"On Sundays, in the afternoon, their music plays, and to dancing they go, the men by themselves and the women by themselves; no mixed dancing. Their motions are rather what they aim at, than what they do; and, by that means, transgress the less upon the Sunday; their hands having more of motion than their feet, and their heads more than their hands. They may dance a whole day, and never heat themselves; yet, now and then, one of the activest amongst them will leap bolt upright, and fall in his place again, but without cutting a caper. When they have danced an hour or two, the men fall to wrestle, (the music playing all the while) and their manner of wrestling is, to stand like two cocks, with heads as low as their hips; and thrusting their heads one against another, hoping to catch one another by the leg, which sometimes they do: but if both parties be weary, and that they cannot get that advantage, then they raise their heads, by pressing hard one against another, and so, having nothing to take hold of but their bare flesh, they close, and grasp one another about the middle, and have one another in the hug, and then a fair fall is given on the back. And thus two or three couples of them are engaged at once, for an hour together, the women looking on: for, when the men begin to wrestle, the women leave off their dancing, and come to be spectators of the sport.

If

"When any of them die, they dig a grave, and at evening they bury him, clapping and wringing their hands, and making a doleful sound with their voices. They are a people of a timorous and fearful disposition, and consequently bloody, when they find advantages. any of them commit a fault, give him present punishment, but do not threaten him; for, if you do, it is an even lay, he will go and hang himself, to avoid the punishment.

"What their other opinions are in a matter of religion, I know not; but, certainly, they are not altogether of the sect of the Sadducees; for they believe a resurrection, and that they shall go into their own country again, and have their youth renewed. And lodging this opinion in their hearts, they make it an ordinary practice, upon any great fright, or threatening of their masters, to hang themselves.

"But Colonel Walrond having lost three or four of his best negroes this way, and in a very little time, caused one of their heads to be cut off, and set upon a pole a dozen foot high; and having done that,' caused all his negroes to come forth, and march round about his head, and bid them look on it, whether this were not the head of such an one that hanged himself. Which they acknowledging, he then told them, that they were in a main error, in thinking they went into their own countries, after they were dead; for, this man's head was here, as they all were witnesses of; and how was it possible the body could go without a head. Being convinced by this sad, yet lively, spectacle, they changed their opinions; and, after that, no more hanged themselves."

It must be allowed, that West-India divinity is most extraordinary; and we hope that the new bishops will do their best to purge it. Doubtless, the gallant colonel was not of such a

way of thinking himself; for he lived in days when neither Prelatist, Presbyterian, Independent, Muggletonian, nor other class of pious souls, admitted such heresies. Perhaps, however, he thought any divinity good enough for his negroes. We believe that it is only the Fresh, Eboe, and Whidah negroes that are addicted to suicide.

"I have been very strict, in observing the shapes of these people; and, for the men, they are very well timbered, that is, broad between the shoulders, full breasted, well filletted, and clean legged; and may hold good with Albert Durer's rules, who allows twice the length of the head to the breadth of the shoulders, and twice the length of the face to the breadth of the hips; and according to this rule these men are shaped; but the women not; for the same great master of proportions allows to each woman, twice the length of the face to the breadth of the shoulders, and twice the length of her own head to the breadth of the hips. And, in that, these are faulty; for I have seen very few of them, whose hips have been broader than their shoulders, unless they have been very fat. The young maids have ordinarily very large breasts, which stand strutting out so hard and firm, as no leaping, jumping, or stirring, will cause them to shake any more than the brawns of their arms. But when they come to be old, and have had five or six children, their breasts hang down below their navels, so that when they stoop at their common work of weeding, they hang almost down to the ground, that, at a distance, you would think they had six legs and the reason of this is, they tie the clothes about their children's backs, which comes upon their breasts, which, by pressing very hard, causes them to hang down to that length. children, when they are first born, have the palms of their hands, and the soles of their feet, of a whitish colour, and the sight of their eyes of a blueish colour, not unlike the eyes of a young kitling; but, as they grow older, they become black.

