S T U R G E AND H A R V E Y
ON
THE WEST INDIES.
T H E
W E S T I N D I E S
I N
1 8 3 7 ;
B E I N G T H E
JOURNAL OF A VISIT TO ANTIGUA,
MONTSERRAT, DOMINICA,
ST. LUCIA, BARBADOS, AND JAMAICA;
U N D E R T A K E N F O R
THE PURPOSE OF ASCERTAINING THE ACTUAL CONDITION OF THE
NEGRO POPULATION OF THOSE ISLANDS,
J O S E P H S T U R G E A N D T H O M A S H A R V E Y
L O N D O N :
HAMILTON, ADAMS, & CO. PATERNOSTER ROW
P R I N T E D B Y B . H U D S O N , B I R M I N G H A M .
MDCCCXXXVIII.
P R E F A C E .
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-
* I t 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. I t will not, it is trusted, be con
sidered to be obtrusive on this occasion, to introduce the following
extract from a volume entitled " Christianity 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.) T h e author writes, " W h i l e the first
settlers and planters 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 PREFACE.
operation in carrying 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 ; but private persons, yet engaged in what was
properly a public 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 SCOBLE 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 more 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 important bearing
upon the great question ; and that it was legitimately ac-
immediately on their ministers, but which was imperative also on
themselves, of preaching or publishing the gospel to the imported
African 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 measure
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.)
PREFACE. vii
quired. The object of the visitors was perfectly understood •
in the islands ; and it was known that the results" would, or :
might be, unreservedly published on their return. No facts, |
however, 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 oflTer 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 regard. They are actuated by an anxiety deeper
than can be expressed, to awaken 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 iu reserve, capable, not only of con
firming what is now narrated, but of deepening the shades
of their darkest representations. The reader's considera
tion is particularly directed to the Appendix, as containing
information, collected with considerable labor, and carefully
compiled. The writers much regret the circumstances of
haste under which this publication has been prepared. But
the case admits no delay ; and they, therefore, cast the fruit
of their investigation, like bread upon the waters, with the
viii. PREFACE.
h o p e , t h a t a b l e s s i n g m a y a c c o m p a n y it ; a n d , t h a t it m a y
p r o m o t e , in h o w e v e r s m a l l a d e g r e e , t h e g l o r y of G o d , a n d
t h e h a p p i n e s s of t h a t i n j u r e d , o p p r e s s e d , a n d still e n s l a v e d
p o r t i o n of t h e i r f e l l o w m e n a n d fellow s u b j e c t s , w h o h a v e
b e e n t h e o b j e c t s of t h e i r l a b o r s , a n x i e t i e s , a n d p r a y e r s .
U t h M O N T H , 30th, ( N O V . ) 183T.
We embarked at Falmouth, on board the Skylark
Packet, commanded by Lieutenant C. P. LADD, R. N . , on
the 17th 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 interspersed with
cocoa-nut and palmetto trees. After leaving the vessel, ^ve
realised in our first brief hour on laud, 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.
C O N T E N T S .
C H A P . I.
PAGE
BARBADOS 1
C H A P . II.
VOYAGE TO ANTIGUA 9
C H A P . I I I .
ANTIGUA 18
C H A P . IV.
RESULTS OF EMANCIPATION IN ANTIGUA 6 9
C H A P . V.
MONTSERRAT 80
C H A P . VI.
DOMINICA 90
C H A P . VII.
MARTINIQUE 108
C H A P . VIII.
ST. LUCIA 119
C H A P . IX.
BARBADOS 128
C H A P . X.
BARBADOS, — GENERAL REMARKS 1 5 0
C H A P . X I .
JAMAICA 156
C H A P . X I I .
JAMAICA — JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LLOYD AND THOMAS
HARVEY 287
C H A P . X I I I .
RESULTS OF THE APPRENTICESHIP IN JAMAICA 3 4 4
C H A P . XIV.
CONCLUSION 3 7 3
C O N T E N T S O F A P P E N D I X .
[ A ] A N T I G U A .
PAGE
SECTION I.—POPULATION i.
II.—COMMERCE AND AGRICULTURE ii.
III.—RELIGION, MORALS AND EDUCATION V.
IV.—LOCAL GOVERNMENT viii.
V . — L A W S OP ANTIGUA x i .
V I . — T H E ABOLITION ACT xiv.
V I I . — T H E FOUR & HALF PER CENT DUTIES xiv.
V I I I . — W A S T E LANDS xv.
[ B . ] D O M I N I C A .
SECTION I.—TABLE OP INCREASE AND DECREASE DP
THE N E G R O S ON VARIOUS ESTATES x v i .
II.—LOCAL GOVERNMENT x v i i i .
I I I . — T H E LATE GOVERNOR xx.
IV.—COMPARATIVE CONDITION OP THE
NEGROS x x .
[ C ] M A R T I N I Q U E .
SECTION I.—PETITIONS OP THE COLORED PROPRI
ETORS FOR IMMEDIATE ABOLITION . . x x i i .
[D]
II.—BARBUDA xxiv.
[ E ] B A R B A D O S .
SECTION I.—PAUPER POPULATION xxvi.
II.—STIPENDIARY ADMINISTRATION OFTHE
ABOLITION LAW xxvi.
C O N T E N T S O F A P P E N D I X . x i .
SECTION I I I . — SCALE OF LABOR xxxii.
I V . — THE LATE GOVERNOR xxxiii.
V.—APPRENTICESHIP OF FREE CHILDREN xxxiv.
[ F ] J A M A I C A .
SECTION I. — PRISCILLA TAYLOR xxxv.
I I . — HALFWAY TREE WORKHOUSE xxxv.
I I I . — NONREGISTERED SLAVES xxxvi.
I V . — STATEMENTS OF THE APPRENTICES xxxvii.
V . — JAMES WILLIAMS lxviii.
V I . — ARCADIA ESTATE lxxi.
V I I . — STATISTICAL TABLES lxxvi.
V I I I . — THE BAPTIST MISSION lxxxii.
I X . — WILLIAM HAMILTON lxxxiii.
X . — RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION AND EDUCA
TION lxxxv.
X I . — VALUATIONS lxxxvi.
X I I . — MARRIAGES OP APPRENTICES . . . . lxxxviii.
X I I I . — A . L . PALMER lxxxix.
X I V . — COMPUTED VALUE OF "EXTRA
ALLOWANCES" IN EXTRA LABOR. xcii.
C H A P T E R I.
B A R B A D O S .
nth Month, 13th, f November J 1830.
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 appearance of West India houses is strik
ing to a European. We were ushered into a spacious
room, without carpet or hangings for the walls ; these
and many other things necessary to comfort and clean
liness in England 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 arc
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
B
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 building, 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 singing, 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
Guinea 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 schoolhouse, 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 SCOBLE and JOSEPH
STURGE met by appointment the superintendent of the j
Wesleyan 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 effect, 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 avei-ages
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 BARBADOS.
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 children, 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.
5
JOSEPH STURGE and THOMAS HARVEY embarked
this afternoon for Antigua in the mail-boat.
Dr. LLOYD and JOHN SCOBLE 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- )
pointed 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 powerful 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 difi^erent 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 wei-e
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 r-oom we entered
was about thirty by thirty-five feet, in which one hun-
B 3
6 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 Sessions, a period of six months.
How iniquitous a system is this ! W e returned back
to the tread-mill. The women were 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 upwai-ds 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 difference
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 jjroceeding.
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 drivei' flogged her repeatedly, and 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
sufl^ering dreadfully from the cramp. In reference to
the latter feinale, 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 libi
tum—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."
C H A P T E R II.
V O Y A G E T O A N T I G U A .
nth Month, nth, C November J 1836.
O N E 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 mountains 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 mailboat 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 consumption 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 ; 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. 1 1
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, I
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 i
blight. Coffee, which used to be its staple, is now \\
being fast supplanted by sugar. We landed at Roseau i
about sunset, in a canoe manned by free blacks, which i
shot through the water at the rate of six or seven miles !
an hour. There were crowds of black and colored I
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 i
stigmatized as thieves, brutes, skulking drones, &c.
&c, The aspect of the town of Roseau is very foreign.
