ful appearance that can be imagined. Oranges and lemons grow in Barbadoes in great plenty, and in their utmost perfection. The lemon juice here has a peculiar fragrancy. The citrons of Barbadoes afford the best drams and sweetmeats of any in the world, the Barbadoes ladies excelling in the art of preserving the rind of the citron fruit. The juice of the limes, or dwarf lemons, is the most agreeable fouring we know, and great quantities of it have of late been imported into Britain and Ireland. The pine apple is also a native of Barbadoes, and grows there to much greater perfection than it can be made to do in Europe by any artificial means. A vast number of different trees peculiar to the climate are alfo found to flourish in Barbadoes in great perfection, fuch as the aloe, mangrove, calabash, cedar, cotton, maftic, &c. Here likewife are produced fome fenfitive plants, with a good deal of garden stuff, which is common in other places. In fhort, a native of the finest, the richest, and most diverfified country in Europe, can hardly form an idea of the variety of delicious, and at the fame time nutritive vegetable productions with which the island abounds.

When Barbadoes was firft discovered by the English, few or no quadrupeds were found upon it, except hogs, which had been left there by the Portugucfe. For convenience of carriage to the fea fide, fome of the planters at firft procured camels, which undoubtedly would in all refpects have been preferable to horfes for their fugar and other works; but the nature of the climate difagreeing with that animal, it was found impoffible to preferve the breed. They then applied for horfes to Old and New-England; from the former they had those that were fit for flow and draught; from the latter thofe that were proper for mounting their militia, and for the faddle. They had likewife fome of an inferior breed from Curaffao, and other fettlements. They are reported to have had their first breed of black cattle from Bonavista, and the ifle of May; they now breed upon the island, and often do the work of horses. Their affes are very serviceable in carrying burdens to and from the plantations. The hogs of Barbadoes are finer eating than thofe of Britain, but the few fheep they have are not near fo good. They likewife have goats, which, when young, are excellent food. Raccoons and monkeys are alfo found here in great abundance. birds are produced on Barbadoes, of which the humming bird is the moft remarkable. Wild fowl do not often frequent this ifland, but fonetimes teal are found near their ponds. A bird which they call

A variety of

the

the man of war, is faid to meet ships at twenty leagues from land, and their return is, to the inhabitants, a fure fign of the arrival of these fhips. When the wind blows from the fouth and fouthweft, they have flocks of curlews, plovers, fnipes, wild pigeons, and wild ducks. The wild pigeons are very fat and plentful at fuch feafons, and rather larger than thofe of England. The tame pigeons, pullets, ducks, and poultry of all kinds, that are bred at Barbadoes, have alfo a fine flavour, and are accounted more delicious than thofe of Europe. Their rabbits are fcarce; they have no hares, and if they have deer of any kind, they are kept as curiofities. The infects of Barbadoes are not venomous, nor do either their snakes or their fcorpions ever fting. The mufkettoes are troublesome, and bite, but are more tolerable in Barbadoes than on the continent. Various other infects are found on the island, fome of which are troublesome, but in no greater degree than those that are produced by every warm fummer in England. Barbadoes is well fupplied with fifh, and fome caught in the fea furrounding it are almoft peculiar to itself, fuch as the parrot fish, snappers, grey cavallos, terbums, and coney fish. The mullets, lobsters, and crabs caught here are excellent; and the green turtle is, perhaps, the greatest delicacy that ancient or modern luxury can boaft of. At Barbadoes this delicious thell fifh feldom fells for lefs than a fhilling a pound, and often for more. There is found in this ifland a kind of land crab, which eats herbs wherever it can find them, and felters itfelf in houfes and hollow trees. According to report, they are a shell fish of paffage, for in March they travel to the fea in great numbers.

The inhabitants may be reduced to three claffes, viz. the mafters, the white fervants, and the blacks. The former are either English, Scots, or Irish; but the great encouragement given by the government to the peopling of this and other Weft-Indian iflands, induced fome Dutch, French, Portuguese, and Jews, to fettle among them; by which, after a certain time, they acquire the rights of naturalization in Great-Britain. The white fervants, whether by covenant or purchase, lead more eafy lives than the daylabourers in England, and when they come to be overfeers, their wages and other allowances are confiderable. The manners of the white inhabitants in general are the fame as in most polite towns and countries in Europe. The capital of the island is Bridge-town.