Their

Their way of reckoning their ages, or any other notable accident they would remember, is by the moon; and so, accounting from the time of their children's births, the time they were brought out of their own country, or the time of their being taken prisoners by some prince or potentate of their own country, or any other notorious accidents that they are resolved to remember, they account by the moon; as, so many moons since one of these, and so many moons since another; and this account they keep as long as they can: but if any of them live long, their arithmetic fails them, and then they are at a dead fault, and to give over the chase, wanting the skill to hunt counter. For what can poor people do, that are without letters and numbers, which is the soul of all business that is acted by mortals, upon the globe of this world.

"Some of them, who have been bred up amongst the Portugals, have some extraordinary qualities, which the others have not; as singing and fencing. I have seen some of these Portugal negroes, at Colonel James Drax's, play at rapier and dagger very skilfully, with their stockadoes, and imbrocadoes, and their passes; and at single ra

pier too, after the manner of the Charanza, with such comeliness, as, if the skill had been wanting, the motions would have pleased you; but they were skillful too, which I perceived by their binding with their points, and nimble and subtle avoidings with their bodies, and the advantages the strongest man had in the close, which the other avoided by the nimbleness and skilfulness of his motion. For, in this science, I had been so well versed in my youth, as I was now able to be a competent judge. Upon their first appearance upon the stage, they march towards one another, with a slow majestic pace, and a bold commanding look, as if they meant both to conquer; and, coming near together, they shake hands, and embrace one another, with a cheerful look. But their retreat is much quicker than their advance, and, being at first distance, change their countenance, and put themselves into their posture; and so, after a pass or two, retire, and then to it again: and when they have done their play, they embrace, shake hands, and putting on their smoother countenances, give their respects to their master, and so go off. For their singing, I cannot much commend that, having heard so good in Europe; but, for their voices, I have heard many of them loud and sweet.

"Excellent swimmers and divers they are, both men and women. Colonel Drax (who was not so strict an observer of Sundays, as to deny himself lawful recreations) would sometimes, to shew me sport, upon that day in the afternoon, send for one of the Muscovia ducks, and have her put into his largest pond, and calling for some of his best swimming negroes, commanded them to swim and take this duck; but forbad them to dive: for, if they were not barred that play, they would rise up under the duck, and take her as she swam, or meet her in her diving, and so the sport would have too quick an end. But that play being forbidden, the duck would make them good sport, for they are stronger ducks, and better divers by far, than ours: and, in this chase, there was much of pleasure, to see the various swimmings of the negroes; some the ordinary ways, upon their bellies, some on their backs, some by striking out their right leg and left arm, and then turning on the other side, and changing both their leg and arm, which is a stronger and swifter way of swimming, than any of the others: and while we were seeing this sport, and observing the diversities of their swimmings, a negro maid, who was not there at the beginning of the sport, and therefore heard nothing of the forbidding them to dive, put off her petticoat behind a bush, that was at one end of the pond, and closely sunk down into the water, and at one diving got to the duck, pulled her under water, and went back again the same way she came to the bush, all at one dive. We all thought the duck had dived and expected her appearance above water; but nothing could be seen, till the subtilty was discovered, by a Christian that saw her go in, and so the duck was taken from her. But the trick being so finely and so closely done, I beged that the duck might be given her again, which was granted, and the young girl much pleased.'

Strange, we repeat, are the ways of nature! In England, dogs hunt ducks, and men men; but, in Barbadoes, men hunt

ducks, and dogs men. It would be edifying enough to see the Barbadian fashion introduced at home; to see mill-ponds pervaded by Bow-street officers, with Mr. Peel and Sir Richard Birnie standing by, to cheer them on; and pick-pockets and needy gentlemen, not having privilege of Parliament, arrested by Teazum and Towser! The Caribbees have another way of hunting. They tie a string to the tail of a remora, about as big as a herring, and send him after a dolphin or a porpoise, to which he sticks so hard, that they draw both ashore. In ancient times, they used to stop the triremes. But they are grown more moderate now-a-days, for they only stop porpoises of half a ton, and sea-cows as big as Sir William Curtis. At least, we never heard of their making our three-deckers bring

to.

