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PHILOSOPHICAL AND POLITICAL
HISTORY IT
O F T H E V.
SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
F T H E
EUROPEANS
1 N T H E
EAST AND WEST INDIES-
BOOK VIII.
Conqueft of Chili and Paraguay by the Spaniards*
Principles on 'which Spain regulates her colonies.
THE country known by the name of Chili^ B c o i
is bounded on the eaft by immenfe deferts, t Vl ' ,.
that reach as far as Paraguay. To the weft, it ex- % what
tends along the South Sea, from the frontiers of s>"niard
Peru to the {heights of Magellan; The Incas !tmf e iy es
had prevailed upon great part of the inhabitants of "blu"^
that vaft region to iubmit to their wife laws, and
intended to fubdue the whole, had they not met
with infuperable difficulties.
THIS important project was refumed by the Spa-
niards, as foon as they had conquered the princi-
pal provinces of Peru. In the beginning of 1535,
VOL. III. B Almagro
2 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B vm. K Almagro fee out*from Cufco, and patted the Cor-
* v ' delerasj and though he had loft a great part of
the foldiers who attended him in his expedition,
he was received with the greateft marks of lub-
mifiion by the nations that had been formerly un-
der the dominion of the empire that had juft been
fubverted. The terror of his arms would, proba-
bly, have procured him greater advantages, had not
fome concerns of a private nature brought him
back to the center of the empire, where he ended
his days in an unfortunate manner.
THE Spaniards appeared again in Chili in 1541.
Baldivia, their leader, entered it without the leaft
oppofition. The inhabitants were gathering in
their crops; but as foon as harveft was over,
they took up arms, and never laid them down for
ten years. Some diftricts, indeed, difcouraged by
the continual lofles they fuftained, at length fub-
mitted, but the reft refolutely fought for their li-
berty, though they were generally defeated.
AN Indian captain, whofe age and infirmities
confined him to his hut, was continually told of
thefe misfortunes. The grief of feeing his people
always beaten by a handful of ftrangers, infpired
him with courage. He formed thirteen compa-
nies of a thoufand men each, which he led againft
the enemy. They marched one after another, and
he ordered that if the firft company were routed,
it Ihould not fall back upon the next, but rally
and be fupported by it. This order, which was
ftriftly obeyed, difconcerted the Spaniards. They
forced through all the companies one after ano-
ther, without gaining any advantage. As both
the
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
the men and horfes Wanted reft, Baldivia retreated B
towards a defile, where he judged he could eafily
defend himfelf ; but the Indians did not allow him
time fufficient to fecure his retreat thither* Their
rear marched through bye-ways and took pofiefllon
of the defile, while their vanguard followed him
with fo much precaution, that he was furrounded
and maffacred, together with his hundred and fifty
men. It is faid that the favages poured melted
gold down his throat, faying, ghtt tbyfelf with that
metal thou art fo fond cf.
THEY availed themielves of this victory, to burn
and deftroy many of the European lettlements,
which would all have fhared the fame fate, had they
not been timely afiifted by feme confiderable rcin^
forcements from Peru, which enabled them to de-
fend their belt fortified pofts. They extended
themielves a little after this, but never acquired
the fmalleft portion of additional territory without
fighting for it. Of ail the countries in America
which the Spaniards have attempted to fubdue,
this is the one in which they have always me: with,
and ftill find the greateft refiflance.
THEIR molt irreconcilable enemies are the
inhabitants of Arauco and Tucapel, thofe to
the fouth of the river Bobioj or who extend
towards the Cordeleras. Their manners, which
bear a greater refemblance to thofe of the
favages of North America, than to thofe of the
Peruvians their neighbours, render them confe-
quently more formidable. When they go to war,
they carry nothing with them, and want neither
tents nor baggage. The fame trees from which
B 2 they
4 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
VIII.
c they gather their food, fupply them with lances
and darts. As they are fure of finding in one
place what they had in another, they willingly
refign any country which they are unable to de-
fend. All places are equally indifferent to them.
Their troops being free from all incumbrance of
provifions and ammunition, march with furprifing
agility. They expofe their lives like men who let
little value on them; and if they lofe the field of
battle, they are not at a lofs for magazines and
encampments wherever there is ground covered
with fruits. They fometimes invite their neigh-
bours to join them to attack the common enemy,
and this they call throwing the arrow, becaufe
this call flies as fwiftly and filently as an arrow
from one habitation to another. Very frequently
a drunken fellow wantonly calls to arms; the
alarm is inftantly fpread, a chief is chofen,
and war is determined. A certain night is
immediately fixed upon, in the dead of which,
.the time they always chufe for the commence-
ment of hoftilities, they fall upon the next vil-
lage where there are Spaniards, and from thence
proceed to others. They murder all the inhabi-
tants, except the white women, whom they al-
ways carry of. This is the true origin of the
many white and fair Indians that are to be met
with.
BEFORE the enemy has time to collect his forces,
they all unite in one body. Their army, though
more formidable from their numbers than from
their dilcipline, is not afraid of attacking the pofts
that are-moft ftrongly fortified. This fury often
fucceeds,
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
fucceeds, becaufe they are fo conftantly fupplied B ^
with reinforcements, that they are not fenfible of * v
their lofTcs. If thefe are fo confiderable as to ob-
lige them to defift, they retire to the diftance of a
few leagues, and five or fix days after, fall upon
fome other place. Thefe barbarians never think
they are beaten, unlefs they are furrounded. If
they can take poffeflion of a place difficult of ac-
cefs, they think they are conquerors. The head
of one Spaniard, which they carry off in triumph,
comforts them for the death of a hundred Indians.
Such a people muft neceiTarily conquer.
THE country is of inch confiderable extent, that
when they find themfelves in danger from the ene-
my, they forfake their poffeflion, and remove in-
to fome impenetrable foreft. Recruited by other
Indians, they foon return into the parts they had
before inhabited} and this alternate fucceffion of
flight and refiftance, of boldnefs and fear, is the
circumftance that renders them unconquerable.
WAR is to them a kind of amufement. As it
is neither expenfive nor inconvenient to them,
they have nothing to apprehend from its conti-
nuance; as it is a conftant rule with them never
to fue for peace. The pride of Spain muft al-
ways condefcend to make the firft overtures.
\Vhen thefe are favourably received, a conference
is held. The governor of Chili and the Indian
general, attended by the moft diftinguifhed cap-
tains on both fides, fettle the terms of accommo-f
dation, at a convivial meeting. The Spaniards
are always obliged to purchafe peace by fome pre-
fents, and after a variety of fruidds attempts,
B 3 they
6 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B o/,?, R they have been forced to give up all thoughts of
yr -^ extending their conquefts, and reduced to cover
their frontiers by erecting forts at proper diftances.
Thefe precautions are taken to prevent the Indians
who have fubmitted, from joining the independent
favages, and likewife to repel the inroads of the
latter into the colonies.
ft'jl"? ihe THESE colonies are difperfed on the borders of
Spania-ds the South Sea; they are parted from Peru by a
defert that meafures eighty leagues, and bounded
by the ifland of Chiloe, at the extremity next
the (freights of Magellan. On that great length
of coaft, there are no fettlements except thofe of
Baldivia, Conception iiland, Valparaifo and Co-
quimbo or La Serena, which are all fea-ports. In
the inland country is St. Jago, the capital of the
colony. There is no culture nor habitation at any
diftance from thefe towns, The buildings are
all very low, made of unburnt brick, and moftly
thatched. This practice is obferyed, on account
cf the. frequent earthquakes, and is properly
adapted to the nature of the climate, as well as
the indolence of the inhabitants.
THEY are robuft and well-fhaped men, but few
in number. In all that large fettlement, there are
not 20,000 white men, and not more than 60,000
negroes or Indians, able to bear arms. The mili-
tary eftablifhmeht. amounted formerly to 2000
men; but the maintaining of them was found too
expenfive, and they were reduced to 500 at the
beginning of the century. This reduction has
made no alteration in the tranquillity of the colo-
ny, becaufe thefe Indians pay no poll-tax, and ape
treated
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. .,
treated with more humanity than in the other con- B .
quered provinces. The bravery which they had * k
exerted in the defence of their liberty, made them
obtain more favourable terms when they furren/
deredj and the capitulation has never been broken,
for fear they fliould join with the independent na-
tions in the neighbourhood.
IF Chili is uninhabited, it is not owing to the
climate, which is one of the moil wholefome in
the world. The vicinity of the Cordcleras gives
it fuch a delightful temperature, as could not
otherwife be expected in that latitude. There is
net a more pleafant province in all the mother-
country.
THE richnefs of its gold mines has been too '
much extolled. Their united produce never ex-
ceeds five millions of livres* a year. The gold
was formerly brought over in bullion; but ever
fince the year 1749, it is coined in the mint fet up
at St. Jago. The excellent copper mines of Co-
quimbo fupply the whole kingdom of Peru.
A MORE certain fource of wealth, though lefs
pleafing to the pofTeflbrs, is the prodigious ferti-
lity of the foil. All the European fruits have im-
proved in that happy climate. The wine would
be excellent, if nature were affifled by art. The
corn harveft is reckoned a bad one, when it does
not yield a hundred fold,
WITH all thefe advantages, Chili has no direct ,
* Lonnec-
intercourie with the mother-country. Their whole t^ni of
Chili with
trade is confined to Peru, Paraguay, and the fa- the indi-
vages on their own frontiers. RXTS
* 2,8,750!. r Pi ' 4 "
B 4 THE g
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
vin K THE i nnabitants f Cnili feU tne ' ir m
-v ' nary and lefs valuable commodities to thefe fava-
ges for oxen, horfes, and their own children, whom
they are ready to part with for the mod trifling things.
THOUGH they are paffionately fond of inch
baubles when expofed to their view, they never
think of them when they are removed from their
fight; nor will they come out of their woods and
deferts to procure them; fo that the Spaniards are
under a neceffity of carrying thefe trifles to them.
A Spaniard who intends to undertake this trade,
firft applies to the heads of families, in whom
alone refides all public authority. When he has
obtained leave to fell, he goes through all the
villages, and diflributes his goods indifcriminately
among all who afk for them. When they arc all
difpofed of, he gives notice of his departure, and
every one who has purchafed any thing of him,
brings, without delay, to the village v/here he firft
made his appearance, the goods agreed for be-
tween them. There has never been any in fiance
of difhonefty in this traffic. The merchant is al-
lowed an efcort to afilft him in conducting the
cattle and flaves he has received in payment, to
the frontiers of the country,
WINE and fpirituous liquors were fold till the
year 1724 to thefe people, who, like moil other
favages, are excefiively fond of them. When
they were intoxicated they tiled to take up arms,
maflacre all the Spaniards they met with, and fud-
denly attack the forts, and ravage the country near
their dwellings. Thefe outrages were fo often re-
peated, that it was found necefiary ftrictly to for-
bid
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 9
bid this dangerous trade. The good effects of the BOOK
prohibition are daily felt. The commotions of ^ v '
thefe people are lefs frequent and lefs dangerous,
and their peaceable behaviour has brought on a
vifible increafe of intercourfe with them; but it
is not likely it fhould ever be fo great as that with
Peru.
CHILI fuppliesPeru with great plenty of hides,
dried fruit, copper, fait meat, horfes, hemp, lard,
wheat, and gold. In exchange for thefe articles,
Peru fends tobacco, fugar, cocoa, earthen ware,
woollen cloth, linen, hats made at Quito, and
every article of luxury that is brought from Eu-
rope. The Ihips fent from Callao on this traffic
were formerly bound for Conception Bay, but
now come to Valparaifo. The voyage was at firft
fo tedious, that a whole year was necefTary to com-
plete it. The failors never ventured to lofe fight
of land, and followed all the windings of the.
coaft. An European pilot, who had obferved the
winds, performed that navigation in one month.
They confidered him as a magician, and he was
taken up by order of the inquifition, whofe igno-
rance becomes an object of ridicule, when its
cruelty does not excite our abhorrence. The jour-
nal he produced was his vindication j and it plain-
ly appeared that to perform the fame voyage, it
was only necefTary to keep clear of the coafls.
His method was, therefore, univerfally adopted.
THE colony of Chili acts upon a very different
plan in its tranfactions with that of Paraguay. The
intercourfe between the two colonies is not carried
pn byfea-, as it would then be neceflary either to
pafs
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
vi i K
B K P a *~ s r ^ e ft re i nts of Magellan or to double Cape
Horn, which the Spaniards always avoid as much
as pofiible. They find it fafer, and even cheaper,.
to go by land, though it is three hundred leagues
from St. Jago to Buenos Ayres, and that they muft
travel forty leagues through the fnows and preci-
pices of the Cordeleras.
CHILI fends to Paraguay fome woollen fluffs
called ponchos, which are ufed for cloaks. It alfo
fends wines, brandy, oil, and chiefly gold; and
receives in return wax, a kind of tallow fit to
make foap, the herb of Paraguay, European
goods, and as many negroes as Buenos Ayres can
furnifh. Thofe negroes that come from Panama, as
numbers of them are loft by 'a long navigation and
frequent change of climate, are purchafed at a
higher price, and are not fo.robuft.
CHILI is a flate entirely diftincl: from Peru,
and is governed by a chief who is abfolute in
all political, civil, and military affairs, and inde-
pendent of the viceroy, who has no authority ex-
cept when a governor dies, to appoint one in his
room for a time, till the mother-country names a
iuccelTor. If on fome occafions the viceroy has
interfered in the government of Chili, it was when
he has been either authorifed by a particular truft
repofed in him by the court, or by the deference
pr.id to the eminence of his office; or when he has
been aftuated by that ambition which naturally
prompts men in power to extend their authority,
Paraguay enjoys the fame independence,
SVbtT"' PARAGUAY is bounded on the north by the river
niards in o f the Amazons, on the ibuth by the country bor-
Fatagusy.
dermg
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. u
dering on the (heights of Magellan, on the eaft
by the Brazils, and on the weft by Chili and Peru.
It derives its name from a large river that comes
down from the lake Xarayes, and runs nearly from
north to fouth; and after having made feveral
windings through an immenfe fpace, falls into the
fea about the 35th degree of fouth latitude.
THIS region, which is about 500 leagues long
and 300 broad, is very much diveriified. It con-
tains vafl forefts, long ridges of mountains, low
lands that are under water great part of the year,
and morafies that conflantly corrupt the air by
their ftagnating waters. The roving nations who
inhabit thefe deferts are all of an olive complexion,
though in a different degree, .are above the middle
fize, and have flat faces. The men and children
are generally naked, efpecially in the hot countries*
and the women wear hardly any covering. All
travellers agree in giving a very unfavourable ac-
count of thefe peoples whom they 1 reprefent as
extremely ftupid, fickle, perfidious, and glutton-
ous; much addidled to drunkennefs, without any
forefight, and exceflively indolent and cowardly.
If on certain occafions fome of them have given
proofs of a kind of furious courage, it was owing
to their being impelled by the defire of plunder or
the fpirit of revenge.
THEY live upon hunting, filhing, wild fruits,
honey, which is commonly found in the forefts,
and roots that grow fpontaneous. Some few eat
maize and cafladaj and they often change their
habitations, with a view of procuring greater plenty
of food. As they have nothing to remove but a
few
12 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
few earthen vefiels, thefe emigrations are extremely
eafy j and they can find branches of trees in every
place to build their huts with. Though every In-
dian thinks himfelf free, and lives in a Hate of
abfolute independence, yet the necefiity of mutual
defence has obliged them to form themfelves into
a kind of fociety. Some families unite under the
direction of a leader of their own choice. Thefe
affociations, which are more or lefs numerous, in
proportion to the reputation and abilities of the
chief, are as eafily diflblved as formed.
THE difcovery of the river Paraguay, fince
called Rio de la Plata, was made in 1516, by
Diaz de Solis, a noted pilot of Caftile. He and
mod of his men were put to death by the natives,
who, to avoid being enflaved, fome years after
alib deflroyed the Portuguefe of Brazil.
THE two rival nations, equally alarmed by
thefe calamities, gave up all thoughts of Paraguay,
and turned their avaricious views towards another
place. The Spaniards accidentally returned there
in 1526.
SEBASTIAN CABOT, who in 1496 had made the
difcovery of Newfoundland for the crown of Eng-
land, rinding that kingdom was too much taken
up with domeftic affairs to think of making fettle-
ments in a new world, offered his fervices to Spain,
where his reputation made him be fixed upon to
conduct an important expedition.
THE Viftory, celebrated for being the firft Ihip
that ever failed round the world, the only one of
Magellan's fquadron that returned to Europe, had
brought a great c-uantity of fpices from the Mo-
luccas.
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. , 3
luccas. The great profit that was made upon BOOK.
this Tale, occafioned a fecond expedition, and the u.- y *
command was given to Cabot. In purfuing the
track of the former voyage, he arrived at the
mouth of the Plata. Whether he was in want of
provifions necefiary for a longer voyage, or whe-
ther, which is more probable, his men began to
be mutinous, he Hopped there. He failed up the
river, and built a fortrefs at the entrance of the
river Riotecero, which comes down from the
mountains of Tucuman. All the incidents that
fucceeded this eftablifhmerit, are recorded with
miraculous circumftances by theSpanifli hiftorians.
To evince the falfehood of them, we fhall only
relate them in their own flyle and manner.
NUNO dc Lara was appointed to guard the firft
bulwark, erected on the fortunate banks of the
Paraguay, to afford the Spaniards the opportunity
of making themfelves matters of all the riches of
a world deftined by heaven, /or a people who of
all Chriftendom were the moil diftinguifhed for
their faith and attachment to religion. If the go-
vernor had been fupplied only with as many ibl-
dicrs as there were nations to fight or to expel, he
would have depended upon the valour of the Spa-
niards that had fo often fignalized itfelf, to infure
the conqueft of Paraguay. But no more than a
hundred and twenty men had been given him to
oppoie fuch innumerable people. He, therefore,
thought it advifable to fecure his fituation by an
alliance with the Timb.uez, a nation bordering on
his government. Mangora, their cacique, was
delighted with the character of Nuno, and accept-
ed
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
VIH K ec ^ P r P^ s which were intended to honour and
. y ~> diftinguifh him from that multitude of favages
who -were deftined to be one day the flaves of that
nation, which was the miftrefs of the new world*
The Spaniard received him with kindnefs. But
let us admire the power of love, who not content
with triumphing over gods and heroes, delights in
fubduing the fiercenefs of barbarous nations. His
quiver has furer and more deadly arrows than the
poifoned darts of the Indian.
THE cacique was inflamed with love at the fight
of a lady, whofe name was Lucia Miranda, the
wife of the invincible captain Sebaftian Hurtado.
From that inflant the cacique became furious, and
felt that it would be in vain for America to pre-
tend to refift a nation, each of whofe foldiers
deftroyed whole armies, and each of whofe women
could lay all their chiefs at her feet. He ventured
to confefs his love to her who did not condefcend
to take notice of it. But, in order to feduce by
artifice a woman whom he defpaired of obtaining
by violence, he laid a plan to work upon the am-
bition of Hurtado. He invited him with Miran-
da to come and receive the homage of his whole
nation, giving him to underftand that a beauty
deftirved to triumph in both worlds, would for
ever fecure an alliance to the Spaniards with fuch
of the Timbuez as might fiill doubt the fuperiori-
ty of fo celebrated a people ; and who would be
convinced, when they fhould fee from what fource
of heroifm the Europeans derived that courage
which enabled them with fo much facility to be-
come matters of the world : for terror had fpread
the fame of the Spanifh arms, from one tropic to
5 the
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 15
the other, more effectually and with greater rapi- BOOK
dity, than even victory itfelf. V _L-*
HURT ADO, who had been informed by his chafte
wife, of the cacique's fatal attachment thought i:
incumbent upon him, from motives of pity, to de-
ceive a pafiion which he could not extinguifh
without deftroying that unfortunate prince. He
anfwered him, that no European foldier would
dare to quit his camp or his garrifon, without
leave of the general or governor, nor could aflc
fuch a favour without difgrace, unlefs it were to
fight and conquer. The cacique, enlightened by-
love, who leems only to blind happy lovers, per-
ceived clearly that the Spaniard trifled with his
pafTion; and as he found he could never be hap-
py but by the death of his rival, he refolved to
deftroy him. This could only be effected by
treachery i for it was impoffible that Hurtado
fhould fear any but cowards.
THE cacique was informed that Hurtado was
gone out of the garrifon with fifty of his invin-
cible foldiers to procure provifions by force of
arms. The garrifon was extremely weakened by
the abfence of that captain. Mangora with expe-
dition collected a body of four thoufand Indians
well armed, and concealed them in a covered mo-
rafs near the citadel. Then marching to the gates
with thirty of his men loaded with provifions, he
fent word to Lara, that having been informed that
the Spaniards, whom he confidered as his friends,
were in want of provifions, he had haftened to
offer them fome, till the convoy fhould return with
a frefh fupply. The generofity of the general
could
X 6 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK could not pofiibly be induced to fufpecT: any fnare-s
^.-^-'^ of perfidy in the prefents and voluntary offers of
an ally. Lara received the cacique with the fm-
cereft teftimonies of gratitude, and treated him and
his company with what foreign European provifions
he was able to add to the natural produce of the
country. From this variety an entertainment was
prepared} and the Spaniards intoxicated fell into the
arms of ileep, or rather into thofe of deir.ru ction.
THE cacique had before apprized his efcort and
the troops he had placed in ambufcade with his
intent. Every circumftance had been previoufly
arranged and concerted to carry the moft infamous
treachery into execution. The Spaniards were
fcarce fallen afleep, when the light of the flames,
by which the magazine was fet on fire, gave the
fignal to the Timbuez to advance, in order to
fack the place. The foldiers who were appointed
to guard it, and whom the tumult and light of
the flames had juft rouzed from their fleep, ran,
intoxicated as they were, to extinguifh it. During
this confufion, the contrivers of the flratagem
opened the gates to their companions, and the
whole troop, armed with poinards, fell upon the
Spaniards, who could neither efcape the fire nor
the fword. Lara, mortally wounded, was leis fo-
licitous to extract; the arrow from his own fide,
than to plunge his fword into the heart of Man-
gora. The cacique and he fell mangling each
other; and they both expired together in a ftream
of blood that flowed from the Spaniards and the
Indians; blood that could not be mixed and con-
founded but in their mutual deftruftion*
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
FOUR women and as many children with Miranda,
the innocent and ill-fated caufe of fo tragical a fcene,
were the only perfons left in the pla;e. Thofe for-
rowful victims were carried to Siripa, the brother
and fuccefibr of the perfidious cacique. The love
of the latter pafled into his brother's heart, like a
fire rekindled from his afhes. Like the fun him-
felf, who fhines on the rich banks of Paraguay,
Miranda could not fhew herfelf, without inflaming
with love all who beheld her. But the paflion fhe
infpired fbmetimes difplayed itfelf in the fury of
defpair, and fometimes in the weaknefs of fub-
miffion and intreaty. Siripa threw himfelf at her
feet, and declared that fhe was not only free, but
that fhe fhould reign over the chief and the peo-
ple, which her charms would have fubdued to
Spain more effectually than the arms of a victo-
rious nation. How can fhe yet, added he, remem-
ber an unfortunate hufband, fallen no doubt under
the arrows of the Indian confpirators?
MIRANDA, ftill more offended at the .love of
the new cacique, than fhe had been infenfible to
that of his brother, anfwered him with the ftrongeft
expreffions of contempt and infill t, preferring
death rather than a crown from the hand of a
favase. Had fhe croffed the feas with her huf-
O
band, to forfake and betray him in a world where
the European women ought to fet the example of
virtue, as the men did that of bravery? But Si-
ripa, having no conception of a conjugal fidelity,
which appeared to him as extraordinary as the he-
roiiin of the Spaniards, thought that time would
gradually weaken thofe fentiments in a fex not
VOL. Ill, C formed
1 8 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
f rme d to foft a i n a l n g refiftancei or that at
leaft fo much pride could not be conquered but
by tendernefs. In vain did Miranda obftinately
repulle the attention of the cacique -, he oppofed
nothing but kindnefs and refpeft to the conftancy
of her denials.
HURTADO, however, upon his return from his
expedition, found nothing but a heap of alhes
ftained with blood on the fpot where he had left
a citadel. His eyes fought Miranda every where,
without difcovering fo much as the fhadow or the
footfteps of that faithful wife. At length he heard
that fhe was amongft the perfidious Indians, who
in one night had perpetrated fo many crimes. No
danger could deter him from endeavouring to
refcue Miranda from her ravifhers. His prelence
kindled all the fury of jealoufy in the foul of the
eacique. He immediately ordered that Spaniard,
the fight of whom was odious to him for many
reafons, to be put to death, Miranda prevailed
upon this barbarian to relent, and obtained a repeal
of the fentence pronounced againfl her hufband.
She even obtained the permiffion of feeing him
fometimes: but on condition that if they ventured
to give way to love, or to indulge in its tranf-
ports, the firft moment of their happinefs Should
be the laftof their lives. A prohibition infinitely
more cruel than that which the king of the infer-
nal regions impofed upon the haplefs Orpheus ! Is
it pofTible that a man ihould poffefs an amiable
wife and not fee her? Is it poffible that he Ihould
fee her frequently, and never give way to conjugal
endearments ? What could Siripa expeft from the
torment
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 19
torment to which he had condemned this Unhappy BOOK
pair ? Love is ftrengthened by voluntary felf- ,__ ' . _,
denial and the reiiraints itfelf impofes, but cannot
brook compulfion. Prohibition tends only to ex-
cite its defires, danger adds to its audacity, and
even the fear of death urges it to partake of the
joys of life. After having happily pafled feveral
days in mutually comforting each other in their
flavery, and fhedding floods of tears^ which are
conftantly excited, dried up, and renewed in the
tender endearments of a virtuous and perfecuted
love; this unfortunate pair ventured to wifh for
one of thofe happy moments, the pofleflion of
which compenfates years of pain. After having,
feen each other feveral times, alternately promifmg
and denying themfelves every pleafure that love
can impart; in hopes of meeting again at fome
favourable opportunity, when they might freely
renew the facred rites of marriage; at length,
love, which neither chains, tyrants, nor death can
reftrain, claimed the tribute which virtue offers up
to heaven in the embraces of conjugal fidelity.