1 7 t h . — W e were all night becalmed under the lee of j
Dominica. The principal ports of these islands are I
situated on their western or south-western coasts to ^
the leev.'ard, 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
castas, &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 imder
the lee of Guadaloupe. To a lover of the picturesque
who had no stronger impvdse 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 souffr\\eres. 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 i
insects and reptiles. We landed at St. John's, late in ]
the evening. |
Our fellow passenger from Demerara, above men- 1
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, J
well informed and intelligent, and appeared to be on j
terms of intimacy with persons of respectability in i
the different islands. He spoke of the object he was ^
pursuing without any reserve or concealment, and j
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 i
to a dollar per day in Demerara. The cost of their i
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
1 4
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 generally on a larger scale
than in the other colonies. One with 2 5 0 negros will
yield a revenue of about £ 4 0 0 0 sterling annually. The
negros are very fond of living near town, and on this
accoixnt he thinks the distant estates will have to be
abandoned after 1840. The Governor, Sir J. C. SMYTH,
was determined to enforce the Abolition Law, and
therefore, he said, "we don't like him." He spoke highly
of the libeTality 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 pi-incipally 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 jjurcliased at Barbados for the
low price of forty-eight dollars. His former master did
ANTIGUA. 15
not 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 also 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 lawful hours of assiduous labor
for the full 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
VOYAGE TO
cument being disputed, the local authorities of Deme
rara have passed an ordinance declaring such agree
ments 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
emigrate, 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; " D o yo k n o w * * * ? "
" Y e s Sir." "Where is she now?" " I dont know, sir."
" Well, I can tell you ; she is in Demerara." " I hope
so, sir." " Now do you believe she is in 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
C H A P T E R III.
A N T I G U A .
nth Month, 20th, ( November ) 1836.
T H E 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 counte
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, BENNET HAavEY, 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 undistinguished
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 communion. 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 intelligence. 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 a part 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
A N T I G U A . 2 1
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 daj', 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 ; 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 many of the women did not now come into the
field before breakfast, as they staid at home to pre
pare the morning meal for their husbands and children.
In these cases they receive wages 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 sites of the villages are often
badly chosen.
The last fifteen months in Antigua, have been a
time of extreme drought, a visitation to which the is-
22 ANTIGUA.
land is periodically subject. The coming crop there
fore will fall considerably short of an average. Many
fields of canes have arroiued, 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 JAMES 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 sanguine
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 M o i i R i s H 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 upM-ards 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 BENNET HARVEY is the ahnoner ; and iu 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 i
like the English Friendly Societies, for the purpose of j
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 i
establishment. Several of its inmates are afHicted with ]
the dreadful diseases of leprosy and elephantiasis ; i
their loathsome condition cannot shut them out from j
the active and benevolent sympathies of a society, j
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- j
dergoing punishment, about eighty are employed in a j
penal gang on the public roads. They do not work i
in chains, with the exception of five or six whose |
sentences of death have been commuted ; and require j
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 j
ANTIGUA. 25
stones in the court yard. We observed a little boy
of eight years old, vi^ho 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
lars, 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 thi-ee 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 jirisoners 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 nearlj''
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 imder
the superintendence and religious care of the mission
aries. The chapels are not sufficiently numerous to
hold 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;
D
2 6
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 fel
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 1804
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. 2 7
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 raised 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
a day of general release, even from the connubial bond ;
and he proceeded to take another and younger wife of
his own complexion. 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 j-ears 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
5th 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 ef&cient state, and we thought it would
bear comparison with the average of infant schools in
England. The teachers were two colored young
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 wages.
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 ;
ANTIGUA. 29
West Indies ; one of its clauses prohibits country peo-
ple from bringing their goods to market without a pass
from the manager of the estate on 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 collected on the estate, by the ma-
nager's permission. We had a long talk to-day with
a negro, introduced to us by a friend as one 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 children only were able to earn any thing.
They could not manage without " m i n d i n g " 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 the 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 (ïod, a great
deliverance from bondage."
2 7 t h . — W e 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
3 0
ANTIGUA.
day was a German ; and his discourse was nearly un-
intelhgible to us. 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 in 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 plantei-, 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 hundred
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 transition 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 on lease, on 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 MORRISH, 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 kept
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 j
ANTIGUA. 3 3
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 £ 5 0 0 0 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 bgi**g—a»-~
* W e have found that many planters participate in this belief ;
but we are happy to add, that, on the few estates which were fa
vored last year with good weather and a large crop, these fear have
not been realized.
3 4 ANTIGUA.
cused of living with women to whom they were not
married :—their sentences 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 solemn
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 towns, 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. 35
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 wine 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
D R . N U G E N T , the speaker of the House of Assembly ;
who resides in this neighbourhood. Pie received us
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 Baj^, gave us a most encouraging account
3 6 ANTIGUA.
indeed of the success of freedom. Befoi-e 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 tlie 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 ofiice in conse
quence of the rejection of the apprenticeship. We
called at Willoughby Bay upon CHARLKS 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 i-ead 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. TIIWAITES. 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 MILLER. 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 ofl^ 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
RAY, 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 iii-
E
3 8
ANTIGUA.
vited u s to accompany him to the police office, where
he was going to preside as a magistrate. W e staid
there several hours. The cases disposed of were
nearly as follows : — 1 . A young woman, with an in-
fant in arms, 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, w h e r e the charge is not sus-
tained ; O t h e r w i s e by the defendant, in addition to any
other fine w h i c h 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 chai-ged with stealing
canes and corn, on an estate difl^erent 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 oiïender 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 f o r three months.
He burst into tears on hearing the sentence. 4 . An old
man charged with stealing yams and cane-trash. He
ANTIGUA.
3 9
was in the weeding gang at nine-pence per diem (four-
pence sterling.) He had been 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-
on. Pie 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, besides 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 towai-ds 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 Office, 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 effici
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, 1 s t , (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 undertake 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 office." 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 " t o 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 be 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 benefit 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 shil
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 King'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 ; in which respect they
differed much from the decisions of the magistrates at
the police court of English Harbor. We called in the
evening upon R . HOUBERTON, 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 be 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 principally 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 ; 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 cliecked, unless there
was cause for it. The old people, however, were not
ANTIGUA. 45
supported ; he and his brother liad 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 U s 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,*
* A n intelligent manager observes, " A s regards the mode of re
muneration for night work, however tlie manager's sense of justice
46 ANTIGUA.
continued tlirough 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 tlie laborer, the principle
of claim to remuneration was not admitted. In general, however, I
think it was afforded in a greater or less degree. A n extra quart of
meal, or yams, &c. and a " little sijrup" (i. e. three or four pints)
was the most that was desired, and not unfrequently obtained by the
persons immediately about the mill. The poor field workers used to
faro 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 greater num- ;
ANTIGUA. 4 7
. 4 t h . — T H E 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.
5 t h . — W e 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 emjiloyineut, 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
is 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 gradually
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.
4 9
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 sujjplies. 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 prospect of success ;
and " t h e 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 e([ual
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-
F
5 0
ANTIGUA.
perous. Persons, 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 his
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; 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 j
causes: 1st. An anticipation, well or ill founded, that'
it would be necessary to lessen it. 2nd. Because too,
manj' 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 i
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 escient. 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 island ; but on many estates its judicious use is
5 2 . ANTIGUA.
still a noveltj'. 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 are 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 corn. 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 ladies, 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 ; 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 onj 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 extensive 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 offenders are usually
dissolute free people, or former domestics.
The people are much more easily and pleasantly
governed than during slavery. The proprietor has less
" c a r k " 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 sj^stem ; 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
54 ANTIGUA.
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 very 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.
W e 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
bouriiig 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 ef&cient 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 .TAMES 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 falling off
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 J
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 j
* A note reeeived since the commencement of the present year, •
from this gentleman, speaking of the crop about to be taken off, I
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 such a year as 18.34,/or/r^e 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 3 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
Wesleyan missionaries ; and in which also is kept a >
5 8 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 negro
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- I
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." J
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- i
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. " 1st.—The \\
change in our system is nothing like what might have been imagined. |
A s 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 sufScient, many for six or eight i
mouths ; and the rest for three or four mouths. The first class, it is j
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 j
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. 5
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 i
on the estate will suffice. They take no thought for the future, an- |
ticipate no evil, provide nothing for sickness and old age, but spend i
all they can obtain in articles of dress, the most extravagant and u n - 1
suitable to their condition in life. They are yet slaves in habit and 5
feeling, and we must not he surprised if it be left for succeeding genera~
Hons, 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 j
was but little regarded formerly ; so that manual labor is lessened^ si
though the substitutes for it are not yet extensively employed. Our j
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 " W h o lives in England?" — " T h e
agricultural labors, during the matnifacturing 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 kuow
well how to employ, in combination with an extensive use of the
plough and other machinery ; and there is such 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. 5th.—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. 0th.—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 less ; 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 into 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 offences 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 unable 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 oif 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
G
62
A N T I G U A .
