  children  on  the  property  now.  In  another  cottage 
was  a  man  lying  on  a  mat  on  the  floor,  evidently  very 
ill  from  fever,  with  his  arm  bound  up.  His  master 
asked  him  why  he  did  not  go  to  the  hospital,  he  replied^ 


JAMAICA.  329 

*'  because  you  treat  me  so  ill  there,  and  struck  me  and 
gave  me  a  kick  on  the  back/'  We  looked  at  his  arm, 
it  was  affected  with  erysipelas,  and  seemed  almost 
ready  to  suppurate  ;  his  illness  will  probably  be  fatal. 
The  proprietor  afterwards  gave  us  his  version  of  the 
affair ;  the  man  had  come  up  to  the  great  house  to  say 
be  was  sick,  and  refused  to  go  into  the  hospital,  be- 
cause it  was  a  place  of  confinement.  He  was  put  in  by 
force,  but  only  staid  about  half  an  hour,  when  he  got 
out  and  went  down  to  his  own  hut.  The  statement  of 
the  sick  man,  that  disgraceful  violence  was  used 
towards  him  was  very  faintly  denied,  and  indeed  ren- 
dered still  more  probable  by  the  explanation  which  was 
offered.  The  great  house  on  Recess  stands  on  the 
barbecue  on  which  the  coffee  is  dried,  and  the  basement 
story  consists  of  store  rooms  and  the  hospital.  This 
last  is  a  small  room  without  a  window,  about  six 
and  a  half  feet  high,  furnished  only  with  an  inclined 
plane  of  boards,  on  which  the  patients  sleep.  The 
door  is  kept  locked,  but  is  worn  full  of  holes,  which 
admit  light  and  a  little  air.  There  was  no  patient  in 
it,  but  the  eflBuvia  of  the  apartment  was  still  perceptible. 
One  side  of  it  is  a  place  of  confinement,  which  has  been 
most  appropriately  named  by  the  negros  "the  cofl&n.'^ 
It  is  constructed  by  a  strong,  wooden  partition,  thrown 
across  the  room  at  a  distance  of  fourteen  or  sixteen 
inches  from  the  wall,  and  with  a  floor  elevated  sixteen 
or  eighteen  inches  from  the  ground,  so  that  it  is  not 
more  than  five  feet  high.  From  these  dimensions  it  is 
evident,  that  a  person  could  not  stand  upright  in  it, 
nor  sit  without  being  wedged,  nor  lie  in  any  other 
position  than  on  the  side.  When  one  or  more  prison- 
ers were  confined,  the  heat  must  have  been  excessive, 
and  the  absence  of  light  total.     The  door  had  been   re- 

F  F  3 


?30  JAMAICA. 

moved,  and  we  were  assured  by  the  proprietor  that  it 
had  not  been  used  since  1834.  He  told  ua  that  it  had 
saved  the  life  of  many  a  poor  dirt  eater,  and  ako  many 
a  n^ro  from  more  severe  punishment.  He  said 
that  it  was  made  many  years  ago,  to  puniah  a  woman 
after  whose  name  he  had  called  it,  but  the  negros,  al- 
ways ready  with  a  nickname,  had  called  it ''  the  coffin/' 
He  also  gave  us  an  account  of  the  attempt  of  PAi^Msm* 
and  Harris,  acting  under  the  direction  of  Lord  Sugo,  to 
see  this  celebrated  place  of  punishment ;  which  attempt 
had  created  much  excitement,  having  been  made  the 
foundation  of  actions  iu  the  Island  Courts,  and  a 
prominent  part  of  those  proceedings  which  terminated 
in  the  dismission  of  Dr.  Pal-mbr,  and  the  removal  of 
Harris  to  another  part  of  the  island.  The  proprietor 
of  Recess  was  very  bitter  against  Lewis  Grant,  one 
of  his  apprentices,  who  was  a  Baptist,  and  as  he  des- 
cribed him,  a  great  leader  among  the  other  n^rosr 
He  regretted  that  he  had  not  shewn  us  a  chapel,  which 
the  negros  had  built  in  the  negro  village,  and  in  which, 
he  informed  us,  they  meet  every  other  night,  and  make 
a  great  disturbance.  On  a  recent  occasion,  he  said  be 
went  there  while  they  were  holding  their  meeting,  with 
a  cutlass  in  his  hand,  and  ordered  his  man  to  follow 
with  a  fowling  piece,  which  latter,  however,  was  for 
the  purpose  of  killing  a  hog;  and  that  Lewis  Grant 
had  since  made  an  affidauit,  that  his  master  had  come 
to  the  chapel  with  loaded  pistols,  and  that  he  was 
afraid  of  his  life. 

10th. — ^We  took  leave  this  morning  at  our  very 
kind  friends  at  the  Mission  House  at  Jericho,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  Sligoville,  a  station  in  St.  Catherine's  Moun- 

•  See  Appendix  F,  Sec.  xiii. 


*  \ 


JAMAICA.  831 

taiQB^  attached  to  the  Baptist  mission  in  Spanish  town* 
We  were  kindly  welcomed  by  J.  M.  Phillipo.  This 
mountainous  district,  though  possessing  great  advan- 
tages of  situation,  soil  and  climate,  has  been  hitherto 
neglected,  and  is  still  wild  and  uncultivated.  The 
population  however,  is  sufficiently  large  to  supply'  a 
numerous  attendance  at  the  mission  chapel  and  school. 
The  premises  are  situated  on  an  eminence,  about  two 
thousand  five  hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  and  command 
an  extensive  prospect  on  all  sides.  The  whole  breadth 
of  the  island  is  visible  from  Old  Harbour,  on  the  south 
to  Port  Antonio,  on  the  north  side.  Sligoville  derives 
its  name  from  a  finely  situated  mountain  residence  of 
the  late  Governor^  in  this  neighbourhood. 

11th. — ^We  returned  to  Spanish  Town  early  this 
morning  by  a  mountain  ride,  which  is  not  surpassed 
by  any  in  the  island.  From  tileir  contiguity  to  the 
capital,  these  mountains  offer  deaghtful  situations  for 
villa  residences,  and  accordingly^  within  the  last  few 
years,  an  active  spirit  of  improvennent  has  been  mani- 
fested in  the  district. 

A  numerous  meeting  of  the  custodes  and  other 
leading  persons  from  the  different  parishes,  was  yester- 
day held  to  establish  a  scale  of  labor,  which  is  a  favo- 
rite project  with  Sir  Lionel  Smith,  who  carried  it  into 
effect  in  Barbados  contrary  to  law.  Soon  after  his 
assumption  of  this  Government,  he  directed  the  plan- 
ters to  form  committees  in  their  respective  parishes,  to 
agree  upon  labor  scales,  and  the  present  meeting  was 
summoned  to  reduce  these  to  a  general  standard.  No 
project  can  well  be  conceived  more  absurd  and  imprac- 
ticable, as  the  greatest  variety  of  soils  is  found  in  Jamai- 
ca, no  two  parishes,  nor  scarcely  any  two  estates  being 
precisely  alike.     Notwithstanding  such   difficulties,  a 


333  JAMAICA. 


tcmie  would  probably  have  been  adopted,  idiidli 
would  have  been  an  engine  of  cruel  oppretrion,  but  the 
design  was  happily  defeated,  by  the  influence  €t  a  plan- 
ter of  superior  intelligence  and  liberality,  who  pointed 
out  its  absurdity,  and  declared  that  he  found  no  diffi- 
culty, by  kind  treatment,  in  obtaining  a  fidr  and  equi- 
table amount  of  labor  from  the  apprentices;  As  an 
instance  of  the  use,  to  which  a  scale  would  have  been 
applied,  it  may  be  mentioned,  that  almost  immediatdy 
after  the  Governor  issued  his  first  circular  to  tins 
parishes,  one  of  the  Special  Magistrates  reported  that, 
certain  overseers  in  his  district  were  filling  up  the 
ranks  of  their  first  or  strong  gangs  with  weaker  labor- 
ers ;  and  compelling  people  to  turn  out,  who  had  pre- 
viously ceased  to  labor  on  account  of  age  or  infirmity ; 
under  the  expectation  of  being  able  to  extort  the  work 
of  able-bodied  laborers  from  the  gangs  under  the  pro- 
jected scale,  estimated  by  their  number  without  any 
reference  to  their  efl&ciency.* 

13th. — ^We  saw  to  day  in  Kingston,  two  intelligent 
negros  who  had  run  away  from  their  estate  for  fear  of 
being  flogged,  pursuant  to  a  sentence  of  the  Special 
Magistrate.  They  applied  to  W.  W.  Anderson,  who 
found  their  case  to  be  one  of  peculiar  hardship,  and 
consented  to  endeavour  to  bring  it  by  certiorari  under 
the  cognizance  of  the  Court  of  Assize.  We  obtain- 
ed a  copy  of  their  affidavit  which  relates  the  follow- 

*  Although  the  project  of  a  scale  of  labor  for  the  whole  island 
was  thus  abandoned,  it  by  no  means  followed  that  the  parish  scales 
would  not  be  adopted  in  their  respective  parishes.  The  Governor 
has  since  sanctioned  the  scale  drawn  up  by  the  planters  of  St.  An- 
drews, and  directs  that  it  shall  be  used  by  the  magistrates  as  a 
standard,  by  which  to  judge  of  complaints  of  insufficiency  of  work. 
For  the  results  which  may  be  expected  from  this  measure  see  Ap- 
pendix E,  Sec.  iii. 


JAMAt^A.  dAA 

ing  particulars.  Their  names  are  Joseph  and  Cato 
Smith^  and  they  belong  to  Robert  Jokin,  of  Torrington 
Pen,  in  SU  Thomas  in  the  East.  They  are  part  of  a  job- 
bing gang  of  negros,  who  work  at  a  distance  from 
their  homes,  to  which  they  return  only  once  a  week* 
Their  provision  grounds  were  repeatedly  trespassed  in, 
and  their  provisions  destroyed  by  the  cattle  of  the 
estate,  which  were  not  penned  up,  nor  sufficiently  at-» 
tended  to  ;  and  although  they  did  what  they  could  by 
making  fences,  it  was  impossible  for  them,  on  account 
of  their  long  absence  fi^om  home,  to  prevent  or  repair 
the  damage  sustainei^,  and  they  consequently  had 
not  sufficient  provii»ion  for  their  maintenance.  Their 
master  refused  ttO  afford  them  any  remedy  or  compen- 
fation«  They  applied  to  Special  Justice  Willis,  who 
told  them  their  master  was  not  liable  for  the  damage, 
and  they  must  attend  to  their  grounds  themselves.  On 
his  refusal  to  redress  their  grievances ,  these  appren- 
tices and  about  sixteen  others,  men  and '  women,  went 
to  Spanish  Town  to  see  the  Governor,  but  he  was 
absent  on  a  tour  of  the  island,  and  they  returned  with  a 
letter  from  Special  Justice  Hill  to  the  Governor,  whom 
they  saw  at  Golden  Grove,  where  he  was  staying, 
near  their  master's  property.  They  stated  the  treat- 
ment that  they  had  received,  and  further,  that  the  po- 
lice had  been  upon  the  property  for  some  time,  destroy- 
ing and  living  upou  the  hogs  and  poultry  of  the  ap- 
prentices. The  Governor  directed  Alexander  Bar- 
clay, a  local  magistrate,  and  member  of  Assembly 
for  the  parish,  to  go  upon  the  property  with  Special 
Justice  Willis,  and  see  the  provision  grounds  of  the 
apprentices,  and  report  their  state  to  him.  They  ac- 
cordingly visited  Torrington  some  days  afterwards, 
when  the  gang  were  called  up  before  them.    Barclay 


834  JAMAlCAi 

toid  them  he  thought  they  had  a  good  right  to  what 
they  asked^  but  that  it  was  impossible  to  give  it  tbem^ 
as  it  would  be  a  bad  precedent  for  all  the  jobbing 
gangs  in  the  parish.  Special  Justice  Willis  asked 
their  master,  which  were  '^  the  two  GrOTcrnor's  men^*' 
and  these  two  negros  were  pointed  out  to  him.  He 
then  said  that  no  King  or  Governor  should  prevent  his 
punishing  them,  and  proceeded  to  sentence  seven  of 
the  women  to  the  treadmill,  and  these  men,  and  four 
others,  to  receive  fifty  lashes  each,  which  sentences 
were  carried  into  efFect,  except  in  the  case  of  thete 
negros,  Joseph  and  Cato  Smith,  who  again  ran  off  to 
Spanish  Town.  They  had  obtained  a  letter  from  the 
Governor's  Secretary,  to  the  Special  Justice.  They  had 
never  been  flogged  during  slavery,  and  seemed  to  be  in 
such  terror,  that  it  appeared  as  if  they  could  not  be 
induced  to  return  home,  as  in  consequence  of  the  ex- 
pressions used  by  the  Special  Justice,  they  were  certain 
they  should  h^i  flogged,  notwithstanding  any  instruc- 
tions to  the  contrary,  in  the  letter  of  which  they  were 
the  bearers. 

14th. — We  embarked  for  New  York,  in  the  J.  W. 
Cater  packet. 

Before  concluding  our  journal,  it  may  not  be  im- 
proper to  mention  an  official  investigation,  that  took 
place  during  our  stay  in  the  colony,  and  which  affords 
some  important  illustrations  of  the  condition  of  the 
negros.  On  the  18th  of  February,  an  apprentice 
named  Job  Dawkins,  from  Spencer's  Pen,  in  St.  Ca- 
therine's parish,  came  to  Spanish  Town,  to  complain 
to  Special  Justice  Ramsay  ;  that  he  was  threatened 
with  punishment,  by  James  Dundass,  the  overseer  of 
Molynes,  an  estate  in  St.  Andrews,  belonging  to  An- 
thony Davis,  residing  in  England,  who  is  also  the 


i 


JAMAICA.  335 

proprietor  of  Spencer's  Pen.  On  the  13th  instant^  he, 
(Dawkins)  was  employed  in  taking  lime  to  Molynes, 
with  a  mule  and  cart,  when  the  axletree  broke  and  he 
was  obliged  to  put  up  the  cart  on  an  estate  by  the  way. 
He  went  on  and  reported  the  accident  to  Dundass, 
who  behaved  with  such  violence  towards  him,  that  he 
ran  off  to  Spanish  Town  for  protection.  In  order  to 
explain  his  fears,  he  stated  that,  the  said  Dundass  was 
in  the  habit  of  maltreating  the  apprentices  on  Molynes ; 
that  some  of  them  wore  ri vetted  iron  collars ;  that 
Dundass  put  others  in  the  stocks  and  chained  them 
by  the  neck  to  a  post  in  the  hot  house ;  that  he  beat 
them  with  his  supplejack,  and  that  a  fortnight  ago  he 
had  caused  one  of  the  apprentices  to  be  laid  down  by 
two  of  the  negros,  while  a  third  gave  him  a  severe 
flogging.  On  the  same  day  an  apprentice  from  Moly- 
nes, named  James  Wine,  came  to  Spanish  Town  to 
complain  to  the  Governor,  and  was  referred  to  the 
same  Special  Justice.  He  complained  that  he  had 
been  turned  out  of  the  hospital,  and  compelled  to  work 
during  severe  sickness.  He  confirmed  the  statement 
of  the  preceding  witness,  with  the  addition,  that  the 
use  of  rivetted  iron  collars  on  the  estate,  was  sanc- 
tioned by  Lloyd,  the  former  Special  Justice  of  the 
district,  who  was  afterwards  removed  to  another  part 
of  the  island,  and  by  his  successor.  Captain  Brownson, 
who  was  at  this  date,  in  charge  of  the  district  as  Spe- 
cial Magistrate.  These  depositions  were  reported  to 
the  Governor,  who  ordered  Special  Justices,  Kent 
and  Moresby,  to  proceed  to  Molynes  estate,  and  in- 
quire into  the  facts  and  into  the  penal  discipline  in 
use  on  the  estate.  The  following  is  an  abstract  of 
some  of  the  affidavits  of  the  apprentices. 

John  Cumso,   "  a  miserable  object  with   diseased 


386  JAMAICA. 

feet,"  8tate8,  that  he  had  an  iron  collar  put  on  hU 
neck  by  order  of  Special  Justice  Lix>td  gome  time 
after  August,  1834,  and  does  not  remember  when  it 
was  taken  off.  In  the  time  of  that  magistrate,  he  was 
frequently  put  in  the  stocks  by  Dundass,  during  his 
half  Friday. 

Elsky  Lewis  deposes,  that  she  was  compelled  to 
wear  an  iron  collar  nearly  a  year  and  a  half,  and  that 
Lloyd  saw  Dundass  screw  it  on. 

William  Lake  deposes,  that  four  weeks  ago,  he 
received  thirty-nine  lashes  by  order  of  Captain  Brown- 
son,  who  also  ordered  that  the  blacksmith  should 
rivet  an  iron  collar  on  his  neck,  which  he  has  worn 
ever  since,  and  worked  in  the  field.  Before  he  was 
brought  before  the  Special  Justice,  he  was  kept  five 
days  and  nights  in  the  hot  house,  handcuffed  and  in 
the  stocks,  and  was  chained  to  a  post  one  of  those 
nights.  He  did  not  hear  Dundass  tell  the  magistrate 
that  he  confined  him,  and  he,  (Lake)  made  no  complaint 
to  the  magistrate  himself.  In  reference  also  to  William 
Lake's  case,  there  is  the  following  entry  in  the  com- 
plaint-book of  Molynbs'  estate : — ^*  January  9th,  1837. 
William  Lake  charged  with  being  a  runaway,  to 
receive  thirty -nine  stripes^  and  to  pay  back  eighty 
daySy  that  he  has  been  absent,  and  to  wear  a  rivetted 
iron  collar  for  six  weeks.     Signed  W.  H.  Brownson." 

Susan  Porter  deposes,  that  since  Christmas  she 
was  confined  in  the  dark- room  from  one  o'clock  on 
Wednesday,  until  ten  o'clock  on  the  following  Friday, 
(two  days  and  nights,)  during  which  time,  she  had  no 
food  of  any  sort.  She  told  Captain  Brownson,  but 
he  took  no  notice  of  her  complaint.  She  was  locked 
up  once  before,  but  did  not  complain  to  the  magistrate. 
About  ten  months  after  the  1st  of  August,   1834,  she 


JAMAICA.  337 

was  severely  flogged  by  Mr.  Dundass,  but  did  not 
complain  to  the  magistrate.  She  did  complain  twice 
to  Captain  Brownson  about  two  months  ago,  that  she 
had  no  allowance  of  food  and  no  days.  He  said  he 
would  see  to  it,  but  he  did  not,  and  she  has  nothing  to 
live  upon  but  what  her  children  give  her. 

Alexander  Notice,  states,  that  about  four  weeks 
ago  Dundass  caused  two  of  the  other  apprentices  to 
lay  hold  of  him,  while  a  third  flogged  him  severely  on 
the  bare  back  with  a  cat.  He  was  not  tried  by  the 
Special  Magistrate,  and  did  not  go  to  complain.  The 
same  day  Dundass  had  previousiy^  severely  beaten 
him  over  the  head  and  neck  with  a  horse- whip. 

Richard  Dawkins  deposes,  that  he  was  flogged 
by  Dundass,  and  did  not  go  to  complain,  but  ran 
away ;  for  which,  when  taken,  he  was  locked  up  in  the 
dark  room  two  days  before  Christmas.  He  was  chain- 
ed to  a  post  and  handcuffed^  the  chain  ran  through 
the  handcuff, 

Edward  Dawkins  deposes,  that  he  has  seen  Wil- 
liam Lake  and  Richard  Dawkins,  in  the  stocks,  with 
iron  collars  round  their  necks,  and  a  chain  passed 
through  the  collars  and  fastened  to  a  post,  and  knows 
that  Susan  Porter  was  locked  up  for  several  days. 
They  have  never  gone  to  the  magistrate,  as  they  kneiv 
they  would  getno  right.  Never  s  aw  Dundasss  trike 
any  but  the  little  children..  The  apprentices  are 
often  locked  up  at  night,  and  let  out  in  the  morning, 
without  ever  being  brought  before  a  Special  Magis- 
trate. 

William  Naar  states,  that  he  has  been  so  locked 
up  himself.  He  remembers  Dundass  flogging  Rich- 
ard Dawkins,  he,  (Naar)  brought  the  cat  out  of  the 
house  to  flog  him.    Dawkins  ran  away,  and  when  he 

G    G 


1538  JAMAICA. 

was  taken,  he  was  confined  in  the  stocks  and  chained  to 
a  poBt. 

The  same  facta  are  reiterated  by  numerous  other 
witnesses.  The  room  in  which  the  apprentices  were 
punished  by  being  handcuffed,  put  in  the  stocks,  and 
chained  by  the  neck  to  a  post,  is  described  by  the  fol- 
lowing witnesses. 

Thomas  Mcmford,  the  second  constable,  says  *^the 
lock-up  place  is  the  hospital  in  which  is  the  stocis." 

James  Daniel,  the  head  constable, — ''knows  of 
several  instances  of  the  apprentices  being  placed  in 
the  stocks  by  order  of  Mr.  Dundass,  and  chained  to  a 
post  in  the  place  of  confinement.  It  is  a  close  place 
but  not  so  dark.*' 

Frederick  Kramma,  a  German,  employed  as  a 
mechanic,  and  occasionally  as  a  book-keeper,  on  Mo- 
lynes,  states  ''  that  the  windows  in  the  hospital  were 
built  up  and  loop-holes  made,  and  that  the  fire-place 
has  been  lately  closed,  in  consequence  of  a  female  ap- 
prentice making  her  escape  up  the  chimney. 

James  Dknnison,  the  book-keeper,  deposes;  '^  the 
hospital  was  closed  up  before  I  came  to  Molynes ;  what 
were  formerly  the  windows,  have  been  converted  into 
loop-holes ;  it  is  in  fact  a  dark  room.  Heard  Mr. 
Dundass  Jiog  the  stable  hoys  last  Sunday^  because 
they  left  the  grass  piece  open.  Has  never  seen  him 
flog  any  hut  the  house  people. 

Dundass  himself  handed  in  a  written  statement  to 
the  magistrates,  in  which  he  asserts,  the  iron  collars 
were  rivetted  on  the  necks  of  the  apprentices,  by  order 
of  the  Special  Magistrates  ;  that  Wijlliam  Lakjs  was 
confined  in  the  stocks  and  chained  to  a  post  for  se^ 
curityy  till  Captain  Brownson  should  visit  the  pro- 
perty, and  try  him  as  a  runaway ;  that  John  Cumso 


JAMAICA.  339 

Was  locked  up  on .  Friday  night,  by  order  of  Special 
Justice  Lloyd.  He  admits  having  struck  Susan  Por- 
ter with  a  supplejack  5  he  admits  having  locked  up 
some  of  the  apprentices  without  calling  in  the  Special 
Magistrate  5  he  '■  admits  having  flogged  Alexander 
Notice. 

The  sole  remark,  we  think  it  necessary  to  make 
on  the  above  disclosures,  is,  that  it  is  apparent,  that 
whatever  cruelty  the  negros  on  Molynes  endured,  whe- 
ther flogged,  kept  without  food,  put  in  the  stocks,  or 
<}hained  by  the  neck,  they  never  thought  of  applying 
to  the  Special  Magistrates  of  the  district,  who,  they 
well  kilew,  would  afford  them  no  protection.  The 
abovd  inquiry  was  the  result  of  the  accident  of  Dun- 
DAss  having  threatened  and  assaulted  an  apprentice 
on  another  property,  Spencer's  Pen,  who  lived  in  the 
district  of  William  Ramsay,  a  magistrate  of  a  very 
diffSerent  character  from  Lloyd  and  Brownson.  We 
now  come  to  the  immediate  bearing  of  this  painful 
subject  upon  the  present  condition  of  the  apprentices 
generally.  The  two  Stipendiaries,  Lloyd  and  Brown- 
son,  were  dismissed  from  office  by  Sir  Lionel  Smith, 
for  having  employed  the  illegal  punishment  of  rivetted 
iron  collars,  and  for  having  suppressed  those  sentences 
in  their  official  reports.  The  character  of  their  gene- 
ral administration  of  the  law  may  be  appreciated  from 
the  fact,  that  while  they  were  each  accustomed  to  re- 
port monthly,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  cases  of 
punishment,  of  which  a  large  proportion  were  by  flogg- 
ing, their  successors  reported  at  the  end  of  the  first 
month,  the  one  nineteen  and  the  other  fourteen  cases, 
in  none  of  which  corporal  punishment  had  been  in- 
flicted. On  the  occasion  of  his  former  removal  from 
his  district  by  Lord  Sligo,  Lloyd  received  an  address 


940  -JiiikAfti: 


of  tbEuika  and  approbation,  from  the  magistrates  of  St. 
Andrews  ;  and  Brownson  who  succeeded  him  in  that 
parish  followed  in  the  same  steps,  aad  became  equally 
popular.  On  their  final  dismissal  as  above  mentioned, 
they  received  the  strongest  exprcseions  of  sympathy 
from  the  planters,  by  whom  their  past  conduct  was 
eulogised  in  the  most  emphatic  terms,  as  will  appear 
from  the  following  extracts  : — "  A  farewdl  dinner  was 
given  to  Captain  Brownson  at  Halfway  Tree,  on 
Tiiursday,  fiir  the  purpose  of  preaeatmg  him  witli  » 
.  testimonial  of  the  pariBhionen'  re^[>ect.  A  sdImct^ 
tion  baa  been  also  nosed  for  tLe  purchase  of  some  me- 
morial,  as  a  tribute  of  gratitude  for  bis  impartial  ocm- 
duct  in  administering  the  law  as  Special  Justice." 

Jaaiaiea  DeipatiA,  May  Itt^  1837. 
His  colleague  received  a  still  more  signal  nook  cX 
approbation.      The   whole  parish   of  Clarendon   was 
moved  to  do  him  honor,  and  he  was  presented  with  the 
follovring  a<ldress  ; — 

"  To  Samuel  Lloyd,  Esq.  late  Special  Justice  for 
the  parish  of  Clarendon,  &c.  &c. 
Sir, 
We,  themagiBtrates,  flreeholders,  and  other  iahabitants  of 
the  pariah  of  Clarendon,  beg  leave  to  offer  (he  expression  of  our 
v/nfeigned  regret  at  your  dismissal  (roia  the  Special  Magistracy 
of  this  island.  IVe  deplore  this  event  as  a  public  calamity; 
and  when  we  reflect  on  the  diaorganiaed  and  unsettled  staite, 
in  which  you  found  many  of  the  properties  in  this  district, 
(ariaing  from  circumatances  which  led  to  the  removal  of  your 
predecessor,)  we  feel  that  to  your  exertions,  and  to  the  faith- 
fill  discharge  of  your  official  dutiea,  we  are  indebted  for  our 
present  comparative  tranquillity.  Your  vigilance, active  habit* 
and  address,  were  pectiliarlg  calculated  to  restoro  order  ;  and 
we  venture  to  affirm,  that  the  result  of  the  strictest  iuveatl* 


Jamaica.  341 

gation,  would  prove  creditable  to  yourself,  and  tshew  that 
your  great  object  was  the  znainte nance  of  proper  disciplme, 
with  the  least  possible  severity.  We  shall  always  be  happy, 
individually  and  collectively,  to  bear  testimony  to  your  im- 
partiality as  a  judge.  With  you,  the  rich  and  poor,  the  mas- 
ter and  apprentice,  had  upon  all  occasions  an  equal  hearing ; 
and  if  at  any  time  you  have  erred,  in  not  rigidly  fulfilling  all 
the  provisions  of  the  Abolition  Act,  we  are  satisfied  that  such 
error  was  of  the  head,  not  of  the  heart.  In  the  execution  of 
your  arduous  duties,  you  have  succeeded  in  conciliating  the 
good  opinion  of  all  classes  of  this  community  ;  and  we  trust 
you  may  have  also  gained  the  approbation  of  "€rod  and  your 
own  conscience.  Wherever  fortime  may  lead  you,  be  as- 
sured our  best  wishes  will  always  accompany  you. 

WILLIAM  COLLEMAN,  Chairman. 

At  the  meeting  at  which  the  above  was  agreed  to, 
the  report  of  the  Despatch  states  : 

"  A  subscription  was  immediately  entered  into,  for 
the  purpose  of  affording  Mr  Lloyd  a  substantial  proof 
of  the  estimation  and  regard  he  was  held  in,  by  the 
eommunity  in  general;  when  the  following  suoas, 
(amoimting  to  two  hundred  and  forty  pounds,)  were 
instantly  subscribed  by  the  gentlemen  present;  arid 
there  is  not  the  slightest  doubt,  that  treble  this  amount 
will  be  raised  in  the  other  districts  of  the  parish,  and 
this  laudable  example  followed  throughout  the  island.*^ 
The  above  shew  that  the  pro -slavery  feeling  in  Jamaica, 
is  as  general  and  as  malignant  as  ever. 

Besides  dismissing  the  magistrates,  the  Governor 
directed  the  Attorney  General  to  prosecute  Dundass, 
and  accordingly  seven  indictments  were  sent  up  to  the 
Grand  Jury  against  him  at  the  ensuing  Assizes.  True 
bills  were  found  in  two  of  the  least  important  cases 
only,  cases  in  which  Dundass  had  committed  himself 

G  G   3 


343  JAMAICA. 

by  admitting  the  facta.  The  Grand  Jury  ignored  the 
other  fire,  and  made  the  following  presentment. 

"  With  feelings  of  the  deepest  regret,  we  have  to 
observe,  that  in  the  examinations  of  the  several  wit- 
nesses from  Molynes  estate,  we  have  found  great  dis- 
crepancy and  contradiction,  particularly  as  relates  to 
five  of  the  seven  indictments,  preferred  agiunst  Jambs 
DuNDAss,  overseer  of  the  said  estate,  the  evidence  not 
at  all  bearing  out  the  charges  set  forth.* 

"  We  also  humbly  conceive,  that  charges  of  so  light 
and  frivolous  a  nature^  as  appeared  from  the  evidence 
adduced,  should  have  been  referred  to  the  Special  Mar 
gistrates,  who  are  the  judges  appointed  by  law  to  take 
cognizance  of  them,  or  to  the  Petty  Courts  of  the 
country. 

"  We  feel  the  greatest  pride  on  all  occasions,  fear- 
lessly to  perform  our  duty  to  our  country,  but  we  view 
with  alarm  these  appearances  of  persectUiony  and  we 

*  An  intelligent  individual,  intimately  acquainted  with  the  dr- 
eumstances,  writes  as  follows.  '*  Mr.  Dukdass,  immediately  on  the 
investigation  closing,  was  so  satisfied,  that  he  must  stand  condenmed 
before  a  jury  of  bis  country,  that  be  got  his  brother  to  write  a  letter 
to  Mr.  Daly,  the  county  Inspector,  requestmg  him  to  use  his  influ- 
ence with  the  Attorney  General,  to  instruct  that  the  prosecutions 
should  be  tried  in  the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions ;  alleging  that  some 
personal  dislike  which  the  Chief  Justice  had  towards  him,  gave  him 
no  expectation  but  that  of  a  severe  sentence  at  his  hands.  At  this 
time,  there  was  no  imputation  of  perjury  against  the  apprentices,  on 
whose  evidence  he  and  the  magistrates  were  judged  guilty,  nothing 
on  which  he  could  raise  the  cry  of  persecution,  no  features  in  the 
proceedings  to  be  deprecated,  as  calculated  to  destroy  all  confidence 
between  the  extreme  classes  of  society ;  yet  how  strikingly  does  the 
scheme  of  persuading  the  Attorney  General  to  turn  over  the  cases  to 
the  Quarter  Sessions,  tally  with  the  presentment  of  the  Grand  Jury, 
that  they  were  of  a  nature  for  reference  to  the  Petty  Courts  of  the 
country.  This  looks  like  artifice  and  contrivance,  not  on  the  part  of 
the  apprentices,  but  on  that  of  the  overseer  and  the  Grand  Inquest 
of  the  country. 


JAMAICA.  343 

deprecate  the  introduction  of  a  system^  so  effectually 
calculated  to  destroy  all  confidence  between  the  em- 
ployer and  the  employ edy  so  ruinous  in  point  of  ex- 
pense to  the  subject y  and  so  pryudidal  to  the  interests 
of  the  island  at  large. 

THOMAS  Mc.  CORNACK, 

Foreman." 

We  would  call  attention  to  two  points  in  this  pre- 
sentment ;  the  atrocities  with  which  Dundass  is 
charged^  are  characterised  as  ^^  light  and  frivolous  ;'* 
and  secondly^  it  is  glaringly  evident  from  the  conclu- 
ding paragraph  of  their  presentment^  that  this  Grand 
Jury  of  planters,  looked  not  solely  to  the  evidence  Isdd 
before  them^  but  to  the  bearing  of  the  proceedings 
against  Dundass^  on  the  planting  interests  of  the  island 
at  large ;  interests  which  are  thus  identified  with  a  sys- 
tem of  cruel  and  hateful  coercion. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


THE  HESULTS  OF  THE  APPRENTICESHIP 

IN  JAMAICA.* 

The  preceding  chapters  contain  our  own  dbnervn.^ 
tions  on  the  condition  of  the  necpros ;  and  in  "the  Ap- 
pendix F  will  be  found  authentic  informationton  VHtioM 
Important  subjects  included  in  our  inquiry.     In  the 
4th  Section  of  that  Appendix^  there  is  especiklly  H  tafge 
amount  of  the  testimony  of  the  n^ros  thdUitfBlvejs^ 
respecting  their  sufferings  and  treatment.     Such  is  the 
nature  of  the  evidence  we  have  to  lay  before  the  public, 
as  the  result  of  a  personal  investigation  of  the  mode  in 
which  the  present  system  is  administered,  in  almost 
every  part  of  the  island,  and  on  plantations  comprising 
every  kind  of  cultivation. 

The  reader  will  form  his  own  opinion,  respecting 
what  we  deem  to  be,  the  internal  evidence  of  the  au- 
thenticity and  truth  of  the  statements  of  the  appren- 
tices themselves ;  but  it  is  important  to  add  that  the  great 
majority  of  the  negros  whose  testimony  we  have  cited, 
are  intelligent,  and  of  good  character ;  many  of  them 
are  connected  with  religious  societies,  and  are  known 

•  Although  the  following  observations  relate  only  to  Jamaica, 
there  is  reason  to  believe,  that  the  condition  of  the  negros  in  some 
of  the  other  colonies,  particularly  in  Demerara  and  Trinidad,  is  still 
worse  than  in  Jamaica  itself. 


JAMAICA.  345 

to  the  missionaries^  or  other  persons  of  respectability^ 
with  whom  we  had  the  advantage  of  communicating. 
Their  statements  are  consistent  with  each  other ;  they 
are  in  accordance  with  the  facts  which  came  under  our 
own  notice,  and  with  the  concurrent  evidence  of  other 
resident  witnesses  of  unimpeachable  veracity.  It  only 
remains,  therefore,  that  we  should  present  the  results 
of  our  mifssion  in  a  condensed  form,  so  as  to  enable  the 
public  to  judge  how  far  those  benefits  have  been  realised 
to  the  negros,  which  were  purchased  for  them  by  the 
nation,  for  the  sum  of  twenty  millions  sterling. 

It  is  well  known,  that  the  measure  so  undeservedly 
termed,  an  Act  for  the  Abolition  of  Slavery,*  was  op- 
posed to  the  views  of  those  who  objected  on  principle 
to  slavery  ;  whose  exertions  had  excited  general  public 
sympathy  for  the  oppressed,  and  at  length  urged  the 
question  of  Abolition,  on  the  attention  of  'an  unwilling 
Government.  They  could  not  have  done  otherwise 
than  protest  as  they  did,  against  a  law,  which  declared 
slavery  to  be  for  ever  abolished,  and  the  slaves  set  free, 
subject  to  such  exceptions,  as  created  a  new  kind  of 
slavery,  under  the  name  of  Apprenticeship  ;  an  anoma- 
lous condition,  in  which  the  negros  were  continued, 
under  a  system  of  coerced  and  unrequited  labor.  Nor, 
although  they  might  have  concurred  in  the  grant  of  a 
liberal  relief  to  the  proprietors,  whom  slavery  had  ruined, 
in  order  to  enable  them  to  commence  a  better  system, 

•  "  We  entreat  His  Majesty's  Ministers  not  to  contemplate  any 
imperfect  measure  of  Emancipation.  We  are  deeply  convinced, 
that  the  negro  must  he  fully  restored  to  his  rights,  and  that  no 
scheme  ot  Emancipation,  which  would  leave  him  half  a  slave  and 
half  a  fireeman,  would  tend  materially  either  to  his  own  benefit,  or 
to  the  tranquillity  of  the  Colonies.'' — ^Memorial  to  Earl  Gret,  signed 
and  presented  by  the  three  hundred  and  thirty-nine  Anti<slavery 
delegates,  April  19th,  1833. 


346  JAMAICA. 

under  more  favorable  auspices,  could  they  have  armded 
protesting,*  against  the  acknowledgment  of  their  claim 
to  ^'  compensation/'  by  which,  for  the  first  time,  the 
British  statute  book  was  disgraced,  by  the  formal  recog- 
nition of  the  right  and  lawfulness  of  slavery.  These 
were  fatal  objections  to  the  new  scheme ;  and  the  event 
has  proved,  that  they  were  not  merely  of  a  theoretical 
character.t  The  simple  declaration  by  the  Imperial 
Legislature,  of  the  inherent  personal  and  civil  rights 
of  the  negros,  as  fellow  subjects  under  the  British 
crown,  as  equal  members  of  the  human  family,  and  en- 
dowed with  the  same  physical  and  moral  capacities, 
would  have  ensured  those  rights  some  degree  of  res- 
pect from  the  local  authorities  and  the  planters,  by 
whom  they  are  now  trodden  upon. 

However,  for  the  sake  of  our  argument,  we  will 
suppose  that  the  Act  for  the  Abolition,  was  such  a  mea- 
sure as  the  public  voice  demanded,  a  measure  consistent 
with  humanity  and  justice.  In  this  point  of  view,  it 
appears  in  the  light  of  a  great  national  compact j  in 
which  the  British  Nation  covenanted  to  pay  twenty 

•  "  The  Metropolitan  Committees  feel  it  expedient  to  call  your 
attention  pointedly  to  the  distinction  they  have  drawn  between  ooro- 
pensation  and  relief.  They  wholly  and  absolutely  disclaim  the  prin- 
ciple of  compensation :  they  deny  that  it  is  due :  they  protest  against 
its  payment :  they  consider  compensation  to  be  directly  opposed  to 
the  very  principles  upon  which  the  title  to  Emancipation  is  founded.** 
— Circular  of  the  London  Anti-slavery  Committees,  April  4th,  1833. 

t  "  If  the  debt  of  immutable  justice  be  paid  in  full  to  the  injured 
slave,  a  humane  and  considerate  people  will  readily  concur  in  all 
such  reasonable  measures  for  the  relief  of  the  planter,  or  of  indivi- 
dual cases  of  distress,  as  may  meet  with  the  approbation  of  the  Bri- 
tish Parliament." — Memorial  to  Earl  Grey,  signed  by  the  three 
hundred  and  thirty-nine  delegates,  April  19th,  1833. 


JAMAICA.  347 

millions  sterling,  for  the  purchase  of  the  liberty  of  the 
slaves  in  the  West  India  Colonies,  the  Mauritius,  and 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  in  the  years  1838,  and  1840 ; 
and  for  the  establishment,  in  the  interim,  of  a  modified 
and  mitigated  servitude,  vrhich  should  be  an  advanta- 
geous state  of  transition  to  unrestricted  freedom.     It 
remains  therefore  to  enquire,  how  far  the  provisions  of 
this  costly  measure  have  been  carried  out,  and  to  com- 
pare the  condition  created  in  theory,  by  its  stipulations, 
with  the  actual  state  of  the  slave  population  in  Jamaica. 
The  first  clause  of  the  Act,  premising  the  justice 
and  expediency  of  the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  of  com- 
pensation to  slave  masters,  declares,  that  it  is  expedi- 
ent to  make  provision  for  securing  the  industry  and 
good  conduct  of  the  manumitted  slaves  for  a  limited 
period  ;  and  that  it  is  necessary  to  afford  time  for  the 
adaption  of  the  local  colonial  laws  to  a  state  of  freedom. 
It  therefore  enacts,  that  all  persons  who,  on  the  first 
of  August   1834,  shall  have  been  duly  registered  as 
slaves,  and  shall  appear  on  the  registry,  to  be  six  years 
old  or  upwards,  shall  from  that  day  become  apprenticed 
laborers.     We  have  already  shewn,  that  the  non-re* 
gistered  slaves  are  also  detained  in  apprenticeship  in 
direct  violation  of  this  enactment. 

The  second  clause  enacts,  that  all  persons,  who  would 
for  the  time  being,  have  been  entitled  to  the  services  of 
the  slaves,  if  this  Act  had  not  been  made,  shall  be  en- 
titled to  their  services  as  apprenticed  laborers.  No 
other  services  are  thus  transferred  to  the  slave-masters, 
than  what  the  colonial  laws  secured  to  them,  under  the 
previous  system.  By  those  laws,  the  mothers  of  six 
or  more  living  children,  were  exempted  from  field  la- 
bor, and  provided  with  "  an  easy  and  comfortable 
maintenance;"    but    imder    the  Apprenticeship,  this 


/ 


348  JAMAICA. 

class  of  slaves,  including,  in  numerous  instances,  indi- 
viduals who  have  been  for  years  in  the  enjoyment  of 
their  exemptions,  have  been  turned  into  the  field,  and 
coerced  to  the  performance  of  the  severest  kind  of 
labor. 

The  fourth  clause  of  the  Act  divides  th«  appren- 
ticed laborers  into  three  district  classes  : — -predials 
attached,  or  those,  ^^  who,  in  their  state  of  slavery^ 
were  usually  employed  in  agriculture,  or  in  the  manu- 
facture of  colonial  produce,  or  otherwise  upon  lands 
belonging  to  their  owners  :" — -predials  unattached,  who 
were  employed  in  like  manner,  *^  upon  lands  not  be- 
longing to  their  owners;"  B,nd  non-predials,  *^ com- 
prising all  apprenticed  laborers,  not  included  within 
either  of  the  two  preceding  classes."  It  is  also  pro- 
vided ;  "  that  no  person  of  the  age  of  twelve  years  and 
upwards,  shall  be  included  in  either  of  the  said  two 
classes  of  predial  apprenticed  laborers,  unless  such 
person  shall  for  twelve  calendar  months  at  the  least, 
next  before  the  passing  of  this  present  Act,  (viz.  from 
August  28th,  1832,  to  August  28th,  1833,)  have  been 
habitually  employed  in  agriculture  or  the  manufacture 
of  colonial  produce."  The  fifth  clause  declares,  that 
the  predial  apprentices  shall  become  free  on  the  1st 
of  August,  1840  ;  and  the  sixth,  that  the  non-predials 
shall  be  emancipated  on  the  1st  of  August,  1838. 
The  slaves  between  the  ages  of  six  and  thirteen  yea  rs, 
are  left  by  these  clauses,  to  be  classed  as  predials 
or  non-predials,  at  the  pleasure  of  their  owners. 
The  classification  of  the  apprentices  has  been  hitherto 
left  undetermined,  on  a  vast  majority  of  the  estates 
in  Jamaica,  and  in  the  mean  time  great  numbers 
of  the  non-predials  have  been  defrauded  of  their 
rights.     The  very  numerous  body  of  apprentices  called 


JAMAICA.  349 

estates'  tradesmen,  including  the  coopers,  carpenters, 
masons,  smiths,  &c.  are  by  common  consent,  deemed 
and  taken  to  be  predials ;  notwithstanding  the  ex- 
press words  of  the  Law,  that  none  shall  be  so  classed, 
who  were  not,  during  the  twelvemonth  specified,  ^'  ha- 
bitually employed  in  agriculture,  or  the  manufacture  of 
colonial  produce/'  Such  of  them  as  have  purchased 
their  freedom  by  valuation,  have  been  rated  at  an  ex- 
cessive daily  or  yearly  value,  multiplied  by  the  full 
term  of  days  or  years,  of  the  predial  apprenticeship.  In 
many  instances  even  the  douK^stic  slaves,  have  been 
made  predials  ;*  and  numerous  cases  are  given  in  Ap- 
pendix F.,  and  in  other  parts  of  this  volume,  of  domes- 
tics being  turned  into  the  field  by  their  owners  or  over- 
seers. A  local  Act  was  passed  during  our  stay  in  the 
colony,  to  enable  the  planters  to  carry  a  fraudulent 
classification  still  more  extensively  into  effect.  The 
rights  of  the  non-predials  have  been  hitherto  violated 
with  impunity ;  and  the  great  majority  of  th^mi  will 
be  forcibly  detained  in  bondage  beyond  the  1st  of 
August,  1838. 

The  7th  clause  of  the  Abolition  Act  empowers  mas- 
ters to  manumit  their  apprentices.  A  few  noble-mind- 
ed individuals  have  availed  themselves  of  this  power  of 
manumission,  the  only  privilege  which  a  slave-master, 
as  such,  can  exercise  with  a  safe  conscience.  Many 
members  of  the  Baptist  churches  in  Jamaica,  some  of 
whom  were  dependent  on  the  labor  of  a  few  negros 
for  subsistence,  have  recently,  from  conscientious  mo- 
tives, set  their  apprentices  free,  and  the  missionaries 

•  We  have  already  quoted  the  expression  of  a  local  magistrate 
of  Vere,  that  in  that  important  and  populous  parish,  the  class  of  non- 
predial  t,  has  been  abolished  by  the  planters. 

H  H 


S50  JAMAICA. 

of  that  denomination  anticipate,  that  their  several 
churches  will  soon  be  clear  of  the  sin  of  slave-holding. 
If  it  be  unlawful  to  take  the  fruit  of  the  laborer's  toil 
without  payment,  whether  he  is  called  a  free  man,  a 
slave,  or  an  apprentice,  we  would  commend  the  conduct 
of  these  few,  poor,  despised,  colored  christians,  to  the 
imitation  of  the  wealthy,  liberal  and  professedly  chiis>- 
tian  apprentice-owners,  residing  in  England.  The 
/th  clause  provides,  that  in  case  of  the  voluntary  dis- 
charge of  aged  or  infirm  laborers,  the  masters  are  to 
continue  liable  for  their  support ;  a  provision  which 
might  have  been  spared  in  Jamaica,  as  the  aged  or 
infirm  apprentices  on  the  plantations  are  supported  by 
their  own  relations  and  friends.  They  receive  nothing 
from  their  owners,  but  a  few  shillings '-worth  of  cloth- 
ing once  a  year,  medical  attendance  during  illness,  and, 
where  the  proprietor  is  unusually  indulgent,  a  small 
weekly  allowance  of  salt-fish. 

The  8th  clause  relates  to  the  compulsory  manu- 
mission of  apprentices  by  valuation ;  which  it  enacts, 
shall  be  effected  in  the  manner  and  form  to  be  pre- 
scribed by  the  local  laws  of  the  colonies.  The  mode 
adopted  in  Jamaica  is  the  following. — A  negro  informs 
the  Special  Justice  of  his  district,  of  his  wish  to  pur- 
chase his  discharge  from  apprenticeship.  The  Special 
Justice  gives  fourteen  days'  notice  of  the  intended  valu- 
ation to  the  owner,  who  appoints  a  local  magistrate  to 
unite  with  the  Special  Justice  ;  these  two  magistrates 
choose  a  third  local  magistrate,  and  thus  constitute  a 
tribunal  for  determining  the  valuation.  It  is  needless 
to  offer  any  comment  on  the  character  of  a  tribunal 
composed  of  two  local  magistrates,  who  are  almost  in- 
variably planters  and  friends  of  the  master,  and  one 
Special  Magistrate,  who  possibly  may  be  an  impartial 


JAMAICA.  361 

and  humane  functionary,  but  who  is  too  often  com- 
pletely subservient  to  the  wishes  of  the  stronger  party. 
The  master  and  other  witnesses  give  evidence  on  oath 
of  the  daily  or  yearly  value  of  the  negro's  services, 
which  is  multiplied  by  his  term  of  apprenticeship. 
The  result,  from  which  one-third  is  generally,  though 
not  always,  deducted  for  contingencies  of  life  and 
health,  is  the  amount  of  the  valuation.  When  the 
three  magistrates  differ  in  their  estimates,  it  is  cus- 
tomary to  add  their  several  amounts  together,  and  take 
an  average  of  the  total  sum  as  the  value  of  the  appren- 
tice. Having  witnessed  numerous  valuations  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  island,  we  are  enabled  to  speak  with 
confidence,  respecting  the  considerations,  which  in  the 
estimation  both  of  witnesses  and  magistrates,  usually 
determine  the  value  of  the  services  of  apprentices. 
The  contingent  loss  is  taken  into  account,  which  the 
master  may  sustain  from  the  difficulty  of  replacing  a 
laborer.  If  the  apprentice  is  stated  to  be  honest,  in- 
telligent, and  industrious,  he  is  rated  proportionably 
higher.  If  he  has  ever  been  employed  for  a  short  time, 
as  a  mechanic,  or  if  by  his  own  ingenuity,  he  has 
taught  himself  any  handicraft  business,  he  is  valued 
accordingly,  although  his  habitual  employment  may 
have  been  that  of  a  common  field  laborer.  Lastly,  the 
the  profit,  real  or  imaginary,  which  the  master  would 
have  made  by  the  labor  of  the  apprentices,  during  the 
remaining  term  of  years,  is  taken  into  account ;  and 
a  temporary  advance  in  the  price  of  colonial  produce, 
in  the  European  markets,  though  it  would  not  affect 
the  price  of  labor  in  the  colony,  would  instantly  occa- 
sion an  increase  in  the  valuations.  The  negros,  in  short, 
who  wish  to  become  free,  are  rated  at  higher  prices, 
than  they  were  worth  as  slaves ;  and  these  prices  do 


35*i  JAMAICA. 

not  diniinittli  as  tlic  term  of  apprenticeship  lessencr^ 
In  nmny  instances,  a  net^ro  could  hare  purchased  his 
freedom  for  a  much  smaller  sum  on  the  1st  of  August, 
18.31,  than  that  which,  after  one  or  more  years  of  uncom- 
pensated service,  he  has  been  compelled  to  pay  for  the 
remain ii)i^  term.  In  these  proceedings,  the  colonists 
stand  self-convicted  of  fraud;  for  the  wages,  which 
they  pay  for  the  apprentices'  extra  labor,  is  in  no  kind 
of  proportion  to  the  price,  which  they  put  upon  their 
serviecb  at  valuation.  During  crop  time,  extra  labor, 
equivalent  to  from  two  to  three  working  days  per 
week,  is  often  remunerated  by  a  sum,  scarcely  equal 
to  the  sworn  value  of  half  a  day's  labor.  Notwith- 
standing, therefore,  the  immense  sacrifices,  which  the 
negros  are  willing  to  make  for  freedom,  numbers 
who  are  anxious  to  be  valued,  are  still  detained  in 
bondage,  and  those  who  succeed  in  effecting  their 
release,  are  crippled  in  their  resources,  or  involved 
in  debt,  from  which  years  of  assiduous  toil  may  fail 
to  relieve  them. 