The barbarous Siripa one day furprifed Hurtado
in the arms of Miranda. They were condemned
to die, and dragged from the nuptial bed to the
flake, where they ended their lives by a lingering
death, in view of each other, amidft the fighs of
everlafting love.
DURING this tranfaction, Mofchera being now
become the chief of the few Spaniards that re-
mained, embarked with his little company on
board, a vefiel that lay at anchor* By this event,
Paraguay was totally delivered from the nation
C 2 that
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
K that threatened its liberty. This tranquillity was
' of fhort duration. Some more confiderable forces
appeared on the river in 1535, and laid the foun-
dation of Buenos Ayres. The new colony foon
wanted provifions. All who attempted to procure
them were murdered by the favages ; and it be-
came necefTary to forbid any one, upon pain of
deatfi, from going beyond the limits of the new
fettlement.
A WOMAN whom hunger had certainly infpired
with refolution to brave the fear of death, eluded
the vigilance of the guards who were pofted round
the colony, to preferve it from the dangers it was
expofed to in confequence of the famine. Mal-
donata, for fuch was the name of the fugitive,
having wandered about for fome time in unknown
and unfrequented roads, entered a cave to repofe
herfelf. A lionefs, whom fhe met with there>
filled her with extreme terror, which was foon
changed into furprife, when fhe perceived this for-
midable animal approaching her with figns of fear,
and then careffing and licking her hands with
mournful cries, rather calculated to excite com-
panion than dread. Maldonata foon perceived
that the lionefs was with whelp, and that her
groans were the complaints of a dam who calls
for help to get rid of her burden. Maldonata was
infpired with courage, and aflifled the efforts of
nature in that painful moment, when fhe feems
reluctantly to give life to all beings which they are
to enjoy for fo fhort a time. The lionefs being
fafely delivered, foon went out in quefl of pro-
vifion, which fhe brought and laid at the feet of
i her
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 21
her bencfactrefs. She daily lhared it with the B ^ K
little whelps, who, brought into life by her af- u - y^s
fi fiance, and bred up with her, feemed by their
playful and harmlefs bites to acknowledge an ob-
ligation, which their dam repaid with thetendereft
marks of attention. But when they grew bigger,
and found themfelves impelled by natural inftincT:
to feek their own prey, and fufficiently flrong to
feize and devour it, the family d'fperfed in the
woods > and the lionefs, who was no longer call-
ed to the cave by maternal tendernefs, difappeared
likewife to roam about the foreft, which her hun-
ger daily depopulated.
MALDONATA, alone and without fuftenance,
was forced to quit a cavern which was an object
of terror to fo many living creatures, but which
her pity had made a place of lafety for her. She
now felt with forrow the want of a fociety, that
had been of fuch fignal fervice to her: fhe did not
wander for any confiderable time, before fhe fell
into the hands of the favagcs. She had been fed
by a lionefs, and was made a flave by men. She
was foon after retaken by the Spaniards, who
brought her back to Buenos Ay res. The com-
mandant, more favage than the lions or the wild
Indians, did not think her fufficiently puniihed
for her flight by all the dangers and rniferies fhe
had endured : he had the cruelty to order her to
be tied to a tree in the middle of a wood, and
there left to ftarve, or be devoured by wild
beafts.
Two days after, fome foldiers went to fee what
was become of the unhappy victim. They found
C 3 her
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
r] ? r K ne r alive, furrounded with hungry tygers, who
-v -> were eager to devour her, but were kept at a
diftance by a liqnefs who lay at her feet with her
whelps. This fight ftruck the foldiers motionlefs
with pity and terror. When the lionefs faw them,
fhe withdrew from the tree, as if to make room
for them to unbind her benefactrefs : but when
they took her away, the animal followed flowly.
at fome diftance, endeavouring to confirm, by her
cardfes and tender complaints, the wonders of
gratitude which the woman was relating to her de-
liverers. The lionefs with her whelps for fome
time followed her footfteps, fhewing all the fame
rnarks of regret and affliction, that a difconfolate
family exprefs when they attend a beloved father
or fon, who is going to embark for America,
from whence he may never return.
THE commandant was informed of the whole
adventure by his foldiers ; and this example of
gratitude in an animal fo ferocious, awakened in
him thofe feelings, which his favage heart had
undoubtedly loft in crofting the feas, and he fuf-
fered a woman to live, who had been fo vifibly
protected by heaven.
DURING this interval, the Indians, who con-
tinued to furround the Spanifh colony with an in-
tent to ftarve it, confined it more and more within
its entrenchments. To return to Europe ieemed
to be the only means left to prevent the great
diftrefs that was coming on ; but the Spaniards
were prepoiTefied with the notion that the inland
country was full of mines, and this belief made
(hem perfevere, They abandoned Buenos Ayres,
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 23
and founded the ifland of Aflumption, three B ^J K
hundred leagues up the country, but ftill on the \r J ;
banks of the fame river. By this change, they
evidently removed further from the afliltance of
the mother-country, but they imagined it brought
them nearer the fource of riches -, and their avi-
dity was ftill greater than their foreflght.
THE wild inhabitants of a country nearer the
tropic, were lefs courageous than thofe of Buenos
Ayres, or more eafily civilized. Far from mo-
lefting the Spaniards, they fupplied them with
provifions. This behaviour induced the Spaniards
to think that there was a pofllbility of fecuring
their friendfliip, if they could be prevailed upon
to embrace chriftianity; and it was imagined that
the moft effectual method of accompliihing this,
was to infpire them with a great idea of that re-
ligion. For this purpofe a proceflion was con-
trived for feftival days, in which, after the cuftom
of the mother-country, all the colonifts were to
appear with their fhoulders bare, and the inftru-
ments of flagellation in their hands. The Indians
were invited to this horrid fcene, not unlike that
which was difplayed by the fanaticifm of the
Corybantes, and more fit to infpire an abhorrence
for chriftianity than to recommend it. They came
to the number of eight thoufand men, armed with
their bows and arrows, w.hich they conftantly took
with them, to behold this barbarous folemnity,
and fully refclved to mafiacre thefe ftrangers, fmce
a religion that required them to Jlied their own
blood, mult certainly make them favage and
cruel.
4 THK
54 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B vi? K ^ HE moment tnat tne cataflrophe was drawing
^-v-1 / near, Irala was informed by an Indian fervant of
fo unexpected a plot. "The Spanifh general gave
out that the Topiges, enemies to the whole coun-
try, were advancing to attack the place. He com-
manded all his troops to take up arms, and called
the Indian chiefs together, to deliberate on the
Common danger that threatened their nation as
well as his own. As foon as thefe men were in the
power of the Spaniards, Irala put them to death,
and threatened the Indians who had attended them
with the fame fate. Thefe unhappy men fell on
their knees, implored mercy, and only obtain-
ed it on fwearing eternal and unlimited obedience,
for themfelves and their whole nation. The re-
conciliation was ratified by the marriage of fome
Indian women with Spaniards, a ceremony far
more pleafmg to heaven and earth, than that pro-
ceffion of flagellants that would have been con-
cluded by a mafTacre. From the union of two
fuch different nations, fprang the race of the
Meftees, now fo common in South America.
Thus it is the fate of the Spaniards, in all parts
of the world, to be a mixed race. That of the
Moors, ftill flows in their veins in Europe, and that
of the favages, in America. Perhaps, this mix-
ture may be of advantage, if it be a faft that
men, as well as animals, are improved by eroding
the breed. It were indeed to be wifhed that the
various races of mankind were loft in one, that
there might be an end of thofe national antipathies,
\yhich only ferve to perpetuate the calamities of
war and all the feveral paflions that deftroy the hu-
man
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES
ftian fpecies. But difcordfeems to arife of itfelf be- B
tween brothers, can it therefore be expected that all
mankind (hould become one family, the children
of which, fprung as it were from the fame com-
mon parent, {hould no longer thirft after each
other's blood? For is not this fatal thirft excited
and kept up by that of gold ?
IT was this lhameful paffion, this favage avi-
dity, which induced the Spaniards to keep ftill
further from the fea, and nearer the mountains j
nor did they become wifer or more humane, by
the danger they had expofed themfelves to in ad-
vancing fo far into the country, of being all de-
ftroyed by the favages. They feemed, by the
cruelties they exercifed upon the Indians, to pu-
nifh them for their own obftinacy in iearching for
gold where there was none. Several fhips which
were bringing them troops and ammunition, were
loft, with all they had on board, by venturing too
far up the river ; but even this circumftance could
not prevent them from obftinately perfifting in
their avaricious views, though they had been dif-
appointed in them : till they were compelled by
repeated orders from the mother-country to re-
eftablifh Buenos Ayres. This necelTary under-
taking was now become eafy. The Spaniards,
who had multiplied in Paraguay, were ftrong
enough to reftrain or deftroy the nations that
might oppofe them. Accordingly, as it had been
expected, they met with little difficulty. Juan
Ortiz de Zarate executed it in 1580, and rebuilt
Buenos Ayres upon the fame fpot, which had been
forfaken for forty years. The petty nations that
lived
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND. TRADE
n t ^ ie ne ig n b lir hdj fubmitted to thg
yoke, or fled to diftant parts to enjoy their free-
dom.
As ^ oon as tne colony had gained fome degree
Se'sp'n* of ftren g tn > il: be S an to flourifh; and in procefs
MS m p a - of time four great provinces were formed, the
Tucuman, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Paraguay
proper, and Rio de la Plata. Throughout this
immenfe tract, there are but twelve towns, fcat-
tered in different parts, which in Europe would
be reckoned only fmall market towns. They con-
iift of a few houfes or huts, irregularly difpofed,
and parted by little woods or groves, fo that every
houle looks like a fmgle plantation. Some fmall
villages of conquered Indians are to be feen all
.round the country. The reft of it is entirely a
wildernefs, or inhabited by independent favages.
Their rage againft thofe who have forced them to
I By to inacceffible mountains is inconceivable. They
are continually fallying out from thefe retreats, ex-
cited by the hopes of deflroying fome of their ty-
rants. Thefe inroads prevent all communication
between the Spanifh fettlements.
EVEN the capital of the colony labours under
fome inconveniences that are totally deftruftive
of trade. Buenos Ayres has indeed fome advan-
tages. The fituation is healthy and pleafant, and
the air temperate r The country prefents an agree-
able appearance, and would be fertile, if proper
care were taken to cultivate it. The buildings,
which forty years ago were all compofed of earth,
are more folid and commodious, fmce the natives
have learned the art of making brick and lime*
The
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.. ? 7
The population amounts to 16,000 fouls, and the BOOK
white people may be about a quarter of the L ^-^j
number. One fide of the town is defended by a
fortrefs, with a garrifon of a thoufand men: and
the reft is furrounded by the river. Thefe pre-
cautions are extremely proper, but inadequate to
the end propofed,
THE town (lands feventy leagues from the fea.
Large fhips cannot come up to it, and the fmalleft;
veffels run great rifques in failing up a river that
wants depth, is full of iflands, fhoals and rocks,
and where ftorms are more frequent and more
dreadful than on the ocean, It is necefTary to an-
chor every night on the fpot they come to; and
on the moft moderate days, a pilot muft go
before in a boat to found the way for the Ihip^
There is fome danger even in the harbour^
which is within three leagues of the town.
Though the precaution is taken to caft all the
anchors from the Ihips, and to fecure their
cables with ftrong iron chains, they are in danger
of being funk by a furious wind, which comes
from the frontiers of Chili, and, as it meets with
nothing to check its progrefs over a plain of three
hundred leagues, grows ftill more impetuous as,
it enters the channel of the river.
IF the Spaniards had not formed moft of their
American fettlements by enhance, they would have
fixed upon the port of Infenada, or that of Ba-
ragon, at the entrance of the river Plata, to the
weft, or that of IVJaldonado, that lies on the fame
line to the eaft. The frequent accidents that have
happened on the river, and other political reafons,
have
*5 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK k ave at length convinced the court of Madrid of*
the improper fituation of Buenos Ayres, and in
1726, they built a citadel forty leagues lower, at
Monte Video, flanked with four baitions, and de-
fended by a numerous artillery, and a garrifon of
two hundred men. They afterwards found that
this harbour \vas only fit for fmall veflels, and
therefore removed to Maldonado, where the for-
tifications, as well as thofe of Buenos Ayres and
Monte Video, were built by the Guaranis, who
were never rewarded for this labour. Its natural
fituation renders it one of the finefl harbours in
the world. It is large enough to contain the moft
numerous fleet; and the entrance, which is ex-
tremely narrow, is very eafily defended. The air
is excellent, there is plenty of wood, and the foil
is very fertile. When once the natives, who are a
refolute, warlike and robuft people, are fubdued,
and when the families which are gradually remov-
ed thither from the Canary iflands, have improved
the lands, the fettlement will have acquired the
higheft degree of perfection. The fhips that are
failing from Europe to the South Seas, will find
there a fafe harbour, and all the refrefhments they
may want. In time it will become the natural
ftaple for the trade of Paraguay; and may ftill be
improved, when the Spaniards fhall have adopted
better principles of government. At prefent it is
not very conliderable.
Trade of THE richeft produce that is peculiar to that
Pa "* uay> continent, is the herb of Paraguay. It is the
leaf of a middle-fized tree. The tafte is fimilar
to that of mallows, and in lhape refembles an
orange
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. >9
orange tree. It is divided into three clafTes. The BOOK
firft, called caacuys, is the bud when it juft begins > v ./
to unfold its leaves. It is far fuperior to the other
two, but will not keep fo long, and it is therefore
difficult to export it to any diftance. The next,
which is cdled caamini, is the full grown leaf
ftripped of its ftalks. If thefe are left on, it is
called caaguaza, which is the third fort. The
leaves are firft roafted, and then kept in pits digged
in the ground, and covered with bulls hides.
THE mountains of Maracayu, at the eaft fide
of Paraguay, furnifh the herb that is moft
efteemed. The tree does not grow on the tops
of the hills, but in the marfhy vallies that lie
between them. The city of AlTumption, which
is called the capital of Paraguay, though in facl:
it is a very inconfiderable place, firft brought this
valuable plant, which had always been the delight
of the favages, into repute in diftant countries.
The exportation of it at firft procured confider-
able riches to the town. But this advantage was
not of long continuance, for all the Indians of that
diftri<5t were loft in the long voyage they were ob-
liged to take. The whole country became a de-
fert for forty leagues round the city, and the in-
habitants were obliged to give up this trade which
was the only fource of their wealth.
THE new Villa Rica, a lettlement formed near
Maracayu, engrofled this branch of trade, but
was foon obliged to fhare it with the Guaranis,
who at firft gathered the herb only for their own
life, but foon began to fell it. This employment,
added to the neceffity of undertaking a voyage
which,
30 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AKB TRADE
BOOK which, including the return, comprehended four
* ^Lj hundred leagues, kept the Guaranis abfent from
their habitations for a confiderable part of the
year. During this interval, as they were deprived
of inftruclion, they grew indifferent to religion,
and unconnected with the colony. Many of them
perifhed by change of air and fatigue* Some
grew weary of this laborious employment, and re-
tired into the woods, where they refumed their
former way of life. Befides, the villages, having
no men to defend them, lay expofed to the in-
roads of the enemy. To obviate thefe inconveni-
- ences, the mifiionaries procured feeds from Mara-
cayu, and fowed them in thofe parts of the land
that were moil analagous to the foil of the moun-
tains. The trees which have fprung from them
have greatly multiplied, and have not degenerated,
at leafl in any fenfible degree.
THE produce of thefe plantations, added to that
which grows fpontaneoufly, is very confiderable.
Some is confumed in Paraguay, and Chili and
Peru purchafe annually to the amount of 100,000
arrobes, whichj at the rate of 23 livres 1 2 fous,
6 deniers*, make an article of exportation of
2,362,500 livresf.
THIS herb, which the Spaniards of South Ame-
rica recommend as a prefervative againft mofl dif-
eafes, is in general ufe throughout this part of the
new world. " It is dried and reduced almoft to
powder, then put into a cup with fugarj lemon-
juice, and fweet-fcented pafte; boiling water is
afterwards thrown upon it, and it is drunk off di-
before it has time to turn black*
Near one guinea. }- About 103,360!.
THE
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 3r
THE herb of Paraguay is of no confcquence to BOOK
Europe ; but that country is valuable on other ac- < ^
counts, and in particular for the hides it fends
over. When the Spaniards forfook Buenos Ay res
in 1538, they left in the neighbouring fields fome
horned cattle, which they had brought over from
their own country. They multiplied to fuch a de-
gree in thofe paftures, that when the town was re-
eftablilhed, they were totally neglected. The me-
thod was afterwards adopted of knocking them
on the head, merely for the fake of their hides.
The manner in which this is done deferves to be
mentioned.
A NUMBER of huntfmen on horfeback repair to
fuch places as are mortly frequented by the wild
bulls. Each huntfman purfues the bull he fixes
upon, and hamftrings him with a Iharp iron cut in
the fhape of a crefcent, and fattened to a long
handle. When the animal is overcome, the
huntfman attacks others, and difables them in the
fame manner. After fome days fpent in this vio-
lent exercife, the huntfmen return in fearch of
the bulls they have difabled, which they flay, car-
ry away the hides, and fometimes the tongues and
the fat : the reft they leave to be devoured by the
vultures and other birds of prey.
THE price of hides was fo low at firft, that they
were fcarce worth one livre fix fous* a-piece,
though the buyers refufed a great many becaufe
they were not of the proper fize; but the value of
them has increafed fince the number of bulls has
diminiihed. This increafe is not fo much to be
* About is. id. ,
attributed
S* HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK attributed to the huntfmen as to the wild dogs.
\ v ' > Thefe deftructive animals make fuch ravage among
them, that the colony is in danger of lofing this
lucrative branch of trade. The government of
Buenos Ayres has endeavoured to prevent this
misfortune, by ordering part of the garrifon out
to deflroy theie dogs that are become fo fierce.
The foldiers, at their return from this neceiTary
expedition, were treated with fo much infult and
contempt, that they could not be prevailed upon
to go out again upon an excurfion that expofed
them to the ridicule of their own countrymen.
THE deficiency in the article of hides, will be
compenfated by tobacco, which is begun to be cul-
tivated in Paraguay with fuccefs. A confiderable
quantity is fent over every year; as likewife vicuna
wool, which comes from the mountains, and me-
tals ; all which productions are foreign to the colony.
THE firft Spaniards who came to Paraguay,
made no doubt but a country that lay fo near Peru
muft contain great riches. They aded in con-
fequence of this perfuafion, which was kept up
for a whole century by fome very trifling incidents.
They found themfelves at length under a neceflity
of giving up this chimerical idea; but after it had
long been difbelieved, it was again revived to ferve
fome private purpofe. It is now generally known
that Paraguay has no gold norfilver but what comes
from Chili and Potofi. Some of it circulates in
the colony; a much greater quantity is fmuggled
into the Portuguefe fettlements; and about five
millions* arefhipped off every year from Buenos
Ayres for the mother-country.
.
TH*
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 33
THE account we have given of the natural ftate, B IJ.JJ K
the conftitution, and the riches of Paraguay, does
not feem calculated to infpire any high idea of this
colony. The attention that has conftantly been
paid to it has been owine; to an eflablifhment form- the j
1 . T-L.ru- u had t " orm -
ed in its center, which, after having long been a H there.
fubjeft of difpute, has at length met with the ap-
probation of the wifeft men. The opinion we are
to entertain of it, feems finally to be determined by
philofcphy, before which ignorance, prejudice,
and faction ihould difappear, as (hades vaniih be-
fore the light.
THE Jefuits intruded with the mifHons of Peru,
being informed how the Incas governed their em-
pire, and made their conquefts, adopted their plan
in the execution of a confiderable projedl they had
formed. Thedefcendants of MancoCapac, march-
ed to their frontiers with powerful armies, com-
pofed of foldiers who at leafl knew how to obey,
to fight, and to intrench themfelves; and who
together with better ofFenfive weapons than thofe
of the favages, had alfo ftiields and defenfive
weapons, which their enemies had not. They
propofed to the nation which they wanted to unite
to their government, to embrace their religion,
laws, and manners, to quit their forefls, and to
live in fociety. They frequently met with oppo-
fition. Mod of thofe people perfifled for a long
time in defence of their prejudices and their li-
berty. The Incas then had recourfe to patience,
and fent frcfli deputies, who again endeavoured to
perfuade them. Sometimes thofe deputies werq
murdered; at other times die favages fell upon,
VOL. III. D th
34 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B vi K ^ e arm yf tne Incas. But the latter fought with
v v * great courage, were always fuccefsful, and fui-
pended the right the inftant they had gained the
victory. If they took any prifoners, they treated
them fo kindly, that they willingly fubmitted to
the yoke of thefe humane conquerors, and en-
deavoured at their return to infpire their nation
with the fame favourable opinion of them. A
Peruvian army feldom begun the attack, and the
Inca has often'been known to forbear hoflilities,
even after he had experienced the perfidy of the
barbarians, and feveral of his foldiers had been
murdered .
THE Jefuits, who had no army, confined them-
felves to the arts of perfuafion. They went into
the forefts to look for the favages, and prevailed
upon them to renounce their old cuftoms and pre-
judices, to embrace a religion which they did not
underftand, and to enjoy the fweets of fociety, to
which they were before flrangers.
THE Incas had another advantage over the Je-
fuits, which was the nature of their religion, cal-
culated to ftrike the fenfes. It is a more eafy mat-
ter to perfuade men to worfhip the fun which they
fee, than to adore an invifible God, and to believe
doctrines and myfteries which they cannot com-
prehend. Accordingly thejefuits have had the
prudence to civilize the favages in fome meafure,
before they attempted to convert them. They
did not pretend to make them chriftians, till they
had made them men. As foon as they had got
them together, they began to procure them every
advantage they had promifed them, and induced
them
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
them to embrace chriflianity, when, by making
them happy, they had contributed to render them
tractable,
THEY imitated the example of the Incas in the
divifion of the lands into three fhares; for re-
ligious purpofes, for the public, and for indivi-
duals; they encouraged working for orphans, old
people and foldiers; they rewarded great actions}
they infpected or cenfured the morals of the peo-
ples they practifed acts of benevolence; they ef~
tablifhed feftivals, and intermixed them with la-
borious employments; they appointed military ex-
ercifes, kept up a fpirit of fubordination, invented
prefervatives againft idlenefs, and infpired them
with refpect for religion and the laws; they alfb re-
ferved to themfelves the political and religious au-
thority : in a word, whatever was valuable in the
legiflation of the Incas, was adopted, or even im-
proved upon at Paraguay.
THE Incas and the Jcfuits have alike eftablifhed
fuch a regularity and order, as prevents the com-
miffion of crimes, and removes the necefllty of
punishment. There is hardly fuch a thing as a
delinquent in Paraguay. The morals of the peo-
ple are good, and are maintained in this ftate of
purity by flill milder methods than are made ufc
of in Peru. The laws were fevere in that em-
pire; they are not fo among the Guaranis. Pu-
nilhments are not dreaded there, and men fear
nothing but the reproach of their own confcience.
AFTER the example of the Incas, the Jefuits
have eftablifhed the theocratical government, with
an additional advantage peculiar to the chriftian
D 2 religion,
36 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK religion, on which their government is founded:
u_ yJ this is the practice of confefiion, which is of in-
finite utility, while thofe who introduced it fhall
not make an improper ufe of it. This alone an-
fwers the end of penal laws, and maintains a pu-
rity of manners. In Paraguay, religion, which
by means of opinion exerts its authority in a more
powerful manner than compulfion can, brings the
guilty perfon to the feet of the magiftrate. There,
far from palliating his crime, remorfe makes him
rather aggravate it; and inftead of endeavouring
to elude his punifhment, he implores it on his
knees. The more public and fevere it is, the more
doth it contribute to quiet the confcience of the
criminal. By.thefe means, punifhment, which in
all other places is the terror of the guilty, is here
confidered as a fource of conlblation to them, as it
ftifles the pangs of remorfe by the expiation of the
guilt. The people of Paraguay have no civil
laws, becaufethey know of no property; nor have
they any criminal ones, becaufe every one is his
own accufer, and voluntarily fubmits to punifh-
ment : their only laws are the precepts of reli-
gion. Theocrary would be the moft excellent of
all governments, if it were pofiible to preferve it
in its purity; but to effect this, it would be ne-
ceffary that it fhould always be under the direction
of virtuous men, deeply impreffed with the real
principles on which it is founded; it would be ne-
ceflary that religion fhould teach nothing but the
duties of fociety; that it fhould confider nothing
as a crime but what violates the natural rights of
mankind; that its precepts fhould not fubflitute
prayers
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 37
prayers in lieu of labour, vain ceremonies inftead B n K
of works of charity, or imaginary fcruples to juft * sr '
remorfe.
BUT it can hardly be expected that Jefuits born
in Spain or Italy Ihould not have tranfmitted to
Paraguay the monaftic notions and practices of
Rome or Madrid. However, if they have in-
troduced fome abufes, it muft be confefled it has
been with fuch peculiar advantages, that perhaps
it is impofiible to do fo much good to men any
where elfe, with fo little injury.
THERE are more arts and conveniences in the
republics of the Jefuits, than there had been even
in Cufco itfelf, without more luxury. The ufe of
coin is unknown there. The watchmaker, weaver,
lockfmith and taylor all depofit their works in
public warehoufes. They are fupplied with every
necefTary of life; as the hufbandman has laboured
for them. The Jefuits, afiifted by magiftrates who
are chofen by the people, attend to the feveral
wants of the whole community.
THERE is no diftinction of flations; and it is
the only fociety on earth where men enjoy that
equality which is the fecond of all bleflings; for
liberty is undoubtedly the firft.
THE Incas and the Jefuits have both infpired
men with a reverence for religion, by the dazzling
pomp of external ceremonies. Nothing could be
compared to the magnificence and fplendour of
the temples of the fun; and the churches in Pa-
raguay are equal to the moft elegant in Europe.
The Jefuits have made their worlhip pleafing,
without rendering it an indecent farce. The In-
D 3 dians
38 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
dians are^invited to refortto church by mufic that
awakens their fenfibility, by affe&ing hymns, by
lively paintings., and by the pomp of ceremonies j
fo that pleafure is here blended with the exercifes
of piety. It is here that religion is amiable, and
that the people firft love it in its minifters. No-
thing can equal the purity of manners, the mild
and tender zeal, and the paternal kindnefs of the
Jefuits of Paraguay. Every paftor is truly the
father, as he is the guide of his pariihioners. His
authority is not felt, becaufe he commands, for-
bids, and punilhes nothing, but what is command-
ed, forbidden, and punifhed by the religion they
all reverence and love, equally with himfelf.