He goes on to say,

"Though there be a mark set upon these people, which will hardly ever be wiped off, as of their cruelties when they have advantages, and of their fearfulness and falseness; yet no rule so general but hath his exception: for I believe, and I have strong motives to cause me to be of that persuasion, that there are as honest, faithful, and conscionable people amongst them, as amongst those of Europe, or any part of the world.

"A hint of this, I will give you in a lively example; and it was in a time when victuals were scarce, and plantins were not then so frequently planted, as to afford them enough. So that some of the high-spirited and turbulent amongst them began to mutiny, and had a plot secretly to be revenged on their master; and one or two of these were firemen that made the fires in the furnaces, who were never without store of dry wood by them. These villains were resolved to make fire to such part of the boiling-house, as they were sure would fire the rest, and so burn all, and yet seem ignorant of the fact, as a thing done by accident. But this plot was discovered, by some of the others who hated mischief, as much as they loved it; and so traduced them to their master, and brought in so many witnesses against them, as they were forced to confess, what they meant should have been put in act the next night: so, giving them condign punishment, the master gave orders to the overseer that the rest should have a day's liberty to themselves and their wives, to do what they would; and withall to allow them a double proportion of victual for three days, both which they refused: which we all wondered at, knowing well how much they loved their liberties, and their meat, having been lately pinched of the one, and not having overmuch of the other; and therefore being doubtful what their meaning was in this, suspecting some discontent amongst them, sent for three or four of the best of them, and desired to know why they refused this favour that was offered them, but received such an answer as we little expected; for they told us it was not sullenness, or slighting the gratuity their master bestowed on them, but they would not accept any thing as a recom

pence for doing that which became them in their duties to do; nor would they have him think it was hope of reward that made them to accuse their fellow servants, but an act of justice, which they thought themselves bound in duty to do, and they thought themselves sufficiently rewarded in the act. The substance of this, in such language as they had, they delivered, and poor Sambo was the orator by whose example the others were led both in the discovery of the plot, and refusal of the gratuity. And withall they said, that if it pleased their master, at any time, to bestow a voluntary boon upon them, be it never so slight, they would willingly and thankfully accept it: and this act might have beseemed the best Christians, though some of them were denied Christianity, when they earnestly sought it. Let others have what opinion they please, yet I am of this belief, that there are to be found amongst them some who are morally honest, as conscionable as humble, as loving to their friends, and as loyal to their masters, as any that live under the sun; and one reason they have to be so, is, they set no great value upon their lives: and this is all I can remember concerning the negroes, except of their games, which I could never learn, because they wanted languge to teach me."

With respect to the remaining inhabitants, the masters, be observes;

"Now for the masters, I have yet said but little, nor am able to say half what they deserve. They are men of great abilities and parts, otherwise they could not go through with such great works as they undertake; the managing of one of their plantations being a work of such a latitude, as will require a very good head-piece, to put in order, and continue it so.

"Now let us consider how many things there are to be thought on, that go to the actuating this great work, and how many cares to prevent the mischances that are incident to the retarding, if not the frustrating, of the whole work; and you will find them wise and provident men, that go on and prosper in a work that depends upon so many contingents.'

Of their dispositions, he remarks;

"The next thing is, of their natures and dispositions, which I found compliable in a high degree to all virtues, that those of the best sort of gentlemen call excellent; as, civilly intreating of strangers, with communicating to them any thing within the compass of their knowledge, that might be beneficial to them, in any undertaking amongst them, and assisting them in it, giving them harbour for themselves and servants. And if their intentions were to buy plantations, to make diligent inquiries for such as they desired, and to drive the bargain as near the wind for their advantages, as possibly they could, and to put themselves in some travels, in settling the business; or, if that could not do them service, to recommend them to any friend they