Instciid  of  continuing  to  examine  the  clauses  of  the 
Act  scriatiyriy  we  will  devote  our  remaining  space  to  a 
few  principal  considerations. 

The  Imperial  Act  regulates  the  labor  of  the  appren- 
tices in  the  following  manner,  (c.  v.)  No  predial  ap- 
prentice shall  be  bound  or  liable,  to  perform  any  labor 
in  the  service  of  his  master,  for  more  than  forty-five 
hours  in  the  whole,  in  any  one  week ;  from  which,  in  case 
the  apprentice  supports  himself  by  cultivating  a  pro- 
vision ground,  (c.  xi.)  such  portions  of  time  shall  be 
deducted,  "  as  shall  be  adequate  for  the  proj)er  culti- 
vation of  such  ground,  and  for  securing  the  crops 
thereon  grown.*'  The  time  deemed  sufficient  for  these 
purposes,  is  four  hours  and   a  half  per  week,  so  thai 


JAMAICA.  333 

the  amount  of  labor,  required  from  the  apprentices  in 
Jamaica,  is  forty  and  a  half  hours  in  the  week.  The 
Colonial  Legislature  is  required  (c.  xvi.)  to  frame  the 
necessary  regulations,  for  ensuring  to  the  apprentice  the 
enjoyment  of  his  own  time  for  his  own  benefit ;  for  se- 
curing exactness  in  the  computation  of  the  time,  during 
which  he  is  required  to  labor  for  his  owner ;  to  make 
the  necessary  provision  for  preventing  the  imposition 
of  task-work,  without  the  free  consent  of  the  appren- 
tice to  undertake  the  same  ;  and  for  enforcing  the  due 
performance  of  voluntary  contracts  on  the  part  of  the 
apprentice  for  labor  in  his  own  time.  The  reader  will 
find  numerous  proofs  in  this  volume  that^  instead  of 
forty  hours  and  half  per  week,  from  forty-five  to  fifty 
hours  are  statedly  exacted  from  the  apprentice  in 
ordinary  course.  The  enjoyment  of  his  own  time  for 
his  own  benefit  is  not  ensured  to  him*  No  regulations 
exist  to  secure  exactness  in  the  computation  of  time  ; 
and  his  days,  instead  of  eight  and  nine  working  hours, 
frequently  extend  from  nine  to  eleven  hours.  Com- 
pulsory task-work,  so  expressly  declared  to  be  illegal, 
is  frequently  enforced  ;  and  to  an  extent,  as  it  has 
been  our  painful  duty  to  record,  in  numerous  instances, 
avowedly  equal  to  what  was  exacted  under  the  former 
system,  when  there  was  no  legal  limitation  of  the  hours 
of  labor.  We  have  also  seen,  that  it  has  been  a  favorite 
policy  with  Sir  Lionel  Smith,  to  cause  the  adoption, 
tliroughout  the  island,  of  "  a  scale  of  work,*'  by  which 
labor  would  be  regulated  by  quantity  and  not  by  time, 
in  such  a  mode,  as  would  render  the  oppressive  exac- 
tion universal.  In  crop  time,  which  extends  on  sugar 
estates  over  a  period  of  from  three  to  six  months,  the 
negros  have  to  perform  an  immense  amount  of  extra 
labor,   sometimes   by  spells  of  twelve,  sixteen,    and 

HH  3 


3f*4  JAMAICA. 

even    twenty-four  hours  lengthy    and  estates    are  in- 
•tiinced  in  the  Appendix,  on  which  the  mule  boys  and 
suiTJir   boilers    work   continuously   for    six     days    and 
niirhls,  snatching  a  few  minutes  rest  during  the  short 
inUrvals  of  their  toil.     All  this  extra  labor  and  night 
work  is  sometimes  obtained  by  the  coercive  powers  of 
tlu*    Special    Map^istrate,   without   any   remuneration; 
sometimes  it  is  extorted  for  a  trifling  and   most  inade- 
(luato  payment,  under  the  sanction  of  pretended  agree- 
ments.    Very  efficient  regulations  have  been  framed  to 
enforce  voluntary  contrajts,  and  the  same  are  used  also 
to  enforce  fictitious  and   pretended  contracts,  for  the 
labor  of  the  apprentices.     The  Act  declares,  (c.  xxi.) 
that  apprentices  shall   not  be  compelled  to  work  on 
Sundays  except  in  certain  specified  cases  of  necessity, 
but  in  consequence  of  their  being  fraudulently  deprived 
of  their  time,  as  above  stated,  and  of  the  mulcts  im- 
posed   on  them  by  the  Special  Magistrates,  they  are 
frc(]uently  compcllod  by  want,  to  work  their  provision 
grounds  on  tlic   Sabbath.     With  regard,  therefore,  to 
the  labor  of  the   apprentices,  we  are  brought    to  the 
conclusion,  that  not  only  is  every  provision  of  the  Im- 
perial Act  violated,  but   the  requirements  of  a  much 
higher  law  are  openly  contemned.     The  planters  may 
be  emphatically  addressed,  in  the  language  of  the  apos- 
tle  James  :     "  The  hire    of  your   laborers,  who  have 
reaped  down  your  fields,  which  is  of  you  kept  back   by 
fraud  crieth  ;  and  the  cries  of  them  which  have  reaped, 
are  entered  into  the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth." 

We  come  next  to  consider  the  maintenance  of  the 
apprentices.  By  the  Imperial  Act  (c.  xi.)  a  pro- 
prietor is  required  to  provide  his  apprentices,  with 
*^  such  food,  clothing,  lodging,  medicine,  medical  at- 
tendance, and  such  other  maintenance  and  allowances,'* 


JAMAICA.  355 

as  by  any  local  law  he  was  required  to  provide  his 
slaves.  The  burden  is  thrown  (c.  xvi.)  upon  the  Colo- 
nial Legislature,  of  making  the  necessary  regulations  to 
secure  punctuality  and  method,  in  the  supply  to  the 
negros,  of  such  food,  clothing,  &c :  and  for  determin- 
ing "  the  amount  and  quality  of  all  such  articles,  in 
cases  where  the  laws  at  present  existing  in  any  such 
colony y  may  noty  in  the  case  of  slaves ^  have  made  any 
regulation^  or  any  adequate  regulation^  for  that 
purpose."  Where  the  apprentices  are  supported  by 
the  cultivation  of  provisions  for  themselves,  the  mas- 
ter is  required  to  provide  them  "  with  ground  adequate 
both  in  quantity  and  quality,"  for  their  support,  and 
within  reasonable  distance  of  their  usual  places  of  abode; 
and  to  allow  them,  out  of  the  forty-five  hours  per  week, 
a  portion  of  time,  adequate  for  the  proper  cultivation 
of  such  ground,  and  for  securing  the  crops  thereon 
grown.  The  Colonial  Legislature  is  required  (c.  xvi.) 
to  make  the  regulations  necessary  to  secure  these  seve- 
ral objects.  The  Jamaica  Abolition  Act,  sanctioned 
by  the  Home  Government,  enacts,  (c.  xvi.)  that  the 
apprentices  shall  be  supplied  with  the  same  food, 
clothing,  lodging,  &c.,  as  by  the  Slave  Act,  the  master 
was  required  to  supply  to  his  slaves ;  and  (c.  xlvi.) 
that  all  grounds  hitherto  allotted  to  the  slaves,  shall 
be  deemed  suitable  in  quantity,  quality,  and  distance 
from  their  homes,  for  their  maintenance  as  apprentices; 
that  (c.  xlviii.)  four  hours  and  half,  out  of  the  forty- 
five  hours  labor  per  week,  shall  be  allotted  for  the  cul- 
tivation of  such  grounds;  and  (c.  xlviii.)  where  the 
grounds  from  drought  or  other  casualty,  become  un- 
productive, that  the  owner  shall,  by  other  ways  or 
means,  make  "  good  and  ample  provision"  for  the  sup- 
port of  his  apprentices,  in  the  trifling  penalty,  in  this 


336  JAMAICA. 

last  case,  of  twenty-four  shillings  sterling  for  each  io' 
fraction  of  the  law. 

The  agricultural  slaves  in  Jamaica,  were  always 
maintained  by  cultivating  provision  grounds,  and  by 
the  weekly  distribution  of  an  allowance  of  herrings  or 
other  salt  fish ;  and  in  the  case  of  invalids,  pregnant 
women,  and  mothers,  of  a  small  quantity  of  flour  or 
oatmeal,  rice,  sugar,  &c.     Certain  other  arrangements, 
necessary  to  the  welfare  and  even  the  subsistence  of  the 
negros,  were  sanctioned  by  general  custom  in  the  colo- 
ny.    Thus  a  watchman  was  provided  for  the  provision 
grounds,  in   order   to  prevent  the  crops   from  being 
destroyed  by  tlie  trespass  of  cattle,  or  plundered  1^ 
idle  and  improvident  slaves ;  and  one  of  the  women 
was  employed  as  a  field-cook  and  water  carrier,  to  pre- 
pare the  breakfasts  and  dinners  of  the  gangs  in  the 
field,  in  order  that  their  mealtimes  might  be  also  inter- 
vals of  rest,  and  to  carry  water  for  them,  to  quench  the 
thirst  created  by  exhausting  labor  under  a  burning  sun. 
"  The  first  act  of  the  proprietors  after  the  first  of  Au- 
gust,"   observes     Dr.    Madden,      (who     attentively 
watched  the  progress  of  events,  during  a  period  imme- 
diately preceding  and  following  the  introduction  of  the 
Apprenticeship,)  "  was  to  take  away  all  those  allow- 
ances and  customary  gratuities  from  the  negros,  which 
were  not  literally  specified  in  the  new  law."     It  must 
be  observed,  that  it  was  the  local  Abolition  Act,  that 
was  deficient  in  these  particulars,  as  all  those  allow- 
ances were  continued  to  the  negros,  by  the  spirit  and 
even  the  letter  of  the  Imperial  Act,  as  above  quoted. 
The  Attorney  General,  Dowell  O'Reilly,  who  has 
discharged  the  difficult  duties  of  his  office,  in  trying 
times,  honestly  and  firmly,  at  the  expense  of  his  pri- 
vate interests,  and  with  little  support  from  the  govern- 


JAMAICA.  357 

ment  with  which  be  is  associated,  gave  his  opinion, 
that  the  apprentices  were  entitled  to  the  slave  allow- 
ances, and  for  the  following  reasons  : — that  the  Abo- 
litiorf  law  was  a  remedial  act,  and  could  not  be  so  con- 
strued, as  to  place  the  apprentices  in  a  worse  situation 
than  they  were  in  before ;  that  slavery  itself,  is  and 
was  contrary  to  common  law  ;  and  as  it  derived  its  va- 
lidity from  custom,  so  might  the  apprentices  invoke 
custom  in  support  of  their  claim  to  these  allowances. 
The  planters  immediately  submitted  a  case  to  the  Ex- 
Attorney  General,  himself  a  planter,  who  gave  his 
opinion  in  the  following  terms: — "I  am  of  opinion, 
that  under  the  Abolition  Act,  the  apprentices  are  not 
entitled  to  the  indulgences  and  allowances  above  allu- 
ded to.  The  I6th.  Section  of  the  Act  gives  them  the 
same  ^food,  clothing,  medicine,  medical  attendance,  and 
such  other  maintenance  and  allowances,'  as  the  owner 
was  required  to  supply  a  slave  by  the  ^  Act  for  the  govern- 
ment of  slaves.'  Now,  on  referring  to  this  Act,  it  will  be 
found,  that  the  only  clauses  on  the  subject  are  the  11th, 
12th,  13th,  and  17th,  neither  of  which  specify  or  require 
the  allowances  above  mentioned,  (salt  fish,  &c.)  to  be 
given  to  the  negros.  The  1 1  th  provides,  that  owners, 
&c.,  shall  inspect  the  provision  grounds,  and  where  the 
negro  grounds  are  unproductive,  or  there  is  no  land 
proper  for  provisions,  shall  by  some  other  ways  or 
means,  make  ^  good  and  ample  provision  for  all  such 
slaves  as  they  shall  be  possessed  of,  in  order  that  they 
may  be  properly  maintained  and  supported,'  leaving  the 
mode  and  nature  of  the  support  to  the  discretion  of  the 
owner.  The  12th  clause  requires  every  owner  to  pro- 
vide proper  and  sufficient  clothing,  to  be  approved  by 
the  vestry.  The  13th  requires  an  affidavit,  that  the 
grounds  have  been  inspected,  and  that  every  negro  is 


358  JAMAICA. 

sufficiently  provided  with  groundi!,  or,  ^  where  thefe 
are  no  grounds,  with  ample  provisions,'  as  required  bj 
the  11th  section.  The  17th  section  compelB  erery 
owner  to  provide  infirm  and  disabled  negroa,  wHIi 
sufficient  clothing  and  wholesome  necessaries  of  life." 
Such  are  the  vague  and  valueless  provisions^  wludi 
have  been  accepted  by  the  British  Government,  in 
satisfaction  of  the  stipulations  of  the  Imperial  Act. 
The  Ex- Attorney  General  continues, — *^  The  8th  sec- 
tion of  the  Act  in  Aid  of  the  Abolition  Act,  paaaed  the 
2nd  of  July  last,  has  no  clause  respecting  allowances 
to  the  apprentices,  except  the  Hth,  relative  to  aick  iqp- 
prentices,  who  under  it,  are  to  have  the  same  mediad 
care  and  attention,  as  has  heretofore  been  customary. 
It  is  clear  therefore,  that  by  the  Slave  Act,  an  owner  is 
not  obliged  to  give  any  of  the  above  allotvances,  but 
merely  to  provide  sufficient  grounds^  fit  for  the  culti- 
vation of  provisions.**  It  will  now  be  asked,  which  of 
these  opposite  opinions  prevailed  on  a  question,  affect- 
ing 80  nearly  the  interests  and  welfare  of  the  appren- 
tices ?  We  regret  to  say,  that  the  Government  did  not 
enforce  that  of  its  own  responsible  legal  adviser ;  and 
that  the  extracts,  we  have  given  from  the  opinion  of 
his  rival,  have  decided  the  condition  of  the  apprentices 
with  regard  to  maintenance,  in  fact  as  well  as  in  law. 
The  negros  have  either  been  generally  deprived  of  these 
allowances,  now  called  with  bitter  truth,  **  the  indul- 
gences of  slavery;*'  or  their  partial  continuance  has 
been  made  the  pretext  of  extorting  a  far  more  than 
equivalent  value  in  extra  labor,  over  and  above  that, 
which  the  apprentices  are  required  by  law  to  perform. 
I'hese  indulgences,  it  must  be  remarked,  were  not  in- 
dulgences under  the  former  system  ;  they  were  granted 
by  the  master  for  his  own  interest's  sake,  as  necessary 


JAMAICA.  359 

to  the  health  of  his  slaves^  who  subsisted  as  they  do  still, 
chiefly  on  farinaceous  roots,  cultivated  by  their  own 
hands.  With  regard  also  to  the  four  hours  and  a  half, 
allowed  for  the  cultivation  of  the  provision  grounds,  it 
cannot  be  for  a  moment  believed,  that  that  amount  of 
time  is  sufficient  for  the  negros  to  provide  the  means 
of  a  week's  subsistence.  In  this  point  also,  the  planters 
stand  self-convicted  of  fraud,  for  on  most  sug^^r  estates, 
the  half  Friday  ostensibly  granted,  as  adequate  to  pro- 
vide food  for  an  entire  week,  is  taken  back  for  a  trifling 
weekly  allowance  of  five  or  six  herrings,  the  least  con- 
siderable part  of  his  necessary  support.  In  those  parts 
of  the  island,  where  the  eight  hour  system  of  labor  is 
adopted,  a  system  which  is  usually  a  mere  pretext  for 
defrauding  the  apprentices  of  time ;  the  four  hours  and 
a  half  are  so  distributed  over  several  days,  as  to  render 
it  impossible,  that  he  should  employ  the  time  for  the 
purposes  assigned.  The  provision  grounds  of  the  ap- 
prentices, are  from  one  to  fifteen  miles  distant  from 
their  houses ;  but  in  no  case,  is  any  allowance  of  time 
made,  on  account  of  their  distance,  for  going  and  re- 
turning. The  watchmen  have  in  numerous  instances 
been  taken  away,  and  the  provision  grounds  conse- 
quently ruined  by  plunder,  or  the  trespass  of  cattle, 
for  which  injuries,  though  reduced  to  starvation,  the 
apprentices  have  no  redress.  In  some  cases,  they  have 
suffered  to  such  an  extent  from  these  causes,  as  to  be 
compelled  to  throw  up  their  grounds,  and  to  depend 
for  subsistence  on  the  most  casual  and  insufficient  re- 
sources. On  many  estates,  the  negros  have  been  de- 
prived of  their  field  cooks,  and  thus  compelled  to  labor 
throughout  the  day  without  food.  The  domestic  ap- 
prentices, who  were,  and  still  are  supported  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  agricultural  slaves,  by  cultivating 


3CA)  JAMAICA. 

provision  grounds,  were  entitled  under  the  former  sys- 
tem to  the  same  amount  of  time  for  their  own  benefit; 
viz.,  one  day  in  a  fortnight,  in  addition  to  the  two  Sab- 
baths, or  two  days  in  lieu  of  them  ;  now  they  are  al- 
lowed only  one  day  in  a  fortnight,  to  provide  them- 
selves the  means  of  subsistence,  and  are  liable  to  render 
8er\ice  at  all  other  times,  by  day  or  by  night,  as  well 
as  on  the  Sabbath.     To  these  several  considerations  it 
must  be  added,  that  during  illness,  the  apprentices  are 
supported  by  themselves  or  their  relatives,  and  that 
their  young  families  and  aged  relatives  are  also  de- 
pendent on  them  for  support.     Their  poultry  and  other 
live  stock,  are  frequently  wantonly  destroyed  by  the 
overseers  ;   and   the   small   portion  of  time  which  is 
left  to  them  for  procuring  the  necessaries  of  life,  is  di- 
minished not  only  by  the  frauds  practised  on  them  by 
their  owners,  but  by  the  mulcts  of  the  Special  Magis- 
trates.    The  great  bulk  of  the  apprentices  therefore, 
are  not,  and  under  such  a  system  cannot  be,  sufficiently 
maintained.     A  large  proportion  of  them  are  wholly, 
or  in  part,  dependent   for  support  on  their  fellow  ap- 
prentices, and  many  of  them  are  suffering  from  the 
pressure  of  actual  want.* 

In  the  article  of  clothing,  the  authority,  already 
quoted,  requires  "  every  owner  to  provide  proper  and 
sufficient  clothing,  to  be  approved  by  the  vestry."  The 
distribution  is  in  effect  regulated,  in  quantity  and 
quality,  by  the  disposition  of  the   owner  or  his  repre- 

•  While  these  sheets  are  passing  through  the  press,  the  Jamaica 
papers  recently  arrived,  contain  the  most  serious  complaints  of  the 
scarcity  and  excessive  prices  of  provisions.  The  markets  are  chiefly 
supplied  by  the  ajjprentices,  with  the  surplus  produce  of  their 
grounds,  but  from  the  causes  we  have  cited,  these  supplies  have 
gradually  diminished,  until  the  effects  of  the  new  system  are  at  length 
severely  felt  even  by  the  free  population  of  the  island. 


JAMAICA.  361 

fsentative.  A  considerable  proportion  of  the  expense  of 
their  clothing,  falls  upon  the  apprentices  themselves. 
The  head  negros,  in  particular,  do  not  wear  the  coarse 
articles  which  are  distributed  to  them.  It  is  well  un- 
derstood, we  believe,  by  the  merchants,  that  the  de- 
mand for  these  coarse  fabrics,  will  not  long  survive  the 
apprenticeship,  but  will  be  replaced  by  others  of  better 
manufacture. 

The  medical  attention  to  which  the  negros  are  le- 
'  gaily  entitled,  is  accorded  to  them  in  the  same  im- 
perfect and  grudging  measure,  as  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence. The  neglect  and  oppression  of  the  sick,  is  a 
frequent  subject  of  complaint  with  the  negros ;  and  of 
comparisons  of  the  former  and  present  system,  very 
unfavorable  to  the  latter.  The  medical  men,  imbued 
with  colonial  habits  and  prejudices,  and  dependent  on 
the  planters  for  professional  income,  are  in  most  in- 
stances subservient  agents  of  oppression.  On  many  of 
the  smaller  properties,  there  is  no  hospital  nor  medi- 
cine chest,  and  the  apprentices  are  frequently  left  des- 
titute of  medical  treatment,  or  have  to  sustain  the  ex- 
pense of  it  themselves.  The  Act  in  Aid  of  the  Abolition 
Act,  (c.  viii.)  declares,  **  that  the  apprentices  shall  be 
subject  to  all  such  necessary  sanatory  restraint  and 
control,  as  the  medical  attendant  shall  direct.'^  This 
clause  is  made  the  pretext  of  converting  many  of  the 
hospitals  into  places  of  confinement.  They  are  kept 
locked  by  day  as  well  as  by  night,  the  inmates  being 
deprived  of  even  the  occasional  attentions  of  their  near- 
est relatives.  ^*  Sanatory  restraint  has  been  some- 
times held  to  include  confinement  in  the  stocks  and 
bilboes.^     An  upright  Special  Magistrate  is  in  these 

*  One  of  the  missionaries  infbrmed  us,  that  on  one  occasion,  hav- 
ing been  reqaested  to  visit  an  apprentice  member  of  his  church,  who 

I   I 


962  JAMAICA. 

cases,  brought  into  angry  collision  both  with  oyeraeers 
and  medical  men.  Invalid  apprentices  are  not  supplied 
with  any  allowance  of  food  from  the  estates. 

The  condition  of  the  free  children,  is  another  im- 
portant feature  of  the  present  system.  All^  who^  on 
the  first  of  August,  were  under  six  years  of  age,  were 
declared  unconditionally  free^  but  were  left  liable^  (c. 
xiii.)  in  case  of  destitution,  to  be  apprenticed  by  the 
Special  Magistrate,  to  the  owner  of  their  parents,  till 
twenty-one  years  of  age.  This  was  undoubtedly  one 
of  the  most  dangerous  parts  of  the  Abolition  Bill ;  as 
such  an  apprenticeship  of  the  rising  generation,  inyolTed 
the  indefinite  continuance  of  slavery.  Through  the 
constancy  of  the  parents,  all  the  attempts  to  procnire 
the  apprenticeship  of  the  children,  have  been  defeated, 
though  at  an  expense  of  infant  life,  and  of  an  amount 
of  suffering  to  mothers,  which  cannot  be  computed. 
Let  it  not  be  forgotten,  that  the  free  children  are  solely 
dependent  on  their  mothers  for  support,  and  that  the 
latter  have  only  one  day  and  a  half  in  the  week  to  cul- 
tivate ground  for  this  purpose  ;  an  insufficient  amount 
of  time,  which  is  still  further  reduced  by  the  frauds  of 
overseers,  and  the  mulcts  of  Special  Magistrates.  The 
evils  and  the  suffering,  which  spring  from  this  state  of 
things,  are  becoming  daily  more  aggravated  as  time 
advances.  Every  birth  increases  the  difficulty  to  the 
negro  mother,  of  providing  maintenance  for  her  off- 
spring, and  of  escaping  punishment  herself.  The  in- 
jurious consequences  to  the  interests  of  proprietors, 
and  of  the  public,  from   the  present  position  of  the 

vfOB  very  ill  in  the  estate^s  hospital,  he  found  him  with  his  feet  in 
shackles.  We  have  already  mentioned  a  medical  order,  entered  in 
a  plantation  book,  as  quoted  in  one  of  the  Special  Magistrates*  re- 
ports, '*  that  the  patients  with  sore  feet  should  be  kept  in  the  stocks,** 


JAMAICA.  363 

free  children,  have  been  adverted  to  in  various  parts  of 
the  present  work. 

The  treatment  of  pregnant  women  and  nursing 
mothers,  is  another  feature  of  the  apprenticeship,  by 
which  it  is  unfavorably  distinguished,  even  from  the 
worst  aspect  of  slavery.  The  indulgences  which  their 
situation  required,  were,  under  the  former  system,  im- 
perfectly guaranteed  to  them,  by  the  sordid  interests 
of  their  owners.  Women  advanced  in  pregnancy,  were 
confined  to  light  employment,  and  for  we^ks  immedi- 
ately preceding  and  succeeding  their  delivery,  they 
were  suffered  to  cease  work ;  and  when  at  length  re- 
quired to  return  to  the  field,  were  permitted  at  proper 
intervals,  to  quit  their  labor  and  attend  to  the  wants  of 
their  infants.  All  these  indulgences  have  been  curtail- 
ed, and  in  many  instances  abolished,  to  the  very  extent 
of  the  capacity  of  the  human  frame,  for  the  endurance 
of  suffering.  On  many  plantations,  they  are  kept  in 
the  field,  sometimes  working  in  jobbing  gangs  many 
miles  from  their  homes,  to  the  day  of  their  delivery, 
and  are  hurried  back  again  to  field  labor,  as  soon  as 
exhausted  nature  can  be  tasked  to  the  exertion.  In 
many  instances,  nurses  and  midwives  must  be  provided 
at  the  expense  of  the  apprentices  themselves,  and  they 
receive  none  of  the  minor  ^*  indulgences"  of  flour,  rice, 
or  sugar,  and  mothers  are  not  suffered  to  leave  the  field 
to  give  nourishment  to  their  infants.  If  the  Abolition 
Act  possessed  a  single  feature,  which  tended  more  than 
another,  to  reconcile  the  nation  to  the  costly  sacrifice 
of  twenty  millions,  it  was  the  advantages  it  appeared 
to  confer  on  the  weaker  sex,  whom  it  professed,  by  ex- 
empting them  from  degrading  punishment,  to  elevate 
at  least  one  step  towards  that  position  which  reason 
and  humanity  require  that  they  should  occupy.    Widely 


364  JAMAICA. 

differeoty  however,  is  the  law  enacted  by  the  Imperial 
legiBlature,  from  the  same  law  as  carried  into  effect  by 
the  executive  government,  and  by  which  the  oppression 
and  degradation  of  females  are  sanctioned  and  aggra- 
vated.    The  Imperial  Act  (c.  vi.)  expressly  interdicts 
the  flogging  of  females,  yet  the  present  volume  con- 
tains proof,  in  addition  to  much  that  has  already  come 
before  the  public  from  other  sources,  that  females  have 
been  and  still  are  flogged  upon  the  treadmill,  and  that 
the  treadmill  itself  is  an  instrument  of  torture.     They 
are  publicly  worked  in  the  penal  gang,  chained  to  each 
other,  and  with  iron  collars  on  their  necks ;  besides 
being  liable  to  the  punishment  of  solitary  confinement 
with  an  insufficient  diet,  and  to  mulcts  of  time,  by 
which  they  are  deprived  of  the  means  of  providing 
food  for   themselves   and  their  children.      All   these 
punishments,  women  in  a  state  of  pregnancy,  and  others 
with  infants  at  the  breast,  endure  in  their  full  pro- 
portion.    We  leave  it  to  those  who  may  be  qualified 
for  the  decision,  to  balance  the  severity  and  degrada- 
tion of  the  treadmill  and  the  chain  gang,  with  the  pun- 
ishments by  which  the  unrequited  labor  of  females  was 
formerly  extorted. 

As  the  principle  of  fair  and  honest  remuneration 
for  work  performed,  has  no  place  in  the  apprenticeship 
scheme,  our  next  object  will  be  to  take  a  general  view 
of  the  penal  discipline,  by  which  the  labor  of  the  negros 
is  enforced.  The  Imperial  Act  abolishes  the  powers  of 
punishment,  heretofore  irresponsibly  exercised  by  the 
master  and  removes  the  apprentice  from  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  all  authorities  in  the  island,  except  the  superior 
civil,  and  criminal  courts.  It  lodges  the  necessary 
powers  both  for  his  coercion  and  protection,  in  the 
hands  of  a  class  of  magistrates  specially  appointed  by 


Jamaica.  365 

the  King,  and  salaried  by  the  British  nation.  The 
task  of  arranging  the  details  of  their  administration  is 
imposed  upon  the  Colonial  Legislature.  Of  the  local 
Abolition  Act,  in  reference,  to  this  subject,  it  may  be 
observed,  that  while  it  does  not  contain  a  single  ex- 
plicit enactment  securing  to  the  apprentice  the  neces- 
saries of  life,  and  the  enjoyment  of  his  own  time  for 
his  own  benefit ;  and  while,  so  far  as  his  interests  and 
protection  are  concerned,  it  is  destitute  of  an  ^^execu- 
tory principle }"  yet  such  is  the  number  and  severity 
of  its  penal  enactments,  for  the  offences  of  apprentices, 
both  circumstantially  defined,  and  of  a  vague  and  ge- 
neral character,  that  it  is  probably  the  most  highly 
penal  law  that  ever  disfigured  the  statute  book  of  the 
colony.  Our  present  concern,  however,  is  rather  with 
the  practical  administration  of  the  law,  than  the  law 
itself.  We  would  first  observe,  that  the  local  magis- 
trates in  violation  of  the  law,  still  exercise  a  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  apprentices,  both  in  their  individual 
capacity,  and  when  sitting  in  petty  and  quarter  ses- 
sions ;  and  that  in  particular,  when  an  apprentice  is 
sent  to  the  workhouse,  he  is  taken  for  the  time  being, 
out  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Special  Magistrates.  The 
masters  and  overseers  still  exercise  direct  coercion,  by 
putting  the  apprentices  in  confinement.  The  local  Act 
grants  them  this  power  for  the  security  of  the  person 
of  an  offender,  till  the  arrival  of  the  Special  Magistrate^ 
but  provides,  that  the'  imprisonment  shall  not  exceed 
twenty-four  hours,  and  that  the  Special  Magistrate 
shall  in  ail  cases  be  informed  of  the  matter  of  com- 
plaint. The  practice  on  the  part  of  the  owners  and 
overseers,  of  punishing  negros  by  confinement  at  their 
own  caprice,  without  any  previous  or  subsequent  refer- 
ence to  the  Special  Magistrate,  is  general  in  every  part 
II  8 


366  JAMAICA. 

of  the  island.     The  planters  have  alsu  perpetuated  their 
irresponsible   authority,   by   the   exercise   of  indirect 
powers  of  coercion^  in  withholding  the  slave  allowances ; 
destroying  the  goats^  poultry  and  hogs  of  the  appren- 
tices;  pulling  down  their  houses;   taking  away  the 
watchmen  from  the  provision  grounds^  and  suffering 
them  to  be  destroyed  by  the  trespass  of  cattle ;   taking 
away  the  field  cooks ;  locking  up  the  sick  in  the  hos- 
pitals^ and  other  acts  of  cruelty  and  oppression,  against 
which  the  apprentices  have  no  protection.    The  amount 
of  suffering  and  punishment  inflicted  in  these  modes^  is 
placed  on  no  record,  reported  to  no  authority,  but  it  is  not 
therefore  less  oppressively  and  keenly  felt.     It  affords  us 
little  satisfaction  to  turn  from  illegal  to  legal  oppression. 
A  limited  and  imperfect  idea  of  the  amount  of  punish- 
ment inflicted  by  the  Special  Magistrates,  may  be  learned 
from  the  fact,  that  during  the  first  two  years  of  their 
administration  in  the  colony,  sixty  thousand  appren- 
tices were  punished  to  an  extent,  in  the  aggregate,  of  a 
quarter  of  a  million  of  lashes,  and  fifty  thousand  other 
punishments,   by  the  treadmill,   chain  gang,   solitary 
confinement,  and  nnilcts  of  time.     We  would  repeat 
here  the  remark,  tliat  we  have  neither  the  power  nor  the 
wish  to  institute  a  comparison  between  the  present  and 
former  system.     To  do  this  would  require  an  unenvi- 
able faculty  of  imagination,  or  a  personal  acquaintance 
with  slavery,  during  which,  the  mind  should  have   be- 
come familiar,  without  becoming  reconciled,  with   its 
scenes   of  violence   and   wretchedness.      We  are  not 
therefore  in  a  condition  to  state  how  much  the  negro 
has  gained  by  the  substitution  of  the  Special  Magis- 
trate for  the  negro  driver^  and  of  the  discipline  of  the 
parish   workhouse,  for  the  stocks  and  bilboes   of  the 
plantation ;  but  we  can  and  do  assert,  that  the  new  sys- 


JAMAICA.  367 

tern  is  eflScient  for  the  purposes  of  perpetuating  the  ea- 
slaviug  influence  of  terror,  and  rendering  owners  and 
overseers  independent  of  the  law  of  kindness  and  jus- 
tice. Many  of  the  treadmills,  as  we  have  shewn,  are 
instruments  not  of  punishment  but  of  torture.  From 
their  construction,  they  are  not  capable  of  their  legiti- 
mate object,  the  enforcement  of  a  species  of  severe 
labor.  The  prisoners  are  put  upon  them  for  one  or 
two  short  spells  in  the  day,  for  the  sole  purposes  of 
torture,  and  to  diversify  the  horrors  of  the  dark  cell, 
and  the  chain  gang.  Another  feature  of  the  workhouse 
discipline,  is  its  demoralising  tendency,  which  is  as 
complete  as  if  it  had  been  devised  for  the  purpose. 
The  prisoners  of  both  sexes,  of  all  ages,  and  for  all  of- 
fences, are  thrown  together  indiscriminately.  At  night 
the  males  are  crowded  into  one  sleeping  room,  and  the 
females  into  another,  their  security  being  sometimes 
ensured  by  shackles.  Of  the  temporary  inmates  of  the 
workhouses,  thus  associated  together,  besides  young 
persons  of  both  sexes,  a  fair  proportion  are  members 
of  churches,  individuals  of  irreproachable  conversation, 
who  are  sent  for  offences  occasioned  by  accident,  in- 
ability, or  sickness ;  or  for  those  of  a  fictitious  and 
constructive  nature,  which,  if  true,  fix  no  stain  on  their 
moral  character,  though  they  are  thus  visited  by  pun- 
ishments, implying  the  deepest  moral  degradation. 

The  forfeiture  of  time  to  the  estates,  is  the  last 
mode  of  punishment,  which  our  brief  summary  enables 
us  to  allude  to.  It  is  one  which  involves  as  much  irri- 
tation and  suffering  as  all  others  combined,  from  the 
circumstance,  of  its  reducing  the  negros  to  absolute 
destitution.  The  law  has  given  the  master  a  direct 
interest  in  convicting  his  negros  of  crime,  by  affixing 
a  penalty,  which  gives  him  their  labor  without  pay- 


a68  JAMAICA. 

ment,  for  a  variety  of  offences,  some  of  which  do  not, 
in  the  least  degree,  trench  upon  his  interests.  This  evil 
is  increased  by  the  practice  of  some  of  the  Special 
Magistrates,  of  ordering  the  apprentices  to  pay  back 
the  time,  which  they  lose  when  sent  to  the  workhouse ; 
a  practice  repugnant  to  justice  and  utterly  ill^al. 

Next  to  the  consequences  of  the  excessive  activity 
and  severity  of  the  coercive  powers  of  the  apprentice- 
ship, must  be  considered  the  far  greater  amount  of 
suffering  occasioned  by  the  imperfecticm  of  its  protec- 
tive  powers.  We  have  shewn  in  our  remarks  on  labor, 
maintenance,  condition  of  the  females,  &c.  that  the 
negros  are  unprotected  in  the  rights  most  expressly 
secured  to  them  by  the  British  statute.  The  local 
Abolition  Act  imposes  no  greater  penalty  than  three 
pounds  sterling,  for  the  utmost  injury  which  an  ap- 
prentice can  sustain  at  the  hands  of  his  master ;  and 
even  the  petty  pecuniary  mulcts,  which  the  Special 
Magistrates  are  permitted  to  inflict  on  owners  and 
overseers,  are  paid  into  the  Island  Treasury.  The 
law  does  not  recognise  the  right  of  the  negro,  to  com- 
pensation for  any  personal  injury.  Defective,  how- 
ever, as  the  law  is,  its  administration  is  still  worse. 
Personal  observation,  and  the  testimony  of  multitudes  of 
the  negros  themselves,  force  the  conviction  on  our 
minds,  that  many  Stipendiary  Magistrates  act  as  if 
their  sole  duty  was  to  coerce  labor,  and  to  maintain 
at  any  cost  the  authority  of  the  planters.  When 
apprentices  are  brought  before  them  as  offenders,  they 
refuse  to  hear  a  word  in  defence  or  explanation,  and 
when  the  negros  are  complainants,  they  award  them 
punishment,  instead  of  redress,  Where  this  system 
has  been  carried  to  perfection,  it  has  produced  a  state 
of  things,  known  and  described  by  the  colonists,  as  *^a 


JAMAICA.  869 

state  of  order  and  tranquillity  ;"  and  its  authors  have 
been  rewarded  with  substantial  [marks  of  public  and 
private  gratitude.  Desolation  may  be  as  justly  termed 
peace,  as  this  condition  of  things  described  by  names, 
to  which  it  has  no  resemblance,  but  in  its  silence. 
The  negros  are  silent,  because  they  have  learned  by 
experience,  that  it  is  better  to  make  any  sacrifice, 
and  to  submit  to  aggravated  oppression,  than  to  appeal 
to  magistrates,  who  will  crush  every  complaint  by 
adding  to  their  yoke  and  increasing  their  chastisement. 
Such  quiet  ^^  is  not  the  complacent  quiet  of  contented 
enjoyment,  but  the  portentous  quiet  of  despair.'* 

We  would  not  throw  all  the  blame,  nor  even  the 
chief  blame,  of  this  disastrous  working  of  the  appren- 
ticeship, upon  the  Special  Magistrates.  Their  admi- 
nistration of  the  law  may  be  considered  a  fair  tran- 
script of  the  policy  of  the  Government  itself ;  for  in 
their  relation  to  the  Governor,  and  their  immediate 
responsibility  to  his  authority,  they  more  nearly  resem- 
ble subordinate  military,  than  civil  officers.  They  have 
also  peculiar  difficulties  to  encounter,  to  which  we  have 
had  frequent  occasion  to  advert.  The  duties  imposed 
on  them,  by  the  local  Act,  it  is  impossible  for  human 
strength  to  fulfil.  They  are  inadequately  remunerated, 
and  are  thrown  by  unavoidable  circumstances  upon 
the  hospitality  of  the  planters.  It  must  cease,  there- 
fore, to  surprise  us,  that  the  greater  number  of  them 
are  as  completely  subservient  to  the  colonists,  as  if  they 
had  been  selected  and  paid  as  their  agents,  instead  of 
being  the  independent  and  responsible  officers  of  the 
British  Government.  But  of  all  their  difficulties,  the 
greatest  is  the  absence  of  countenance  and  protection 
on  the  part  of  the  executive.  A  magistrate  was  some 
time  since  removed  by  the  Governor,  ostensibly  and 


370  JAMAICA. 

avowedly,  ^'  for  administeriDg  the  law  in  the  spirit  of 
the  Imperial  Act."     This  decision  has  been  confirmed 
by  the  Secretary  of  State,*  and  by  a  necessary  con- 
sequence, it  is  now  understood,  by  every  Special  Ma- 
gistrate,  that  if  he  so  administers  the  law,  he  does 
it  at  the  peril  of  his  office.     There  are  yet  some  hold- 
ing the  Specia*  Commission,  who  at  least  endeavour 
to  do  their  duty ;  men  of  tried  worth  and  strength  of 
character,   who  have  displayed  rare  qualities  of  the 
heart  and  intellect,  under  circumstances  of  unexampled 
difficulty.    These  will  long  be  held  in  grateful  remem- 
brance by  the  negros.     They  are  few  in  number^  and 
we  would  gladly  record  their  names,  but  from  the  fear 
of    omitting   a  single   individual,    who  may  deserve 
praise  for  the   conscientious  discharge  of  his  difficult 
and  responsible  duties. 

We  have  now  completed  our  review  of  the  condi- 
tion of  the  negros  under  the  apprenticeship,  and  with  a 
few  additional  remarks  on  the  Imperial  Abolition  Act, 
we  shall  leave  the  reader  to  decide  how  far  the  terms 
of  the  compact  have  been  respectively  fulfilled  by  the 
nation  and  the  planters.  The  clauses  relating  to  com- 
pensation are  by  far  the  most  ample,  the  most  minute, 
and  the  most  accurately  worded,  of  any  part  of  the 
Bill.  They  have  been  carried  into  full  effect.  Not  a 
single  slave-owner  can  complain  of  being  defrauded, 
either  in  whole,  or  in  part,  of  his  share  of  compensa- 


•  The  late  Governor,  the  Marquis  of  Sligo,  after  he  became 
acquainted  with  the  oppressions  to  which  the  negros  were  subjected, 
endeavoured  with  great  firmness  and  magnanimity,  to  protect  them 
in  the  enjoyment  of  their  rights.  lie  experienced  far  less  difficulty 
from  the  turbulent  violence  of  the  colonists,  than  from  the  apathy 
or  concealed  hostility  of  the  Colonial  Office,  which  subsequently  led 
to  his  resignation  of  the  Government. 


JAMAICA.  371 

tion.  Some,  indeed,  have  been  defrauded  by  their  fel- 
low colonists,*  but,  by  the  British  nation,  the  sum  of 
twenty  millions  sterling,  has  been  paid  with  accumu- 
lated interest,  and  free  of  all  charges.  In  addition  to 
which,  the  apprenticeship  has  been  upheld  by  the  pre- 
sence of  British  regiments,  and  administered  by  a 
legion  of  magistrates,  paid  out  of  the  British  Treasury, 
The  nation,  therefore,  has  fulfilled  its  part  of  the  com- 
pact, and  even  exceeded  its  stipulations.  The  negros, 
though  no  parties  to  the  agreement,  have  yet  fulfilled 
all  its  onerous  and  unjust  conditions.  But  on  the  other 
hand,  in  every  essential  particular,  it  has  been  violated 
by  the  planters,  with  the  connivance  and  even  the  ac- 
tive participation  of  the  Executive  Government.  A 
remarkable  proviso  is  appended  to  that  clause  (c.  xvi.) 
of  the  Imperial  Act,  which  enumerates  the  various 
objects  which  it  will  be  necessary  for  the  local  Legisla- 
tures to  provide  for  in  detail,  to  the  following  effect : — 
that  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any  subordinate  Legis- 
lative authority,  by  any  Act,  Ordinance,  or  Order  in 
Council,  to  make  or  establish  any  enactment,  regula- 
tion, provision,  rule  or  order,  which  shall  be  in  any 
wise  repugnant  or  contradictory  to  the  Imperial  Act, 
or  any  part  of  it ;  and  such  enactments  are  declared  to 
be  absolutely  null,  void,  and  'of  no  effect.  This  pro- 
viso appears  to  have  been  intended  as  an  emphatic  as- 
surance to  the  nation,  that  the  conditions  of  the  Act 
should  be  fully  complied  with  by  the  colonists.  No 
law,  however,  has  been  more  utterly  disregarded  than 

*  Soon  after  the  passing  of  tht)  BiU,  reports  were  actively  circu- 
lated in  Jamaica,  that  the  compensation  would  never  be  paid. 
Some  of  the  great  alarmists  were  meantime  speculating  in  estates 
and  compensation  claims.  Many  of  the  poorer  and  more  ignorant 
colored  slave-holders  sold  their  claims  for  less  than  half  their  value. 


372  JAMAICA. 

this  specious  proviso.  It  has  been,  in  itself,  absolutely 
null,  void,  and  of  no  effect.  The  very  minister  who 
introduced  and  carried  the  Imperial  Act,  who  inserted 
in  it  this  proviso,  subsequently  advised  the  sanction 
of  the  Jamaica  Abolition  Bill,  as  *'  adequate  and  satis* 
factor}',"  to  entitle  the  colonists  to  compensation,  and 
to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  Imperial  Act ;  a 
Bill  confessedly  so  inadequate,  and  so  little  satisfactory, 
that  he  himself  in  the  very  act  of  announcing  his  ac- 
ceptance of  it,  called  upon  the  Assembly  to  remedy 
both  its  excesses  and  deficiencies.  Each  succeeding 
colonial  minister  has  trodden  in  the  same  steps,  and 
the  concealment  and  defence  of  successive  errors,  have 
led  to  the  establishment,  by  authority,  of  the  new  sys- 
tem such  as  we  have  described  it.  At  the  present  mo- 
ment, the  shelves  of  the  colonial  office  groan  under 
accumulated  evidence,  of  the  wrongs  and  sufferings  of 
the  negros. 

One  provision  of  the  Abolition  Bill,  the  freedom  of 
the  apprentices  in  1840,  is  yet  to  be  fulfilled.  With 
the  experience  of  the  past  before  us,  what  security  has 
the  nation,  that  this  last  and  principal  instalment  in 
satisfaction  of  the  twenty  millions  will  be  paid  ? 
There  can  be  little  doubt,  that  the  name  of  appren- 
ticeship will  cease  at  the  appointed  time,  as  did  that  of 
slavery  ;  but  that  its  substance  will  not  remain ;  that 
coercive,  penal  and  restrictive  laws,  exclusively  affect- 
ing the  negros,  will  not  be  passed;  and  if  passed,  sanc- 
tioned, and  carried  into  full  effect,  there  is  no  security, 
unless  the  British  public  demand  the  effectual  re- 
dress of  past  grievances,  and  existing  wrongs  ;  and 
thus  discourage  the  attempts,  which  will  undoubtedly 
be  made,  to  perpetuate  under  a  new  form  and  specious 
designation,  some  system  of  violence  and  unrighteous 
oppression. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


CONCLUSION. 

There  are  some  exceptions  to  the  description  we 
have  given  in  the  preceding  chapter  of  the  condition 
and  treatment  of  the  apprentices.  .    There  are  some 
resident  proprietors,   some  attorneys   and  overseers, 
whose  conduct  to  the  negros  under  their  charge  is  in 
striking  contrast  with  the  general  management.     Our 
pages  bear  witness  of  our  anxiety  to    do  justice  to 
those  with  whom  we  became  acquainted,  who  merit 
this   honorable    distinction^       Such  individuals   have 
uniformly   experienced    the    industry  and  good-will, 
with  which,  the  negro  renders,  what  becomes  under 
such  a  yoke,  almost  a  voluntary  service,  and  his  rea- 
diness to  work  for  reasonable  wages  in  his  own  time. 
The  willingness  and  even  anxiety  of  the  apprentices 
to  labor  for  pecuniary  remuneration,  have  been  fully 
demonstrated   wherever  they  have  been  fairly  put  to 
the  test ;  and  the  circumstance  is  important  when  view- 
ed in  connection  with  the  prospective  results  of  eman- 
cipation,   should   the   change  in    the  social    system, 
which  has  been  so  inauspiciously  begun,  be  carried  out 
to  its  desirable  completion.     It  would  be  almost  idle  to 
speculate  on  the  agricultural  prospects  of  the  colonies 
under   present   circumstances.      Those   prospects  are 
clouded  by  the  Apprenticeship,  which  threatens,  if  not 
the  ruin  of  the  island,  or  the  disorganization  of  the 
cpmmunity,  partial   or  complete  loss  of  property,  to 

K  K 


374  CONCLUSION. 

those,  who  now  wantonly  outrage  the  rights  of  their 
dependent  bondsmen. 

Few  will  be  prepared  to  dispute  the  advantages, 
which   the  division  and  combination  of  labor^  under 
the  direction  of  capital   and  skill,  offer  in  compari- 
son with  that  simple  condition  of  society,   in  which 
each   individual  supplies  all  his  various   wants  with 
his  own   hands.     It  is,  therefore,  desirable   that  the 
cultivation  of  the  great  staples  of  the  colonies  should 
go  on  with  uninterrupted  success.     Such  has  been  the 
result  in  Antigua,  such  might  have  been  the  result  in 
Jamaica ;  and  if  the  Apprenticeship  should  be  brought 
to  an  early  and  peaceable  termination,  such  perhaps 
might  be  the  result  still.     Nothing  can  exceed  the  d»- 
position  manifested  by  the  negro  population,  to  acquire 
the  comforts  and  even  the  luxuries  of  civilized  life. 
The  world  has  seen  no  example  of  so  general  and  in- 
tense a  desire  for  education  and  religious  instruction, 
as  has  been  shewn  by  the  apprentices  on  behalf  of  them- 
selves  and  their  children   within  the    last  few   years. 
Their  conduct  and  their  character  are  fiiil  of  promise 
for  the   future  ;    full   of  tokens   of  their  capacity  to 
become,  when  free,  a  well  ordered,  industrious,  and  pros- 
perous community.     Their  oppressors  continue  to  ma- 
lign them,  but  the  shafts  of  calumny  have  spent  tlieir 
force.     None  of  those  dreams  of  danger  and  difficulty, 
which  were  put  forth  as  pretexts  for  delaying  the  Abo- 
lition of  Slavery,  ever  had  any  other  basis,  than  frau- 
dulent design  or  guilty  fear.     From  the  time,  when  it 
was  maintained,  that  the  negro  was  of  the  lower  crea- 
tion, to  the  present  day,  when  he  is  recognised  as  of 
the   common   brotherhood  of  man,   every  pro-slavery 
dogma  respecting  his  character  and  capabilities,  has 
been  disproved  by  experience ;  every  pro-slavery  pro- 


CONCLUSION.  375 

phecy  has  been  falsified  by  the  event.  We  are  entitled, 
therefore,  to  doubt  the  intimate  acquaintance  of  the 
planters  with  the  negro  character ;  to  turn  a  deaf  ear 
to  their  speculations  on  the  future,  and  to  listen  to 
those  reasonable  considerations,  which  are  deduced 
from  the  supposition,  that  the  apprentices  are  governed 
by  the  motives  and  interests  common  to  human  nature, 
and  which  are  in  accordance  with  our  experience  of 
the  past. 