IT ihould feem that men muft have multiplied
confiderably under a government where none are
idle, or fatigued with labour; where the food is
equal in wholefomenefs, plenty, and quality for
all the citizens; where every one is conveniently
lodged and well clothed; where the aged, and the
fick, the widows and orphans, are aflifted in a
manner unknown in al! other parts of the world;
where every one marries from choice' and not
from intereft, and where a number of children is
confidered as a bleffing, and can never be burden-
fome: where debauch, the necefTary confequence
of idlenefs, which equally corrupts the opulent
and the poor, never haftens the period of natural
infirmities, or tends to abridge the term of human
life; where nothing ferves to excite artificial paf-
fions, or contradicts thofe that are regulated by na-
ture and reafon; where the people enjoy the ad-
vantages of trade, and are not expofed to the con-
tagion
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 39
tagion of vice and luxury; where plentiful ma- B
gazines, and a friendly intercourfe between na-
tions united in the bonds of the fame religion, are
a fecurity againft any fcarcity that might happen
from the inconflancy or inclemency of the feafons;
where public juftice has never been reduced to the
cruel neceflity of condemning a fmgle malefactor
to death, to difgrace, or to any punifhment of a
long duration; where the very names of a tax or
a law-fuit, thofe two terrible fcourges which every
where elfe afflicl: mankind, are unknown; fuch a
country muft naturally be expected to be the mod
populous in the world; and yet it is far from
being fo.
THIS empire, which began in the year 1610,
extends from the river Parana, which runs into the
Paragua under the ijth degree of fouth latitude,
to the Uragua that falls into the fame river to-
wards the 34th degree. On the banks of thofe
two great rivers, which defcend from the moun-
tains near Brazil, in the fertile plains that lie be-
twen them, the Jefuits had already, in 1676, fet-
tled twenty-two villages; though no account has
been given of their degree of population. In
1702, there were twenty-nine, confiding in all of
22,761 families, which amounted to 89,491 fouls.
The habitations and inhabitants have increafed
fmce, and the whole may now comprehend
200,000.
THESE religious legiflators have long been fuf-
pefted of concealing the number of their fubjects
with a view of defrauding Spain of the tribute
they had fubmitted to pay; and the court of Ma-
D 4 drid
40 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B oo K drid } ias difcovered fome anxiety on that account.
s w> -.. ; An exa6t inquiry has difpelled thofe injurious and
ill-grounded fuipicions. Can it with any proba-
bility be fuppofed, that a fociety ever jealous of
its honour, ftiould for a v mean and low interelr,
facrifice a fenfe of greatnefs, adequate to the ma-
jefty of an eftablifhment they were forming with
Ib much care and pains?
THOSE who were too well acquainted with the
genius of the fociety, to charge it with fuch in-
jurious and illiberal accufations, have pretended
that the number of the Guaranis did not increafe,
becaufe they perifhed by working in the mines.
This accufation, urged above a hundred years
ago, has been propagated by the fame fpirit of
avarice, envy, and malignity, that firft invented
it. The greater pains the Spanifh miniftry have
employed in fearch of thefe hidden treafures, the
more they have been convinced that they we're all
chimerical. If the Jefuits had difcovered any
mines, they certainly would have taken care to
conceal the difcovery, which if known would have
introduced every kind of vice j and thus their em-
pire would foon have been fubverted, and their
power totally deftroyed.
OTHERS are of opinion that the oppreflion of
mankiHi government muft have checked the po-
pulation of the Guaranis. But tjiis is hardly re-
concileable with that implicit confidence, and that
extraordinary' degree of attachment the Guaranis
are faid to have for the mirTionaries who govern
them. Oppreflion confifts in impofing labour and
exacting tribute by compulfion \ in arbitrary levies
of
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 41
of men or money to fupply armies and fleets, B o^o K
deftined for deftrution ; in the violent execution ^L-t
of laws made without the confent of the people,
and contrary to the remonftrances of the ma-
giftratcs ; in the violation of public, and the el-
tablifhment of private privilege ; in the incon-
fiftency of the principles of an authority, which,
under pretence of being founded by divine will on
the right of the fword, lays claim to every thing
by the one, and commands every thing by the
other; which makes ufe of force to eftablilh re-
ligion, and of religion to influence the decifions of
juftice: this is oppreflion. But it can never ex-
ift, where every action is the refult of voluntary
fubmifilon, and proceeds from inclination founded
on conviction, and where nothing is done but
from choice and full approbation. This is that
gentle fway of opinion, the only ope, perhaps,
that it is lawful for one man to exercife over
another, becaufe it makes thofe people happy who
fubmit to it. Such undoubtedly is that of the
Jefuits in Paraguay, fmce whole nations have vo-
luntarily incorporated themfelves into their go-
vernment, and none have ever thrown off the
yoke. It cannot be pretended that fifty Jefuits
have been able to compel two hundred thoufand
Indians to be their flaves, who had it in their pow-
er either to maffacre their priefts, or to take re-
fuge in the deferts. This ilrange paradox would
never be admitted by men of the mod fanguine
or moft credulous difpofition.
SOME have fufpected that the Jefuits had pro-
jpagated that love of celibacy amongil their peo-
pie,
42 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
o o
VIII.
> K pie, which was fo prevalent in Europe in the dark
ages of ignorance, as is not yet entirely eradi-
cated, notwithstanding it has conftantly been urged
how contrary it is to nature, reafon, and fociety.
But this opinion is entirely without foundation.
The mifTionaries have never even given any idea
to their converts of a fuperftition which was to-
tally improper and inconfiftent with the climate j
and would have been fufficient to prejudice them
againft their beft inftitutions, or to defeat the de-
fign of them.
POLITICIANS have further endeavoured to ac-
count for the want of population among the Guara-
nis, from theirhaving no property. The idea under
which we confider property, namely as a fource of
the increafe both of men and fubfiftence, is an un-
queflionable truth; but fuch is the fate of the beft
inftitutions, that our political errors will often en-
danger them. Under the law of property, when
it is attended with avarice, ambition, luxury, a
multitude of imaginary wants, and various other
irregularities arifing from the imperfections of our
governments; the bounds of our pofleffions,
either too confined, or too extended, prevent at
the fame time both the fertility of our lands and
the increafe of our fpecies. Thefe inconveniencies
exift not in Paraguay. All are fure of fubfiftence ;
confequently all enjoy the great advantages of
property, though deprived in a ftridt fenfe of the
right to it. This privation cannot juftly be con-
fidered as the reafon that has impeded the progrefs
of population among them j but it muft be im-
puted to other caufes.
FIRST,
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 43
FIRST, the Portuguefe of St. Paul, in 1631, BOOK
deftroyed twelve or thirteen communities in the .
province of Guayra, the neareft to Brazil. The
greateft part of the 97,000 Indians who lived
there, perifhed by the fvvord, or in flavery, or
with hunger in the forefts. Only 1 2,000 efcaped,
who fled for fafety to other parts further diftant
from the Portuguefe.
THIS deftru&ion, the effects of which it would
'have required a number of ages to repair, has
been fucceeded by gradual and continual loffes.
The favage nations that hovered about the habi-
tations of the Guaranis, to carry off their pro-
vifions, inhumanly malTacred all thofe who op-
pofed them.
THESE calamities have been followed by another
far more dreadful. The Europeans brought the
fmall-pox amongft the Guaranis, and that diftem-
per is more fatal in Paraguay, than any other coun-
try in the world. It defbroys thoufands in a very
Ihort time, and fcarce any recover of it. It is a
matter of aflonifhment that the JefuitSj who could
not be ignorant of the falutary effects inoculation
had been attended with on the banks of the
Amazon, fliould perfift in neglecting fo fafe and
eafy a method of laving the lives of their converts.
It can fcarce be fuppofed that legiilators fo en-
lightened could be prejudiced by the ridiculous
objections of fome ignorant divines, againft a
practice fo univerfally authorifed by its great
fucceis.
BESIDE thefe caufes of depopulation, the Gua-
ranis are expofedto others arifmg from the nature
of
44 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK o f their climate, which occafions contagious dif-
v_J-L- 1 tempers, efpecially on the banks of the Parana,
where thick and conftant fogs, under a fultry fky,
render the air damp and unwholeibme. The Gua-
ranis are the lefs able to refift the malignancy of
thefe vapours, as they feed very plentifully, though
they live in a hot country. They eat their fruit
green, and their meat almoft raw; this occafions
a bad digeftion, vicious humours, and diforders
which they tranfmit to their pofterity. The mafs
of blood being thus corrupted by the ufe of im-
proper food and the influence of a noxious air,
cannot poflibly produce a numerous and long-lived
offspring.
THE Chiquitos, though their fituation is further
advanced into the torrid zone, are much ftronger
than the Guaranis, who live nearer the tropic and
beyond it. Under the name of Chiquitos are in-
cluded many fmall nations, difperfed in a tract of
country that extends from the i4th to the 2 ill de-
gree of fouth latitude. It is hot, hilly and fruit-
ful; and interfered on the weft fide by three ri-
vers, which all meet and take the name of Ma-
dera; and this at laft falls into the great river of
the Amazons.
THE firft conquerors of Peru were acquainted
with the Chiquitos, but could not fubdue them;
and their fucceflbrs have in vain attempted it. In
1692, the Jefuits formed the project of executing
what could never be effected by force. This alarm-
ed the Spaniards of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, who
derived confiderable advantages from the excur-
fions they made into thofe countries, in order to
carry
IN TkE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 4$
Carry off flaves, whom they fold at a very high B
price, to be employed in the mines of Potofi, and
other works. They knew that the miflionaries,
who, either from motives of feligidn or ambition,
had very different views and maxims, wduld never
fufFer their converts to be opprefTed, and that they
would be able to prevent it. Their labours were
obstructed by artifice, by violence, by calumny,
and all the means that favage rapacioufnefs could
invent; but their conftancy got the better of all
oppofition, and the plan was completed on the
principles upon which it was originally formed.
IN the year 1726, there were iix large com-
munities among the Chiquitos, at a pretty con-
fiderable diflance from each other, and parted by
immenfe forefts. The population exceeded 40,000
fouls. Their number has continually increafed,
and was almoft double in 1746, when the new
republic fubmitted to the dominion of Spain, on
the fame terms as the Guaranis had done before
whofe example they clofely followed.
BOTH thefe ftates have raifed an infurmountable
barrier between them and the Spaniards. Both
have eftablifhed a community of goods. Trade
is here carried on by the whole commonwealth.
Their manufactures and their agriculture are the
fame. Sugar, tobacco, cotton, fruits, the na-
tural corn of the country, as well as the various
forts that grow in Europe, are cultivated in all
parts of the country. Moft of our animals have
multiplied there, and the cows and horfes have
not degenerated. The only difference between
the two nations is, that the Chiquitos are ftronger,
more
4 $ HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK, more temperate, more affiduous, more a<5tive, and
i_- -' * more laborious than the Guaranis, In all thefe
refpecls they equally furpafs the Mojes.
THE Mojes live in the i2th degree of fouth la-
titude. To the earl, their country is parted from
Peru by the Cordeleras. To the South, it is not
far from Paraguay. To the north and weft are
unknown lands. About the year 1670, a Spanifh
Jefuit, named Baraza, a man of great fenfibility,
fpirit, and refolution, was touched with companion
for thefe poor favages, who lived without agricul-
ture, without religion, and without morals. He
prevailed upon thefe men to quit their wandering
way of life, and to fettle in the country, and he
governed them by the laws of the Guaranis. His
labours and thofe of his fucceflbrs had collected
30,000 fouls at the beginning of this century. We
have no accounts of the progrefs of this eflablifh-
ment; but if we may judge by the length of time,
and the pains that have been taken, we muft lup-
pofe it to be very confiderable.
THE Jefuits were inceflantly labouring to unite
thefe three common wealths, by civilizing the roving
nations that are difperfed throughout the inter-
mediate deferts j but their fcheme, the execution
of which was doubtful, or at lead very remote,
was not coniiftent with the fordid views of the
Spanifh adventurers. Thofe barbarous ufurpers
of the new world had been zealous in the caufe
of religion, as long as it furnifhed a pretence to
fhed blood for the purpofe of obtaining gold ; but
they no longer attended to it, when it was defigned
'Only to humanize the favages, in order to make
them
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 47
them happy. Thofe deftroyers confidered the BOOK
Americans who had efcaped their fury, only as fo
many inftruments to affift their interested views.
After they had deprived them of their pofleflions,
they reduced them to a ftate of flavery, and con-
demned them to work in the mines. But the Je-
fuits found means to defeat their infatiable avarice,
and obtained from the government the freedom
of all thofe Indians, whom they could prevail up-
on to quit the forefts and caverns they were ufed
to retire to, and to live in fociety. Thefe legif-
lators foon found that this precaution was not a
fufficient fecurity to their republic, and imagined
that to give it a firm eftablifhment it was further
neceflary that the conquerors fhould be excluded
from in^erfermg with them under any pretence
whatfoever. They forefaw that if they were ad-
mitted as traders, or even as mere travellers, they
would afiume a haughty and fupercilious beha-
viour, would excite commotions, and occafion dif-
fentions in thofe peaceable retreats, and that their
example would introduce vice and every fpecies of
corruption. Thefe dangerous men were the more
offended at the precautions taken to prevent their
defigns, as thofe meafures were approved by the
wile. In the height of their fury and refentment,
they fpread every where the moft odious imputa-
tions againll the fociety, which upon the flighted
grounds were admitted as fact$.
THE miffionaries traded for the nation. They
fent the labours of their artificers, and the herb of
Paraguay, to Buenos Ay res, and received money
in exchange, out of which they firft took up the
tribute
48 ' HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B vrj K tri ib llte f fi ye ^ vres 5 fous*, which every marr
-v ' above eighteen and under fifty years of age paid
to the king. The remainder was employed in the
purchafe of fuch European goods as were wanted
for the colony. This tvas the ground of the chief
accufations that were brought againfl the Jefuits.
They were univerfally traduced as a fociety of mer-
chants, who, under the veil of religion, attended
only to their own fordid intereft.
IT mufl be confeffed at leaft, that the founders
of the firft inftitution in Paraguay did not deferve
this cenfure. The deferts through which they tra-
velled, afforded neither gold nor mercantile com-
modities. In thefe they only met with forefts, fer-
pents, and morafles ; fometimes they perifhed, or
were expofed to the moft fevere torments, and al-
ways to exceffive fatigue. The hardfhips they en-
dured with fo much patience, and the pains they
took to get to the favages, and induce them. to
quit their roving life, are far beyond what men of
common abilities could have effected. They never
entertained the idea of appropriating to themfelves
the produce of a land, which their care only pre-
vented from being a habitation of wild beafts-
Their fucceflbrs may pofiibly have been actuated
by lefs laudable and difmterefted motives j but if
they have been of fo mean a difpofition as to feek
to increafe their riches where they ought to have
only fought the glory of God and the good of
mankinds if they have acquired lands and arnafTed
treafurcs in America, in order to become of con-
fecjuence in Europe, and to inereafe more generally
* About 4 s. 7 d,
their
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 49
their :nfiuence in the world; it is an ambition that
has never affecled the felicity of their converts.
They have always enjoyed an uninterrupted tran-
quillity, and lived fo happily that they had no
reafon to regret the want of property, which they
had no notion of, nor of thole fuperfluities of life
which they did not want.
BUT thofe who have not accufed the Jefuits of
Paraguay of avarice, have cerifured their inftitu-
tions as being the effect of blind fuperftition. If
our idea of fuperftition be the true one; it retards
the progrefs of population j it devotes to ufelefs
ceremonies the time that iliould be employed in
the labours of fociety ; it deprives the laborious
man of his property, to enrich the indolent and
dangerous reclufe ; it promotes difcord and perfe-
cution for things of little moment ; it gives the
fignal for revolt in the name of God 3 it frees its
minifters from obedience to the laws, and from the
duties of fociety : in a word, it makes the people
miferable, and arms the wicked againft the vir-
tuous. But nothing of this nature is to be found
in Paraguay; and if the happy inftitutions of thefe
chriftians, who are unknown to the reft of the
world, are the effect of fuperftition, this is the
only inftance in which it ever was beneficial to
mankind.
POLITICIANS, who are ever reftlefsj becaufe
they are ambitious, and who are apprehenfive of
every thing becaufe their defires are unbounded,
fufpe&ed with fome greater reafonj that the repub-
lics formed by the Jefuits might' one day afpire
to abfolute independence, and pcfllbly attempt
VOL. III. E to
50 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK to overthrow the power under whofe protection
v ' -/ they had been raifed. Thofe men who were fo
humane, fo perfectly united amongft themfelves,
and fo afiiduous in their labours, were alfo the beft
Ibldiers in America. They were well difciplined,
and obeyed from a principle of religion. They
fought with the fame zeal that brought the chrifli-
a'n martyrs to the fcaflfold, and the fame enthufi-
afm that overthrew fo many empires by the arms
of the followers of Wodin and Mohammed. They
were ftill in that full vigour which arifes from un-
corrupted manners and laws ; whereas the Spa-
niards in America, enervated by that indolence
which is the confequence of victory and cruelty,
were no longer what they had been at the time of
their conquefts. The apprehenfions therefore that
were entertained were not entirely imaginary or
without foundation.
IN thofe governments which preceded the efta-
blifhment of chriflianity, and in moft of them that
did not admit it, civil and religious authority have
always been united, as derived from the fame
fource and tending to the fame end j or the one
has been fo fubfervient to the other, that the peo-
ple could not venture to feparate them in idea, and
were equally kept in awe by both. The wifeft law-
givers have always been convinced that religion, as
it prepared the minds of the people to obedience,
imift fecure them in the continuance of it. But
in Europe, where chriftianity 'role on the ruins of
a barbarous religion and a great empire j a rival-
fhip was immediately fet up between thofe two
powers; a military and a religious rivalfhip which
were
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES* ' 5I
\vere both at the fame time contending for domi- B !J. ; r K -
nion over the perfons and properties of men. * >s*
When the barbarous nations of the north made
incurfions upon the territories of the Roman em-
pire, the chriftians, perfecuted by the heathen
emperors, implored the affiflance of thefe foreign
enemies, againft the government that opprefled
them. They preached to thefe conquerors anew
fyftem of religion, which enjoined to them as a
duty to extirpate the eftablifhed one; and they de-
manded the ruins of the temples to ferve as ma-
terials for the building of churches. The favages
freely difpofed of what was not their property ;
they facrificed to chriftianity all its enemies and
their own ; they feized upon the perfons of men
and upon their lands, and diftributed fome of them
to the church. They demanded tribute, but ex-
empted the clergy from it, becaufe they counte-
nanced their ufurpations. Noblemen became priefls,
and priefts obtained the rank of nobility. The
great connected the privileges of their birth with
that of the priefthood which they embraced. . The
bifhops imprinted the feal of religion on the lands
they pofTefTed. From this mixture and confufion
of birth with high ftations, of titles with eftates,
and of perfons with things, fprang up a power,
monftrous from its origin, and which in procefs of
time became enormous ; a power, which from
the firft endeavoured to eftabliih icfelf as diftinct
from the only true and legal authority, which is,
that of government ; a power, which afterwards
attempted even to raife itfelf above government,
but having been unfuccefsful in the attempt, has
E 2 jince
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
vi K ^ nce Submitted to feparate itfelf from it, and to
v j exert its authority in fecret over thofe who were
willing to acknowledge it. Thefe two powers are
fo different and inconfiflent with each other, that
they conftantly diflurb the harmony of ftates and
empires.
THE Jefuits of Paraguay, \vlio were well ac-
quainted with this fource of divifion, have been
warned by the mifchief their fociety has fometimes
done in Europe, and have exerted themfelves to
promote the real happinefs of America. They
have united both powers in one, making every
thing fubordinate to religion ; which gave them
the entire difpofal of the thoughts, affections and
faculties of their converts. The queftion is, whe-
ther they did it for their own advantage, or for
that of their fubjects.
THE readinefs which thefe miflionaries, on their
being banifhed by the court of Madrid, unexpect-
edly fhewed to evacuate an empire which they
could fo eafily have defended, has juftified them,
in the opinion of a great part of the public, from
the imputation of ambition which their enemies
have laid to their charge, and fpread throughout
all Europe. But philofophy, which is fuperior to
vulgar prejudices, will fufpend its judgment of
thefe legiflators, till the conduct of the inhabitants
of Paraguay affords a proof either in their favour
or againft them. If thofe nations fubmit to Spain,
which has neither the right to oppofe them, nor
forces to enable her to do it, it will be faid that
the Jefuits had taken more pains to teach men
obedience, than to give them juft ideas of natural
equity,
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 53
equity, which thofe favages were already acquaint- B . K
ed with in fome degree; and ihat in availing them- v v '
felves of their ignorance to bend them to iubmif-
fion, though they may have made them more happy
than they were before, yet they have referved to
themfelves the power of rendering them one day
or another the inftruments of their own arbitrary
will. But if thefe people, armed and difciplined
as they are, fliould repulfe the barbarous opprcfibrs
of their country; if they fliould avenge thofe im-
menfe regions of all the blood that Spain has fhed;
philofophers will then fay the Jefuits have laboured
for the happinefs of mankind with the difintereft-
ed fpirit of virtue; that they have ruled over the
inhabitants of Paraguay only to inflrucl them; that
while they gave them a religion, they left them
the fundamental notions of juftice, which are the
firfl precepts of true religion; and that they have
chiefly impreiTed on their minds that principle
which is the bafts of every lawful and permanent
fociety; that it is a crime for men collected to-
gether, to confent to a form of government,
which, by abridging them of the liberty of dif-
pofing of their own fate, may one day make it
their duty to commit crimes. Thus the tranquil-
lity of Spanilh America depends upon the opinions
eftablifhed in Paraguay.
INDEPENDENT of this danger, which may be invafions
confidered as a domeftic concern, Spamfli Ame- spuiiih
rica always (lands expofed to foreign invafions, cl- ^",^,7 IS
pecially from the South Sea. It was long thought M^M^
to befecure on that fide, confidering the diflance, "n/uTem.
the hazards of navigation, and how little thofe
E 3 fcas
54 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B y n K feas were known. The Dutch, who did not think
* -v ' this coaft of America fo inacceffibie, fent a fmall
fquadrqn thither in 1643, which eafily took Bal-
divia, the chief port of Chili, and the key to thofe
peaceful feas, They already poffeffed in imagi-
nation the treafures of thofe rich provinces, till
their expectations were difappointed by the ap-
pearance of famine and dii'eafe. The death of
their chief increafed their anxiety, and the troops
that were fent againft them from Peru threw them
into total defpair. The idea of the diltance they
were at from their native country, deprived them
of all their courage, and the fear of falling into
tbfe hands of a nation whofe hatred they had fo
often experienced, determined them to re-imbark.
If their perfeverance had been greater, they would
probably have preferved their conquefts till the
arrival of the fuccours that would have been fent
from the Zuyder-zee, when their firft fuccefs came
to be known.
SUCH was the opinion of thofe Frenchmen, who,
in 1698 united their riches and efforts in forming
a fettlement in the {freights of Magellan, and on
that part of the coaft of Chili which had been neg-
lected by the Spaniards. This fcheme was .ap-
proved by Lewis XIV., who gave it the fanction
of public anthority. The connections which were
foon after accidentally formed between this prince
and the conquerors of America, prevented the ex-
ecution of a project, which was more extenfive.
than it appeared to be.
THE Englilh had not waited for the example
fet them by Holland and France, to turn their at-
tention
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 55
tention to the South Sea. They were invited by
the mines as early as the year 1624, but the weak-
nefs of the prince who then reigned, proved the
ruin of a considerable afibciation formed for this
great pnrpofe. Charles II. re fumed this impor-
tant project and fent Sir John Narborough to re-
connoitre thofe 1'atitudes that were fo little known,
and to endeavour to open fome communication
with- the nations of Chili. That monarch was fo
impatient to know the fuccefs of the expedition,
that when he was informed of the return of his
admiral to the Downs, he got into his barge, and
went to meet him at Gravefend. Though this
firft attempt had been of no advantage, the mini-
ftry were not difcouraged. They formed the
South Sea company in 1710, who found it more
convenient, or perhaps more humane, to fecure
to themfelves by trade the riches of the countries
granted to them, than to make conquefts. They
were acquiring riches with little difficulty, when
a fatal war changed the nature of things. A fqua-
dron, under the command of Anfon, was fent in-
ftead of the fhips of thofe rapacious merchants who
frequented thefe feas. It is probable he would
have executed the whole of his commiflion, had
he not been prevented by the misfortunes that be-
fel his fquadron, which, from ill-concerted mea-
fures at firft, v/as under a necefliry of- doubling
Cape Horn at an improper and dangerous feafon.
Since the year 1764, England is peaceably en-
deavouring to form a fettlement in the South Seas.
The Englifh admirals have already difcovered fe-
veral populous iflands. Time will fhew what ufe
E 4 they
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
vin. K t ^ lc 7 ma Y ke of, and how far they may be fervice-
v ' able in haftening fume revolution.
AMBITION cannot be fatisiied with fuch flow ad-
vances. But if the generous and lawful dcfire of
delivering half the continent of America from the
Spanifh yoke, and an emulation to fhare its riches
by trade and induilry; if fuch exalted views
fhould be joined to thofe motives of intereit which
occafion coritefts and kindle war among nations, it
would be no difficult matter, by purfuing the plan
laid down by Anfon, to deprive Spain at once of
all her American poftefiions beyond the fouthern
tropic. Twelve men of war, fent from Europe
with three or four thoufand troops, might fecurely
make this attempt. They would immediately
procure refrefhments at the Brazils, at Rio Janeiro,
at St. Catherine's, and at all the Portuguefe fettle-
ments, which are nearly interefled in humbling
the Spaniards. If thefe ihips fhould afterwards
ftand in need of fome repairs, they might be done
with fafety upon the defert and uninhabitable coaft
of Patagonia, at Port Defire, or at St. Julian.
They would double Cape Horn in December and
January, feafbns of the year when thofe feas are
as little expoied to ilorms as any others. If they
fhould chance to feparate, they would meet again
at the defert ifland of Socoro, and then attack
Baldivia with their united force.
