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hardware. The number of their veffels does not exceed thirty floops, without decks.

The tame animals of these two iflands have filled the woods with a breed of horned cattle, which are become wild: the inhabitants shoot them, and cut their flesh into flips of three inches in breadth and one in thickness, which they dry, after having melted the fat out of them, fo that they will keep three or four months. This provifion, which is called taffajo, is fold in the French fettlements for twenty livres a hundred weight.

All the money which the government fends to these two islands, falls into the hands of the commandants, the officers civil and military, and the monks. The remainder of the people, who do not amount to more than fixteen hundred, live in a state of the most deplorable poverty. In time of war they furnish about two hundred men, who, for the fake of plunder, offer themfelves, without dif tinction, to any of the colonies that happen to be fitting out cruizers for fea. Besides thefe, there are fome other small islands claimed by the Spaniards, but to which they have paid little or no attention.

FRENCH

FRENCH WEST-INDIES,

MARTINICO.

MARTINICO is the chief of the French Caribbee islands, the

middle of which is fituated in weft longitude 61° o', north latitude 14° 30'.

This ifland was first fettled by M. Defoambuc a Frenchman, in the year 1635, with only one hundred men from St. Christopher's. He chose rather to have it peopled from thence than from Europe, as he forefaw that men tired with the fatigue of fuch a long voyage, would moftly perish foon after their arrival, either from the climate, or from the hardships incident to moft emigrations. They completed their first fettlement without any difficulty; the natives, intimidated by their fire arms, or feduced by promifes, gave up the western and fouthern parts of the island to the new comers. In a short time, however, perceiving the number of these enterprising strangers daily increafing, they refolved to extirpate them, and therefore called in the favages of the neighbouring iflands to affift them; they fell jointly upon a little fort that had been hastily erected, but were repulfed with the lofs of feven or eight hundred of their best warriors, who were left dead upon the spot.

After this check, the favages for a long time difappeared entirely, but at last they returned, bringing with them prefents to the French, and making excufes for what had happened; they were received in a friendly manner, and the reconciliation fealed with pots of brandy, This peaceable state of affairs, however, was of no long continuance, the French took fuch undue advantages of their fuperiority over the favages, that they foon rekindled in the others that hatred which had never been entirely fubdued. The favages feparated into finall bands,

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and waylaid the French as they came fingly out into the woods to hunt, and waiting till the fportíman had discharged his piece, rushed upon and killed him before he could charge it again. Twenty men had been thus affaffinated before any reafon could be given for their fudden disappearance; but as foon as the matter was known the French took a fevere and fatal revenge; the favages were pursued and maffacred, with their wives and children, and the few that escaped were driven out of Martinico, to which they never returned.

The French being thus left fole mafters of the island, lived quietly on thofe fpots which beft fuited their inclinations. At this time they were divided into two claffes; the first confifted of those who had paid their paffage to the ifland, and thefe were called inhabitants, and to these the government distributed lands, which became their own, upon paying a yearly tribute. These inhabitants had under their com mand a multitude of diforderly people brought over from Europe at their expenfe, whom they called engagés, or bondímen. This engagement was a kind of flavery for the term of three years, on the expiration of which they were at liberty, and became the equals of thofe whom they had ferved. They all confined themselves at first to the culture of tobacco and cotton, to which was soon added that of arnotto and indigo. The culture of fugar alfo was begun about the year 1650. Ten years after, one Benjamin D'Acosta, a Jew, planted fome cacao trees, but his example was not followed till 1684, when chocolate was more commonly used in France. Cacao then became the principal fupport of the colonists, who had not a fufficient fund to undertake fugar plantations; but by the inclemency of the season in 1718, all the cacao trees were deftroyed at once. Coffee was then propofed as a proper object of culture: the French ministry had received as a prefent from the Dutch, two of these trees, which were carefully preferved in the king's botanical garden. Two young fhoots were taken from thefe, put on board a fhip for Martinico, and entrusted to the care of one M. Defclieux; this hip happened to be straitened for want of fresh water, and the trees would have pe rifhed, had not the gentleman fhared with them that quantity of water which was allowed for his own drinking. The culture of coffee was then begun, and attended with the greatest and most rapid fuccefs; about the end of the last century, however, the colony had made but fmall advances. In 1700 it had only fix thousand five hundred and ninety-feven white inhabitants; the favages, mulattoes, and free negroes, men, women, and children, amounted to no more than

five hundred and feven; the number of flaves was but fourteen thoufand five hundred and fixty-fix; all thefe together made a po pulation of twenty-one thousand fix hundred and forty-five perfons.