It  is  undeniably  established,  that  the  Abolition  of 
Slavery  does  not  eflfect  the  safety  of  the  state,  nor  the 
well-being  of  the  community,  except  by  ensuring  the 
one  and  establishing  the  other.    The  question  is  liable  to 
no  difficulties,  but  those  which  are  raised  by  the  sordid 
interests  of  individuals.     It  is  a  false  view  of  such  in- 
terests alone,  which  demands  the  perpetuation  of  vio- 
lence and  fraud.     It  is  already  proved  that  the  commu- 
nity, the  state,  the  whole  body  of  the  people,  would  be 
more  prosperous  under  a  state  of  freedom.     It  is  not 
necessary  to  shew,  that  the  present  order  of  things  will 
be  so  little  disturbed,  as  to  leave  every  plantation  culti- 
vated as  it  is  at  present,  yielding  an  equal  amount  of 
produce,  an  equal  revenue,  to  be  as  unequally  distri- 
buted.     The  production   of   excessive   wealth,   in   a 
slave  community,  does  not  alleviate  misery,  nor  lighten 
toil ;  it  serves  but  to  heighten  the  contrast  between  the 
splendor  of  the  slave-master  and  the  wretchedness  of 
the  slave.      In  the  British  Colonies,  wealth  has  been 
the  cause  of  non-residence,  the  origin  of  a  system  of 
mercenary  agency,  which  has  aggravated  even  slavery 
itself.     The  continuance  of  such  vicious  parts  of  a  bad 
system  is  neither  probable  nor  desirable  in  a  state  of 
freedom.     A  view  of  the  evils  resulting  from  the  non- 
residence  of  land-holders  in  Ireland,  would  afford  a 


376  CONCLUSION. 

very  imperfect  exemplification  of  the  effects  of  a  sioii- 
lar   cause  in  the  West  Indies.     If,  however,   in  the 
heart  of  the  empire,  and  under  the  immediate  inspec- 
tion of  Government  and  the  nation^  a  vast  amount  of 
suffering  and  civil  disorganization,  is  found  to  result 
from  absenteeism,    it  will  not  be  doubted,   that  the 
same  consequences,  aggravated  in  a  ten-fold   dc^rree, 
exist  in  the  colonies,  where  absenteeism  is  for  more 
general  and  uninterrupted ;  where  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment  possesses  limited   means   of    information,    and 
consequently  a  very  limited  control ;  and  where  the  le- 
gislative, and  for  the  most  part  the  executive  powers  of 
the  local  administration,  are  confided  to  the  same  mer- 
cenary agency,  which  has  been  created  to  superintend 
the  private  interests  of  the  absent  proprietors.     The 
immense  export  of  corn  and  cattle  from  Ireland  cannot 
be  adduced  as  a  proof,  that  her  peasantry  are  living  in 
comfort  and  abundance  ;   nor  do  the  amount  and  value 
of  the  exports  from  the  West  Indies  denote,  under  pre- 
sent circumstances,  the  happy  condition  of  their  agri- 
cultural population. 

We  would  not,  however,  be  understood  to  favor 
the  supposition,  now  so  generally  exploded,  that  sla- 
very is  consistent  with  the  permanent  agricultural  and 
commercial  prosperity,  either  of  the  aggregate  commu- 
nity, or  of  the  few  individual  proprietors.  From  the 
date  of  the  Abolition  of  the  slave  trade,  the  population 
of  Jamaica  gradually  declined,  and  its  yearly  amount 
of  agricultural  produce  has  lessened  in  a  still  more 
rapid  ratio.  In  1H07,  it  exported  more  than  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  thousand  hogsheads  of  sugar;  in  1834, 
less  than  seventy-eight  thousand ;  and  the  returns  for 
intervening  years,  shew  that  the  falling  off  is  not  acci- 
dentaT,  but  the  result  of  permanent  causes,  gradual. 


CONCLUSION.  377 

yet  certain  in  their  operation.  Such  a  state  of  things 
tended  not  to  prosperity,  but  to  ruin.  Were  the  results, 
therefore,  of  change,  more  doubtful  than  they  are,  and 
were  economical  interests  solely  involved  in  the  ques- 
tion, it  would  be  sound  policy  to  substitute  freedom 
for  slavery.  Experience  has  shewn,  that  the  negros 
will  follow  those  employments  by  which  they  can 
realise  money  for  the  purchase  of  articles,  which  can- 
not be  grown  or  manufactured  by  their  own  hands. 
Under  present  circumstances  they  can  earn  most  money 
by  cultivating  ground  provisions  for  sale  in  the  markets ; 
yet  the  immediate  pecuniary  reward,  obtained  by  work- 
ing for  wages,  is  frequently  preferred  to  the  larger  yet 
deferred  profits,  which  would  result  from  the  cultiva- 
tion of  their  grounds.  In  a  state  of  freedom,  it  may 
be  anticipated,  that  the  condition  and  resources  of  an 
agricultural  laborer,  working  for  regular  wages,  will 
be,  as  they  are  in  England,  superior  to  those  of  the 
petty  agriculturist,  cultivating  his  little  plot  of  land 
with  the  labor  of  his  own  hands ;  and  it  is  evident, 
therefore,  that  the  negros  will  generally  prefer  working 
on  the  estates .  Their  strong  attachment  to  the  place 
of  their  birth,  to  their  houses,  gardens,  to  the  graves 
of  their  parents  and  kindred,  exceeding  what  has  been  re- 
corded of  any  other  people,  is  another  circumstance, 
which  favors  their  continuance  as  laborers,  on  the  estates 
to  which  they  are  now  respectively  attached. 

From  such  general  considerations,  we  are  led  to  in- 
fer, that  the  cultivation  of  the  present  staples  of  the 
island  will  be  continued.  No  planter  who  has  treated 
his  apprentices  kindly,  and  has  habitually  employed 
them  for  wages  in  their  own  time,  entertains  a  doubt, 
that  he  will  be  able  to  carry  on  the  cultivation  of  his 
estate  by  free  labor.     Such,  it  may  be  confidently  an- 


378  CONCLUSION. 

ticipated,  will  be  benefited,  rather  than  injured  by 
Emancipation.  Those,  however,  who  have  pursued  a 
contrary  course,  wiH  suffer  a  deserved  retribution*  It 
cannot  be  anticipated,  that  every  individual  laborer 
should  continue  in  his  present  employment ;  and  it 
needs  no  extraordinary  foresight  to  point  out  the  par- 
ties who  will  sustain  the  loss,  resulting  from  the  dimi- 
nution of  laborers.  That  diminution  may  be  expected 
to  be  occasioned  chiefly  by  the  gradual,  voluntary  with- 
drawal of  women  firom  regular  field  labor,  to  domeatic 
duties  ;  a  change,  not  more  essential  to  the  happiness 
and  improvement  of  the  n^ros,  than  to  the  future, 
permanent,  advancing  prosperity  of  the  whole  commu- 
nity. 

To  such  views  as  these,  is  opposed  the  fear  that 
the  negros  will  be  tempted,  by  the  abundance  and  fer- 
tility of  the  waste  lands,  to  become  small  settlers,  and 
independent  cultivators.  We  do  not  think  such  an 
alarm  reasonable,  and  we  deprecate  any  attempt  to 
evade  the  difficulty,  by  lessening  the  free  agency  of  the 
laboring  population.  It  would  be  possible  to  deprive 
freedom  of  its  substance  and  value,  by  restrictive  laws, 
devised  with  subtlety,  and  executed  with  violence.  It 
would  be  possible  to  reduce  the  negros  to  a  hybrid 
condition  in  the  social  scale,  which  should  possess 
neither  the  efficiency  of  slavery,  nor  the  energy  of  free- 
dom :  to  erect  a  new  state  of  society  in  the  room  of 
the  present,  possessing,  like  the  image  of  mingled  iron 
and  clay,  neither  tenacity  nor  strength,  but  wanting 
every  element  of  durability  and  safety.  But  the  die  is 
cast  upon  freedom  :  nothing  less  than  unfettered  free- 
dom can  save  the  colonies  ;  freedom,  protected,  not 
circumscribed,  by  new  laws.  In  a  country  of  moun- 
tain fastnesses,  the  negros  can  only  be  prevented  from 


CONCLUSION.  879 

squatting  on  the  crown  lands^  by  being  suffered  to  ac- 
quire them  honestly  by  purchase.  They  will  not  occu?- 
py  them  to  a  greater  extent,  than  the  demand  for  agri- 
cultural produce  for  the  island  markets,  will  enable 
them  to  do  with  pecuniary  profit.  Mutual  competition 
will  speedily  abate  the  desire  for  independent  cultiva- 
tion»  Throwing  open  the  ports  to  Haytian  produce, 
would  also  tend,  by  a  legitimate  mode,  to  attach  the 
people  to  estate  labor.  The  trade  between  these  fine 
islands  is  still  prohibited,  though  they  are  almost  in 
sight  of  each  other,  and  capable  of  carrying  on  com- 
merce with  immense  mutual  advantage.  The  Hayti- 
ans  would  supply  yams,  plaintains,  fruits,  poultry, 
hogs,  goats,  cattle,  mules,  hors^,  hides  and  mahogany, 
in  exchange  for  British  manufactures.  Such  a  mea- 
sure would  essentially  promote  both  the  commercial 
and  agricultural  prosperity  of  Jamaica ;  the  price  of 
labor  would  be  lowered  by  the  abundant  supply  of  pro- 
visions, and  the  desire  of  the  negros,  for  independent 
cultivation,  were  it  even  stronger  than  it  is,  would  give 
place  to  the  disposition  to  render  cheerful  and  con- 
tinuous labor,  on  the  estates,  for  adequate  wages. 

We  have  heard  the  sentiment  frequently  expressed, 
that  the  negro  population  of  Jamaica,  is  more  unrntri- 
ligent  and  degraded,  than  that  of  Antigua  and  Barba- 
dos. Comparative  observation  has  left  a  contrary  im- 
pression on  our  minds.  There  are  undoubtedly,  in  Ja* 
maica,  a  greater  number  of  benighted  negros,  both 
Africans  and  Creoles  ;  but  there  are  also  a  larger  pro- 
portion, who  evince  intelligence,  energy  and  indepen- 
dence of  spirit,  similar  to  what  are  manifested  by  the 
peasantry  of  a  free  country.  The  cause  of  this  differ- 
ence need  not  be  traced  further,  than  the  several  modes 
in  which  the  slaves  have  been  subsisted  in  the  colonies 


380  CONCLUSION. 

named.  In  Antigua  they  were  formerly  fed  by  rations ; 
in  Barbados  they  are  stiU  chiefly  supported  in  the  same 
way  ;  but  in  Jamaica,  they  are  dependent  solely  on 
their  own  exertions,  in  their  own  time,  for  the  neces- 
saries of  life.  Their  children,  their  aged  and  infirm 
relations,  look  up  to  them  for  support ;  and  though 
under  present  circumstances,  the  pressure  of  such 
claims,  frequently  occasions  intense  suffering,  yet  these 
wholesome  cares  and  responsibilities,  develope  an  in- 
telligence of  mind,  a  firmness  and  self-reliance,  which 
are  marked  characteristics  of  many  of  the  apprentices 
of  Jamaica. 

We  are  unable,  within  our  allotted  limits,  even  to 
attempt  to  render  justice  to  missionary  efforts  in  Ja- 
maica.    Representation  cannot  picture  the  hiqppy  re- 
sults of  those  efforts ;  description  can  convey  no  idea  of 
their  excellence  and  magnitude.    A  few  years  ago,  the 
negros  were  heathen  and  benighted,  now  they  are  to  a 
great  extent  enlightened  and  christian.    TheSabhath, 
once  desecrated,  is  now  devoted  to  public  prayer  and 
thanksgiving,  and  to  the  enjoyment  of  christian  com- 
munion.    A  few  years  ago,  education  was  unknown ; 
now  it  is  making  progress  under  many  disadvantages, 
and  waits  but  for  freedom,  to  become  soon  more  gene-  , 
rally  diffused  than  in  our  own  country.     The  success 
of  missionary  labors  among  the  servile  population,  has 
been  general  and  striking ;  much  has  been  done,  yet 
more  remains  to  be  done.    The  work  requires  to  be 
deepened,  strengthened,  and  extended ;  and  we  earnestly 
commend  those  benefactors  of  the  human  race,  the  mis- 
sionaries, to  the  more  earnest  prayers,  to  the  deeper 
syinpathies,  and  to  the  yet  more  liberal  support  of 
British  christians. 


APPENDIX. 


[A] 

ANTIGUA. 


SECTION  I.— POPULATION. 


1787      I€05 


M17 


1821 


1832 


4 


Whites. 

Free  Colored 
aod  blacks. 

Slaves. 


/Male. 
1  Female 

{Male. 
Female. 

/Male. 
1  Female. 


} 
} 

I378O8 


2590 


1230 


3000 


1300 


36000 


\^l\Bm9 


1140 
840 

IM9 
2346 

14531 
16533 


i 


1980 


3895 


1 


18992 
15545 


f 


29537 


The  above  table^  compiled  from  the  Antigua  Almanac  and 
official  and  parliamentary  retarn?^  exhibits  a  gradual  decline  in 
the  Slave  Population.  About, three-fifths  of  the  decrease  were  oc- 
casioned by  manumissions  ;  leaving  still  a  fearful  waste  of  life  to 
be  carried  to  the  account  of  sugar  cultivation  by  slave  labor. 

The  excess  of  females  over  males  is  a  piarked  feature  in  the 
predial  population  of  this  and  other  colonies.  The  causes  of  the 
discrepancy  are  yet  unexplained ;  as  during  the  slave  trade  the 
importations  were  composed  of  a  large  excess  of  males.  The  fact 
seems  to  denote  the  existence  of  another  element  of  social  disor- 
ganization peculiar  to  slavery  in  sugar  colonies. 

As  no  general  census  has  been  taken  in  1834  or  subsequently, 
we  are  in  want  of  the  data  necessary  to  exhibit  the  effect  of  the 
Abolition  of  Slavery,  upon  population ;  but  it  may  undoubtedly  be 
calculated,  that  the  result  of  a  statistical  comparison  would  be 
favorable,  as  the  Negros  are  confessedly  more  careful  of  their 
health,  and  far  less  frequently  require  medical  aid,  than  during 
slavery. 

A  very  intelligent  and  experienced  resident,  connected  with 
many  estates,  writes  to  us  on  this  subject  as  follows. — "  The 
health  and  longevity  of  the  laborers  are  likely  to  be  improved  and 
increased ;  because  they  need  not  submit  to  be  overworked,  nor, 
when  recovering  from  illness,  need  they  return  too  soon  to  their 
accustomed  daUy  labor ;  both  which  evils  existed  under  the  old 


11.  APPS5I>IX. 

f^ystem,   especially    on  those  estates    which  were  weak-handed. 
From  these  evils,  with  an  insufficiently  strengthening  diet,  sprang 
that  early  decrepitude,  which  often  struck  with  surprise  persons 
who  knew  the  age  of  some  who  appeared  old.     I  expect  the  popu- 
lation to  increase  from  the  foregom^  causes,  combined  with  the 
greater  care  that  pregnant  women  will  take  of  themselves ;  for  it 
is  notorious  that,  under  the  old  system,  such  women,  when  ex- 
empt from  working  for  their  owners,  would,  for  themselves  and 
their  connections,  stagger  to  town  under  such  loads  of  wood,  grass, 
fruits,  vegetables,  &c.  as  scarcely  even  the  rough  means  then  used 
to  enforce  labor,  could  have  induced  them  to  carry  for  their  owners, 
when  in  a  state  of  perfect  health." 

SECTION  n. 

Commerce  and  AoaicuLTvam. — ^The  gentleman  above  quoted, 
informs  us  "  that  the  amount  of  imports  of  dry  goods  (articles  for 
clothing  and  domestic  economy)  has  increased ;  so  also  has  the 
import  of  rice,  flour,  mackarel  and  dried  codfish.  Other  fish,  as 
pickled  herrings  and  alewives,  are  not  in  the  former  demand ;  nor 
IS  indian  com,  nor  in  my  opinion,  from  which  others  differ,  is 
corn  meal." 

From  the  preceding,  and  from  much  other  testimony  to  the  same 
effect,  we  learn  that  there  has  been  a  general  increase  of  import 
trade ;  and  that  the  character  of  it  is  considerably  changed  ;  the 
coarser  articles  of  food  and  clothing,  formerly  distributed  to  the 
slaves,  being  displaced  by  superior  qualities  of  grain  and  fish,  and 
clotlis  of  a  finer  and  costlier  fabrication. 

The  only  articles  produced  for  export  in  Antigua  are  sugar,  rum, 
molasses  and  arrowroot,  of  the  last,  of  which  the  quantity  is  incon- 
siderable, and  is  chiefly  grown  and  prepared  by  the  negros  on  their 
own  separate  account.  The  yearly  average  export  of  sugar*  for  ten 
years  preceding  emancipation,  was  thirteen  thousand  four  hundred 
hogsheads,  of  about  fifteen  hundred  pounds  net  each.  The  exports, 
for  the  seasons  of  1834 — 5  and  1835 — 6,  have  been  about  fourteen 
thousand  and  ten  thousand  hogsheads  respectively.  A  still  greater 
reduction,  it  is  to  be  feared,  has  taken  place  in  the  produce  of  the 
season  of  1836-7.  From  this  circumstance,  occasioned  by  a 
drought,  of  great  severity  and  of  eighteen  months  duration,*  the 
planters  have  not  derived  all  those  benefits  which  might  have  been 
expected  to  result  from  emancipation  in  a  period  of  agricultural 
prosperity.  This  severe  visitation  has,  however,  pressed  far  less 
heavily  upon  them  than  if  it  had  occurred  before  1834.     During 

'^  In  Antigua  the  yellow  or  Bourbon  Cane  is  exclusively  cultivated.  In  the  parish 
or  Vere,  and  other  parts  of  Jamaica,  which  are  subject  to  uncertainty  of  climate,  this 
variety  has  been  displaced  by  the  Violet  Cane,  which  sustains  drought  better,  rattoons 
for  a  greater  number  of  years,  produces  much  more  leaves  for  fodder  and  manure,  and 
stalk  or  masass  for  fuel,  and  is  generally  a  more  vigorous  and  hardy  plant  The  sugar 
made  from  it  is  little  inferior,  in  quantity  or  quality,  to  that  of  the  Bourbon  Cane. 


APPENDIX.  llh 

slavery,  a  general  failure  both  of  the  crops  of  sugar  and  provisions, 
in  successive  seasons,  occurring,  as  this  has  done,  simultaneously 
with  the  scarcity  and  excessive  prices  of  those  imported  supplies 
from  British  America  on  which  the  island  depends,  would  have 
given  the  final  blow  to  the  embarrassed  fortunes  of  a  majority  of 
the  planters.  This  will  appear  more  evident  from  the  fact  that 
supplies  of  meal  and  fish,  when  purchased  at  a  credit  of  a  few 
months  only,  were  charged  by  the  merchants  at  an  advance  of 
one- third  upon  the  cash  price. 

From  the  statements  we  have  already  given  of  the  opinions  of 
practical  planters  it  appears,  that  the  cultivation  of  the  greater 
number  of  estates  is  carried  on  at  a  less  expense  than  during 
slaver/.  We  are  not  disposed  to  insist  too  strongly  upon  the 
saving  which  has  thus  been  effected;  because  several  of  those 
estates  have  yielded  the  largest  revenue  since  1834,  on  which  there 
has  been  a  judicious  increase  of  expenditure,  and  also  because  a 
statement  of  comparative  outlay,  even  if  it  could  be  obtained  for 
/  the  whole  island,  would  afford  too  narrow  a  basis,  on  which  to 
form  a  judgment  of  the  respective  merits,  in  an  economical  point 
of  view,  of  free  and  slave  labor.  The  following  statements  there- 
fore, selected  from  a  number  kindly  put  into  our  hands  by  several 
planters  and  managers,  are  subjoined  rather  as  illustrations  than 
as  proofs  in  addition  to  what  has  already  been  advanced  on  this 
subject.    The  amounts  are  given  in  currency. 

COMPARATIVE  VIEW  OF  THE  EXPENSES  ON 

ESTATE. 

Expenses  from  1st.  January,  to  d\st  December,  1833. 

£    s.    d. 

Nourishment,  &c.  for  sick 18  14  10 

57  Barrels  of  Herrings  155  9  6 

40  Puncheons  and  92  barrels  of  Meal  and  Flour 771  7  0 

♦139439  lbs.  of  Yams,  at  7s.  per  100  lbs 488  0  8 

♦14880  lbs.  of  Sweet  Potatoes,  at  7s  per  do 52  1  7 

4  Hogsheads  of  Codfish 44  7  6 

Wine,  &c.  for  the  sick 2  10  0 

9  Barrels  of  Pork  for  Christmas 81  0  0 

10  Ditto  of  Flour      ditto          45    0  0 

Cotton  for  Nurses 119  q 

Osnaburghs  and  Blankets 95  14  10| 

Caps 30    0  0 

Paid  to  women  for  bringing  out  children 2  12  0 

To  Parish  Taxes  on  321  Slaves 44    2  9 

To  deficiency  Tax  on    ditto      80    0  0 

To  Medical  care  of       ditto       136    4  0 


£2049    3    8| 


•*  These  are  grown  on  the  plantation,  and  are  charged  at  the  market  price. 

A*    2 


tv. 


To  Clotbiof  for  old  people 8    9  10| 

BUnkeU  for        ditto        7  16  0 

DUtmnementf  for  Sick 0  17  6 

h  FuBcbeont  of  M  eal«  aUowanee  fiBr  old  people  and  8ieck 

Keepcn 87  19  6 

14  BarreU  of  Shads  for    ditto      30    5  9 

HireofAgricnltttral  Laborers   1S50    9  3| 

Medical  care  of        ditto            » 70    0  0 

Balance  in  iaroor  of  free  labor 593    6  8| 

£204a    3    8| 

It  may  be  doubted  whether  the  pariah  and  deficiency  taxes 
should  be  introdaced  as  above ;  since  the  retenne  derived  fronk 
them  is  made  up  from  other  soorecs,  while  the  maintenance  of 
worn  out  slaves,  charged  on  the  odierskle  of  the  acooimt»  does  not 
properly  form  a  part  of  the  cost  of  the  free  system. 


COMPARATIVE  VIEW  OF  THE  EXPENSES  ON 

ESTATE. 

ONE  TEAR  OF  SLAVERY. 

£  8.  Cf. 

70  Puncheons  of  Meal 819  0  O 

02  Barrels  of  Herrings 163  16  0 

4^    Ditto    of  Pork  at  Christmas 40  10  O 

r>       Ditto      Flour        ditto 22  10  O 

910  Yards  Osnaburgh 56  17  S 

529  Ditto  Blue  napped  clothing 92  11  6 

H  Dozen  Kilmarnock  Caps 9  12  0 

50  Yards  White  Flannel 5  0  0 

75  lbs  of  Fresh  Beef. 5  12  d 

Medical  care  of  108  Slaves,  at  9s.  per  head 47  12  0 

Extra  labor  of  Coopers 98  0  10^ 

£1361  2  44 

ONE   YEAR   OF   FREEDOM. 

£  9.  d. 

Paid  Laborers  from  1st.  Jan.  to  10th  Dec.  1836 777  15  7^ 

Computed  for  the  two  remaining  weeks 29  18  3 

Medical  attendance  on  laborers    28  16  0 

Support  of  three  annuitants 17  11  0 

Clothing  for      ditto  3  11  3 

Balance  in  favour  of  free  labor 503  10  3 

£1361  2  4,^ 


APPENDIX.  V. 

In  addition  to  which  the  manager  observes,  that  out  of  the  one 
hundred  and  eight  slaves  supported  on  the  estate,  twenty  two  Were 
the  property  of  another  party,  who  received  hire  for  them  ;  which 
is  not  charged  in  the  above  account.  The  one  hundred  and  eight 
were  distributed  as  follows  :— 

1  Ranger. 

2  Foremen. 

10  Tradesmen,    (coopers,  carpenters,  masons,  &c.) 

6  Picking  grass  for  horses. 

6  Caring  cattle,  mules,  &c. 
41  Field  laborers. 

13  Infirm  people  able  to  work  a  little ;  and  some  of  whom  since 
emancipation  are  employed. 

6  House  servants 

8  Superannuated. 
15  Infants. 


108 


Our  informant  adds, — "  Of  the  forty  one  field  laborers,  if  the 
estate  mustered  one  hsilf  in  the  field  it  was  well-^pregnant  women, 
nursing  mothers,  runaway,  lazy,  sick,  and  atteujdants  on  lying  in 
women,  fully  taking  the  other  half  or  more. 

"  The  estate  makes  equally  as  good  crops  with  free  Is^bor,  and 
with  less  trouble  to  myself.  The  work  is  also  much  more  forward^ 
although  we  have  had  a  great  deal  of  building. .  The  cultivation  of 
provisions  is  decreased,  that  of  canes  increased,  t  have  been  pre- 
vented, by  the  building,  from  putting  another  piece  of  land  in  canesi 

What  laborers  we  now  have  are  all  effective,  and  we  do  all  that 
we  can  with  the  plough,  having  very  little  land  that  the  plough 
cannot  work. 

"  During  slavery  we  had  three  coopers,  who  never  did  supply  the 
estate  with  hogsheads.  We  used  to  hire  others  on  the  Saturdays 
to  make  them  at /our  shillings  each.  We  purchased  all  our  pun- 
cheons for  molasses  and  rum  ready  made.  We  have  now  two 
coopers  who  make  all  the  hogsheads  and  puncheons  we  want,  at 
two  shillings  each." 

SECTION  III. 

Religion,  Morals  and  Education. — ^The  Establishment  has 
six  parish  churches,  and  five  chapels  of  ease ;  which  arei  attended 
habitually  by  about  three  thousand  five  hundred  persons,  of  whom 
eight  hundred  are  communicants.  .     . 

The  Wesleyan  society  has  "  seven  principal  stations  ;  besides  a 
great  number  of  preaching  places  on  the  estates."  It  has  upwards 
of  three  thousand  members. 

The  United  Brethren  have  a  chapel  at  each  of  their  fiv6  stations  ; 
which  collectively  are  capable  of  accommodating  two  thousand 
seven  hundred  persons.      The  number  of  their  members  is,  of 

A*3 


YI.  APPmDfX. 

adults  about  ten  thousand  three  hundred^  and  of  children  aboat 
three  thousand  five  hundred  ;  the  number  of  communicants  aboat 
five  thousand  one  hundred.  They  have  nine  missionaries;  so 
that,  besides  supplying  their  regular  congregations  on  the  Sabbath, 
several  ministers  are  at  liberty  to  preach  the  gospel  at  the  more 
distant  estates.  The  insufficient  accommodation  afforded  at  their 
stations  for  so  large  a  body  of  members  tends  to  create  aaiong 
them  habits  of  irregular  attendance.  This  evil  is  paitiaUy  eoiin- 
teracted  by  the  pastoral  oversight  of  tlit  mkuilars,  esewised  in 
the  manner  already  described. 

We  cannot  express  our  own  sentiments  respecting  the  ttktt  ot 
emancipation  u[X)n  the  religions  state  of  the  people  better  thni  in 
the  words  of  our  excellent  friend  J.  Morrish,  one  of  the  Mmmvian 
missionaries. 

He  says  in  a  letter  to  us—"  My  opinion  regarding  the  morals 
of  the  Negros  since  emancipation,  compared  with  the  two  pre- 
vious years,  is,  that  there  is  aa  great  an  improvement  as  eoald 
reasonably  be  expected,  in  so  short  a  time  from  a  people  emerged 
from  a  state  so  degrading ;  there  ia  a  greater  desire  to  be  married 
than  formerly ;  and  the  husband  and  wife  more  generally  reside 
together,  which  in  many  instances  they  eonld  not  do  in  davery. 

"  There  is  a  more  general  attendance  on  the  means  of  grace  raan 
during  slavery ;  and  there  is  a  manifest  Improvement  mtbemorab 
of  children." 

There  are  several  societies  in  the  Ishmd,  to  promote  benevolent 
and  religious  objects.  Of  those  more  immediately  connected  with 
the  negros,  the  Friendly  Societies  are  the  most  *  important. 
There  is  one  in  connection  with  most  of  the  Wesleyan  and  Mora- 
vian congregations  ;  and  with  several  of  those  in  the  Establishment. 
Their  beneficial  results  have  already  been  adverted  to. 

Temperance  societies  have  also  been  formed  in  the  town  of  St. 
John's,  and  on  several  estates  by  the  Wesleyan  missionaries ;  and 
have  been  very  useful.  Intemperance  is  not  however  the  same 
overwhelming  evil  in  this  Island,  as  in  the  United  Kingdom,  T%ere 
arc  few  shops  for  the  retail  sale  of  spirits ;  the  spirit  dealer's 
licence  being  in  the  town  of  St.  John's  as  high  as  £160  currency 
per  annum,  and  £100  currency  in  any  other  part  of  the  Island. 

Pawnbrokers'  shops  are  unknown  in  Antigua. 

The  ministers  of  the  Established  Church  have  under  their  care, 

1  day  school  in  St.  John's,  attended  by  200  boys. 
1     ditto        in  ditto  150  girls. 

1    ditto        in  English  Harbor  150  children. 

And  fifteen  Infant  Schools,  situated  on  estates,  or  at  the  different 
parsonages,  attended  by  about  eleven  hundred  children. 

Sunday  Schools  are  kept  in  all  the  churches  and  chapels ;  and 
the  adults  have  the  privilege  of  attending  school  at  noon  and  in 
the  evening,  on  the  estates  where  infant  schools  are  held. 

The  above  schools  are  chiefly  supported  by  funds  derived  from 


APPENDIX.  VU, 

the  "Negro  Conversion  Society,"  and  the  "Ladies'  Negro  Edttcatioa 
Society ;"  and  from  the  Grovernment  through  the  Bishop  of  the 
diocese. 

The  United  Brethren  have  schools  at  each  of  their  five  settle* 
ments,  attended  by  about  six  hundred  day  scholars^  and  aevea 
hundred  Sunday  scholars. 

They  are  in  great  need  of  pecuniary  means  to  enable  them  to 
enlarge  their  present  school-houses,  and  to  er«ct  new  ones;  aa 
well  as  to  pay  the  salaries  of  teachers.  Five  colored  persons  are 
at  present  employed  by  them  in  that  capacity ;  but  mudi  of  the 
labor  of  instruction  falls  upon  the  missionaries  themselves.  With 
one  or  two  exceptions,  their  schools  are  not  in  the  same  eAcient 
state  as  those  of  the  Established  Church,  and  Wedeyan  society. 

The  state  of  the  Wesleyan  schools  will  appear  from  the  follow- 
ing remarks  kindly  drawn  up  by  Charles  Tihwaites  for  onr  use. 
Most  of  his  observations  are  applicable  to  the  sctoote  of  the  lalaod 
generally. 

"  The  schools  in  connection  with  the  Wesleyan  stations  are  aa 
follows : — 

Sunday  Schools,  7  in  number,  attended  by  1800  children. 
Day        ditto    18  „  ,,  1365        „ 

Night     ditto    24  „  „  500 

The  total  number  under  instructicm  is  about  two  thouaMid  fiv« 
hundred ;  of  whom  about  two  thousand  two  hundred  are  children 
of  slaves,  liberated  on  the  1st  of  August*  1834. 

No  regular  system  of  instruction  is  pursued  in  the  sunday  and 
night  schools.  The  infant  school  system  is  impeffe<r^  tai^^bt  in 
the  day  schools 

The  children's  capacities  to  learn  are  equal  to  l&ose  of  any«4ther 
class  of  people.  They  excel  in  reading,  and  the  giilt  in  needle^ 
work.    They  are  deficient  in  wnttng  and  arithmetic. 

"  Adult  schools  have  repeatedly  been  establii^ed  ;  but,  for^want 
of  regularity  in  the  attendance  of  the  scholars,  have  been  g^vanup. 
There  are  notwithstanding  many  adults  learning  to  read  in  tiieir 
spare  time  ;  some  of  whom  are  taught  by  their  own  children. 

"  The  funds  have  never  been  sufficient  to  hire  teachers  of  ema^ 
patent  ability.  Of  those  we  have  (twenty  three  in  -number)  thfoe 
are  very  capable ;  the  rest  are  liberated  «laves.  Some  of  them 
receive  four  dollars  per  month,  others  three  and  a  hedf,  and  some 
three  dollars.  This  pay  is  much  too  small ;  and  «ome  of  them 
suffer  from  pecuniary  difficulties.  They  are  pious  and  indefatigable 
in  their  duty,  and  love  their  work,  which  makes  them  engage  in  it 
at  so  reduced  a  sum.  Many  of  them  have  also  greatly  improved 
themselves  since  they  have  been  employed. 

In  most  of  the  schools  each  child  is  required  to  poy  three  Ear- 
things sterling  per  week ;  and  those  taught  writing  and  needlework 
three  half  pence  per  week. 

"The  schools  have  been  supported  chiefly  by  the  "Negro  Educa- 


VIII. 

tion  Society ;'  who  hsvc  gnreD  an  anniial  fruit  of  £50  aad  tome' 
timet  £60,  bettdet  papAg  the  lent  of  the  Ckardi  BCmioa  Society's 
preiniiee  in  Willong^by  Bay,  for  the  nae  of  the  mpcriBteadent 
and  Willonghby  Bay  idiool.  The  Ladies'  Antislcfcry  SocicCies  at 
Chelmsford,  Birmingham,  Westhromwich«  Clapham  uid  Lifcrpool 
have  alto  gj^cn  considerable  assistance  in  money  and  articles  of 
reward.  The  regular  fonds  are  notwitfistanding  very  inadeyiate  i 
and  a  continual  reliance  on  God  is  necessary,  not  onl^  for  the 
regular  supply  that  it  may  be  kept  up,  but  also  for  the  deficiencies ; 
and  it  is  a  matter  of  gratitude  that  we  can  say  hitherto  He  has 
helped  us." 

Besides  the  schools  under  the  superintendence  of  the  three  re- 
ligious bodies,  Uiere  are  seTeral  on  particular  estates  supported  by 
theproprietors  or  managers. 

Toe  want  of  a  normal  or  model  school  is  felt  by  all  in  the  Island 
who  take  an  interest  in  the  subject  of  education.  The  rector  of 
St.  John's,  previously  to  his  recent  visit  to  England,  raised  an 
amount  by  subscription  sufficient  to  bring  out  a  master  and  mis- 
tress to  establish  such  a  school  for  the  training  of  teadiers.  On 
his  arrival  in  London,  he  learned  that  the  trustees  of  the  Mico 
institution  were  about  to  appoint  an  agent  to  carry  that  object  into 
effect.  Their  agent  subsequently  sailed  ;  but  his  destination  was 
suddenly  chanfl;ed  from  Antigua  to  Barbados,  to  the  great  disap- 
pointment of  the  friends  of  education  in  the  former  island. 

SECTION  IV. 

Local  Government. — The  constitution  of  the  chartered  col- 
onics is  so  generally  known,  that  it  would  be  needless  to  refer  to 
it  but  for  Its  important  bearing  at  the  present  crisis  upon  the 
welfare  of  the  enfranchised  negroes.  The  following  remarks  on 
Antigua  will  also  illustrate  the  state  of  things  in  the  other  colonies. 

The  legislative  and  administrative  departments  of  the  local 
government,  comprising  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  important 
officers  of  trust,  are  filled  by  the  governor  and  forty  eight  colonists; 
of  whom  thirty  six  are  landed  proprietors,  five  engaged  in  mer- 
cantile pursuits,  and  the  remaining  seven  members  of  the  medical 
and  legal  professions. 

The  Council  is  composed  of  ten  members  appointed  by  the 
governor.  All  but  one  are  proprietors.  It  possesses  the  same 
place  in  the  legislature  as  the  House  of  Lords. 

The  House  of  Assembly  consists  of  twenty  five  members,  of 
whom  all  but  three  are  proprietors ;  they  are  chosen  by  twelve 
divisions  of  the  island,  of  which  ten  send  two  members  each ; 
one,  one  member ;  and  the  town  of  St  John's,  four. 

ITic  Assembly  is  elected  for  seven  years,  and  meets  for  the  des- 
patch of  business  once  a  month,  or  oftener,  by  adjournments.  It 
is  thus  always  in  session ;  a  circumstance  which  invests  it  with 
a  power  of  imprisonment  for  an  almost  indefinite  period  j  a  power 


APPENDIX.  IX. 

which  has,  on  more  than  one  occasion  within  memory,  been  exer- 
cised  in  the  most  arbitrary  manner. 

The  elective  franchise,  in  the  absence  of  any  specific  law,  was 
formerly  regulated  by  an  Act,  which  defines  the  extent  of  freehold 
necessary  to  qualify  an  individual  Ibr  the  exercise  of  other  political 
privileges,  to  be  the  possession  of  ten  acres  of  land,  or  a  house  of 
the  yearly  value  of  £20  currency.  Under  this  Act,  the  number 
of  electors  in  the  country  divisions  does  not,  in  many  instances, 
exceed  two  or  three.  By  the  nominal  concession  to  the  colored 
classes  of  their  political  rights,  the  electors  of  St.  John's  were  in- 
creased to  upwards  of  two  hundred.  The  house,  some  time  after- 
wards, by  a  simple  resolution  defined  the  qualification  for  the 
exercise  of  the  franchise  to  be  the  possession  of  a  freehold  of  ten 
acres  of  land,  or  a  tenement  of  the  yearly  value  of  £50  currency, 
or  of  the  dimensions  of  thirty  by  fifteen  feet ;  the  latter  singular 
standard  having  apparently  been  adopted  for  the  purpose  of  ex- 
cluding a  large  class  of  substantial  dwellings,  and  of  including 
coach  houses,  and  other  similar  buildings,  which  might  be  used 
by  the  wealthy  to  confer  fictitious  qualifications  on  their  de- 
pendents. 

After  the  election,  following  the  adoption  of  this  resolution,  two 
of  the  four  liberal  members,  chosen  by  the  Metropolis,  were  un- 
seated by  a  committee  *of  the  whole  House,  on  the  petition  of  their 
opponents ;  the  committee  not  only  acting  on  the  resolution,  but 
carrying  it  out  still  further  by  the  most  strained  and  partial 
mterpretations.  The  aggrieved  electors,  adopted  at  a  public 
meeting  a  series  of  resolutions  strongly  condemning  these 
arbitrary  proceedings.  They  likewise  addressed  a  petition  to  the 
three  branches  of  the  local  government,  setting  forth  in  forcible 
and  perspicuous  terms,  the  injurious  consequences  of  the  uncon- 
stitutional conduct  of  the  Assembly.  Finally  they  made  their  ap- 
peal to  the  Home  Government. 

The  reply  of  Lord  Glenelo  to  their  memorial  arrived  during 
our  stay  in  the  Colony,  and  was  to  the  following  effect. — 

The  redress  of  the  grievances  of  which  the  petitioners  complain, 
is  beyond  the  power  of  His  Majesty's  executive  government,  and 
the  petitioners  are  also  advised  to  seek  protection  from  encroach- 
ment "  in  the  peaceful  and  temperate  exercise  of  the  right  of  pe- 
tition, and  of  free  public  discussion." 

The  Colonial  Secretary  by  this  counsel  displays  a  remarkable 
ignorance  of  the  state  of  society  in  the  smaller  Colonies ;  by  his 
decision  he  charters  the  unconstitutional  assumption  on  the  part 
of  the  Assembly  of  a  power  which  belongs  jointly  to  the  three 
estates  ;  he  sanctions  an  invasion  of  the  Royal  Prerogative  ;  and 
contributes  to  continue  the  Assembly  what  it  has  long  virtually 
been — a  self -elected  body. 

Such  is  the  legislature  of  the  Colony.  The  administration  of 
the  laws  possesses  counterpart  features. 

The  Chief  and  Puisne  justices  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas 


X.  Apmrnix. 

are  Planters,  witfaont  any  lega]  education.  They  are  liable  to  b« 
concerned  in  civil  suits  in  their  own  persons,  or  in  tfaoae  of  their 
creditors  and  debtors.  On  one  or  two  occasions  an  embarrassed 
chit/Jtutiet  has  been  the  drfemdani  in  actions  for  debt  In  this  court. 

The  Court  of  Chancery  consists  of  the  Governor  and  the  mem- 
bers of  Council;  manv  of  whom  being  Planters  are  suspected, 
justly  or  olherwise,  of  being  under  the  influence  of  a  certain 
wealthy  merchant  and  mortgagee  resident  in  the  Island. 

These  two  Courts  do  no/  possess  the  confidence  of  aU  classes  in 
the  Colony. 

The  Court  of  King's  Bench  is  composed  of  the  Justices  of  the 
Peace,  who  are  thirty  three  in  number,  and  are  appointed  by  the 
Governor  with  the  approbation  of  the  Council.  Twenty  of  them 
however,  are  magistrates  ex  qfflcio,  viz.  all  the  members  of  Council, 
Judges  in  the  Court  of  Eichequer  and  Common  Pleas,  the  Speaker 
and  Crown  Law  Officers.  Three  are  persons  of  color,  all  of  whom 
owe  their  appointment  to  Sir  Evan  Mac  Grbgob,  the  late  governor. 

The  justices  also  dispose  of  all  petty  offences  at  the  Police 
Courts,  and  occasionally  at  their  own  houses.  At  St.  John's,  the 
offences  of  disorderly  persons  in  the  town  population,  form  tiie 
bulk  of  these  minor  cases.  At  the  country  stations  of  Pftrham 
and  English  Harbour,  nine-tenths  of  the  cases  decided  come  under 
certain  Acts,  which  have  been  passed  since  ihe  Abolition  of  Slavery, 
to  enforce  the  observance,  on  the  part  of  masters  and  servants,  of 
their  respective  duties ;  as  the  Contract  Act,  Malicious  Injuries 
to  Property  Act,  General  Hiring  Act,  &c.  &c. 

The  administration  of  these  important  Acts,  has  strong  features 
of  resemblance  to  that  of  the  English  Game  Laws,  a  few  years 
since,  by  certain  owners  of  game  preserves. 

llie  complaints  against  employers  are  very  few,  and  they  are 
generally  dismissed  by  the  Magistrates.  Complaints  against  the 
laborers  are  numerous ;  they  are  rarely  dismissed  and  are  pun- 
ished with  a  severity  disproportionate  to  the  offences.  The  penalties 
usually  imposed  are,  however,  far  more  lenient,  when  the  Magis- 
trates are  highminded  and  wealthy  proprietors,  than  when  the 
presiding  Justice  is  an  individual  not  immediately  connected  with 
planting,  but  dependent  on  the  Planters  for  professional  income. 
We  are  happy  to  add,  that  there  has  been  a  considerable  decrease 
of  cases  of  this  kind  since  the  commencement  of  the  new  system  ; 
but  it  is  doubtful  whether  these  Police  Courts  will  ever  be  equita- 
ble and  efficient  until  an  independent  Magistracy  is  appointed. 
There  are  individuals  in  the  Colony,  who  for.moderate  stipends 
would  discharge  the  duties  of  Police  Magistrates  with  vigour  and 
impartiality. 

From  the  preceding  statement  it  is  evident,  that  the  Local  GUs- 
vemment  of  Antigua  is  an  oligarchy  composed  of  an  exclusive 
class ;  whose  private  and  personal  interests  are  inseparably  inter- 
twined with  their  public  duty.  Their  legislation  is  essentially  of 
a  vicious  character ;  and  their  administration  of  the  Laws  still 


AP3PENDIX.  X1-. 

more  partial  and  objectionable.  Much  of  this  evil  tendency  of  the 
constitution  might  undoubtedly  be  counteracted  by  the  powerful 
control  of  the  Home  Government ;  but  unhappily  that  control  has 
rarely  been  exercised  honestly  and  firmly.  The  change,  in  recent 
years,  in  our  Colonial  system  has  been  forced  by  a  generous  peo- 
ple upon  an  unv^illing  Government;  which,  while  adopting  in 
profession  a  humane  and  liberal  policy,  continues  to  retain  in  its 
service  a  host  of  functionaries  who  aid  in  obstructing  all  measures 
of  reform.  This  grand  defect  runs  through  the  whole  series  of 
Colonial  appointments ;  but  is  most  conspicuous  in  the  selection 
of  Governors ;  to  whose  want  of  capacity,  indifference  or  virtual 
coalition  with  the  Planters,  the  difficulties  which  the  Colonial 
Office  experiences  in  carrying  out  its  policy,  are  chiefly  to  be 
attributed. 

An  old  resident  in  Antigua  thus  expresses  himself  on  this 
subject, — 

*'  It  has  been  the  unhappy  lot  of  this  island  to  be  ruled,  for  the 
last  thirty  six  years,  by  such  representatives  of  the  King  as  were 
imbued  with  high  tory  notions  of  Government,  and  at  the  same 
this  time,  addicted  to  company  and  pleasure.  The  only  exceptions  to 
remark  throughout  that  period,  have  been  Mr.  Hugh  £lliot  and 
Sir  Evan  Mac  Grbqor.  The  consequences  of  these  appointments 
have  been  at  all  times  oppressively  felt  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
island  ;  and,  ever  since  measures  began  to  be  in  progress  for  the 
"  Abolition  of  Slavery,  they  have  occasioned  not  a  little  embarrass- 
ment to  the  Government  itself," 

The  same  general  remark,  with  similar  exceptions,  applies  to  all 
the  Colonies. 

SECTION  V. 

Laws  of  Antigija. — ^The  Act  for  the  Abolition  of  Slavery  swept 
into  oblivion  an  entire  series  of  those  disgraceful  laws  which  dis- 
figure the  Statute  Book  of  every  slave  community.  The  framing 
of  new  enactments,  adapted  to  the  changed  circumstances  of  the 
colony,  was  commenced  with  great  industry  by  the  Colonial  Par- 
liament. New  laws  were  fast  multiplied ;  of  which  some  appear 
to  have  been  intended  to  obviate  evils  and  inconveniences,  the 
remedy  for  which  is  in  the  province  of  time,  and  not  of  legislation. 
But  let  it  be  observed  that  this  legislative  activity  was  exercised 
in  a  particular  direction;  and,  consequently^  several  necessary 
reforms  remain  yet  in  abeyance.  Among  these  are,  the  legal  re- 
cognition of  marriages,  performed  by  Dissenting  Ministers;  an 
entire  change  of  the  judicial  system ;  and  a  revision  of  the  laws 
affecting  property.  These  several  and  most  necessary  changes  have 
been  pressed  upon  the  attention  of  the  Colonial  Legislature  by 
Lord  Glenblg  ;  and  it  is  probable,  that  Acts  will  ere  long  be  passed 
in  conformity  with  his  views.  We  would  only  now  emphatically 
observe,  that  all  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  Negro  population 


Xii.  APPBKDIX. 

should  iraincdiatcly  use  their  influence  to  obtain  a  Marriage  Act, 
having  a  retrospective  as  well  as  proapective  effect. 

The  Acts  which  have  been  passed,  to  meet  the  immediate  exi- 
gencies, created  bv  the  entire  change  in  the  social  and  political 
condition  of  the  Colony,  demand  a  very  serious  examination  ;  as 
they  are  so  many  precedents  which  will  afiect  hereafter,  the  rights 
and  interests  of  the  enfranchised  population  of  the  other  islands. 
We  would  make  on  these  important  laws  the  general  remark — 
that  thev  contain  many  clauses  which  press  with  undue  severity  on 
the  w^orking  classes,  and  that  the  penalties  they  impose  are  uanally 
excessive ;  evils  which  are  not  mitigated  by  the  manner  in  which 
they  are  interpreted  and  administereid.  We  will  select,  for  more 
particular  attention,  and  as  an  illustration  of  the  one-sided  cha- 
racter of  Colonial  Legislation,  an  Act  which  was  passed  imme- 
diately before  our  arrival  in  the  Colony ;  and  which  received  the 
Royal  sanction  by  an  Order  in  Council,  dated  April  26th,  1837. 
It  is  entitled  "  an  Act  for  preventing  a  clandestine  deportation  of 
laborers,  artificers,  handicraftsmen  and  domestic  servants  from 
this  island,  and  for  establishing  regulations  concerning  their  de- 
parture from  the  same." 

The  preamble  sets  forth  the  evil  practice  of  designing  persons 
coming  to  Antigua,  and,  by  delusive  promises  of  great  gain,  in- 
ducing the  laborers  to  enter  into  Indentures  or  Contracts  to  serve 
in  other  Colonies ;  and  that  it  is  much  to  be  apprehended  that  the 
Laborers  become  victims  to  such  mercenary  speculations;  and 
that  they  are  frequently  thus  induced  to  emigrate  when  in  debt  or 
under  contract  in  the  island,  or  when  they  have  infirm  relatives, 
wives  and  children  depending  on  them ;  and  finally,  that  such 
practices  are  detrimental  to  the  interests  and  well-being  of  this 
island,  as  well  as  of  the  laborers  themselves. 

The  first  clause  enacts  that  every  laborer,  wishing  to  emigrate, 
shall  before  leaving  his  parish,  state  his  intention  to  one  of  the 
nearest  Justices  of  the  Peace,  who,  joining  himself  with  another 
Justice,  shall  inquire  whether  the  person  has  any  grandfatlier,  or 
grandmother,  father  or  mother,  wife,  or  child  under  fourteen  years 
of  age,  legitimate  or  illegitimate,  dependent  upon  him  for  support, 
and  who  may  become  destitute  on  his  departure.  If  the  Justices 
find  that  the  said  laborer  has  no  such  kindred  or  claims  upon  him, 
and  that  he  is  not  bound  by  any  existing  contract  for  service,  they 
shall  give  him  a  certificate  to  that  effect,  which  shall  authorize  the 
Island  Secretary  to  set  up  his  name  in  the  Secretary's  Office,  as  a 
person  about  to  leave  the  Island.  If,  however,  they  find  Uiat  the 
laborer  has  any  such  kindred,  or  claims  upon  him,  and  that  he 
refuses  to  make  satisfactory  provision  for  their  support  during  his 
absence,  they  shall  refuse  their  certificate,  and  shall  apprize  the 
Island  Secretary  of  the  name  of  the  person,  and  of  the  obstacles 
existing  to  his  departure. 