THIS place is lefs formidable than it appears.
The fortifications indeed are confiderable, but they
are out of repair. There are a hundred pieces of
cannon, but few have carriages fit for ufe. They
are never provided with ftores or ammunition to
(land
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
(land a fiege. If an attentive adminiftration, a B
thing unknown in that country, fhould remedy
ihefe diforders, it wguld Mill make but little refift-
ance. A garrifon confuting of officers and ibldiers
rendered infamous by their crimes, and by the ba-
nifhment to which they are condemned, would al-
ways be deficient in that fpirit of honour, experi-
ence and abilities necefiary to make a vigorous de-
fence. The conquerors would find a fafe harbour,
excellent timber, hemp, corn, and all the conve-
niences they could wifii after a long pafiage. The
troops, who would ibon recover in fo healthy and
plentiful a country, would attack the reft of Chili
with great advantage.
THIS kingdom, which was formerly defended
by two thouf and men, has now only five hundred
troops, half of which are cavalry, and the other
half infantry. All the Spaniards, indeed, capable
of bearing arms, and formed into companies, are
obliged to join the army; but what refinance could
thefe enervated and inexperienced citizens make
againftwell-difciplined troops, inured to all the fa-
tigues of war? Yet this isnottheonlycircumilance.
The Araucos and their friends would no fooner
hear of this revolution, but they would take the
field without being called upon. Their cruelty is
fo well known, that the Spaniards would exert all
their efforts againft thcfe barbarians, and would
relinquiih all thoughts of oppofing the enterprifes
of the Europeans.
THE coafc of Peru would make ftill lefs reflft-
ance. Callao, the only fortified place, has only a
garrifon of fix hundred men. The reduction of
this
58 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
L]I * S P ort wou ^ P en t ^ ie wa 7 to Lima, which is
no more than two leagues oft, and incapable of
making any defence. The fuccours that might
be fent from the inland parts, where there are no
foldiers, would not fave the place; and the ene-
my's fquadron would intercept any that might
come from Panama by fea. Panama itfelf, which
is furrounded only by a wall, without a ditch or
any outworks, would foon be obliged to furrender :
the garrifon, continually weakened by detachments
it mufl fend to defend Darien, Chagre and Porto-
Bello, would be unable to repulfe a vigorous at-
tack.
IT muft be confefled, indeed, that the enemy,
though mafter of the fea-coaft, would not on that
account be in pofieflion of all Peru. There is
certainly a very efiential difference betv/een the
taking of two inconfiderable places and the con-
queft of fo vaft an empire. If we confider, how-
ever, the bad difpofitions of the Indians, the dif-
content of the Creoles, their floth, their want of
experience, and their ignorance of the art of war j
a great revolution may not be fo improbable as it
appears to be at the firft view. The nation that
fhould attack the Spaniards, would have little lefs
advantage over them, than they themfelves had
over the Americans when they firft difcovered
them. But if the Jefuits, actuated by that fpirit
of ambition they are accufed of, and that refent-
ment which religion itfelf cannot have extinguifh-
ed in their hearts, ihouldjoin with the enemies of
their perfecutors, and introduce them to a people
who mufl flill retain an affection for them ; how
eafily
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
eafily might they not engage all the inhabitants of B
Paraguay to revolt, and ftir up a war of all Amc-
rica againft Spain ? What a triumph for that fo-
ciety, for thofe men who are faid to be fo artful,
and fo zealous in all their fecret intrigues, if they
could in their turn expel from America that na-
tion, which has driven them out of all its domi-
nions!
Bui admitting that the fuccefs of the conqueror
fhould be confined to the taking of Callao and
Panama, Spain would even then be deprived of
all the treafures of the South Seas. To regain this
advantage, the Spaniards would be obliged to
make confiderable armaments j which muft fail
without being intercepted, and muft go round
cape Horn, or through the ftreights of Magellan.
They muft then, without having a harbour where
their fhips might be refitted and take in refrefh-
ments, engage with a fquadron that had been fup-
plied with every neceflary from the ifthmus of
Panama: and if they fnould gain the victory, they
muft afterwards be ftrong enough to befiege and
make themfelves mafters of two places that would
be well defended. Thefe are difficulties not ea-
lily furmounted.
BUT, without executing this plan in.its full ex-
tent, the navigation of the South Seas might ftill
be intercepted: this may be effected if only two
ftrong men of war can get thither undifcovcrc J.
By cruifmg to the north and fouth of Lima, where
all the trade of the country is united as in one
common center, no verTei can arive or come out
from thence without being obferved. The Ihips
which,
60 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B OjJJ K which, on account of the winds and currents,
* v ' mufl always keep in the fame line, mull neceffa-
rily come under the enemy's fails. When mer-
chants, warned by the confiderable lofTes they have
fuiTiamed in trade, abftain from fending any more
Ihips, there is, indeed, an end cf captures; but
if the officers, more firmly attached to their coun-
try than to their own private intereft, fhould not-
withilanding this ftill remain in their ftation, Spain
will equally be deprived of all its advantages.
ALL thefe misfortunes, which may not be far
off, confidering the boldnefs of navigators, and
the late difcoveries made by the Englifh in the
South Seas, can only be prevented by a (Irong
fquadron conflantly ftationed there. The Spani-
ards, who are in need of fuch a fupport, have all
the materials in their power neceffary to procure
it: thefe are to be found in the South Sea, and are
adapted to the climate. It mufl be granted that
the crews, compofed in a great meafure of Indians
or negroes, will never be equal to the European
failorsj but if they are carefully exercifed, ac-
cuftomed to bear the fatigues of the fea, to fire,
to work the fhip, and well trained to difcipline,
they will be able to encounter men who are fpent
with the fatigues of a long navigation, a hot cli-
mate, ficknefs and bad provifions, and who have
no place where they can procure refreshments, in
thofe remote latitudes. We may even venture to
affirm, that if the Spaniards could once gain the
affection of the Indians, -and reconcile them to
their dominion, and if they could train them up
to navigation with fuch a naval force as we have
been
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
been mentioning for the South Sea, no nation on
earth would dare to fhevv its flag in thole lati-
tudes.
BUT even fuppofing this is not to be expected,
it: would ftill be necefiary to have a fquadron al-
ways in rcadincfs, and keep it conftantly in mo-
tion, though it fhould only be required againft the
enemy in time of war. This fquadron at its lei-
fure might be ufefully employed in procuring
along the coaft provifions which are loft for want
of opportunities and means of exporting them.
This would probably awaken the colonifts out of
that lethargy into which they have been funk for
thefe two centuries. As foon as they were allured
that they could convey their produce to Panama
without any charges, and from thence down the
Chagre at a moderate expence, to be fhipped off
for Europe; they would cheerfully follow thofe
labours of which they would be certain to reap
the benefit. Their fpirit of emulation might in
time increase fo much as to induce theminiitry to
have a canal cut, five leagues in length, which
would complete the communication between the
two oceans, that is already fo far advanced by a
navigable river. The government would confe-
quently (hare with the people the advantages that
would arife from the execution of this fcheme; un-
lefs the Spaniards think it their intereft to keep the
i fthmus of Panama fnut up, as the Caliphs of old,
who would not open the ifthmus of Suez, The
general welfare of nations and the intereft of com-
merce ftrongly urge the neceffity of making thefe
two openings, to facilitate a fpeedy intercourfe be-
tween
6z HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK tween the feveral nations. The arbitrary power of
* v i eaftern princes, and the indolence of the Spa-
niards, oppofe the freedom of trade, and rejed
that fpirit of focial equality, with which they are
unacquainted. They cliufe rather to reduce the
people of one part of the globe that abounds in
riches, to famine, and let thofe of the other perifti
in want and flavery, than to {hare the earth and
its treasures with all its inhabitants. But per-
haps, the court of Madrid apprehends that if this
communication were opened, Peru and Chili might
be invaded by the northern fea: this is a point that
muft now be enquired into.
THE Spanifh porTefiions on the northern fea, ex-
tend from the Gulph of Mexico to the Oroonoko.
In that immenfe traft of country there are an
infinite number of places where it is impoffible to
land, and many more where landing would anfwer
no purpofe. All the pofts that have hitherto been
confidered as important, fuch as Vera Cruz, Cha-
gre, Porto-Bello, and Carthagena, are fortified,
and fome of them with ftrength.
EXPERIENCE however has fhewn that none of
thefe places were impregnable: and it is well
known that there are feveral nations capable of
making themfelves mailers of any particular one
that may appear moft advantageous to them.
There may alfo perhaps be found a power rich
enough, and furniilied with a fufficient number of
men and fhips to feize upon them all fucceflively;
and what appears to be a matter of much greater
difficulty, capable of preferving them. The con-
fequence of fuch a ftep would be, that the nature
of
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 63
of the air in thofe fertile countries, which are mod
of them fituated between the tropics, would de-
ftroy a vaft number of the conquerors themfelves.
The climate which is always dangerous to the Eu-
ropeans, fatal even for fix months in the year, and
peftilential to all foreigners accuftomed to tem-
perate weather, to an eafy life, and to plenty,
would prove their deftruction. ft appears from
the moft moderate computations, that three tenths
of the French who go over to the American iflands,
and four tenths of the Englifli, are victims to the
climate j whereas the Spaniards lofe but one tenth
on the continent, which is much more unwhole-
fome.
THOUGH fome expedient fliould be found out to
leflen the malignity of the climate, yet the con-
queror would unavoidably be confined within the
forts he had taken, and muft never expect to fhare
the produce of the mines, that are at an imrnenfe
diftance from the fea. Is it poflible to conceive in
what manner men, even of the greateft refolution,
and moil fertile in expedients, would penetrate
into an uncultivated country without anypofiibility
of procuring fubfiftence? Can we imagine that
with infantry alone they would be able to aft
againft a numerous and impetuous cavalry; or to
advance through tremendous precipices, in a coun-
try where there never was but one road, and that;
a very bad one, which would certainly be broken
up; or to force their way through defiles, which
five hundred men of little or no courage might
defend againft an army of twenty thoufand.
I
SUPPOSING,-
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
SUPPOSING, however* that all thefe miraculous
effects could take place* is it probable, that the
Spaniards of America will fubmit to any foreign
yoke whatever? ZealouQy -devoted as they are
from inclination, lazinefs, ignorance, cuftom, and
pride, to their own civil and religious government,
they will never accuftom themfelves to any fyftem
of foreign laws. Their prejudices v/ill excite them
to take up arms, and enable them to repel their
conqueror, as the Portuguefe, thrown into a re-
mote corner of the earth, formerly drove the
Dutch out of Brazil, when they had almoft entire-
ly fubdued it.
THE only way, therefore, remaining to fecure
the conqueft of this country, would be to deflroy
all the Europeans who are fettled there: forfuch
is the unhappy fate of conquerors, that after they
have made themfelves matters of a country, they
muft deftroy its inhabitants. But befides that it
would be odious and unjuft to imagine that any
civilized nation could be guilty of that extreme
degree of cruelty,- which has rendered the Spa-
niards the object of general deteftation to all fuc-
ceeding agesj an expedient of this kind would
further be as abfurd in a political view, as it is hor-
rid in a moral one. F.very nation would be forced,
in order to derive any advantages from its new
poffeffions, to facriflce its own population, activity,
and induftry, and confequently its whole power,
It is generally known even to the moft enlight-
,ened nations, that from the earlieft ages, every
ftate that has made the working of mines an ob-
ject of its after tion ; has miferably perifhed^ or
languished in poverty and ilavery.
SOME
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
SOME maritime power might however be fo in- B
fatuated by a fpirit of enthufiafm, as to endeavour
to engrofs to itfelf thofe advantages it now fhares
with its rivals. The prejudices of fuch a peopie
might induce them to think that the produce of
the mines might be increafed to double the prefent
value, and agriculture improved infinitely beyond
what it is at this time : they might imagine that
artificers would quit the countries in which they are
unemployed, in order to incorporate with the na-
tion that would fupply America with food and
clothing; that thofe iliips which carried the fruits
of their induilry to the utmoft parts of the earth,
would now decay in the harbours, where the want
of labour would put an end to navigation ; that
every branch of trade would neceflarily fall en-
tirely to the fhare of that power that would be the
fole difpenfer of riches ; and that the whole world
would in fome degree be fubjeft to a nation that
had invaded all its treafures.
THIS flattering delufion would certainly occafion
the deftruction of any nation that fhould aft in
conformity to it; but it would involve Spain in
long and ruinous wars, which it is both her in-
tereft and eafy for her to prevent. The fitting out
of a fquadron would be the only necefTary ftep for
this purpofe, and this might be done in the ifland
of Cuba. The fituation of her docks at the Ha-
vannah is attended with this confiderable advan-
tage, that the coafts which are moft frequented by
her fhips, are moflly fituated under the torrid zone.
The woods of Europe being too foft to refift the
exceflive heat of that climate, confequently dry
VOL. Ill, F u
66 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B vm K U P' wn ^ e tno f e of the country, grown up and
* w hardened in the fcorching rays of the fun, require
little care to preferve them for feveral ages.
BUT, to confine the ufe of this navy to the de-
fence of the Spanifh coaft, would be detrimental
in itfelf, and productive of feveral other evils. It
might be ufefully employed in reviving the inter-
courfe between the national colonies, which was
fprmerly interrupted by the privateers, and has
b.een inconfiderable ever fmce. It Ihould prevent
illicit trade, and the difputes it occafions. It
fhould fecure the navigation, which is more pre-
carious than ever, fmce the Engliih were put in
pofTeflion of Florida by the treaty of 1763.
SOME men of reftlefs difpofitions, who often
apprehend danger where it is not, and do not even
fufped it where it is evident to all, have fuggefted
that the navigation of Spain might be intercepted
at the entrance of the channel of Bahama. The
harbour of St. Auguiline is only fit for fhips of a
moderate fize, and befides, there are fo many ra-
pid currents in thefe latitudes, fo many reefs and
fhoaisj and fuch frequent ftorms, that it is im-
' pofllble for the moft expert failors to cruife there.
It would be a greater misfortune to Spain, if
Great Britain ihould find a harbour fit to admit a
fleet on the coafts of Florida in the gulph of Mex-
ico, which at prefent are fo little known. This
may poffibly never happen; but as the court of
Madrid cannot determine this with certainty, fhe
ought' to endeavour to guard againft fuch an
event by being provided with a good fquadron.
THIS
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 67
THIS would anfwer another purpofe which is
equally important. The Englifh colonies in North
America are continually increafmg to a degree that
excites univerfal aftonifhment. They may conti-
nue under the dominion of the mother-country, or
perhaps, they may fhake off the yoke. Whatever
may be the event, their wants will augment with
their population. This is already become fo con-
fiderable, that the old markets are not fufficient
for the exportation of their commodities; nor the
ufual return adequate to their confumption. This
deficiency muft have been the original caufe of that
great commotion ; that has lately broke out in fo
violent a manner. Great Britain does not yet ap-
pear to have traced the true caufe of thefe dif-
turbances, that have occafioned fuch alarms j but
fhe will in time difcover it. The Englifh will be
fenfible that the only expedient to reftore tran-
quillity to their pofTeffions abroad, is to render
their trade more extenfive. Neceflity, as well as
ambition, will make them conquerors in America,
and it is moft probable the ftorm will firft break
over Mexico. Nothing but the naval force of
Spain can prevent or avert the impending revo-
lution.
THE rendezvous for thefe forces would be very
ill chofen at the Havannah, San Domingo, Vera-
Cruz, Porto-Bello, or Carthagena, all unhealthy
places, and laying to leeward i but it fhould be at
Bayahonda, between St. Martha and Maracaybo.
That (ituation, though but little known, unites
every advantage that can be defired ; an excellent
harbour eafy of accefs, and capable with little
F 2 difficulty
6S HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B vm K Difficulty f being made impregnable; great plenty
^L-i of timber; a very wholelbme air; and a foil equally
fit for agriculture and breeding of cattle. The
lavages who inhabit this country, and who fifh for
pearls at Cape Vela, would either remove, or con-
tinue their ufual employments, if they were treat-
ed with humanity. From this fhelter the Spanifh
fhips would keep their enemy's fettlements in awe,
and protect their own.
It is true, however, that when once the fhips
had failed in thofe feas that are to the leeward,
they would find fome difficulty in returning. The
winds blowing regularly from the feveralpoints be-
tween fouth-eaft and north-earl, and the currents
always letting to weftward, muft certainly make
their pafiage very tedious. But this inconvenience
ought not to make fuch a project be given up, the
neceffity of which every thing tends to demon-
ftrate. A further advantage would be obtained by
it, if this naval force could occafionally proceed
to the South Seas; but fo uleful a fcheme is from
the nature of things rendered impracticable. Be-
fore the fquadron could fail towards the line, it
would be obliged to proceed as high as the latitude
of the {freights of Gibraltar, a circumftance that
would expofe it to the fame inconveniencies as fail-
ing from Europe. All that could be done, would
be to fend over able failors by land, in order to
man the fhips that fhould be ftationed for the pro-
tection of the coafts of Peru.
THE plan of defence we have here laid down
as proper for Spain to purfue, is liable to great
difficulties'. That monarchy may not, perhaps, be
able
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 69
able to raife the necefTary fupplies for forming a B K
navy, though fhe may be convinced of its necef- < v '
fity; or, perhaps, may not be able to fettle the
funds requiiite for its fupport. She may not, pof-
fibly, repofe ib much confidence in her agents in
the New world, as to intruft them with fo impor-
tant a concern. Thefe objections, which we could
not pafs over, appear, indeed, to be unanfwerable,
in the prefent ftate of weaknefs, floth, ignorance,
and dejection of that power, which was once fo
formidable. But a prudent, vigorous, and fpeedy
reformation, afllfted by the care and authority of
government, which would excite the attention of
the people to fuch a plan, induce them to make
attempts, and animate them to exert their efforts,
would foon remove a variety of objections, which
a fpirit of timidity magnifies, increafes, and tends
to perpetuate.
ABUSES of a long continuance, and perfons
who are materially interefted in fupporting them,
will prove impediments to every plan of public
advantage for the colonies. But thefe will foon
be obviated, if they are firft vigoroufly attacked
in the mother-country.
ALL the political writers who have attempted Caufeiof
to trace the caufes of thofe evils under which Spain
has fo long been opprefled, have conftantly urged,
that the Spaniards, finding themfelves maflers of
the treafures of America, had voluntarily neglect-
ed their manufactures and agriculture. Such an
idea can never have been entertained by any peo-
ple. Nations are not generally guided by reafon;
they are directed or hurried on by the train of
F 3 events,
70 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
E vjS K events > which are in the hands of their rulers.
* - V- ' The riches of America, far from occafioning the
decay of arts and fciences, have from the begin-
ing contributed to their encouragement, and muft
necefiarily have produced this effect:.
FERDINAND, by the conquefl of the kingdom
of Granada, had acquired all the manufactures of
Spain, which were chiefly in the hands of the
Moors; but they have confiderably injured the fale
of their goods by the expulfion of the Jews. The
difcovery of America foon excited a fpirit of in-
duftry and commerce, which increafed greatly
under Charles V., and even under Philip II. In
the laft years of his reign, the city of Seville alone
contained fixty thoufand looms for weaving filks.
The woollens of Segovia were efteemed thebeft in
Europe. The Levant and Italy preferred thofe
of Catalonia to any other. The armament againft
England, known by the name of the invincible
Armada, and confining of a hundred and fifty
large men of war, is a proof that Spain had at
that time a powerful navy, and confequently a
very extenfive trade by fea. In the courfe of a
century, the Spaniards were engaged in very con-
fiderable and expenfive undertakings. The wars
of the Low Countries and of the League alone
were attended with an expence of three thoufand
millions of livres*. By thefe different means, they
fent infinitely more of their fpecie into foreign
countries than they have fince done by trade.
IF the Spaniards at that time had been under a
neceflity of buying the commodities they fent to
* 131,250,000!.
2 their
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIE'S.
their colonies, Europe would even from that pe-
riod have enjoyed the treafures of America, as fhe
does at prefent. Spain would then never have been
able to have had fuch a prodigious navy, and iuch.
a number of land-forces, nor to have kept in her
pay fo many foreign troops; fhe. could not have
excited divifions among the neighbouring Hates,
and fubverted every thing by her intrigues; nei-
ther could ftie have been the principal fpring of
all political events, nor almoft the moil confider-
able power in the world.
THE vifible decay of Spain may be dated from
the total expulfion of the Moors and Jews hi
t6u. This decreafe of her power was fo rapid,
that fome Spanifh writers propofed fchemes for the-
political reiteration of their empire, as early as the
year 1619. It is eafy to conceive what a vacancy
the lofs of a million of laborious men muft make
in their country, at a time when the nobility, who
ftill retained all the prejudices and barbarous pri-
vileges of the Vifigoths, from whom they boafted
their deferent, threw all the labour upon that clafs
of men they delpifed, though in fact the moft
lifeful. The military, that deftructive profefilon,
was the only one that was entitled to any diftinc-
tion ; and the arts, by which things are brought in-
to' exiftence, preferved, and kept in order, ftamped
a mark of difhonour upon thofe who profefTed
them. If agriculture were in the leaft attended
to, it was becaufe there were flaves. If there were
any trade, it was becaufe there were Jews. Laflly,
if Spain had any manufactures, it was owing to
the Moors, who led a laborious life, and were ge-
F 4 nerally
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
ncrally held in contempt. Government did not
confider, that in order to retain the treafures of
America in the mother-country, nothing more was
neceffary than to encourage that induilry which
brought them there. The only active part of the
nation, the only fet of men that could promote
this great end, were infamoufly banifhed. In vain
did thefe unhappy fufferers offer the government
twenty millions, and they would even have tripled
that fum, to obtain a permiffion to continue in the
country where they were born; the fame fuperfti-
tion that had devoted them to deflruction pre-
vented the policy of the ftate from attending to
their complaints. There was not any nation in
Europe at that time fufficiently enlightened to offer
them an afylum, and they were forced to difperfe
themfelves in Africa and Afia.
WHILE thefe unhappy men were driven by
defpair to take refuge upon thofe barbarous coafts,
Spain triumphed in her blind fanaticifmj and ima-
gined herfelf ftill the richefl kingdom in the
world, without even entertaining a fufpicion that
the fhips which crowded her harbours, were con-
tinually exhaufting her fubftance. When the Spa-
niards became fenfible of the diminution of their
fpecie, they imputed it to the lofs of fome India
fhips that had been caft away in their palTage
home, to the faking of the gajleons by the Dutch,
and to the badnefs of their fales. They thought
that to fupply thefe deficiencies, it was only ne-
ceflary to impofe heavier duties on manufactures
and artificers. But this burden, which could not
have been fupported by the workmen even when
their
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 73
their number was considerable, grew intolerable BOOK
when only few of them remained. They fled into J
Flanders and Italy, or continued in the country
and quitted their profeflion. The filks of Va-
lencia, and the fine wool of Andalufia and Caftile,
were no longer manufactured by the Spaniards.
THE treafury having no more manufacturers to
opprefs, now opprefled the farmers. The taxes
levied upon agriculture, were as ill-judged as they
were various and exceflive. Befides general du-
ties, there were what the financiers call extraor-
dinary duties, which is a mode of levying money
upon a particular clafs of citizens ; a kind of tax
unprofitable to the ftate, and ruinous to thofe who
are taxed, and which tends only to enrich the per-
fon who has contrived it. Thefe refources proved
inadequate to the urgent neceflfities of government,
and the financiers were called upon to advance con-
fiderable fums. At this period, they became maf-
ters of the ftate, and were empowered to farm out
the feveral parts of their leafe. This introduced a
multitude of agents, and with them numberlefs
reftraints and oppreflions. The laws which thefe
rapacious men were allowed to enact, were only fo
jmany fnares to ieduce the honed and credulous.
In procefs of time, they ufurped the fovereign au-
thority, and found means to elude the royal tri-
bunals, to chufe judges for themfelves, and to
pay them. In Ihort, they became judges in their
own caufe.
THE owners of the lands that were opprefled
by this tyranny, either threw up their eftates, or
neglected the improvement of them. That fertile
pen inful a,
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TR'ADE
peninfula, which, though fubjecl: to frequent
droughts, ftiil afforded fubfrftence to thirteen or
fourteen millions of inhabitants before the dif-
-coveiy of America;, and had formerly been the
granary of Rome and all Italy, was foon over-
fpread with thorns and briars. The pernicious
cuftom of fixing the price of corn was then adopt-
ed j and public granaries were eftablifhed in every
province, which were confequently managed with-
out either (kill, care, or honefty. Befides, what
advantage could be expected to arife from fuch
precarious refources? How could it poffibly enter
into any one's thoughts, to lay reftraints upon the
price of corn, fn order to increafe the quantity of
it ; to raife the price of provifions, in order to
make them cheaper; or to facilitate monopoly, in
order to prevent it ?
WHEN once a nation has begun to decline, it
feldom recovers itfelf. The lofs of population,
of the manufactures, of trade, and of agricul-
ture, was attended with the greateft evils. While
Europe was daily improving in knowledge, and
all nations were animated with a fpirit of induftry,
Spain was fallfng into a ftate of inaction and bar-
barifm. The duties of the former cuftoms, which
were ftill fuffered to remain upon goods palling
from one province to another, were carried to fuch
an excefs, as to prevent all communication between
them. Even the conveyance of money from one
province to another, was prohibited. In a fhort
time, not the lead fign of a road was to be feen.
Travellers were flopped at the crofling of rivers,
where there was neither bridge nor boats. There
was
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
was not a fingle canal, or one navigable river.
People, the mod fuperftitious in the world, with
regard to the obfervance of fail days, fuffered
their ftfheries to decline, and bought fifh, every
year to the amount of twelve millions*. Except a
few ill-built vefiels deftined for their colonies, they
had not a fingle fhip belonging to government in
their harbours. Their coafts lay expofed to the
depredations of the corfairs from Barbary. To
avoid thefe, they were obliged to freight upon
foreign bottoms, even the avifos they fent to the
Canary iflands and to America. Philip IV., pof-
fefied of all the rich mines of America, at once
found all his gold changed into copper, and was
reduced to the necefllty of making his copper coin
bear almoft the fame value as that of filver.