Tobacco used to be its staples. The two former plants
still grow wild in great abundance ; and, as well 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, containing
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 expressed 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. I'he law took no cognizance of the
ANTIGUA.
63
offences of slaves, except such as were of a verj' 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. Thej;^ 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 suffice 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 i
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 j
education of the young is now so general, he did not j
think that more than one-tenth of their adult members ;
could read. We spent the evening with the gentle- j
man mentioned in our journal of the 24th. ult. He i
attributes the advantages Antigua has possessed, to j
the early success which distinguished Missionary:
efforts. Sixty years ago the Speaker of the Assembly 1
was a lay preacher of the Gospel ; and there has always |
been, since, a succession of persons who have main- I
tained the truth ; till at length religion has become i
fashionable ; and it is now no cross to become a •
Church member. Some interesting facts 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 j
the abolition of the slave trade. In such cases, i
it was often impossible to contract the cultivation J
proportionably ; in consequence of the incumbran- j
ANTIGUA. 65
ces of mortgages or settlements ; so that the dimi
nished number 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.
Some 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 i
friends. Many live together unmarried, because they >
cannot afford this foolish expenditure ; but it is an j
evil which would be checked, in some degree, if Dis
senters were allowed to perform the ceremony. j
r 2 t h . We visited this morning an estate about j
twelve miles distant from St. John's, in the district \\
called Bermudian Valley. It was purchased by two j
gentlemen, immediately after the 1st of August, 1834; i
and though a losing concern to its former proprietor, j
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 j
island. We had little conception, that any part of An- j
tigua was so beautiful as the quarter in which this es- j
tate is situated. The hills are of considerable eleva- i
tion, and covered with forest. The climate is less 1
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 cultivate any part of the woodland they
please, for their own benefit. Their distance from
town, however, prevents them from making much pe- '
G 3
66 ANTIGUA.
cuîliary 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 MOHNE 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 ; |tlius completing our circuit of the Mora
vian stations in this 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 us, 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 WARNER, 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 ,
6 8 ANTIGUA.
names of THOME and KIMBALL, from the United
States, on a tour of inquiry lilce 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 sense of the readiness
displayed by all classes in the colony, to afford us fa
cilities of inquiry.
C H A P T E R IV.
RESULTS OF 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 measure, 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-
ers of religion, and schoolmasters, proprietors and
managers of estates, persons of color, and lastly, the
negros themselves. There is one subject upon which
* And also in Appendix A.
7 0 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 rmfavorable 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. II.
EMANCIPATION IN ANTIGUA. 7 1
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, when 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.
7 2 R E S U L T S O F
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 S
lands are now overrun with destructive weeds ; and
though this attorney is since dead, and his successor
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 j
necessarily located on the estates ; and therefore pre- \\
vented by circumstances from rapidly becoming a body i
of independent peasantry. They evince, however, a ;
disposition to elevate themselves in the social scale, by j
their anxiety to purchase or lease small lots of land :
few indeed have thus succeeded, in consequence of a i
groundless fear of their forsaking estate labor ; yet, [
doubtless, the true interests of the Proprietary body i
will at length prevail over prejudice ; and two great j
classes of landlords and yeomen, at present unknown ]
in the Colonies, will be gradually formed.* Under j
present arrangements, the estates are burdened, during i
the whole year, with the support of the full 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 i
years in advance of the methods of agricultm-e which,
continue to be carried on by two or three times the
* See Appendix, Sect. v i i .
EMANCIPATION IN ANTIGUA. 7 3
immediate amount of human labor which would be re
quired under a more perfect system, Great improve
ments in farming, and particularly 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
D R , NUGENT, 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 M'eekly
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 for 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 dépendance 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 R E S U L T S O F
and exorbitant than are Icnown in any otiier branch of
commerce. They are compelled to purchase planta-
tion stores from their merchant at a high rate. They
pay compound interest on the advances required, and
finally, 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 exuviœ 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 inquir}^
would convince him, that the one was a degraded con-
dition, which could at best, by the most painful efforts,
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-
E M A N C I P A T I O N IN A N T I G U A . 75
pence halfpenny sterling,) they no longer possessed
the power of compelling them to perform more than a
fair equivalent of labor. This agreement, therefore,
is now evaded in a variety of ways, some openly disre- j
gard it, others bid higher for the Saturday holidays of |
the laborers, and others supersede day labor by contract j
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 " a n
ever-germinating principle," its gradual and progressive j
operation rather than the amount of good, considerable |
as it is, which has hitherto been eftected, marks the j
contrast in Antigua between the present and the past, i
To appreciate fully the results of Emancipation,
it is necessary to revert to the evils of the state it suc
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- j
deration of these is almost superseded by that of their i
moral degradation. As a citizen, a slave has no ex- j
istence ; and therefore neither rights nor duties. As i
a private individual, he has no responsibilities, no cares, j
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 his love for their comfort or \\
subsistence ; they belong not to him but to their own- j
76 RESULTS OF
er, whose care it is to provide for their animal wants,
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 all
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 pi-operty.
E M A N C I P A T I O N I N A N T I G U A . 77
They are acquiring domestic habits. Marriages are
more frequent. Husbands and wives begin to dwell
together, and mothers of families to withdraw from
field labor to their household affairs,—germs of rising
character, which contain most encouraging promises
of advancement.
There is, probably at the present moment, a larger
proportion of persons under the pastoral care of min
isters of religion, and also of children receiving educa
tion in the schools, than in any part of the Parent
country. 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 both these respects. The children in the schools
are very docile, and give abundant proofs of natural
quickness and capacity. They easily acquire the more
mechanical parts of learning, as reciting, singing, read
ing, and 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 displajr
talent, and a capacity of becoming, with the usual advan
tages of normal instruction, both able and intelligent .
teachers. At present, the intelligent instruction which
the children receive, is chiefly communicated by their
ministers and others, whose attendance, from the
pressure of their more immediate duties, is necessarily
irregular. This subject is the more important, on ac
count of the interesting position which Antigua main
tains among the leeward islands. The neighbouring
colonies, whence the sons of respectable persons of
color are frequently sent to this island for education,
are now 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 offences
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 proprietary than any 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 reforms as the Government 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.
C H A P T E R V.
MONTSERRAT.
I2th Month, \\6th, (December.) 1836.
W E 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 office 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 Souffi'ieres 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
MONTSERBAT. 81
thousand pounds weight of sillv of the first quality,
were last year produced. It promises to be a valuable
colonial product, as its introduction wovild supply
work of a light description for the population of the
towns, and for young and infirm persons, who are quite
unfit 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
rishing bushes i 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 introduced 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
one, 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 apprentices
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
8 2 MONTSERRAT,
colonies, 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 difficulty, 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 apprehen
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.
COLLINS, Rector of the principal parish, who is zealous
in his endeavours to promote the good of the people ;,
MONTSERRAT. 83
and also upon the i-esident Wesleyan minister.
WALTON, an intelligent and energetic missionary. The i
moral state of the apprentices is very degraded, in con- i
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 verj' 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 MONTSERRAT.
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 the'/ received wages, than in the other four; arid
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 freedona,
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 D R . DVBTT, the Speaker of the Assembly ;
he is one of the few of his class, who lends his support
MONTSERRAT. 85
to the cause of religion and morality in the colony.
He kindly gave his company to us for half an hour,
though the prevalence of an epidemic, creates pressing
calls upon his time. Montserrat has always hitherto
been numbered among the healthy islands, being free
from marshes and swamps ; but during the last three
years fever has prevailed, which Da. DYETT attributes
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 compost in any quantity by the keep
ing of stock. The fever this year attacked six hundred
persons, and has been fatal in about one case in thirty.
It was prevailing in three of the families we visited this
morning. D R . DYETT gave us a deplorable account of
the prevalence of 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 singular fact, which came under our notice in
Antigua, by stating, that on the emancipated estates
in this colony, and on those where wages are paid, the
necessity for his professional attendance had very much
diminished. We next called at the .office of the sti
pendiary magistrate. He had just disposed of the
cases brought 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 though 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.