The  third  clause  gives  the  laborer  an  appeal  to  the  Governor 
and  Council ;  who  shall  have  power  to  overrule  any  intentional, 
improper,  or  unnecessary  obstruction  on  the  part  of  the  Justices. 


APPENDIX.  Xlll, 

The  fourth  imposes  a  penalty  of  one  hundred  pounds,  and  six 
months  imprisonment,  on  any  master  of  a  ship,  or  other  individual, 
endeavouring  to  induce  any  laborer  to  emigrate  without  complying 
with  the  provisions  of  the  Law. 

The  sixth  requires  the  Island  Secretary,  after  receiving  the  cer- 
tificate of  the  Justices,  to  publish  weekly,  for  thirty  days,  in  one 
of  the  newspapers,  the  name  of  any  laborer  intending  to  emigrate, 
together  with  the  name  of  his  last  employer  and  last  place  of 
residence. 

This  Act  is  intended  to  obviate  a  real  and  pressing  evil ;  but  the 
remedy  here  proposed  is  far  worse  than  the  disease.  A  different 
measure,  of  a  simple  and  unobjectionable  nature,  is  completely 
within  the  power  of  the  Colonial  Department ;  because  Demerara  and 
Trinidad,  where  alone  labor  is  sufficiently  dear  to  afford  a  premium 
on  the  speculations  of  the  above  mentioned  "  designing  persons," 
are  both  Crown  Colonies. 

The  Editor  of  the  Antigua  Herald  and  Gazette,  in  announcing 
that  this  Law  has  received  the  royal  sanction,  observes,  "  that  it 
is  reported  to  be  considered  very  efficacious,  and  to  be  viewed  by 
the  country  gentlemen  as  an  Act  likely  to  prove  highly  beneficial 
to  the  Colony."  It  appears  to  us,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  ten- 
dency of  it  is  to  convert  the  free  agricultural  peasantry  of  Antigua 
into  adscripti  ylebee.  The  landed  proprietors  have  already  com- 
bined as  individuals,  to  enforce  a  low  tariff  of  wages*  By  this 
Act  they  combine,  as  legislators,  to  exclude  foreign  competition, 
by  placing  insuperable  obstacles  in  the  way  of  their  laborers  carry- 
ing their  industry  to  the  best  market.  That  a  peasant  desirous  of 
emigrating,  should  be  abk  to  make,  for  the  numerous  relations 
specified  in  the  Act,  a  provision  satisfactory  to  one  of  the  nearest 
Justices  of  the  Peace,  viz.  his  own  employer,  or  one  of  his  own 
employer's  friends,  is  very  unlikely.  The  duty  of  a  laborer  to  sup- 
port his  parents  and  grand-parents,  has  never,  we  believe,  before 
been  enforced  by  legal  penalties.  He  may  be  so  circumstanced 
as  scarcely  to  be  able  to  earn  necessary  food  and  clothing  for  his 
wife  and  children ;  in  which  case,  emigration,  under  a  reasonable 
prospect  of  improving  his  condition,  may  become  his  interest  and 
duty ;  even  though  he  should  leave  behind  him  other  near  relations 
in  a  state  of  destitution.  This  Law  however  declares,  that  in  such 
a  case  he  shall  remain,  and  witness  their  misery  without  being 
able  to  alleviate  it. 

The  preamble  speaks  of  the  well-being  of  the  island,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  that  of  the  laborers,  and  this  spirit  is  carried  out 
through  all  its  provisions,  which  press  exclusively  on  the  laboring 
classes  ;  creating  a  permanent  legal  distinction  and  barrier  between 
them  and  the  other  classes  of  society.  It  is  impossible  to  be  too 
jealous  of  laws  like  these — we  cannot  forget  the  condition,  a  few 
years  since,  of  the  Hottentots  at  the  Cape ;  who,  nominally  free, 
were  reduced  by  a  single  injurious  ordinance  to  a  state  of  villanage, 
ivhich  left  them  at  the  mercy  of  a  ruthless  taskmaster,  without 

B* 


XIV.  APPmiX. 

giving  them  any  protection  even  in  his  •elf-interest^-'-a  state  which 
exposed  them  to  the  exactions  of  slavery  without  its  slender  indul- 
gences, to  its  worst  horrors,  without  any  of  its  mitigationa. 

Upon  our  Colonial  GoTemment  has  devolved  the  superintendoice 
of  the  most  interesting  political  experiment,  recorded  in  tiie  history 
of  our  country,  and  what  responsibility  can  be  more  sacred,  tiian 
that  of  preventing  the  young  liberties  of  a  suddenly  emancipated 
people  from  degenerating  into  license,  and  of  protecting  them  on 
the  other  hand  from  the  encroachments  of  superior  power  and  intd- 
ligence  ?  We  would  ask  whether  Government  has  discharged  its 
high  duties  worthily,  and  in  such  a  way  as  to  secure  that  complete 
Emancipation  for  which  the  English  people  have  so  earnestly  con- 
tended, and  for  which  they  have  made  so  costly  a  sacrifice  ?  Do 
not  the  laws,  passed  in  this  and  other  Colonies  since  the  Imperial 
Act  for  the  Abolition  of  Slavery,  and  mmcHoned  by  Royal  orders 
in  Council,  bear  witness,  that  tiie  Colonial  Department  is  not  at 
the  present  moment,  filled  with  men  to  whom  ti^e  sacred  interests 
of  negro  liberty  can  be  safely  intrusted,  without  the  exercise  of  in- 
creased vigilance  on  the  part  of  the  public  ?  There  is  notiiing  in 
the  situation  of  the  Colonies,  or  in  uie  character  of  their  popuhu 
tion,  to  warrant  even  temporary  deviations  from  a  sound,  legitimate 
and  equal  legislation.  The  great  principles  of  political  economy 
are  as  applicable  to  them,  at  the  present  crisis,  as  they  are  to  the 
mother  country ;  and  any  wide  departure  from  those  principles, 
will  not  only  inflict  much  present  evil,  but  create  serious  difficidtiea 
for  the  future. 

SECTION  VI. 

The  Abolition  Act. — ^The  debates  of  the  Assembly  and  Coun- 
cil, as  reported  in  the  Island  newspapers  during  the  sessions  of 
1S33— 4,  and  5,  cannot  be  said  to  exhibit  the  entire  body  of 
Antigua  Legislators  in  the  character  of  highminded  and  disinter- 
ested philanthropists.  The  passing  of  the  Emancipation  Act,  was 
barely  secured  by  the  unwearied  efforts  of  a  small,  but  benevolent 
and  enlightened,  majority ;  to  whom  also  is  owing  the  defeat  of 
subsequent  measures,  which  would  have  virtually  undone  all  that 
the  Bill  professed  to  effect.  The  first  Act  was  rejected  by  the 
Home  Government,  in  consequence  of  its  containing  a  clause  re- 
pealing the  four  and  a  half  per  cent  duties.  A  second  was  intro- 
duced in  a  remodelled  form  ;  and  ultimately  carried  by  a  casting 
vote.  The  Governor,  Sir  Evan  Mac  Grboor,  took  the  warmest 
interest  in  the  measure,  and  employed  all  his  legitimate  influence 
to  effect  its  passing.  He  was  undoubtedly  the  means,  under  Pro- 
vidence, of  determining  the  nicely  balanced  scales  of  liberty  and 
apprenticeship  in  favor  of  the  former. 

SECTION  VII. 

Th£  Four  and  a  half  psr  cent  DuTiES.^^It  is  to  be  regretted 


APPENDIX.  XV, 

that  the  Home  Government  did  not  acknowledge  the  full  surrender 
on  the  part  of  the  Antigua  Colonists,  to  the  wishes  of  the  parent 
country,  by  the  desired  cession  of  the  4^  per  cent  duties ;  a  tax 
which  cannot  in  any  point  of  view  be  defended,  and  which  is  ob- 
jectionable in  its  origin,  mode  of  collection,  and  application.  It  is  an 
impost  from  which  Jamaica,  Demerara  and  others  of  the  more  fertile 
Colonies,  are  exempt ;  and  which  presses  unequally  upon  the  older 
and  comparatively  exhausted  islands.  It  originated  in  Barbados. 
That  island,  havmg  been  first  granted  to  the  Earl  of  Carlisle, 
was,  during  the  abeyance  of  his  patent,  in  the  parliamentary  war, 
colonised  by  numerous  bodies  of  refugees.  At  the  Restoration, 
the  respective  claims  of  the  actual  possessors  of  the  soil,  and  of 
the  Earl  of  Carlisle,  were  submitted  to  the  arbitration  of  King 
Charles  II,  who  confirmed  the  titles  of  the  occupants^  on  con- 
dition of  their  paying  a  duty  in  kind,  of  four  and  a  half  per  cent 
on  all  exports,  first  to  the  creditors  of  Lord  Carlisle  for  a  series 
of  years,  and  afterwards  to  the  Crown.  Every  means  was  indus- 
triously employed  to  extend  this  precedent  to  the  other  colonies. 
Antigua  fell  under  the  yoke  in  the  following  manner.  In  1666  the 
island  was  surprised  by  a  petty  French  force  from  Guadaloupe, 
which  retained  possession  of  it  till  the  following  year,  when  it 
was  recaptured  by  the  British.  The  4^  per  cent  duty  was  made 
the  condition  of  tiie  Colonists  receiving  new  grants  of  their  estates, 
which  they  had  forfeited  by  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
French  Monarch.  This  duty  became  a  fund,  out  of  which  suc- 
cessive sovereigns  granted  pensions  to  their  favorites,  until  it  was 
recently  placed  with  the  otJier  Crown  revenues,  under  the  control 
of  Parliament.  The  episcopal  establishment  for  the  West  Indies 
is  charged  upon  it,  and  the  new  judicial  system  is  proposed  to  be 
provided  for  out  of  the  same  fund.  This  tax  operates  as  a  pro- 
tecting duty  in  favor  of  the  newest  and  most  fertile  soils  ;  and  it 
is,  with  manifest  injustice,  levied  upon  a  few  of  the  colonies  to  de- 
fray charges  incident  to  the  whole.  It  ought  to  be  at  least  ex- 
changed for  a  civil  list,  raised  at  the  discretion  of  the  local  legis- 
lature ;  and  appropriated  to  defray  the  charges  of  Government. 
Among  other  reasons  for  giving  the  cUim  of  Antigua  for  the 
abolition  of  these  duties  a  favorable  consideration,  it  ought  not 
to  be  forgotten,  that  the  rejection  of  the  Apprenticeship  has  saved 
the  mother  country  about  twelve  thousand  pounds  sterling  in  the 
salaries  of  stipendiary  Magistrates. 

SECTION  vm. 

Waste  Lands.— There  are  several  thousand  acres,  of  which 
the  title  to  possession  appears  to  be  indisputably  vested  in  the 
Crown  by  the  reconquest  of  this  island,  llie  statute  book  con- 
tains many  Acts  of  appropriation  of  land,  by  the  three  estates 
jointly ;  a  fact  which  can  scarcely  be  held  to  impair  the  original, 
sole  right  of  the  Crown ;  as  Colonial  Bills  are  enacted  in  the  form 

B*2 


XV  i.  APPSBDIX. 

of  petition.  The  sale  of  these  lands  from  time  to  time,  in  smaU 
parcels,  would  probably  have  a  more  powerful  tendency  than  any 
other  measure  in  the  power  of  the  Home  Govanmenty  to  elevate 
the  emancipated  population  in  character  and  condition.  Tlie  mo- 
nopoly of  land,  which  at  present  exists  in  the  hands  of  large  pro- 
prietors is  injurious  to  every  interest  in  the  island. 


[B] 


DOMINICA. 


SECTION  I. 
A  Table,  shewing  the  increase  and  decrease  of  Sultbs  on 

THREE  ESTATES   OF   RESIDENT  PROPRIETORS,  AND  ON  THREE 

OTHERS  OF  NON-RESIDENT  Proprietors,  from  1817  to 
1834. 

N.  B.— 7!lle  increa$ef  from  other  eauges  than  Births,  means  by  pur- 
chase^  inheritance»  S^e. ;  and  the  decrease  from  other  causes  than  Deaths, 
means  by  sale,  bequests,  S^c. 

PROPRIETORS — resident. 

Morne  Rouge  Estate,  St,  Mark*St  producing  Sugar  and  Cqffee, 

1817  No.  of  Slaves 69 

|o,.  Increase  by  births 42' 

Decrease  by  deaths 21 

Difference —    21 

Increase  from  other  causes 27 

J g3^  Decrease  ditto  20 

Difference —      7 


\ 


1834  No.  of  Slaves 97 

BHe  Rouge  and  Coulibri,  St.  Mark's,  producing  Cq^Tee, 

1817  No.  of  Slaves 64 

1817  Inc^^^se  by  births •...  36 

Decrease  by  deaths 21 

^^     Difference —    15 

Increase  from  other  causes 16 

1834  ^^c^^^sc            (^i^to             9 

Difference —      7 

1834  No.  of  Slaves 86 


AFFEROIX. 

Poitae  Muiaire  Sitate,  St.  PatrieV$,  produomg  Sugar. 

1817  No.  of  SlaTCB 

^  Inoreftse  by  birtliB 

I  1817  Decrease  by  deaths 

I         Difference    


Increase  &0II1  other  causes  

\  1S34  Decrease  ditto  

L         Difference    

1884  No.  of  SUtbb 

raopsiBiona — »  om-ebsidekt, 
Good-TBill  EiUite,  St.  Oeorge't,  produdiu;  Sugar. 

1817  No.  ofSIaTBB 

^         Increase  from  other  causes ■ 

11817  Decrease  ditto  

I  Add  difference 

Decrease  by  deathl 

i  Increase  by  births 

Deduct  difference 

1834  No.ofSIaves    

Can^eld  Bitate,  St.  PauTi,  produemg  Sugar. 

1817  No.ofSlBTes 

,  iDcreaBB  from  other  canaes  

11817  Decrease  ditto  

Add  difference 


Decrease  by  deaths 

1834  Increase  by  hitlha 

Deduct  difference 

1834  No.  of  Slaves 

Castle  Sruee  BilaU,  St.  Davift,  produoittg  Sugar. 

1S17  Is'o.cf  Slaves 

,  Increase  from  other  causes 

I  1817  Decrease  ditto  

Add  difference    


—    54 


Decrense  by  deaths ***■ 

1834  Increase  by  births "'» 

^  Deduct  difference 

1834  No.  of  Slayes    

•  Tht  Kut«  will  BBt  fcU  lo  iib«ry»  tto  fcnnMi  Ot  Uw  Ultto  M  "•U  •»  U"  te 


XViil.  APPEHBIX. 


SECTION  II. 

Local  GovBRifKmMT.<— The  adminUtratioii  of  tiie  laws  is  of 
the  same  character  as  in  Antigua«  and  in  the  same  urgent  need  of 
reform. 

The  strong  hold  of  abases  in  the  Local  Goyemment,  is  in  those 
departments^  both  legislative  and  execative*  which  are  filled  by  the 
appointment  of  die  Colonial  Office.  The  representative  branch  is 
not  liberal,  but  in  future  elections  it  may  be  expected  to  be- 
come so,  as  the  colored  class  are  numerous  and  infiuential,  and 
the  members  whom  they  return  have  been  hitherto  the  consistent 
supporters  of  measures  of  improvement.  Nothing  can  be  said  in 
praise  of  the  Legislative  Council,  which  is  nominated  by  the 
Crown ;  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  reprobate  too  strongly  the 
appointment  or  retention,  in  the  most  responsible  offices,  of  men 
who  perpetuate  the  worst  Colonial  abuses.  The  present  Attorney 
General  is  a  conspicuous  example  of  the  persons,  who  are  distin- 
guished by  the  confidence  of  the  Home  Government.  It  will  be 
remembered  by  some  of  our  readers,  that  a  statement  was  made 
public  in  England,  in  the  early  part  of  1835,  that  two  female  ap- 
prenticed lalK>urers  had  been  punished  by  flogging,  in  the  market 
place  of  Roseau ;  and  that  a  free  colored  man,  convicted  of  an 
assault,  had  been  worked  in  the  chain  gang  amongst  felons,  and 
left  to  depend,  during  a  long  imprisonment,  upon  the  charity  of 
his  fellow  prisoners  for  food.  This  report  excited  public  indigna- 
tion in  England,  which  caused  the  House  of  Assembly  to  investi- 
gate the  matter  in  a  Committee  of  the  whole  House,  in  the  hope, 
doubtless,  of  falsifying  or  explaining  away  the  statements  which 
had  been  made.  From  their  printed  report  we  extract  the  following: 
— **  ITie  result  of  this  investigation,  in  respect  to  those  points  to 
which  the  inquiry  was  directed,  establishes  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Committee,  the  following  facts : — First,  that  two  female  appren- 
ticed labourers,  named  Dongousb,  and  Mart  Clarke,  were 
severally  indicted,  &c. — and  were  sentenced  by  the  Court,  to  re- 
ceive, the  former,  thirty  nine,  and  the  latter,  thirty  stripes  in  the 
public  market  place  ; — that  the  punishment  was  inflicted  on  them, 
without  any  improper  exposure  of  their  persons,  and  without  any 
further  exposure,  than  was  necessary  to  carry  the  sentences  into 
execution. 

"  The  Committee  have  not  thought  it  incumbent  on  them  to 
enter  into  any  examination  of  the  legality  of  the  sentences  pro- 
nounced; they  have  thought  it  sufficient,  that  those  sentences 
proceeded  from  the  highest  Criminal  Court,  and  were  sanctioned 
by  the  legal  opinion  of  the  first  law  officer  of  the  Crown,  in  this 
Colony."  The  examination  of  the  witnesses  is  appended  to 
this  report.  The  following  are  two  of  the  questions  proposed  to 
the  Attorney  General  and  his  replies. 


APPENDIX. 


XLX. 


"  Were  you  called  upon  by  the 
Court  to  give  your  opinion  as  to 
the  legality  of  awarding  punish- 
ment by  whipping,  in  the  cases  of 
DoNGOusB  and  Maby  Clarke  ?*' 


"  1  do  not  recollect  that  I  was 
called  upon  to  giye  my  opinion, 
but  I  did  giye  my  opinion,  that 
the  punishment  of  females  by 
whipping,  was  leffal. — /  pointed 
out  to  the  Courts  that  that  mode  of 
punishment  was  stiU  in  their 
power,  and  that  the  eases  of  the 
twopartieswarranted  its  exercise.'* 


"  Upon  what  Law  do  you  ground 
your  opinion  that  women  may  be 
flogged  in  this  Colony  for  certain 
offences  ?" 


cc 


Upon  the  Law  of  England.** 


The  Provost  Marshal  was  asked, 

"  When  were  the  sentences  put         "  In  the  market  place,  on  the 
in  execution  ?  and  on  what  day  ?"      7th  of  February,  between  twelve 

and  one  o'clock.'* 


"  Was  it  on  the  market  day, 
and  was  the  market  full  of  people, 
men  and  women  ?" 


"  It  was  on  a  market  day,  and 
there  were  a  great  many  people, 
men  and  women,  as  is  usual  on 
those  days. 


The  Attorney  General^  who  thus  deliberately  avows,  that  these 
female  apprentices  were  publicly  flogged,  on  his  unsolicited  recom- 
mendation to  the  Court,  is  still,  through  his  own  talents,  and  the 
favor  of  the  Government,  the  most  influential  person  in  the  Colony. 

From  the  investigation  into  the  other  case  of  the  free  man  of 
color,  it  appears  that  it  is  not  the  custom  in  Dominica  for  free 
criminals  to  receive  any  food;  and  that  this  prisoner  was  actually 
dependent  on  casual  charity,  and  on  the  pity  of  the  apprentices  in 
the  chain  gang.  One  .of  the  town  wardens,  on  being  asked,  in 
reference  to  this  case,  "  Why  do  you  consider  the  punishment  by 
the  chain  gang  not  a  severe  punishment  V  replies,  "  In  the  first 
instance,  I  consider  the  chain  is  put  about  Uiem  as  a  badge  of 
shame,  to  which,  in  my  opinion,  the  generality  of  them  are  perfect 
strangers,  &c."  he  adds,  "  I  have  latterly  observed,  that  the  chain 
is  %o  folded  up,  or  covered,  that  you  cannot  discern  whether  it  is  a 
chain  or  not  V*  This  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  unconscious 
simplicity  with  which  a  thorough-paced  advocate  of  colonial  op- 
pressions, will  sometimes  supply  facts  in  refutation  of  his  opinions. 
It  would,  indeed,  not  be  surprising  if  the  sense  of  shame  were 
obliterated  by  slavery  ;  but  it  is  a  fact,  that  many  of  the  females 
manifest  as  deep  a  feeling  of  the  degradations  to  which  they  are 
subjected,  as  could  be  shown  under  the  same  circumstances,  by 
the  wives  and  daughters  of  more  happy  England. 


XX.  APPINOnL. 


SECTION  in. 


The  Late  Governor. — We  have  had  occasion  in  the  preced- 
ing pa^,  to  speak  in  tennt  of  praise  of  Sir  Evaic  Mac  Gregor, 
and  it  is  our  gn^efal  task  to  record  here,  that  those  in  Dominica 
interested  in  iht  welfare  of  the  apprentices,  attribate  the  accom- 
plishment of  some  good,  ai^l  the  prevention  of  much  mischief,  to 
his  brief  residence  among  them  as  Governor.     In  his  farewell 
address  to  the  Leffislatare,  on  his  departure  to  assume  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  Windward  Islands,  he  reconmiended  the  Abolition  of 
the  Apprenticeship  in  1838.    We  would  gladly  write  nothing  but 
eulogy  of  the  author  of  so  benevolent  a  proposition,  bat  a  sense  of 
what  is  due  to  impartiality,  compels  us  to  notice  two  acts  which 
disfigure  his  administration.    First,  an  attempt  to  introduce  co»- 
puUary  taskwork,  in  imitation  of  Sir  Lionel  Smith,  and  in  oppo- 
sition to  an  express  enactment    of   the    Apprenticeship    Law. 
Secondly,  his  decisions,  on  a  number  of  charges  preferred  by 
Joseph  Fadells  against  certain  individuals,  high  in  ofilce,  in 
Dominica.    We  have  before  us  a  pamphlet,  whidi  may  be  con- 
sidered to  contain  an  e*  parte  view  of  this  subject  in  favor  of  Sir 
£vAN  Mac  Gregor.    Since  it  consists  entirely  of  his  own  state- 
ment of  the  several  charges,  his  references  to  the  evidence,  his 
citations  and  interpretations  of  the  Laws,  his  decisions  on  the 
separate  charges,  and  hb  concluding  "  general  remarks."  A  careful 
perusal  of  it  has  brought  us  to  the  conclusion,  that  his  interpre- 
tations of  the  Abolition  Law  are  destructive  of  the  spirit  and  in- 
tention of  the  English  Act,  and  that  his  decisions  and  **  Remarks" 
display  a  strong  bias  in  favor  of  the  accused  parties.     Sir  Evan 
thus  speaks  in  his  "  General  Remarks"  of  the  success  likely  to 
attend  efforts  to  protect  the  apprentices  by  the  exposure  of  the 
oppressions  to  which  they  are  subjected.     "Unless  through  the 
kindness  and  favor  of  their  masters,  whom  they  ought  rather  to 
be  encouraged  to  propitiate  by  submission,  than  goaded  to  exaspe- 
rate,   by  impotent  resistance,  the  apprenticed  laborers  may  look 
in  vain,  for  an  amelioration  of  their  lot."    This  striking  passage 
explains  what  is  the  actual  condition,  in  law  and  fact,  of  the  ap- 
prenticed laborers.  They  have  no  rights,  which  they  can  effectually 
maintain  in  opposition  to  the  despotic  will  of  their  owners.     The 
Abolition  Law  so  far  from  being  largely  interpreted  in  their  favor, 
as  an  Act  intended  for  their  benefit,  and  on  the  theory,  that  sub- 
ject to  certain  well  defined  restrictions,  they  are  free  men,  is  in- 
terpreted largely  in  favor  of  their  masters,  and  on  the  theory  that 
with  certain  ill-defined  immunities,  they  are  still  slaves, 

SECTION  IV. 

Comparative  Condition  of  the  Apprentices. — It  appears 
evident  that  the  negros  in  this  Colony  have  gained  nothing  by  the 


APPENDIX.  XXI. 

exchange  of  Slavery  for  Apprenticeship.  It  is  the  general  belief 
of  many  residents  and  eyewitnesses^  that  their  yoke  daring  the 
earlier  part  of  the  new  era  was  even  heavier  than  before.  Some 
good  subsequently  was  effected  by  the  favorable  influence  of  Sir 
Evan  Mac  Greoor  ;  and  more  recently  some  of  the  Planters,  in* 
eluding  one  gentleman  who  is  Attorney  for  the  majority  of  the 
estates  of  the  absentee  proprietors,  have  themselves  pursued  a 
more  indulgent  course.  With  all  tiiese  alleviations,  we  believe  the 
negros  to  have  guned  nothing  by  the  twenty  millions  but  the  hope 
of  freedom  in  1840. 

In  many  instances  they  are  deprived  of  the  old  slave  allowances 
of  salt  fish  and  meal,  &c.  llieir  children  are  neglected,  and 
mothers  are  compelled  to  repay  the  time  lost  in  attendance  on  them 
when  sick.  Pregnant  women  are  sometimes  kept  at  labor  in  the 
field  nearly  to  the  day  of  their  delivery.  The  people  are  often  kept 
at  work  in  the  field  in  heavy  rain,  at  the  risk  of  their  health.  The 
power  of  imprisonment  in  the  estates'  cachots,  conferred  by  the 
Local  Act,  as  a  security  against  the  escape  of  offenders  is  frec)uently 
employed  by  the  Managers  as  sl  punishment ;  and  lastly,  they  have 
no  protection  against  ill-treatment  from  persons  who  are  not  their 
employers.  The  Special  Magistrate  has  not  power  to  summons 
before  him,  on  the  complaint  of  an  Apprentice,  any  person  of  free 
condition,  other  than  the  person  entitled  to  the  services  of  the 
Apprentice.  He  has  power,  however,  to  punish  an  Apprentice  on 
the  complaint  of  any  person  whatever.  An  Apprentice,  therefore, 
in  case  he  is  ill  treated  by  any  free  person,  other  than  his  master, 
must  resort  to  the  General  Justices  of  the  Peace,  or  to  the  Supreme 
Courts  of  the  Island.  We  have  before  us  thirteen  examples  of  the 
practical  value  of  this  privilege,  in  a  list  of  as  many  cases  of  Ap- 
prentices, assaulted  by  free  persons,  not  their  owners,  within  the 
short  space  of  one  month,  who,  after  making  many  applications^ 
could  get  no  Justice  of  the  Peace  to  entertain  their  complaints. 


APPENDIX. 


[C] 


MARTINIQUE. 


Copies  or  thb  Pbtitionb  or  tbb  Colorbd  Propristors  op 
Martiniqub>  por  thb  ikmbdiatb  Abolition  op  Sulybrt. 

No.  1. 

Abolition  db  l'Ebclavaob.  Lbb  Hokmbb  db  Coulbur  db 
LA  Martiniq,ub  aux  DEUX  CHAKBRBB.^Les  ciis  de  liberty  qui 
se  8ont  fait  entendre  dant  lea  Ilea  voiainea  aoua  la  domination 
Brittaniqae  en  faveor  d'nne  daaae  si  nombreoae  de  notre  population, 
ont  retenti  dans  nos  Cceurs. 

Nous  savons  par  experience  que  les  garanties  promises  par  les 
lois  et  les  ordonnances  de  la  M^tropole,  sont  inefficaces  dans  la 
pratique,  et  qu'il  n'ya  poar  ceux  auxqueb  le  l^gislateur  a  ddnie 
{'immense  bienfait  de  la  liberty,  aucune  compensation^  ancune 
moyen  de  faire  respecter  en  eux  les  droits  de  rhumanit^.  Malgr^ 
I'etat  de  degradation  oix  la  servitude  les  a  places,  le  sentiment  de 
la  liberty  vit  imperissable  au  fond  de  leurs  cceurs  et  met  aujourdhui 
plus  que  jamais  en  p^ril  la  security  des  biens  et  des  personnes 
libres. 

Nous  croyons  qu'il  est  impossible  de  retarder  plus  long  temps 
sans  de  graves  dangers  Tentiere  abolition  de  I'esclavage. 

Nous  sommes  prets  comme  propri^taires  k  faire  tous  les  sacri- 
fices que  la  Metropole  voudra  nous  imposer  a  cet  egard,  et  a 
concourir  avec  les  gislateurs  k  r^mancipation  morale  autant 
que  physique  de  la  population  au  milieu  de  laquelle  nous  sommes 
places. 

Que  des  lois  gen^reuses  et  sages  fixent  les  principes  de  cette 
regeneration.  Quelles  se  confient  k  notre  fideiite^  a  notre  amour 
pour  la  Metropole  et  la  reussite  en  est  assuree. 

Quand  les  esclaves  sauront  que  nous  n'avons  pas  mis  obstacle 
a  ce  que  leurs  chaines  soient  brisees,  ils  croiront  a  nos  paroles,  et 
ne  refuseront  pas  les  travaux  dont  nous  leur  donnerons  Texemple. 


APPENDIX.  XXUl. 

No.  2. 

Saint  Pierre,  25th  Novembre,  1836. 
Petition  derniere>  aux  deux  chambres. 
M. 

Nous  venons  rendre  hommages  aux  nobles  sentimens  qui 
animent  les  chambres  et  le  Gouvemeinent  envers  la  classe  la  plus 
malheureuse,  la  plus  nombreuse  de  nos  Colonies. 

Les  promesses  solemnelles  de  S,  £.  le  Ministre  de  la  Marine  et 
des  Colonies  a  la  Chambre  des  Deputes  dans  sa  stance  du  25 
Mai  dernier,  nous  ont  penetre  de  la  plus  vive  reconnaissance ;  nous 
voyons  avec  le  plus  profond  interet  que  le  Gouvemement  est  d^ter- 
min^  a  faire  cesser  Tesclavage,  en  ce  qu'elle  est  contraire  au 
principe  fondamental  de  toutes  les  Soci^tes,  et  n'etant  utile  ni  au 
maitre  ni  a  Tesclave.  Nous  applaudissons  4  sa  genereuse  resolu- 
tion ;  nous  y  concourirons  autant  qu'il  sera  en  nous,  nous  soumet- 
tant  a  tons  les  sacrifices  qui  pourront  nous  etre  imposes, 

Quand  il  n'y  aura  plus  d'esclaves  aux  polonies,  11  ne  sera  plus 
u^cessaire  d*y  envoyer  ces  fortes  gamisons  transport^es  a  grands 
frais  pour  maintenir  la  soumission  des  ateliers,  I'autorite  et  la 
securite  precaires  des  maitres,  Devenus  soldats  et  Citoyens,  les 
affranchis  seront  int^ress^s  au  maintien  de  Tordre  public  et  a 
defendre  le  pays  qui  les  a  vus  n^itre. 

Enfans  du  sol,  lis  n'auront  pas  k  redouter  les  effets  d'un  climat 
destructeux  qu(  enl^ye  chaque  ann^e  d^  nombreui^  defenseurs  a  la 
mere  patrie  \  ' 

Ainsi  Temancipation  des  esclaves  sera  un  acte  d'humanite,  de 
justice  et  de  bonne  politique ;  nous  Tappelons  de  tons  nos  voeux, 
reprouvant  k  I'avance  toutes  resolutions  opposees.  Avec  elle, 
renaitront  la  securite,  Tordre  et  la  tranquillity ;  avec  elle,  le  travail 
libre  et  salarid  remplacera  le  travail  forcd  et  humiliant  qui  demo- 
ralize, et  le  maitre  et  Tesclave ;  par  elle  se  formeront  des  liens  de 
famille  incompatibles  avec  Tetat  d'esclavage  quel  quil  soit ! 

Mais  en  promettant  notre  concours  au  Gouvemement,  nous 
^mettons  aussi  le  voeu  qu'il  adopte  des  mesures  tendantes  a  accroitre 
I'industrie  coloniale  et  qu'il  lui  accorde  la  liberty  commerciale,  au 
moins  pour  les  objets  les  plus  n^cdssaires  a  la  vie  des  habitans  de 
toutes  les  classes. 

Nous  ayons  Thonneur  d'etre,  &c.  &c.  &c. 


APPENDIX. 


[D] 


BARBUDA. 


Of  the  three  seamen  in  our  little  Schooner  who  were  Barbadians, 
two  were  exiles  from  their  homes,  and  the  third  was  a  colored 
boy,  the  son  of  the  late  Superintendent  of  die  Island,  who  is 
menitoned  by  Sir  Bkthkl  Codeington  in  his  public  correspondence 
on  Slavery  with  T.  F.  Buxton.  Many  of  our  readera  will  re- 
member, that  Barbuda  is  the  private  property  ci  Sir  Bxthbl,  and 
that  the  happy  condition  of  its  inhabitanta  was  brought  promi- 
nently fonmd  by  him,  in  the  correspondence  referred  to.  The 
boy,  above  mentioned,  is  left  without  any  education,  to  earn  his 
bread  as  a  cabin  boy  in  a  small  coasting  schooner,  a  life  of  all 
others,  distinguished  by  hardship  and  privation.  Before  Eman- 
cipation, there  were  five  hundred  slaves  in  Barbuda ;  none  would 
have  cjuitted  it  voluntarily  as  they  are  attached  to  their  native  soil, 
to  their  fertile  gardens,  and  varied  employments  of  agriculture, 
hunting,  fishing,  piloting  and  diving.  At  the  present  moment, 
however,  upwards  of  a  hundred  of  them  are  in  banbhment  in 
Antigua.  The  will  of  the  Superintendent  is  law,  and  for  every 
real  or  supposed  offence  they  are  liable  to  be  ordered  off  the 
Island.  Our  Captain,  who  is  employed  by  the  Superintendent, 
and  has  evidently  no  sympathies  for  the  negros,  told  us,  that  on  one 
occasion  since  they  became  free,  when  their  labor  was  not  wanted, 
in  consequence  of  a  dry  season,  the  people  were  all  dismissed  but 
thirty,  and  that  they  were  pardoned  and  permitted  to  return  as 
soon  as  seasonable  weather  set  in  I  They  receive  wages  from  the 
Superintendent,  but  as  he  is  the  sole  shopkeeper,  much  of  the 
money  circulates  back  again  into  his  till. 

During  our  stay  in  Antigua,  we  had  several  opportunities  of  con- 
versing with  persons  acquainted  with  the  state  of  Barbuda.  It 
was  originally  granted  to  the  ancestor  of  its  present  proprietor  for 
ninety  nine  years,  and  at  the  expiration  of  this  period  was  re- 
granted  by  Gborob  IV,  for  a  term  of  fifty  years,  on  the  con- 
dition that  the  grantee  should  present  the  Governor  of  Antigua 
annually  with  a  fat  wether  sheep.    The  Island  is  nearly  as  large 


APPENDIX.  XXV. 

as  Antigua,  and  very  fertile.  The  cultivation  of  the  cane  is  not 
permitted  by  the  terms  of  the  tenure,  but  a  large  revenue  is  derived 
from  its  timber,  corn,  cattle,  sheep  and  deer.  The  salvage  of 
virrecks  is  another  productive  source  of  income,  as  the  island  is 
low  and  nearly  surrounded  by  a  coral  reef,  running  out  for  miles 
into  the  sea.  A  daily  look  out  is  kept,  and  the  negros  are  very 
active  in  rendering  assistance  to  virrecked  vessels,  being  familiar 
with  the  intricate  navigation,  and  very  expert  in  the  use  of  boats, 
and  in  swimming  and  diving.  During  slavery,  Barbuda  was  also 
a  nursery  for  slaves,  to  supply  the  waste  on  the  Codrington  estates 
in  Antigua,  from  whence  a  few  families,  the  ancestors  of  its  present 
numerous  population,  were  originally  brought.  They  are  the  most 
robust  islanders  in  these  seas,  and  distinguished  by  the  primitive 
simplicity  of  their  character.  Heinous  crimes  are  unknown  among 
them.  They  have  no  Laws,  and  the  sole  authority  is  the  Super- 
intendent, who  holds  the  commission  of  a  Justice  of  the  Peace 
from  the  Governor  of  Antigua.  They  have  no  resident  religious 
instructor.  Several  years  ago,  the  Wesleyan  missionaries  of 
Antigua,  paid  occasional  visits  to  the  Island,  until  they  were  pro- 
hibited, and  their  congregation  violently  dispersed  by  the  late 
Superintendent.  The  Bishop  of  Barbados,  soon  after  his  arrival, 
appointed  a  resident  catechist  who  staid  a  short  time  and  was  fol- 
lowed by  several  others  in  succession.  We  met  the  last  of  these 
in  Dominica,  an  energetic  young  man,  who,  like  his  predecessors, 
had  been  compelled  to  relinquish  his  charge  by  disagreements  with 
the  Superintendent.  Most  of  the  people,  both  old  and  young,  are 
able  to  read,  and  a  few  to  write.  Many  are  married,  but  concu- 
binage, one  of  the  many  evils  resulting  from  the  absence  of  a  resi- 
dent minister,  prevails  to  a  great  extent.  The  island  has  no  resi- 
dent medical  man,  until  recently  one  of  the  emancipated  slaves, 
an  intelligent  colored  man,  acted  in  this  capacity,  but  he  has  lately 
left  it  to  seek  a  more  extended  sphere  for  the  exercise  of  his  skill. 

Barbuda  is  within  the  legislative  power  of  the  Government  of 
Antigua — ^but  the  parliament  of  that  island  has  always  refused  to 
undertake  the  responsibility  of  legislating  for  it.  Their  neglect, 
at  the  time  they  abolished  slavery  in  their  own  island,  to  enact  the 
apprenticeship  in  this,  is  said  to  have  induced  the  proprietor  to 
adopt  the  graceful  alternative  of  emancipating  the  slaves  by  a  deed 
under  his  own  hand.  It  is  reported  that  an  individual  of  known 
liberal  sentiments  has  recently  been  appointed,  and  is  expected 
shortly  from  England,  to  take  the  office  of  Superintendent. 
Should  this  happily  be  the  case,  we  trust  that  this  little  defepotism 
will  be  administered  with  more  regard,  than  it  has  hitherto  been, 
to  the  temporal  and  spiritual  interests  of  its  inhabitants. 


APPENDIX. 


[EJ 


BARBADOS. 


SECTION  I. 

Paupbe  Population. — ^There  U  a  class  of  several  thoosand 
poor  wkitn  in  Barbados,  known  by  the  name  of  "  red  shanks;" 
many  of  whom  are  dependent  on  parochial  and  casual  felief,  and 
even  on  the  charity  of  the  apprentices.  The  competition  of  the 
colored  people  has  driven  them  out  of  almost  every  field  where  free 
laborers  were  wont  to  exercise  their  skill  and  industry.  From 
their  idle  and  dissolute  habits  they  are  more  degraded  than  the 
negros,  but  are  proud  of  their  caste  as  whites.  There  are  only  a 
few  individuals  of  the  colored  class  receiving  parochial  relief. 

SECTION  II. 

Stipbndiart  Administration  of  tbb  Abolition  Law. — 
The  following  is  an  analysis  of  the  record  of  complaints  and  de- 
cisions made  in  one  month  in  a  single  district.  The  document 
from  which  it  is  extracted  was  taken  up  at  random^  and  was  sub- 
sequently ascertained  to  be  in  no  respect  distinguished  from  the 
journals  of  several  of  the  other  Magistrates,  either  in  number  of 
cases  or  nature  and  severity  of  punishments. 

Barbados — District  D.     December,  1836. 

1. — Complaint  of  apprentice  against  employer,  in  which  the 
latter  was  fined  £5  currency  for  flogging  complainant.  Two 
hundred  and  twenty-six  complaints  of  employers  against  appren- 
tices. The  sum  total  of  the  penalties  inflicted  on  the  apprentices  is ; — 

Imprisonment  and  hard  labor  „  „  697  days. 

Ditto  ditto  on  the  Treadmill,  180 

Solitary  confinement  „  „  „  127 

Saturdays  forfeited  to  the  estates       „  „  517 

In  addition  to  which  the  apprentices  must  repay  to  the  estates, 
pursuant  to  a  clause  in  the  Local  Act,  upwards  of  seven  hundred 
of  their  Saturdays,  being  the  amount  of  working  days  lost  by  them, 
when  at  hard  labor,  in  solitary  confinement,  or  on  the  tread  mill. 
The  total  is  more  than  two  thousand  two  hundred  days  in  which 
two  hundred  and  twenty- six  negros  were  mulcted  in  one  district  in 
a  single  month.  The  character  of  the  Law  under  which  these  pun- 
ishments take  place  will  appear  in  its  true  colors  when  it  is  con- 
sidered that  there  are  seven  districts  in  the  island  and  that  the 
apprenticeship  extends  over  a  period  of  six  years. 


APPENDIX. 


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XXXii.  APPKBTOIX. 

SECTION  in. 

Scale  of  Labor.— The  system  of  taskwork*  however  desirable 
in  itself,  requires  to  be  regulated  by  so  many  special  circumstances, 
that  it  can  never  be  introduced  without  injustice  except  by  mutual 
and  voluntary  agreement  between  masters  and  laborers.     This  was 
so  universally  admitted  that  the  Apprenticeship  Law  expressly 
declared  that  taskwork  should  not  be  imposed  without  the  consent 
of  the  apprentices.     It  was,  however,  a  favorite  measure  of  Sir 
Lionel  Smith  to  regulate  Uie  labor  of  the  apprentices  by  a  fixed 
standard;  notwithstanding  the  insuperable  obstacles  created  by 
differences  of  soil,  and  fluctuations  of  weather,  and  inequality  of 
strength  of  individual  laborers.     He  appointed  a  Committee  of 
three  Planters  to  draw  up  a  "  Scale  of  Labor,"  which  he  forwarded 
to  each  of  the  Special  Magistrates  with  the  following  instructions. 
"  You  will  be  furnished  with  printed  copies  of  the  scale ;  and  I 
have  to  desire  that  it  may  be  constantly  hung  up  in  your  respective 
offices  for  public  information.    You  will  also  have  the  goiodnesa 
to  distribute  copies  to  the  several  estates  in  your  district,  with  a 
request  to  the  proprietors  or  managers,  that  they  may  be  placed 
in  some  situation  in  the  buildings  of  the  estate  where  they  may  be 
easily  referred  to  by  the  apprenticed  laborers.  As  there  are  few  or 
no  estates  where  there  are  not  some  among  the  negro  population 
who  can  read,  I  am  in  hopes  that  this  measure  may  prevent  many 
complaints  arising  from  misunderstanding  and  ignorance  being 
brought  before  you." 

The  scale  is  entitled  '*  A  Scale  of  work  to  be  performed  by  effec- 
tive apprenticed  laborers  in  the  Island  of  Barbados,  drawn  up  by 
the  undersigned,  appointed  a  committee  for  that  purpose  by  his 
Excellency  the  Governor  General,  and  subsequently  approved  by 
His  Majesty's  Council." 

The  principal  column  in  the  scale  is  headed,  "  quantity  of  work 
to  be  performed  by  one  or  more  laborers  in  one  day  of  nine  hours," 
which  means  that  a  gang  is  required  to  perform  as  many  times 
the  quantity  of  work  set  down  as  there  are  negros  composing  it. 
The  intention  of  the  scale  was  to  facilitate  tihe  introduction  of 
taskwork,  which  was  accordingly  generally  resorted  to  when  it 
was  first  issued,  but  soon  we  believe  as  generally  abandoned.  The 
scale,  in  the  event  of  the  failure  of  its  first  object,  was  intended  to 
prevent  complaints  and  as  a  standard  of  punishments.  Hence  the 
facility,  with  which  the  numerous  vague  and  general  complaints 
of  idleness  and  insufficiency  of  work,  are  disposed  of  by  the  Spe- 
cial Magistrates.  We  took  much  pains  to  ascertain  the  real  cha- 
racter of  the  scale,  and  the  result  of  our  inquiries  in  the  Colony, 
was  that  "  it  is  such  a  scale  as  the  strongest  negros  could  not 
work  upon  for  a  twelvemonth  together."  In  order  still  further  to 
satisfy  ourselves,  we  forwarded  a  copy  of  it  to  Antigua,  and  request- 
ed  a  friend  to  obtain  for  us  the  opinion  of  planters  residing  in  a 
part  of  the  island  where  the  soil  is  very  similar  to  that  of  Barba- 


APPE17I>IX.  XXXIU. 

(los.  In  reply,  one  manager,  speaking  of  the  number  of  cane 
holes*  required  by  the  «cale  says,  "  We  usually  bank  our  land  with 
the  plough  and  crosshole  afterwards  (with  the  hoe.)  Our  laborers 
would  open  in  nine  hours  the  quantity  prescribed."  What  a 
comment  is  this  on  the  severity  of  the  Barbados  scale,  when  the 
fact  is  stated,  that  the  plough  is  not  used  in  that  colony,  but  that 
the  laborers  must  both  bank  and  crosshole  with  the  hoe !  Some 
remarks  are  made  by  our  informant  on  other  items  of  the  scale, 
and  the  following  general  observations.  "  The  quantum  of  labor 
to  be  reasonably  expected  must  depend  upon  the  land,  not  only 
being  stiff  or  light,  but  wet  or  dry,  foul  or  otherwise,  and  other 
circumstances ;"  and  in  the  boiling  house,  "the  quantity  made 
must  depend  on  the  wind,  if  a  windmill  is  used,  quality  of  the 
canes,  distance  of  cartage,  &c."  "  This  plan  must  give  a  great  deal 
of  trouble  and  be  a  source  of  irritation."  Another  observes,  that 
he  agrees  with  the  observation  of  the  previous  manager,  "  about 
the  facilities  for  squabbles  afforded  by  the  scale  submitted,"  and 
observes,  that  in  the  scale  "  there  is  more  required  than  can  always 
be  yielded,  and  therefore  it  is  oppressive  if  insisted  on." 

When  to  these  considerations  is  added  the  fact  that  the  planters 
distHbute  the  negros  into  the  various  gangs  at  their  own  pleasure, 
it  is  evident,  that  the  scale  affords  them  opportunities  of  exacting 
a  most  oppressive  amount  of  labor.  We  have  before  us  a  case, 
the  other  particulars  of  which  are  of  a  gross  character,  where  a 
girl  ten  years  of  age,  was  sent  by  her  master  into  the  first  gang 
with  a  heavy  hoe  as  a  punishment.  The  first  or  able-bodied  gang 
may  thus  be  augmented  in  number  by  the  addition  of  young  or 
weakly  persons,  and  yet  the  full  aggregate  amount  of  labor  required 
from  it ;  and  by  reference  to  the  preceding  section  in  this  appendix 
it  will  be  seen,  that  the  practice  of  bringing  entire  gangs  before 
the  Magistrate  for  punishment  is  not  infrequent.  This  scale  "  hung 
up"  in  their  respective  offices  still  regulates  the  decisions]  of  the 
magistrates. 

SECTION  IV. 

The  Late  Governor. — Sir  Lionel  Smith,  administered  the 
affairs  of  this  colony  in  such  a  manner  as  to  acquire  the  confidence 
of  the  colonial  minister,  and  to  obtain  promotion  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  Jamaica,  and  several  other  marks  of  distinction  and  favor. 
He  arrived  in  the  colony  before  the  agitation  of  the  Abolition  mea- 
sure. The  strong  opposition  which  it  encountered,  threw  the 
Governor  into  a  position  from  whence  he  derived  a  reputation 
that  his.  subsequent  proceedings  have  by  no  means  supported. 
His  early  policy,  however,  was  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  negros, 
and  to  him  it  is  mainly  owing,  that  the  efforts  made  to  bring  about 
a  general  compulsory  apprenticeship  of  the  children  soon  after 
August,  1834  were  defeated.  A  marked  change  was  subsequently 
visible  in  his  Government.     He  adopted  what  he  was  pleased  to 


XXxiv.  APP£llOIX. 

consider  a  policy  of  coneiUatum,  by  which  the  interests  of  the 
neipros  were  sacrificed  to  the  views  of  the  planters.  Hie  stf^n- 
diary  magistrates  did  not  receive  from  him  that  sopport  to  which 
they  were  entitled,  and  when  about  to  leave  the  Island,  in  a  fare- 
well speech  which  he  made  to  them,  he  intimated  in  terms  which 
could  not  be  mistaken,  that  Government  was  weary  of  the  irritating 
controversies  that  the  system  created,  and  that,  as  the  magistrates 
valued  their  places,  they  must  conciliate  the  planters  and  keep 
things  quiet,  as  they  well  knew  the  agriculture  of  the  island  must 
be  kept  up. 

The  disgraceful  state  of  the  jail  at  Bridgtown,  under  Sir 
Lionel's  government  has  already  been  described. 

The  same  change  was  visible  in  his  conduct  towards  the  colored 
people.  Though  their  political  disabilities  had  been  nominally 
removed  some  years  before  by  a  legislative  enactment,  they  had 
as  yet  obtained  a  very  insignificant  share  of  power  and  influence 
in  consequence  of  the  value  of  freehold  conferring  the  franchise 
having  been  raised  simultaneously  with  the  cession  of  their  politi- 
cal rights ;  while  the  qualification'of  the  existing  voters  was  undis- 
turbed ;  so  that  the  colored  freeholders  in  the  towns  are  required  to 
possess  a  house  of  the  yearly  value  of  thirty  pounds,  while  a  great 
bodv  of  white  electors  are  qualified  by  the  possession  of  tenements 
of  the  value  of  only  ten  pounds  per  annum.  Sir  Lionbl  Smith's 
professions  of  impartiality  and  freedom  from  prejudice  excited  great 
hopes  in  the  minds  of  the  colored  people.  They  expected  at  least  that 
some  of  their  number,  men  of  wealth,  education  and  superior  quali- 
fications, would  receive  commissions  in  the  magistracy.  In  this 
they  were  disappointed ;  the  only  attempt  made  by  the  Governor  in 
their  favor  was,  by  inviting  a  colored  gentleman  to  his  table.  One 
of  his  white  guests  manifested  his  offence  by  leaving  the  room, 
which  created  so  much  alarm  that  the  Governor  immediately  re- 
linquished his  aggressive  policy  and  fell  back  upon  conciliation. 
The  real  difficulties  which  he  encountered,  may  be  estimated  from 
the  fact,  that  his  successor  who  made  no  promises,  placed  two 
colored  men  on  the  bench  of  magistrates,  a  few  weeks  after  his 
arrival  in  the  colony  with  the  consent  of  the  council. 