After the peace of Utrecht, Martinico began to emerge from that feeble state in which it had fo long continued. The ifland then be came the mart for all the windward French fettlements; in its ports the neighbouring iflands fold their produce, and bought the commodities of the mother country; and, in fhort, Martinico became famous all over Europe: their labour improved the plantations as far as was confiftent with the confumption then made in Europe of American productions, and the annual exports from the island amounted to about seven hundred thousand pounds.

The connections of Martinico with the other iflands entitled her to the profits of commiffion, and the charges of tranfport, as fhe alone was in the poffeffion of carriages. This profit might be rated at the tenth of the produce; and the fum total must have amounted to near seven hundred and fixty-five thousand pounds: this standing debt was feldom called in, and left for the improvement of their plantations; it was increafed by advances in money, flaves, and other neceffary articles, fo that Martinico became daily more and more a creditor to the other islands, and thus kept them in constant dependence.

The connections of this ifland with cape Breton, Canada, and Louifiana, procured a market for the ordinary fugars, the inferior coffee, the molaffes, and rum, which would not fell in France. In exchange the inhabitants received falt fish, dried vegetables, deals, and fome flour. In the clandeftine trade on the coasts of Spanish America, confifting wholly of goods manufactured by the French nation, the commonly made a profit of ninety per cent. on the value of about one hundred and feventy-five thousand pounds, fent yearly to the Caraccas, or neighbouring colonies.

Upwards of feven hundred and eighty-feven thousand pounds. were conftantly circulated in this ifland with great rapidity; and this is perhaps the only country in the world where the fpecie has been fo

confiderable as to make it a matter of indifference to them whether they dealt in gold, filver, or commodities. This extenfive trade brought into the po.ts of Martinico annually two hundred fhips from France; fourteen or fifteen fitted out by the mother country for the coaft of Guinea, fixty from Canada, ten or twelve from the islands of Margaretta and Trinidad, befides the English and Dutch fhips that

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came to carry on a fmuggling trade. The private navigation from the island to the northern colonies, to the Spanish continent, and to the windward iflands, employed one hundred and twenty vessels, from twenty to thirty tons burden.

The war of 1744 put a stop to this profperity: not that the fault was in Martinico itself; its navy, conftantly exercised; and accuftomed to frequent engagements, which the carrying on a contraband trade required, was prepared for action. In lefs than fix months, forty privateers, fitted out at St. Peter's, spread themselves about the latitude of the Caribbee islands; yet an entire ftop was put to the navigation of the colony, both to the Spanish coaft and to Canada,. and they were conftantly disturbed even on their own coafts. The few fhips that came from France in order to compenfate the hazards they were expofed to by the lofs of their commodities, fold them at a very advanced price, and bought them at a very low one.

When every thing thus feemed tending to decay, the peace at last reftored the freedom of trade, and with it the hopes of recovering the ancient profperity of the ifland; the event, however, did not anfwer the pains that were taken to attain it. Two years had not elapsed after the ceffation of hoftilities, when the colony loft the con traband trade fhe carried on with the American Spaniards. This lofs was not fo fenfibly felt by the colony as the hardships brought upon them by the mother country; an unskilful administration clogged the reciprocal and neceffary connection between the islands and NorthAmerica with fo many formalities, that in 1755 Martinico fent but four veffels to Canada. The direction of its colonies, now commit-ted to the care of ignorant and avaricious clerks, it foon loft its importance, funk into contempt, and was prostituted to venality. The war broke out afresh, and after a feries of misfortunes and defeats, the ifland fell into the hands of the British; it was restored in July 1763, fixteen months after it had been conquered, but deprived of all the neceffary means of profperity that had made it of fo much importance. The contraband trade carried on to the Spanish coafts was almost entirely loft, the ceffion of Canada to Great-Britain precluded all hopes of opening again a communication, which had only been interrupted by temporary mistakes. The productions of the Grenades, St. Vincent, and Dominica, which were now become British dominions, could no longer be brought into their harbours, and a new regulation of the mother country, which forbad her