I
86 MONTSERRAT.
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 oyer 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 Office, 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 refusing 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
have 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 otliers two thousand
nine hundred and twenty-eiglit are females, and two
thousand one hundred and sixty-thi-ee 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 MONTSERRAT.
their own hands 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 his protection, as he is in some degree under plan
ter influence, in consequence of his holding the 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 Sei-jeant. Again, as Serjeant of Police, he appre
hends an offending apprentice ; as Magistrate decides
the case ; and as Serjeant executes his own sentence.
The President administering the Government of
Montserrat is himself a planter and apprentice-holder.
The Constitution of the Assembly is more liberal than
in Antigua, as the elective franchise is a forty-shilling
freehold. The Courts of Law, howevei-, 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- ,
MONTSERRAT. 89
prentices liaving been so much increased by the specu
lations of the Demerara traders. When we re-embark
ed in the evening, ROBERT DYETT, 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
C H A P T E R VI.
D O M I N I C A .
12th Month, 19th, (December.) 1836.
THE voyage from Montserrat to this island is fre- j
quently performed in less than twenty-four hours, but j
we encountered such boisterous weather, that we did :
not arrive at Roseau till this morning. Sailing in 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- j
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 j
jail admitted that the man who superintended it, when j
in use, carried a cat ; but he would not acknowledge that i
it was used, except to a trifling extent. The prisoners j
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, GEORGBI
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
build 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 different 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 aie 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
favorable 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 memo'-andum i
furnished us by C. A. FILLAN, an intelligent young 1
man of color, it appears, that the Wesleyan Society, of j
which he is a member, have one large Sunday school ;
in Roseau, a day school at Prince Rupert's, seven or i
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 • j
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 j
own district, which comprises a population of two thou- j
sand apprentices and their free children, and includes
several large English estates, on which the negros i
are considered to be more intelligent than elsewhere. |
" My official intercourse with the laboring classes, en- I
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 his 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 their apprentices' own time, at the rate of three bitts
d 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 ,7or 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 indenting 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 W M . 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 Roseau to most of the
estates. The island is, however, encompassed, and
also intersected in various directions by roads, wliich
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. 9 5
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 unavoidably 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 iu
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, j
96 DOMINICA.
He is now anxious to return. He is an intelligent,
well-disposed negro, and a tolerable 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 Hills-
borough, the adjoining estate, he kindly sent his boat
for us to cross the river, which for half a mile from the
sea, is three hundred yards broad, and of considerable
depth, beyond which it is obstructed by rapids. It
abounds in fish. Its banks are covered with the bam
boo, guava, &c. Coming from Antigua, the rank luxu-
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 i
soil throws up natural rank grasses ; creepers and I
shrubs hang about the steep sides of the cliffs, while ]
the summits and more gentle declivities are covered |
with thick forest and brushwood. The cane grows too j
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 marks the course of the river, and shut in |
on the other, in the form of a half circle, by a hill, i
apparently almost perpendicular, except on one sloping !
side, which is occupied by the negro gardens and huts, j
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 '
DOMINICA. 97
of the white residents ; and near the same spot also is
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
98 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
DOMINICA, 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.
I'he negros 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 j
most in the island. Complaints have almost ceased on j
this estate, in conseiiuence of a change of system on the j
part of the manage.- 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 x\\pprenticeship, 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 jears.
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 i
would not contribute to its support. He, it appear- |
1 0 0
D O M I N I C A .
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 sinful 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
affection for their offspring weakened. The whites
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 negros, 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 i\\ntigua 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
negros 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 allowances 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 I
manager our conviction, that it would be good policy I
to begin paying money wages instead of salt fish ; there- j
by encouraging a desire for those comforts which j
money only can procure. He agreed with us and said j
that he had some time before attempted to act upon j
such views, but that " he had brought the neighbour- |
ing planters down upon him." At present all the Î
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, i
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 i
Slavery and Apprenticeship. He said that he had not i
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-j
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 i
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- i
See Append
K 3
102 D O M I N I C A .
tem of freedom. Very few apprentices on this or the
other plantations, have been registered as non-predials,
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 appears to us that the domestics and mechanics of
Dominica, as of some other colonies, have been exten
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 con
verted 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 invahds 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-
D O M I N I C A . 103
cane in Dominica, did mucli mischief to the estates'
buildings, and negro houses. A loan was obtained
from Government 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, the 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 cofl^ee estates in this island, are nearly
destroyed by the blight and hurricane. They are most
ly small properties, in the hands of the old French
residents. Such is their 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 suff"er
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 . FADELLE and
LEWIS 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 Souffriere 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 Souffriere, 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 smaller 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
his 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, born
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 D O M I N I C A .
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 " t h e
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
D O M I N I C A .
1 0 7
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, 1
than the condition, appearance, and manners, of the 1
people on some of these properties of the old French j
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 Souffriere 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 |
and 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 1
for a description of it, he is said to have crushed a j
sheet of paper in his hand and presented it as a repre- \\
sentation of the extreme irregularity of its surface. It |
would be difficult, perhaps, to describe it better.— |
Notwithstanding the apparent fertility of the island, i
the cultivation of the cane is described as very laborious. ;
The yearly amount of sugar produced does not exceed j
three thousand hogsheads. Coffee was formerly its !
staple, but nearly all the properties on which it was j
cultivated have been ruined by the prevalence of " the j
white fly," during the last six years, by which many j
of the smaller proprietors have been reduced to poverty. ]
' See Appendix B. Sec. i.
C H A P T E R VII.
MARTINIQUE.
12th Month, 9^nd, (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 Martinique, (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 acquaintance 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 t h e
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
P i i i L i p p n . W e were informed it was generally report
ed and believed, that the British West Indies were
ruined; that England was obliged t o import sugar
from France, and that some of the A n t i g u a negros, not
liking the new regime, had made their escape to
L
110 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 respe ct \\
ing the depressed condition of the colony, and the low \\
price to which slaves had fallen, and also repeated j
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 master j
could do anything with his slave, short of putting him j
to death; and even in that case, if prosecuted, he would !
be sure to escape conviction. Since the change in the j
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 sucré, made of an inferior refined j
sugar; which on enquiring we found was French beet- \\
root sugar. j
We went afterwards to the Botanic Garden of St. {
Pierre, a scene of extraordinary luxuriance and beauty, j
It is situated in the basin, and on the sides of a circle j
of mountains, and is a complete labarynth of walks j
with fish-ponds, cascades, &c. It is devoted chiefly j
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 j
inhabitants. It is a place of great trade, and theprin ]
cipal port in the island, though the harbor is much ex-
MARTINIQUE.
111
posed. We left St. 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 difference 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
ghers, for the shipment of produce, immediately from
the estates on the coast. They were each rowed by
ten or 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
cafe, to which we had been recommended. We could
112 MARTINIQUE.
not find it, and after enquiring at several hotels which
were full, we were taken at length to one of rather an
inferior description, which was undergoing a complete
whitewashing. We found, however, the accommoda
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.
2;3rd.—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 Mackaic,
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.
113
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 j
Baron is past middle-age, stout, and of very benevolent ]
aspect ; he is familiar with the colloquial use of the \\
English language. We told him, that having been in-
formed of the interest he had expressed in Antigua, we
thought he might be pleased to receive some recent
information 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
affairs in the British colonies. He quoted Sir LIONEL j
S M I T H ' S recent speech to the Assembly of Jamaica, i
from which he concluded, that things must be progrès- i
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- j
quiring whether the planters were favorable to educa-
tion, he said, some of them were not, but the (ïovern-
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 j
the Doctor." Antigua, he observed, had been in a \\
state of preparation for twenty years. W e remarked j
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 t i m e ; "
1 1 4 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 hut fear
ing we might be imperfectly understood, we offered to
forward to him a short memoir on the subject from
Barbados, which he said he 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.
The present time is favorable for a great change, he-
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 probable, 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
in 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 twenty 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.
C H A P T E R V I I I .
S T . L U C I A .
}2th Month, 2ith, (December.) 1836.
ON coming on decli this morning, we found our
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 REDDIE,
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 vSt. 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, i
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 j
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 i
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 j
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 1
estates, and an extensive merchant and ship-owner ; and I
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 i
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, ashed 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. D R . 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. D R . 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 tbe 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 the 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.—CHRISTMAS D A Y . — A military band paraded
the town early this morning, and serenaded the pub
lic functionaries in honor of the day. Among other
tunes, they 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 ; as first President of the Royal Court, he pos- i
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 j
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. MUTJ:R. 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
tbe 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 during 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 confirmation of 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
soon 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 Ilopoton and Lennox estates, Jamaica. " Previous to the estab
lishment 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 18,31.