Sir  Lionel  Smith  embarked  for  Jamaica  amidst  the  execrations 
uf  the  crowds  of  free  blacks  and  apprentices  assembled  on  the  beach. 

SECTION  V. 

NOTB  ON  THB  APPRENTICESHIP  OF  THE  FbEE  CHILDREN. We 

have  intimated  in  the  Journal  that  the  plan  of  procuring  a  general 
apprenticeship  of  the  free  children,  was  revived  in  Barbados  soon 
after  the  arrival  of  the  present  Governor.  As  this  important  sub- 
ject has  subsequently  taken  a  favorable  turn  in  the  legislature  of 
the  Island,  we  have  omitted  some  important  memoranda  rela- 
ting to  it  that  we  made  during  our  stay  in  the  colony.  We  are, 
however,  prepared  to  prove,  if  called  upon,  that  we  have  ample 
reason  for  asserting  the  existence  of  the  designs  referred  to. 


APPENDIX. 


[F] 


JAMAICA. 


SECTION  I. 

Note  on  Pbiscilla  Taylor's  Case. — ^The  statement  in  our 
Journal  having  been  taken  down  in  the  public  room  of  the  Ferry 
tavern,  a  garbled  report  of  the  investigation  was  published  in  the 
island  newspapers.  The  facts  of  the  case  are  much  stronger  than 
what  originally  appeared  in  England.  We  took  much  pains  on 
subsequent  occasions  to  verify  them,  and  have  in  our  possession 
more  detailed  statements  which  explain  the  motives  in  which  these 
disgraceful  proceedings  originated,  and  contain  particulars  of  a 
still  more  revolting  character  than  what  are  now  laid  before  the 
public.  We  were  also  favored,  during  our  stay  in  the  island,  with 
a  letter  from  the  Special  Magistrate  implicated  in  the  transaction, 
who  admits  the  fact  of  Priscilla  Taylor  having  been  chained 
to  a  man,  but  denies  his  participation  in  it.  She  subsequently 
purchased  her  freedom  by  valuation,  under  the  fear  of  further  per- 
secution in  consequence  of  our  having  seen  her,  for  sixty  nine 
pounds.  The  money  was  lent  to  her  by  a  friend,  on  the  security 
of  a  verbal  promise  of  repayment  from  herself  and  her  husband, 
who  belongs  to  a  different  master.  The  gentleman  alluded  to  in- 
forms us  that  part  of  the  amount  has  already  been  repaid  out  of 
the  produce  of  their  labor  in  cultivating  provisions. 

SECTION  II. 

Halfway  Tree  Workhouse. — ^We  have  before  us  the  report 
of  an  action,  (Wilkins  vs.  Liddell)  instituted  by  a  person  on 
behalf  of  herself,  her  son  and  her  daughter,  against  the  Supervisor 
of  this  Workhouse  for  trespass.  The  complainants  were  appre- 
hended as  runaway  apprentices,  and  confined  for  nearly  a  week  in 
chains  before  they  were  taken  before  any  special  magistrate,  during 
which  time  the  son  was  worked  publicly  in  the  penal  gang.    The 


XXXVi.  APPENDIX. 

fact$  were  incontrovertible,  and  the  Jury  gave  a  verdict  of  thirty 
five  shillings ;  an  amovnt  too  tmall  to  carry  costs.  In  the  same 
Court  the  complainants  succeeded  in  proving  that  they  were  not 
apprentices. 

We  have  also  the  copy  of  a  "  brief  in  support  of  motion  for 
criminal  information  vs.  Whitekan/'  which  comprises  the  affida- 
vit of  a  female  apprentice  to  the  effect,  that  she  was  worked  in  the 
penal  gang  chained  to  another  girl ;  that  frequently  while  on  the 
treadmill,  she  was  flogged  by  the  drivers,  (who  are  all  convict 
slaves,)  and  once  severely  flogged  and  kicked  by  the  defendant, 
(who  was  the  Overseer  or  deputy  Superintendent  of  the  Work- 
house.) Wh  ITEM  AN  in  his  affidavit  denies  that  he  ever  struck 
complainant,  but  does  not  deny  that  she  was  flogged  by  the  drivers. 
He  accuses  her  of  having  once  thrown  herself  off  the  mill,  at  the 
same  time  "  taking  the  whip  out  of  the  driver's  hand"  in  his  pre- 
sence. The  affidavits  of  the  four  drivers  give  defendant  a  high 
character ;  declare  they  never  saw  him  strike  complainant ;  and 
that  "  on  one  occasion  she  took  the  cat  out  of  the  driver's  hand," 
when  defendant  took  it  away  and  restored  it  to  the  driver. 
Throughout  these  affidavits  the  flogging  of  females  on  the  treadmill 
is  not  denied,  and  it  appears  from  the  affidavits  of  the  accused, 
himself  and  his  witnesses,  that  the  convict  drivers  carried  a  cat 
when  superintending  women  on  the  treadmill.  At  the  Court 
(June,  1836)  at  which  this  motion  was  made,  the  Custos  of  St. 
Andrews,  whose  residence  is  near  the  Halfway  Tree  Workhouse, 
and  wh0|  as  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Parish,  was  in  some  measure 
implicated  in  its  abuses,  sat  on  the  bench  as  one  of  the  assistant 
judges.  He  publicly  reprobated  the  conduct  of  the  parties  who 
brought  the  case  forward,  saying,  "  It  was  an  infamous  proceed- 
ing." The  Attorney  General  besides  insisting  that  the  affidavits 
of  Whiteman  and  the  convicts  were  not  conclusive,  observed  ;  "  I 
have  serious  doubts  as  to  the  legality  of  chaining  women  in  work- 
houses, and  I  want  the  court  to  say  whether  it  be  legal  or  illegal 
to  do  so."  The  Chief  Justice  replied,  "  We  will  give  you  a  decision 
on  that  point,  if  we  must  do  so,  but  not  otherwise,**  The  appli- 
cation was  subsequently  refused,  the  Chief  Justice  observing ; 
"The  affidavit  comprehends  chaining  and  corporal  punishment; 
but  the  only  real  ground  of  complaint  is  the  latter.  We  are  not 
called  upon  to  pronounce  as  to  the  chaining.  There  are  four  affi- 
davits denying  the  principal  charge,  the  preponderance  of  evidence 
is  therefore  in  favor  of  Whiteman,  and  we  must  deny  the  appli- 
cation." This  is  one  of  several  instances  where  the  attempt  to 
procure  the  redress  of  gross  abuses  in  the  houses  of  correction,  by 
instituting  suits  of  criminal  information  in  the  Island  Courts,  has 
proved  abortive. 

SECTION  III.       » 

The  Non-registered  Slaves. — It  has  been  stated  in  our  jour- 
nal that  in  one  parish,  several  hundred  non-registered  slaves  have 


APPENDIX.  XXXVii. 

obtained  their  freedom,  while  in  other  parts  of  the  island  they  are 
still  held  in  slavery.  A  proprietor  in  St.  Andrew's  parish  has 
fifteen  of  these  negros,  some  of  whom,  as  the  Magistrates  of  the 
district  refused  to  coerce  them,  were  brought  down  to  the  Special 
Court  at  Halfway  Tree,  where  they  were  sentenced  to  be  flogged. 
The  recent  Jamaica  papers  report  another  case  in  the  parish  of 
Hanover,  where  a  negro,  aboat  two  years  ago,  being  ill,  and  not 
likely  to  live,  was  turned  adrift  by  his  master,  who  informed  him 
that  he  was  free,  as  he  was  not  registered.  The  man  recovered, 
and  was  then  reclaimed,  brought  before  a  Special  Magistrate  and 
flogged  for  refusing  to  work.  He  ran  away  to  Spanish  Town,  and 
appealed  to  the  Governor,  who  instructed  the  Stipendiary  that  he 
could  not  coerce  a-  non- registered  slave  as  an  apprentice.  The 
negro  thus  obtained  his  freedom,  hired  himself  to  work  on  an  estate 
for  half  a  dollar  a  day,  but  when  he  applied  for  his  wages  was 
told  by  the  overseer  that  they  should  be  paid  over  to  his  owner. 
He  appealed  to  the  petty  sessions  for  the  recovery  of  the  amount, 
but  was  told  by  the  local  Magistrates  he  was  an  apprentice.  He 
was  then  employed  by  the  rector  of  the  parish,  who  has  recently 
been  fined  ten  pounds  by  the  same  local  Magistrates  for  harbour- 
ing an  apprentice,  under  what  is  called  the  inveigling  clause  of  the 
Act  in  Aid. 

In  the  June  Grand  Court  of  Assize,  a  case  (Bayley  vs.  Ewart) 
was  brought  forward  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  formal  de- 
cision, whether  a  non-registered  slave  was  an  apprentice,  or  legally 
free.  The  majority  of  the  Bench  decided  that  he  was  an  apprentice. 
The  Chief  Justice  rested  his  argument  to  this  effect,  chiefly  on  the 
decision  of  the  Privy  Council  in  the  Mauritius  case.  The  Hon. 
Thomas  J.  Bernard  one  of  the  assistant  judges,  and  a  planter, 
dissented  from  this  decision,  and  maintained,  in  a  candid  and  able 
argument,  that  non-registration  did  confer  freedom.  Should  the 
attempts  become  general,  to  carry  out  this  decision,  and  to  re- 
enslave  the  few  non-registered  negros  who  have  recovered  their 
liberty,  the  worst  consequences  may  be  expected  to  ensue ;  and 
meanwhile,  the  precarious  freedom  which  they  enjoy,  is  nothing 
better  than  an  unprivileged  outlawry. 

The  Law  fraudulently  entitled  an  "Act  for  the  Abolition  of 
Slavery,"  enacts  in  express  terms  that  "  all  persons  who  in  con- 
formity  with  the  laws  of  the  said  colonies  respectively,  shall  have  been 
duly  registered  as  slaves,  &c.  shall  become  and  be  apprenticed  la- 
borers." The  Chief  Justice  of  Jamaica  has  decided  that  those  also 
who  were  not  duly  registered  according  to  law  are  apprentices. 
It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  remark,  that  in  the  respective  colonies, 
proprietors  who  neglected  to  register  their  slaves,  incurred  heavy 
penalties ;  so  that  the  effect  of  the  Abolition  Law,  as  interpreted 
by  the  Chief  Justice  of  Jamaica,  is  not  to  emancipate  the  non- 
registered  slaves  f^om  the  bondage,  in  which  they  were  illegally 
held,  but  to  relieve  their  masters  from  the  penalties  which  they 
had  incurred  by  so  holding  them. 

D* 


\XXVUL 

SECTION  IV. 
STATEMENTS  OF  APPBENTICES. 

PABISB  OP  ST.  TBOMAA  IX  TBS  TALE. 

1.— Wallbx    axd    Eoib  Hall    EaTATBB.^The   negros   on 
thei«  properties  work  on  the  eight  hour   syttem  out  of  crop. 
I  n  crop  time  they  work  eleven  hours  a  day,  for  five  days,  viz : 
froic  four  to  eleven  a.m.  and  from  one  to  five  p.m.  ;  being  bitten 
hours  eitra  per  week  for  which  they  recehne  two  shillings  and  one 
penny.    The  head  boiler-man  receives  fiie  shillings,  and  the  three 
next  four  and  two- pence,  bat  the  latter  frequently  work  till  ten  at 
night.     Under  the  old  system,  the  salt  fish  and  S3^p  which  they 
received  were  worth  more  than  their  present  wages.    They  said, 
with  regard  to  the  mode  in  which  this  arrangement  was  intro- 
ilaced,  "  when  the  master  want  any  thing  done  out  of  the  people, 
he  send  for  the  Magistrate,  and  the  Magistrate  open  it  to  the  peo- 
ple, and  they  are  obliged  to  agree  to  it,  else  they  are  bad  servant, 
and  might  get  punished  if  they  did  not  agree."    On  Rose  Hall  the 
people  refiued  the  bargain ;  but  the  men  were  promised  a  new 
shirt,  and  the  women  a  new  petticoat,  if  they  would  do  their  work 
well,  and  not  steal.    They  then  agreed,  but  do  not  expect  to  receive 
them,  as  salt  fish  was  always  promised  to  he  given  them  after  crop 
was  over,  which  they  never  received.    One  of  the  apprentices  has 
a  watch.     He  says  sometimes  the  shellblows,  (in  die  morning,  at 
mealtimes  and  in  the  evening,)  are  very  correct,  and  sometimes  they 
are  an  hour,  at  others  half  an  hour  behind  time,  but  the  people 
are  always  summoned  back  to  the  field  in  good  time.     He  said, 
"  if  a  gun  was  placed  at  Rodney  Hall,  and  a  soldier  was  sent  from 
town  to  fire  it  every  day  at  the  shellblows,  every  things,  would  go  on 
right."     Before  the  apprenticeship,  the  negros  on  these  estates 
used  each  to  receive  six  shads  a  week,  and  the  head  men  twelve 
>?hads  and  a  quart  of  rum.  These  allowances  are  now  discontinued. 
The  yearly  distribution  of  clothes  during  slavery  was  six  yards 
oi^naburgh,  six  yards  coarse  cloth,  four  of  baize,  one  hat  and  one 
handkerchief;  now,  it  is  only  seven  yards  of  osnaburgh,  and  three 
of  baize,  besides  the  hat  and  handkerchief.    The  cooks,  who  used 
to  prepare  their  meals  in  the  field,  and  to  carry  water  for  them  to 
drink  while  at  work,  have  been  taken  away.    The  sick  are  often 
turned  out  of  the  hospital  before  they  are  well.  The  doctor  attends 
once  a  week,  but  treats  the  people  very  roughly.    They  used,  when 
sick  during  slavery,  to  have  oatmeal  and  sugar  allowed  them,  and 
occasionally  a  little  wine ;  now,  not  a  morsel  of  food  is  given  to 
them ;  they  must  support  themselves,  or  bes  upported  by  their  re- 
lations.    No  longer  ago  than  to  night,  a  girl  who  was  very  sick 
was  told  by  the  overseer  that  she  might  go  to  the  hpspit^,  but 
there  was  no  medicine  for  her,  and  a  fellow  appriBntice  was  obliged 
to  give  her  some  "  out  of  his  oiyn  expense."    If  a  free  child  is 


Al>tENt)lX.  XXxiX. 

taken  ill,  parent6  have  to  pa^  back  the  time  they  spend  in  attend- 
ing to  it ;  if  the  doctor  sees  it  they  have  to  pay,him>  and  some  of 
them  have  been  charged  ten  shillings.  Before  the  first  of  August, 
pregnant  women  used  to  draw  off  (from  work)  six  weeks  before 
they  laid  down.  Nbw  they  are  allowed  no  time  before  delivery, 
and  only  four  weeks  afterwards. 

GeorOb  Davidson,  the  head  carpenter  on  Wallen's,  has  been 
twice  valued,  first  time  about  a  year  ago,  for  three  hundred  and 
fifty- two  pounds ;  he  appealed  to  the  Governor,  who  directed  a 
fresh  valuation,  virhcn  he  was  rated  at  two  hundred  and  thirty 
pounds ;  but  this  second  valuation  was  set  aside.  He  says  his 
master  brought  a  great  number  of  persons  "  to  swear  against  his 
character ;  who  put||trades  upon  him  that  he  knew  nothing  about, 
and  made  out  there  was  nothing  he  would  not  do."  He  has  now 
given  up  all  idea  of  purchasing  himself*  He  is  getting  on  for  sixty 
years  of  age,  and  '*  &inks  the  freedom  will  not  come  soon  enough 
to  do  him  much  good.''  His  master  wanted  to  make  him  a  con- 
stable, but  he  declined  it  on  account  of  his  being  weak  in  strength, 
"  and  because  he  did  not  like  to  take  the  Bible  in  his  hand  too 
often." 

BbNdlby's. — Five  apprentices  from  this  property  state  that  their 
extra  work  during  crop  and  remuneration  for  it,  are  the  same  as 
on  Wallen's  and  Rose  Hall.  They  would  not  agree  at  first,  but 
the  Special  Magistrate  threatened  and  abused  them  till  they  con- 
sented. Out  of  crop  they  work  from  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning 
till  five,  and  sometimes  six  in  the  afternoon,  without  any  intermimon 
for  meaU,  They  get  no  time  to  prepare  their  food,  except  by  rising 
early  to  cook  their  breakfasts  before  they  go  to  the  field  at  seven 
o'clock.  We  cross-examined  them  about  the  time,  and  their  ac- 
counts were  clear  and  consistent.  They  said  they  knew  the  time 
by  the  shellblows  on  the  neighbouring  estates,  and  by  the  "  gun- 
fire" at  six  o'clock  in  the  evening.  They  said  the  apprentices  were 
better  treated  in  the  hospital  than  on  Wallen's,  as  they  sometimes 
received  oatmeal,  &c;  but  the  pregnant  women  are  allowed  no 
time  before  delivery,  and  only  nine  days  afterwards.  They  com- 
plained also  of  the  injury  they  sustained  by  the  trespass  of  the 
estates'  cattle  in  their  grounds. 

Dawkins's  TreadwAy. — ^Two  apprentices  state  that  in  crop 
time,  they  work  from  four  in  the  morning  till  eight  at  night  every 
alternate  day,  with  the  intermission  of  only  half  an  hour  for 
breakfast,  dfving  up  also  their  half  Friday.  For  this  amount 
of  extra  labor,  they  received  last  year  two  shillings  and  six- 
pence  a  week,  this  season  their  only  pay  is  six  herrings  a  week. 
They  were  told  they  should  not  have  their  Christmas  allowance  if 
they  did  not  agree,  and  last  year  they  did  not  receive  any  allowance 
at  Christmas  (1835 — 6.)  Out  of  crop  they  work  from  six  to  six, 
with  the  intermission  of  only  one  hour  for  breakfast.  They  have 
every  alternate  Friday  but  have  been  deprived  of  the  salt  fish, 
which  was  distributed  to  them  weekly  during  slavery.  It  may  be 
D  *  2 


Xl.  APPBHDIX. 

easily  imagined  that  this  system  of  depriving  the  people  of  their 
time  during  crop  without  remuneration,  (a  system  of  gross  fraud 
and  oppression  which  is  carried  into  eflfect  by  the  coercive  powers 
of  the  Special  Magistrates,)  does  occasionally  excite  some  expres- 
sion of  a  sense  of  the  injustice  with  which  they  are  treated  from 
the  negros.  Some  weeks  after  the  above  statement  was  made  to 
us  by  the  apprentices  from  Dawkins's  Treadway,  a  neighbouring 
missionary  was  compelled  to  appeal  on  their  behalf  to  the  Go- 
vernor. The  following  is  a  copy  of  his  letter,  addressed  to  the 
Secretary  for  the  Stipendiary  Magistrates'  department. 

"  Jericho,  St.  Thomas  in  die  Vale, 

March  31st.  1837. 
*'  Sir, 

I  beg  you  will  please  make  His  Excellency  the  Governor 
acquainted  with  the  case  of  the  apprentices  belonging  to  Tread- 
way  estate  in  this  parish.  I  was  last  evening  informed  that  the 
whole  of  those  engaged  in  taking  of  the  crop  meant  to  repair  to 
Spanish  Town  to  night,  in  order  to  complain  to  His  ExceEency  of 
the  usage  they  are  receiving.  On  hearing  this,  I  sent  to  request 
them  to  remain  at  home  in  perfect  quietness  and  submission,  and 
promised  to  make  known  to  His  Excellency  their  situation ;  and 
also  their  account  of  the  conduct  of  Captain  Reynolds,  the  Special 
Justice  of  their  district,  towards  them.  The  account  they  give  is, 
that  one  spell  works  (at  the  boiling  house)  from  four  o'clock,  a.m. 
to  eleven  o'clock,  a.m.  and  is  then  relieved  by  the  second  spell, 
which  continues  till  eight  o'clock,  p.  m.  That  the  first  spell  is  sent 
into  the  field  to  cut  canes  soon  after  it  is  relieved  (at  11,  a.  m.)  and 
works  until  six,  p.m.  or  thereabouts ;  that  the  second  spell  previous 
to  relieving  the  first,  (at  the  sugar  works)  works  in  the  field  from 
six  o'clock,  a.m.  to  near  eleven  o'clock ;  that  those  in  the  field  are 
required  to  cut  down  canes  and  tie  them  up  in  bundles  for  the 
wains,  and  so  to  supply  the  mill  that  one  of  the  spells  may  occa- 
sionally go  to  clean  young  canes ;  that  for  this  amount  of  extra 
time  and  labor,  (about  six  working  hours  per  diem,)  they  receive 
six  herrings,  most  of  them  broken  ones  in  the  week ;  that  when 
they  objected  to  this  remuneration  as  being  too  small,  the  value  of 
six  herrings  being  only  five  pence.  Captain  Reynolds  told  them 
roughly  that  he  did  not  care  if  they  would  not  take  it,  but  they 
should  do  the  work,  or  he  would  send  for  the  police  to  make  them 
work,  or  carry  them  to  Rodney  Hall  Workhouse  to  be  punished,  or 
words  to  this  effect :  that  on  Monday  last,  they  were  called  up  be- 
fore Captain  Reynolds,  who  heard  the  charge  of  the  overseer 
against  the  people  for  insufficiency  of  work,  but  would  not  here  a 
word  from  the  apprentices  in  their  defence,  and  sentenced  them  all 
to  lose  Jive  alternate  Saturdays,  TTiat  an  apprentice  named  Sally 
Hutchinson  attempted  to  speak.  They  state  that  Captain  Reyn- 
olds said,  '  I  don't  want  to  hear  a  word/  She  then  said,  '  You 


APPENDIX.  xli. 

can't  make  we  speak  and  hear  one  word  from  we,  to  see  whether 
we  for  right  or  wrong/  Capt.  R.  replied,  '  Woman,  hold  your 
tongue ;  if  you  don't,  I  will  send  you  straight  off  to  Rodney  Hall ! 
The  woman  without  noticing  the  threat,  proceeded ;  '  Massa,  we 
have  to  cut  cane,  then  tie,  we  can  do  no  more ;  we  not  have  enough 
of  prentice  to  carry  on  the  work/  She  was  ordered  into  the  charge 
of  the  constable,  and  sent  to  be  locked  up  in  the  hot  house.  As 
she  was  going,  Capt.  R.  called  her  back  and  required  her  to  beg 
pardon.  She  replied,),'  Massa,  me  no  do  nothing  to  beg  your  par- 
don. Sir.'  She  was  then  sent  off  to  Rodney  Hall  to  be  confined  for 
a  week,  as  it  is  said,  in  the  dark  room.  "  The  people  went  to  their 
attorney,  Mr.  Bebnakd,  when  he  visited  the  property  after  sen- 
tence had  been  p^sed,  to  complin  to  him  of  their  usage,  but  they 
say  he  would  not  hear  them,  nor  give  them  the  leitst  satisfaction  ; 
and  as  this  wad  the  case,  they  agreed  to  wait  until  this  evening, 
when  they  expected  Saturday  would  be  their  day,  and  then  proceed 
to  lay  their  grievances  before  his  Excellency  the  Governor ;  but 
one  of  them  thou^t  it  best  first  to  consult  with  me,  when  I  gave 
the  advice  above  stated,  and  promised  to  represent  to  you  in  order 
to  be  laid  before  his  Excellency,  an  account  of  this  matter. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be.  Sir, 

Your  obedient  Servant, 

JOHN  CLARKE. 

P.  S.— Having  obtained  a  copy  of  the  commitment,  I  take  the 
liberty  to  transcribe  it  to  accompany  the  above  case. 

"  Jamaica,  ss. 

To  the  Keeper  of  the  House  of  Correction, 

Rodney  Hall. 

Receive  into  your  custody  the  body  of  Sally 
Hutchinson,  an  apprentice  of  Treadways,  this  (Jay  brought  before 
me  for  using  violent  language,  and  endeavouring  to  persuade  the 
gang  that  they  were  sentenced  to  pay  back  too  much  labor  to  the 
estate  by  the  Magistrate.  I  therefore  sentence  Sally  Hutchin- 
son to  six  days  confinement  in  the  House  of  Correction^  &c. 


Signed, 


Given  under  my  hand, 
this  27th  day  of  March,  1 837. 


T.  REYNOLDS.  S.  J. 


»t 


To  the  above  letter,  the  writer,  at  the  time  we  saw  him  about 
six  weeks  after  its  date,  had  received  no  answer  from  the  Governor. 

Berwick  Estate. — Sir  A.  C,  Grant,  Proprietor. — Three  ap- 
prentices state,  that  Dr.  Palmer  came  four  times  on  the  estate, 

D*3 


Xlii.  AFPE5DIX. 

but  only  punished  the  people  twice  by  taking  away  sixteen  hoojv 
of  their  time.    The  owner  said  that  would  not  do  for  him,  and 
complained  to  the  Governor,  who  ordered  Mr.  CooP£&  to  take 
charge  of  Berwick.    When  he  paid  his  first  visit,  the  owner  com- 
plained to  him  that  the  people  had  been  idle  during  Dr.  Pjllmiru's 
time,  for  which  Cooper  sentenced  them  to  pay  four  days.     The 
people  refused,  and  went  to  Palmer,  who  told  them  to  do  every 
thing  that  Cooper  said.    The  latter  came  with  the  police  and 
flogged  one  man,  and  sent  a  woman  to  the  treadmill  for  fourteen 
days.     Dr.  Palmer  always  told  them  to  work  well,  and  said  if 
they  did  not  he  would  punish  them.     He  did  not  flog  them  like 
the  other  Magistrates,  nor  take  away  their  Saturdays  to  g;ive  to  the 
property.    They  do  work  well,  but  tiieir  overseer  is  never  satisfied, 
and  is  continually  complaining  to  get  their  time  taken  away,  though 
there  is  not  a  cane  piece  on  the  estate  that  is  not  in  good  order. 
Since  August,  1834,  they  have  never  had  a  field  cook,  till  two 
months  ago.    They  get  no  salt  fish,  except  in  crop.    In  crop,  the 
people  give  up  their  half  Fridays,  and  receive  for  their  extra  work, 
the  mill  people  two  shillings  and  sixpence,  the  boiler-men  three 
shillings  and  four  pence,  and  the  cattle  boys  one  shilling  and  eleven 
pence  a  week.    They  work  about  sixteen  hours  a  day.    The  watch- 
man for  the  negro  grounds  was  taken  away  about  a  year  before 
August,  1834,  and  they  have  thrown  up  their  grounds  on  account 
of  the  trespass  of  cattle.     They  have  now  only  little  gardens  about 
their  houses.     ITie  hospital  is  surrounded  by  a  fence  like  a  jail, 
which  is  kept  locked  all  day.  The  pregnant  women  are  not  allowed 
to  sit  down,  but  go  home  from  the  field  and  are  delivered  the  same 
night.     They  are  allowed  about  four  weeks  afterwards. 

llio  Magno. — Belonging  to  the  same  proprietor. — An  appren- 
tice complains,  "  that  they  are  living  very  hard.  They  have  had 
no  salt  fish  since  Christmas  ;  they  are  employed  jobbing  on  Berwick. 
Their  grounds  are  mashed  up  by  the  cattle,  and  they  are  obliged 
to  go  far  into  the  woods  and  cut  out  a  little  place  for  grounds." 

Palm. — Gutteres,  proprietor. — ^Two  apprentices  from  this 
estate,  state  that  their  provision  grounds  are  on  the  line  of  the 
Recess  plantation,  belonging  to  Mr,  Gyles.  Gyles's  cattle  got 
iu  and  cat  it  down  smooth.  They  caught  them,  and  drove  them 
down  to  their  overseer,  who  would  not  send  them  to  the  pound, 
hut  ordered  them  to  take  them  back  to  Mr.  Gyles.  Neither 
Gyles  nor  their  own  overseer  would  give  them  any  kind  of  satis- 
faction. The  latter  said  he  would  not  put  a  stop  to  Mr.  Gyles's 
cuttle  eating  their  provisions,  because  when  they  had  plenty  to  live 
on,  they  would  sit  down  and  not  do  any  thing  for  him.  They  were 
compelled  to  give  up  their  grounds,  and  content  themselves  with  a 
little  garden  about  their  houses,  but  the  estate's  cattle  trespass  in 
that,  and  they  can  get  no  redress.  They  cannot  take  them  to  the 
pound  without  a  written  paper,  and  they  can  get  no  satisfaction 
iVom  the  overseer.  "We  were  better  off  in  Dr.  Palmer's  time.  We 
umde  many  complaints  to  him  about  the  cattle,  and  he  scold  the 


APPENDIX.  xliii. 

busha.    The  busha  used  then  to  give  us  a  paper  to  take  cattle  to 
the  pound." 

The  parish  of  St.  Ann. — Apprentices  from  New  Ground, 
Chester,  Banks,  Drax  Hall,  Blenheim  and  Windsor  estates,  and 
Carlton  Pen,  state  as  follows : — 

On  New  Ground  the  people  work  from  six  to  nine,  from  ten  to 
half- past  twelve,  and  from  two,  to  ten  minutes  before  six  every 
day.    The  overseer  breaks  them  off  a  little  before  six,  in  order 
that  he  may  call  it  eight  hours,  and  thus  deprive  them  of  their 
half  Fridays.     He  frequently  strikes  the  apprentices,  and  if  they 
complain  they  get  no  redress.     He  also  puts  them  in  the  dungeon 
at  his  pleasure.    The  Magistrate  hears  nothing  they  have  to  say. 
He  is  always  drunk.     In  crop  time  the  apprentices  work  by  spells, 
and  not  in  extra  time,  except  the  boilermen,  who  receive  six  shir- 
lings  and  eight  pence,  the  mill  feeders  five  shillings,  and  some 
others  three  shillings  and  fourpence  per  week.    These  work  night 
and  day.    The  night  work  has  been  added  since  they  made  the 
agreement,  and  they  are  still  compelled  to  abide  by  it.    llie  allow- 
ances of  salt  fish  have  been  taken  away,  as  well  as  their  field  cooks. 
They  are  not  allowed  to  draw  off  during  heavy  rain,  even  if  it  lasts 
the  whole  day,  because,  "  their  masters  do  not  mind  much  now  if 
they  get  sick  and  die."    The  old  negros  are  not  supported  by  the 
estate.    The  free  children  have  not  the  privilege  of  the  hospital. 
The  apprentices  receive  no  food  from  the  estate  during  sickness, 
and  the  hospital  is  kept  locked.     Sometimes  invalids  are  ordered 
out  too  early,  and  then  if  they  remain,  they  are  required  to  repay 
the  time.     The  pregnant  women  are  worked  in  the  field  to  wiUiin 
a  few  days  of  their  confinement,  and  are  allowed  three  or  four 
weeks  afterwards.    The  overseer  lately  sent  to  order  a  woman  into 
the  field,  who  had  staid  at  her  home  because  of  her  advanced 
pregnancy ;  and  when  the  driver  arrived,  he  found  her  actually  de- 
livered.   The  apprentices  not  long  ago  had  to  pay  two  Saturdays 
because  they  took  the  Tuesday  at  Christmas. 

Banks  and  Richmond. — Both  these  estates  are  under  one 
attorney,  the  latter  is  the  property  of  Ralph  Bernal,  M.  P. 
Out  of  crop,  the  apprentices  work  from  six  to  six,  with  inter- 
missions of  two  hours  and  a  half  for  breakfast  and  dinner.  They 
have  no  half  Fridays,  no  payment  for  extra  labor,  no  salt  fish,  no 
field  cooks.  Invalids  get  no  food,  nor  old  people  any  support  from 
the  estate.  Pregnant  women  are  allowed  no  more  time  than  on 
New  Ground.  They  say  it  is  useless  to  complain  to  the  Magis- 
trate ;  "  his  hand  shake  so"  that  the  overseer  always  has  to  write 
his  sentences  for  him. 

Drax  Hall. — Similar  complaints,  except  that  the  apprentices 
receive  their  salt  fish,  though  irregularly.  They  are  compelled  as 
on  New  Ground  to  work  in  the  rain. 

Chester. — Similar  statements,  and  in  addition  there  is  no  "  hot 
house"  (hospital)  on  this  estate,  no  doctor,  no  medicine  j  when 


xliv.  APPENDIX. 

the  people  are  sick,  they  have  to  provide  these  thenuelves.     They 
are  defrauded  of  their  extra  time  daring  crop. 

Blbnubim. — ^The  hospital  is  locked  daring  the  day.  Appren- 
tices are  compelled  to  watch  at  night  without  any  remuneration. 
AH  the  negros  on  Cranbrook  and  Blenheim  were  mnlcted  ^ve 
Saturdays  recently,  because  some  canes  were  stolen,  and  it  could 
not  be  discovered  by  whom.  They  have  been  obliged  in  conse- 
quence to  work  their  grounds  on  the  Sabbath  for  a  subsistence. 

Windsor. — ^The  apprentices  have  been  sentenced  to  pay  three 
Saturdays  to  the  estate  for  not  turning  out  early  in  the  morning, 
which  they  declare  is  a  false  accusation. 

Carlton  Pbx. — ^The  apprentices  make  no  complaints.  They 
receive  their  salt  fish,  &c.  as  during  slavery. 

Pbnshurst,  the  property  of  G.  W.  Sxnior.^— Thoxas  Brown 
states,  that  "  ever  since  Liord  MuLaEAVB  came  into  the  country, 
Massa  has  turned  out  very  savage.    In  Lord  MtrLQRAVB's  time 
I  went  up  to  hear  the  law ;  when  I  returned,  he  took  a  cowskin 
and  beat  me  severely  upon  my  back.    Since  he  found  ^t  he  can't 
raise  his  stick  and  mash  us  to  pieces,  he  is  worse  than  ever.     I 
once  went  to  Captain  Connor  to  complain;  after  he  left,  my 
Master  brought  me  before  Dr.  Thompson  for  it,  who  otdered  me 
thirty  lashes.    He  would  not  hear  a  word  we  had  to  say.     The 
gang  turn  out  at  six,  and  draw  off  at  six ;  they  have  one  hour  for 
breakfast,  and  one  for  dinner.    They  are  not  allowed  a  cook  to 
cook  their  victuals,  or  bring  water  to  them  in  the  field.     TTiey 
never  used  to  get  their  half  Fridays  till  this  Governor  came,  and 
their  minister  wrote  to  him  about  it.     Since  then  they  have  been 
compelled  to  work  on  Fridays  from  six  till  one,  being  allowed  one 
hour  for  breakfast.     They  know  the  time  by  the  shellblow  on 
neighbouring  properties.    The  present  Magistrate  (Rawlinson) 
will  not  listen  to  their  complaints.     If  Massa  tell  him  the  work  is 
not  going  on  well,  and  we  working  as  hard  as  ever  we  can  to  oblige 
Massa,  and  still  not  able  to  please  him,  the  Magistrates  side  with 
Massa,  and  take  away  our  time.     He  took  away  three  Saturdays 
from  the  whole  gang  about  five  months  ago,  because  he  said  they 
did  not  work  enough  on  a  rainy  day,  though  they  staid  in  the  field 
till  shellblow.     They  once  had  to  go  to  Chester,  a  distance  of 
twenty  miles  to  pick  pimento.     They  were  ordered  to  be  there  by 
nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  but  could  not  reach  it  till  twelve.  The 
master  complained  also  of  the  quantity  they  picked,  although  they 
had  picked  all  there  was  on  the  trees.    They  were  sentenced  to 
lose  one  Saturday,     On  one  occasion,  the  whole  gang  were   sen- 
tenced to  clear  five  acres  of  land  of  heavy  bush  in  their  own  time. 
It  took  four  half  Fridays.  I  had  to  build  a  wall,  and  built  eight  yards  a 
day,  having  to  pull  the  old  one  down  myself.  He  gave  me  a  woman  to 
pull  the  old  wall  down  and  then  I  built  eleven  yards  a  day.    He  com- 
plained I  did  not  build  enough,  and  the  Magistrate  sentenced  me  to  build 
thirty  yards  in  my  own  time,  which  takes  away  all  my  half  Fri- 
days.    He  ordered  me  to  be  tasked,  and  my  master  set  me  to  build  J 


APPENDIX.  Xlv. 

twelve  yards  a  day.  I  have  to  work  from  sun  rise  to  sun  dov^n 
and  can't  finish  it.  I  have  scarcely  time  to  eat  my  breakfast.  I 
tell  him,  Massa,  I  try  to  oblige  you  and  you  won't  be  satisfied, 
he  answer  me,  "  You  lie,  you  devil."  If  he  tell  we  dp  any  thing 
we  never  refuse  it,  we  only  want  for  Massa  to  be  satisfied.  The 
people  have  never  had  salt  fish  since  the  apprenticeship,  nor  any 
Christmas  allowance,  except  of  clothing.  The  pregnant  women 
are  allowed  only  one  week  before  delivery  and  three  weeks  after- 
wards. The  hospital  is  a  little  bit  of  a  hut.  Dr.  £.  Tucker  at- 
tends well  to  the  people ;  but  the  free  children  do  not  go  to  the 
hospital ;  several  of  them  have  died.  The  Master  thinks  very 
hard  of  sillowing  their  mothers  time  to  suckle  them.  The  negro 
houses  are  very  wretched,  all  of  them  let  in  water.  The  Master 
says  they  can  be  punished  for  not  keeping  their  houses  and  grounds 
in  order,  but  he  refuses  to  allow  them  time  to  do  it,  or  to  give 
them  shingle  or  any  other  materials. 

Lavinia  Trowers,  Penshurst,  has  three  children  and  has  been 
sick  these  four  years,  and  can  neither  do  any  thing  for  herself  or 
for  her  master.  He  has  several  times  put  her  in  the  dungeon  for 
three  or  four  days  at  a  time  without  speaking  to  the  Magistrate. 
Sometimes  when  locked  up  she  has  never  seen  her  child  to  give 
him  suck  for  a  whole  day  and  night.  She  is  fed  by  her  fellow  ap- 
prentices and  by  her  husband  who  lives  on  Knapdale  estate.  Once 
Mr.  Senior  ordered  her  ofi*  the  property  and  told  her  she  might 
go  where  she  liked.  She  went  to  Knapdale,  and  lived  with  her 
husband.  When  she  had  been  away  eight  weeks  the  constable 
fetched  her,  and  her  master  brought  her  before  the  Magistrate  as 
a  run  away,  but  she  was  "  in  such  poor  condition"  that  he  told 
the  constable  to  take  her  back  to  the  hospital.  The  Magistrate 
said,  if  she  went  to  Knapdale  again,  he  would  have  her  husband 
punished  severely.  Her  master  gives  her  no  medicine.  He  can't 
bear  a  sick  person  on  the  property.  "  Two  times  I  ask  him  for 
medicine,  and  he  tell  me  to  go  to  the  baptists."  This  woman 
was  a  poor,  miserable  looking  object.  Her  statement  was  con- 
firmed by  eight  or  nine  apprentices  ft'om  the  estate  who  were 
present. 

Amelia  Lawrence,  Penshurst.  "  When  Massa  find  fault,  she 
said  she  did  not  know  how  to  work  to  please  him.  For  this  she 
was  sent  to  the  treadmill  for  seven  days,  and  danced  it  night  and 
morning,  and  worked  on  the  road  in  chains.  One  day  afterwards, 
on  a  Friday,  the  master  ordered  them  to  draw  ofi*  for  breakfast. 
She  said  the  people  would  rather  work  on ;  (to  finish  their  half- 
day.)  He  said  that  she  seemed  a  mistress  at  the  top  of  the  first 
row,  and  cursed  and  abused  her.  After  breakfast,  he  put  her  in 
the  dungeon  till  next  day,  and  when  Mr.  Rawlinson  came,  she 
was  sent  to  the  workhouse  for  ten  days.  She  has  a  lump  on  one 
of  her  wrists  from  being  strapped  to  the  rail,  and  was  bruised  on 
her  legs  by  the  mill.  She  came  out  the  week  before  Christmas, 
and  is  still  ill  from  its  effects.     She  has  been  obliged  to  pay  the 


xlvi.  APPSKDIX. 

doctor  ber  own  self,  and  has  had  to  pay  back  the  ten  days  to  the 
estate.  The  driver  at  the  workhoose  beat  the  people  well  that 
conld  not  dance  the  mill  as  well  as  in  the  penal  gang. 

Maria  Dalling,  Penshorst.  "  Before  the  first  of  August,  I 
was  in  the  small  gang,  and  was  afterwards  ordered  to  go  into  the 
^at  gang.  I  went  to  Captain  Connor,  who  said  I  must  stay 
in  the  small  gans,  as  I  had  six  children  living.  When  he  left,  I 
was  ordered  to  the  great  gang,  where  I  remain  till  now.  I  did 
not  complain  to  Mr.  Rawlinson;  he  is  sach  a  thick  friend  with 
massa.     He  eat,  drink,  and  sleep  at  massa's  house." 

William  Dallino,  Penshorst.  ^*l  and  massa  used  to  be 
very  cood  friends  before  August,  (1834.)  After  August,  we  fall 
out,  because  I  join  the  baptists,  and  he  can 't  bear  the  baptists 
near  him.  I  am  a  house  servant.  All  the  allowance  I  received 
last  year  was  six  herrings  twice.  I  have  only  eight  yards  of 
osnaburghs  at  Christmas,  which  is  not  sufficient  to  clothe  me.  I 
am  almost  starved,  as  my  ground  is  eaten  up  by  the  hogs."  There 
were  several  other  of  the  Penshurst  apprentices  who  all  said  that 
"their  master  is  constantly  in  the  habit  of  putting  people  in  the 
dungeon  without  any  authority."  He  takes  them  on  Friday  iost 
before  shellblow,  and  takes  them  out  on  Saturday  morning.  The 
late  magistrate.  Captain  Connor,  did  them  justice,  and  heard 
what  they  had  to  sa^.  ''He  never  dined  with  massa;  but  massa 
and  the  present  magistrate  agree  well  together." 

There  were,  also,  two  free  men,  who  had  bought  their  time 
from  I^enshurst,  in  consequence  of  being  treated  harshly.  One  of 
them  says  his  "master  pulled  his  house  down,  broke  up  about 
half  his  furniture,  and  took  away  the  rest."  He  got  back  the  rest 
of  his  furniture,  after  a  long  time,  by  going  to  the  magistrate. 
One  of  the  men  bought  his  time  for  fourteen  doubloons.  Tlie 
other  was  asked  eleven  doubloons  the  first  year  of  the  apprentice- 
ship. He  worked  fourteen  months  and  was  then  valued  at  twelve 
doubloons.  He  was  obliged  to  sell  all  he  had  to  raise  the  money. 
The  apprentices  from  Penshurst  gave  the  following  account  of  the 
treatment  of  a  man  named  Henry  James  : — "  He  was  a  watchman 
to  a  corn  piece,  which  had  no  standing  fence.  The  hogs  and 
cattle  got  in.  Massa  complained  to  Dr.  Thompson,  who  ordered 
him  twenty  stripes.  The  police  were  fetched  to  flog  him.  He 
was  tied  to  a  cart,  and  his  hands  and  feet  were  stretched  so  wide 
that  he  was  strained.  He  coughed  blood  four  days  afterwards. 
He  was  ill  about  a  month  off  and  on  in  the  hospital.  They  would 
not  give  him  any  medicine.  He  went  to  Brown's  Town  to  com- 
plain to  Mr.  Dillon.  When  he  came  back,  the  doctor  ordered 
him  some  medicine,  but  he  did  not  get  it.  He  went  again  to  the 
magistrate,  who  said  he  did  not  know  what  to  do  as  the  doctor 
was  not  there.  The  man  told  him  he  did  not  think,  from  the 
way  he  felt,  that  he  should  see  him  again.  He  threw  up  blood, 
and  dropped  down  dead  a  little  while  after  he  had  left  the  Court 
House." 


APPENDIX.  Xlvii. 

Rose  Hill  Estate. — "The  apprentices  work  from  sun  to  sun. 
Their  grounds  are  not  protected,  and  the  cattle  trespass  and 
destroy  all  their  provisions.  They  used  to  be  allowed  a  watchman. 
They  get  no  salt  fish.  An  apprentice  says,  his  wife  is  sickly  and 
unable  to  work.  He  beg  massa  to  sell  her  time^  but  he  said  if  she 
worth  only  fivepence  he  would  not." 

Knapdale  Estate. — ^An  apprentice  states,  "  1  have  had  eleven 
children ;  seven  are  living,  three  of  them  are  free.  I  was  allowed 
to  leave  the  great  gang  and  sit  down  for  two  years,  and  was  sent 
into  the  field  again  a  month  before  the  law.  The  month  before 
Christmas  I  got  a  little  child,  and  had  a  swelled  breast  for  three 
months.  The  doctor  ordered  me  physic,  but  the  overseer  did  not 
give  it  me.  I  was  in  the  hospital  two  months,  when  I  was  ordered 
out  to  dig  cane  holes,  which  brought  on  fever.  I  tell  the  overseer, 
I  don't  able  to  work  in  that  gang  because  I  had  so  much  picca- 
ninny. He  said,  the  law  before  and  now  quite  a  different  thing ; 
and  would  not  take  me  out  of  the  great  gang.  I  am  obliged  to 
work  in  the  rear,  and  am  not  able  to  keep  up  with  the  rest. 
Magistrate  sent  me  for  seven  days  to  dance  the  treadmill  hecause 
the  constable  abused  me  and  then  said  I  was  insolent  to  him. 
When  I  came  home  my  two  foot  was  just  big,  and  I  was  in  the 
hospital  three  weeks,  I  am  scarcely  able  to  walk  now,  and  if  I 
sit  down  I  can  scarcely  get  on  my  feet  again.  When  I  was  put  on 
the  treadmill,  the  first  day  the  driver  gave  me  three  licks  on  my 
back.  I  worked  on  the  road  in  chains.  When  I  was  laid  up  vnth 
piccaninny,  I  wi^  delivered  the  very  same  day  that  I  came  from 
the  fi^ld.  I  was  ordered  into  the  field  three  weeks  afterwards. 
We  do  not  get  six  half  Fridi^ys  since  the  li^w  came  in/' 

The  husband  of  this  apprentice  m^de  the  following  statement, 
at  a  different  time  :—t"  Since  my  wife  had  th^  child,  she  had  a 
troubled  breast;  I  was  like  to  lose  her  three  times.  The  doctor 
order  a  poultice  and  other  little  things;  busha  would  not  give  her 
nothing  at  all.  I  tell  the  doctor,  my  wife  have  seven  children  and 
ought  to  sit  down.  He  say,  this  time  the  law  don't  allow  that. 
My  wife  was  laid  up  for  a  month  after  being  at  the  treadmill. 
We  get  no  half  Fridays.  They  say  they  give  we  the  hours  every 
day  in  room  of  Friday,  but  they  never  blow  the  shell  till  sun 
down;  we  can't  get  no  hours." 

Ballantyne. — ^An  apprentice  says,  "  they  have  a  good  busha. 
They  receive,  hpw.ever,  no  salt  fish,  nor  flour,  nor  sugar,  for 
their  children,  as  before  the  apprenticeship.  They  get  their  half 
Fridays,  and  the  pregnant  women  have  a  month  before  and  a 
month  after  confinement." 

Tripoli. — ^Two  apprentices  state,  "the  apprentices  on  this  pro- 
perty are  a  jobbing  gang,  and  work  about  nine  miles  from  home. 
They  work  from  six  till  five,  one  hour  being  allowed  for  breakfast. 
Never  get  a  half  Friday.  On  Friday  when  they  go  home,  they 
don't  draw  off  any  earlier  than  other  days.    No  field  cook  allowed. 


xlviii.  APPKHDIX. 

Pregnant  women  work  in  tiie  fidd,  and  go  home  and  lie  ic  at 
night.  Aftewards  they  are  only  allowed  two  weeks.  Mothers 
take  their  children  on  their  backs  to  the  field;  no  aarse,  no 
flour  or  sugar  allowed.  Last  year  we  complained  to  Mr. 
SowLY  abont  oor  half  Fridays.  He  fined  us  eight  Saturdavs  for 
complaining." 

Southampton. — ^An  apprentice  states,  "we  turn  out  at  half  past 
five  and  have  half  an  hour  for  breakfast,  and  draw  off  at  Sy^, 
The  cattle  broke  in  and  destroyed  our  ground  and  left  we  nodiing 
to  eat.  I  showed  massa  my  ground.  He  said,  'we  must  find  soft 
stone  and  eat  it;  we  ought  to  make  a  high  fence  to  keep  ont  die 
cattle;  it's  no  use  complaining  to  him.'  If  any  women's  children 
very  sick  and  mothers  attend  them,  they  have  to  pay  back  the 
time.  When  the  people  are  sick  he  wants  them  to  pay  back  the 
time,  and  gives  them  no  medicine.  If  it  rain  ever  so  hard  the 
people  must  work  in  it  or  pay  up  the  time.  All  this  is  since  they 
got  a  new  master." 

Parish  of  Trblawney, — OxroRD  Estatb,  the  property  of  E. 
Barrktt. — ^A  number  of  intelligent  apprentices  say,  "that  there  is 
more  work  done  on  this  estate  than  formerly.    There  used  to  be  forty 
or  fifty  jobbers  constantly  at  work,  who  dug  all  the  cane  holes ;  now« 
the  cultivation  is  carried  on  by  the  estate's  people  only,  and  the  crops 
are  increasing.      In  crop,   they  work  from  4  o'clodc,  a.  m.,    to 
10,  P.M.,  snatching  their  meals  as  they  can;  and  for  this  amount 
of  extra  labour  for  five  days,  receive  six  shillings  and  three  -pence 
per  week.     They  agree  to  this  arrangement  for  the  sake  of  peace, 
but  could  earn   more  by  working  in  their   own  grounds   or  on 
adjoining  estates.     Out  of  crop,  they  work  from  six  to  six,  or  even 
half- past  six,  with  two  hours  intermission  for  meals.     The  over- 
seers  blow  the   shell  when   they   please.      They   get   their    half 
Fridays.     Their  mountain  grounds  are  from  seven  to  nine  miles 
distant.      They   are   allowed   a  watchmari*  for   them,    and    field 
cooks,  but  have  had  no  salt  fish  these  six  months.     The  pregnant 
women  are  allowed  to  sit  down  two  months  before  delivery  and  a 
fortnight  afterwards.     The  free  children  receive  nothing  from  the 
estate." 

f^everal  apprentices  on  Cambridge,  an  estate  of  the  same  pro- 
prietor, say  they  are  similarly  circumstanced,  except  that  they 
have  a  bad  overseer.  They  are  never  allowed  more  than  an  hour 
and  ten  minutes  for  dinner.  They  would  not  agree  to  the  arrange- 
ment for  their  extra  labour  during  crop,  except  to  keep  them 
quirt,  for  which  purpose  they  are  willing  to  do  all  in  their  power, 
but  tile  "  overseer  is  a  man  of  war."  They  obsened,  *'  we  know 
wc  got  a  good  massa  in  England,  and  we  wish  to  do  every  thing 
to  oblige  liim  ;  but  if  the  overseer  continues  to  worr)^  us  none  of 
the  apprentices  will  remain  when  the  time  is  up." 

