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PREFACE.

SOME Editor, in drawing out a prospectus for
his periodical, remarks, that " to us the most
disgusting kind of arrogance is that which
pretends to have no pretensions ;" and he af-
terwards says,
"We do not believe that the
kingdom of Great Britain is to be gained,
like the kingdom of Heaven, by excessive
humility." I am much inclined to coincide
with his opinion; and though I am aware that
no work stands more in need of the generosity
of the reader and the indulgence of the critic
than the one now presented to the public, yet
it should not go forth to that public without
some claims, however lowly, upon their atten-
tion and regard; and I am sufficiently pre-
sumptuous to hope, that the deep interest and
importance of some of the subjects discussed
will, in some degree, make up for those errors

in judgment, and that deficiency in style, which are ever liable to mark the productions of one unused to tread the winding paths of the mazy labyrinth of literature.

I therefore do not hesitate to avow that "Four Years' Residence in the West Indies," amongst numerous bad qualities which I must beg the reader to pardon, pretends also to the possession of three good ones.

The first consists in its originality, in being the first work of the kind ever published in this country.

The second, in the variety of subjects it contains; affording, or at least endeavouring to afford, something that may prove acceptable to nearly every class of readers.

The third, and most important, in its authenticity and its truth; for I can positively assert, and I would lay particular emphasis on this circumstance, that no facts are narrated but those which I have either personally witnessed or derived from the most undoubted authority.

From the commencement of the volume I have chosen a light style, because I wished to entertain the reader, and to avoid the often tedious and dry monotony of a common book of travels; and this style I have continued to