Number and valuation of the Slave Population of | Dominica, on the 1st of August, 1834; as given in by the sworn valuers and classifiers appointed by the assistant commissioners of compensation for that purpose. Town of Roseau Parish of Saint George No. of Slaves. A VII. Churches, Livings, &c. [B.B.]—A church in the town of Roseau, parish of St. George, capable of containing about 400 persons, of whom from 100 to 200 generally attend: value of living, 2401. sterling, and 60%. per annum allowed for parsonage-house. chapel school at St. Joseph's, accommodating about 150 persons, of whom 40, chiefly children, generally Val. in Stlg. attend. There are also two dissenting places of worship in the parish of St. George; one in St. Joseph, and one in St. Andrew's. 778 £. 34304 94112 2615 1686 45138 58783 Making the average value of each slave in sterling? 50l. 158.2.9597d.nearly. Among the number valued are included 2105 children under six years of age who are now free by the operation of the Abolition Act: also are included 397 aged, diseased or otherwise noneffective. [Dominica Almanack, 1837.] A statement of the number of Slaves for whom Compensation has been claimed, and of the Number of Claims preferred for such Compensation, and of the Amount of Compensations awarded in each of the classes of Prædial-attached, Prædial-unattached, and Non-Prædial. [Parliamentary Return to the House of Lords, March, 1838.] VIII. Schools in 1836. [B. B.] Three public or free schools in Roseau, 60 male scholars (supported by the bishop of the diocese); one infant school, 60 female scholars; one ditto, with 47 male and 33 female scholars (supported by voluntary contributions. A house, which has recently come into possession of the colony, has been granted by the Legislature to the Dominica District Committee for the use of the schools). One public or free school in the town of St. Joseph, 22 male and 15 female scholars (supported by the Bishop of the diocese). .. : : 26 2224 1828] IX. Number of Prisoners in Dominica throughout each year, from 1828 to 1836. Male Fm. Totl. Male Fm. Totl. Male Fm. Totl. Male Fm. Totl. Male Fm. Totl. Male Fm. Totl. 1829 16 .. 14 1834 42 1835 44 09 This latter court was revived and regulated by the law of Dominica, number 74, passed in 1817. It is a court of record, and the process and proceedings are conformable to those of the court of common pleas. The complaint court is for the recovery of debts, up to 251. The court of common pleas consists of a X. There is a Lieut.-Governor, a Legislative Council of eight, an Executive, a Council of 12, and a Representative Legislative Assembly of 20 Members. The general business is managed as in the other colonies. The militia in 1836 consisted of 10 Lieut.-Colonels; 3 Majors; 17 Captains; 21 Lieutenants; 8 Ensigns; 1 Surgeon; 1 Quarter Master; 54 Serjeants; 13 Drum-chief and four other judges. The court of grand sesmers; 864 Rank and File; Total, 1092. An excellent body of men. The laws in force in the island are the common statute law of England, so far as is applicable to circumstances; acts of parliament declared or manifestly intended to apply to the island, or to the colonies in general; and the acts of the island house of assembly, when not repugnant to the laws of Great Britain and sanctioned by the crown. The courts of civil jurisdiction are those of chancery, common pleas, complaints, error, admiralty, and the merchant court. sions of the peace consists of the Lieut.-Governor (not being commander-in-chief), the Members of Council, the Speaker, and all the Justices of the Peace who are Members of the House of Assembly. The Chief Justice presides, and the other judges seldom interfere. The court sits twice yearly. Any three Justices of the Court (being Members of Council) may at any time take bail, as in the English Court of King's Bench. The preceding and the Court of Queen's Bench have alone criminal jurisdiction in the island. XI. The revenue is raised generally as in the other West Indian colonies. Comparative Yearly Statement of the Revenue and Expenditure of Dominica, in Pounds. [B. B.] 1827. 1828. 1829. 1830. 1831. 1832. 1833. 1834. 1835. 1836. Total £ 28827 29064 29243 29994 27959 31935 *8959 4354 2380 8301 The diminution between 1832 and 1833 must have been owing to the cessation of a parliamentary grant for military protection. There is a local assessment of 24 per cent. on the rental of houses in Roseau, which produces £300 per annum. There is a paper currency of 2,000 dollars=£360 sterling, in notes of two and four dollars each, payable in coin on demand at the Colonial Treasury. The amount of coin in the island is not ascertainable. officers, 6127.=15,6671. Deduct re-payments: commissariat, 1721.; ordnance, 3021.=4751. Nett charge, 15,1921. [B. B. 1836.] Ordnance expenditure by Great Britain.-Ordnance service, 1,0037.; barrack service, 1,6067.; Agents to ordnance military corps, 3801.; ordnance military service, 241. Nett charge, 3,0131. [B. B.] Recapitulation of the Establishment.