Ui(  iiy\Hi)  BAUUETT,onc  of  the  ncgros  present,has bcena  carpenter 
'Ml  Cambridge  for  twenty-eight  years,  and  has  been  recently 
turned  into  the  field  for  preferring  a  respectful  complaint  to  his 


APPENDIX.  Xlix. 

attorney  against  the  overseer.  He  has  given  notice^  in  consequence, 
to  be  valued.  These  people  said,  although  the  free  children  are 
less  attended  to,  they  do  not  die  more  than  before;  "  God  Almighty 
takes  care  of  that  himself,  and  there  are  more  births  than  ever 
there  were."  They  assured  us,  also,  that  their  children  were  not 
brought  up  in  idleness,  and  that  they  had  plenty  of  little  things 
for  them  to  do  at  home  or  in  their  grounds.  They  said  they  heard 
.that  some  of  the  pe(^le  on  other  estates  were  worse  off  than 
before  the  apprenticesnip.  For  themselves,  in  answer  to  an 
inquiry,  they  said,  "how  can  we  like  the  old  system?  We  are 
well  satisfied  with  the  present,  when  we  think  when  the  whole  come," 
In  conclusion,  they  spontaneously  expressed  their  thanks  to  their 
friends  in  England,  for  the  exertions  they  had  made  for  them  to 
secure  the  abolition,  and  for  sending  out  missionaries,  and 
teachers  and  books. 

A  gentleman  acquainted  with  Richajid  Barrstt,  the  negro 
above  mentioned,  subsequently  gave  us  an  account  of  his  release 
from  apprenticeship  by  valuation.  He  had  always  borne  a  good 
character,  and  had  been  head  carpenter  for  seven  years,  and  second 
carpenter  for  two  years — having  been  superseded,  as  head  carpenter, 
by  a  free  person.  About  the  middle  of  last  month,  (February,) 
he  was  ordered  into  the  field  by  the  present  overseer,  —  Hawes, 
to  perform  field  labor,  and  had  tuskworJc  set  him,  the  same  as  the 
rest  of  the  gang,  in  digging  cane  holes.  Although  not  desirous  of 
leaving  the  estate,  yet,  being  unaccustomed  to  field  labor,  and 
unable  to  perform  it,  he  determined  to  obtain  his  discharge. 
When  he  came  to  be  valued,  he  stated  to  the  Magistrates  that  his 
only  reason  for  seeking  to  obtain  his  release  was  his  having  been 
made  a  field  laborer,  and,  therefore,  that  he  ought  to  be  valued 
as  such.  To  this  one  of  the  Local  Magistrates  agreed,  but  the 
Special  Justice,  Pryce,  and  the  other  Local  Magistrate,  said 
that  he  must  be  valued  as  a  carpenter.  He  was  accordingly  valued 
at  £67.  10s. 

This  case  illustrates  several  important  points  :— First,  that  the 
practice  of  sending  mechanics  and  domestics  into  the  field,  ever 
considered  by  the  negros  the  severest  and  most  degrading  punish- 
ment, is  still  practised ;  secondly,  that  the  overseers  sacrifice  the 
property  and  interests  of  their  absent  employers,  without  scruple, 
to  gratify  their  own  tyrannical  dispositions;  and,  lastly,  t^^at 
valuations  are  conducted  without  any  regard  to  justice,  or  even  to 
a  decent  respect  for  the  rights  of  the  negros,  as  guaranteed  to 
them  by  the  Abolition  Law. 

THE    PARISHES    OF    ST.   JAMES    AND    HANOVER. 

Salt  Spring  Estate. — An  apprentice  complains  that  "after 
being  allowed  by  the  doctor  to  sit  down  two  months  last  year 
during  her  pregnancy,  she  was  ordered  afterwards  to  pay  back  one 
month.     She  worked  out  all  the  Saturdays  but  two,  on  which  her 

E  * 


].  APPENDIX. 

husband  and  another  relative  worked  for  her.  The  overseer 
refused  these  two  days,  and  brought  her  before  the  Magistrate, 
who  sent  her  to  the  workhouse  for  three  days,  and  ordered  her  to 
repay  the  time.  When  she  came  out,  she  worked  two  Saturdays, 
but  on  the  third  was  obliged  to  go  to  her  provision  ground  for 
victual.  The  negro  gnmndi  are  fifteen  miles  distant  from  the  estate. 
For  going  to  her  ground  for  food,  she  was  brought  before  the 
Magistrate,  and  sent  to  the  workhouse  five  times  in  succession, 
one  after  another.  The  Magistrate  will  not  listen  to  her.  She  is 
now  pregnant  again ;  and  he  says,  after  her  confinement  she  must 
pay  back  all  the  days  she  spent  in  the  workhouse.  She  says, 
nursing  mothers  are  not  permitted  to  leave  the  field  to  suckle  their 
children.  When  she  and  others  have  complained  to  the  busha,  he 
says  he  does  not  care  a  pin,  because  they  are  free." 

The  brother  of  the  preceding  apprentice  gives  the  following 
account  of  the  first  complaint  above  noticed : — "  His  sister 
was  ordered  by  Mr.  Finlayson  to  work  every  other  Saturday 
from  the  first  of  May  to  the  first  of  August.  The  overseer  refused 
to  allow  her  husband  to  work  for  her,  and  when  she  had  repaid 
all  the  days  up  to  the  first  of  August,  he  said  she  had  not  finished, 
and  brought  her  before  tlie  Magistrate.  He  complains,  that  if  two 
or  three  of  the  apprentices  lose  five  minutes  in  the  morning,  Mr. 
Finlayson  stops  the  whole  gang  for  two  Saturdays." 

New  Mill  Estatk. — Two  apprentices  state,  "  that  in  the  two 
last  crops  the  people  have  not  received  any  thing  for  their  half 
Fridays,  and  this  year  they  are  again  squabbling  with  busha  about 
them.  The  negro  grounds  are  about  ten  miles  from  the  estate. 
Pregnant  women  are  allowed  four  weeks  before  and  after  delivery, 
and  then  arc  allowed  to  turn  out  an  hour  later  in  the  morning. 
Nursing  mothers  are  allowed  an  hour  a  day  to  go  to  suckle  their 
children,  one  at  a  time.  Field  cooks  and  salt  fish  are  continued ; 
but  if  the  overseer  finds  the  least  fault  he  stops  their  allowance 
for  a  month  or  two.  If  mothers  take  their  free  children  to  the 
hospital  they  are  not  allowed  to  have  any  medicine,  and  must  pay 
back  any  time  they  take  to  nurse  them.  These  negros  mentioned 
to  us  the  cases  referred  to,  in  the  Journal,  of  Lucy  Anne  Stephen 
and  Judy  Evans,  two  old  women,  each  mothers  of  eight  children, 
being  compelled  to  work  in  the  field.  They  also  mentioned  two 
other  old  women  who  have  been  put  in  the  dungeon  now  these  ten 
days  past.  They  both  of  them  came  to  this  country  three  years 
before  ninety-five,  and  one  of  them  was  then  '  a  good  prime 
woman,'  (who  must  now,  therefore,  be  upwards  of  seventy,)  the 
other  a  girl.  The  former  being  weak  and  unable  to  cut  grass,  was 
ordered  to  be  locked  up  by  the  Magistrate,  (Pringle,)  for  absence 
from  work ;  the  other  is  unable  to  work  from  illness,  and  is  also 
ordered  to  be  locked  up." 

Coventry  Estate,  the  property  of  —  Hibbert.  —  Susan 
Mackenzie,  an  apprentice,  says  that  "  during  the  rebellion  she 
was  sent  for  because  she  was  a  'great  baptist  woman.*     They 


APPENDIX.  li. 

tried  to  make  some  men  swear  against  her  to  hang  her,  but  did 
not  succeed ;  and  because  she  would  not  say  any  thing  against 
Mr.  BuRCHELL,  three  men,  with  three  new  cats,  were  ordered  to- 
flog  her.  They  gave  her  about  three  hundred  lashes,  and  she 
remained  in  the  workhouse  for  three  months.  On  the  first  of 
Augusti  1824,  the  attorney,  Mr.  Grant,  said  she  must  go  into 
the  field.  She  said  she  was  not  able,  and  showed  him  her  back ; 
but  he  said  that  was  nothing,  and  for  her  refusal  she  was  sent' 
three  times  to  the  workhouse  :  thev  then  allowed  her  to  cook  for 
the  children,  which  is  her  present  employment." 

This  woman  is  an  individual  of  superior  intelligence  for  her 
station,  and  bears  a  very  high  character  as  a  person  of  amiable  and 
mild  disposition,  and  consistent  in  her  deportment  as  a  professor 
of  religion.  She  is  almost  blind  from  the  efiects  of  flogging ;  the 
upper  part  of  the  back  is  covered  with  white  patches,  where  the 
rete  mucosum  has  been  entirely  obliterated  by  the  horrid  punish- 
ment described  above. 

Speaking  of  the  condition  of  the  apprentices  on  Coventry,  she 
said,  that  "  the  people  are  compelled  to  do  taskwork  in  the  field, 
and  so  much  is  given  them,  that  they  cannot  finish  it,  though  they 
work  from  sun  rise  till  dusk  without  intermission.  Their  break- 
fasts are  cooked  for  them,  and  they  eat  them  in  the  field  without 
sitting  down.  If  there  is  a  patch  left,  they  are  compelled  to  finish 
it  on  the  Saturday.  The  Magistrate  won't  hear  what  they  have 
to  say.    They  receive  no  salt  fish." 

Porto  Bello. — An  apprentice  states,  "  the  people  turn  out  at 
half-past  six,  they  get  forty  minutes  for  breakfast  and  an  hour  for 
dinner,  and  leave  the  field  at  a  quarter  to  six.  He  has  a  watch, 
and  knows  the  time  exactly.  The  people  have  no  field  cooks  ; 
never  received  any  allowance  of  salt  fish.  Their  provision  grounds 
are  very  bad  land,  and  eight  miles  distant.  He  never  went  into 
the  field  till  December,  1835,  when  he  was  made  a  predial.  The 
Special  Magistrate,  Mr.  Finlayson,  will  scarcely  allow  the 
people  to  speak.  He  went  to  him  this  morning,  but  was  told  he 
(Mr.  F.)  could  do  nothing  for  him  ;  he  had  better  get  a  friend,  and 
go  to  the  Governor." 

Worcester  Estate. — One  woman,  with  ten  children,  six  ap-* 
prentices  and  four  free ;  another  with  seven  children  ;  and  a  third 
with  six,  had  withdrawn  from  field  work  before  the  first  of  August, 
1834.  After  the  first  of  August,  they  were  ordered  to  the  field 
again,  and  because  they  did  not  turn  out  with  the  rest  of  the 
people  at  six  o'clock,  they  were  brought  before  the  Magistrate, 
and  sent  to  the  workhouse.  One  of  them  had  twins,  and,  being 
ordered  to  the  field,  was  obliged  to  leave  them  in  the  care  of  their 
little  brother ;  he  went  to  play,  and  when  she  returned  she  found 
tKem  lying  in  their  own  filth,  and  eating  it.  At  present,  the 
picaninny  women  are  allowed  to  take  turn  in  minding  their  chil- 
dren, and  to  have  half  an  hour  in  the  morning.  The  people  on 
the  estate  generally  turn  out  at  six,  and  draw  off  at  half- past  five, 

E*2 


lii. 

and  tomctunes  lii.  Tbej  Iwte  had  no  mH  iih  tkcae  tipo  iBoatiia. 
In  crop,  tbej  work  five  boon  eztra  per  dsjr,  for  four  dsys  m  tke 
week»  for  wbich  they  reeenre  one  and  ei^lit  pence.  WfacB  the 
people  complaiiicd»  Mr.  Caknabt  would  not  allow  them  to  apeak, 
hot  said  if  tbey  did  nat  grind  ei^t  coppera  of  liqiior  a  day  liiejr 
would  be  pnnisbcd." 

Paospsa  Paif. — RicHAmn  SBKppim,  anappieatice,  atatea^  "that 
there  were  two  steer*  that  coald  work,  two  yoang  steers,  two  cowa, 
and  one  boll  calf,  belonging  to  himself  and  hia  aistar.  Bfr. 
Gbaxt,  the  attorney,  said  he  most  sell  them,  aa  he  woold  not 
allow  them  to  stay  any  longer  on  the  estate.  He  compdled 
RicBAao  to  brand  the  cattle  himself  with  die  estate's  mark. 
When  he  went  for  his  money,  he  was  offered  £16.  for  die  two 
steers,  and  £16.  for  all  the  rut,  which  he  refosed,  as  tlie  ateera 
were  worth  £18.  a  piece,  and  the  cows  £16.  a  piece.  The  steesa 
have  been  working  for  the  estate  evo*  since.  He  does  not  know 
what  Magistrate  to  apply  to." — ^Ilie  head  negroa  on  many  eatstoa 
are  allowni  to  raise  cattle,  males,  and  horses,  for  tfaemselvea ;  and 
instances  of  the  possession  of  tiiis  kind  of  property  to  a  SBudl 
extent  by  apprentices,  are  frecpiently  to  be  met  with.  The  mbowe 
case  is  an  example  of  the  insecority  of  snch  piosperity,  which 
depends  at  all  times  on  the  caprice  of  trrene^s  or  owners. 

GsBAT  Vaixbt. — ^Apprentices  complain  that  if  they  are  sick 
no  notice  is  taken  of  them.  The  doctor  does  whatever  pleases 
the  overseer  ;  and  if  they  continue  in  the  hospital,  they  are  required 
to  repay  the  time,  and  when  they  refuse,  are  taken  before  Mr. 
Prixole,  who  sends  them  to  Lucea  workhouse,  to  dance  the 
treadmill  and  be  flogged.  A  man  present  says  his  wife  has  been 
treated  thus.  The  head  driver  says,  when  they  are  not  cutting 
canes,  they  work  regularly  on  taskwork,  and  sometimes  so  mueh 
is  set  them  they  are  not  able  to  finish  it.  They  get  no  breakfast 
or  dinner  time,  but  go  into  the  field  at  day  clear,  and  return  some- 
tiroes  at  four  o'clock,  sometimes  at  night.  The  people  never 
agreed  to  work  by  the  task,  but  are  afraid  of  being  taken  before 
Mr.  Pringlb  and  punished.  In  crop  time,  they  work  from  mx 
till  eight  or  nine  at  night,  giving  up  their  half  Fridays,  for  which 
they  receive  two  and  sixpence  per  week.  They  have  never  made 
this  agreement,  but  do  the  work  for  fear  of  punishment.  Three 
cases  of  jackets  were  brought  up,  which  had  been  injured  by  the 
salt  water  ;  they  were  opened  to  be  sunned.  The  people  said  they 
were  glad  they  had  a  massa  in  England  to  send  them  this  present, 
but  the  overseer  said  it  was  not  for  them,  but  to  be  sent  to  Lucea 
and  sold. 

Fairfield. — A  ranger  on  St.  Catherine's  Hall  says,  he  married 
a  woman  on  Fairfield,  by  whom  he  has  had  seven  children,  fdur 
of  whom  are  living,  one  an  infant  in  arms.  She  is  compelled  to 
come  to  Catherine  Hall  every  night  to  lodge.  He  went  to  her 
overseer  to  ask  him  for  a  little  place  to  make  a  house  for  her,  but 
he  would  not  allow  him  to  do  it.     Last  year  she  was  pregnant. 


APPENDIX.  Iftir 

and  they  took  her  hefore  the  Magistrate  and  said  she  would  not 
work.  She  was  in  the  sixth  month,  and  not  able  to  do  anything 
but  light  work.  The  was  sent  to  the  workhouse,  and  had  a  chain 
on,  and  was  made  to  dance  the  treadmill  for  a  week. 

Bamboo  Estate. — Apprentices  say  they  have  not  had  a  half 
Friday  these  two  years. 

Flower  Hill. — Apprentices  state,  they  receive  no  salt-fish, 
and  have  no  mountain  ground ;  are  obliged  to  take  land  in  the 
pastures,  which  is  very  bad,  and  trespassed  in  by  the  cattle.  No 
notice  is  taken  of  those  who  are  sick,  and  they  are  compelled  to 
repay  the  time.  The  doctor  does  what  the  overseer  says. — A 
boiler  man  complains  that  they  do  not  get  paid  for  their  time.  He 
went  to  the  Magistrate,  who  said  he  must  be  paid,  but  the  busha 
refused,  and  abused  him  and  called  him  a  bad  negro  for  complain- 
ing about  his  time.  The  overseer,  and  a  ranger  also,  struck  him 
and  pushed  him  down.  He  came  to  the  Bay  to  complain,  but  the 
Magistrate  refused  to  hear  him  ;  and  when  he  comes  on  the  estate 
he  will  not  hear  a  word  after  the  busha's  story. — ^An  old  woman 
was  put  in  the  field,  for  the  first  time,  in  May  last.  She  has  had 
grand-children,  and  refused  going  to  the  field.  She  was  sent  to 
the  workhouse  by  Mr.  Finlayson,  where  she  worked  in  chains 
in  the  streets.  The  Magistrate  said,  whatever  the  master  said,  she 
must  do. — ^Another  apprentice,  a  girl,  was  sent  into  the  field  at 
the  same  time,  who  had  been  taken  out  of  the  field  three  months 
before  the  rebellion,  and  has  been  in  the  house  ever  since. — 
Another  woman  complains,  that  the  overseer  has  put  her  children 
into  the  field  since  the  first  of  August,  who  never  were  in  the 
field  before.  The  Magistrate  says,  what  the  busha  tell,  they  must 
go  by  it. 

Childermas. — The  apprentices  are  compelled  to  work  extra 
hours  for  ten  pence  a  day  during  crop,  though  they  have  made 
no  agreement. 

Dearne  Hill. — An  apprentice  says,  '*  Mr.  Cocking  (S.  M.,) 
does  not  allow  you  to  speak  at  all,  but  takes  and  cats  you."  The 
people  have  no  attention  paid  them  when  sick. 

Beverley. — An  apprentice  says,  about  a  year  ago  she  was 
confined,  and  her  child  was  sick.  She  took  him  to  the  overseer, 
who  refused  to  do  any  thing  for  him.  The  child,  died.  She  was 
two  months  sitting  down  before  she  was  confined,  for  which  she 
was  brought  before  the  Magistrate  about  two  weeks  after  the  child 
died.  She  commenced  on  the  13th  August,  and  worked  every 
Saturday  till  a  few  weeks  ago,  since  which  time  she  has  worked 
on  her  half  Fridays.  She  has  not  had  her  salt  fish  or  allowance 
like  the  rest  these  two  years. 

Pitporb  Pen. — ^Apprentices  complain,  that  taskwork  has  been 
set  them  without  their  being  consulted.  .They  work  from  six  to- 
six,  and  can  get  no  breakfast  or  dinner  time  on  account  of  the 
amount  of  work  that  is  set  them. — A  woman,  with  a  child  fow 
months  old,  is  required  to  do  the  same  worl^  as  the  rest,  .  \ 
e*3 


Roi'XD  HfLL. — Ao  apprvotice  mvs,  he  is  obliged  to  be 
the  cart  every  Sonday.     When  Mr.  Wixclb  comes  he  will 
listen  to  the  people,  after  hearing  what  bosha  says. 

llAaTPiELO. — ^The  apprentices  are  a  jobbing  gang,  aod  wvfc 
twelve  miles  from  their  houses  and  grooMis.  A  prcgnaat  woman 
from  this  estate  complains,  that  she  has  to  work  «p  to  tiie  time 
that  the  pains  sebe  her,  and  has  to  find  the  midwife  heraci^  and 
to  repay  all  the  time  she  is  in  die  house.  No  time  is  attowed 
them  to  suckle  their  children.  Mr.  FrxLATSoir  tells  them  they 
must  do  whateier  basha  tells  them,  and  when  she  replied,  Bir. 
NoacoTT  told  tiiem  they  should  not  do  so ;  he  said,  she  had  no 
business  to  mention  Mr.  Noacorr,  and  sent  her  to  solitary  con- 
inement  for  sii  days,  where  she  was  kept  on  short  allowance 
and  nothing  allowed  for  the  child.  If  the  child  is  sick,  she  has 
to  pay  four  dollars  to  the  doctor. 

CATHxai?ia  MovxT. — In  the  short  days,  the  overseer  used  to 
say  the  apprentices  did  not  work  the  nine  hours,  and  stopped  a 
little  of  their  time  ;  now,  in  the  long  days,  they  are  scarcely  ever 
allowed  to  leave  work  till  dusk.  The  Magistrate  ordered  tbem  to 
have  their  proper  dinner  and  breakfast  time,  bat  the  overseer  said 
they  should  not  get  it.  The  Magistrate  wont  hear  what  tiicy  have 
to  say ;  the  busha  speaks  to  him  first. 

LsoGA?!. — Apprentices  complain  of  being  eompelted  to  remove 
their  grounds.  There  is  no  mountain  land  belonging  to  the  estate,  bat 
they  had  good  grounds  before  on  Amity  Hall,  seven  miles  distant; 
when  the  present  attorney  (Hi slop)  came,  he  gave  them  ground 
on  Dearne  Hill,  his  own  property,  nine  miles  from  their  houses, 
and  only  gave  them  a  month's  notice  to  remove  their  grounds. 
Their  provisions  were  unripe,  and  of  no  use.  They  got  no  com- 
pensation for  removing,  and  their  new  ground  is  very  bad.  They 
did  not  complain  to  the  Magistrate,  Mr.  Cocking,  because  he  is 
a-i  good  as  living  upon  the  property,  and  will  never  bear  what  they 
have  to  say.  The  head  constable,  who  has  a  watch,  says  if  the 
people  lose  three  or  four  hours  in  turning  out  in  the  course  of  the 
week,  the  Magistrate  takes  away  as  many  of  their  Saturdays. 
The  overseer,  besides  taking  back  the  time  himself,  by  keeping 
them  in  the  field  later  at  night,  frequently  complains  to  the  Magis- 
trates and  gets  their  Saturdays.  The  pregnant  women  are  allowed 
one  month  after  delivery,  but  are  sometimes  worked  till  within  a 
day  or  two  of  being  confined. — ^The  nursing  mothers  turn  out 
with  the  rest.  The  hothouse  is  locked  up  day  and  night.  There  is 
a  dungeon  on  the  property,  with  a  stone  arch,  dark,  and  so  con- 
fined that  damp  drops  upon  the  prisoners  like  dew.  It  was  not 
used  during  slavery.  Apprentices  are  put  in  without  any  orders 
from  the  Magistrate. — Emmy  Mackintosh  was  locked  up  for  a 
night  by  the  attorney.  She  was  a  nurse  to  the  child  of  his  con- 
cubine, and  he  complained  that  she  did  not  prevent  the  child 
from  crying. — Margaret  Samuel  is  the  washer  for  the  house. 
She  washes  for  the  attorney,  his  concubine,  and  for  his  daughter 


jLPPSNDIX.  Iv. 

by  another  woman*  and  for  Mr.  Cocking^  the  Special  Magistrate. 
When  she  had  to  wash  for  Mr.  C.  she  complained  that  the  clothes 
were  too  much.  She  was  locked  up  in  the  dungeon  by  the 
attorney,  and  when  she  came  out  was  threatened/  and  now  is 
obliged  to  wash  the  clothes.— A  cow  died  from  weakness  and  age, 
which  was  being  used  to  carry  sugar  to  the  wharf.  The  h^td 
cartman,  Thomas  Fowler,  wa3  ordered  by  the  Special  Magis- 
trate to  pay  £1.6.  for  it,  or  to  be  sent  to  Lucea  Workhouse  for 
three  months,  to  dance  the  treadmill  three  times  a  day,  and 
receive  fifty  lashes  going  in  and  coming  out.  The  people  offered  to 
assist  him ;  and  all  of  them  (about  fifty)  worked  three  half  Ffidays 
and  three  Saturdays  to  pay  for  the  cow — ^betng  rated,  carp^Vtefs 
at  three  and  fourpence,  and  first-gang  negros  at  one  shilling  and 
eight  pence.  Thomas  Fowlsb  is  still  working  in  his  days,  and 
they  won't  give  him  any  account,  or  tell  him  whether  the  amount 
is  paid  or  not.  In  crop  time,  they  work  from  4,  a.  m.,  till  8,  p.m., 
for  five  days,  for  which  the  trashmen  and  cane  carriers  receive 
five  shillings  per  week.  They  were  brought  into  this  arrangement 
by  being  threatened  to  be  worked  on  the  '*  nine  hours'  spell." 

THB    PARISH    OF   HANOVER. 

Statement  of  Sarah  Nelson  and  Bessy  Grant,  from  Ph(enix 
Estate. — They  were  sent  here  (Savanna-la-Mar  Workhouse)  be- 
cause they  were  not  able  to  grind  sixteen  coppers  of  liquor  a  day. 
The  apprentices  on  that  estate  are  divided  into  two  spells,  each  of 
whom  were  ordered  to  grind  eight  coppers  of  liquor,  lliey  often 
worked  from  1  o'clock,  p.  m.,  to  four  the  next  morning.  There 
was  only  one  spell  of  mules,  who  sometimes  laid  down  from 
fatigue,  and  so  stopped  the  mill.  Last  year  the  people  received 
tenpence  per  day  for  their  extra  work,  bat  this  year  they  receive 
nothing.  The  Magistrate  (Httlbcb)  at  first  said,  they  could  not 
be  compelled  to  do  night  work  ;  but  afterwards  he  d— d  them,  and 
said  if  they  did  not  grind  the  eight  coppers,  they  should  work  all 
Friday,  Saturday,  and  Sunday.  He  lives  on  the  estate,  and  has 
all  he  wants  from  it.  He  will  never  listen  to  the  apprentices,  and 
does  whatever  busha  pleases. — We  obtained  a  copy  of  their  com- 
mitment^  in  which  their  offence  is  stated  to  be  "  combining,  and 
lesisting  work,"  and  "insolent  and  disorderly  conduct."  They 
are  sentenced,  together  with  a  man  named  Williams,  to  hard 
labor  in  the  penal  gang,  and  to  the  treadmill  twice  a  day  for 
twenty  minutes,  for  the  space  of  two  calendar  months. — A  gen- 
tleman has  communicated  to  us  notes  of  complaints  made  to  him 
at  various  times,  by  oppressed  apprentices,  of  which  several  relate 
to  Phoenix  Estate.  On  the  14th  of  last  month,  six  apprentices, 
including  the  three  above  named,  made  to  him  the  statement  of 
their  being  divided  into  two  spells,  each  of  which  was  tasked  to 
grind  eight  coppers  of  cane  juice  a  day,  which  compelled  them  to 
work  continually  through  the  greater  part  of  the  day  and  night. 


Ivi.  APPBEDIX. 

During  this  week,  they  state,  the  first  spell  made  short  work,  and, 
in  conseqaence,  Uie  mill  feeders  and  cane  carriers  for  both  spells 
were  ordered  by  the  Magistrate  to  work  on  two  Saturdays,  which 
they  did  on   the  4th  and   II th   instants— on  which   days  they 
worked  without  breakfast  or  dinner  time,  and  had  none  to  cook 
for  them  or  to  bring  a  drink  of  water.    They  complain  that  the 
task  of  eight  coppers  a  day  for  each  spell  is  too  much,  especially 
as  the  cattle  and  mules  are  not  sufficient  for  the  work.     They 
sometimes  lie  down  in  the  mill  and  keep  the  people  waiting  a  long 
time.     One  of  the  complainant's  states,  that  he  works  day  and  night, 
and  sever  goes  to  his  house  through  the  week.     On  a  subsequent  occa- 
sioof^'^ve  boys  stated  to  the  same  individual  that  "  they  are  the 
cattle  drivers,  (at  the  mill,)  and  that  they  drive  constantly  through 
the  week,  day  and  night,  and  get  no  rest  until  the  mill  stops  on 
Friday.     They  get  no  pay.    Tlie  apprentices  charge  one  shilling 
and  three  pence  for  their  half  Friday.     The  attorney  came  and 
abused  them  all  for  a  set  of  rascals,  and  complained  that  they 
worked  two   years,   and  never  charged  for  their  half  Fridays. 
Some  of  them  told  him  that  the  beasts  would  be  worked  to  pieces 
by  the  work  busha  put  upon  them.      He  said,  'I  will  give  you 
plenty  of  beasts.'    None  have  come  to  this  time,  which  is  four 
weeks,  and  four  cattle  have  since  died.*    Before  he  went  away, 
the  constable  asked  the  people  whether  they  agreed  to  go  upon  the 
same  plan  as  last  year.    Tiiey  said,  for  the  goodness  of  Master 
Quarrel  (the  proprietor  residing  in  England)  they  would  give  up 
the  Friday,  although  they  were  not  getting  any  salt  fish."     This 
almost  incredible  amount  of  nigbtwork  is  also  exacted  on  Glas- 
gow estate.     See  the  statement  of  an  apprentice  from  that  pro- 
perty, in  the  Journal,  and  the  following  account,  previously  given 
by  the  same  negro,  to  the  above-mentioned  individual. — -Cyrus 
Wallace  says,  "  he  is  a  boiler ;  boiled  sugar  till  past  one  o'clock 
on  the  qftemoon  of  Sunday,  the  29th  January  last.     The  book- 
keeper told  them  (the  boilers)  that  unless  they  finished  boiling  off" 
the  sugar  left  on  Saturday,  they  and  the  busha  will  have  it  out 
— meaning,   as  Wallace   thinks,    that  busha  would  get  them 
punished.     He  has  boiled  sugar  all  the  week,  and  never  has  time 
to  go  to  his  own  house,  by  day  or  night,  until  the  end  of  the  week. 
They  work  every  Saturday,  atid  sometimes  finish  boiling  off  at  day- 
break on  Sunday  morning.**    Next  follows  an  account  of  the  circum- 
stance mentioned  in  the  Journal,  of  his  being  locked  up  on  Satur- 
day for  refusing  to  work  when  he  was  ill.     He  says,  also,  tTiat  he 
"  had  the  measles  last  year,  and  was  ordered  to  pay  the  time  back 
that  he  lost  by  sickness,  and  that  this  is  a  common  practice  on 
the   estate.     Overseer   puts  them  in   the  dark  room  any  time. 
Among  others,  Anna  Buchanan  Stevens  had  sore  throat  and 

•  Our  informant,  in  a  letter  recently  received,  observes,  "  I  have  heajrd  that  sixty 
head  of  cattle  have  died  during  this  crop  season  at  Glasgow.  It  is  on  this  estate,  as  on 
Phccnix,  if  the  apprentices  were  not  more  able  to  endure  fatigue  and  privation  than 
their  cattle,  they  would  die  off  in  like  manner." 


APPENDIX.  Ivii. 

pains  before  Christmas,  and  Mr.  Murdock,  the  overseer,  had  her 
con^ned  in  the  dark  room  for  six  weeks.  At  the  end  of  that  time, 
she  and  another  woman  named  Sarah  Dalrymplb,  broke  out 
through  the  flooring,  and  went  to  the  Magistrate,  Mr.  Oliver, 
who  said  they  must  go  back  to  the  estate,  and  he  would  get  Mr. 
Phelp,  the  Magistrate  of  their  district,  to  settle  it.  When  Mr. 
Phelp  came  to  the  property  they  were  taken  up  by  the  constables, 
and  asked  by  Mr.  Phelp  what  they  had  to  say  ?  A,  B.  Stevens 
told  him  how  long  she  had  been  locked  up.  He  said  he  wished  not 
to  hear  it,  and  sent  them  to  the  treadmill  at  Savanna^  la- Mar  for 
about  two  weeks  and  a  half.  During  the  time  they  were  locked 
up  on  the  estate,  the  Magistrate  visited  the  property,  but  they 
were  not  brought  before  him. 

HANOVER   AND    WESTMORELAND. 

Fromb  Estate. — Two  apprentices  state,  that  "in  crop, 
the  mill  is  put  about  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  till 
seven  o'clock  the  next  morning — no  breakfast  time  or  shell- 
blow  being  allowed.  The  coppers  are  kept  boiling  through  the 
night.  A  spell  of  people  come  out  of  the  field  at  seven  o'clock, 
to  relieve  the  boiling-house  people.  They  thus  get  every  other 
night  to  sleep,  but  must  be  in  the  field  the  next  morning  by 
daylight.  Tliey  work  on  Friday,  and  sometimes  on  Satur- 
day. The  apprentices  receive  nothing  for  all  this  extra  work,  and 
if  they  go  to  ask  for  anything,  are  brought  before- Mr.  Phelp  to  get 
punishment.  The  only  men  who  have  been  paid  are  two  of  the 
boilermen  and  the  head  cartmen.  About  two  or  three  weeks  back 
Mr.  Phelp  came,  and  Mr.  Macfarlane,  the  overseer,  went  and 
called  two  or  three  overseers,  who  valued  the  people's  work,  and 
said  it  was  not  enough.  Mr.  Phelp  commits  the  whole  gang  to 
pay  four  Saturdays.  Through  the  year,  they  are  constantly  taking 
away  our  Saturdays.  When  busha  wants  to  hire  the  people,  and 
they  say  they  won't,  because  they  know  he  won't  pay  them,  he 
sends  for  the  Magistrate  directly  and  values  the  work,  and  says, 
you  won't  hire,  and  now  I  shall  take  your  Saturdays  for  nothing. 
We  don't  get  a  day  to  work  our  mountain  grounds,  which  are  six 
miles  from  the  estate ;  we  are  obliged  to  go  to  them  on  Sunday. 
We  receive  no  salt  fish.  We  have  had  no  clothes  these  two  or  three 
years,  except  two  or  three  yards  of  canvas  this  Christmas.  The 
busha  has  shot  several  of  the  people's  hogs.  If  a  man  raise  a 
little  fowl,  when  they  want  one  for  dinner  they  send  for  it  and  kill 
it.  Before  last  August,  the  busha  came  to  the  negro  houses,  and 
took  away  one  fowl  belonging  to  one  of  us,  two  of  the  other,  and 

three  of  a  third  apprentice,  who  is  not  present.     says  he 

went  up  to  ask  for  his  fowl,  and  the  busha  said  he  would  not 
give  it  back,  but  should  eat  it  for  his  dinner.  I  went  to  the  field 
and  was  talking  about  the  fowl,  when  he  said  I  was  making  a 
noise,  and   sent  the    constable  to   lock  me  up  in  the  dungeon. 


Iviii.  Appssoix. 

A  week  after,  he  broocht  me  before  the  Magistrate,  and  said 
I  was  making  a  row  in  the  field.  He  sent  me  for  fourteen  dajrs  to 
the  workhoose*  to  work  in  chains  and  dance  the  treadmilL  When 
1  came  back,  I  had  to  pay  four  days.     I  had  been  before  to  the 

Magistrate  aboot  the  fowl,  and  coald  get  no  satisfaction.     

aUo  says,  he  and  his  wife  haTe  been  sent  to  the  dongeon  a  good 
many  times.  His  wife  was  sent  when  quite  big  with  child  two 
days  and  nights.  The  prisoners  are  fed  on  foor  heads  of  dry  com 
and  a  pint  of  water  a  day.'  His  master  and  bosha  hate  hun  be- 
cause he  is  a  baptist." 

GaoTx  Plaix. — An  apprentice  says,  the  negros  torn  oat  the 
same  as  in  slaTery,  and  work  from  son  to  son,  getting  half  an 
hour  for  breakfast  and  an  hour  for  dinner.  In  crop,  their  Fridays 
are  taken  away,  without  payment.  The  boilermen  only  are  paid 
for  nightwork.  Their  mountain  grounds  are  eight  miles  from  the 
estate.  No  watchman  is  allowed  ;  any  beast  may  go  and  destroy 
them.  Their  master  sends  out  salt  fish,  but  the  people  get  none 
of  it  from  month  to  month.  "  The  fish  is  there,  imd  we  perishing 
for  want  of  it."  No  notice  is  taken  of  the  sick,  who  are  some- 
times locked  up  in  the  dungeon,  which  is  a  shocking  place. 
"  The  busha  locks  up  plenty  of  people,  without  telling  the  Magis> 
trate." 

Frisitdship,  the  Estate  of  Loan  Holland. — Apprentices  make 
the  following  statements: — "In  the  first  offset,  (August  Ist,  1834,) 
the  agreement  was  that  we  were  to  receive  our  salt-fish.  Some 
have  got  none  from  that  day  to  this.  We  get  none  unless  we  do  extra 
work  beyond  what  the  law  obliges  us,  as  watching  at  night  by 
turns.  Those  old  women  that  have  been  serving  a  long  time,  and 
arc  not  able  to  keep  spell  in  crop,  get  not  a  grain  of  salt-fish  from 
one  year's  end  to  the  other.  The  people  turn  out  to  work  the  very 
same  as  during  slavery.  They  get  their  half  hours  for  breakfast 
and  one  hour  and  half  for  dinner,  and  never  draw  off  at  night  till 
a  quarter  past  six.  On  Friday  we  draw  off  at  eleven,  and  get  no 
breakfast  that  morning.  In  crop  time,  one  spell  goes  in  at  four 
o'clock  on  Monday  morning,  and  keeps  there  till  six  o'clock  at 
night,  when  another  spell  comes  in,  and  stays  till  six  the  next 
night — working  a  day  and  a  night  without  dinner  or  breakfast 
time.  For  this,  they  receive  two  bitts  a  day,  (fifteen  pence.)  No 
agreement  was  made.  We  have  to  give  up  all  our  half  Fridays  in 
crop,  and  get  no  pay  and  no  time  for  them.  Some  women  refused 
to  work  in  this  way,  viz.:  Bettriss  Holland,  Kitty  Jones, 
Dolly  Ferguson,  Christian  Williams,  and  Ruth  Allen. 
They  were  brought  before  the  Magistrate  for  disobedience  of  orders; 
he  would  not  allow  tlicm  to  speak,  but  sent  them  to  the  treadmill 
for  fifteen  days.  One  of  them  complains  of  pains  in  her  joints  to 
this  day.  This  is  two  years  ago,  and  since  then  we  can't  refuse. 
— Another  apprentice,  George  Blake,  when  he  was  ordered  to 
go  to  watch,  in  the  first  year  of  the  apprenticeship,  said  he  would 
go  if  they  would  pay  him.     They  said  he  should  do  it  without,  as 


APPENDIX.  lix. 

there  was  a  law  for  it.  He  said,  '  we  heard  we  should  never  have 
to  do  anything  in  our  extra  time  without  being  paid  for  it.'  He 
was  put  in  the  dungeon  four  days  and  nights,  when  the  Magis- 
trate came  and  committed  him  to  the  workhouse  for  fourteen  days, 
to  work  in  chains  and  collars.  He  had  to  pay  the  time  baek  in 
his  half  Fridays  and  Saturdays.  His  wife,  Catherinb  Blake, 
was  at  that  time  employed  in  the  house  as  a  washer,  but  on  ac- 
count of  her  husband's  offence  she  was  sent  into  the  field,  where 
she  remains  from  that  day  to  this.  She  also  gets  no  salt- fish. 
About  five  months  ago,  she  was  kept  in  the  bilboes,  day  and  night, 
for  four  weeks,  without  any  Magistrate's  order.  Even  when  she 
went  to  work  she  had  to  carry  the  shackle.  The  punishment  was 
for  objecting  to  go  to  the  field  when  she  was  a  domestic.  She  is 
still  lame  from  the  effects  of  the  bilboes.  In  the  time  of  our  last 
overseer,  we  could  hardly  eat  our  own  bread,  we  were  getting  so 
uneasy.  If  the  new  overseer  goes  on  well,  we  shall  be  comfortable; 
for  as  for  the  Magistrate  of  the  parish  we  shall  get  no  sort  of  satis- 
faction from  him.  As  soon  as  the  overseer  makes  his  complaint, 
he  makes  out  the  writing  of  punishment.  Missis  (Lady  Holland) 
has  been  kind  to  we.  We  know  that,  whether  we  get  the  gifts 
that  she  sends  or  not ;  and  we  should  wish  to  remain  on  the  estate 
as  long  as  we  live.  There  was  at  one  time  a  talk  of  a  school  on 
the  estate,  but  lately  we  hear  nothing  about  it.  We  should  be 
thankful  to  get  a  lesson  ourselves  as  well  as  our  children." 

Green  Island  Pen. — ^The  busha,  Benjamin  Capon,  "is  con- 
stantly in  the  habit  of  striking,  collaring,  and  kicking  the  ap- 
prentices— men,  women,  and  children.  They  never  complain  to 
the  Magistrate,  because  they  get  no  right.  The  Magistrate  takes 
away  their  days  whenever  the  busha  wants  them.  The  apprentices 
have  had  no  salt-fish  for  three  or  four  months.  Their  grounds  are 
destroyed  by  cattle,  as  no  watchman  is  allowed  for  them.  There 
is  no  hospital  on  the  estate.  If  the  people  are  sick,  their  days  are 
taken  away  to  pay  back  the  time.  They  turn  out  to  work  at  day- 
light, and  never  draw  off  till  seven  o'clock.  Their  half  Fridays 
have  been  taken  away  since  Christmas,  without  payment.  Yes- 
terday the  busha  ordered  a  girl  to  be  switched  by  the  constable, 
and  locked  up  at  night.  Her  mother,  Oriana  Webster,  just 
said,  '  hi !  this  picaninny  work  so  hard  from  morning  to  night — no 
breakfast,  no  dinner  time ;  and  you  go  lock  her  up  :'  then  he 
collared  her,  and  ordered  her  to  be  fastened  in  the  dungeon." 

Petersfield  Estate. — "The  people  turn  out  from  six,  a.  m., 
till  seven,  p.  m.,  and  get  half  an  hour  for  breakfast  and  an  hour 
for  dinner.  In  crop  time,  they  have  to  keep  spell  through  the 
night,  for  which  they  are  paid  as  on  Friendship  Estate.  Some- 
times their  Fridays  are  taken  away,  without  payment,  and  they 
are  always  made  to  work  more  than  half  the  day.  Their  provision 
grounds  are  seven  miles  off,  and  trespassed  on  by  the  cattle,  as 
there  is  no  fence.  No  attention  is  paid  to  the  sick.  The  flogging 
is  the  only  thing  that  makes  it  different  from  before.    The  busha 


Lx.  APPKKDIX. 

tries  everything  to  get  we  punished.     The  Magistrate  won't  allow 
you  to  speak  for  your  right." 

RoAEixo  RivxE. — ^The  apprentices,  out  of  crop,  work  about 
the  same  hours  as  on  Petersfield,  and  in  crop,  they  work  from 
four,  A.  M.,  to  seren,  p.  m.  In  crop,  they  get  no  half  Fridays, 
and  receive  only  two  bitts  for  all  their  extra  time  during  the  week. 
They  are  compelled  to  work  by  the  task,  though  they  have  made 
no  agreement  to  do  so.  When  the  canes  are  dry,  and  will  not 
produce  the  tasked  number  of  coppers  of  juice,  they  have  to  work 
m  the  night  to  make  it  up.  Out  of  crop,  they  are  not  allowed  to 
leave  the  field  on  Friday  till  three  or  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
The  busha  sometimes  says  they  turn  out  late  in  the  morning,  and 
gets  four  Saturdays  taken  away  from  them.  Mr.  Oliv&b  won't 
hear  what  the  people  have  to  say.  "  The  busha  tell  we  many  way 
to  choke  dog  without  hang  him  :  he  would  work  we  law  fashion, 
and  he  would  work  we  field  fashion."  The  people  had  no  salt- fish 
last  year,  and  have  only  had  it  three  times  since  Christmas. 
Sometimes  the  field  cooks  are  taken  away,  and  the  people  remain 
without  food  till  night.  When  apprentices  go  to  the  treadmill 
they  are  obliged  to  work  out  the  time.  Mothers  have  to  repay  the 
time  when  their  free  children  are  sick,  or  if  they  take  a  day  to 
bury  them. — Catherine  Lewis  and  three  other  women  were 
handcuffed  and  sent  to  dance  the  treadmill  for  sixteen  days,  because 
they  asked  for  a  little  sugar  and  rum,  as  payment  for  tneir  break- 
fast and  dinner  time  during  crop. 

Shbewsbuey. — "Busha  frequently  locks  the  people  up  in  the 
dungeon,  even  women  with  child.  They  are  sometimes  kept  two 
or  three  days  ;  sometimes  he  gives  them  a  little  corn,  sometimes 
nothing.  Sometimes  he  applies  to  Magistrate ;  at  others, 
punishes  without  applying  to  Magistrate.  Magistrate  never  comes 
on  the  property,  except  when  busha  writes  him  a  letter;  and  then, 
right  or  wrong,  he  gives  the  busha  satisfaction,  and  won't  allow 
the  people  leave  to  speak.  Out  of  crop,  the  apprentices  are  not 
allowed  to  draw  oflf  till  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  In  crop, 
their  hfiJf  Fridays  are  taken  away,  without  payment.  They  are 
tasked  to  grind  so  many  coppers  of  liquor,  and  if  the  canes  don't 
yield,  they  have  to  work  till  daylight.  They  have  only  tenpence 
for  their  nightwork.  For  weeks  before  Christmas,  the  busha 
ordered  the  people  to  pay  a  Saturday,  because  he  said  they  did  not 
turn  out  early  in  the  morning.  They  refused,  because  Saturday 
was  their  own  day.  He  sent  for  Mr.  Phelp  and  Mr.  Oliver, 
who  came  the  noonday  after  with  the  police.  William  Squarry 
and  two  other  young  men,  and  five  of  the  principal  women,  were 
picked  out,  and  the  men  catted,  and  the  women  sent  to  the  tread- 
mill for  ten  days.  The  police  gave  William  Squarry  thirty -nine 
lashes  on  his  bare  back  in  the  field.  He  was  a  constable,  and  was 
flogged  as  an  example  to  the  rest." 

Cornwall. — "  When  Mr.  Mulgrave  was  here  he  told  we  no 
more  slavery,  but  apprenticeship ;  and  that  we  were  to  get  an 


APPENDIX.  1X1.     , 

hour  for  breakfast  and  two  for  dinner.  We  go  on  pretty  well  that 
year»  but  after,  we  only  get  half  an  hour  for  breakfast,  and  one  hour 
and  half  for  dinner.  In  crop  time,  we  get  no  half  Friday,  nor  any  day 
or  pay  for  it.  One  spell  goes  in  on  Monday,  at  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  works  till  nine  at  night.  The  next  morning  the 
second  spell  does  the  same,  and  the  first  goes  to  the  field.  One 
spell  thus  works  three  long  days  and  two  short  ones  every  week, 
and  the  other,  two  long  and  three  short.  The  first  gets  two 
and  sixpence  a  week,  the  last  one  and  eight  pence.  No  agreement 
was  ever  made.  Mr.  Oliver  says,  we  ought  to  do  what  master 
bids.  After  crop,  last  year,  he  wanted  to  take  our  half  Fridays 
and  give  us  the  time  on  Wednesday.  We  refused  because 
our  mountain  grounds  are  seven  miles  off,  and  we  could  not 
go  and  come  back  on  the  Wednesday.  For  this,  two  men  were 
flogged  by  Mr.  Olivbr,  and  another  sent  to  the  worl^ouse  as 
an  example  to  the  rest.  Apprentices  sent  to  the  workhouse  have 
to  pay  back  the  time.  '  The  master  sends  out  two  puncheons  of 
oatmeal  for  the  children;  they  take  it  to  feed  hog,  and  say,  the 
free  children  no  use  to  massa.  If  you  have  any  eggs,  the  over- 
seer will  give  you  a  little  oatmeal  in  exchange. '  " 

Dean's  Valley  Dry  Works. — "  We  have  not  had  a  single  half 
Friday  since  the  new  year  came  in.  One  of  the  apprentices,  James 
Grindfibld,  went  to  Mr.  Mc'Neel,  the  attorney,  and  asked  if  he 
had  stopped  the  half  Friday.  He  came  down  to  the  property  the  next 
day,  and  began  to  quarrel  and  make  such  a  racket,  and  told  the 
overseer  we  were  not  to  have  it.  Lord  Mulgravb  told  us  we 
should  get  one  hour  for  breakfast  and  two  for  dinner,  but  now  we 
get  only  half  an  hour  and  an  hour.  We  have  had  no  salt-fish 
from  the  middle  of  last  year  till  a  fortnight  ago ;  though  we  have 
been  obliged  to  watch  the  cattle  pen  at  nighty  without  payment. 
If  we  leave  work  in  the  rain,  they  take  away  a  Saturday  to  pay 
for  it.  In  crop  time,  the  people  work  in  two  spells,  (see  Cornwall,) 
the  first  gets  twenty  pence,  and  the  other  fifteen  pence,  for  all 
extra  time  through  the  week.  No  agreement  was  ever  made  to 
work  in  this  way.  '  We  give  up  all  our  time  to  make  things  easy« 
because  we  have  no  one  to  complain  to.  The  only  good  thing  is« 
that  they  can't  lay  we  down  and  flog  we  on  the  estate.'  The 
estate's  cattle  trespass  in  our  provision  ground.  Young  picaninny 
mothers  get  no  oatmeal  or  sugar,  and  are  obliged  to  come  out  to 
work  at  daylight  with  the  rest.  The  people  are  sometimes  kept  in 
the  field  till  blind  dark.  James  Grindfisld  was  sent  to  the 
treadmill  for  ten  days,  two  years  ago,  for  having  prayers  in  his 
house.     Mr.  Oliver  said  he  had  no  right  to  do  it." 