124 ST. 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 allowed 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 i
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 j
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 colon}' 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 neglecied, both
by the government and people of England, than any
M 3
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 mother 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. W e would not be understood as expressing any
opinion of our own on the propriety of establishing a particular sys-.
tem.
S T . L U C I A .
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 Government, and
we therefore await the result of an authorised investigation.
C H A P T E R IX.
BARBADOS.
12th Month, 27th, (December,) 1836.
W E 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, \\2th 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, 3lst.—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
Britisli 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 subject 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 shai-ed 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.
known 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, who 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 E. Sec. iii.
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 1st., (January,) 183/.—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.
1 3 2 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
1 8 3 4 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,
vSir 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 KLOSE, 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 BARBADOS.
The Governor, Sir EVAN MAC GREGOB, received us
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 conciliation. The
remaining term being comparatively short, he thought
it of great importance, that there should be no unneces
sary irritation of 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 \\iltimate
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 E V A N
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 should be summarily punished by his authori
ty. We requested to be allowed to inspect the monthly
jo\\n-nals of the Stipendiaries, which he kindly granted.
After leaving Government House, we called upon
the Bishop, who gave us some valuable information on
the state of education. There ai-e about eight thousand
children in the diocese, receiving instruction in schools
under the care 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
cept in Demerara. No opposition is now encountered
on the part of the proprietors, but many of them mani
fest much apathy, and render no assistance. The
teachers are black and colored persons. The greatest
difficulty experienced in this island, is not the want of
qualification on the part of colored teachers, but their
preference for more lucrative employments. Besides
the children actually attending school, many others re
ceive instruction from other children, and improve
themselves by attending the Sunday schools.
4th.—One of the 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 ; 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 j
attached to field labor ; and creates an injurious dis- ;
tinction between children of the same parents, who
were above, and those who were under six years of age
in 1834.
5th.—^We availed ourselves this morning, of the
permission of the Governoi', 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 prima 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 j
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 I
smallest district in the island. Were the magistrates j
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, j
in the exercise of his right of appeal. In many instan- |
* See Appendix E. Sec. ii.
BARBADOS. 137
ces complaining negros have had 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." j
The turning the free children off the estates ; and \\
changing their mode of subsistence by giving them J
half an acre of rocky, unproductive ground, and \\
twenty-six days in the year, in lieu of allowances, j
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
manager 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 j
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 I
rooms are excessively crowded. In one room there are i
ten men waiting their trial at the next sessions ; and I
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
twelve months' imprisonment ; at the end of which,
they may be declared innocent, or if it should still not
N 2
138 BARBADOS.
suit tlieir prosecutor's convenience to appear against
tiiem, tiiey 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
M'ho 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 hot 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
agauist 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
BARBADOS. 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
nor, 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 punishment.
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.
S c o b l e , when he visited it six weeks ago, it appears
that some of the more glaring abuses, have already
been corrected by the new Governor. J. Scoble ob-
serves, that during the whole time the scenes he wit-
* Journals of Stipendiaries.
140 BARBADOS.
nessed were transacting, " tiie Barbados Legislature
were holding their sessions within thirty yards of the
ti-eadmill." 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 LIONEL SMITH must often have 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 neai-ly 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
ave his property ; lie 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 by 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 month.
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 whien 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 A p p e n d i x E . , Sec. v.
142 BARBADOS.
disputes to break out into violent language, 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 school which is
held for an hour twice a week, in a room provided for
the purpose 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 with his 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 HAREWOOD, pur- ]
porting to come from several negros on one of his es
tates, complaining against their manager for short
allowances and ill treatment. Lord HAREWOOD, 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
BARBADOS. 143
manager summoned the negros before the magistrate.
They denied having 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
severely 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 could 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
subject 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 vi^ere 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 16/5. 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 tjke 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
colonjr, 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
instances, 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 i
thousand emigrants annually; yet the legislature has ;
passed an Act, the effect of which will be to prevent the j
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 j
of St. 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 i
being preserved even among criminals. The minister j
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 planters, and tradesmen on the plantations are j
included in the former class. i
We met to day a gentleman of great intelligence j
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, j
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 j
148 BARBADOS.
of the planters was unexampled. He feared there was
little or no improvement 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 questions
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 he inflicted
BARBADOS. 149
such a penalty, he said the law was imperative.* When
the apprentices commit offences against any individual
who is not theirowner, or against the public peace, they
are taken out of the jurisdiction of the Stipendiary
Magistrates. This is sometimes made an engine of
oppression. 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 Hayti, 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 ECKO
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. I
* During our stay in Antigua, w e met a gentleman from this
island, who informed us that he had thus punished husbands and
wives, residing on different estates, for visiting each other, observing
that the law allowed the magistrate no discretion,
o 3
C H A P T E R X.
G E N E R A L R E M A R K S .
BARBADOS.
IN all the islands which we have yet visited, where
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
GENERAL 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 his real and permanent interests would have
been far better secured, by adopting the course which
has been 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 for freedom. Its introduction was attended
with 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 observa
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 i-egular course of the trades, the most windward
of the islands, and consequently a station from which all
152 GENERAL REMARKS
the others are easily accessible. In one respect it is an
exception among slave countries, being an extraordi
nary example of agricultural prosperity. One of the
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 i
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."
Thej' 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. " B y 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 slaves, 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 from 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. NUGENT " Report of Antigua Agricultural Association."
154 GENERAL REMARKS
ticeship, we refer to an analysis 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 offspring. The
operation of the law which compels the apprentices to
refund the time lost, when they are punished by im- j
prisonment, (thus imposing a double penalty for the j
same offence), and the forfeiture of their Saturdays to j
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- j
diaries ; and that this penal and oppressive law, with j
its costly and complicated administration, is upheld ;
solely for the purposes of men, who know no other ;
means of maintaining their 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."f
The prejudice against color is stronger in Barbados, Î
than in any other colony, although the colored class of i
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.
+ See Appendix E. Sec. iii.
ON BARBADOS.
155
influence. There are indeed, two kinds of public
opinion, of unequal and opposite forces ; first, 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 black races. In none of 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
I'efuses 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 with moral courage,
" the spider's most attenuated thread" is not more
weak, than this unseen but despotic pov/er, 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 pro-slavery 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 e x
pression, and an independence of action, which cannot be found
among the same class in Barbados.
C H A P T E R XI.
J A M A I C A .
1st Month, 227id, (January,) 1837.
W E 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 " trades,"
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
jiorts 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, M'hich 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 j
account of the simple and amiable character of these j
islanders, but observe, that they are beginning to be I
corrupted by the vices of the Europeans and Americans, i
whose whaling vessels occasionally touch at Pitcairn's
island 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 j
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 j
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.
23rd.—We breakfasted with J. TINSON, at whose \\
house we had the pleasure of meeting W. WEMYSS ;
p
158 JAMAICA.
ANDEESON. We were also introduced in the course of
the day, to the Attorney General, DOWELL O'REILLY,
and to J. M. TREW, the Director of the Mico Institu
tion. The Mico schools in Kingston are already estab
lished on a large scale ; 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.
T R E W , who was in the chair, stated in the course of an
animated speech, that at one of the Mico schools in the
country, 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 he was subjected,
and expressing his desire for free servants, he com
plained, almost in the same breath, 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 i
West Indies. They are accustomed to the active ener- i
gy of free servants, while the Creoles, though familiar {
from infancy with despotic power, are more easily I
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 i
Ehgland in as many years. ':
One of the Special magistrates, STEPHEN BOURNE,* ;
called upon us this morning, and gave us an invitation i
to his house, which is situated in the mountains, about ]
nine miles distant from town. We drove thither in
the evenhig. 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 Colonistf.
It is due to him to state, that he expressed great anxiety that w e \\
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- j
pression of the condition of the negros, and the character of their \\
proprietors.
160 JAMAICA.
of Jamaica is temperate and salubrious. 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
full 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-hill, 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 hind 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 BROWNSOX, 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
JAMAICA.
prentices, will frequently be applied to by many not in
his district. Such applications 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.
B O U R N E , 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.
JAMAICA 163
26th.—We visited another coffee plantation this
morning. The overseer appeared to be a good tempered,
frank, intelligent man, and made no complaints against
his negros. A court was, however, held to determine
a case affecting 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 affida
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, 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. The 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
•hat 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 o f the day
with J. M. P i i i L L i P P o , 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, PRISCILLA TAYLOR, resided not far from the
Perry 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 said,
" t h a t 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 ,
JAMAICA. 1 6 7
massa tell L. he will grant him the friendship to do it."