THESE were not the greateft grievances of the
monarchy. Spain, from an abfurd and fuperfti-
tious veneration for the age of her conquefts, fcorn-
fully rejected whatever was not pradlifed in thofe
glorious days. The Spaniards faw all other na-
tions growing more enlightened, more exalted, and
more powerful, but thought it beneath them to
copy after any one of them. An abfolute con-
tempt for the improvements and cuftoms of their
neighbours formed the diftinguilhing character of
this people.
THE inquifition, that tremendous tribunal, which
was at firft eftablifhed in order to flop the progrefs
of Judaifm and Mohammedanifm, had provedfatal
to arts and fciences, and to all ufeful knowledge.
Religious difputes occafioned, indeed, no difturb-
* 525,000!.
ances
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
ances or ravages in Spain ; but fhe remained in a
ftate of the moft profound ignorance. Such dif-
putes, though always abfurd in themfelves, ferve
however to exercife the mind. They induce men
to read and reflect, to confult antiquity, ftudy
hiftory, and the ancient languages; hence arifes
criticifm, which is productive of true tafte. The
fubject that firft excited the exertion of the mind,
foon becomes of no confequence ; books written
on controverfial points are neglected, but the
knowledge they have diffufed remains. Religi-
ous matters are like thofe acid and volatile parti-
cles that exift in all bodies fit for fermentation.
They firft occafion a cloud in the liquor that was
before clear, but foon put the mafs in motion. In
this ferment, they fly off or fink to the bottom;
and when the whole is depurated, nothing remains
but a foft, pleafant, and nutritive fluid. But in
the general ferment of theological difputes, all the
refufe ftill continued in Spain. Superftition had
fo infatuated the nation, that they even gloried in
their blindnefs.
INSTEAD of that activity which could alone ani-
mate the leveral parts of thofe wide dominions
that lay too much fcattered, the Spaniards were fo
flow in their motions, that all bufinefs was imped-
ed. Such a variety of forms, precautions, and
deliberations were multiplied to prevent impofi-
tion, that they only put a flop to every commer-
cial tranfaction.
THE wars in which the Spaniards were engaged
were as ill-conducted as their fyflem of politics.
A population which was hardly fufficient for the
many
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 77
many garrifons they kept in Italy, in the Low B ', K
Countries, in Africa, and in the Indies, rendered v
them incapable of raifmg an army at home. At
the firft breaking out of a war, they were obliged
to have recourfe to foreign troops. The few Spa-
niards who were fent to fight along with thefe
mercenaries, were fo far from being able to ma-
nage them, that their own allegiance was frequently
fhaken by this intercourfe. They have frequently
revolted together with the foreign troops, and ra-
vaged the provinces that were committed to their
protection.
A REGULAR pay would infallibly have prevented,
or foon put a flop to this fpirit of fedition. But
to provide for the payment of troops, and to keep
them in that ftate of dependence and fubordina-
tion fo necefiary to good difcipline, government
fhould have fuppretfed that multitude of ufelefs
officers, who by their falaries and their opprefilons
abforbed the greater! part of the public revenue j
the moft ancient rights of the crown fliould not
have been alienated for a trifling confideration, or
{uffered to be invaded ; nor fhould the royal trea-
fures have been fquandered away, to entertain fpies
and to procure traitors in every country. But care
fliould have been particularly taken, that the gran-
deur of the prince fhould not have been made to
confift in granting penfions and favours to all who
had no other claim, but that which they derived
from their boldnefs in afking for them.
THIS noble and iniquitous way of receiving
alms was become general. The Spaniard, natu-
rally generous, having acquired a fpirit of pride,
difdained
8
I HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
o o K difdained the common occupations of life, and
y-L-/ afpired after nothing but governments, biflioprics,
and the~ chief employments in the ftate.
THOSE who could not attain to thefe prefer-
ments, glorying in their proud infolence, ftill af-
fumed the flyle of the court, and maintained as
much gravity in their idlenefs, as a minifter ab-
forbed in ftate affairs.
EVEN the lower clafs of the people would have
thought they defiled their victorious hands by
proftituting them to peaceful labours. The fields
and manufactures were left to foreigners, who came
and enriched themfelves by the indolence of the
natives, and carried home a flock to fertilize their
own lands.
MEN born to no property, meanly preferring
idle ilavery to laborious liberty, eagerly folicited
to be admitted into the number of domeftics that
the great kept in their retinue, with that pomp
which magnificently diiplays the pride of the molt
ufelefs, and 'the degradation of the molt neceffary
clafs of men.
THOSE who had too much vanity remaining to
live without fome diftindion, crowded into the
convents, where fuperftitious men had long fmce
provided a convenient retreat for their indolence,
and had carried their abfurdity ib far as to lavifh
marks of diflinclion upon them.
A . EVEN the Spaniards who had competent for-
tune*, rather gave up all thoughts of pofterity,
than to attend to the eftablifhrnent of it. If fome,
induced by love and virtuous motives, chofe, in
imitation of the great, to enter into marriage, they
fent
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. ^
fent their fons, in their earlier years, to be educated BOOK.
in the fuperftitious manner of the colleges: and v__I^L^
from the age of fifteen refigned them to the cour-
tezans. The abilities and itrength of thefe young
men being thus vitiated, they were equally ener-
vated by thefe infamous conne&ions, which they
did not even break off when they entered into the
facred ties of matrimony. This extreme licen-
tioufnefs is the original and only caufe of the de-
cay of population in Spain, where women were
formerly as fruitful as in any other .populous coun-
try.
OUT of this degenerate race were taken the men
who were to hold the reins of government. Their
adminiftration was anfwerable to their education,
being aconflant fcene of idlenefs and corruption.
They feldom difcovered any fenfe of virtue or
juftice, or the leaft defire of promoting the hap-
pinefs of their fellow-creatures. They thought
only of plundering the provinces intruded to their
care, in order to diffipate in idlenefs and profufion
at Madrid the fruits of their extortion. This con-
duct was always pnrfued with impunity, though
it often occafioned feditions, infurrections, con-
fpiracies, and fometimes revolutions.
BESIDES all this, the ftates that were united to
Caftile by marriage or conqueft, contributed to
complete the ruin of the Spanifli monarchy. The
Low Countries did not afford a fufficiency to pay
the garrifons that were kept to defend th^rn.
Franche Comte fupplied nothings Sardinia, Sicily
and the Milanefe were even burdenfome to go-
vernment. The tributes of Naples and Portugal
were
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
were mort g a g e d to ftrangers. Arragon, Valencia,
Catalonia, Roufillon, the Balearic iHands and Na-
varre, pretend they owed nothing to the mo-
narchy but a free gift, which was always fettled
by their deputies, but feldom to the fatisfa<5tion of
a rapacious court, exhaufted by abfurd liberalities.
WHILE affairs were in this (late of confufion in
Spain, the treafures of America, which at firft had
only been introduced into other European nations
by the interefts of war and politics, were now cir-
culated through a more eafy channel. As the mo-
ther-country could not pofilbly fupply the wants
of her colonies, this quickened the induftry of
other nations, which till then had been extremely
confined. The original poffeffbrs of the riches of
America could only obtain the duties of the fifth,
the indulto, guarda coitas, cuftoms and commif-
fion : duties which have only increafed the price
of commodities to foreign merchants, by dimi-
nifhing the confumption of them ; for the Peru-
vians and Mexicans, among whom this confump-
tion is made, Hand in reality charged with thefe
additional expences. It is by thefe means that
the gold and filver which the difcovery of Ame-
rica has made fo plentiful in Europe, have been
more generally circulated, and more equally dif-
tributed.
IN vain were all foreign nations excluded from
trading in any of the American ports, by a fevere
law enacted by Ferdinand and Ifabella, and con-
firmed by their fucceflbrs. The indifpenfable law
of neceflity has fuperfeded this regulation, which
was intended to be perpetual, and has thrown all
that
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 8
that trade into foreign hands. From the amount
of about fifty millions* worth of commodities and
merchandife that are annually ihipped off from
Cadiz for the Weft Indies, fcarce one-eighth is
Spanifh property. The reft belong to other na-
tions, friends or foes, fent in the name of Spa-
niards, who are always true to individuals and dif-
honeft to government. The probity of the Spa-
niards, which has never been attainted, has been a
iecurity to foreigners in this trade.
GOVERNMENT, who could not be ignorant of*
the unavoidable difadvantages arifmg from thefe
perpetual breaches of the law, thought to obviate
them by a more abfurd one than the former. It
prohibited, upon pain of capital punifhment, the
exportation of gold and filver; as if the Spani-
ards were not obliged to pay for what they want-
ed to buy. When the execution of this law was
enforced, the Spaniard who is the factor at Cadiz
for other nations, delivered the ingots to fome
bravoes, called Meteors, who being well armed,
went upon the ramparts with the ingots all num-
bered, and threw them down to other meteors,
who carried them to the boats that were waiting
for them. They were never difturbed by the fac-
tors, the cuftom-houfe officers or the guards, who
all fhared the profits of the fraud, which the in-
juftice of the law feemed to authoriie , and the fo-
reign merchant was never impofed upon. Thefe
expences enhanced the price of the merchandife,
and the pnrchafer was under a neceffity of paying
them. The prohibition of exporting gold and
* 2,l88,oqol.
VOL. III. G filver
82 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
o o i
V11I.
: filver was fo ineffectual, that though a prodigious
quantity came over every year from America,
there was very little feen in the kingdom. Greater
feverity would only have advanced the price of
commodities, by increafmg the difficulty of paying
for them. If, in conformity to the ftriclnefs of
the proclamations, the delinquent had been ap-
prehended, tried and condemned to death, and all
his goods forfeited j fuch an atrocious act, far
from preventing, would rather have increafed the
exportation of fpecie; becaufe thole who had be-
fore been content with a moderate profit, would
require a more coniiderable one when the rifque
was greater, and would have exported a greater
quantity of fpecie, that their profits might be fo
much the more increafed.
THE court of Madrid has at length been con-
vinced of the pernicious tendency of this tyranny.
The ancient governments, which entertained a
proper refpc6t for the laws, would certainly have
repealed any particular one, if they had found that
the obfervance of it was abfolutely impracli cable.
In the prefent age, when kingdoms are governed
more by the caprice" of adminiftration than by ra-
tional principles, Spain has been fatisfied witli the
regulation Ihe made a few years ago, that foreign
traders ftiould have all the profits of the merchan-
dife they fhould fend to America, on paying three
per cent. The money was to be tranfmitted by
bankers, fettled for that purpofe in the principal
cities of Europe. The defign of the miniftry
was, to make themfelves mafters of the trade of
the pialtres, and confeqnently of the exchange.
' This
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
This plan, which was, perhaps, more extenfive B
than juft, has not fucceeded. The agents made
choice of, have betrayed the truft repofed in them.
The court of Spain has not perfifted in fupporting
a fyftem which could not long exift. Every pri-
vate man is now at liberty to draw his money di-
rectly from Spain, upon paying the accuftomed
duties, which in the year 1768 were advanc'ed
from three to four per cent. If they were more
moderate, government would derive greater ad-
vantages from them. There are certain times
when the Spanifh fmngglers can bring the piaftres
on board the fhips, for a price below the ftated
value; and it may eafily be imagined thofe op-
portunities are eagerly feized.
WHILE the mother- country was declining, the
colonies could not poffibly flourifh. If the Spa-
niards had underftood their true intereft, they >ioiii.
would, perhaps, on the firft difcovery of America,-
have been content with eftablifhing an equitable
intercourfe with the Indians, which would have
fettled a mutual dependence, and reciprocal pro-
fits between the two nations. The manufactures
of the old world would have been bartered fof
the produce of the mines of the new; and wrought
iron would have beeri changed for its weight of
unwrought filver. A lafling union, the neceflary
confequence of a peaceable traffic, would have
been eftablifhed without bloodfhed or devaftation.
Spain would equally have been miftrefs of Mexico
and Peru; becaufe any nation that cultivates the
arts, and does not communicate the method by
which it carries them on, will always have an evi-
G 2 dent
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
dent fuperiority over thofe to whom it fells its rna-
nu fa&ures.
THIS method of reafoning was not adopted by
the Spaniards. The eafe with which they had fub-
,dued the Indians, the afcendant which Charles V.
had ufurped over all Europe, the natural pride of
conquerors, the particular temper of the Spa-
niards, their ignorance of the true principles of
commerce; all thefe, and various other caufes,
prevented them from giving to the conquered
countries of America at their firft eftabliihment
there, a good fyftem of legiflation, a well regu-
lated form of government, and a degree-of ftabi-
lity capable of infuring their duration.
THE depopulation of America was the melancho-
ly effect of this irregularity. The firft fteps of the
conquerors were marked with ftreams of blood.
Aftonifhed as much at their own victories, as the
favages were at their defeat, and intoxicated with
their fuccefs, they refolved to extirpate the people
they had plundered. Innumerable nations difappear-
ecl from the face of the earth at the arrival of thefe
barbarians; and thefe horrid fcenes of cruelty have
been hitherto afcribed to a thirft of gold, and to
a fpirit of fanaticifm.
BUT the ferocious difpofition natural to man,
unreftrained by the fear of punifhment, or by any
fenfe of fhame, and unawed by the prefence of
civilized men, might fo far conceal from the Spa-
niards the image of an organifation fimilar to their
own (a fimilarity which is the foundation of all
moral duties), as to induce them to treat their new-
difcovered brethren as they did the wild beafts of
the
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
the other hemisphere, and to do it with as little
rcmorfe : befides that the cruelty arifing from mi-
litary exploits increafes in proportion to the dan-
gers the ibldier has gone through, to thofe he now
endures, or to thofe he expects: Is he not of a
more fanguinary difpofition in remote countries
than at home; and do not the fentimeiits of hu-
manity grow weaker, the more diftant we are from
our native country? It may likewife be conjec-
tured that the Spaniards, who, on their firft land-
ing, were taken for Gods, might be afraid of be-
ing detected and mafTacred; that they miftrufted
the marks of kindnefs that were (hewn them \
that when once they had begun to fhed blood,
they thought their own fafety required that they
fhould not difcontinue; that their army, conlifting
only of a fmall number of men, being furrounded
by an innumerable multitude of natives, whofe
language they did not understand, and whofe
cuftoms and manners they were ftrangers to, was
feized with a panic, either well or ill -grounded.
But the circumftance the moft inexplicable of all,
is, the abfurd barbarity of government, that coun-
tenanced fuch fcenes of horror, and kept thofe
profligate men in pay to perfecute and deihroy
their brethren.
THE Spaniards, the defendants or flavesof the
Vifigoths, like them, divided among rheinfeives
the defert lands, and the men who had efcaped
their iword. Moft of thefe wretched victims did
not long furvive, doomed to a ftate of flavery
worfe than death. The laws that wereoccafional-
ly eftablifhed in order to alleviate the hardfhii^ of
G 3 their
86 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B ^ K their fervitude, afforded them but fmall relief.
i- /- ' The favage, proud, and rapacious Spaniards paid
as little regard to the commands of a monarch
who was too far remote from them, as to the tears
of the poor miferable Indians.
THE mines proved ftill a greater caufe of de-
; ' ftruction. Ever fince the difcovery of America,
the Spaniards had attended only to this fpecies of
wealth. In vain did fome men of more enlight-
ened underftanding exclaim againfl this infatua-
tion. Let the gold remain where it is, laid they,
provided the furface of the earth that covers it
can but produce an ear of corn that will make
bread, or a blade of grafs to feed your Iheep. The
only metal you want is iron. Work it into faws,
hammers, and plough-fhares, but not into wea-
pons of destruction. The quantity of gold re-
quifite for the purpofes of exchange is fo incon-
fiderable, that it is unnecefiary to accumulate any
great ftock of it. It is very immaterial whether
a hundred ells of cloth fell for one pound or twen-
ty pounds of gold. The Spaniards have acted
like the dog in the fable, that dropped the meat
out of his mouth to bite at the image of it in the
water, and was drowned in attempting to get it.
UNFORTUNATELY the Indians were the victims
of this fatal error. Thofe unhappy men were
lent to work at a very great depth under ground,
where they were deprived of day-light, of a
free and wholefome air, of the chief fupports of
]ife, and of the comfort of weeping with their
friends and relations ; and were doomed to dig
their own graves in thofe dark manfions, which
3
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
now contain more a flies of the dead than gold B ^
duft. If we confider the barbarities exercifed ^
againft thcfe people, we cannot but be aftonifhed
to hear the covetous and fhipid Spaniards complain
that the Indians will not tell them of feveral mines
they have difcovered both before and iince the
conqueft. Thofe wretched people would only
multiply the means of their own deftru&ion,- by
betraying the fecret they have received from their
fathers, or that chance has thrown in their way.
*THE unhappy Indians, whofe fate it was to
fubmit to the yoke, have therefore fled in great
numbers from the lands they cultivated* for their
rapacious mailers, and taken refuge among the
favages who wander in the forefls and deferts of
the Cordeleras. Thofe impenetrable recefles are
become the alylum of multitudes of Indians, who
conftantly threaten the Spanifh provinces with fud-
den invafion or open war. They contract a/degree
of ferociouihefs in thofe fevere climates, which
renders them ib formidable, that the Spaniards
have been obliged to abandon fome very rich
mines, that were expofed to their inroads. The
deficiency of population among thefe favages, oc-
cafioncd by the barrennefs of the foil, the want of
attention, and of the refources which fociety af-
fords, is compenfated by a conftant fupply of fugi-
tives, who make their efcape from European tyranny.
It is in thefe mountains that a race is fecretly rifmg
up, which will one day afTert its lawful rights, and
recover its liberty and pofleflions out of the cruel
and rap?.cious hands of thofe who have invaded
them; and, perhaps, that day is not far diitant.
G 4 ANO
83 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
ANOTHER caufe of depopulation is, that the
Europeans have taught them new wants, while
they deprived them of the means of fatisfying
them. Before the conqueir, the Indians went
naked, or what they wanted for ornament they
made themfelves, which was a, kind of employ-
ment cr bufmefs among them. Their whole care
was to cultivate a field of maize. Gold and filver
had no value among them, as all their traffic con-
fifted in exchanging one thing for another. Since
the I-ndian has been taught to live in fociety, he
muft have lodging and food, and muft frequently
clothe himfelf with the produce of foreign ma-
nufactures. As he is ignorant of every art and
trade, he is to procure thofe neceffaries his new
wants require ; and though he fhou.ld not entirely
give himfelf up to defpondency, yet his labours
would fcarce procure him a fubfiftence ; fo that
the luxury and the poverty which opprefs him,
have reduced him to the neceffity of concealing
himfelf from the public eye, living in a iblitary
manner, and giving up all thoughts of his pof-
terity.
THIS caufe of depopulation was fucceeded by
another ftiH more dreadful, the very idea of which
formerly infpired all Europe with horror. The
celebrated Drake, having taken the town of St,
Dominigo in 1586, found that the iflanders were
grown fo defperate, that, rather than fee their
children fall into the hands of the conqueror, they
were unanimoufly come to a refolution to have no
connection with their wives. This abitinence from
the moil natural delire implanted in human na^
turd
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. I 9
ture, which is the only inftance of the kind ever BOOK
VIM
recorded in hiftory, feems to have been referved to v ' -->
the sera of the difcovery of the new world, as a
perpetual monument of Spanifh. tyranny. What
elfe could the American oppofe to this third of de-
ftruction than the horrid vow of ceafmg to per-
petuate their pofterity? Thus the earth was ftained
with the blood of the fathers, and deprived of the
Succeeding generation.
FROM this period the country feemed to lie
under a curfe for thcfe barbarous conquerors. The
empire they had founded began to tend to ge-
neral deftrudion. Profligacy and corruption made
a rapid progrefs among them. The moft impor-
tant for trefTes were fuffered to decay. The coun-
try was left without arms or magazines. The
foldiers who were neither exercifed, fed x nor
clothed, became beggars or thieves. Tjie veiy
firft principles of war and navigation were forgot-
ten; as well as the very names of the inflruments
made ufe of in thole two necefiary arts.
TRADE confided only in the art of cheating.
The gold and filver, which were to be brought into
the king's coffers, were fraudulently diminifhed,
and reduced to a fourth part of the fum they ought
to have produced. All orders of men, corrupted
by avarice, united their efforts to prevent a true
ftate of things from being laid before the throne,
or to fave thofe perfons who had rendered them-
felves obnoxious to the law. The magiftrates of
every rank and degree always unanimoufly exerted
themfelves to iupport each other in their injuftice.
tin
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
THE fcene of confufion occafioned by thefe ex-
tortions, introduced the fatal expedient of all ill-
governed ftates, that of numberlefs taxes -, as if
government had two objects in view, to put a flop
to every kind of indultry, and to increafe op-
preflion.
IGNORANCE kept pace with injuftice, <c I faw,
" fays a celebrated traveller, the very fame fen-
" tence pafied in one and the fame tribunal, and
" almoft within the fame hour, in two cafes that
" were directly oppofite. Ail endeavours to make
" the judges under/land the difference was to no
" purpofe. At laft the chief judge, feeming to
<c be convinced, role up, and turning up his
fc whifkers, fwore by the holy virgin, and all the
tf faints, that the Englifh Lutherans had run away
* f with pope Juftinian's books, whicli he always
" made ufe of to try intricate caufes: but if thofe
" dogs fhould ever come again, he would have
" them all burnt."
THE fame traveller relates, that ff one day Ovid's
" Metamorphofes fell accidentally into the hands
<f of a creole j he carried it to a friar, who imcler-
" flood no more of it than himfelf, and made the
" inhabitants believe it was an Englifh bible: he
" proved it by the prints he (hewed them at every
" Metamorphofis, laying, See how thofe dogs
" worfhip the devil, and how he transforms them
" into beafts. Then the pretended bible was
cf thrown into a fire kindled on purpofe, and the
tf monk made a long oration, which confifled of
thankfgivings to St. Francis for this lucky d:f-
{C covery."
As
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
As ignorance is always favourable to fuperili-
tion, the miniilers of religion, without being more
enlightened than others, afiumed a fuperiority
in the management of all public affairs. Being
lefs apprehenfive of punifhment, they were al-
ways the moil forward to break through the laws
of juftice, and all rules of morality and decency.
The leaft corrupted among them became traders,
and the reft availed themfelves of their ecclefiafti-
cal power to extort from the Indians all they were
porTerTed of. A Spanifh monk who did not gain
at leaft a hundred thoufand livres* by a fhort voy-
age to America, was confidered as a man of little
fkill in trade. Their rapaciouihefs was often vo-
luntarily gratified at their arrival by prefents of im-
menfe value. It might have been imagined that
America had been conquered for no other purpofe
than to ornament the churches and to enrich the
clergy.
THE hatred which arofe between the Spaniards
born in America, and thole who came from Eu-
rope, completed their ruin. The court had im-
prudently laid the foundation of thefe unhappy
divifions. The Creoles had been faifelyreprefent-
ed as little better than barbarians, and nearly of
the fame character as Indians. They thought
they could not depend upon their fkill, courage,
or fidelity, and therefore determined to ex-
clude them from all places of trull and profit.
This refolution, injurious as it was, highly dil-
gufted the Creoles. The Spaniards, who were in-
verted with authority over them, were fo far from
* 4*37Sl-
endeavouring
g2 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK endeavouring to reconcile them, that they ftudied
t^-Y / on the contrary to exafperate them by humiliating
partialities. This produced an inveterate hatred
between thefe two orders of men, one of which
was loaded with favours, and the others iligmatized
with difgrace. This animoiity has often broken
out in fuch a manner as to endanger the dominion
of the mother- country in the new world, and v/iil
fome time or other occafion a revolution. Such
an event may with the greater certainty be ex-
pected, and perhaps is not very diftant, as the
clergy on both fides, who have adopted the lame
hatred and animofities, will never relinquifn them,
and will endeavour, according to the fpirit that
has always actuated them, to make the people
irreconcilable enemies.
SINCE the acceffion of the Bourbon family to
the throne of Charles V. thefe diibrders, and the
evils arifmg from them, have in fome degree di-
minilhed. The nobility do not take upon them-
felves that kind of itate which is an attendant
upon regal dignity, and which often embarralfed
the government. The management of public af-
fairs is not now confined to perfons of high birth,
but given to men in favour, of fortune or me-
rit. The produce of the general and provincial
revenues of Spain, which an infamous adminiftra-
tion had reduced to lefs than eight millions* to-
wards the latter end of the laft century, now brings
in 72,656,805 livresf. This happy change which
firft took place in the mother-country, extended
itfelf afterwards to the colonies. The three de-
*350,oool. tS'^S'JSS 1 - 4 s - 4 d - I
2 partmcnts
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 93
partments that are intruded with the management B ^ *
of their affairs in Europe, have gradually been * ^ t
lefs under the dominion of that fatal difpofition
which leemed to influence all their proceedings.
The council in India is more ufefully employed in
regulating the government of the colonies, and
attending to their prefervation. The contraction
office removed from Seville to Cadiz conducts
their trade with greater abilities. The confulate,
which takes cognizance of the differences arifing
between the merchants trading to that part of
America, and is appointed to watch over the
maintenance of their privileges, has acquired fome
degree of attention and knowledge.
THESE firft fteps towards a reformation mud be Meaai
an inducement to the Spanilriminiftry to hope, that USS?*
a good form of government may be eftablilhed, $jj2^
when the true principles on which it is founded "fcifc
are once known, and the proper means made ufe
of to effect it. The character of the nation is not
an invincible obftacle to this change, as it is too
generally thought to be. Indolence is not fo na-
tural to the Spaniards as we imagine. If we look
back to thofe times in which this unfavourable pre-
judice was firft entertained, we (hall find that this
want of activity did not extend to every thingj- and
that if Spain was inactive at home, fhe was not fo
abroad, but was inceffantly diiturbing the repofe
of her neighbours. Her idlenefs proceeds in fome
degree from foolilh pride. Becaufe the nobility
were unemployed, the people imagined it was a
mark of nobility to do -nothing. They all wanted
to enjoy the fame prerogatives and the ftarved,
half-
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
half-naked Spaniard, cnrelefsly fitting on the
ground, looks with pity on his neighbours, who
are well clothed, live well, work, and laugh at his
folly. The one from a motive of pride defpifes
the conveniences of life ; while the other, from a
principle of vanity, endeavours to acquire them.
