Part 12

From Mr. Stewart’s we proceeded to the Colleton estate, where we purposed taking up our quarters for the night. On our way I happened to learn that the gentleman of the house was not apprized of our intended visit; and on discovering this, it seemed to me that it would be only a necessary civility to acquaint him with it; I therefore proposed that we should despatch an _avant courier_ to announce our approach, lest, from descrying so large a party, unexpectedly, the family might believe us to be indeed a horde of Maroons; or, still worse, might mistake us for a foraging party, coming to levy contributions upon the estate; but I was desired to suspend my anxiety, and be assured that we should not fail to meet with good accommodations, and a sincere welcome, by only announcing ourselves “_in propriis personis_;” and this information proved to be perfectly correct, for Mr. Hollingsworth greeted us cordially, and entertained us with all the genuine hospitality of the island. Eight visitors, eight slaves, and eight horses, thus dropping in without notice, and at night, were received with such unaffected kindness as to assure us that thrice the number would have been joyfully hailed. No cold, or forbidding ceremony; no seeming hurry or disorder; no derangement of the household was manifested. We were all immediately _at home_; no surprise or inconvenience was evinced; not an individual was incommoded; the duties of the family were continued; nor was there the slightest mark of interruption in any department of this hospitable dwelling. The usual order was maintained, and it appeared as if we were a part of the family. The _mauvaise honte_, the confusion and embarrassment but too common, upon similar occasions, in England, were utterly unknown. The brimming punch-bowl was set before us, and pleasant lively conversation prevailed: soon the supper called us to further feasting, which continued until the hour of repose.

We retired to rest, according to the custom of the country, at an early hour. Drs. Master, Cleghorn, and myself were accommodated in one spacious room. It was the first night we slept on shore, and you will judge of the temperature of these regions, when I tell you that, in this cool part of the most Windward Island, and in the month of February, we set open the windows of the room, and threw aside all the bedding and clothes, preserving to each person only a hard mattress, and a single sheet. With this arrangement we passed the night in sound repose, and rose at six in the morning, well prepared for another marooning day.

We rode before breakfast to see the Barbadoes or Codrington College. On our way we passed an estate called “Society,” and on approaching the college from the high land of that quarter we obtained a fine view of the building, with the plain on which it stands, and the wide expanse of the sea, spread before it. Descending from the hill we met with the finest avenue of mountain-cabbage trees that we had seen in the island.

The college was founded and richly endowed by Colonel Codrington, with the generous and very laudable design of establishing a great and useful seminary for the education of the youth of Barbadoes; the liberal founder appropriating the revenue of two large estates to the institution, in the desire of affording an opportunity to the creole generations of the island, of acquiring learning, and fitting themselves for the important duties of society, and of their individual stations, without incurring the expense of an European education. But the benevolent intentions of the Colonel have not been duly regarded. The profits intended for this best of purposes have been squandered away, and the funds disgracefully neglected or abused. The superb edifice, which was planned, has not been finished, and even the part that was erected, has, from shameful neglect, been brought into early decay. Only one side of the intended quadrangle has yet been built, and that, to the disgrace of those concerned, has long been left to fall into ruin.

The present manager, highly to his honor, has done much toward recovering the estates, and directing the funds, arising therefrom, into their proper channel. By his care a very considerable sum has been recently accumulated, and the part of the building which has been erected, is now undergoing a repair, in the hope of saving it from utter and premature destruction.

The walls are built of stone, and are of uncommon strength. They withstood the dreadful hurricane of 1780, and appear to be still capable of a complete restoration, but it must be at great labour, and a prodigious expense.

As we were viewing the large hall, and the chapel, we received a message from the master, the Rev. Mr. Thomas, requesting us to take breakfast with him: but our plan for the day, and our engagements with Mr. Hollingsworth, did not allow us to accept the invitation. We had, however, an opportunity of thanking him, by making him a visit in the house built for the principal of the college, which we were sorry to observe, like the other parts of the structure, had been left unheeded, and was falling into comparatively youthful decay. Mr. Thomas showed us a model in wood, according to the original design; but if the building had been completed upon this plan, Barbadoes might have boasted a college, vying in grandeur, and elegance of structure, with the greatest ornaments of the celebrated universities of the mother-country. The model, like the building, feeling the destructive effect of the climate, and of sad neglect, was fast crumbling into a state of decay.

Twelve boys, only, are yet admitted on the foundation, and these, instead of occupying any part of the college building, are accommodated in the house of the master, the parlour being converted into a kind of a school-room.