She begged 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 i-efused 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.
31st.—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 pi-actice, 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 insufficient 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 merelj'
colorable character. The supervisor put him on the
treadmill, which formed no part of his sentence ; and
Q
170 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 Plalfway Tree
workhouse, and had implicated the Gustos as cognizant
of their existence.t Accusations of calumny and false
hood were unsparingly heaped on Lord SLIGO. The
•' A parish in .Jamaica, in proportion to the size of the island, is
equivalent 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.
+ See Appendix F. Sec. ii.
J A M A I C A .
171
O t h e r magistrates expressed their indignation at Lord
SLIGO'S conduct, and their warm sympathy with the
Gustos, 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.
+ The carpenters, coopers, smiths, &c. on estates, are called
tradesmen.
1 7 2 JAMAICA.
by their master. They remained with liim till his
death, though they had never been registered as slaves
according to law, either in 181/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 magistrates
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 referred
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 minds
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., (Fehruary.)—We went this
morning by invitation, to breakfast with JOSEPH GOR
DON, one of the large planting attornies, and a member
* See A p p e n d i x F . Sec. iii.
JAMAICA 1 7 3
of 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. Many 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 (BOURNK) ; 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 vevj 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
Crftig- 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, being concerned either as
defendants, complainants, or witnesses. The first case
was a charge made by the overseer against an appren
tice, for stealing provisions. The offence was proved
and punished. Next an 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
African, and spoke very unintelligibly, but was elo
quent in gesture and animation. She had had eight
children, of whom, she said, " t h e 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, tliat tlie 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 misrepi-esenting 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 effects 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
on 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.—THE 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
quantitj' 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, i
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 j
for their lamps, and wicks prepared from cotton growing j
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 most 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 JAMAICA.
and child, by this man. The particulars are too gross
for publication. Her child was evidently much injured
by it. He was fined five pounds. In the hospital, there
was a negro, who had been sent about a month ago to
the treadmill, from the effects of which he is not yet
sufficiently recovered to be able to work. The over- j
seer told us, that he held him up as a warning to the i
other people, of what they might expect, if they were 1
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 j
number, for not cultivating her grounds. She was i
admonished and threatened. They had on a former \\
occasion, expressed a desire to have their children i
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 64<5 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, i
The road from Kingston to the capital, crosses an im- j
mense fresh water swamp, into which one or two con- \\
siderable streams empty their waters, and which |
JAMAICA.
181
extends for several miles to the sea. It abounds with
rare specimens of aquatic plants, insects, and birds,
and 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 frequent 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 tire-
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 were 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.
wliich 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. There were at one time in this school, four
or five children of a late Governor, the Duke of M A N
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
taneous promptitude. J. M. PHILUPO 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. 1 8 3
themselves as useful and efficient, as an European
could be expected to be. The principal teacher, a
colored young 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
cannot 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 ALEXANDRK 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 culti-
184 JAMAICA.
vation, and the fears that are commonly expressed, that
the people will refuse, when free, to labor " contin-
uously" for wages. He finds no difficulty in purchas-
ing all 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 ATTORNEY-GENERAL, and JOSEPH |
GORDON. The first of them Ellis's, is the property of
Lord SEAFORD, and under the attorneyship of the last- j
named gentleman. The number of negros is one hun- j
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- J
able extent, assured us, that the cultivation of the
estate was kept up as efi^ectively 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 nut 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 I
this estate, as well as on several others which we have j
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 —
E W I N G , 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 j
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 j
trifling as to prove, (if the arrangement is not compul- I
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- j
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 i
of two or three good rooms, in which arc a little furni^ |
R 3
186
JAMAICA.
ture, and in a few instances glasses and eartiienware.
They were remarkably clean, and the courts carefully
swept. We were introduced to WIIITBHALL 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
light tax cart, and a number of cattle and sheep. He
owned before the 1st of August, nine shwes, 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 iu
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, v/'ith 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
JAMAICA. 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
their 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 JAMAICA.
alphabet class, which is a very numerous one. The
proficiency of the children is below the average except
in writing, in which they excelled.
We had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of
CHARLES HARVEY, 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, arc 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 talien before local |
magistrates, who sentenced the woman for a month, to \\
the House of Correction. It is therefore a double illus- s
tration of the degree of respect paid to the Special Ma- |
gistrates, and of the facility with which the law is '
evaded. j
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 j
were kindly invited by his wife, to stay breakfast. Be- j
fore we left, several apprentices called to be examined
by the minister as candidates for Baptism. From their j
answers to our inquiries, it appeared, that the authority j
of the Stipendiary is employed to enforce a compulsory i
arrangement for extra labor during crop. Many of the ;
negros are compelled to work by spells of eight hours j
in the field one day, and sixteen hours in and about |
the boiling house the next day, giving up their half j
Friday, for which amount of extra labor they receive an j
amount equal to two shillings and one penny per week. î
Soon after the commencement of the apprenticeship, :
four negros on the principal estate in this parish, were i
flogged because they refused to assent to this arrange- i
ment. Though they now submit to it quietly, the ap- j
prentices are not consenting parties ; it is only agreed
upon between the overseer and the magistrate. These
people complained also, that the Special Magistrate, î
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 I
190
JAMAICA.
the old slave laws, as incorrigible runaways. In look
ing 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 COOPBR, 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 white 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. T R E W , 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
192 JAMAICA.
usual, well written, and kept very clean. In the girls'
school, besides going cursorily over the classes, we
were shewn some specimens of needlework, which ap
peared to be very nicely executed. The Mico agents
have already between three and four thousand children
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.
I6th.—We attended to-day the Assize Court at
Spanish Town, and heard part of the proceedings in
case of MACLEAN V. BOURNE. 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
iron collars on their necks, and work chained in pairs,
two men or two women. The premises forming the
county jail, which we next visited, are divided by a
wall; one side being occupied by debtors, and the
other by criminals. The accommodations for the debt
ors are good, and a great contrast to the crowded,
confined, miserable apartments and cells allotted to the
prisoners. In the yard were many prisoners, tried and
untried, each with a heavy iron bolt attached to one of
his legs, which in walking 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 of his
wife, a colored woman, and to the great surprise of
the court and the public, found guilty only of man
slaughter. He was sentenced to three years imprison
ment, the extreme punishment of the island law for
that offence. He was living in a light and spacious
upstairs 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 as
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 SX-IGO'S
departure in front of the market-place. This is justly
reprobated by many as a brutal and disgraceful exhi
bition. It is intended to strike terror into the minds
of the lower orders, and is a singular exemplication
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
1 9 4 JAMAICA.
gistrates nominated by the master witli tlie Special
Magistrate of the district, to adjudicate all doubtful
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. BAERETT, a member of
council, who kindly invited us to visit his estates.
17th. We accepted to day a polite invitation of
ALEXANDRE 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 diff"erent 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 bis
people to spend money, as well as earn it, he has esta-
JAMAICA. 195
Wished 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 grounds 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
of 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 ; but it was really pleasant to see the independent
and free spirit of the negros, and the good feeling sub
sisting between I h e m and their master ; which, so far
as our observation extends, is a rare exception to the
general rule. The latter related to us several anecdotes
o f similar disputes with his people, and said it was a
mistake to supjiose 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
is 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 populous in
the island. We have been favored by the overseer of
Bushy 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.—THE 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 difticult 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
198 JAMAICA.
tive ease and indulgence. The overseer had also 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 j
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 j
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 j
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 i
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 j
the Sunday school children ; the congregation, how- I
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. :
21st.—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 impress upon their minds, (on this as well as i
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 j
with a view to ascertain the truth, for the information Î
of ourselves and other of our friends in England. The 1
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- j
pendix.* The substance of them was as follows : they {
complained that they were compelled by a compulsory j
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 j
hours than is required by law. They have been gene-
* See Appendix F. Sec. iv.
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 PALMKR, and said he was the best magis
trate that ever came into the parish. Before his 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
"plenty 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
JAMAICA. 2 0 1
ïemedy 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 offer 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
202 JAMAICA.
farms for the raising 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 almost 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.
Thi; neighbouring heights afford a pleap.ant and safe re-
tre;it 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, separated only by a party-wall. We were
shown over them, in the supervisor's absence, by his
dijputy. In the jail there were three prisoners in chains,
and with their feet in shackles, waiting their trial.