The climate made the Spaniard abftemious, and
indigence renders him more fo. The monkifh
fpirit, to which he has long been fubjecl, makes
him confider poverty, which is occafioned by his
vices, as a virtue. As he has no property, he
covets none; but his averfion for labour is greater
ftill than his contempt for riches.
THAT poor and proud people have nothing left
of their ancient character, but an immoderate fond-
nefs of every thing that has the appearance of
grandeur. They muft be flattered with chimerical
ideas, and animated with the flrongeft hopes of
glory. The fatisfaction they feel in depending on
none but the crown iince the abafement of the
grandees, makes them receive all that comes from
the court with refpect and confidence. This pow-
erful influence might be made fubfervient to their
happinefs. Some means might be contrived to
perfuade them that labour is honourable, and the
nation will foon become what it was before the
difcovery of America, in thofe glorious times*
when, without any foreign aid, Spain threatened
the liberties of all Europe.
WHEN the imagination of this people is once
properly directed, and they are brought to be
afhamed of their haughty fpirit of indolence, other
evils muft be attended to. The moil deftructive
to
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 95
to the bulk of the nation is the want of popula- B ^^ K
tion. Well-governed colonies will naturally in- * y
creafe the population of the mother-country, which
on her part promotes the increafe of theirs, by
fupplying them with advantageous marts for the
produce of their induftry. It is on this plan, alike
interefling to humanity and found policy, that the
more enlightened nations of Europe have formed
their fettlements in America. This wife and noble
defign has been univerfally crowned with fuccefs.
Spain alone, which had formed her fyftem in a
darker age, has feen her population decreafe at home,
in proportion as her porTefflons increafed abroad.
WHEN the difproportion between the extent of
a territory and its inhabitants is not very confider-
able, the balance may be gradually reftored by
activity, ceconomy, great encouragements given
to matrimony, and a long peace. Spain, whofe
population, in the year 1747, amounted to no
more than 7,423,590 fouls, including 180,046
eccleiiaitics; and who has now in her colonies
little more than the twentieth part of the popula-
tion there was foon after the conqueft, cannot
remedy this evil either at home or abroad without
new and extraordinary efforts. To increafe the
laborious claries of men, there muft be a reduc-
tion of the clergy, which enervates and deftroys
the ftate. Two thirds of her military force muft
be abolifhed, and thefe foldiers muft be employed
in the arts; fince the connection with France, and
the weaknefs of Portugal, no longer render them
necerTary, As their clear revenue is 1 1 2,000,000*,
*4,9oo,cocK
and
9 6 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
and the general expences amount only to
96,000,000 of livres*, the government muft apply
itfelf to alleviate the burdens of the people as foon
as its poiTefTions in both hemifpheres are extricated
from that confufion and diforder into which they
had been thrown, for theie two centuries paft, thro'
the effects of incapacity, ignorance, and tyranny.
But it is firft abfolutely necefTary that the infamous
tribunal of the inquifition Ihould be abolifhed,
which leems to be levelled equally againft the mo-
narch and the people, by keeping both under the
yoke of an abfurd fuperftition.
SUPERSTITION, whatever may be the reafon of
it, prevails among all nations, whether rude or
civilized. It proceeds undoubtedly from the fear
of evil, and from the ignorance of its caufes, or of
its remedy. At leaft this alone is fufficient to im-
print it in the minds of all men. The calamities
of nature, plagues, ficknefs, unforefeen accidents,
deftructive phenomena, all the latent caufes of
pain and death, are fo univerfal on earth, that it
would be very furprifing if man had not been
deeply affected with them in every country and
in every age.
BUT thisnatural fear muft always have increafed,
or have been magnified in proportion to ignorance
and fenfibility. It muft have given rife to the
worfhip of the elements that are moft deftructive
to the, earth, fuch as inundations, conflagrations,
and plagues; the worfhip of animals, whether ve-
nomous or voracious, but always noxious: from
hence too muft have arifen the worfhip of men
who have done the greateft injuries to mankind,
* 4,200,000!.
of
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
of conquerors, of fortunate importers, of the work- B
ers of prodigies, apparently good or bad; and
the worlhip of invifible and imaginary beings*
fuppofed to lie concealed in every inftrument of
deftruction. Reflection and the ftudy of nature
muft have infenfibly leffened the number of thefe
invifible agents, and the human mind muft have
rifen from idolatry to theifm ; but this laft fimple
and fublime idea will always have remained imper-
fect and confufed in the minds of the vulgar, and
mixed with a multitude of errors and fancies.
REVELATION had confirmed and perfected the
idea of the doctrine of the unity of God ; and,
perhaps, a more incorrupt religion would then
have been eftablifhed, had not the northern bar-
barians, who poured in upon the feveral provinces
of the Roman empire, brought along with them
their own facred prejudices, which could not be
difpelledbut by other fables. Unfortunately chrift-
ianity was preached to men incapable of under-
flanding it thoroughly. They would not embrace
it, unlefs it was attended with that external pomp
and fhew in which ignorance delights. Interefted
motives burdened it, and debafed it more and more
with other obfervances, and conftantly invented
new doctrines and miracles, which were the more
revered as they were the lefs credible. The na-
tions, engaged during twelve centuries in dividing
and contefting about the feveral provinces of an
univerfal monarchy, which one nation had formed
in lefs than two hundred years, admitted without ex-
amination all th errors which the priefts, after much
controverfy, had agreed to teach the multitude.
VOL. III. H BUT
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BUT the clergy, too numerous to maintain any
unanimity of opinion, had cherifhed the feeds
of divifion, which muft fooner or later be com-
municated to the people. The time came when
the fame fpirit of ambition and avarice that actu-
ated the whole church, exerted itfelf with great
animofity againft many fuperftitions that were uni-
verfally adopted.
As it was from cuflom that the people had re-
ceived all thofe puerile notions which they had
fuffered themfelves to be deluded into, and that
they were not attached to them from national prin-
ciples or party fpirit, thofe whoweremoft interefted
in fupporting them, were unable to defend them,
when they were attacked with that fteadinefs that
was calculated to fix the attention of the public.
But nothing fo much promoted the reformation of
Luther and Calvin, as the liberty they granted to
every one to examine and determine finally upon
the religious principles he had been taught. Tho*
the multitude was incapable of undertaking this
difciiflion, yet every man plumed himfelf upon
having the privilege to determine on a fubjedt in
which his molt valuable and mofl important inte-
refts were concerned. The commotion was fo
uniycrfal, that the new opinions would in all pro-
bability have triumphed totally over the old, had
not the magiitracy thought it their intereft to ftem
the torrent. Implicit obedience was as neceflary
for the fupport of the fupreme power, as for that
of religion, and was the fureil foundation of its
authority; that power began therefore to be alarm-
ed left thofe who had overturned the old and firm
founda-
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
foundations of the Roman hierarchy, might next B
proceed to examine into its own prerogatives. The
republican fpirit which naturally fpread itfelf
among the reformed, contributed to increafe this
diftruft.
THE kings of Spain, more jealous of their
power than other fovereigns, endeavoured to fup-
port it, by eftablifhing a more uniform fyftem of
fuperftition. They were not fenfible that the opi-
nions of men concerning an unknown Being can-
not be all the fame. In vain did reafon expoftulate
with thofe weak monarchs, alleging that no
power had a right to prefcribe to men what they
were to think ; that fociety, in order to fupport
itfelf, is under no neceffity of retraining the free-
dom of the foul ; that to compel men to fub-
fcribe to certain articles of faith, is to exacl: a falfe
oath, which makes a man a traitor to his confer-
ence, in order that he may be a faithful fubject;
and that a citizen who ferves his country, is, in a
political light, preferable to him who is orthodox
to no purpofe. Thefe permanent and incontefl-
ible principles were not attended to. They were
overruled by the profpecl: of great advantage, and
{till more by the furious clamours of* a multitude
of fanatical priefts, who delayed not to aflume the
fupreme authority. The prince, thus reduced to
become their flave, was forced to abandon his
fubjectsto their caprices -, to fuffer them to be op-
prefled, and to become an idle fpectator of the
cruelty exercifed againft them. From that time,
fuperititious manners, beneficial only to the prielt-
hood, became prejudicial to fociety. A people
H 2 thus
loo HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOR thus corrupt and degenerate, were the moil cruel
< y- r of any. Their obedience to the monarch was fub-
ordinate to the will of the prieft; who opprefled
every other power, and was in fact the fovereign
of the ftate.
INACTION was the necefiary confequence of a
fuperflition that enervated all the faculties of the
foul. The project which the Romans formed from
'their very infancy of becoming mafters of the
world, Ihewed itfelf even in their religion. It was
Victory, Bellona, Fortune, the genius of the Ro-
man people, Rome herfelf that were their gods. A
nation that endeavoured to imitate their example,
and thought of becoming conquerors, adopted a
monkifti government, which has deftroyed every
"profpect of fuccefs, and will effectually prevent
their reftoration either in Spain or America, unlefs
this kind of government, is totally fubverted, and
every idea of the horror it excites obliterated
with it. The fuppreflion of the inquifition muft
certainly haften this great change; and it is
a pleafmg expectation to think that if the court of
Madrid will not determine upon this necerTary'
ftep, they will one day be compelled to it by a
humane conqueror, who will infert it as the firft
article in a treaty of peace, that the autos-de-fejhall
be abolijhed in all the Spanijh dominions both in Eu-*
rope and America.
THIS ftep is neceflary towards the reftoration of
the monarchy, but it is not alone fufficient. Tho r
Spain has employed more art to conceal her weak-
nefs, than was neceffary to enable her to acquire
ftrength, the world is not unacquainted with the
diforders
S
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
diforders fhe labours under. They have taken fo B
deep a root and are of fo inveterate a nature,
that they cannot be remedied without foreign aids.
If fhe will but fubmit to accept them, fhe will
foon fee her provinces in both hemjfpheres filled
with new inhabitants, who will bring with them
numberlefs branches of induftry. The northern and
fouthern nations, acluated by that pafiion for riche$
which is the characterise of the prefent age, will
refort in multitudes to the regions that are thrown
open to excite their emulation. The riches of the
public will increafe in proportion to thofe of indivi-
duals; and thofe which have been acquired by fo-
reigners will become a national wealth, if they are
permitted to enjoy them with that fecurity, fatis-
faction, and diftinction, as to induce them to forge$
their native country.
IF the Spaniards are defirous of bringing thji
important plan to perfection with all pofiible ex-
pedition, they muft not only admit ftrangers of
their own perfuafion, but encourage every feet
without diftinction to come and fettle among them.
They have too long thought that liberty of con-
fcience was a moft impious doctrine, and that ta-
leration was even prejudicial confidered in a po-
litical light; becaufe the -fundamental principle
of all fects is to hate each other, and gradually to
throw thofe governments where their numbers are
increafed into confufion. If the pagans had rea-
foned in this manner, chriftianhy would never have
been ertablifhed; at leaft it is evident that their
perfections againft the founders of our religion
would need no apology.
H 3 WHEN
lot HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
WHEN the Spaniards have once procured afuf-
ficient number of men, they will then think of
employing them in the moft advantageous man-
ner. The anxiety they felt to fee the treafures of
America pafs into the hands of their rivals and
enemies, made them imagine that the revival of
their manufactures was the only method that could
enable them to retain part of thofe treafures at
home. Such of their writers upon finance as have
infifted upon this fyftem, appear to us to be mif-
taken. As long as the people who are in poffeffion
of thofe manufactures which ferve to fupply the
demands of America, will attend to the pre-
fervation of them, thofe which may be attempted
to be eftablifhed in other parts, will fcarce be able
jio vie with them. Theie manufactures may pof-
fibly procure the materials and workmanfhip at as
reafonable a rate : but fome centuries muft pafs,
before they can be able to attain to the fame de^
gree of cjuicknefs and perfection in the work,
Nothing could effect this great change, but fuch
a revolution as would remove the beft foreign,
workmen and the moft fkilful artifts to Spain.
Till this period arrives, which does not feem very
near, any attempts that are made, will not be fuc^
cefsful. The prohibition to prevent the exporta-:
tion of unwrought commodities affords a con-
vincing and inftructive proof of this. The good-
nefs of filks has pn this account confiderably de-
creafed ; and the manufacture of them begun to
be neglected, and would have been entirely loft,
had not government prudently reftored trade to
its ancient freedom.
WE
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. i
WE may proceed ftill further, and venture to *
affirm, that though it fhould be in the power of < w
Spain to procure afuperiority in the manufactures
refpecting articles of luxury, fhe ought not to do
it. A tranfient fuccefs would be productive of
total ruin. Let us fuppofethat Spain can furnifh
all the commodities that are wanted in her colonies ;
the immenfe treafures this trade will bring in, will
all center in home circulation, and the confequence
will be, that the coin will fmk in value. This
plenty of fpecie will certainly occafion a dearnefs
of provifions, and enhance the price of labour.
There will be no proportion between the price
Spain muft require for her manufactures, and that
which the neighbouring nations will fell theirs for.
Thefe, being able to afford their commodities
cheaper, will oblige the Spaniards to take them,
becaufe an exorbitant profit will furmount every
obftacle. The Spanilh artificers, deftitute of em-
ployment, will be reduced to the neceflltyof feek-
ing for it in other places, and Spain will lofe both
her induftry and her population.
SINCE then it is impoflible that the Spaniards
fhould keep the whole produce of the American
mines in their own hands, and fince they muft un-
avoidably ihare it with the reft of Europe, they
fhould exert all their policy to preferve the greateft
part of it, to make the balance incline in their fa-
vour, and to render their advantages permanent,
they muft be fatisfied with f'uch as are moderate.
They will fecure to themfelves fuch a fuperiority
by the practice of the neceflary arts, and the plen-
ty and goodnefs of their natural productions.
H 4 TH
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
C : '
VIII.
B VTT K ^ HE Spanifh miniflry have been fenfible of this
truth, but have been deceived in the opinion they
entertained that the manufactures were the chief
promoters of agriculture. It is certain, however,
that they contribute to promote the culture of
lands. They are even neceflary, wherever the
expence of trarifport puts a flop to the circulation
and confumption of the produce, fo that the cul-
tivator is at a iofs how to difpofe of his commo-
dities. But in all other cafes, the farmer can fuc-
ceed without the affiftance of manufactures. If he
can but diipofe of his produce, he is under no
concern whether it is for local confumption, or
for trade and exportation, and will go on with his
tillage.
SPAIN annually fells for exportation, in wool,
filkj oil, wine, iron and kali, to the amount of above
thirty millions of livres*. Thefe exports, moft of
which cannot be replaced from any foil in Europe,
may be greatly increafed, and might, probably, be
more than doubled. They wih be fufficient, in-
dependent of what the Spaniards receive from the
Indies, to pay for all the foreign goods that can be
confumed in the nation. We grant that by thus
fending their unwrought produce to other coun-
tries, they will increafe their population, wealth,
2nd power; but they will promote a more certain
and more beneficial kind of induftry at home.
Their political influence will foon claim a relative
fuperiority, and the nation employed in agriculture
will foon become greater than that which confines
jtfelf to manufactures.
* 1,312,500!.
AMERICA
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES,
. AMERICA will greatly mcnjafe thefe advan- B
tages:. and will be beneficial to Spain, both by her
gold and filver, and by her commodities.
IT appears from the moft moderate computation, Meam
that thofe valuable colonies have remitted" to the ^'[J f pwa
mother country, from 149210 1740, that is, in the ^ r l y e ij a r _
compafs of 248 years, upwards of 9000,000,000 ^foment of
of piaftres*, the fmalleft part of which has re-
mained to the natural owners -, the reft has been
diffufed all over Europe* or carried into Ada.
From the firft of January 1754 to the laft day of
December 1764, we are not reduced to conjecture
" in fupport of our opinion. Within that period,
Spain has received,
FROM Vera Cruz, in gold, 3,151,354 piaftres
5 realst; and in filver, 85,899,307 piaftres 2
reals J.
FROM Lima, in gold, 10,942,846 piaftres 3
reals |1 j in filver, 24,868,745 piaftres 3 reals .
FROM Buenos Ayres, in gold, 2,142,626 pi-
aftres 3 reals f j in filver, 10,326,090 piaftres 8
reals**.
FROM Carthagena, in gold, 10,045,188 piaftres
8 reals*f; in filver, 1,702,174 piaftres 3 reals*J.
FROM Honduras, in gold, 37,254 piaftres 9
reals*||; in filver, 677,444 piaftres 7 reals*.
FROM the Havannah, in gold, 656,064 piaftres
3 reals*f j in filver, 2,639,408 piaftres 2 reals ft-
* 2,025,000,000!. f 709,054!. 155. 'i id.
J 19,327,344!. 2s. id. || 2,462,140!. 8-. pd.
$ s, 595,467!. 143. 3d. f 482,090!. 185. 9d.
** 2,323,370!. 95. 8d. *f 2,260,165!. 8s.
*t 38^989!. 45. 9 d. *|| 8,382!. 8s. 3 d.
* 152,425!. 2s. id. *^[ 147,614!. 95. 9 d.
it 593,8661. 175. 2d.
FROM
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE '
FROM Caracca, in gold, 52,034 piaftres 4
reals*; in filver, 276,002 piaftres 6 reals f.
FROM St. Domingo and Porto Rico, in gold,
526 piaftres 5 reals J; in filver, 317,521 piaftres
i real.
FROM Campeachy, Cumana and Maracaibo, in
gold, 91, 564 piaftres 6 reals ||.
THIS makes in all 27,027,896 piaftres in
gold^[, and 126,798,258 piaftres 8 reals ** in
filver. Thefe two fums together, amount to a
total of 153,826,154 piaftres 8 realsf-j-. This
fum divided by eleven, will fhew that the returns,
upon an average, have been 13,984,185 piaftres
and 3 fourths JJ. To all thefe riches muft be add-
ed thofe that are not regiftered to avoid paying
duty, which may amount to fomewhat more than
one-fourth of what is regiftered; and it will ap-
pear that the mother-country annually receives
from her colonies about feventeen millions of pi-*
aftres, or 1 9,250,000 livres.
THERE would be a pofiibility of increafmg this
produce. For this purpofe the government fhould
lend over to America fome perfons fkilled in me-
tallurgy, and make the condition eafier on which
they allow the working of the mines. But this
would be only a tranfient advantage, fmce it is un-
deniable that gold and filver are not to be con-
fidered as riches, but only as the reprefentatives
pf them. Thefe figns are indeed very durable, as
* 11,707!. 155. 4-d. -f- 62,100!, 12s. 6d.
J n8l. gs. nd. 71,442!. $s. id.
II 20,602!. is. 6d, fl" 6,081,276!. 7$.
* 28,529,608!. 55. 8d, ff 34,610,884!. i2s. 8d.
Jf 3,146,441!. 195, About 3,904,600!.
they
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 107
they ought to be to anfwer their deftination. But B K
the more they are multiplied, the more they lofe ^i
of their value, becaufe they ferve to reprefent
fewer things. In proportion as they are become
more common fince the difcovery of America,
every thing is increafed in value twice, thrice, and
four times beyond what it was before. The pro-
duce of the mines has conflantly decreafed, and
the expence of working them has been continually
greater. The balance, which inclines more and
more to the lofmg fide, may fo far deflroy the
equipoife, that it may be found neceflary to drop
this fource of wealth. But at all events, it will be
advifeable to render thefe operations more fimple,
and t;o try every poflible me'thod to make this la-
bour lefs deftru&ive to the human race than it has
hitherto been. There is another fource of pro-
fperity for Spain, which will be fo far from de-
creafing, that it will daily gather new ftrength;
and that is agriculture.
ALL nations have found it dangerous to allow
the eftablifhments of manufactures in their poflef-
fions in America, but they have all encouraged agri-
culture by every pofiible means. If Spain fhould
adopt fo rational a principle, Ihe will probably
fave twelve or thirteen millions of livres* that are
annually expended in thefmgle article of fpices. It is
hardly poflible that in all that vaft extent of land
and that variety of climates there fhould not be
fome fpots, in America fit for the culture of cin-
namon, cloves, nutmeg, and the other aromatic
prqdu&ions of Afta. It is certain that cinnamon
* 525,000 01568,750!.
grows
io3 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
o o
VIII.
BOOK grows at Quito, and cultivation might give it the
properties it wants.
WHETHER thefe experiments fucceed or not,
coffee may certainly be cultivated there, the ufe of
which becomes daily more general in Europe;
as well as cotton, to fupply the frequent de-
mands of our manufactures; and fugars, which
Spain buys to the amount of above five millions**
a year, while ihe ought to fupply all Europe
with it.
MANY provinces of Mexico formerly produced
excellent filks, which were manufactured at Se-
ville. This produce, however, has been loft, by
the numberlefs obftructions it has met with; but
it might eafily be revived and improved.
THE Vicuna wool is in great repute in all na-
tions. The quantity which the fleets bring home,
is far from being fufficient to anfwer the demands
for it. The fort of fheep that bears this fine
wool, might eafily be multiplied in the climates
that are fitteft for them.
The exceffive dearnefs of cochineal, and the
great demand there is for it every where, points
out to Spain the neceffity of multiplying it.
BUT the cultivation of the vine and the olive
tree, which is allowed only in one part of Peru,
fhould be principally encouraged. Some fmall
wandering nations might be fixed by employing
them in this labour. If they were properly dif-
tributed, they would ferve to eftablilh an inter-
courfe between the feveral colonies, now feparated
by immenfe and uninhabited regions. The laws,
*2i8,75ol,
which
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
\vhich never have any power over men who are at
too great a diftance from each other and from the
magiftrate, could then be enforced. Commerce
would not be perpetually interrupted by the im-
poflibility of conveying the goods to the place of
their deftination, even at a great expence. In cafe
of a war, early notice would be given of the dan-
ger, and fp'eedy and effectual affiftance procured.
If Spain were by this plan 'deprived of fome few
exports, this trifling lofs would be greatly over-
balanced by very confiderable advantages. The
eafieft part of the labour we recommend would
fall to the lot of the natives, who are too indolent,
'and, perhaps, too weak, to go through harder
work. The reft would be referved for the more
'aHve robuft African (laves.
THIS foreign aid was thought of in the firft
years after the difcovery of America, but was foon
prohibited from an apprehenfion that the blacks
corrupted the Americans, and might excite them
to revolt. Las Cafas, who inceflantly laboured
to promote the happinefs of the Indians, obtained
a. repeal of that law, as thinking it prejudicial to
their prefervation. At that period, a favourite
obtained an exclufive grant for carrying four
thoufand negroes to the Caribbee iQands. He fold
his privilege to the Genoefe, who made an ill ufe
of their monopoly. This fcandalous trade was
fuccefiively in the hands of the Caftilians, the
Portuguefc, the French, and the Englifh. It is at
laft returned to the Spaniards, who carry it on in
the leaft advantageous . way for the benefit of
their country. Their moft dangerous enemies
become
no HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK become their agents, and all their connections are
uJlJJL. with Britiih fubjects.
IF political confiderations can juftify a trade fo
repugnant to humanity, Spain ought to carry it on
without the afiiftance of foreign countries; and muft
not be difcouraged by the want of forts on the coaft
of Africa. This obftacle may be furmounted by re-
ceiving directly from the Eafl-Indies the commo-
dities that are fit for the barbarous regions of
Africa? by giving bounties to encourage the in-
troduction of negroes in the Spanilh colonies,
inftead of clogging it with duties. Then thofe
countries, which have for fo long a time been in a
declining ftate will flouriili again; and their pro-
ductions, which at prefent do not exceed twenty-
feven or twenty-eight millions of livres* a year,
will then be extended as much as the confump-
tion of Spain and of all Europe will admit them
to be.
WHEN government has fuccefsfully turned its
attention towards bringing the working of the
mines to a greater degree of perfection, and to
the improvement of agriculture in the American
provinces, it will then be necefTary to confider how
thefe riches may be tranfmitted to the mother-
country. Experience muft have taught her that
the vigilance of her guarda coilas, and the fidelity
of her commanders, are often and eafily eluded by
the contraband trade.
ALL the nations whofe fettlements are near the
Spanifh colonies, have always endeavoured, by
fraudulent means, to appropriate to themfelves
* On an average 1,283,125 1.
the
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. lit
the treafures and produce of that indolent nation.
The Portuguefe have turned their views towards
the -river Plata j the Danes , the French, and the
Dutch, upon the coaft of Carthagena and Porto-
Bello. The fubjects of Great Britain, who were
not ignorant of thefe different means, have found
that the ceflions made to them by the laft treaty,
have opened to them a new method of getting a
larger lhare of thole ricli Ipoils. All thefe nations
have fucceeded in their attempts, by deceiving or
bribing the guarda coftas; but the Englifh, fure of
being countenanced by government, have carried
on in full peace, and by force of arms, an illicit
trade in foreign countries, which in their own is
punifhed with death. This kind of trade is fo
openly authorifed by their naval force, that there
is actually a public contract between the navy and
the merchants, by which the man of war is en-
titled to five per cent, on the fale made by the
fmuggler, as a reward for protecting him.
THE governors are ftill more remifs in their
duty than the guarda coftas. Though corruption
is carried to very great excefs in Spain,' it is ftill
greater in the Indies. The viceroys as well as the
loweft cuftom-houfe officers, who are fent to Ame-
rica, are all equally deftitute of the fmalleft fenti- - x
ments of patriotifm. They have all bought their
places; and are defirous of making the greateft
advantage of them; every one is in hafte to make
his fortune, the only motive that induced him to
leave his country; all v/ant to have an adequate
compenfation for the danger they have expofed
themlelyes to by a change of climate. It is neceffary
for
112 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK f or them to improve every inftant of time, as they
t . ' feldom keep their places longer than three or five
years. One would imagine the court of Madrid,
not being able to prevent this extortion, has endea-
voured to render it lefs odious, by making it more
general.
EVERY mode of acquiring riches is deemed
lawful. The moft common is to permit the con-
traband trade, and even to be concerned in it. It
is eafy, expeditious, and pleafant. In America
none oppofe it, becaufe it fuits every perfon. If
the complaints of fome European merchants reach
the court, they are eafily filenced by proper gra-
tuities to minifters, confeflors, miftreffes or fa-
vourites. The delinquent not only efcapes pu-
nifhment, but is rewarded. Nothing is fo well
eftablifhed or fo generally known as this practice.