We returned to Mr. Hollingsworth’s by a different road, from that we had taken in going, ascending some high land near the college, called “Coach Hill.” This ride afforded us an opportunity of seeing a numerous gang of negroes grouped in the middle of a field, taking their breakfast, during the temporary suspension allowed them from labour. They were seated upon the bare earth, and exposed to the full scorching of the sun.

On our arrival we found a handsome breakfast prepared for us, and neatly served in a large cool room, with all the taste and fashion of the West Indies. While partaking of it I several times detected my thoughts wandering to the poor blacks in the field, contemplating the simplicity of their fare, and the humble natural board on which it was spread.

The Colleton estate is one of the largest in the island. It is, at present, the property of a Mrs. Colleton, who resides in London. The direction and sole management of it are left to Mr. Hollingsworth; and the owner is fortunate in giving her confidence to a person of high honor and integrity, who does every justice to the estate, and the proprietor. At this plantation we witnessed the mode of claying, or (as they commonly term it) _improving_ sugar. This is a very simple process by which the sugar is much whitened, and increased in value. A coating of clay, softened nearly to a liquid state with water, is spread over the surface of the sugar, as it stands in the deep earthen pots into which it is received from the boiler, and the fluid parts gradually draining away, the clay becomes hardened into a dry cake at the top; while the water passes through the whole of the sugar, and carries with it a considerable portion of the molasses, passing off by an opening at the bottom of the pot, leaving the sugar greatly whitened, and improved. The clay having become hard and contracted, is easily removed from the surface. We saw it lifted from several of the pots; and the difference between the sugar in these and in the vessels which had not been subjected to the same process was very striking. After being thus treated the sugar sells at a price nearly one third higher, than in its raw state: other advantages are likewise said to derive to the planter from this partial mode of refining the produce of his canes. Soon after breakfast we resumed our _marooning_ wanderings, taking our departure from the Colleton estate impressed with a strong sense of the kind reception, and the very warm hospitality it had afforded us.

After leaving Mr. Hollingsworth’s, “Clarke’s Court,” and “Kendall” estates, were the two earliest plantations which arrested our attention. The latter is under the direction of a very singular and eccentric character, whose great ambition is to act differently from other men; and who finds a secret pleasure in deviating from established rules. His mill is oddly trimmed, the sails strangely cut, and all the works, by some deviation or other, made peculiar. Among a multitude of other singularities he has planted a patch of pigeon peas in the neighbourhood of a field of canes, in order to allure the borers from the sugar,—a piece of policy very like setting a dish of tough beef before an alderman to seduce his appetite from a haunch of venison!

From Kendall’s we rode to “Drax-Hall,” the largest plantation of the island, and the property of the Grosvenor family. The house is a spacious and venerable edifice, quite proportionate to the size of the estate, which we observed, had two mills, and a double set of works for the preparation of the sugar. This was also the case at the large estates of Colleton and Kendall.

No interruption,—no chasm occurs in the hospitality of Barbadoes! It is universal, and literally, as justly, entitles it to be ranked among the “friendly isles.” In all the liberality of the country Mr. Chatterton of Drax-Hall, invited us to pass the day at the good old mansion, kindly proffering us every friendly accommodation. But it was not consistent with our plan to take up our quarters at so early an hour; we were therefore compelled to violate our inclinations, which would have detained us throughout the day at the Hall. After having the refreshment of some wine and water, we pursued our ride, and passing by way of a wood, called after the name of the plantation “Drax-Hall wood,” we proceeded to the estate of “Spendlove,” which is under the care, and very excellent management of Mr. John Waith, a gentleman in no degree less hospitable than any we had seen in the island, and although very active, no less fat and good-humoured than some of our well-fed yeomen who feast upon the best things of England.

Spendlove was our place of dinner. Whilst this was preparing, we begged permission to see the negro-yard, and to extend our visit into some of the huts, being desirous to inspect the habitations, and observe the mode of life of the slaves. It was remarked to us that the negroes were tenacious of their home, and disliked to have their huts exposed to the prying eye of strangers. We accordingly treasured the information, promising not to be too minute, but to regulate our curiosity with all becoming decorum, paying due regard to the feelings and prejudices of the sable inhabitants: and I should have been truly mortified not to have had this opportunity of telling you, from the testimony both of my eyes and ears, the very comfortable, and, I might say, happy state in which we found the slaves of Spendlove.