—Paid by Great | 3,0261.; ordinaries, 5,3781.; pay of commissariat Britain in sterling money: Civil Establishment, 2600l.; Judicial Establishment, 18001.; Ecclesiastical Establishment, 1801.; total, 45801. Paid by the Colony in sterling money: Civil Establishment, 10327.; Judicial Establishment, 1201.; Ecclesiastical Establishment, 2801.; Pension, 391.; total, 14717. [B.B. 1836.] Commissariat Expenditure by Great Britain.-Provisions and forage: received from England, 22197.; purchased in command, 28681. 50881. Received from England, 711.; purchased in command, 1447.= 2161. Miscellaneous purchases, 10.; transport, 2361.; pay of extra staff, 1601.; military allowances, 8131.; special licenses, 771.; contingencies, 481.; ordnance, XII. During the year ending 5th of January, 1788, its exports were,-Sugar, 1,302 cwt.; Rum, 63,392 gallons; Molasses, 16,803 gallons; Cocoa, 1,194 cwt.; Coffee, 18,149 cwt.; Indigo, 11,250 lbs. ; Cotton, 970,816 lbs.; Cotton, 161 cwt.; Hides, dye woods. &c. 11,912l. 10s. 9d. Val. £ No. Tons. Val. £ Val. £ No. Tons. Val. £ No. Tons. Val. £ No. Tons. Val. No. Tons. Men. XII. Dominica is one of the best watered of the Caribbee islands, and, with its rich soil, may be naturally expected to have a luxuriant vegetation. The woods afford a large supply of excellent timber, consisting of locus-wood, bully-tree, mastic, cinnamon, rose-wood, yellow-sanders, bastard-mahogany, iron wood, several species of cedar, and various other sorts useful for building houses, vessels, and canoes, -for furniture, for dyeing, and other necessary purposes. The trees are of uncommon height, and by far exceed in loftiness the tallest timber in England; their tops seem to touch the very clouds, which appear as if skimming swiftly over the upper branches. Many are of enormous girth; and the seeds of different trees, being scattered by the wind, fall into the heart of the same plant, and thus become incorporated with the tree on which they are seen growing. The circumference of the body of the gum-tree is generally very great, and its timber is, on that account, made into canoes, by digging or burning out the inside, and shaping the log into form. The gum falls from the body and branches of the tree in great quantities, in substance like white wax: it was found very serviceable to the planters of that island, during the time it was in the possession of the French; the gum being used instead of oil (which could not then be had) to burn in lamps in boiling-houses when making sugar. The Romish priests of Dominica use it likewise in their censers at funerals, and other ceremonies of their church, on account of its delightful aromatic smell when burning. It is supposed to contain virtues which might be valuable in medicines, were they better known. The timber also of this tree, as well as that of several others in the woods, make good shingles for covering houses, and staves for sugar and coffee casks. Several fine sloops and schooners have likewise been built here, and esteemed for their strength and durability. Cabbage-trees are in great plenty, and serviceable, as their trunks, sawed or split, make good laths or rails for cattle-pens, being very durable. The branches and leaves are used for thatching of houses; and the cabbage part of them is excellent eating; when boiled, it tastes much like the bottom part of an artichoke. It also makes a good pickle. The size of the ferns, whole forests of which are found in the dips and recesses of the hills, is very remarkable; some of them rise to the height of 25 feet, with their branches as finely pinnated, and their colour as vivid and fresh, as the dwarfish and lowly, but lovely, English fern. In 1792, there were 31,695 acres in actual cultivation; 26,770 acres adjoining, and 30,175 acres partly cleared. There were 52 sugar and 291 coffee estates. The value of the landed property and buildings thereon was 3,100,000. sterling. Prices of Produce, 1836. [B. B.]-Horned cattle, each, 81.; horses, 251.; sheep, 11. 10s.; goats, 158.; swine, 17. 10s.; milk, 34d. per quart; butter, fresh, 2s. 6d. per lb.; ditto, salt, 31. 15s. per firkin; cheese, 1s. 4d. per lb.; wheaten bread, 3d.; beef, 7d.; mutton, 8d.; pork, 54d.; coffee, 9d.; tea, 10s.; sugar, 34d.; salt, 7s. per barrel; wine, 21. per dozen; brandy, 128. per gallon. Wages for Labour.-Domestic, per month, 17. 58. ; prædial, per day, 1s.; trades, per day, 28. A part of the crown lands, admirably adapted for cultivation, consists of a large run of woodland, known by the name of the Lazon Flats, extending across the island to Paguon or Commissioners' Bay, and com prising a surface of 20,000 acres, covered with the most valuable and durable timber, nearly on the same level, and watered by a great number of small streams, forming the Mahout and Lazon rivers on the W. side, and the Quanary and Pagoua rivers on the E. of the island. This land is stated by the intelligent Surveyor-general of the island, Mr. Finlay, to be admirably adapted to the cultivation of cocoa, coffee, and all kinds of provisions. Large pastures might easily be formed for cattle: its elevation above the level of the sea is from 800 to 1000 feet; the general temperature 68 to 75 Farenheit; and there are no local impediments but a want of funds, or it may be said of population, to demonstrate the advantages which would arise from Europeans colonizing this delightful West Indian island. CHAPTER IX.