FoNTABELLE. — "  On  the  first  of  August,  the  fonder  attorney, 
Mr.  George  Collo,  agreed  with  the  people  to  work  one  Friday 
and  take  another.  When  Mr.  Shallito  came,  before  Christmas 
he  took  away  one  Friday  entirely.  When  we  say  it  is  a  hard  case, 
he  takes  us  to  the  Magistrate  to  dance  the  treadmill  for  fourteen 
days.     Mr.  Phblp  won't  hear  a  word ;  he  says,  '  they  brought 


F* 


Ixii.  AFFSSDIX. 

him  to  Jamaica  to  put  it  qaiet,  and  he  sibaH  put  it  quiet.'  When 
he  comes,  if  the  overseer  tells  him  we  haye  mit  wariied  aurnqfi  in 
the  field,  he  takes  away  three  or  fimr  Sstoidaya.  Our  nunmtain 
groirnds  are  aeven  miles  off,  and  are  unmetimes  treapaaaed^  in. 
We  go  to  work  at  soniise,  and  lunre  half  an  hour  for  bveakfii;^  and 
an  hour  for  dinner,  and  never  draw  off  till  camdldigfat  in.  the  ^eat 
hoose.  In  crop,  the  people  work  in  two  spdis,  and  axe  taaJk^  to 
grind  seven  coppers  of  liquor  a  day.  If  the  canes  are  dry  it  can't 
be  done.  Nothing  is  ever  paid,  except  to  the  bcMiamai.  The 
busha  puts  the  apprentices  in  the  dungeon  as  he  likea*  widioot 
meat  or  drink,  except  sometimes  lie  giv^  them  two  heads  of  extra. 
and  a  pint  of  water.  If  the  picaninny  women  don^  t3im.  out  widi 
tile  rest,  they  are  locked  up.  '  We  are  woiae  off  tbatt  befine,  quIt 
just  the  flogging.' " 

SviTaFiajLo. — Ajf N  Campbxix  is  a  hooae  aarrmat.  "  ^e  has 
no  allowance  of  food,  no  provinon  gnmnd,  no  salt-fidb.  She  h^^ 
only  one  Saturday  in  two  weeks*  ^le  has  no  aopport  bat  what 
she  receives  from  her  Christian  &mily  (fellow  apprentioesk  who  are 
members  of  the  same  church.)  She  has  no  reiadons.  ^e  lost 
one  of  her  legs  by  disease  some  years  ago,  and  waa  obO^^  to  get 
the  carpenter  to  make  her  a  woodoi  one,  bat  haa  tM^^^'^g  to  par 
him.  Her  master  said  last  week  tiiat  a  law  came  in  to  bnng  back 
{logging,  and  he  shoold  pot  a  hoe  in  her  hand  and  tara  ber  into 
the  field.     All  the  domestics  are  treated  in  the  same  way." 

Content  Pen  :  James  Raxtlix,  master. — **  Before  the  law 
came  in,  nine  or  ten  of  as  were  expected  to  split  one  thousand 
shingles  a  day.  About  three  months  ago,  master  sent  six  of  us  to 
work,  and  aaid  we  must  split  one  thousand  a  day.  We  could  not 
do  it,  though  we  worked  all  day  without  taking  fifteen  minutes  for 
our  meals.  Fie  took  us  before  Mr.  Kelly,  who  said  we  must  do 
it.  Master  took  five  of  us  down  to  the  Magistrate,  and  got  us 
catted — forty  stripes  each,  and  ordered  us  to  maieup  the  thousand 
a  da\-.  We  made  it  up  in  our  own  time  for  five  days ;  he  then 
aaid  it  was  six  days,  though  he  knew  in  his  conscience  it  was  only 
five.  He  then  sent  for  the  Magistrate,  who  ordered  us  to  make  up 
sevf-n  thousand.  The  women  who  are  employed  to  scrape  ginger, 
have  to  scrape  thirty  pounds  a  day  out  of  forty  pounds.  Their 
friends  are  obliged  to  assist  them  through  part  of  the  night.  Two 
weeks  a^o,  the  task  was  so  great  that  eight  women  were  obliged 
to  take  Sunday  to  finish  it.  The  apprentices  never  agreed  to  work 
taskwork.  When  Mr.  James  Ra:^kin  came  to  the  property,  after 
his  father's  death,  he  told  the  people  they  were  too  rich  and  had 
too  much  time.  He  said  they  were  too  religious,  and  he  should 
see  if  ho  could  not  make  them  work  their  grounds  on  Sunday. 
He  used  to  make  them  come  down  to  the  Court  House  on  Saturday, 
whether  he  had  any  complaint  against  them  or  not.  When  he 
saw  one  of  them  coming  down  from  the  ground  on  Sunday,  where 
she  had  been  to  look  for  a  little  food,  he  laughed,  and  said,  'what 
you  can  work  now  on  Sunday  ? '  " 


APPSKDix.  Ixiii. 

Prospect  Estate. — ^Tbis  is  under  the  same  attorney  as  Fonta- 
belle.  The  people  perform  a  similar  amount  of  extra  labour  in  cro^, 
for  scarcely  any  remuneration  ;  nightwork  and  taskwork,  by  com- 
pulsion, without  any  agreement:  a  heart- sickening  story,  cor- 
responding in  all  its  details  with  the  preceding.  Invalid  women 
get  no  salt-fish,  even  those  that  can  make  themselves  useful.  An 
apprentice  states.  The  former  attorney,  —  Collo,  used  to  treat  the 
people  kindly;  but  npw,  if  it  were  known  that  we  were  here,  some 
of  the  people  would  come  on  crutches  to  tell  their  story  to  us. 

THE   PARISH    OF   CLARENDON. 

Green  Park. — "We  get  no  salt-fish,  and  are  compelled  to 
watch  at  night,  without  any  payment.  This  is  since  Mr.  Cham- 
BBRLAiNE  left.  They  say,  it  is  not  Mr.  C.'s  time  now.  Since  this 
Magistrate  came,  we  live  very  unhappy ;  massa  knows  if  we  com- 
plain we  shan't  get  our  right,  that  makes  him  take  away  our  time 
and  do  every  thing." 

York  Pen. — Statement  of  Elizabeth  Francis.  (See  our  ac- 
count of  her  valuation,  page  270.)  "Before  the  first  of  August,  I 
was  never  in  the  field,  but  belonged  to  Mr.  Scott's  mother,  who 
gave  me  ten  shillings  a  week  wages.  Afterwards,  Mr.  Scott  used 
to  send  me  to  Kingston  to  buy  cloth,  which  I  used  to  sell,  and 
carry  him  the  money.  I  was  very  sickly  with  a  complaint  in  my 
stomach  and  my  side.  Mr.  Scott  sent  me  into  the  field  the  year 
before  last.  I  was  very  often  ill,  sometimes  for  two  or  three 
months  at  a  time.  The  doctor  was  a  black  man,  from  Parnassus 
Estate ;  we  never  had  a  white  doctor.  Because  I  was  so  sickly, 
and  not  able  to  do  field  work,  I  wanted  to  buy  myself;  and  my 
husband,  who  is  a  free  man,  asked  my  master  what  he  would  part 
with  me  for.  He  ordered  the  constable  to  turn  him  off  the  property. 
He  sent  for  Dr.  Ritchie  to  examine  me,  who  said  I  was  not  so 
bad.  When  I  spoke  to  the  Magistrate  on  the  property,  he  would 
not  hear  a  word  I  had  to  say,  but  said,  '  shut  your  mouth ;  if  you 
are  impudent  to  your  master,  I  shall  send  you  to  the  workhouse 
and  have  you  catted !'  When  I  came  to  be  valued  to  day,  they 
said  I  was  a  field  negro,  and  valued  me  so  high." 

Sheckles  Pasture. — ^This  property  has  been  recently  sold,  and 
its  late  proprietor,  the  Hon.  Wm.  Rows,  President  of  the  Council, 
has  ordered  all  the  people  to  remove  to  his  other  property,  in 
Manchester,  about  thirty  miles  distant.  One  of  them,  Thomas 
Gale,  says,  "  he  is  living  with  a  free  woman,  by  whom  he  has 
^ve  children.  He  would  rather  die  than  remove.  He  will  not, 
cannot  go  and  leave  them.  Many  of  the  people  have  proposed  to 
be  valued.  Their  master  says  they  must  come  into  Manchester  to 
be  valued.    The  Magistrate  there  is  his  cousin." 

Belle  Plain. — An  apprentice  states,  "that  he  is  employed 
chipping  logwood.  In  the  old  time,  four  cwt.  a  day  was  consi- 
dered straining  work ;  now  their  master  demands  four  cwt.  and  a 
r*2 


I 


fcjf.  Jhrf  WBM  aaiUe  to  do  il,  ifaoo^  ther  gsre  i 
bmUut  tittc>  Tlu^  -wncs.  «bo  Iwloc^  to  anDtber  f 
iiK»irt  to  aMiat  Aev  to  vakc  it  up  in  tkdr  ovd  time,  I 
Mid  «•  «qKM  na«'  go  Id  Hie  Ma^iMnte,  for  if  « 

*Pt  dMD  tow  tm  4m  at  tfiam.  He  toU  Oe  coMtMbte,  i 
•artk  irtat  to  ii^nw  •pan  ast  wc  an  notaUctodi  ' 
Ada.  ha  ««•  Ctotfad  with  impadeaot.  and  seM  br  the  S 
to  Aa  MaitaSI  te  fivr  days,  imd  orifreJ  to  par  hmck  t 
He  OBM  banc  Iwt  SsttdaV,  aad  wh  to  nd  tW  he  wa 
to  woli  aO  d»  WMk-  Vestrrday  tbe  nasttr  ckduiscd  the  a 
In  hri^  Um  to  t&e  Ma|:if-tT»tes'  Govt  to  da;.  He  wa- 
«»cr,  laHri  ap,  fat  Xhe  coastthit  told  him  he  au^t  ( 
Ott  Magistrate  irDBld  visit  tbe  pmpntj  «□  Tacsdar."' 
nprestitr  &oni  Belle  Plain  i*  a  boy,  tbont  siitfCD  or  a 
^mr  ypara  ago  he  met  vilh  a  scrioa^  accideiit.  The  di 
his  ntaEter  if  the  boy  Fiv(<d  be  iFcmld  nerer  be  of  asv  as 
Uia  fath^.  also  as  apprnitice^  took  bia  bome,  and  t^  al  Or 
BipeRBe  of  his  medical  lieatment.  and  hai  supported  him  entire)T 
(ill  vnTK.  After  having  so  lonf  neglected  him,  his  master,  aboot 
tmi  moiitbs  efs.  enm^lled  him  to  tnra  out  to  voit.  He  b 
rridratlT  anSt  for  labor.  H  is  taee  is  msch  ealargcd ;  be  has  not 
the  proper  ove  of  bis  ano ;  Bad  vaJti  ai  if  hii  spine  wns  aetfamaiy 
i^jared. — AboI^mt  apprmtioe  frcna  Belle  Fbun  aays,  ttal  be  ia  « 
domcstir,  bnd  hirr^  hiin<iclf  out.  prayicf  fivrmacs.  (fitc  ahilEi^s 
■tcrlinr''  »  ■■'■'V  H'  wa'.i.'ii  Ir.  ^uv  himwlf,  »inl  then  h^  master 
tolii  hir.  i  ■...'■■  ;.  :..^  ,  ;-  -.  r.  ;  ;  i.-ck..— An  .-be-,  from  the 
suae  pTOpeftr,  complains  of  being  compelled  to  chip  ftmr  cwt.  of 
hgwrKkl  a  day.  which  ta  the  task  of  the  old  time.  Tbey  nem- 
Mdeany  agreetneot  to  do  >t;  and  tfaoagh  they  tmn  oat  at  avniiie, 
and  wotfc  till  foni  o'doct.  withont  breakhst  or  dinner  tjntr,  they 
cannot  do  it. — ADOther  i«  the  mother  of  nine  duldim — one  hre, 
and  eight  on  the  estate,  moat  of  whom  are  grown  np.  She  baa 
Wt  down  for  levetal  yean,  bat  since  Christmas  hu  been  ordered 
into  the  Geld,  and  is  compelled  to  tarn  out  with  the  rest." 

WooosiDi  Plaik. — Apprentices  complain  that  tbej  torn  out 
at  six,  A.  M.,  have  an  boor  for  breakfast,  and  do  not  draw  off  till 
five,  or,  OQ  Friday,  till  one  or  two  in  the  afternoon.  One  of 
them  has  nine  children,  of  whom  fbnr  are  free,  whom  she  haa  to 
aapport.  Since  she  bad  the  sixth  child  she  was  not  expected  to 
do  moch,  bat  aow  she  must  turn  oat  with  the  rest.  She  was 
taken  tiefore  Mr.  Dawson,  and  thoogh  she  showed  him  one  of 
her  childreu,  which  had  the  measles,  he  said  it  did  not  signify,  ahe 
mast  tarn  oot  with  the  rest.  He  apprentices  are  allowed  no 
Geld  cook,  no  salt-Gsh.  llicir  provision  gronnd  has  do  fence  nor 
watchman,  and  is  destroyed  by  the  cattle. 

Belmont. — Tboxas  Thokas   is  a  penkeeper.      "  His  BUUter 


APPENDIX.  IXV. 

l>rought  him  before  Mr.  Gordon,  at  Chapeltown,  and  charged 
him  with  insolence,  disobedience,  and  refusing  to  work  on  Sun- 
day. When  he  wanted  to  speak,  the  Magistrate  told  him  to  shut 
his  mouth,  and  sent  him  to  the  treadmill  for  ten  days.  Before 
that,  he  never  got  his  Saturdays  or  Sundays,  or  any  payment  or 
time  in  lieu  of  them ;  since  then,  he  has  refused  to  work  on  Sun- 
day, and  gets  about  half  Saturday.  When  he  came  out  of  the 
workhouse,  his  legs  were  much  injured.  He  was  kept  on  for  an 
hour  at  a  time.  The  mill  used  sometimes  to  take  the  skin  off  the 
belly  of  the  people.  When  they  could  not  tread  it,  (and  when 
hanging  by  their  wrists,)  the  driver  used  to  pull  them  from  the 
mill  by  their  legs,  and  throw  them  against  it."  The  women 
had  their  clothes  tied,  and  were  served  in  the  same  way." — Other 
negroB  from  Belmont  informed  us,  they  had  been  sent  to  the 
treadmill,  "  where  the  driver  beat  them  on  the  soles  of  the  feet 
with  a  bamboo." 

THB   PARISH    OF    ST.  THOMAS    IN   THE   BAST. 

Hector's  River. — ^An  apprentice  states,  that  "she  has  seven 
children — ^four  apprentices  and  three  free,  and  that  she  is  com- 
pelled to  work  in  the  first  gang,  though  she  is  old  and  infirm. 
Her  youngest  child,  about  two  years  old,  has  got  the  yaws.  The 
overseer  made  her  take  it  to  the  yawshouse,  and  there  leave  it. 
She  is  allowed  to  turn  out  an  hour  later  than  the  rest  to  attend  it, 
but  does  not  see  it  through  the  day,  except  at  dinner  time.  The 
people  on  Hector's  River  are  worse  off  than  any.  Just  after  the 
first  of  August,  they  got  their  proper  meal-times,  but  it  was  soon 
altered.  They  have  never  had  their  half  Fridays." — Another  ap- 
prentice on  Hector's  River  has  chronic  rheumatism  to  such  an 
extent  that  her  joints  are  indurated  and  enlarged.  She  complains 
of  being  compelled  to  do  work  that  she  is  not  fit  for. — Four  ap- 
prentices from  the  same  estate  say,  '  we  turn  out  at  sunrise,  and 
draw  off  for  dinner  from  eleven  to  one,  and  then  work  till  dusk. 
Our  houses  are  so  far  off  that  at  dinner  time  we  often  have  to 
return  when  the  shellblows,  with  a  hungry  belly.  Sometimes 
when  sick,  we  are  locked  up  in  the  dark  room,  and  fed  with  three 
ears  of  dry  corn  and  one  pint  of  water.  The  hospital  is  kept 
locked  on  Saturday  and  Sunday.  When  the  Magistrate  comes 
upon  the  property,  the  constables  are  afraid  to  speak  the  truth. 
"  Since  the  busha  came  all  the  best  of  the  slave  died."  There  was 
a  young  man,  a  domestic,  who  had  the  charge  of  a  sick  horse 
which  died, — ^the  busha  took  a  spite  against  him,  and  when  he 
fell  sick,  would  take  no  care  of  him,  nor  allow  him  to  go  into  the 
hospital.  He  died  in  the  cane  paths.  "  When  any  body  dies  be- 
longing to  you,  if  you  beg  the  busha  to  give  you  the  four  o'clock, 
he  won't  listen  to  you,  but  work  you  till  dark,  and  you  are  obliged 
to  bury  the  dead  when  you  cannot  see  your  hand."  The  busha's 
table  is  sometimes  supplied  with  provisions  from  the  negro 
r*3 


Ixvi.  APPENDIX. 

grounds.  One  woman  complained  to  the  Magistrate,  who  said 
the  young  man  who  fetched  the  provisions  from  the  grounds,  most 
pay  for  them ;  but  he  said  he  did  it  by  the  bosha's  order,  and  she 
got  no  satisfaction. — Another  apprentice  says,  that  her  dsoghter 
IS  in  the  mat  hoose.  Sometime  ago  she  broke  a  glass  g^let. 
Her  mother  procured  two  from  Kingston  to  pay  for  it,  bat  die 
busha  deprived  the  child  of  her  allowance  and  dsyt  for  a  month  ; 
and  because  the  Magistrate  of  the  district  wo«ld  B«t  pvnish  her 
further,  he  sent  for  Mr.  Willis,  who  sent  her  to  the  treadmill. 
Not  longago,  he  threatened  to  horsewhip  her,  on  which  she  ran 
away.  The  Magistrate  sentenced  her  to  be  lockad  «p  lor  five  days 
and  nights. — James  Purton,  another  apprcntiee  on  Hector'B 
River,  states  "  In  the  first  year  alter  Anputt  the  bosha  sent  and 
took  away  eight  fowls  from  me,  and  said,  I  liad  nothing  to  do  bat 
raising  fowls.  He  pvt  them  in  his  own  foiH  bouse.  Aboat  the 
same  time,  1  caught  two  fish  one  Sunday  night  at  the  rock,  having 
nothing  to  eat.  The  busha  came  to  the  rock,  and  took  away  one 
of  the  fish,  and  cut  it  in  two,  and  took  it  to  the  great  house  to 
cook.  I  asked  him  if  he  vras  going  to  pay  me  for  it;  he  said,  he 
ought  to  punish  me  well,  instead  of  paying  me  for  it.  After  he 
came  upon  the  property,  about  seven  years  ago,  I  was  a  shepherd, 
and  he  used  to  send  me  to  nnnis^  at  dmner  time,  at  nig^t,  and  on 
the  Sunday,  if  any  of  the  sheep  died.  If  he  want  one  to  kill,  and 
I  tell  him  none  properly  fat,  he  punbhed  me  for  not  making  them 
well  fat.  I  had  more  than  I  could  do — ^watching  goats,  sheep, 
and  cattle,  and  cutting  sticks  to  mend  fences.  My  arm  began  to 
swell,  and  he  would  not  take  me  into  the  hospital ;  and  through 
his  neglect  I  come  to  this  ailment.  About  five  weeks  ago,  my  leg 
began  to  swell.  I  went  to  him,  but  he  would  not  take  me  into  the 
hospital.  I  then  went  to  the  white  doctor,  who  said  I  must  have 
a  few  days'  rest.  I  was  in  the  hospital  for  a  week.  He  said  I 
must  make  rope  to  pay  for  the  time.  Through  the  head  maiv's 
goodness  I  escaped.  He  only  made  me  work  regular  time,  and 
passed  the  word  for  me  as  if  I  had  done  it." — ^The  appearance  of 
this  negro  was  deplorable.  His  arm  was  about  three  times  the 
ordinary  size,  and  very  much  ulcerated.  His  leg  was  also  very 
large,  and  apparently  dropsical. — Another  infirm  woman  com- 
plains, "  that  she  is  locked  up  in  the  black  hole  a  week  at  a  time, 
and  only  let  out  at  shellblow.  She  is  afraid  to  complain  to  the 
Magistrate.  The  manager  won't  attend  to  the  doctor's  orders, 
and  the  weak  are  forced  into  the  field.  Their  provision  pounds  are 
distant,  and  their  provisions  are  often  stolen." — Another  negro 
says,  "  that  the  busha  sends  a  man  to  the  grounds  to  dig  provi- 
sions for  himself. — Louisa  Burton,  a  very  infirm,  dropsical 
woman,  who  is  quite  unfit  for  labor,  has  to  pick  cotton,  or  she 
would  get  no  salt-fish.  Four  apprentices  on  the  estate  died  last 
week." 

Elmwood. — Apprentices  from  this  estate  complain,  "that  they 
never  get  their  half  Fridays.     They  turn  out  at  six  o'clock,  and 


APPENDIX.  Ixvii. 

turn  in  from  eleven  to  two,  and  then  draw  oflf  at  sunset.  They 
get  their  salt-fish,  but  never  made  any  agreement,  nor  were  ever 
asked  about  giving  up  their  time.  Mr.  Dawson  put  down  what- 
ever busha  wished.  He  would  not  allow  them  to  speak,  and  gave 
orders  to  kill  all  their  hogs.  Mr.  Chambbrlainb  gave  the  people 
right.  Mr.  Hendt,  the  overseer,  ordered  the  gate  to  be  chained, 
and  the  Magistrate  not  to  be  allowed  to  go  in.  He  went  to  Port- 
land the  day  that  he  knew  the  Magistrate  Would  come ;  but  the 
book-keeper,  his  son,  siaw  Chamberlains  coming,  and  ordered  a 
crooked  man  by  the  gate  to  put  the  chain  on.  Soine  of  the  ap- 
prentices  cried  out,  why  don't  you  open  the  gate  to  the  Magis- 
trate ?  Then  he  opened  it,  and  for  this  the  book-keeper  ordered 
him  to  take  a  hoe  and  work  in  the  field.  Tf^hen  the  Magistrate 
comei,  they  catmot  leave  the  field  to  go  to  complain  to  him.  When 
apprentices  are  in  the  hospital  the  door  is  kept  locked,  and  their 
own  brothers  are  not  allowed  to  go  to  see  them." 

Hayning. — ^Two  apprentices  from  this  estate  say,  that  their 
master,  —  Cargill,  is  aniious  for  them  to  have  what  is  right. 
They  work  from  sunrise  till  ten,  and  from  one  to  six  o'clock. 
Their  master  scolds  the  overseer  when  he  does  not  give  them  their 
time.    They  do  not,  however,  get  their  half  Fridays. 

Mulatto  Rivbb. — Bbckford  Ross  "  belongs  to  Belle  Castle, 
Inst  works  on  Mulatto  River,  nine  miles  distant.  They  turn  out 
before  sunrise  and  work  till  ten ;  go  to  work  again  at  one,  and 
work  till  quite  dark.  They  have  no  half  Fridays,  and  have  to  re- 
turn to  their  homes  after  dark  on  that  day — no  time  being  allowed 
them  for  their  distance,  Mr.  Chamberlains  said  they  were  to 
have  their  Fridays,  but  Mr.  Ross  said  he  would  not  let  them. 
They  have  had  no  salt-fish  this  five  months." 

Williamsfield.— "  After  the  first  of  August,  the  ap^H^entices 
were  allowed  three  hours  for  breakfast  and  dinner ;  now  they  work 
from  six  till  six,  and  are  allowed  only  from  ten  to  twelve  for  both 
meals.  Their  provision  grounds  have  no  watchman,  and  their 
provisions  are  stolen.  Their  attorney,  who  lives  at  Kingston,  is 
good  to  them,  but  the  overseer  compels  them  to  watch  the  curing 
house  and  cattle  pen,  without  any  allowance.  Their  turns  come 
round  every  five  nights. — One  woman  complains,  that  she  is  not 
allowed  to  see  the  child  to  give  him  suck,  except  at  shellblow  and 
at  night.  Mr.  Cockburn,  the  attorney,  said  she  was  to  have 
time,  but  when  he  was  gone  the  busha  would  not  suffer  it." 

Happy  Grove. — "  Tlie  apprentices  have  to  dig  six  baskets  of 
arrow  root  a  day,  although  they  made  no  agreement  to  work  task- 
work. Their  Saturdays  are  often  lost  in  making  up  the  deficiency, 
as  they  sometimes  can't  dig  two  baskets  a  day;  though  on  a  good 
bearing  piece,  they  can  sometimes  finish  six  baskets  by  four 
o'clock." 

The  apprentices  from  various  estates  in  the  district  say,  "  they 
are  more  comfortable  in  their  minds  since  Mr.  Chamberlaine 
came.    He  hears  what  they  have  to  say,  and  does  them  justice." 


Ixviii.  APPWiDix. 

WuBBLBEsriBLD  EsTATB. — "The  apprentices  tarn  out  at  day 
dawn,  (five  o'clock  at  thU  season;)  half  an  hour  is  allowed  for 
breakfast,  and  an  hour  and  a  half  for  dinner,  and  they  leave  off 
work  at  dark,  except  that  this  week  they  have  been  drawn  off  jnst 
at  sundown,  about  half  an  hour  before  dark.  Soon  after  the  first 
of  August,  the  people  who  had  been  to  hear  Lord  Muloratb 
explain  the  law,  began  to  complain  about  the  time ;  but  they  got 
no  satisfaction,  and  now  they  never  dispute  about  it,  as  they  &m1 
it  the  best  to  let  busha  have  his  own  way,  and  they  try  to  be  satis- 
fied. The  busha  locks  the  people  up  for  trifling  faults.  The 
Magistrate  takes  no  notice  of  it,  but  goes  by  whatever  the  over- 
seer says.    They  never  get  their  half  Friday." 

Am  ITT  Hall. — ^The  apprentices  say  they  are  treated  well  by 
their  overseer.  They  work  the  same  number  of  hours  as  on 
Wheelersfield.  When  the  master  and  mistress  were  here,  they 
used  to  get  their  half  Fridays,  and  for  some  time  afterwards^  bi^ 
they  have  since  been  taken  from  them. 

DucKiNOFiBLD. — The  hours  of  work  are  the  same  aa  at 
Wheelersfield.  The  people  have  never  had  their  half  Fridays.  No 
agreement  was  made  to  give  their  time  in  exchange  for  the  salt- 
fish.  Some  of  their  Saturdays  have  been  taken  away  from  them 
for  not  turning  out  earlier  than  six  o'clock.  The  women  with  six 
children  are  made  to  work  in  the  field.  Their  provision  grounds 
were  so  destroyed  by  the  cattle  that  they  have  thrown  them  up, 
and  depend  now  upon  a  little  place  which  they  have  fenced  off 
about  their  houses.  The  overseer  puts  people  in  the  dark  hole 
frequently,  without  sending  for  the  Magistrate.  No  attention  is 
paid  to  the  free  children. 

Holland  Estate. — ^They  work  the  same  hours  per  day  as  at 
Wheelersfield.  lliey  got  their  half  Fridays  for  about  two  months 
at  first,  but  have  never  had  them  since.  They  never  made  any 
agreement  to  give  up  their  extra  time.  The  Magistrate  frequently 
takes  away  their  Saturdays,  and,  therefore,  though  they  have  good 
grounds,  they  are  badly  off.  They  are  often  obliged  to  go  to  Uieir 
grounds  on  Sunday.  Mr.  Daughtrey  and  Mr.  Blake  used  to 
hear  what  the  people  had  to  say,  but  Mr.  Willis  goes  by  what 
the  overseer  says,  and  will  not  allow  any  to  speak.  George 
Walters,  a  tradesmen^  has  been  sent  into  the  field  to  dig  cane 
holes. 

SECTION  V. 

James  Williams's  Case. — His  statement  to  us  on  the  occa- 
sion alluded  to  in  our  Journal,  is  as  follows.  "  My  master  has  an 
old  grudge  against  me.  I  have  been  flogged  seven  times  since  the 
new  law  came  in.  He  complained  to  Dr.  Palmer  against  me  for 
insolency,  but  Dr.  P.  gave  me  the  right.  He  complained  frequently 
to  Captain  Connor  who  also  gave  me  the  right,  and  never  punish- 
ed me.     Massa  said^  '  Thank  God^  Dr.  Thompson  is  come,   and 


APPENDIX.  Ixix. 

we  have  got  a  Magistrate  who  will  see  justice  done.'  He  bear 
false  witness  against  me  and  said,  that  I  advise  John  Lawrbncb 
not  to  be  a  constable,  because  he  was  so  young.  I  never  said 
any  thing  of  the  kind  to  J.  L.  Dr.  Thompson  order  me  thirty 
nine  lashes.  Finding  him,  and  afterwards  Mr.  Rawlinson  so 
severe  upon  me,  I  went  away  to  the  King's  House.  1  was  away 
seven  weeks,  but  I  did  not  see  Lord  Sliqo  because  he  was  up  at 
Highgat6.  When  I  returned,  I  was  put  in  the  cage  at  the  Police 
station  for  a  day  and  a  night.  I  was  then,  by  order  of  Mr.  Raw- 
linson confined  for  ten  days  in  the  dungeon  on  the  property — 
Afterwards  sent  to  St.  Ann^s  Workhouse,  where  I  received  fifteen 
lashes,  and  danced  the  treadmill  every  morning  and  evening  for 
nine  days.  I  worked  in  chains  on  the  road.  1  bruised  my  shin 
(on  the  treadmill)  the  first  day,  but  on  the  second  day  I  caught 
the  step.  Many  people  were  sadly  cut.  You  could  not  see  any 
thing  on  the  mill  but  blood.  The  prisoners  on  the  mill,  men  and 
women  were/ catted  most  miserably.  When  I  came  out  of  the 
workhouse,  I  was  put  in  the  cell  for  four  days  and  nights,  and 
ordered  to  pay  fifty  days  to  the  property.  This  was  a  year  ago 
last  September.  I  was  afterwards  ordered  fifteen  lashes  again  for 
not  turning  the  horses  into  their  right  pasture.  I  had  so  many 
different  kinds  of  work  to  do  that  I  neglected  it.  My  master  met 
me  and  held  his  stick  over  my  head,  and  threatened  to  strike  me 
three  times.  I  said,  it  was  not  an  earthly  man  that  made  the 
world,  but  that  the  man  that  made  the  world  would  come  again. 
For  this  I  was  charged  with  insolence,  and  sent  to  the  house  of 
correction  to  dance  the  treadmill  for  seven  days,  and  receive  twenty 
lashes.  When  I  came  out,  my  massa  send  me  to  climb  bread-nut 
tree,  and  cut  bread-nut.  I  told  him  I  am  not  able,  my  stomach 
ill,  you  flog  me  so  severely  since  the  new  law  came  in.  He  said, 
if  I  did  not  make  an  end  of  him,  he  would  make  an  end  of  me.  I 
set  off  to  Sir  Lionel  Smith,  but  was  taken  up  by  an  overseer  on 
my  way  and  sent  to  Rodney  Hall  on  Saturday,  and  kept  there  till 
Thursday ;  a  constable  fetched  me,  and  I  reached  home  on  Friday 
late.  I  came  before  the  Magistrate,  who  ordered  me  to  receive 
twenty  five  lashes,  and  to  be  sent  to  St.  Ann's  Workhouse  for  a 
fortnight  to  dance  the  treadmill.  My  master  says,  he  will  bet 
£1000  he  will  make  an  end  of  me.  He  threatens  me  every  day  for 
my  life,  and  I  don't  know  how  soon  he  may  kill  me.  What  make 
me  so  much  afraid  is,  that  he  did  kill  a  man ;  he  got  him  ordered 
a  severe  flogging,  and,  because  the  constable  did  not  flog  him 
enough  he  ordered  the  policeman  to  take  the  whip.  The  man 
coughed  blood.  He  went  afterwards  to  Brown's  Town  to  complain 
to  Captain  Dillon,  and  died  in  the  town." 

James  Williams  also  represented  himself  as  being  destitute  of 
food  in  consequence  of  the  cattle  having  trespassed  in  his  ground 
while  at  the  treadmill ;  and  from  his  having  to  pay  so  many  days 
to  the  estate.  We  saw  several  of  the  most  intelligent  and  respect- 
able negros  from  the  same  estate,  who  confirmed  his  statements 


IXX.  APPBKDIX. 

AMured  tu  that  his  vermcity  might  be  relied  on^  and  that  he  was  at 
he  represented*  in  a  state  of  starvation.  Hie  money  was  snbse* 
qaentlv  advanced  to  him  to  purchase  his  term  of  apprenticeship, 
when  he  was  valued  for  upwards  of  £46,  though  he  had  only  seven- 
teen months  to  serve  till  he  became  free.  The  "Narrative  of 
Events/'  contains  a  much  more  detailed  account,  though  the  reader, 
who  will  compare  the  above  statement  made  to  us  in  Jamaica,  with 
the  "  Narrative,"  dictated  to  a  third  party  in  Elngland,  will  find 
them  perfectly  consistent.  The  "Narrative"  has  been  pubGslied  at 
length  in  the  Jamaica  papers,  and  has  excited  abusive  and  annry 
comments,  but  not  one  of  its  facts  has  yet  been  disproved.  His 
master,  G.  W.  Sbnioe  has  published  a  letter  on  the  subject  which 
contains  the  strongest  confirmation  of  the  truth  of  the  "  Narrative." 
He  admits  many  of  the  details,  and  does  not  deny  the  truth  of  a 
single  one  of  Jambs  Williams's  statements ;  contenting  himself 
merelv  with  vilifying  his  character.  The  sum  at  which  he  was 
valued  is  a  sufficient  answer  to  these  calumnies.  It  was  the  price 
not  only  of  a  capable  and  industrious,  but  of  an  honest  and  orderly 
apprentice.  On  the  other  hand,  the  baptist  minister  of  Brown's 
Town  in  a  letter,  dated  August  8th,  1837>  has  furnished  us  vnth 
the  most  convincing  prooft  of  the  truth  of  the  Narrative.  He 
observes ;  "  I  have  carefully  read  the  narrative  as  given  in  the 
Patriot;  and  though  not  an  eye  witness  of  what  he  (Jambs 
Williams)  narrates,  I  had  heard Jram  others  mo9tqf  the  parHeulon, 
none  qf  which  had  he  at  all  exaggerated  or  misrepresenied."  He 
also  states,  that  he  read  the  Narrative  to  three  fellow  apprentices 
of  Jambs,  of  whom  he  says ;  "  In  these  three  men  I  can  place  the 
strongest  confidence.  They  declare  that  James  Williams's 
Narrative  is  true.  In  reading  it  to  them,  the  only  error  they  could 
discover  teas,  that  Thomas  Brown  Lawrence  (called  in  the  Narrative, 
Thomas  Brown)  was  not  one  of  the  three  flogged  by  the  Police, 
He  was  flogged  by  the  constable  of  the  property," 

Documents  relating  to  James  Williams  have  already  been  laid 
before  the  public,  viz ;  the  certificate  of  his  pastor  as  to  his 
veracity  and  general  good  conduct ;  a  certificate  to  the  same  effect, 
signed  by  thirty  three  free  men  and  apprentices  who  are  acquainted 
with  him,  some  of  them  residing  at  Penshurst ;  and  lastly,  the 
declaration  of  three  intelligent  and  respectable  apprentices  on 
Penshurst,  that  they  have  heard  the  Narrative  read,  and  that  it  is 
an  unexaggerated  statement  of  facts.  In  addition  to  which,  we  refer 
to  the  statements  of  negros  from  Penshurst  in  the  preceeding 
section  of  the  Appendix,  some  of  which  are  the  relations  of  cir- 
cumstances mentioned  by  Williams. 

We  have  thus  adduced  what  appears  to  us  incontrovertible  evi- 
dence of  the  truth  of  the  Narrative  ;  and  it  only  remains  to  ask, 
whether  the  flagrant  perversion  of  the  law  by  Special  Magistrates, 
who  are  the  table  companions  of  the  planters,  and  the  present 
horrible  workhouse  discipline  of  Jamaica  are  to  be  permitted  to 
continue.     Can  any  one  read  James  Williams's  Narrative,   and 


APPENDIX.  Ixxi. 

persuade  himself  that  the  negros  could  have  been  liable  to  greater 
oppression,  or  endured  a  greater  amount  of  misery,  when  they  were 
slaves  in  name  as  well  as  in  fact? 

SECTION  VI. 

Arcadia  Estate. — In  1833,  the  proprietor  of  Arcadia  published 
a  pamphlet  vindicating  himself  as  a  Christian  slave  owner,  from 
the  charges  brought  against  him  in  the  Anti -slavery  Reporter. 
(No.  104.)  When  we  contrast  his  sentiments  with  the  past  his- 
tory and  present  state  of  Arcadia,  we  cannot  but  regard  his  expe- 
rience as  one  of  the  most  unhappy  examples,  of  the  consequences 
resulting  from  the  dereliction  of  the  plain  principles  of  Christian 
duty,  for  a  course  of  expediency  and  compromise.  Of  all  the 
partners  in  colonial  iniquity,  none  are  more  guilty  than  the  pro- 
fessedly liberal,  and  especially  the  Christian  proprietors,  resident 
in  England ;  and  it  is  in  discharge  of  a  most  painful  duty,  that 
we  presume  to  place  them,  in  the  person  of  an  eminent  individual 
of  their  number,  at  the  bar  of  public  opinion. 

Of  the  subjects  discussed  in  the  pamphlet  alluded  to,  our  present 
concern,  is  solely  with  those,  which  refer  to  the  author's  opinions 
on  slavery ;  or  to  his  defence  of  his  course  of  conduct  as  a  West 
India  proprietor. 

He  intimates  that  he  is  opposed  in  principle  to  slavery,  and  anx- 
ious to  see  it  abolished ;  due  regard  being  paid  to  the  interests  of 
the  planters,  and  to  the  fitness  of  the  negros  for  freedom.  Were 
we  to  judge,  by  the  comparative  earnestness  with  which,  on  the 
one  hand,  he  describes  his  hatred  of  slavery,  and,  on  the  other, 
his  repugnance  to  immediate  abolition,  and  his  views  of  the  difficul- 
ties of  a  general  emancipation,  we  should  certainly  come  to  the  con- 
clusion, that  his  sense  of  the  former  is  feeble  indeed,  compared 
with  his  impressions  of  the  latter.  His  remarks  on  the  unfitness 
of  the  negros  for  freedom,  shew  an  inexcusable  ignorance  of  the  facts 
of  the  case.  When  he  speaks  of  the  innate  indolence  of  the  negro, 
of  the  far  more  elevated  natives  of  our  eastern  territories,  in  the 
scale  of  civilization ;  of  the  negros  as  the  least  fit  of  all  human 
beings  for  entire  freedom  of  person  and  action,  and  declares,  that 
they  are  still  only  to  be  regarded  as  in  their  pagan  state,  he  shows, 
evidently,  from  what  "practical  source"  his  information  has  been 
derived.  Surely  his  tremendous  responsibility,  as  the  owner  of 
three  hundred  human  beings,  ought  to  have  impelled  him  by  a 
sincere  investigation,  (we  would  say,  by  a  personal  inquiry  if  no 
other  way  were  left  open,)  to  ascertain,  whether  the  premises 
were  true,  from  which  consequences  are  deduced,  so  important  to 
the  destinies  of  his  slaves.  We  will,  however,  test  him  on  his 
own  principles.  There  are  a  number  of  men  on  every  large  estate 
who  are  entnisted  with  employments  requiring  great  skill  and 
intelligence.  These  men  display  prudence  and  industry,  not  to 
say  acquisitiveness,  in  the  management  and  inprease  of  their  own 


IzxiL  APPSSDIX. 

little  property.  Who  will  dare  to  deny  that  they  are  fit  for  free- 
dom? and,  if  to,  on  what  principle  hai  the  proprietor  of  Arcadia 
continued  to  retain  them  as  slaves,  profiting  by  their  aDcompen- 
sated  labor? 

An  eiamination  of  the  practical  conduct  of  the  proprietor  of 
Arcadia,  has  brought  us  to  conclusions  equally  painful.  We  will 
consider  his  statementa  seriaiim.  He  denies,  boweter,  the  ri^t 
of  any  one  "  to  intrude  into  his  private  affairs."*  We  difwHaim 
any  such  intention ;  and  in  our  turn  deny,  diat  the  interests  of 
the  Slave  Popilation  of  our  Colonies,  are  the  private  concerns  of 
any  individual  proprietor. 

Charges  contained  in  the  J.  S.  Reporter,  quoted  from  the 
"  Letter  to  Tkoma»  WUmm,  E^q.:"  with  obsenrationa  thereon  : — 

!.-»"' Above  all,"  it  is  alleged,  "he  mi|^t  have  provided  religious 
instruction ;  though  to  this  hour  nothing  effective,  we  fear,  has  been 
done  for  that  paramount  object. '  I  ask  the  reader  of  my  evidence, 
whether  there  oe  any  plea,  however  futile,  for  such  an  insinuation  ? 
Does  it  not  hold  out,  as  plainly  as  possible,  that  Mr.  Khibb  had  been 
engaged  as  a  reli^ous  instructor,  and  that  I  then  wis  ready  to  renew 
the  engagement  if  he  had  found  it  expedient  to  return  to  Jamaica?  " 

At  the  time  the  attorney  of  Arcadia  gave  Mr.  Kkibb  leave  to  po 
upon  that  estate  and  instruct  the  negros,  he  expressly  forbade  him 
to  teach  a  single  slave  to  read  or  write ;  and  when  J.  Vine  first 
went  to  reside  on  Arcadia,  he  found  only  one  slave  who  could  read. 

II. — **  'Mr.  H.  might  have  had,  at  least,  an  elementary  school  on  his 
estate  ;  he  might  have  found  a  man  and  his  wife  competent  to  the 
task,  &c.,  upon  it.  Had  I  told  the  Committee,  'even  when  urged,' 
all  I  had  done,  they  would  have  known  that,  as  such  persons  could 
not  be  obtained  of  the  Baptist  Society,  I  had  applied  to  the  Moravian 
Committee  in  London,  for  a  resident  instructor  and  his  wife,  and  that 
if  such  persons  arc  not  on  the  estate  it  is  only  because  I  could  not 
obtain  tncm." 

It  is  extraordinarv  that  such  persons  coidd  not  be  found,  seeing 
the  numbers  who  nave  subsequently  been  engaged  under  similar 
circumstances;  but  experience  has  shown  that  had  such  individuals 
been  sent  out,  their  efforts  would  have  been  successfully  obstructed 
by  the  attorney  of  Arcadia. 

III. — " '  Did  he  wish  to  rescue  his  slaves  from  all  necessity  of  Sunday 
labor?*  Yes;  he  did :  and  it  was  among  the  first  and  chief  things 
pressed  upon  the  attention  of  the  attorney  on  the  estate ;  and  further 
urged  in  the  personal  intercourse  I  had  with  him  in  London,  just 
before  the  late  insurrection,  which  has  put  every  thing,  for  the  present, 
out  of  course." 

Sec  the  remarks  on  No.  4. 

*  "  1  require  them  to  show  what  right  the  constitution  of  their  own,  or  of  any  public 
luttltutlon,  gave  thero  to  intrude  into  ray  private  affairs,  and  found  charges  againit 
me  of  having  violated  my  own  principles  in  the  management  of  my  property  f  ' 
letter  to  Thotnoi  WiUon,  Esq.  ^  ^  r   i^    y. 


APPENDIX.  Ixxiii. 

IV. — **  *  He  might  haye  introduced  regulations  as  to  marriage.'  i 
can  only  say,  that  if  the  greatest  encouragement  is  not  held  out  to  the 
slaves  on  that  subject,  it  is  in  direct  contravention  of  my  instructions  3 
and  I  have  no  reason  to  imagine  that  on  this  point  at  least,  the  dis- 
position  of  the  attorney  differs  from  my  own.  Married  persons  have, 
with  other  encouragements,  all  that  very  comfortable  dwellings  can 
give.  Mr.  Knibb  will  bear  testimony :  he  states ;  '  the  estate  is  the 
most  comfortable  one,  in  every  respect,  that  I  have  ever  seen.  The 
houses  in  which  the  laborers  live  are  excellent,  and  every  thing  con- 
nected with  the  estate,  has  the  appearance  of  comfort.'  " 

In  a  number  of  the  Christian  Record  now  before  us,  mention 
is  made  of  a  proprietor^  who  "  concluded  that  giving  instructions 
by  letter  in  Scotland,  and  carrying  them  into  full  effect  in  Jamaica 
meant  the  same  thing."  The  editor  observes ;  "  This  is  a  miscon- 
ception, to  which  the  West  India  proprietors,  resident  in  Great 
Britain^  are  notwithstanding  so  prone,  that  we  know  not  how  to 
avoid  considering  it  a  determined  self-deception,"  We  are  credibly 
informed,  that  there  is  a  row  of  good  houses  in  front  of  the  negro 
village  of  Arcadia,  but  that  these  are  not  allotted  to  the  married 
people  as  an  encouragement.  The  head  people  dwell  in  miserable 
navels,  a  fact,  that  W.  Knibb  could  not  have  been  aware  of, 
when  he  wrote  in  praise  of  the  negro  houses  of  Arcadia.  We  can 
scarcely  reconcile  our  author's  remark  on  the  favorable  disposition 
of  the  attorney  on  this  point,  with  the  information  he  possessed 
of  his  character  and  conduct. 

v. — "  *  He  might  have  established  compulsory  manumission  !'  It  is 
not  needed.  The  power  granted  to  the  attorney  gives  him  power  to 
manumit  any  that  are  inclined  to  purchase  it.  A  slave  has  recently 
been  manumitted,  who  had  no  other  ground  of  claim  than  the  alleged 
verbal  promise  of  the  former  proprietor,  made  several  years  ago." 

The  general  reply  to  the  charge  of  the  A.  S.  Reporter,  on  this  and 
the  two  preceding  points,  is  weak  and  evasive.  The  example  which 
is  given,  is  most  incorrectly  stated.  The  facts  of  the  case  are  as 
follows  ;  "  During  the  time  of  the  former  proprietor  of  Arcadia, 
one  of  the  slaves  was  anxious  to  procure  the  freedom  of  his  daugh- 
ter. He  bought  two  valuable  male  slaves,  and  placed  them  on  the 
estate,  in  purchase  of  his  daughter  and  her  children.  At  that  time 
a  proprietor  could  not  manumit  a  slave,  without  giving  bond  to  the 
extent  of  £100  for  the  good  conduct  of  the  freed  man,  and  for  his 
maintenance,  in  case  he  should  prove  unable  or  unwilling  to  sup- 
port himself.  To  evade  this  difficulty,  a  formal  toritten  document 
was  executed,  declaring  the  slave  in  question  and  her  children  ex- 
empt from  labor  for  ever,  and  at  liberty  to  reside  on  the  estate,  and 
receive  their  maintenance  from  it  as  formerly.  This  is  what  is 
called  "  the  alleged  verbal  promise  of  a  former  proprietor.**  When 
the  present  proprietor  came  into  possession,  this  woman  and  her 
children  were  re-enslaved.  They  were  worked,  flogged  and  treated 
in  every  respect  like  the  other  slaves  on  Arcadia.     Will  it  be  be- 


Ixxiv.  APPBIIDIX. 

\\9xe6,  tlMt  At  tht  very  tame  the  "  LtCter  to  Tbomas  Wiuon,  Esq." 
was  published ;  and  until  a  recent  period,  she  remained  in  bond- 
age ;  and  r^ained  her  freedom  at  last,  not  by  the  act  of  the  pn>- 
prietor  of  Arcadia  or  his  attorney,  bat  through  an  investigatioB 
ordered  by  Lord  Slioo  into  her  case.  The  Governor  also  directed 
that,  hi  r  claim,  and  that  of  her  children,  to  wages,  should  be  de- 
tennihcd,  /r^m  the  date  1^  the  apprenticeehip  ;  and  £200  currency 
was  subecquently  paid  to  her,  for  their  wages  from  the  first  of 
August,  1834.  She  and  her  children  have  received  no  oompen- 
sation  for  their  labor,  from  the  time  when  they  were  re-enslaved, 
till  the  commencement  of  the  apprenticeship ;  and  the  value  of  tiie 
estate  itself,  would  be  no  adequate  recompense,  for  the  cruelties 
and  indignities,  to  which  they  were  subjected  during  that  long  in- 
terval.   This  is  an  instance  of  slave  holding  and  something  more. 

VI.— " '  He  might  have  entirely  interdicted  the  flogging  of  fe- 
males.' He  has  done  so;  and  has  the  written  assurance  of  the  attor- 
ney, that  his  directions  hare  been  complied  with." 

VII. — "  *  He  might  have  given  his  slaves  fifty-two  week  days  in  the 
year ;  he  might  have  put  down  the  driving  whip  in  the  field;  he  mi^t 
Lave  abolished  (with  Mr.  Wildmav)  the  night  labor  of  crop.'  I  have 
yet  to  learn  that  Mr.  W.  has  discontinued  the  night  sugar  boilings, 
(^sce  his  answer,  Pari.  Rep.  No.  7993.)  As  to  the  rest,  I  have  avowed, 
that  such  measures  were  only  incipient :'  indeed,  time  had  not  allowed 
for  any  thing  beyond,  and  I  cannot  myself  yet  say  what  has  been 
effected.  Indeed  my  answer,  No.  4635,  shews  how  little  confidence 
I  have  at  present,  in  my  own  judgment,  as  to  the  practical  consequence 
of  extensive  changes." 

The  proprietor  of  Arcadia,  pleads  ignorance,  inexperience  and 
want  of  confidence  in  his  own  judgment,  "  as  to  the  practical  con- 
sequence of  extensive  changes.**  In  matters  of  such  importance, 
none  of  these  pleas  have  the  smallest  weight.  He  might  have 
ascertained,  without  leaving  his  own  counting  house,  that  the 
number  of  slaves  on  Arcadia,  was  decreasing,  though  there  was 
no  disproportion  of  the  sexes,  and  that  this  was  owing  in  great 
part  to  the  night  labor  during  crop.  Also  that  night  work  had 
long  been  generally  discontinued  in  the  Danish  colonies,  and  in 
several  of  our  own  ;  and  that  this  alteration,  with  the  abolition 
of  the  driving  whip,  and  many  other  improvements  had  been 
adopted  on  several  estates,  even  in  Jamaica,  without  any  disad- 
vantage. 

Our  author  subsequently  speaks  of  the  honorable  conduct  of  his 
negros  during  the  late  insurrection.  Had  he  known  all  that  trans- 
pired on  Arcadia  at  that  eventful  period,  he  would  have  desired  to 
blot  out  the  remembrance  of  it  for  ever.  Much  might  be  written 
on  this  subject  but  we  forbear.  The  proprietor  of  Arcadia  has 
not  been  uninformed  of  the  character  of  the  individuals  by  whom 
his  property  has  been  administered.     He  must  have  been  aware. 