We wi;re told they had attempted to escape ; the wall
^vas 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
204 JAMAICA.
morning sustained similar injury from the mill. There i
are about seventy prisoners in the jail and workhouse, j
for whom the sleeping accommodation is very insuffi- j
cient. A large number of them are life convicts, prin- j
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 j
wrists of the prisoners are always secured. The board •
under the rail descends perpendicularly, and not in a j
sloping direction, towards the mill, and does not,
therefore, afford them the slightest protection when i
they lose the step and hang by the wrists. In that case i
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 I
mill, and the results are such as may have been an- ;
ticipated. Every step is stained with blood both re- j
cent and old ; the former being that of the poor old !
woman whom the deputy mentioned to us. It had J
been shed so profusely, that even the sand on the floor \\
was thickly sprinkled with it. We asked him whether i
the prisoners on the treadwheel were flogged. He ce- \\
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. i
We called to-day upon the Baptist and Wesleyan
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 alone,
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 ;i '
lively interest in the object of our journey.
24th.—We went this morning to see the treadmiH i
at six o'clock, at which time the prisoners sentence . j
to this punishment, are put upon it previously to their
being sent to the penal gang. Two mixed gangs < i
men and women were put upon it during our stay
the latter had no suitable dress, and were, therefor! j
liable to be indecently exposed. The lever, by whic. \\
the speed of the wheel is regulated, was held the who' |
time by the driver, who sometimes relaxed his hold f. !
a few seconds, which made it revolve with such r:. \\
pidity, as to throw all the prisoners off. It is thus \\
T
206
JAMAICA.
evident tiiat 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 tuni out in the morning." He gives them
their salt-fish as he 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.
2 0 7
She was a small weakly creature. Her legs were
most severely bruised 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) on 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
months, 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.
208 JAMAICA.
Their complaints, wliich were almost uniform, in-
eluded compulsory and unrequited labour during
crop 3 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 ; and, j
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 j
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, j
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, j
because a few canes had been stolen, and the thief could j
not be discovered. Watchmen are employed all night, j
but it is a compulsory service, for which they receive j
no remuneration. To such an extent are they thus i
deprived of their Saturdays, that they are obliged to i
work on the Sabbath for a subsistence. This statement j
of these negros was confirmed by one of the mission- ;
aries, T. F. ABBOTT, who mentioned to us in conver- î
sation yesterday, that the attendance at his chapel is ;
affected by it ; the people being compelled to go to •
their grounds on the Sabbath. The above-mentioned 1
apprentices told us, that when they became free, they |
should be glad to remain on the estates, working for J
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 . BARRETI', 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 tlie midst of neat gardens. They had
shingled roofs, and cement or boarded floors. Most
of the people were 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
2 1 0 J A M A I C A .
people had large families. The number of apprentices
we understood, to be two hundred and twenty-eighty
and of free children seventy-six. After leaving the
village, we met many of the people returning from their
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 1 8 4 0 ; the men
usually replied, " t h a t they liked / r e e w e l l ; " but the
women seemed almost to dread the thoughts of change.
SAMUELS observed, that very little alteration had oc
curred since 1 8 3 4 ; 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 the 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 CLAUK, 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 hundred
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'cloclv, 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 dépendance on the outward form of
baptism, of which iifty-two of them had been that
morning partalicrs. 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 opportunity 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.
2 1 4
JAMAICA.
all the older free children, and a few of the apprentices.
The classes 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 SAMUELS, the overseer. We were after
wards shewn over the hospital, which is a good and
airy 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. VINK 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 difficulty 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. SHIRI-EY,
which has been mentioned with distinction in the first
report of the apprenticeship committee of the House of
* See Appendix F, Sec. vi.
216 JAMAICA.
Commons. On this and two smaller adjoining estates i
of the same proprietor, about five thousand pounds per j
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, j
He said he had often heard of troublesome negros, but î
though he had been on several estates, he had never
met with any whom it was difficult to manage with
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- j
plaint, said to have been imported by the German immi- i
grants ; and a poor man, whose hand was changed j
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 I
works. There is a family of Sussex immigrants on the |
estate, consisting of a man, his wife, and four or five j
children, who landed three weeks ago, and seem hith- j
erto highly delighted with their new country. The ;
overseer shewed us some specimens of the lace bark, j
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- j
tained.
28th.—Falmouth, where we arrived late last j
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. 2 1 7
laria. Being on a promontory, it is liept 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 " a barrack was prepared for them,"
to quell, we presume, by their presence, a rebellion
among the nursing mothers.* The other order was a
" The terras 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
2 1 8 JAMAICA.
warrant to lodge ten apprentices, (no names men
tioned,) in the workhouse 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 bad been there, because they were not mentioned
in the commitment, and the prison store contained
nothing suitable for them. The 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 breakfast.
For this they were taken before the Special Magistrate,
(PRYCE,) 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 of
obtaining subsistence. For their contumacy, they were
sent 1o 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 here, as elsewhere, are dark and ill ventilated,
and in which prisoners are always fed on low diet ;
also, 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 necessity for such an order. A
in Spanish Town, was dispersed by reading- tlie riot act, and calling
out the military.
JAMAICA. 2 1 9
few weeks since, this order was rescinded by a minute
signed by the Custos of the parish, WILLIAM FRATER,
who merely remarks in general terms, that he has the
sanction of the present medical man ; the former
having died in the interim.
We next visited W. KNIBB'S school, which is under
the care of T. E. WARD. 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 hundred 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 Wilbcrforce, 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
negros, 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.
220 JAMAICA.
with good faith, at the rate of one shilling for eight
hours extra labor. There have been no punishments
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 — KELLY, a liberal magis
trate, in the local commission, and by S. PRYCE, 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. The 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 j but ia
now appropriated as a hospital, school, and church.
There is a salaried medical man resident on the estate,
and also a clergyman, 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 during slavery.
The range of workhouses is extensive; nearly every
description of iron work, carpenter's and cooper's
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. 2 2 1
reports, and gave us other information respecting his
district. It includes a population of eight thousand \\
apprentices and fifteen hundred free children ; among
whom there is a considerable preponderance of females.
The reports frequently alluded to the steady and good
conduct of the apprentices, and to the incapacity and j
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 i
there were taking off the crop without wages. We •
afterwards learned during our stay in those parishes j
that this was too true, and that the apprentices are j
deprived of an enormous amount of time, without any j
compensation whatever. On our return to Falmouth, we \\
had an opportunity in the evening of conversing with a i
number of apprentices from Oxford and Cambridge, two \\
estates belonging to a liberal proprietor in England, j
They are very favorable instances compared with other j
estates. Their statements will be found in the appendix.* j
The parish of Trelawney is one of the largest and ^
wealthiest in the island. It is almost exclusively i
planted with canes. The estates occupying plains and j
undulating lands near the coast, and the negroos' provi- j
sion grounds being situated in the mountain woodlands j
of the interior, at distances varying from three to even j
* See Appendix F, Sec. iv.
u 3
222
J A M A I C A .
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 effectual 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 apai'tments. 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 machine. 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 BURCHBLL,
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. L E WIN,
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. CAKNABY,
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 ,
224 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 1817 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 throughout
the year has also decreased to a very great extent. On j
a large pen and coffee estate in another parish belong- j
ing to the same proprietor, the people have much in- J
creased in number since 1817.t We were shewn 1
through the negro village and over the hospital, which l
presented an appearance of cleanliness and comfort, i
We conversed with a few of the people, though as it i
is their own half-day, they were most of them on their i
provision grounds. The head carpenter, a very intelli- ;
gent negro, told us that when he became free, he would j
not leave Latium even if he could obtain higher wages j
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 justi
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.
+ Tiie 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
226 JAMAICA.
which the apprentices are liable. The damage cannot
be repaired sometimes for a whole season, and mean
time they are destitute of food. In this case one of
tlie Magistrates promised his interference. There were
several valuations ; one of a non-predial, a colored
young woman who was very smartly dressed, and who
no doubt filled the situation of "housekeeper" to an
overseer, or book-keeper. The transaction appeared to
be one of rivalry between two plantations underlings,
one of whom became responsible for the amount of the
valuation. Another case was that of a predial, a girl 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 immediately
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 different and in
compatible handicraft trades.
5th.—THOMAS BURCHBLL, 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;
JAMAICA.
227
at present conducted in a large dwelling-house, 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 were often beau
tiful and eloquent. We afterwards visited the Sunday
schools, in which there was five hundred and fourteen
children assembled. The extensive difi^iision 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 commenced at ten, and was attended by at least
three 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
here, attended on the Sabbath by five or six hundred
children, and on other days by about one hundred.