A Spaniard juft returned from America, where he
had filled an important poft, was complaining to a
friend of the injurious reports that were fpread con-
cerning the difcharge of his truft. If you arejlan-
dered, fays his friend, you are undone \ but if your
extortions are not exaggerated^ you kave nothing to
do but to give up part of your -plunder, and you will
enjoy the remainder peaceably r , and even with credit.
THE queftion is how to eradicate abufes of fuch
a long flanding. As long as the management
that has given rife to them fubfifts, the fmuggler
will carry on his trade, and thofe who are appointed
to prevent it will protect him. Spain will never
reftore good order, but by lowering the duties,
and altering her method of intercourfe with her
colonies.
THE
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES* 113
THE Spaniards, whofe fituation will not admit B o K
of their manufacturing all they want to fupply their ^ ->
American colonies, mull appropriate to themfelves
the labours of every nation in Europe. They
muft confider themfelves as merchants in the midft
of manufacturers. They muft fupply them with
materials j pay them a reasonable price for their
labour, by making a proper allowance for the ad-
ditional value their induftry has given to the natu-
ral productions ; and then they muft difpofe of
them to the beft advantage to the feveral con-
fumers.
THESE maxims are too fimple in themfelves to
have efcaped them; but they have made a wrong
application of them. That they have always been
milled by their wants or their avidity of gain.
They have conftantly feparated the interefts of the
crown from thofe of the people, and therefore
have found no impropriety in laying the duties too
high. None of their minifters feem to have con-
fidered, that the riches of the people are the true
riches of the ftate. Poflibly, they may have been
fo infatuated as to imagine, that the burden of thefe
duties fell upon the original owners of the merchan-
dife. We can hardly doubt their acting upon
this principle, when we fee that every intimation
for lowering the duties has been rejected, as ruin-
ous to the monarchy. That pernicious fpirit of
finance, which daily becomes more injurious to
the trade of Europe, has checked the direct inter-
courfe that was formerly carried on between the
mother-country and her colonies. The contra-
band trade has increafed in proportion as the du-
VOL. III. I ties
ii 4 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B o K ties have been raifed j but it will be put an end to,
* w-1 ' whenever the tariff is fettled at a moderate rate,
and navigation is freed from thole fetters which
obftruct its progrefs.
THOSE who are of opinion that the common
method of fleets and galleons is the beft, have
been mifled by their prejudices in favour of cuf-
tom, which is fo apt to govern the opinions of
moil men. They were not aware that this tedious
method would neceflarily prove deftruflive. The
illicit traders, informed by their emiflaries of the
wants of the colonies, and abundantly provided
with all they can be in need of, always arrive before
the Spanifh fhips, who, finding the ftorehoufes
full, are forced to fell their goods under prime
coftj or, which is ftill worfe, cannot difpofe of
them at alL If, to prevent this inconvenience,
they are fent out later, this is an additional encou-
ragement to the fmugglers, whofe magazines be-
ing conftantly fupplied with frefh merchandife,
can never be exhaufted.
To prevent this deftrudYive competition, it has
often been propofed to the Spanifh government to
eftablifh trading companies for the commerce of
America; but the court of Madrid has always re-
jected this fcheme, as a pernicious monopoly, worfe,
perhaps, than the toleration of an illicit trade.
Though ignorant of the true principles of com-
merce, they were fenfible that exclufive privileges,
always prejudicial even to the moil active nations,
muft neceflarily prove ruinous to one, whofe in-
duftry is not fufficiently excited.
No-
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 115
NOTHING but an entire freedom in the trade B n K
from Cadiz can put an effectual flop to fmug- * * '
gling, and give commerce the advantage of being
extended as far as poflible. It is the intereft of
Spain, as well as of all other nations that have
colonies in America, to fend thither great quan-
tities of the produce and commodities of Eu-
rope, and to bring home much of thofe of Ame-
rica. Thefe meafures are infeparably connected.
The one is impoffible without the other, and both
are in confident with reftraint.
THE colonies will find a great advantage in this
fyftem, which will bring plenty into their ports.
A competition among many fellers has ever been
and will always be advantageous to the purchafer.
BY this happy change, the mother-country will
filence the murmurs of fome perfons, who have
grown difcontented, either becaufe they have been
left unprovided with the necefTaries of life, or have
been forced to pay an extravagant price for them.
The cheapnefs of commodities will occafion the
fall of fome manufactures, which had been efta-
blifhed from mere neceflity, and which could not
be fafely abolifhed by authority. Spain will turn
the labours of induftry towards agriculture, which
will then become, as it ought to be, the moft
profitable employment. Laftly, her navigation
will be increafed twice or three times beyond its
prefent ftate, for it is nowfo flow in its operations,
as to endanger public property, and too often ex-
pofe it to fall into the hands of an enemy.
ALL the European nations that are in the leafl
concerned in this trade, will carry it on to better
L 2 ad van-
n6 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
advantage. If the method of doing this by a fleet
of fhips, which limits the quantity of goods that
may be fhipped, at Cadiz, is more favourable to
the few merchants concerned in that bufmefs, a
freedom to every one to fend over as much as he
pleafes, on paying the duties, will reduce the price
and increafe the confumption of the commodities.
Trade will then be confiderably increafed in Eu-
rope. The profit of each nation will be greater,
though that of each private man will be lefs. The
firft of thefe advantages is infinitely preferable to
the laft.
WE are fenfible that this free trade, which we
think abfolutely necefTary, will no fooner be open-
ed, but it will be carried to excefs by a boundlefs
emulation. This mud be expected from the eager-
nefs and imprudence of the merchants. Perhaps,
itmay be beneficial. Themother- country will have
exported a greater quantity of her produce, and
received richer returns. The colonifts, encouraged
by the cheapnefs of the commodities, will allow
themfelves fome indulgences they never could yet
afford,, will feel new wants, and confequently
will apply themfelves to new labours. Traders,
warned by the lofs of part of their capital, will
become more induflrious, circumfpecl:, and dili-
gent in their expeditions. Even admitting that too
great a competition might prove a real evil, it
could never be a lafting one. To endeavour to
prevent this by laws that would be destructive of
all freedom, would be to prevent a fortunate re-
volution by a perpetual oppreflion. As foon as
Spain is undeceived, the trade of her colonies
will
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 117
will no longer be a mere monopoly, her religion B
mere iiiperftition, nor her government an abfolute
tyranny. Her good example, and a happy rival-
ftiip, may, poflibly, induce Portugal, whofe con-
dudl has not hitherto appeared more enlightened
than that of Spain, to adopt the fame plan of re-
formation with regard to the Brazils.
13 BOOK
*i3 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADQ
BOOK IX.
Settlement of the Portuguefe in the Brazils.
The 'wars they have fuftained there. Pro-
duce and riches of that country.
RAZIL is an immenfe continent in South
America. It is bounded on the north by the
*y f river of the Amazons, on the South by Paraguay,
bythe^por- on the weft by a long ridge of mountains that di-
vide it from Peru; and on the eaft by the northern
ocean. The extent of the fea-coaft is fuppofed to
be no lefs than twelve hundred leagues. The in-
land parts are too little known to enable us to form
any eftimate of their extent. A fuccefiion of hills
runs all along from north to fouth, from whence
iffue many large rivers, fome of which fall into the
ocean, and fome into the Plata.
IF Columbus, in his third voyage in 1499, had
continued his courfe to the fouth, when he came
to the entrance of the Oronooko, he could not
pofiibly have miffed the Brazils j but he chofe to
fteer to the north-weft, towards the gulph that
lies between that river and Florida. The fettle-
ments already made there, the gold they pro-
duced^
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
duced, and the hopes of finding a way to the Eaft-
Indies, were fo many inducements to purfue that
track.
PETER ALVAREZ CABRAL had the honour of
difcovering the Brazils the following year by
chance. This Portuguefe admiral was going with
a fleet beyond the Cape of Good Hope. To avoid
falling in with the calms on the coaft of Africa, he
kept fo far out at fea, that he came within fight of
an unknown land lying to weftward. He was dri-
ven thither by ftrefs of weather, and anchored on
the coaft in the i5th degree of fouth latitude, at
a place which he called Porto-Seguro. He took
pofiefiion of the country, but made no fettlement
in it, and gave it the name of Santa Cruz, which
was afterwards changed for that of Brazil, becanfe
the Brazil wood was the moft valuable production
of that country to the Europeans, who ufed it in
dying.
As this country had been difcovered in going to
India, and it was doubtful whether it was not a
part of that, it was at firft comprifed under the
fame general title, but was diflinguifhed by the
appellation of Weft Indies, becaufe the Portuguefe
went to India by the eaft, and to the Brazils by the
weft. This name was afterwards given to all
America, and the Americans were very impro-
perly called Indians.
THUS it is that the names of places and things,
accidentally given by ignorant men, have always
perplexed philofophers, who have been defirous
of tracing the origin of thefe names from nature,
and not from circumftances merely incidental, and
1 4 often-
120 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B jj? K ft ent i mes quite foreign to the natural properties
v ' of the things denoted by them. Nothing can be
more ftrange, for inilance, than to fee Europe
tranfplanted into America, and there regenerated
as it were, in the names and forms of our Euro-
pean cities, and in the laws, manners, and reli-
gion of our continent. But fooner or later the
climate will relume its influence, and reinftate
things in their proper order and with their origi-
nal names, though with thofe veftiges of the
change they have undergone, which a great re-
volution always leaves behind it. Is it not probable
that in three or four thoufand years hence, the
hiftory of America at this prefent period will be
as confufed, and as inexplicable to its inhabitants,
as the hiftory of Europe previous to the rife of the
Roman republic is obfcure to us ? Thus it is that
men, die knowledge they have acquired, and the
conjectures they have formed either with refpecl:
to events that are parTed, or to future tranfactions,
are all fubject to the laws and motions of nature,
who purfues her own courfe, without paying the
leaft regard either to our projects or to our opi-
nions.
NOTHING can afford us a more convincing proof
of this great truth, than the imprudence and unr
certainty of all the defigns and actions of men
even in their moft important undertakings, the
blind nefs with which their inquiries are purfued,
and more efpecially the improper ufe they make of
their difcoveries. As foon as the court of Lifbon
had ordered a furvey to be taken of the harbours,
bays, rivers^ and coafts of Brazil, and was con r
vinced
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 121
vinced that the country afforded neither gold nor B J3 K
filver, they held it in fuch contempt that they fent < ^L-/
thither none but condemned criminals and aban-
doned women.
Two (hips were fent every year from Portugal, Account of
to carry the refufe of the kingdom to this new coioni^
world, and to bring home parrots, and woods for jjj^j to
the dyers and cabinet-makers. Ginger was after- theBrazUu
wards added, but was foon prohibited, left it
flhould interfere with the fale of the fame article
from India.
ASIA was then the obje6l that attracted all men.
It was the road to fortune, to power and to fame.
The great exploits of the Portuguefe in India, and
the wealth they brought from thence, gave their
nation fuch a fuperiority in all parts of the world,
that every individual wiihed to partake of it. The
enthufiafm was general. No perfon, indeed, went
over voluntarily to America, but thofe unfortunate
men whom the inquifition had doomed to deftruc-
tion were added tq the convicts already tranfported
thither.
THERE never was a ftronger and more invete-
rate hatred than that which the Portuguefe have
always entertained againft the Spaniards. Not-
withstanding this national antipathy, which is of fb
long a {landing that its origin cannot be traced, and
fo confirmed that it can never be expected to ceafe,
they have borrowed moft of their maxims from a
neighbour, whofe power they dreaded as much as
they detefted its manners. Whether from a limi-
larity of climate and temper, or from a conformity
$f circumftancesj they have adopted the worfb of
its
122 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
* ts institutions. They could not imitate any one
more horrid than the inquifition.
THIS bloody tribunal, erected in Spain in 1482,
by a combination of policy and fanaticifm, under
the reign of Ferdinand and Ifabella, was no fooner
adopted by John III., than it ftruck terror into
every family. To eftablifh its authority, and af-
terwards to fupport it, no lefs than four or five hun-
dred victims were annually facrificed, a tenth part
of which was burnt alive, and the reft banifhed to
Africa or to the Brazils. The fury of this tribunal
was particularly exerted againft thofe who were
fufpected of fodomy; a crime of later date in the
kingdom, and almoft unavoidable in hot climates,
where celibacy prevails. It alfo profecuted force-
rers, who, in thofe times of ignorance, were as
much dreaded, as their number was multiplied by
the credulity, bigotry, and barbarifm that pre-
vailed all over Europe. The Mohammedans,
though greatly decrealed fince they had loft the
empire, were alfo perfecuted by the inquifition;
but more efpecially the Jews, becaufe they were
the richeft.
IT is well known that when the Jews, who had
long been confined to a very fmall fpot upon the
face of the earth, were difperfed by the Romans,
many of them took refuge in Portugal. There
they multiplied after the Arabs had conquered
Spain, were fuffered to enjoy all the rights of ci-
tizens, and were not excluded from public offices,
till that country had recovered its independence.
This firft aft of oppreifion did not prevent twenty
thoufand Jewilh families from removing thither,
8 when,
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 125
when, after the conqueft of Granada, the catholic B j *"
kings compelled them to quit Spain or change ' '
their religion. Each family paid twenty livres*
for the liberty of fettling in Portugal. Superfli-
tion foon induced John II. to aggravate the fuffer-
ings of that perfecuted nation: he demanded of
them 20,000 crowns f, and afterwards reduced
them i> a ftate of flavery. In 1496, Emanuel
banilhed all thofe who refufed to embrace the chri-
ftian religion j thofe who complied were reflored
to their freedom, and foon engrofled the Afiatic
trade, which then began to be laid open to every
one. The eftablifhment of the inquifition in 1548,
proved a check to their activity. Their mif-
truft was increafed by the frequent confifcations
made by that odious tribunal, and by the taxes
which government extorted from them at different
times. They were in hopes ofpurchafing fome
tranquillity, by furnilhing Sebaftian with 250,000
livres J for his African expedition j but unfortu-
nately for them, that imprudent monarch came to
an untimely end. Philip II. who foon after ex-
tended his dominion over Portugal, enacted that
fuch of his fubjects as were defcendcd from a Jew
or a Moor, fhould be excluded from all ecclefiaf-
tical or civil employments. This mark of infamy,
with which all the new converts to Chriflianity
were branded, gave them fuch a difguft for a
country where even the greateft opulence could
not exempt them from being ftigmatized, that
they removed with their wealth . to Bourdeaux,
Antwerp, Hamburgh, and other towns with
* 173, $d. f 2,625!. } About 10,940!.
which
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
which they had regular connections. This emi-
gration was the occafion of a great revolution; it
diverted the commerce, which till then had cen-
tered in Spain and Portugal, into other countries,
and deprived thofe two nations of the advantages
the one derived from the Eaft, and the other from
the Weft-Indies.
BEFORE thefe laft periods, the Jews who had
been ftripped of their property by the inquifition,
and banifhed to the Brazils, were not yet entirely
forfaken. Many of them found kind relations and
faithful friends j others, who were known to be men
of probity and underftanding, obtained money in
advance from merchants of different nations with
whom they had formerly had tranfa&ions. By
this afiiftance fome enterprifing men among them
were enabled to cultivate fugar-canes, which they
firft procured from the ifland of Madeira.
SUGAR, which till then on account of its
fcarcity had been ufed only in medicine, be-
came an article of luxury. Princes, and the rich
and great, were all eager to procure themfelves
this new fpecies of indulgence. This circumftance
proved favourable to Brazil, and enabled it to ex-
tend its fugar plantations. The court of Liflbon,
notwithftanding its prejudices, began to be fen-
fible that a colony might be beneficial to the mo-
ther-country, without producing gold or filver.
It now looked with lefs contempt on an immenfe
region that chance had thrown in its way, and
which it had always confidered as a place fit only
to contain the refufe of the kingdom. This fet-
tlement, which had been 1 wholly left 'to the capri-
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 1*5
clous management of the colonifts, was now BOOK
thought to deferve fome kind of attention, and ac- u^1 *
cordingly Thomas de Scufa was fent thither in
1549, to regulate and fuper;ntend it.
THIS able governor began by reducing thefe
men, who had always lived in a ftate of anarchy,
into proper fubordination, and bringing their
fcattered plantations clofer together -, after which,
he applied himfelf to acquire fome information
refpecting the natives, with whom he knew he
muft be inceiTantly engaged, either in traffic or
in war. It was no eafy matter to accomplifh this.
BRAZIL was full of fmall nations, fome of which
inhabited the forefts, and others lived in the plains
and along the rivers. Some had fettled habitations,
but a greater number led a roving life. Moft of
them had no intercourfe with each other. Thofe
that were not divided by inceffant wars, were fb
by hereditary hatred and jealoufy. Some lived by-
hunting and fifhing, others by agriculture. All
thefe caufes muft have produced a vifible differ-
ence in the employments and cuftoms of thefe fe-
veral nations; yet their general character was very
fimilar.
THE Brazilians in general are of the fize of the charaer
Europeans, but not fo flout. They are fubiect to andcu f-
* "." . ton.softne
fewer diilempers, and it is no uncommon thing
among them to fee men live upwards of a hundred
years. Formerly they wore no clothing, but
fmce the Europeans have become acquainted with
them, they commonly cover the middle part of
their bodies. The ornaments of the women differ
from thofe of the men^ for they wear their hair ex-
tremely
iz6 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
3 O
IX.
B o K tremely long, whereas the women cut theirs quite
fhort; the women wear bracelets of bones of a
beautiful white, the men necklaces of the fame ;
the women paint their faces, and the men their
bodies.
THOUGH the language of the Topinambous is
generally fpoken all along the fea-coafts, yet every
nation on that vaft continent has its own peculiar
idiom. Some of thefe languages are faid to be
exprefiive, but they are none of them copious, nei-
ther have they any words to convey general and
abftraft ideas. This poverty of language, which
is common to all nations of South America, is a
convincing proof of the little progrefs the human
underftanding has made in thefe countries. The
analogy between the words in the feveral languages
of this continent fhews that the reciprocal tranf-
migrations of thefe favages have been frequent.
Pofiibly, by comparing their languages with thofe
of Africa, of the Eaft-Indies and of Europe, the
origin of the Americans may one day be traced,
after the long and fruitlefs fearch, which has hither-
to employed the labours of fo many learned men.
IN ancient times the food of the Brazilians was
very fimple. It might have been expected to have
been more varied when they came to be acquaint-
ed with our domeftic animals; yet thofe who live
by the fea-fide flill continue to feed upon the fhell-
rilli they pick up on the fliore. Along the rivers
they always live by fifhing, and in the foreils by
hunting. When thefe precarious provilions fail,
they feed upon roots, that either grow fpontane-
oufly, or require but little culture.
THESE
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
THESE favages are averfe from all labour, and B
pafs their time in idlenefs, eating, and dancing.
Their fongs are but one tedious uniform tone,
without any modulations, and commonly turn up-
on their loves or their warlike actions.
THEIR amufements are not interrupted by the
worfhip of a fupreme being, for they know of
none; nor is their tranquillity difturbed by the
dread of a future ftate, of which they have no
idea. They have, however, their magicians, who,
by ftrange contortions, fo far work upon the cre-
dulity of the people as to throw them into violent
convulfions. If the impoftures of thefe magi-
cians are detected, they are immediately put to
death, which ferves in fome degree to check the
fpirit of deceit.
THESE atheifls are equally flrangers to all no-
tions of fubordi nation and fubmifTion, which among
ourfelves are originally derived from the idea of
a fupreme being. They cannot conceive that any
perfon can have the audacity to command, much
lefs that any one can be fo weak as to obey. But
they fhew mod deference to the man who has
killed the greateft number of his enemies.
THE Brazilians all follow their own inclinations,
and like moft other favages, fhew no particular
attachment to their native place. The love of
our country, which is a ruling pafiion in civilized
ftatesj which in good governments rifes to enthu-
fiafm, and in bad ones grows habitual ; which for
whole centuries together perpetuates in every na-
tion its difpofition, cuftoms, and tafte: this love
of our country is but a factitious fentiment arifmg
from
,*8 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK from fociety, but unknown in the ftate of nature*
* v ' The moral life of a favage is the very reverfe of
that of the civilized man. The latter enjoys the
gifts of nature only in his infancy. As his ftrength
increafes and his underflanding unfolds itfelf, he
lofes fight of the prefent, and is wholly intent
upon the future. Thus the age of pafiions and
pleafures, the time deftined by nature for enjoy-
ment, is fpent in fpeculation and difappointment.
The heart denies itfelf what it wifhes for, laments
the indulgences it has allowed itfelf, and is equal-
ly tormented by its felf-denials and its gratifica-
tions. The civilized man inceflantly deploring
his liberty which he has always facrificed, looks
back with regret on his earlieft years, when a luc-
ceflion of new objects conftantly awakened his cu-
riofity, and kept his hopes alive. He recollects
with pleafure the fpot where he paffed his infant
daysj the remembrance of his innocent delights
endears them to his imagination, and forcibly at-
tracts him to his native Ipotj whereas the favage
who enjoys all the pleafures and advantages pecu-
liar to every period of his life, and does not ab-
ftain from them in expectation of greater indul-
gence in old age, finds equally in all places objects
fuited to his defires, and feels that the fource of
his pleafures is in himfelf, and that his country is
every where.
THOUGH the tranquillity of the Brazilians is not
the refult of any laws, diflentions are feldom heard
of in their little focieties. If drunkennefs, or fome
unfortunate incident fhould occafion a difpute, and
fome life fhould be loft, the murderer is inftantly
delivered
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 129
delivered np to the relations of the deceafed, who B lx K
immediately facrifice him to their vengeance with- ' v '
out hefitation; then both the families meet, and
their reconciliation is feal'ed by a joyous and noify
feaft.
EVERY Brazilian takes as many wives as he
pleafes, or as many as he can get, and puts them
away when he is tired of them. When they vio-
late their marriage vow, they arc puniflied with
death, and the hufband does not become ah ob*
jeft of ridicule on account of the injury his wife
has done him. When the women lie in, they
keep their bed but a day or twoj then the mother 1
hanging the child to her neck in a cotton fcarfi
returns to her iifual occupations without any kind
of inconvenience.
TRAVELLERS are received with diftinguifhed
marks of civility in the Brazils. Wherever they
come, they are lurrounded with women) who wafli
their feet, and welcome them with the moft ob-
liging expreffions. Nothing is fpared for their en-
tertainment; but it would be an uhpardonable af-
front, were they to leave the family where they
were firft entertained, in hopes of better accom-
modation in another. This fpirit of hofpitality is
one of the moft certain indications that man was
intended for fociety : it is the moft valuable difpo-
fition of the favage nations; and the point where
the improvement of policy, and of all focial in-
ftitutions ought, perhaps, to reft,
THE ( Brazilians aflift one another in flcknefs
with more than brotherly kindnefs and affec'lion,
Jf one of them receives a wound, his neighbour
VOL. III. K im;:tc\
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
comes and fucks it, and performs
every other office of humanity with the fame rea-
dinefs. They do not neglect the ufe of the heal-
ing plants that grow in their forefts; but they
truft more to abilinence than to medicine, and
never allow their fick to tafte any food.
FAR from {hewing that indifference or weaknefs
which makes us fhun the dead, and makes us un-
willing to fpeak of them, or to remain in the
places that might recall their image to our minds;
thefe favages behold their dead with tender emo-
tions, recount their exploits with complacency,
and celebrate their virtues with tranfport. They
are buried upright in a round grave ; and if the
deceafed was the head of a family, his plumes,
his necklaces and his arms are interred with him.
When a clan removes to another place, which
often happens merely for the fake of changing,
every family fixes fome remarkable ftones over the
graves of their moft reipectable relations, and they
never approach thofe monuments of grief with-
out breaking out into dreadful outcries, not un-
like the fhouts with which they make the air re-
found when they are going to battle.
MOTIVES of intereft or ambition have never
prompted the Brazilians to war. The defire of
avenging their relations or friends, has always
been the occafion of their moft fanguinary con-
tefts. Their chiefs, or rather their orators, art
old men, who determine the commencement of
hoftilities, give the fignal for marching, and exert
themfelves during the march, in repeated expref-
fions of implacable hatred. Sometimes even the
march
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES? 131
march of the army is-fufpended to liften to thefe B K
pafllonate harangues, that laft for many hours. < ^
This cuftom makes thofe long fjfeeches we meet
with in Homer, and in the Roman hiflorians ap-
pear more probable; but in thofe days, the noife
of the artillery did not drown the voices of the
generals.
THE combatants are armed with a club of ebtmy
fix feet long, one foot broad, and an inch thick.
Their bows and arrows are of the lame wood.
Their inflruments of martial mufic are flutes made
of the bones of their enemies. T v hey are equally
calculated to infpire courage, as our drums, which
ftifle our fenfe of danger, andasour trumpets, which
give the fignal, and, perhaps, the fear of death.
Their generals are the foldiers who have diftin-
guifhed themfelves moft in former wars.
WHEN the aggrefibr arrives on the enemy's
frontiers, the women who carry the provifions
halt, while the warriors advance through the
woods. The attack is never made openly. They
conceal themfelves at fome diftance from the habi-
tations, that they may have the advantage of a
furpriie on their enemies. When it is dark, they
fet fire to the huts, and avail themfelves of the
confufion this occafions, to fatisfy their fury that
knows no bounds. Thofe who cannot avoid com-
ing to open fight, divide into platoons and. lie i:i
ambufh. If they are difcovered and routed by
fuperior forces, they hide themfelves in the deepelt
recefles of the woods. Their courage feldom con-
fifts in maintaining their ground.
K2 THE
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
THE ambition of the Brazilians is to make a
great many prifoners. Thefe are brought home
to the conqueror's village, where they are (lain and
eaten with folemnity. The feaft lafts a long time,
and during the continuance of it, the old men ex-
hort the young to become intrepid warriors, that
they may extend the glory of their nation, and
often procure themfelvcs fuch an honourable re-
paft. This inclination for human flefh is never fo
prevalent as to induce the Brazilians to devour fuch
of their enemies as have fallen in battle> they on-
ly eat thofe who have been taken alive, and after-
wards put to death with certain ceremonies. Itr
fliould feem that the fpirit of revenge alone could
give a tafte for food which human nature abhors.
THE treatment of prifoners of war has varied
according to the degree of perfection human rea-
fon has gradually attained. The moft civilized
nations ranfom them, exchange or reftore them at
the conclufion of a war. Nations that are not yet
completely civilized, claim them as their property^,
and make them (laves. The common favages
maiTacre them without putting them to torture.