-ANTIGUA. SECTION I. This fertile island is situate in lat. | those of St. John, English Harbour, and Falmouth, 17.3 N. long. 62.7 W. 40 miles N. of Guadaloupe, 25 N. E. of Montserrat, 30 S. of Barbuda, extending in parallel lines from Friar's Head in the E. to Peyrson's Point in the W., 15 miles; containing from Shirley's Heights in the S. to Boon's Point in the N. 114 miles, being about 20 miles long, about 54 in circumference, and containing 108 square miles, equivalent to 69,277 acres. II. Antigua was discovered by Christopher Columbus, on his second voyage, in 1493, and named by him, from a church in Seville, Santa Maria de la Antigua. Next to Barbadoes and St. Christopher it is the oldest British colony in the leeward isles, having been settled by Sir Thomas Warner, with a few English families in 1632. Antigua was granted to Lord Willoughby, of Parham, by Charles II. in 1663. In 1666 a French armament from Martinique and Guadaloupe, assisted by some Caribs, got temporary possession of the island, and plundered the planters unmercifully. By the treaty of Breda, the island was in 1688 finally settled under the British dominion, and by means of free trade, and beneath the auspices of the Codrington family, rapidly prospered. III. Antigua is nearly of an oval shape, with an extremely irregular coast, indented with numerous bays, and almost surrounded by islets, rocks, and shoals, which render the approach to it very dangerous on every side except on the S. W. More than one half of the island on the N. E. is low, in some places rather marshy, and interspersed with gentle acclivities and swelling eminences, which, if less denuded of trees, would present the beautiful hill and dale scenery of England. Towards the S. and S. W. the elevation of the land gradually increases, forming round backed hills of a moderate height, generally running E. and W. intersected by cultivated valleys, and partially clothed with small trees and brushwood. The greatest elevation (computed at 1210 feet) is on the Sheckerley range of mountains, called Boggies Hill, about six miles to the W. of Monks Hul. The highest district may be said to take its rise from Falmouth, and to continue with various elevations to Five Island Harbour. The height to the N. E. and S. W. is not considerable, but on the latter part the hills are occasionally bold and precipitous, forming numerous ravines and vallies, their summits being extremely irregular, sometimes round, at other times conical, and occasionally tabular; the rest of the island may, as a general feature, be said to consist of broad slopes, and repeatedly occurring undulations. No island in the W. Indies can boast of so many excellent bays and harbours, but they are all, except (which require pilots) difficult of access. The other bays and harbours are St. Freeman's (at the entrance of English Harbour), Rendezvous Bay, Morris Bay, Five Island Harbour, Lydesenfis Bay, Parham, Nonsuch, and Willoughby harbours, and Indian Creek, contiguous to Freeman's Bay. St. John's, the capital, is irregularly laid out, pretty large, and built on the N. W. side of the island, at the head of a large but not deep harbour, the N. side of which is partly formed by an elevated rock, called Rat Island, about midway up the harbour, and connected with the main land by a causeway, which is submerged at highwater. From St. John's to the extreme N. and N. E. of the island the land is generally very low, interspersed with numerous ponds and marshy hollows; but, with these exceptions, the surface of the whole is sufficiently varied to prevent the accumulation and stagnation of water on its surface. Monks-hill (a military station) gradually rises from the bottom of Falmouth Bay, and, as it ascends, becomes precipitous till surmounted by Great George Fort, at the height of 625 feet, commanding to the N. and N. E. an extensive view of a highly cultivated country, overlooking the bay below the peninsula of Middle Ground, English Harbour, and the Ridge, whilst in the distant horizon are to be seen Guadaloupe, Montserrat, and in clear weather Nevis and St. Christopher. English Harbour is a very complete dockyard, on a small scale, surrounded by hills, on one of which at the N. E. the naval hospital is situate. With the exception of a few scanty rivulets amongst the hills, the whole island is destitute of running water, and the wells, heretofore dry, have proved brackish; ponds, and tanks are, therefore, the mainstay of the planters. The plan of boring for water should be adopted. IV. The soil of the high lands is of a red clay, argillaceous, with a substratum of marl; in the low lands it is a rich dark mould, on a substratum of clay. The most superficial strata occupy the N. and E. parts, and are of a calcareous formation, and the outline of the district is in round hills and knolls, similar to those found in the chalk districts of England. Through the stratum of marl