with them, fwearing fincere friendship and inviolable concord. This propofal was agreed to, and the next year, 1719, many of the inhabi tants of Martinico removed to St. Vincent.

The first who came thither fettled peaceably, not only with the confent, but by the affiftance of the red Caribs. This fuccefs induced others to follow their example; but thefe, whether frem jealoufy, or fome other motive, taught the favages a fatal fecret; that people, who knew of no property but the fruits of the earth, because they are the reward of labour, learnt with aftonishment that they could fell the earth itself, which they had always looked upon as belonging to mankind in general. This knowledge induced them to measure and fix boundaries, and from that inftant peace and happiness were banished from their ifland: the partition of lands occafioned divisions amongst them. The following were the caufes of the revolution produced by the system of ufurpation.

When the French came to St. Vincent, they brought flaves along with them to clear and till the ground. The black Caribs, fhocked at the thought of resembling men who were degraded by flavery, and fearing that fome time or other their colour, which betrayed their origin, might be made a pretence for enflaving them, took refuge in the thickeft part of the foreft. In this fituation, in order to imprint an indelible mark of distinction upon their tribe, that might be a per petual token of their independence, they flattened the foreheads of all their children as foon as they were born. The men and women whofe heads could not bend to this ftrange fhape, dared no longer appear in public without this vifible fign of freedom. The next generation appeared as a new race; the flat-headed Caribs, who were nearly of the fame age, tall proper men, hardy and fierce, came and erected huts by the sea fide.

They no fooner knew the price which the Europeans fet upon the lands they inhabited, than they claimed a fhare with the other iflanders. This rifing spirit of covetoufnefs was at first appeased by some prefents of brandy and a few fabres; but not content with thefe, they foon demanded fire arms, as the red Caribs had; and at laft they were defirous of having their fhare in all future fales of land, and likewife in the produce of paft fa'es. Provoked at being denied a part in this brotherly repartition, they formed into a separate tribe, fwore never more to affociate with the red Caribs, chofe a chief of their own, and declared war.

The number of the combatants might be equal, but their strength was not fo. The black Caribs had every advantage over the red, that industry, valour, and boldness, muft foon acquire over a weak habit and a timorous difpofition. But the fpirit of equity, which is feldom deficient in savages, made the conqueror confent to fhare with the vanquished all the territory lying to the leeward. It was the only one which both parties were defirous of poffeffing, because there they were fure of receiving prefents from the French.

The black Caribs gained nothing by the agreement which they themselves had drawn up. The new planters who came to the island, always landed and fettled near the red Caribs, where the coaft was moft acceffible. This preference roufed that enmity which was but ill extinguished; the war broke out again; the red Caribs, who were always beaten, retired to windward of the island; many took to their canoes and went over to the continent, or to Tobago, and the few that remained lived feparate from the blacks.

The black Caribs, conquerors and masters of all the leeward coaft, required of the Europeans that they should again buy the lands they had already purchased. A Frenchman attempted to fhew the deed of his purchase of fome land which he had bought of a red Carib; "I know not," fays a black Carib, "what thy paper fays, but read what is written on my arrow; there you may fee, in characters which do not lie, that if you do not give me what I demand, I will go and burn your house to night." In this manner did a people who had not learnt to read, argue with thofe who derived fuch confequence from knowing how to write. They made ufe of the right of force, with as much affurance and as little remorfe as if they had been acquainted with divine, political and civil right.

Time, which brings on a change of measures with a change of inteterefts, put an end to these disturbances. The French became in their turn the strongeft; they no longer spent their time in breeding poultry, and cultivating vegetables, caffava, maize, and tobacco, in order to fell them at Martinico. In less than twenty years more important cultures employed eight hundred white men and three thoufand blacks. Such was the fituation of St. Vincent when it fell into the hands of the English, and was fecured to them by the treaty of 1763.

It was in the western part of the island that the French had begun the culture of cacoa and of cotton, and had made confiderable adThe conquerors formed there fome fugar

vances in that of coffee.

plantations; the impoffibility of multiplying them upon an uneven foil, which is full of ravines, made them defirous of occupying the plains towards the east. The favages who had taken refuge there, refufed to quit them, and recourfe was had to arms to compel them. to it. The reliftance which they opposed to the thunders of European tyranny, was not, and could not poffibly be maintained with out great difficulty.

An officer was measuring out the ground which had just been taken poffeffion of, when the detachment that accompanied him was unexpectly attacked, and almoft totally deftroyed on the 25th of March, 1775. It was generally believed that the unfortunate perfons. who had just been deprived of their poffeffions, were the authors of this violence, and the troops put themselves in motion, and it was determined totally to eradicate and destroy them.

Fortunately it was determined in time that the Caribs were innocent, that they had taken or maffacred several fugitive flaves who had been guilty of fuch cruelties, and that they had fworn not to stop till they had purged the island of those vagabonds, whofe enormities were often imputed to them. In order to confirm the favages in this refolution, by allurement of rewards, the legislative body paffed a bill to infure a gratuity of five moides, or one hundred and twenty livres, to any one who fhould bring the head of a negro, who should have deferted within three months.

On the 19th of June, 1779, St. Vincent's shared the fate of many other British poffeffions in the Weft-Indies, being taken by a small body of French troops from Martinico, commanded by a lieutenant in the navy. The black Caribbees, however, joined the foe, and the ifland furrendered without a ftruggle. The terms of capitulation were easy, and it was again restored in 1783 to Great-Britain; at that time it contained fixty-one fugar eftates, five hundred acres in coffee, two hundred in cacoa, four hundred in cotton, fifty in indigo, and five hundred in tobacco, befides the land appropriated to the raifing plantains, yams, maize, &c. All the reft, except the fmall fpots cultivated by the native Caribbees, retained its native woods, as it does at this time.

The British territory in this ifland is divided into five parishes, of which only one was ever furnished with a church, which was blown down in 1780. Kingston is the capital of the island, and the feat of government. There are befides three other inconfiderable villages, called towns, but which confift each only of a few houfes. The go

vernment

vernment of St. Vincent is the fame as that of Grenada; the council confifts of twelve, and the affembly of feventeen. The governor has two thousand pounds sterling per ann. half of which is paid by the exchequer of Great-Britain, and the other half raised within the inland.

The military force is a regiment of infantry, and a company of artillery, fent from England, and a black corps raifed in the country, but placed on the British establishment, and provided for accordingly: there are befides two regiments of militia, which ferve without pay of any kind.

The number of inhabitants, according to the laft return made to go vernment, was one thousand four hundred and fifty whites, and eleven thoufand eight hundred and fifty-three blacks, flaves.*

We fhall close this account as of the other islands, with a table of exports, &c. but it must be remarked, that in this table is compre hended the produce of feveral small islands dependent on the St. Vincent government. These iflands are Bequia, Union, Canouane, Muftique, Petit Martinique, Petit St. Vincent, Maillerau, and Ballefcau; the whole containing near ten thousand acres, but the four laft only produce a little cotton.

* Of these negroes there are on the dependent islands about fixteen hundre..

122 12,636 969 65,128 1 27 88,266 9656

634 I

5761,880 143 @ 24 2591 11 of 186,450 14 8