On our way the scenes of many of the principal events
of the 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
roofed walls of many of the buildings. In the course
of the morning, 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 1 8 1 7 to 1834, and has since begun to
increase. We next proceeded to Wiltshire estate,
another well-conducted property. The resident Attor
ney, FENTON, is the only manager at whose
228 JAMAICA.
house 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
of them 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
quires 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.
229
only one punishment on the estate since, and that in
a case of theft.
We met here two of the Special Magistrates, F A -
CEY and ODELLE, in whose company we visited Mont-
pelier, an estate belonging to Lord SEAFORD. This j
property is in the same situation as many others be- i
longing to humane, well-intentioned proprietors, resi- j
ding in England. The authority of the magistrate is j
in constant requisition. The overseer was absent on j
militia duty ; one of the book-keepers shewed us the ]
premises, though with some appearance of reluctance, i
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 i
directed to be locked up in it, thirteen old women, who i
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 j
passage, in which there are about twenty patients. •
There is a court before it, enclosed with a lofty fence j
of bamboos, pointed at the top, so as to exclude the i
inmates from all communication with their friends, at j
the pleasure of the overseer. We were shewn over the |
works and curing house. One of the hogsheads of j
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 i
X
2 3 0 JAMAICA.
sugar, and that a book-keeper is stationed in the boil
ing-house, 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 hold 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 aman 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,
'i'hey 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 difl'erent
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 remimeration, 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, See. 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. Similar
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 preju
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.
LEWIN. 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 Montego
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 A p p e n d i x F , Sec. iii.
JAMAICA. 233
The jail consists of a court and four rooms, besides the
jailor's house 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 Montego 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, M'ho 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 tliey 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. Wc
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 J A M A I C A .
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 had 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 off"ence 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
liim for wages at the rate of ten shillings a day, under
what is called 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 a negro 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 owner. 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 accovmt 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 L I O N E L S M I T H , in his tour of the island, some weelcs later
than this, found a man in Lucea workhouse, who had been com
mitted there merely for being without his free paper. The practice
236 J A M A I C A .
the record of the proceedings of this court, which is
kept by the clerli 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 account 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, i
" as it was a first offence." \\
During our stay in Lucea, we were hospitably en- '
tcrtained by J O H N S T A I N S B Y , the rector of the parish.
He is one of those who has ever manifested a sympathy
with the oppresed, and is consequentlj'-, 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.
E V E L Y N , 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 cbeck or expose colonial abuses. In the afternoon
we proceeded to Savanna la Mar, in the parish of
Westmoreland. Hanover 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.
9th.—We 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 .
238 J A M A I C A .
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 third, who was a non-predial, hired out, for
not paying her weekly hire. In the last case, it is more
than probable, that the offence 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 S A R A H N E L S O N and B E S S E Y G R A N T ,
from Phoenix Estate, in the parish of Hanover, and
who were sent to this instead of their own workhouse,
for the offence 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 A p p e n d i x F , Sec. iv.
J A M A I C A . 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 gave
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
as 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 M'ould
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 J A M A I C A .
panic spread among tlie 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 high legal functionary to the Governor, that their
parishes were in a disturbed state, and requested that
J A M A I C A . 241
troops might be sent. By private inquiries. Lord
S L I G O 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 military, 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.*
10th.—This morning we drove over to Paradise
Pen, the residence of T H O M A S M'c N E E L , the Custos
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 Custos 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 L I O N E L S M I T H ' S tour of
the island, an anonymous letter was brought to him, which had been
dropped in the parish 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 affected 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 have shewn themselves un
equalled in the patient endurance of fraud and oppression.
Y
242 J A M A I C A .
chains, and observed that he had done all he could to
discountenance it. He shewed us several statements
of the increase and decrease of negros, 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 as much attention and oversight
to keep them in their proper place as the negros. He
accompanied us to visit the two estates of Lord H O L
L A N D . 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 H O L L A N D 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
J A M A I C A . 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 H O L L A N D would
send out " h i s 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
H O L L A N D . 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 H O L L A N D ; )
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 sti-ongly 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 J A M A I C A .
There was also near it a series of substantial, stone,
penal cells, which we hope are now chiefly valued 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 negro village. The houses were of an inferior
description, but there were some pleasing evidences of
the industry of the people in their gardens and plain
tain walks. The Custos, though himself a large at-'
torney, 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 those
on his own estate by the expectation of being set free
a year before the time fixed by law. He expressed
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 upon
it, whose wrists were as usual strapped to the handrail.
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.
J A M A I C A . 245
quickly and slowly alternately. One young man of
color, who was 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 constablte 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 M A R Y
S A U N D E R S , 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 J A M A I C A .
Special Justice P H E L P , who told her, she was then
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 tbe 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 P H E L P , E M E R Y , and O L I V E R , 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 SAUNDERS
now stepped forward, and asked why his sister had
been sent to the workhouse. He had witnesses to
prove that the Special Magistrate, (PHELP,) 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 court,
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,
M'hich 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 official correspond
ence in this case ; and can, therefore, state that this assertion of the
magistrates, was a total misrepresentation of the Governor's in
structions in the case, and that the act of committal was entirely his
own. T h e poor woman subsequently memorialized the Governor,
but obtained no redress, till she made a personal appeal to him, when
he visited the workhouse on his tour round the island. H e imme
diately ordered her release. The magistrate, we beUeve, escaped
without censure.
248 J A M A I C A .
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, ( P H E L P , ) put
leading questions to the witness, as " H e is a very
valuable man, is he n o t ? " "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
J A M A I C A . 249
which it is difficult to conceive any thing more objec
tionable. The Custos, 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 toi
meet again some of these estimable men, and to make |
the acquaintance of others, whom we had not previously
known. 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 lOth, 1837. I
" G E N T L E M E N , — I t is with feelings 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- j
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 j
accomplish the destruction of the cruel system, and j
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
J A M A I C A .
mediate state of apprenticeship decided upon by the
Imperial Parliament, and have viewed with intense
interest the working of that system during the two j
years and a-half that have elapsed. We feel ourselves ;
called upon to declare to you our firm conviction that i
the apprentices have conducted themselves in the most j
tranquil and peaceable manner, and have shewn every ;
disposition to be industrious where encouragement has \\
been afforded them by fair and equitable remuneration, j
and where they have not been provoked by vexatious <
annoyances. î
" We cannot refrain from expressing our deliberate J
opinion of the total unfitness of the apprenticeship
system as an act of preparation for freedom ; and that \\
it is to the unparalleled patience of the apprentices, ;
and not to its tolerant spirit, that the present peaceful 1
and prosperous state of the island is attributable. To I
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 affinity; 1
that while it represses the energy of the negro, it has \\
rendered him distrustful of the British public, by whom j
he considers himself to have been cheated by a name ; j
that it has entailed, and is still entailing, excessive i
suffering, especially on the mother and her helpless \\
and unavoidably neglected offspring, 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 j
effect the total abandonment of this system in 1838 ; j
but if every effort 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 j
which they are entitled by the provisions, imperfect as |
they are, of the Act for the Abolition of Slavery.
J A M A I C A . 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 j
one moment beyond that period. j
" Your own observations in this colony must, we ;
think, have convinced you that the costly apparatus by j
which it was intended to secure a measure of protection j
to the negro, is in many instances, made instrumental j
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 suffer.
" We are. Gentlemen,
With much esteem and respect,
J O S H U A TINSOiS^
J A M E S M. P H I L L I P P O , T H O M A S F. A B B O T T ,
T H O M A S B U R C H E L L , W A L T E R D E N D Y ,
W I L L I A M K N I B B , J O H N K I N G D O N ,
H E N R Y C. T A Y L O R , B E N J A M I N B. D E X T E R ,
J O H N C L A R K E , J O H N H U T C I I I N S ,
F R A N r j S G A R D N E R , J O H N C L A R K ;
W I L L I A M W I I I T E I I O R N E , S A M U E L O U G H T O N . " ]
252 J A M A I C A .
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 painful, 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. W A L L A C E , 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.
J A M A I C A . 253
Statement of C Y R U s W A L L A C E , 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. W A L L A C E property, worse than anyxi
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, ho send you to
z
254 J A M A I C A .
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 in
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 has
not yet been on the property; but whenever he does
come, the day he comes, I get it; he 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 j
turn,) a