In your future good wishes for the comfort of the poor Africans forget not to pray that all masters may possess hearts as kind, and humane, as that which beats in the bosom of “Jack Waith,” this being the title by which that gentleman is best known in the island. The friendly indulgence of the master is amply repaid by the attachment of his slaves; and the history of Mr. Waith and his gang, may stand in everlasting reproach to the self-arrogating opinion which maintains that negroes know not the divine sentiment of gratitude, but are most treacherous toward the master who treats them best. Were this the fact, as is not unfrequently asserted, it would offer itself in direct opposition to a great law of human nature, and would place the _blacks_ very far indeed below the _whites_; but, however much individual instances might seem to countenance the opinion, these, perhaps, do not occur more frequently among Africans, than among Europeans, and surely cannot be considered to arise more from any original defect in them, than we should be willing to admit that they do in ourselves. Such instances are only the result of depravity in either, and proceed from a _perversion_, not from a genuine _principle_ of nature; and hence cannot in the one, more than in the other, serve to establish any general maxim.

By kind attentions, and occasional indulgences to his slaves, Mr. Waith had so meliorated their condition, so softened to them the hardships of slavery, and so improved their comforts, as to attach them to him, by the secure ties of affection and gratitude. The loud clang of the whip was seldom heard among them, and the smartings of its painful lash were scarcely dreaded; for a better principle than fear impelled them to their duty. Their friendship for their master made his interests their own; and their gratitude rendered his safety the object of their solicitude, and even of their lives. Of this he had, in two great instances, known the most unequivocal proof; one when the negroes of the estates had formed a conspiracy to rise upon their masters; the other upon an alarm being given that the island was attacked by the French! On both these occasions the slaves of Spendlove voluntarily offered to lay down their lives in defence of Mr. Waith and his house.

At the negro-yards it is common for the slaves to plant fruits and vegetables, and to raise stock. Some of them keep a pig, some a goat, some Guinea fowls, ducks, chickens, pigeons, or the like. At one of the huts of Spendlove, we saw a pig, a goat, a young kid, some pigeons, and some chickens, all the property of an individual slave. This is mere favor, but it gratifies and amuses the negroes, and becomes, in various ways, highly useful. The little garden, and their stock, not only afford them employment and recreation for their leisure moments, but create a degree of interest in the spot, and excite feelings of kindness toward the master, who both grants and protects the indulgence. The negro-yard, viewed from a short distance, forms an object of highly interesting and picturesque scenery: it comprises all the little huts, intermixed with, and more or less concealed by the variety of shrubs and fruit-trees, which kindly lend their shade; likewise the many small patches of garden-ground around them, and the different species of stock, some appearing in pens, some tied by the leg, or the neck, and some running at large: if it be evening, you have also the crowd of negroes, male and female, as they chance to be at rest, or moving in busy occupation, some passing from hut to hut, some dancing to their favorite music, some sitting at the door with the pipe in their mouths, and others smoking their loved sagar under the broad leaf of the plantain. The picture is also further enlivened by the groups of black children; some running and skipping about, some seated, playing before the doors, in Nature’s ebon dress, and some, unable to walk, attempting little excursions upon their hands and feet. Perhaps within so small a space, few scenes could offer so much to interest, or to aid the pencil of a painter.

They are at liberty to take the whole of their own private stock to market, and to procure whatever additional comforts they prefer with the money it produces. Strange as it may appear, the markets of the island depend almost wholly upon this mode of supply. They are all held weekly, and upon the Sunday; that being the day when the negroes are free from labour, and have leisure to attend.

Mr. Waith has learned the happy art of governing his slaves with kindness, and he finds it a better steward than the whip. With great goodness of heart he indulges his own humane feelings, and finds it better policy than using stripes. He is a man of social manners, and would certainly deceive Lavater himself, if he possessed not all the generosity and benevolence for which he has obtained such universal credit; for all this is plainly written upon his brow. He is of a ruddy complexion, and with an uncommon degree of fatness, is very active, and appears to have all the strong health of an European. Never was entertainment more bountiful, or given with greater liberality, or a more cordial welcome, than at the plantation of Spendlove. Punch and mandram preceded the dinner; at table was an extensive variety of good things; and after the cloth was removed, the board was spread with fruits of various kinds, together with claret, port, and madeira wines, and goava-punch.

The round of feasting having continued for several hours, it was followed, like our dinner at the Bay-house, by new provocatives; and the appetite, having already consumed more than it required, was invited to take more than it ought, by the unexpected appearance of smoking sprats, hot lobsters, and a large bowl of milk-punch.