When

When the English, fome time after the year 1625, first landed here, they found it the most deftitute place they had hitherto vifited. It had not the least appearance of ever having been peopled even by favages. There was no kind of beasts of pasture or of prey, no fruit, no herb, no root fit for fupporting the life of man. Yet, as the climate was fo good, and the foil appeared fertile, fome gentlemen of fmall fortune in England refolved to become adventurers thither. The trees were fo large, and of a wood fo hard and stubborn, that it was with great difficulty they could clear as much ground as was neceffary for their fubfiftence. By unre mitting perfeverance, however, they brought it to yield them a tolerable fupport; and they found that cotton and indigo agreed well with the foil, and that tobacco, which was beginning to come into repute in England, anfwered tolerably. Thefe profpects, toge ther with the ftorm between king and parliament, which was beginning to break out in England, induced many new adventurers to tranfport themselves into this ifland. And what is extremely remarkable, fo great was the increase of people in Barbadoes, twentyfive years after its first fettlement, that in 1650, it contained more than fifty thoufand whites, and a much greater number of negro and Indian flaves. The latter they acquired by means not at all to their honour; for they feized upon all thofe unhappy men, without any pretence, in the neighbouring iflands, and carried them into flavery; a practice which has rendered the Caribbee Indians irrecon. cileable to us ever fince. They had begun a little before this to cultivate fugar, which foon rendered them extremely wealthy. The number of flaves therefore was still augmented; and in 1676 it is fuppofed that their number amounted to one hundred thousand, which, together with fifty thoufand whites, make one hundred and fifty thoufand on this small spot; a degree of population unknown in Holland, in China, or any other part of the world moft renowned for numbers. At the above period, Barbadoes employed four hundred fail of hips, one with another, of one hundred and fifty tons, in their trade, Their annual exports in fugar, indigo, ginger, cotton, and citronwater, were above thirty-five thousand pounds, and their circulating cafh at home was two hundred thoufand pounds. Such was the increafe of population, trade, and wealth, in the courfe of fifty years. But fince that time this ifland has been much on the decline, which is to be attributed partly to the growth of the French fugar colonies, and partly to our own eftablishments in the neighbouring itles. Their

numbers at prefent are faid to be twenty thousand whites, and one hundred thousand flaves. Their commerce confifts of the fame articles as formerly, though they deal in them to lefs extent.

Barbadoes is divided into five districts and eleven parifles, and contains four towns, viz. Bridge-town, Oftins, or Charles-town, St. James's, formerly called the Hole, and Speight's-town. Bridge-town, the capital, before it was deftroyed by the fires of 1766, confifted of about fifteen hundred houses, which were mostly built of brick; and it is ftill the feat of government, and may be called the chief refidence of the governor, who is provided with a country villa called Pilgrims, fituated within a mile of it; his falary was raised by Queen Anne from twelve hundred to two thousand pounds per ann. the whole of which is paid out of the exchequer, and charged to the account of the four and a half per cent. duty. The form of the government of this ifland fo very nearly refembles that of Jamaica, which has already been defcribed, that it is unnecefiary to enter into detail, except to obferve that the council is compofed of twelve members, and the affembly of twenty-two. The most important variation respects the court of chancery, which in Barbadoes is conftituted of the governor and council, whereas in Jamaica the governor is fole chancellor. On the other hand, in Barbadoes, the governor fits in council, even when the latter are acting in a legiflative capacity: this in Jamaica would be confidered improper and unconftitutional. It may alfo be obferved, hat the courts of grand feffions, common pleas and exchequer in Barbadoes, are diftinct from each other, and not as in Jamaica, united and blended in one fupreme court of judicature.

We shall close our account of Barbadoes with the following authentic document.

An

Total

243 26,917 1,942 137,766 0 16 415,489

13,489 5,561 2 18 2,705,975 245 0 5 46,124 7 11 539,605 14 10