APPENDIX.  IXXV. 

• 

that,  from  his  attorney  to  the  lowest  book-keeper,  all  the  white 
men  on  his  estate,  were  living,  some  in  concubinage,  and  others  in 
promiscuous  debauchery.  Has  he  testified  any  displeasure  at  these 
things  ?  Has  he  withdrawn  his  confidence  from  the  actors  in  them, 
or  manifested  any  gratitude  to  those  who  have  brought  them  to  his 
knowledge  ? 

When  the  London  Missionary  Society  concluded,  soon  after  the 
introduction  of  the  apprenticeship,  to  send  out  six  missionaries  to 
Jamaica,  one  of  them  was  selected  to  reside  on  Arcadia.  This  in- 
dividual was  a  man  of  well  known  reputation,  the  pastor  of  a 
numerous  and  increasing  church,  and  one  therefore,  who  made 
great  sacrifices  to  embark  in  the  missionary  work.  Few  indeed, 
in  the  estimation  of  those^  who  know  him,  of  his  own  as  well  as 
other  denominations,  are  more  richly  endowed  with  missionary 
qualifications.  On  his  arrival  on  Arcadia,  he  was  compelled  to 
reside  for  a  time  in  the  same  house  with  the  overseer,  who  was 
ilving  in  the  unhallowed  way  of  the  country.  He  endured  in- 
dignities, and  encountered  obstacles ;  but  meantime  his  spiritual 
labors  were  blessed.  He  and  his  wife  taught  upwards  of  sixty 
of  the  negros  to  read^  and  their  church  was  prosperous  and  in- 
creasing. It  was  attended  by  numbers  of  the  white  inhabitants, 
a  class  that  few  missionaries  have  been  favored  to  benefit,  or  to 
number  among  their  spiritual  children.  One  overseer  was  con- 
verted, and  is  now  usefully  employed  in  the  Mico  Institution,  in 
promoting  religious  education.  Among  the  negros,  his  services 
were  equally  useful,  and,  a  circumstance,  we  believe  unexampled 
hitherto,  were  not  rendered  unacceptable  by  the  attendance  of  th« 
whites.  He  has  been  compelled  to  break  iip  hia  station,  in  the 
midst  of  a  scene  of  disting^shed  usefulness,  and  to  seek  one  where 
he  may  commence  anew. 

We  have  placed  these  things  on  record,  not  Without  painful 
feelings,  nor  from  any  other  motive  than  a  sense  of  duty  ;  and  we 
cannot  conclude  without  stating  our  deliberate  conviction,  that  a 
christian  slave  owner  can  only  exercise  a  conscience  void  of  offence 
towards  God  and  towards  man,  by  emancipating  his  slaves  ;  and 
that  that  duty  is  not  the  less  imperative  at  the  present  moment, 
because  the  era  of  complete  freedom  will  soon  be  ushered  in  by  Act 
of  Parliament  The  attempt  to  discover  and  pursue  a  middle 
course,  demands  not  only  a  sacrifice  of  principle,  but,  if  they  are 
non-residents,  involves  them  in  the  participation  of  evil,  which 
it  is  fearful  to  contemplate. 


G  ♦  2 


Ixxn. 


APPBWDIX. 


SECTION    VII. 


STATISTICAL     TABLE& 

EXTRACTS    FROM    TABLES   COMPILED   BT  HENRT   HTNTER, 
ATTORNEY  OP  LATIUM  ESTATE,  JAICAICA. 


Inereate  and  Decrease,  JT.  an  a  Sugar  Etiaie. 


4- In 


within       No.  of 
given  period.  Vttnm. 

—  ^        500  . 

.  June 

Date. 
28th, 

within 
given  perio) 

1820  f         ^ 

—  18 

500  • 
482 

»> 

n 

»» 
n 

1820  ( 
1828  f 

..    38 

—    9 

482  . 
473 

18231 
1826  j 

•     36 

—  26 

473 

•  •  447  • 

1826  1 
1829) 

...  23 

—    8 

447  • 
439 

1829  1 
1832/ 

.     30 

+     2 

439 
•  441  . 

n 

1832) 
1836  J 

...  32 

-h     3 

441  ■ 

••  444  . 

Dec. 

28th, 

1835  1 

1836  f 

...  24 

Ofthoeebom* 
Birtht         Na  Uring 
on  the 
nth  Deo.  1836.  Time 

6  16 


21 


20 


12 


18 


20 


23 


13 


10 


INXREASE   AND    DECREASE    ON   A   COFFEE    AND    CATTLE    ESTATE 
BELONGING  TO  THE  SAME  PROPRIETOR. 


Increase, 
within  given 
period. 

-f  29 

+  47 

+  61 

4-  23 


No.  of  Negros. 

177 
206 
253 
314 
337 


Date. 

1800 
1810 
1820 
1830 
1836 


APFBNDIX.  IxXVlf. 

TABLE  OP  MEDICAL  ATTENDANCE  ON  THE  SUGAR  ESTATE. 

Through  the  years  1829      183&      1834      1835      1836 

Visits  of  Medical  Attendant     .•     217        237        131        115        111 

Patiente  prescribed  for      4516      4067        834        554        867 

Sidesof  foolscap  written  upon- •    398        276         77         50         66 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  LABCm. 


On  Ipt  Jan.  1832  1833  1834  1835  1836 
In  Agricultural  labor,  viz. 

First  gang 136  131  135  134  122 

Seconddo. 60  60  60  59^  64 

Third    do. 34  33  34  38  30 

Fourthdo. 27  27  21  U  16 

Caring  Stock 16  17  16  19  14 

Various  Jobs 19  17  19  16  13 

Grass  Cutters 15  17  15  19  18] 

Watchmen 24  25  24  25  26 

330  —327  --330  —315  —303 

SCechanics,  &c  viz. 

Domestics  15  15  13  16  15 

Carpenters 9  9  9  11  11 

Coopers  10  8  10  9  8 

Masons    7  7  7  6  7 

Smiths 11111 

—42  —40  —46  —48  —42 

Total  that  work  372  367  370  358  345 

Diseased 4  3  4  4  1 

Invalids  12  16  12  18  24 

With  six  children  or  up- 1    -  «  -  ^  « 

wards /  7  6  7  6  3 

Servants  at  Great  House    14  13  14  12  9 

Young  children 45  46  45  50  64 

Total  that  don't  work ...    —82  —84  —82  —90  —101 

No.  ofNegros    454  451  452  448  446 


COMPARATIVE  VIEW  OP  TIAIE  DUE  FROM  THE  NEGROS   TO 

THE  ESTATE. 

Slavery.  Apprentfoeslifp. 

No.  of  working  days  in  the  year      280  231 

Negro  days      ^.»<«^^^33  82 

Sundays     ^..^..^^^52  52 

Total     ^    ^    ^    ~      365  365 
<»«3 


IxXviU.  AFPBMDIX. 

AMOUlfT  OP  CROP  IN  TABIOI78  YEAB8. 

N.  n.    The  inferior  iteme  of  MoImms  and  Bom  are  omitted,  bein^ 
in  proportion  to  the  Sugar  crop. 

1853  18»  18M  1835  1838 

bdft.  in.   hrU.     bds.  tn.  krk.      bds.  tn.  brU.    hdt.  tim.  bcli.     hdt.  tri.  brla. 
98D958      3S8967      98S30      20046      "SSS    3  10) 

EXTENT  OP  LAND  IN  CANBB. 


A.  a.  P. 

A.   B.  P. 

A.   B.  p. 

A.   B.  p. 

A.   a.  p. 

374  0  96 

353  3  31 

361  3  31 

324  0  20 

317  1  10 

•  The  Hilda,  of  1836  w«ro  viade  of  44  indi  •toret.  and  Ummb  of  pveoedlnK  jean 
•f  A9  inch,  makfnf  a  diffarenoe  of  3  oart.  per  hhd.  in  faroor  of  tlie  hhda.  of  1836, 
the  dop  of  which  wat  in  reality  eomewhat  larser  than  that  of  183S. 


TABLE  OP  LOSS  OF  CATTLE  AND  MULES  IN  BACH  TEAR. 

1832  1833  1834  1835  1836 

Lo88..-     6  6  6  7  *13 

•  Plve  of  thie  number  being  old  Malea  ihot  on  aeeouni  of  dlMaae.  The  loaa  of 
•took  daring  crop  on  many  eetates  la  rery  great.  See  note  at  fbot  of  page  Iri. 
In  this  appendix. 


From  one  of  the  preceding  tables,  it  appears  that  the  time  legally 
due  from  the  negroe  to  their  owners,  has  been  diminished  one-fifth 
by  the  apprenticeship  law,  and  from  the  table  of  crops,  that  there 
has  yet  been  no  consequent  diminution  of  produce  or  revenue,  and 
this,  notwithstanding  the  employment  during  slavery  of  a  jobbing 
gang  of  slaves,  to  dig  the  greater  part  of  the  cane  holes,  which  are 
now  entirely  dug  by  the  estates*  people.  The  difierence  is  more 
than  supplied  by  the  apprentices  on  the  estate  working  in  their  own 
time  for  wages,  and  in  their  master's,  on  a  judicious  system  of  task- 
work and  rcmunei*ation,  arranged  by  mutual  consent.  See  the 
following  table : — 

COMPARATIVE  TABLE  OP  CANEHOLES  DUG  BY  JOBBERS  AND 
ESTATES'  NEGROS,  FOR  THE  CROP  OF  1831,  1832,  1833,  1834,  1835, 
1830,    1837,   1838. 

N.Ii.  The  acres  of  caneholes  are  placed,  not  under  the  years  in 
which  they  were  dug,  but  under  those  in  which  the  plant  canes  from 
them  were  or  will  be  cropped. 

1831.  1832.  1833.  1834. 

A.       R.  P.  A.       R.    P.  A.       R.  P.  A.       R.  P. 

Acres  dug  for  1 

plant  canos    V  70     1   15  4?     3  10  32     1   10  49     3     5 

by  jobbers,    j 

By  estates*    1  U     2     0  34     2  26  42     1  30  42     0  3& 

negros.       j 


Total 84    3    6  82     1  36  76    3    0  72     0    0 

(Continued  on  next  pctge.J 


APPENDIX. 

Ixzix. 

1836. 

1836. 

1837. 

1838. 

Acres  dug  for 
plant  canes 

A.      R.  P. 

-28    1  30 

A.      R.    P. 

0    0    0 

A.      R.    P. 

0    0    0 

A.      R.  P. 

0    0    0 

by  Jobbers, 

By  estates'    } 
negros,       j 

29    3  10 

35    0  10 

58    3    5 

76    3  36 

Total '4 

58     1  10 

35    0  10 

58    3    5 

76    3  36 

To  secure  continuous  labor  in  the  digging  of  cane-holes  through 
the  fall  season  183^  an  agreement  was  entered  into  with  40  cane- 
hole  diggers  as  unaer : 

Every  labourer  to  dig  405  cane-holes  in  the  4}  days  due  to  his 
master,  and  to  receire  lOlbs.  of  salt  fish  and  a  daily  allowance 
through  the  week  of  sugar  and  rum  for  beverage ;  the  salt  fish  to  be 
diminished  in  the  ratio  of  1  lb.  for  every  40  holes  short  of  405 ;  and 
to  work  in  the  1^  day  of  his  own  time,  at  the  rate  of  3s.  4d.  for  every 
90  cane-holes. 

The  greatest  labor  performed  by  one  laborer,  was  in  three  weeks 
or  134  days, 

Dug  in  estates*  time    **    ^    ***.*.    **■  1130  caneholes 
In  his  own   «.«.-«.-.-.-.--*    IOI7 

"-^^^  A.     &     P. 

Total     ^    ^    ^    ^    ^    ^    2147  about  0    3    7 
For  which  he  received  281bs.  of  fish,  and  cash  £1.  158.  Od. 


The  whole  quantity  of  58  acres  for  the  season  was  finished  in  44 
days,  being  1a  Ir.  IOp.  to  each  laborer,  at  the  following  cost  : 

&,  s.  d. 
Rum,  f  d.  per  day  for  6  days,  for  40  Negros  -  '^  0  15  0 
Sugar,  Id,        „  „  „  „  —    <«    1    0    0 

Fisn,  3s.  per  week,  for  405  holes  -.-.-'-...600 
Money  wages  Friday  and  Saturday       ^    ^    .*    ^  10    0    0 

Expense  of  digging  eight  acres  **    *•    ^    ^    *.     £17  15  0 

The  cost  of  digging  the  58  acres  was  therefore  £147  10  0 
Had  jobbers  been  employed,  the  cost  would 

liave  been,  viz.  58  acres  at  £8  per  acre,  •~>  £464  0  0 
Or  had  jobbers  dug  half,  as  would  probably  have 

been  the  case,  under  the  old  system   *»    ^  £232    0  0 

Being  in  either  case  a  considerable  saving  of  expense,  besides  the 
increase  of  the  prosperity  of  the  estates*  negros,  by  distributing  the 
wages  among  them,  that  formerly  went  to  the  owner  of  the  jobbing 
gang* 


OOXPARATIVB   SXPENSE  OP  CLEANLNO  FAgfVRBS,    ^.    BY 

SLATE  AXD  FRBB  LABOR. 

In  fl|^ftr«"g  of  pasture  Und,  what  a  jobber  would  demand  £Sk,  to 
£4.  per  acre  for,  the  plantation  laborer  has  done  at  £1.  per  acre, 
and  made  3s.  6d.  per  day  wagesb 

In  fidling  a  pieoe  of  woodland,  the  first  gang  of  one  hundred  and 
fbrty*three  laborers  cleared  in  one  day  10a.  2a.  Or.  at  three  and  four- 
pence  each  per  dar.  or  £23.  Ids.  4d.,  or  £2.  fie.  Od.  p^  acre,  which  a 
jobbing  gang  wonld  not  hare  undertaken  for  less  than  £&  to  £10. 
per  acrew 

Task-work  in  cleaning  of  canes  has  yet  to  be  tried. 


COMPARATITE  EFFICIENCY  OF  SLAVE    AKD  FRBB  ULMOSL. 

FALUNO  WOODLAND. 

The  piece  of  woodland  above-mentioned  was  olearad  l^ 
laborers  to  the  acre   •.••.•^«.«>~14 

During  slavery  it  would  have  required  laborers  to  tEe 
acres*        ~       ~       -       -       -       -        -       -*       «*2&to30 


DIGGING  CANEHOLES. 


During  slavery  were  required  to  dig  in  light  soil  in  a  day, 

laborers  to  the  acre    '-'-        -        -        -        -        -^SltoSS 

During  slavery  were  required  to  dig  in  clay  soil  in  a  day, 

lalx)rers  to  the  acre  -        -        -        -        -        -        '^    40  to  47 

The  first  being  at  the  rate  of  holes   per  laborer, 

87,  or  one  hole  in-  -  -  -  -  '-8to9  minutes 
The  second  bein^  at  the  rate  of  holes  per  laborer, 

G8,  or  one  hole  m      -        -        -        -        -        -- 10  to  12  minutes 

Since  the  introduction  of  the  Apprenticeship,  under  the  system 
of  remuneration  described  above. 

1  man,  a  strong  laborer,  has  du^  caneholes,  averaging,  per  hole,  I|  minutes 

1  woman,       ditto  ditto  ditto  2}     do. 

1  man,  an  ordinary  laborer,    ditto  ditto  Sf    do. 

I  woman,        ditto  ditto  ditto  5    do. 


During  Slavery  the  daily  labor  by  male  and  female  averaged  70 

minimum  to  90  maximum. 


d^Tonod2yK«^«  200  fl»  Not.  1834.    pemales  190  f    ^ 


189S  and  I83t. 


APPENDIX.  IxXXi. 


PARTICULARS  OF  WAGES  PAID  AND  EARNED. 
The  rates  paid  for  Cane-hole  digging,  &c.  have  already  been  stated. 

WAGES  FOR  TRANSIENT  LABOR. 

A  prime  head  man      

An  inferior  do.       

First  gang,  able         

Ditto,  weakly     

Second  gang,  able       

Ditto,  weakly     

Third  gang,  active      

Ditto,  lazy        


3d  per  hour 

2d 

do. 

m 

do. 

lid 

do. 

'A' 

do. 

do. 

id 

do. 

id 

do. 

WAGES  EARNED  FROM  5th  JUNE,  TO  Ist  AUGUST,  1836,  BY  TEN 

LARGE  FAMILIES. 

£.    s.    d. 

10  workers  43    14    2 

2  do.     .' 18     4    1 

10  do.     31  4    2} 

8  do.     35  8    Oi 

2  do.     11  5    4 

10  do.     24  8    Oi 

19  do.      42  5    2| 

1  do. 19  18    li 

7  do.      18  13    0 

4  do.      ' 7  14 


]  ...  11  individuals 

1  ...    4 

do. 

I  ...  17 

do. 

1  ...    9 

do. 

1  ...     2 

do. 

1   ...  12 

do. 

1  ...  26 

do. 

1  ...     3 

do. 

1    ..  10 

do. 

1  ...     6 

do. 

The  following  are  instances  of  the  highest  wages  and  means 
among  the  whole  poj)ulation  of  the  Estate ;  they  are  constantly  held 
up  as  cases  of  imitation  for  others  to  follow  by : — 

A  prime  Head        Inferior  Head  First  Gang 
Man.                       Man.  Laborer. 

£.   s.    d.  £.    &    d.  £.    s.    d. 

Estates*  Allowances   3854  21    68  839 

Salary 10    0    0 

Wages  for  digging  Caneholes  10    0    0  6    0    0 

Ditto  Spellkeeping 9    0    0  7    0    0 

Value  of  house,  estimated      600  600  500 

Provision  grounds,  value 

of  crop   32    0    0  21     6    8  16    0    0 

Yearly  Resources    85    6    4  66  13    4  42    3    9 


RELIGION    AND    EDUCATION. 

There  are  83  married  couples,  who,  with  their  children,  amount 
to  293  of  the  population.  "  The  whole  are  Baptists,  who  attend 
Salters'  Hill  Chapel,  upon  the  line  of  the  property.  About  60  of  the 
children  are  at  school,  which  is  encouraged  as  much  as  possible.** 


f 


GENERAL 


ACGCBT,  IKIS, 

Good  workera  of  their  pro- 
visloo  grouuds     -    ~    - 
Indifferent     ditto  _    -    - 
Bad  ditto  -    ~    ~ 

Free  Chiidren    _    _    ~    ~ 

Total 


Uaod  wdrkera  for  wages  -  ffl) 

IndifFcr^uL     ditto  _    _  _  145 

Bnd                 ditto  ~     ~  ~  ir,i 

Free  Cliildren    -    _    _  -  70 


SECTION   VIII. 


1 61 46 

2S0O 
33966 


THE  BAPTIST  AUS3I0N. 

JIMisticB  of  the  Baptist  Clmvolies  and  Schools  in  J 
year  ending  March,  1837. 

Number  Iwiplized  during  the  year     

Number  of  members  

Number  of  inciuirera  

Clew  increase  of  members  during  the  yetiX 
Total  number  in  connection  with  the  Mission 


SCHOOLS. 

Number  of  Day  scholars 1628 

„            Evening  do.  chieSy  adults     . .        .        451 
„  Sunday  do SS9* 

A  history  of  the  Baptist  Mission  in  Jamaica  would  be  a  valuable 
addition  to  the  more  peimanent  records  of  missionary  enterjirise,  which 
«e  already  possess.  Its  commencement  was  obscure,  but  it  has  grown 
to  a  hciglit  and  m^oitude,  withb  a  comparaiiTely  short  period,  whkh 
baa  struck  beholdcis  with  surprise ;  and  none  probably  have  been  more 
impressed  niih  silent  wonder,  than  the  individuals  who  have  been  the 
means,  as  feeble  instruments  in  the  hand  of  Divine  Providence,  of 
effecting  so  great  a  work.  There  are  at  present  sixteen  miBsiooaries 
of  this  persuasion  in  the  island,  the  majority  of  whom  have  a  princi- 
pal and  several  subordinate  stations,  under  their  care;  or,  in  other  words, 
they  are  the  pastors  of  three  or  four  distinct  congrcEations. 

It  is  impossible  to  suppose  that  labors  so  multiplied  and  extensive 
osn  be  advantageously  suEtained  by  bo  n 


]  this  country.    In  addition  to  their  more  im 


APPENDIX.  Ixxxiii. 

mediate  duties,  the  Baptist  and  other  missionaries  have  bestowed 
much  effort  upon  the  education  of  the  apprentices  and  free  children. 
We  have  already  observed,  that  the  extensive  diffusion  of  education, 
by  the  missionaries,  at  a  small  expense,  and  by  a  very  limited  agency, 
is  truly  remarkable.  An  increased  liberality,  on  the  part  of  the 
Christian  public  in  England,  would  enable  them  to  multiply  their 
schools  and  extend  their  efforts  in  promoting  this  grand  object,  with 
greater  effect,  and  still  more  extraordinary  results. 


SECTION  IX. 


WILLIAM   HAMILTON. 

The  sufferings  of  this  individual  during  the  last  years  of  slavery, 
were  alluded  to  by  J.  M.  Trew,  the  agent  of  the  Mico  Institution,  m 
a  letter  to  T.  F.  Buxton,  which  was  subsequently  given  in  evidence 
before  the  Apprenticeship  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons. 
This  letter  was  published  with  the  other  evidence  appended  to  the 
report  of  that  Committee,  and  was  recently  made  the  subject  of  a 
debate  in  the  Jamaica  House  of  Assembly,  which  afforded  certain  of 
the  members  an  opportunity  to  vihfy  the  man,  who  had  thus  dared  to 
lift  the  veil  that  concealed  the  true  lineaments  of  slavery.  The  follow  - 
ing  are  characteristic  examples : — 

''  Mr.  Trew  is  "  worse  than  a  Baptist — the  blackest  sheep  among  . 
them." — Speech  of  Mr.  Hamilton  Brown,  in  the  Jamaica  House  of 
Assembly,  23rd  February,  1837, 

"  An  old  offender." — Mr.  Dallas. 

'^  The  publisher  of  a  vile  fabrication  and  of  a  wanton  and  malicious 
fabehood. ' — Mr.  Leslie. 

"  The  whole  tale  was  got  up  for  stage  effect,  and  nothing  else ;  it 
was  not  true — it  could  be  nothing  else  than  a  deliberate  fals^ood." — 
Mr.  Guy. 

"  Altogether  a  fabrication." — Mr.  Watt. 

"  The  work  of  imagination." — Mr.  Hodgson." 

The  dispraise  of  such  men  is  an  honorable  distinction,  and  accord- 
ingly J.  M.  Trew  has  placed  the  above  at  the  head  of  a  letter  to  one  of 
the  island  newspapers,  in  which  he  has  given  a  history  of  th(»5e  pro- 
ceedings of  the  House.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  enquire  into 
the  facts,  by  whom  J.  M.  Trew  and  William  Hamilton  were  exa- 
mined ;  but  as  this  long-threatened  inquiry  was  conveniently  deferred 
till  near  the  close  of  the  Sessions,  no  result  of  its  labors  is  ever  likely  to 
be  made  public.  It  is  more  than  possible,  that  the  evidence  of 
Hamilton,  as  tending  to  prove  more  than  was  desired,  has  been  ex^ 
punged  from  the  Minutes.  Any  but  the  most  cursory  mention  of  th^ 
atrocities  perpetrated  during  slavery,  would  be  incompatible  with  otjr 


luxiv.  ArPBMDIX. 

prctcot  okjeet,  nor  aboakl  we  haTe  lUnded  to  Hamilton's  history,  bat 
for  the  aboTC  mcntiooed  drcomstaiiccfl  which  connect  it  with  tiie  pre- 
sent ffjttem.  HiLMiLToy  wti  the  only  skve  cm  the  Boic  Estate  who 
dared  to  attend  a  place  of  worship ;  the  only  one  of  upwards  of  400 
Ottros  who  dared  to  Iitc  with  bis  partner  in  marriage.  For  diese 
offences  he  was  degraded  from  beinff  a  first-rate  mechanic  and  copper, 
smith,  to  the  rank  of  a  commcm  field  laborer,  and  sent  to  a  swampy 
estate,  thirty  miles  distant  from  his  wife  and  bmily,  where  he  nar. 
rowly  esc^>ed  with  his  life.  He  had  learned  to  read  and  write  when  a 
boy,  by  stealth,  and  during  his  banishment  he  kept  a  jonmal,  which, 
though  it  is  chiefly  the  record  of  his  spiritual  conflicts  and  his  religious 
labors  among  the  neglected  heathen  negros  with  whom  his  lot  was  cast, 
TCt  contains  many  incidental  allusions  to  the  sufferings  of  himself  and 
nis  fdlow  slaTes.  A  copy  of  this  painfully  interesting  manuscript  is  in 
our  possession.  It  is  an  interior  picture  of  slaTery,  which  exceeds 
perhaps,  any  that  the  world  has  yet  seen,  and  has  forcibly  impressed 
us  with  the  conviction,  that  the  worst  features  of  that  horrible  state  of 
society,  neither  hare  been,  nor  can  be  laid  open  to  public  view. 

On  the  introduction  of  the  Apprenticeship  he  purchased  his  freedom  ; 
in  reference  to  which  transaction  he  stated  to  us,  that  during  the  time 
of  his  persecution,  he  was  looking  forward  very  anxiously  to  the  new 
system ;  but  when  he  heard  that  the  power  was  to  be  taken  out  of  the 
managers'  hands,  he  ^ve  up  the  idea  of  purchasing  his  time.  His 
Overseer  renewed  his  ill-treatment,  and  the  Special  Afagistrate  threa- 
tened to  flog  him.  He  then  gave  notice  to  be  valued,  and  was 
oppraiscd  at  £209,  being  at  the  time  in  ill  health.  Mr.  Tate,  his 
Overseer,  then  gave  him  one  of  the  best  characters  in  the  country.  He 
snid  too,  that  to  be  deprived  of  Hamilton's  services,  would  be  a  loss 
of  £500  a-ycar  to  his  proprietor,  though  he  had  been  employing  him 
as  a  common  caneholc  digger.  As  Tate  placed  so  high  a  value  on 
him,  he  offered  to  be  employed  by  him  as  a  freeman,  but  was  refused. 
Hamilton  stated — "Since  this  system,  negros  of  my  acquaintance 
have  often  applied  to  me  to  be  a  witness  at  their  valuation.  On  one 
occasion  a  negro  was  to  be  valued  who  proved  that  he  was  a  non- 
predial.  His  master  endeavoured  to  make  him  a  predial  so  as  to  in- 
crease his  amount.  I  said,  the  man  has  proved  himself  a  domestic,  at 
which  the  Special  Magistrate  took  oflfence.  Soon  after  I  carried  my 
son  to  be  valued,  when  I  was  not  allowed  to  say  anything  in  his 
behalf.  The  boy  was  about  fourteen.  My  witness  valued  him  at  £8. 
a-year.  Mr.  Tate  browbeat  the  witness,  and  said  he  was  not  going 
to  stand  by  to  see  a  man's  property  taken  away  without  its  full  value. 
He  called  upon  Mr.  Stone,  a  neighbouring  proprietor,  to  be  witness 
for  him,  who  valued  the  boy  at  £26.  a-year.  I  said — Sir,  you  are 
valuing  the  hair  on  people's  heads.  The  Special  Magistrate,  Mr. 
Kelly,  got  into  a  passion,  and  threatened  to  put  me  in  irons,  and 
fined  me  £8.  lOs.  for  disrespect  to  his  Court,  which  I  paid.  The 
valuation  was  at  length  fixed  at  £22.  lOs.  1  have  not  heard  of  a 
single  case  since  of  an  apprentice  purchasing  his  time  in  this  district. 
The  Magistrates  and  Proprietors  appear  to  have  leagued  together  to  put 
a  stop  to  it.     Previous  to  that  Mr.  C.  and  Mr.  S.  both  had  appren^ 


APPBNiyix.  Ixxxv. 

tices  who  were  purchasiiui  themselves.  Mr.  C.  sat  as  a  magistrate 
to  value  for  Mr.  S.,  and  Mr.  S.  for  Mr.  C.  I  heard  that  Mr.  S.  said 
we  must  value  these  people  high,  to  prevent  this  hahit  of  purchasing 
themselves.  When  the  apprentices  saw  how  they  were  treated  in  the 
valuations^  they  wanted  to  commission  me  to  go  to  England  to 
represent  their  case.  1  did  pot  encourage  it  hecause  I  was  not  sure  it 
would  he  right,  and  did  not  know  how  it  would  succeed.  They 
would  soon  have  raised  momj  to  take  noe  and  bring  me  back." 


SECTION  X. 

RELIGIOUS  INSTRUCTION  AND  EDUCATION. 

The  Ui^ited  Brethren  have  eight  Stations. 

The  number  of  persons  in  their  religious  care  is  as  follows : — 

C/6mmunicants 1738 

Members  not  yet  admitted  to  c6mmunion 1 45 1 

Children 2209 

Catecumems    3731 

Total    9129 
They  have  ako  und^r  their  superintendance — 

25  day  schools,  chiefly  on  estates,  some  of 
them  very  small,  but  attended  in  the  aggre- 

gate  by 10421  children 

10  Sunday  Schools,  chiefly  attended  by  older 

children  and  adults 1220 

A  number  of  Evening  Schools,  in  which  are  re- 
ceiving instruction 483 

Total    2746 


The  statistics  of  the  Baptist  Mission  have  been  elsewhere  given. 
In  addition  to  these  two  societies,  there  are  the  Rectors  of  parishes 
and  island  Curates,  a  few  of  whom  are  exemplary  in  the  dischaige  of 
their  duties.     There  are  also  Missionaries  and  Catechists  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society,  Wesleyan  Missionaries,  Scottish  Mission- 
aries of  two  societies,  and  Missionaries  of  the  London  Missionary 
Society;   many  of  whom  are  successfully  employed  in  promoting 
education  among  the  negros,  as  well  as  in  diffusing  a  knowledge  of 
the  saving  truths  of  Christianity.    Each  society  can  number  faithful 
and  zealous  laborers  in  the  missionary  work ;  each  can  recount  the 
names  df  brethren  whose  praise  is  in  all  the  churches.    We  do  not 
possess  the  necessary  documents  from  which  to   furnish  statistics 
H  • 


Ixxlri.  APPENDIX. 

iimilar  to  tho»c  of  the  Monvian  and  Baptist  MiasioDB ;  but  we  cannot 
dismiss  the  subject  without  recording  our  deep  sense  of  the  value  of 
their  labors  among  the  negro  population. 

In  addition  to  flic  above,  there  are  the  agents  of  the  Mico  Institu- 
tion, whose  attention  is  more  immediately  limited  to  education. 
Their  schoob  are  numerous  and  efficient. 


SECTION  XI. 


VALUATIONS. 

'*  From  the  Ist  August,  1834,  to  Slst  May,  18S6,  998  Apprentices 
purchased  their  freedom  by  valuation,  and  paid  £33,998.  From  the 
Slst  May,  1836,  to  the  Ist  November,  in  the  same  year,  6S2  Ap- 
prentices purchssed  themselves,  and  paid  £18,217,  malong  in  all 
£St,2l6  ;  a  prodigious  sum  to  be  furnished  by  the  nej^ros  in  two 
years.  This  makes  a  large  community  of  persons  of  provident  habits, 
spread  through  the  country,  who  are  establishing  themselTCS  as  small 
proprietors."    (Communicated.) 

From  the  above  statement  it  appears  that  the  desire  to  be  free  is 
daily  becoming  more  general  and  more  intense,  and  that  the  price  of 
liberty  remains  the  same,  although  the  term  of  Apprenticeship  is  de- 
creasing. Tlie  amount  paid  by  the  Apprentices,  is  a  proof  of  the  ex- 
tent of  the  exertions  and  sacrifices  they  are  willinc^  to  make  for  free- 
dom, wliich  can  scarcely  be  appreciated,  by  those  who  are  unacquainted 
with  the  disadvantages  of  their  previous  condition.  The  negros  fre- 
quently raise  the  money  by  loans  to  purchase  their  fi-eedom,  and  they 
are  scrupulous  in  repaying  money  lent  them  for  that  purpose. 

One  of  the  most  intelligent  of  the  Special  Magistrates,  E.  B.  Lyon, 
has  furnished  us  with  some  information  concerning  the  numerous 
vahiations  effected  by  him,  during  the  first  two  and  half  years  of  the 
Aj)i)renticeship.  He  adds,  "  I  have  particularly  and  anxiously  watched 
tlie  conduct  of  tljose,  who  have  released  themselves  by  purchase  from 
their  ai»prenticeship,  not  alone  from  the  influence  their  example  would 
naturally  have  upon  the  remaining  bondsmen ;  but  also  as  an  indica- 
tion of  the  disposition  of  the  laboring  population  after  1840  ;  and  the 
result  has  been,  that  I  firmly  believe  the  island  would  have  been  in  a 
far  more  prosperous  condition,  had  there  been  no  intermediate  state ; 
that  the  apprenticeship  has  rather  tended  to  retard  than  develope  the 
energies  of  the  peasantry.  I  have  had  the  opportunity  of  knowing 
that,  of  those  who  had  freed  tliemselves  by  purchase  in  my  district, 
the  tradesmen  were  engaged  at  first-rate  wages,  and  the  field  laborers 
as  managers  of  small  plantations,  or  were  settlers  of  plantations  of 
their  own.     The  women  had  husbands  or  families,  who  required  their 


APPEKiyix.  l^xxvii. 

semces  for  the  promotion  and  increase  of  their  domestic  comforts ; 
very  few  were  imder  the  necessity  of  hiring  themselves  out  to  service, 
but  such  as  were,  have  conducted  themselves  creditably.  I  know  of 
some  receiving  ten  shillings  per  week  as  laundry  maids  and  nurses.' 

There  are,  however,  other  and  less  pleasing  circumstances  to.be 
noticed  in  connection  with  valuations.  The  same  magistrate  in  one 
of  his  official  reports  makes  some  important  observations,  from  which 
we  extract  the  following  in  a  condensed  form  : — 

*'  The  narrow  minded  factionist  refuses  to  adapt  the  laws  to  the 
new  relations  of  a  state  of  general  and  unconditional  freedom ;  and 
discountenances  and  checks  by  persecution  every  approach  to  this 
condition.  One  species  of  opposition,  is  the  exclusion  of  the  husband 
or  wife,  freed  by  purchase,  from  the  society  of  the  wife  or  husband, 
who  remains  in  bonds.  It  is  not  a  mere  threat  of  exclusion,  but  a 
proceeding  systematized  under  the  formalities  of  notices  served,  in 
which  the  parties  are  declared  tenants,  charged  with  ah  exorbitant 
rent;  or  in  which  they  are  warned  to  depart  under  the  pains  and 
penalties  of  the  law.  The  Special  Magistrate,  in  his  struggle  to  pro- 
tect the  apprentice  in  his  domestic  rights,  is  then  brought  into  collision 
with -the  Local  Magistrates  exercising  jurisdiction  over  the  persons 
released  from  apprenticeship.  To  mention  a  case  or  two :  two  female 
apprentices,  to  Mount  Vernon,  the  property  of  Mr.  MoPherson,  a 
local  magistrate,  both  of  whom  were  old  African  women,  were  pur- 
tshased  by  their  husbands,  who  were  desirous  that  their  lives  should  be 
devoted  to  the  domestic  comfort  of  .their  families ;  and  that  they 
should  enjoy  that  necessary  ease,  which  their  years  and  infirmities 
required.  The  moment  their  certificate  of  freedom  was  granted,  they 
were  directed  to  leave  the  estate^  and  forbidden  to  enter  the  houses  of 
their  husbands,  unless  they  paid  a  weekly  sum  for  the  privilege.  My 
endeavour  to  protect  them  in  their  civil  rights  has  created  a  considera- 
ble  degree  of  irritation  against  me,  among  the  magistrates  and  attorneys 
of  the  district  generally.  Mr.  McPherson  has  threatened  to  issue  his 
warrant  under  the  Trespass  Act  for  their  apprehension.  At  Island 
Head  plantation,  Robert  Graham  purchased  the  remainder  of  his 
term,  and  was  immediately  ordered  off  the  property,  and  forbidden  to 
enter  the  house  of  his  wife.  A  few  weeks  ago  he  crept  into  the  house 
in  the  night.  He  is  a  Baptist,  and  they  joined  in  prayer  and  sung  a 
hymn.  His  arrival  was  reported  to  the  overseer,  who  instantly  ordered 
the  constables  to  watch  the  door  and  apprehend  him,  which  was  done, 
but  by  some  means  he  escaped  and  came  to  me.  I  trust  I  have  for  a 
time  secured  to  him  his  domestic  rights.  At  Buckingham  and  Boston, 
James  Harris  has  six  children,  two  of  whom  are  incurably  diseased, 
and  requiring  one  person's  constant  attention ;  and  Ann  Barnswell 
had  two  children  and  an  aged  and  impotent  mother  with  two  or  three 
others.  The  moment  their  release  was  effected,  they  were  served 
with  notices  to  quit,  or  to  remain  only  on  condition  of  paying  an  ex. 
orbitant  rent,  though  occupying  the  same  houses  with  their  apprenticed 
children,  and  relievinfl;  the  estate  from  the  necessity  of  supporting  and 
nursing  their  sick  and  disabled  &milies.     The  same  system  has  been 

H*2 


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APPENDIX.  IxxXix. 

The  same  correspondence  discloses  another  case  of  two  apprentices 
residing  on  different  estates,  who  were  anxious  to  marry,  but  could 
obtain  permission  from  only  one  of  their  overseers ;  the  other  refusing 
his  consent.  We  have  an  autograph  letter  of  another  estate's  attorney 
refusing  to  permit  an  apprentice  under  his  control  to  contract  marriage 


SECTIOX  Xllf. 


A.  L.  PALMER. 


Dr.  Palmer  was  appointed  a  Special  Magistrate  by  Lord  Slioo,  soon 
i^er  the  commencement  of  the  Apprenticeship.    When  Sir  Lionel 
Smith  assumed  the  Qovemment,  he  had  been  for  a  short  time  in  charge 
of  a  district,  in  St.  Thomas  in  the  Vale,  in  which  the  ajJ^rentices  had 
been  mercilessly  coerced  by  his  predecessors.     His  impartial  adminis- 
tration  occasioned  violent  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  planters,  and 
on  the  arrival  of  a  new  Governor,  was  the  si^al  for  a  simultaneous 
attempt  to  procure  his  removal,  by  representmg  the  parish  as  in  a 
state  of  insubordination.    Dr.  Palmer  suggested  to  Sir  Lionel  Smith, 
to  issue  a  Commission  of  Inquiry  into  his  conduct,  and  thus  give  his 
accusers  an  opportunity  of  establishing  their  charges,  and  to  afford 
himself  the  means  of  vindicating  his  administration  of  the  law.     The 
Governor  appointed  the  special  magistrates  and  two  local  magistrates  a 
Commission  for  that  object,  two  latter  being  planters  in  a  neighbouring 
parish.      The  proceedings  of  the  Commission  were  characterised  by 
extreme  unfairness  towards  Dr.  Palmer,  and  at  its  conclusion  a  report 
was  drawn  up  and  signed  by  the  Commissioners,  upon  which  he  was 
immediately  suspended  by  the  Governor  from  his  office.     The  report 
is  in  itself  a  complete  justification  of  his  conduct,  and  is  an  instructive 
illustration  of  the  manner  in  which  the  planters  and  the  Government 
interpret  and  carry  into  effect  the  Abolition  Law.     Every  paragraph  of 
the  report  mifi^ht  be  quoted  by  Dr.  Palmer  in  triumphant  vindication 
of  his  impartial  conduct  as  Special  Magistrate.     We  quote  the  most 
important  parts  of  it : — 

'^  In  the  first  place  we  consider  the  parish  of  St.  Thomas  in  the 
Vale  was  in  a  quiet  and  orderly  state,  when  Special  Justice  Palmer 
took  charge  of  his  district  in  July  last.  Secondly,  that  certain  ques- 
tions of  law  arose  between  the  managers  and  the  Special  Magistrate, 
such  as  '  The  right  of  the  husband  (m  the  TuUoch  case)  to  visit  his 
wife.'  '  The  eight  hour  system.'  *  The  want  of  time  for  going  to 
work.'  '  The  want  of  cooks,'  &c.  *  The  taking  away  of  the  hoes  on 
Palm  estate  from  the  apprentices  in  their  own  time,  ana  other  supposed 
grievances,— ^11  ending  in  opposite  views,  and  inducing  the  magistrate 
to  state  his  view  of  the  law,  in  place  of  conciliating  and  restoring  con- 
fidencc' " 

n*3 


XC.  AfPUIOIX. 

W«  Inwe  cxpUiMdoo  pcfiwn  ommmo*  wktt  m^wng  the  pbnftos 
ttcaeh  to  tlic  tciiM  wr^tr  tad  fi^»  cwi  their  eppeite^  dufvrhmcr 
and  iiMiifcgii^iiftoi.  Bdbie  Dr.  Pauub  went  mto  the  puMfa,  die 
•ppraitieei  codund  the  TioletioQ  of  ill  their  kfd  lif^ts  in  sknee, 
dnniifiiig  ef  wdieee  from  epy  ycel  to  theiiiefieiiBit,  Ondieenml 
of  Ur.  Paimbb  their  "  smfpimm  fnevaneet"  were  broqght  bcfiore  falm, 
end  the  Commieeiopen  thoneelfce  haTe  eoiUDented  a  hot  of  what  thej 
term  "  oneetiooa  of  law,"  sufflcieBt  to  show  how  that  kw  had  heen 
nrerioiui  J  adainiaterei.  That  thej  were  oppreaaioiia  of  the  giaTcst 
kind  will  be  erident  to  the  reader  ot  the  pvaeediiig  pagea,  particakdy 
of  the  13th  diapter. 

We  would,  howerer,  call  particalar  attention  to  the  iupfmti  grime^ 
onne  of  takiqg  away  the  affricaltaial  toola  from  the  yprcmicea  on 
Pahn  eatatc.    The  apprentieea  have  no  food  allowed  them  from  the 
catatea;  they  support  themsdrea  by  cnltiTating  proTision  groonds  in 
their  own  tmie.     To  deprive  them,  therefon^   of  their  hoea,  is  to 
dcsrive  them  of  food.    Bueh  a  meaaare,  so  &r  from  being ''  a  question 
of  law,"  or  a  "  suopoaed  grievance^**  ia  the  very  extreme  of  malignant 
peraeention.     Soeh  caaea  bein^  brought  before  Dr.  Palmu,  ooiSd  he 
do  otherwiae  than  atate  hia  view  of  the  law  ?    By  what  other  mode 
eould  he  redress  wrongs  and  oppreaaiona,  hot  by  pointing  out  the  1ml 
boundary  within  which  violenoe  and  outrage  alioold  be  confined  ?     In 
the  opinion  of  the  Commissioners,  however,  he  ought  to  Aaoe  oonoi- 
katea  and  reitcrtd  amfidenoe.    The  interpretation  of  these  ambigu- 
ous expressions  is  contained  in  the  sooeeeding  paragraph : — "  It  «. 
impossible  that  aoy  reciprocal  good  feeling  can  exist  between  the 
Diasters  and  apprentices,  when   a   mutual  understanding  does  not 
rxiH  ntith  the  Special  Magistrate,    apd  those  placed  in  authority 
over  the  laborers, '   i.  e.  between  the  magistrates  and  overseers. ' 
This  mutual  understanding,  when  it  does  exist,  is  based  upon  the 
sacrifice  of  the  rights  of  the  apprentices.     It  is  a  maxim  in  the  colony, 
that  the  irresponsible  powers  of  the  overseers  must  be  upheld  at  sJl 
sacrifices  of  law  or  right.     But  the  Commissioners  supply  the  best 
commentary  on   their  own  proceedings  and  views  in  the  concluding 
paragraph  of  their  report : — "  Having  heen  called  ui>on  to  report,  and 
give  an  opinion  on  the  administration  of  the  law  by  the  Special  Justices 
of  St.    Tlioma***  in  the  Vale,  we  must  observe,    that   we  consider 
Special  Jnttticf    Palmer  has  administered  the  Abolition   Law  in 
the  ttftirit  of  the  English  Abolition  Act ;  that,  in  his  administration 
of  tlie  law,  he  lias  adapted  it  rather  to  the  comprehension  of  freemen, 
than    to    the    unJerstandina;    of    apprenticed     laborers ;     and    that 
tl»e  present  state  of  St.  Thomas  in  the  Vale,    is  to  be  attributed 
to  such  a  mode  of  administration  of  the  Abolition  Law." 

The  Governor,  on  receiving  this  report,  immediately  suspended 
l^r.  Palmer,  "  for  his  perverse  conduct  in  the  administration  of  the 
Law,"  or,  as  tlie  Commissioners  express  it,  for  administering  the  law 
in  tlie  spirit  of  the  English  Abolition  Act.  Lord  Glenelg  has  con- 
firmed the  Governor's  decision,  and  directed  Dr.  Palmer's  dismissal, 
«nd  has  thereby  proclaimed  to  every  planter  and  every  Special  magis- 
trate in  the  West  Indies,  that  the  Abolition  Law  is  not  to  be  adminis- 


ACPEMDIX.  XCl. 

tered  in  the  spirit  of  the  Imperial  .Acti  In  this  proceedings  the 
Colonial  Office  have  made^  for  tne  iirst  time^  a  distinct  avowal  of  the 
policy  on  which  they  have  heen  acting  from  the  commencement  of  the 
apprenticeship ;  and  it  only  remains  to  ask ;  if  the  Imperial  Act  is  not 
to  be  administered  in  its  spirit^  which  means  according  to  the  rules 
of  an  honest  interpretation,  for  what  olaect  did  the  nation  pay  the 
ransom  of  £20^000^000  sterling  ?  What  nave  the  negros^  the  objects 
of  its  benevolence  and  justice^  gained  but  the  exchange  of  a  name^  the 
privation  of  some  of  the  necessaries  of  life^  and  new  and  more  galling 
cbaiqis  and  punishm^ts. 


XCII. 


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xciv.  AFFmMX. 


Thif  Mik  wM  dmwn  up  br  a  planting  attoniey,  in  the  diitrieC  of 
MMiohiPMl,  in  the  perish  of  St.  ThomM  m  the  Eett«  lor  the  porpoee 


of  obCeining  without  peyment.  the  helflFrideyi  end  eztim  time  of  the 
n^froi  divine  erop.    It  ie  a  doooment,  which  apeakt  for  ittd£.    It  it 
an  indez  to  uiat  uaudulent  lyfltem,  which  has  been  so  genenll j  par. 
B«Md  towards  the  apprentieos.  The  extra  allowanees,  as  they  are  called, 
which  the  n^grus  reeeive,  and  some  which  they  nerer  receive^  all  of 
which  are  mally  due  to  the  ^prentices,  according  to  the  letter  and 
spirit  of  the  Imperial  Act,  are  placed  as  a  setoiff  against  an  amoont 
01  time,  which  was  j^iven  bv  the  same  Act  to  the  nmosy  to  be  enjoyed 
as  their  own  for  their  own  oenefit.    The  late  Special  Msgistiate  of  the 
district  sanctioned  apvtmenU  on  the  basis  of  this  scale,  on  aevenl.  tf 
not  on  all,  the  estates  in  his  district.    The  arrangement  was  in  efcry 
instance  a  compulsory  one ;  the  extra  allowanoes  oeing  of  nu  equiva- 
lent  value  to  the  extra  labor  required,  and  which  is  rated  in  the  scaler 
at  from  one  third  to  one  half  the  amount  at  which  the  senrioea  of 
n^gros  are  valued,  when  they  desire  to  purchase  their  manumissicm. 
MauT  of  the  extra  allowances  also,  it  will  be  observed,  are  not  distri- 
butea  to  those  who  perform  the  work,  for  which  they  are  aasomed  to 
be  equivalent,  but  according  to  the  capricious  and  arbitrvy  arrange- 
ment which  prevailed  in  slaveir.    Unjust,  however,  as  the  acsle  is  in 
itself,  and  a^justly  as  it  has  oeen  forced  upon  the  negros,  its  terms 
have  not  bean  fwfiUed  by  the  planters ;  nor  thoqgh  tbs  negros  are 
coerced  to  perform  their  part  of  it,  do  they  possess  any  means  fji 
ensuring  the  observance  A  the  stipulation  on  the  part  ot  their  task* 
mafftcrs.    The  weekly  distribution  of  herrings,  which  forms  ^e  prin. 
cipal  item,  has  been  sometimes  discontinued  for  several  months  on 
o«tato8,  where  negros  were  subjected  to  this  scale. 

The  coucludiog  remark,  respecting  the  "  privily"  of  selling  pro. 
visions,  is  worthy  of  especial  notice.    It  would  have  been  a  fit  addi. 
jion  to  have  enumerated  the  consumption  of  air  and  water  as  "  privi- 
leges/' which  the  planters  accorded  their  apprentices  of  their  own  firee 
Umntv. 


BIRMINGHAM  : 

rUINTEO  BY  R  IIU0SOX,  AT  "THE  PHILANTHROPIST  OFFICE,* 

18,  BULL  STREET. 


ERRATA. 

Page    22,  ninth  line  from  the  top,  for  "  the  mer.})ers,"  recUl  their 
members. 
71,  nineteenth  ditto,  for  "  indulged,"  read  indulgent. 

Ill,  19th  and  20th  ditto,  for  " droghero,"  read  drogers. 

123,  27th  ditto,  for  "men,"  readmon. 

132,  32nd  and  33rd,  ditto,       for  "  a  once  humane    resident 
proprietor,"  read  humane  resident  proprietors. 

133,  dele  foot  note,  see  Appendix  E.  Sec.  VI. 
215,  21st  line  from  the  top,      for  "  wave,"  read  waive. 
220,  28th  ditto,  for  "  workhouses,"    read   work- 
shops. 

247,  6th  line  of  the  foot  note,  for  "  magistrates,"  read  magis- 
trate. # 
284,  34th  line  from  the  top,     for  "  tanners,"  read  tannin. 
293,  1st  line,  for  "she,"  read  the. 
330,  30th  line  from  the  top,     for  "  at  our,"  read  of  our. 
„      339,  1st  line,  for  "  Friday  night,"  read  Friday  nights. 


» 

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