Mr. Waith’s father and brother came from their different plantations to meet us at Spendlove, and were of the party at dinner. The old gentleman is an uncommonly handsome man, sixty years of age, with all the health and spirits of a person of forty. He is not so fat as his son, but _très enbonpoint_. He is jocose and lively, a facetious companion, highly convivial, and, in the full spirit of the West Indies, a perfect _bon vivant_. He intreated us, with much kindness and urgent solicitation, to make a visit to his estate before we leave Barbadoes, apologizing in his own mirthful way, for not having it in his power to offer us more than a “plain farmer’s dinner,—_a pig, a duck, and a turkey cock_.”

In order to reach Bridge-town in time to go on board to sleep, we left Spendlove earlier than our inclinations would have dictated. On our way we called at the house of Mr. Ellcock, brother to an eminent physician of that name, whom we had met at Dr. Hinde’s. The road leading to the mansion was bordered by the stately mountain-cabbage trees, which are so peculiarly calculated to form a grand and imposing approach to a gentleman’s dwelling. These were the finest which had yet occurred to our observation, not excepting those we had seen at the college. Mr. Ellcock’s is the most modern, and most European-looking abode we met with in the course of our tour. The house and little flower-garden before it, resemble those of England. Near to the door is a cool avenue forming an agreeable promenade, deeply shaded with the foliage of a very handsome tree called the “Evergreen.”

We walked into the small garden before the house, which is laid out _à l’Angloise_, and has much more correctly the appearance of an English garden, than the many very humble imitations, which Englishmen are so often invited to see in France, Germany, and other parts of the continent, under the abused title of “Jardin Anglois.”

Mr. Ellcock’s favorite pursuit is botany. He is occupied in obtaining an extensive collection of rare and select plants, and of the different species of tropical fruits and trees. He is particularly curious regarding his orchard; but unfortunately he was from home, and the key was not to be found; hence we lost the opportunity of seeing perhaps the most varied, and valuable assemblage of fruit-trees in the island. Nor could we even steal one look at it through any opening, for the gate was close as the door of a convent, and the surrounding fence was a high hedge of the lignum vitæ, so thick and impenetrable as to resist even the prying eye of curiosity.

Both the orchard and garden were originally planned, and have been wholly planted under the immediate inspection of Mr. Ellcock, to whose taste and industry every credit is due for the improvements made, and the very valuable productions already brought together.

Although disappointed in this visit, we have still an eye to the collection, and do not intend to let it escape without minute observation; for should it happen that we may be called away, before we can return to it ourselves, we have made known its situation to a friend of ours, whose industry and acuteness in the science of botany will not allow a twig or a flower to pass unnoticed. Our colleague, Dr. Wright, is told where to find it, and as he is of the Charibbee island staff, and may remain longer here than ourselves, or may possibly be stationed in the island, it will be the greatest pleasure perhaps, that could offer to him, to explore this depôt of tropical plants.

From Mr. Ellcock’s we rode to Bridge-town without further delay, and arrived in time to go off to the Lord Sheffield before the prohibited hour of nine, after which no boats are permitted to leave the shore.

To bring into one point the sum of gratification afforded by this delightful excursion, would be a work of difficulty. You will form some idea of it from the loose details I have marked. It has offered us an abundant opportunity of seeing the whole face of the island; of viewing many of the different plantations; of observing the produce, and method of cultivation; of witnessing the manners and customs of the inhabitants; and of noticing the labours and habits of life of the slaves; whom we have seen in the fields,—in their huts,—in the sugar-works,—about the houses,—at their moments of rest and retirement, and amidst all their various occupations and modes of employment.

LETTER XXIV.

Carlisle Bay, Feb. 29.

It proves that we might have lengthened our marooning excursion, without the slightest interruption from the fear of being called away to St. Domingo. Scarcely any vessels arrived in the bay during our absence, and very few have come in since our return. Our solicitude, concerning the commander in chief and the convoy, is still undiminished. One ship left them in one latitude, another in another, one parted from the fleet in the bay of Biscay, another off Portugal, a third off the coast of Africa, and others in different latitudes. Some suppose the convoy to have put into Lisbon, some say Gibraltar, and others various other ports. All is still enveloped in a cloud of uncertainty.

One vessel has at length reached Barbadoes, which sailed subsequent to ourselves. It is a Glasgow trader, and you will judge what multitudes thronged on board, as soon as she entered the harbour, to ask for news. She brings papers of January, and we are much gratified to learn that the admiral had written to England, so late as the fourth of that month, saying that he had, then, with him one hundred and eleven sail!