which appears on the surface run layers and irregular masses of limestone, containing a variety of fossil shells, nodules of calcareous spar, cellular and chrystalized quartz, chalcedony, agate, and coral-lines, both in a calcareous and silicious state. A calcareous sandstone is also found in this marl formation, composed of silicious particles, carbonate of lime, and a little oxyde of iron. breccia also frequently appears, consisting of an agglutination of fragments of different coloured porphy A medium of temperature of 79.68, and a total annual fall of rain of 35.58. The most severe huricanes were those of 1681, 1707, 1740, 1772, 1780, and 1792. A dreadful earthquake occurred in 1689, and committed great destruction in Antigua. parish, in latitude 17 deg. 8 min. N. longitude 61 deg. 48 min. Meteorological Table.-From a journal kept in St. Peter's W., from 1st. December, 1833, to 1st December, 1834. Month. Barometer. Thermometer. max. min. max. min. med. Rain in inches. ries. No bones of the larger animals have been found | A meteorological table for 1836 shewing an annual in this formation. The coarse chert, or flint, is seen in irregular masses on the surface, breaking into sharp angular blocks, and containing a great quantity of petrified wood and casts of shells. Petrified wood is also found on the surface of the conglomerate and marl formations, often so delicate and beautiful, that the colour of the wood and the distinctive form of its fibre are perfectly preserved. Agate, cornelian, and chalcedony, are frequently seen intermingled in the same specimen. Nitrate of potass, like a hoar frost, covers the flat oozy shore which bounds the bay of Falmouth on the N. and E. On a general view, the geological formation of the island may be said to consist of marl, conglomerate chert and trap. Marl forms the greater part, and extends over the whole N. and N. E. part; trap, the S. W.; conglomerate, an intervening section, extending inland from St. John's Harbour, and chert, embracing a section with the latter segment. Dr. Nugent divides the island into four distinct classifications. The range of mountains, or rather highlands, in the S. W. quarter, consisting of unstratified conglomerate, composed of masses of trap, breccia, wacke, porphyry, greenstone, &c. which are embedded in a clay matrix with brownish decomposing chlorite baldagé. Parallel with this range inland, a different formation appears, consisting of a claystone conglomerate, containing silicified wood, coralline chert, agate, amygdaloid, porphyry slate, bloodstone, &c. in a matrix of an intense green colour. The N. and E. districts have a calcareous formation subordinate to the lowest beds, of which, and nearly in the centre of the island, are extensive irregular masses of coarse chert, containing a prodigious quantity of casts of shells. The fossils and petrified woods found in Antigua, when polished, are exquisitely beautiful. V. Owing to the elevation of the land, and the absence of dense and lofty woods, visible in Jamaica, Dominica, &c., the climate of Antigua is dry, and the rainy season so uncertain, that sometimes a great part of the hurricane season passes away without rain. The dry season generally commences in January, continuing to April or May, and from June to the end of the year the rains are usually abundant. In consequence of the dryness of the climate, the temperature is less subject to the variations observed in the other islands; heavy dews are not often experienced, and the thermometer seldom ranges more than 4 degrees in the 24 hours. On the ridges, or hills, the temperature is considerably modified by the sea breezes, or trade winds, which occasionally shift a few points to the N. and South. Years. February December 30.06 30.15 29.90 85.5 76. 79.4 2.03 30.03 84.7 72.5 76.8 3.92 29.98 82. 69. 75.9 3.54 30.14 30.04 29.97 81. 70.8 76.4 1.53 84. ... 30.07 30.14 30.09 VI. In 1673, the number of negroes in the island was 570. In 1707, whites, 2,892; negroes, 12,892. In 1720, whites, 3,672; negroes, 19,186. In 1724, whites, 5,200; negroes, 19,800. (Militia, 1,400.) In 1729, whites, 4,088; negroes, 22,611. According to the Abbê Raynal, the white inhabitants of Antigua, in 1741, amounted to 3,538, and negroes to 27,416. In 1774 the whites were 1,590 and the negroes 37,808. In 1787, whites, 2,590; free coloured, 1,230; slaves, 20,435. In 1788, the taxed negroes were 36,000. In 1798, the taxed negroes were 37,808. Colquhoun computed the whites, in 1815, at 3,200, the free people of colour, 1,200, and the slaves at 36,000. In 1821 the male slaves were, 14,531; females, 16,533-Total, 31,064. The number of white men liable to serve in the militia, from 14 to 59 years old, 877; of white females and children, 840; of white males, under 14 years, 235; number of coloured and black men, liable to militia service, between 14 and 59 years, were 881; of coloured and black females, including children, 2,346; ditto males, under 14 years, 622. Discharged and pensioned soldiers, 9; of African apprentices, 278; of white men, exempt from militia duty over 60 years old, 46. Grand total, 6,162. |