The moft favage people of all, torture, kill, and
eat them. This is their law of nations.
THIS anthropophagy, however, is fometimes a
kind of malady or tafte, that feizes fome indivi-
duals even among the mildeft favages. Thefe
fpecies of airaflms, or lunatics, whichever we pleafe
to call them, withdraw from their hord, and lurk
filone in fome corner of a foreft, where they lie
in wait for the paflenger, as huntfmen or favages
do for game, drag him in, kill and devour him.
WHEN
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 133
WHEN this difpofition is not a malady, the taft- B x K
ing of human flefh in the facrifices made of pri- ' ^ '
foners, and a habit of indolence, may be reckon-
ed among the caufes of this private anthropophagy.
The civilized man lives by labour, and the favage
by the chace. Among us, Healing is the readieft
and eafieft way of acquiring. Among the fa-
vages, killing a man, and eating him if his flefli
is good, is the eafieft way of hunting. A man is
much fooner killed than an animal. Among us,
an indolent man wants money, and will not take
the pains to earn it. Among the favages, an in-
dolent man wants to eat, and will not take the
pains to go a hunting; and the fame vice leads
both to the fame crime; for in all countries lazi-
nefs is a confumer of men 5 and in this view, an-
thropophagy is ftill more common in fociety than
in the forefts of America. If ever we have an
opportunity of examining thofe among the favages
who are addicted to anthropophagy, we fhall find
them weak, cowardly, lazy, and given up to the
fame vices as our murderers and vagrants are.
WE know that if opulence is the parent of vice,
poverty is the parent of crimes; and this principle
holds as true in the forefts as in cities. The opu-
lence of a favage confifts in plenty of game; his
poverty in a fcarcity of it. Now, the crimes that
poverty tempts men to commit are theft and mur-
der. The civilized man robs and murders that he
may live; the favage kills that he may eat.
WHEN this difpofition is a malady, the phyfi-
cian will inform us that a favage may be affeftcd
with canine hunger, as well as a civilized man.
Kj If
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
If the favage is weak, and has not ftrength to go
through the fatigue of procuring a fufficiency to
fatisfy his hunger, what will he be induced to do ?
He will kill his neighbour and eat him. He is
able to hunt but for a certain time, but the crav-
ings of his appetite are continual.
THERE are numberlefs diforders and natural de-
fects, which are either attended with no ill confe-
quence, or produce quite contrary effects infocie-
ty, but which rnufl unavoidably conduce- to an-
thropophagy in a favage, whole fole property is
his life.
'ALL the moral defects which lead the focial
man to theft, muft lead the favage to the fame j
now, the only theft a favage is tempted to com-
mit, is on the life of another whom he thinks fit
to eat.
IN the Brazils, the heads of the dead are care-
fully preferved, and fhewn to all fa-angers as mo-
numents of valour and victory. The heroes of
thofe favage nations bear their exploits imprinted
on their limbs, by incifions which command re-
fpect from their countrymen. Thefe are no gol-
den or filken ornaments that an enemy can de-
prive them of. They account it an honour to
have been disfigured in battle. In thofe regions,
a man riles in eileem the more he is covered with
blood.
SUCH manners did not difpofe the Brazilians to
fubmit to the yoke which the Portuguefe v/anted
to impofe upon them on their firft arrival. At
firft, they only declined all intercourie with thefe
ftrangersj but finding they were purfued in order
to
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 135
to be made flaves, and to be employed in the la- B x K
hours of the field, they took the relblution to ' v
murder and devour all the Europeans they could
feize upon. The friends and relations of the fa-
vages that were taken prifoners alfo ventured to
make frequent attempts to refcue them, and were
fometimes fuccefsful. This brought on an increafe.
of enemies againft the Portuguefe, who were forced
to attend to the double employments of labour
and war.
Sous A did not bring forces fufficient to. change Succefsof
the fituation of affairs. Indeed, by building San Jjefc h?""
Salvador, he gave a center to the colony, but the theBra * ;i -
honour of fettling, extending, and making it real-
ly ufeful to the mother-country, was referved to
the Jefuits who attended him. Thole intrepid
rrien, who have always been prompted by motives
of religion or of ambition to undertake great ac-
tions, difperfed themfelves among the Indians.
Such of thefe miffionaries as were murdered from
hatred to the Portuguefe name, were immediately
replaced by others, who were infpired with none
but fentiments of peace and charity. This mag-
nanimity confounded the barbarians, who had ne-
ver had any idea of forgive nefs. By degrees they be-
gan to place forrie confidence in men who feemed '
to feek them only with a view of making them
happy. Their attachment to the miflionaries grew
into a paflionate fondnefs. When a Jefuit was ex-
pected in one of their nations, the young people
flocked to meet him, concealing themfelves in the
woods along the road. As he drew near they
fallied forth, played upon their pipes, beat their
K 4 drums,
HISTORY QF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
drums, danced, and made the air refound with
joyful fongs; and in fhort omitted nothing that
could exprefs their fatisfattion. At the entrance
of the village, true old men and chief inhabitants
were affembled, who exp relied as much joy, but:
with more fedatenefs. A little further on, flood
the women and young girls, in a refpectable pof-
ture fuitable to their fex. Then they all joined,,
and conducted their father in triumph to the place
where they were affembled. There he inftructcd
them in the fundamental doctrines of religion ;
exhorted them to a regularity of manners, to a
love of juflice, to brotherly charity, and to an ab-
horrence for human blood 3 after which be bap-
tifed them.
As thefb miffionaries were too few in number to
tranfadl all the bufmefs themfelves, they frequently
deputed feme of the moft intelligent Indians in
their Head. Thefe men, proud of ib glorious an
office, diftributed hatchets, knives and looking-
glaffes among the favages they met with, and re-
prefented the Portuguefe as a harmlefs, .humane,
and good fort of people. They never returned
from their excurfions without bringing with them
Ibme of the Brazilians, who followed them from
motives of curiofity. When thofe favages had
once feenthe Jefuits, it was with difficulty that they
ever quitted them. When they returned home,
it was to invite their families and friends to come
and fhare their happinefs, and to difplay the pre-
fcnts they had received.
IF any one fhovlc r e happy effects of
ihumanir. <> let him
only
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
Only compare the progrefs the Jefuits have made,
in a very ihort time, in South America^ with what
the forces and navy of Spain and Portugal have not
been able to effect in the fpace of two centu-
ries. While multitudes of foldiers were employed
in changing two great and civilized empires into
deferts inhabited by roving favages, a few miflio-
naries have changed little wandering clans into fe-
veral great and civilized nations. If thefe active
and courageous men had been lefs infected with
the fpirit of the church of Rome; if, when formed
into a fociety in the moft intriguing and corrupt
court in Europe, they had not infmuated them-
felves into other courts to influence all political
events; if the chiefs of the order had not made an
ill ufe of the very virtues of their members: the
old and new world would flill have reaped the
advantage of the labours of a fet of men, who
might have been made ufeful, had they been pre-
vented from being necefiaryj and the eighteenth
century would not have had caufe to be afhamed
of the enormities that have attended the fupprelfion
of the fociety j nor would France at this time, with
a fpirit of meannefs and rapacity unworthy of her
greatnefs, be employed in perfecuting her martyrs
and apoflles.
THE Brazilians had top much caufe of hatred
againft the Europeans, not to miftruft their kind-
nefsj but their diffidence was in fome meafure re-
moved by a fignal act of juftice.
THE Portuguefe had formed the fcttlement of
St. Vincent on the fea-coait, in the 24th degree
of fouth latitude. There they traded r eably
with
13$ HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B o o K with the Cariges, the mildcft and moft civilized
^ v - ' nation in all the Brazils. The advantages they
reaped from this v connection could not reflrain
them from feizing upon feventy men to make Oaves'
of them. Theperfonwhohad committed the offence
was condemned to cany the prifoners back to the
place from whence he had taken them, and to
make the proper excufes for fo heinous an infult.
Two Jefuits who were appointed to difpofe the
Indians to accept this fatisfadtion, which would
never have been offered but at their defire, gave
notice of it to Farnacaha, the moft refpectable man
of his nation. He came out to meet them, and
embracing them with tears of joy 3 <f My fathers,
" fard he, we confent to forget all that is part.,
* c and to enter into a frefh alliance with the Por-
" tuguefe; but let them for the future be more
<e moderate, and more obfervant of the rights of
" nations. Our attachment entitles us at leaft to
" equitable proceedings. We are called barbarians,
" yet we refpeft jnftic'e andourfriends." Themif-
iionaries having engaged that fof the future their
nation fhould more religioufly obferve the laws of
peace and unity, Farnacaha proceeded thus; cf If
" you doubt the faith of the Cariges, I will give
<c you a proof of it. I have a nephew for whom
" I have a great affection; he is the hope of my
cc family, and the comfort of his mother; fhe
"^would die with grief if fhe were to lofe her fon.
" Yet I will deliver him to you as a hoftage.
" Take him along with you, cultivate his young
" mind, take care of his education, and inftru<5t
" him in your religion. Let his manners be gentle
and
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 139
<c and pure. I hope, when you return, you will B K
? c inftrucl: me alfo, and enlighten my mind." v ,*
Many of the Cariges followed his example, and
fent their children to St. Vincent's for education.
The Jefuits were too artful not to take great ad-
vantage of this event; but it does not appear that
they ever had any intention to deceive the Indians
by inculcating fubmiiTion. Avarice had not yet
poflefTed the minds of thefe miffionaries; and the
intereft they had at court, lecured fufficient refpect
in the colony, to make the iituation of their con-
verts a fortunate one.
THIS time of tranquillity was improved to the
advancement of the fugar trade, by means of the
flaves procured from Africa. That vaft region
had no fooner been discovered and fubduecl by the
Portuguefe, than they brought away a great num-^
ber of flaves from thence, who are employed by
the mother-country in domeftic fefvices and in
clearing the lands. This cuflom, one of thofe
which have mod contributed to corrupt the cha-
racter of the nation, was introduced much later in
the American fettlements where it did not com-
mence till about the year 1530. The number of
negroes was much increaied in America at, this
period. The natives did not, indeed, fhare their
labours, but they did not obftrudl them, as the/-
did at firft; they rather encouraged them, by de-
voting themfelves to lefs laborious employments,
and by fupplying the colony with fomq means of
fubfiilence. This harmony was productive of
great advantages.
. 'I
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
THE prosperity of the colony, which was vifi-
ble in all the markets of Europe, excited the envy
of the French. They attempted to make fettle-
ments fucceffively at Rio-Janeiro, Rio Grande,
Paraiba, and the ifland of Maragnan. Their le-
vity would not fuffer them to wait the ufually flow
progrefs of new undertakings; and merely from
inconftancy and impatience, they gave up pro-
fpefts that were fufficient to have encouraged any,
except fnch volatile fpirits, that are as eafily dif-
eouraged as they are ready to undertake. The
only valuable monument we have of their fruitleis
incurfions is a dialogue which more particularly
fhews the natural good fenfe of the favages, as it
is written with that fimplicity of ftile which dif-
tinguifhed the French language two hundred years
ago; a fimplicity in which there were graces we
cannot ftill but regret.
" THE Brazilians, fays Lery, one of the inter-
tc locutors, being very much aftonilhed to fee the
'* French take fuch pains to get their wood, one
<c of their old men once afked me this queftion.
" What can be the reafon that you Frenchmen
<c come fo far to get wood for firing? Is there
" none in your own country? To which I anfwer-
<e ed Yes, and a great deal too, but not fuch as
ce theirs, which we did not burn as he thought; but
tc as they themfelves ufed it to dye their firings
" and their feathers, our people employed it alfq
fc in dying. He replied, Well, but do you want
<c fo great a quantity? Yes, faid I; for in our
fc country there are fome merchants who have
" more rugs and fcarlet cloths than you ever faw
" in
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
" in this country; one of thefe will buy ieveral B IX
f< cargoes of this wood. Ha ha! fays the fa- w -~
" vage, thou telleft me wonders. Then paufmg
" upon what I had been telling him, he laid; But
" this very rich man thou talked of, is he never
<f to die? Yes, yes, faid I, as well as others.
" Upon which, as they are great talkers, he aflced
" me again ; So then when he is dead, to whom
" does all the wealth he leaves belong? It goes,
<( faid I, to his children, or if he has none, to his
" brothers, fitters, or next of kin. Truly, fays
" the old man, now I fee that you Frenchmen are
" great fools; for muft you work fg hard and
(t crofs the fea to heap riches for them that come
f f after you, as if the earth that has fed you was
" not fufficient to feed them too? We have chil-
" dren and relations whom we love, as thou feed;
" but as we are fure that, after our death, the earth
ff that has provided for our fubfiftence, will equal-
" ly provide for theirs, we are fatisfied."
THIS mode of reafoning, fo natural to favages,
who have no ambition, but fo repugnant to civil-
ized nations who have experienced all the ill ef-
fects of luxury and avarice, made no great impref-
fion on the French. They could not withftand the
temptation of riches, which all the maritime na-
tions in Europe thirfted after at that time. The
Dutch, who were become republicans by chance,
and merchants from neceffity, were more perfe-
vering and more fucccfsful than the French in their
attempts on the Brazils. The nation they had to
contend with was not more confiderable than their
own, and like them was preparing to fhake off
the
1 4 2 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK tne y ] ce of Spain, though they ftill fubmitted to
v v > that of a regal government.
The Dutch ALL hiftorical accounts are full of the afts of
?Bziii t y rann y an d cruelty that excited the Low-countries
bav.B^de to r ^ e a g a ^ n ^ Philip II. The richeft provinces
rived con- were retained or brought back under the yoke of
va"ag a tyrannical government, while the pooreft, that
fit u Ttion! r were in a manner under water, found means, by
frn u more t ^ ian niiman efforts, to fecure their indepen-
dence. When their liberty was firmly eftabliihed,
they attacked their enemy upon the remoteft feas,
on the Indus, on the Ganges, and as far as the
Moluccas, which made a part of the Spanifh do-
minions fmce Portugal had been included in them.
The truce of 1609 gave time to that enterprifmg
and fortunate republic to bring her new projects
to maturity. Thefe defigns were manifefted in
1621 by the eftablifhment of a Weft India Com-
pany, from which the fame fuccefs was expected
in Africa and America, that were both comprifed
in the charter, as the Eaft-India company had
experienced in Afia.
THE capital of the new fociety was twelve mil-
lions*; Holland furnifhed four ninths, Zealand
two, the Maefe and Weft-Friefland each one, and
Friefland and Groningen together one ninth. The
general meeting was to be held at Amfterdam fix
years fucceflively, and then two years at Middle-
burg. The Weft-India company, who were dif-
fatisfied that their privilege was not fo extenfive
as that of the Eaft-India company, were in no
hafte to begin their operations i but the dates put
* 525,000!.
them
IN THE EAST AND WET INDIES. 143
them upon the fame footing, and then they made BOOK
an attack upon the Brazils. > ^J
PRECAUTIONS had been taken to procure the
neceffary informations. Some Dutch fhips had
ventured thither, in defiance of the law that for-
bad the admittance of any ilrangers. As they
greatly underfold, according to the cuftom of their
country, the commodities that came from Spain,
they met with a favourable reception. At their
return they reported, that the country was in a kind
of anarchy; that foreign dominion had ftifled in
the people the love of their country; that felf-
intereft had corrupted their minds; that the fol-
dieri were turned merchants; that they had for-
gotten the firft principles of war, and that who-
ever fhould appear there with a competent force,
would infallibly furmount the trifling obftacles that
might be oppoied to the conqueft of that wealthy
region.
THE company committed this undertaking to
Jacob Willekins in 1624. He went diredtly to
the capital. San Salvador furrendered at fight of
the Dutch fleet, and the reft of the province,
which was the largeft, richeft, and moft populous
of the colony, made little more refiftance.
THIS news was rather pleafmg than difagreeable
to the Spaniih council. The miniflry were com-
forted for the triumph obtained by the moft inve-
jerate enemies of their country, by confidering the
mortification which the Portuguefe mud neceiTariiy
experience from it. Ever fmce the Spaniards had
been endeavouring to cpprefs that unfortunate na-
tion, they had met with a refinance that offended
i the
HISTORY OF SEtTLfeMENTS AND TltADE!
the haughty fpirit of that defpotic government;
An event that might reduce the pride of Portugal
and render her more tractable, appeared to them
a fortunate circumftance. They thought them-
felves at the eve of accomplishing their purpofe,
and were fully determined to do nothing that might
protract the completion of it.
THOUGH Philip harboured thefebafe fentiments,
he thought the majefty of the throne required of
him fome outward demonftrations of decency.
Accordingly he wrote to the Portuguefe of the
firfl rank, exhorting them to make fuch generous
efforts as the prefent exigencies required. This
they were already inclined to. Self-intereft, pa-
triotifm, the defire of throwing a damp upon the
joy of their tyrants j all concurred to quicken their
alacrity. The monied men lavifhed their trea-
fures v , others railed troops; all were eager to en-
ter into the fervice. In three months time twenty-
fix fhips were fitted out, which failed in the be-
ginning of the year 1626, in company with thofe
from Spain, which the tardineis and policy of that
nation had made them wait for, much too long.
THE archbifliop of San Salvador, Michael de
Texeira, had prepared matters fo as to facilitate
their fuccefs. That martial prelate, at the head
of 1 500 men, had at firft flopped the progrefs of the
enemy. He had infulted, hararTed, beaten, driven,
inclofed and blocked them up in the town. The
Dutch, reduced by hunger, fatigue and want,
compelled the governor to furrender to the troops
which the fleet had landed on their arrival, and
they were all carried to Europe.
THE
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 145
THE fuccefs of the company by Tea, made them B 13 K
amends for this lofs. Whenever their fhips came < ^
into port they were victorious and loaded with the
fpoils of the Spaniards and Portuguefe. They
were fo profperous as to give umbrage even to the
powers moft interefled in the welfare of Holland.
The ocean was covered with their fleets. Their
admirals endeavoured by ufeful exploits to pre-
ferve their confidence. The fubaltern officers af-
pired to promotion* by feconding the valour and
Ikill of their commanders. The foldiers and
failors fought with unparalleled ardour, and no-
thing could difcourage thofe refolute and intrepid
men. The fatigues of the fea, ficknefs, and re-
peated engagements, all feemed to inure them to
war, and to increafe their emulation. The com-
pany encouraged this ufeful fpirit by frequently
diftributing rewards; Excluftve of their pay, the
failors were allowed to carry on a private trade,
which was a great encouragement, and procured
a conflant fupply of men; By this wife regula-
tion, their intereft was fo immediately connected
with their employers, that they wifhed to be al-
ways in aclion. They never ftruck to the enemy,
nor ever failed to attack their fhips with that degree
of fkill, intrepidity and perfeveranc'e, which muft
infure victory. In the courfe of thirteen years, the
company fitted out eight hundred fhips, which
coft ninety millions*. They took five hundred
and forty-five of the enemy's fhips, which, with
the goods on board, fold for 180,000,000 livresf.
*3>937>5 o1 - 17,875,000!.
VOL. IU. L The
146 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
^^ e Dividend was never below twenty per cent,
and often rofe to fifty. This profperity, which
was entirely owing to the war, enabled the com-
pany to make a fecond attack upon the Brazils.
THEIR admiral, Henry Lonk, arrived in the
beginning of the year 1630, with forty-fix men of
war, on the coafl of Fernambucca, one of the
largeft captainfhips in thofe parts, and the beft
fortified. He reduced it after feveral obftinate
engagements, in which he was always victorious.
The troops he left behind, fubdued the captain-
fhips of Tamaracca, Paraiba, and Rio Grande, in
the years 1633, 1634, and 1635. Theie, as well
as Fernambucca, furniflied annually a large quan-
tity of fugar, a great deal of wood for dying, and
other commodities.
THE company were fo elated with the acquifi-
tion of this wealth, which flowed to Amfterdam
mftead of Lifbon, that they determined to con-
quer all the Brazils, and intruited Maurice of
Nafiau with the conduct of this enterprife. That
general reached the place of his detonation in the
beginning of the year 1637. He found the fol-
diers fo well difciplined, the commanders fuch
experienced men, and fo much readinefs in all to
engage, that he directly took the field. He was
fuccerTively oppofed by Albuquerque, Banjola,
Lewis Rocca de Borgia, and the Brazilian Came-
ron, the idol of his people, pailionately fond of
the Portuguefe, brave, active, cunning, and who
wanted no qualification neceffary for a general, but
to have learned the art of war under able com-
manders. Thefe feveral chiefs exerted their ut-
moft
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 147
moft efforts to defend the pofleffions that were un- BOOK
der their protection j but their endeavours proved ^_ ^1-j
ineffectual. The Dutch feized upon the captain-
fhips of Siara, Seregippe, and the greater part of
that of Bahia. Seven of the fourteen provinces
which compofed the colony, had already fubmit-
ted to them, and they flattered themfelves that one
or two campaigns would make them mafters of
the reft of their enemies pofleflions in that part of
America > when they were fuddenly checked in
the midft of their fuccefs by a revolution which
all Europe wifhed for, but had no room to ex-
pect.
THE Portuguefe had never enjoyed happy times
fmce they had fubmitted to the Spaniih yoke in
1581. Philip II. an avaricious, cruel, defpotic,
defigning and falfe prince, had endeavoured to
vilify them; but concealed his intentions under
honourable pretences. His fon, who too clofely
followed his maxims, and thought it better to reign
over a ruined nation than to be indebted to the
good-will of the people for their fubmifiion, had
luffered them to be deprived of a multitude of
conquefls, which had proved a fource'of riches,
power, and glory to them, and which they had
acquired by much effufion of blood. The fuc-
ceflbr of that weak prince, who had ftill lefs un-
derftanding than his father, openly and contemp-
tuoufly attacked their adminiftration, their privi-
leges, their manners, and all that they were moft
attached to. At the inftigation of Olivarez, he
wanted to provoke them to revolt, that he might
acquire the right of plundering them.
L i THESE
148 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
THESE repeated outrages united all the Portu-
guefe, whom Spain had been labouring to divide.
A confpiracy, that had" been forming for three
years with incredible fecrecy, broke out on the 3d
of December 1640. Philip IV. was ignomini-
ouily banifhed, and the Duke of Braganza was
placed on the throne of his anceflors. The exam-
ple of the capital was followed by the whole king-
dom, and by all that remained of the fettlemenrs
formed in happier times in Afia, Africa, and Ame-
rica. No blood was fhed on this great revolution
except that of Michael Vafconcellos, the bafe and
vile inftrument of tyranny.
THE new king united his interefls and his re-
fentments with thofe of the Englifh, the French,
and all the enemies of Spain. On the 2jd of
June 1641, he in particular concluded an offenfive
and defenfive alliance with the United Provinces
for Europe, and a ten years truce for the Eaft and
Weft-Indies. Naffau was immediately recalled
with moft of the troops, and the government of
the Dutch pofieffions in Brazil was given to Hamel,
a merchant of Amfterdam; to Baflis, a goldfmith
of Harlem j and to Buliellraat, a carpenter of Mid-
dleburgh. The decifion of all affairs was to be
referred to this council; and thefe were now fup-
pofed to be confined to the carrying on of a confi-
derable and advantageous trade.
THE new adminiftrators readily entered into the
ccconomical views of the company. Their own
inclinations led them to pufh thefe views too far.
They fuffered the fortifications to decay, which
had been already too much neglected > they fold
arms
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 149
arms and ammunition to their rivals, who paid a B ^ K
high price for them; and allowed all the foldiers ' J~
who defired it to return to Europe. Their whole
ambition was to fupprefs all expences, andincreafe
the profits of their condiments ; and the applaufe
which they received on account of the riches of
the cargoes from the avaricious and weak-minded
perfons who compofed the direction, confirmed
them in their errors. With a view to give a fur-
ther increafe to the profits of the company, they
began to opprefs thole Portuguefe, who on ac-
count of their having considerable property among
them, or from fome other motive, were induced to
remain under their government. Tyranny made a
rapid progrefs, and was at laft carried to that
excefs, which is an excufe for all kinds of meafures,
#nd infpires the moft violent ones.
THE victims of thefe proceedings waded no
time in complaints. The boldefl of them united
in 1645, to take their revenge: their defign was,
to mafTacre all the Dutch who had any Ihare in
the government, at an entertainment in the midft
of the capital of Fernambucca, and then to attack
the people, who, fufpecting no danger, would be
unprepared. The plot was discovered, but the
confpirators had time to get out of the town, and
retire to a place of fafety.
THEIR chief was a Portuguefe of obfcure birth,
named Juan Fernandez de Viera. From a com-
mon iervant he had rilen to be an agent, and af-
terwards a merchant. Jrlis abilities had enabled
him to acquire a large fortune; his probity had
gained him univerfal confidence; and his genero-
L 3 fav
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
City had made him an Infinite number of friends,
who were inviolably attached to his intereft. He
was not difcouraged by the difappointment he had
juft met withj but he ventured, without the con-
fent or fupport of government, to commence hof-
tilities.
His name, his virtues and his projects affem-
bled the Brazilians, the Portuguese foldiers, and
even the colonifts about him, He infpired them
with his confidence, his activity, and his courage.
They attended him in battle, crov/ded about his
perfon, and were determined to conquer or to die
with him. He triumphed* but did not allow him-
felf to flumber over his victories, or give the ene-
my time to recover. Some checks he met with in
the courfe of his fuccefles, only ferved to difplay
the firmnefs of his foul, the extent of his genius,
and the elevation of his mind. He affumed a
threatening afpect, even after a misfortune, and
appeared ftill more formidable by his perfeverance
than by his intrepidity. He fpread fuch terror
among his enemies that they dared no longer keep
the field. At this period of his glory, Viera re-
ceived orders not to proceed.
SINCE the truce, the Dutch had feized upon
fome places in Africa and Afia, which they ob-
ilinately refufed to reftore. The court of Lifbon,
intent upon matters of greater importance, had
.iot been able to do itfelf juftice; but its prefent
inability had not leflened its refentment. In this
difpofition, it had rejoiced to fee the republic at-
tacked in Brazil j and had even clandeftinely en-
couraged thofe who had begun the holtilities. As
3.
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 1
it conftantly difavowed theie proceedings, and de- B IX
clared, both in Europe and America, that it would v
one day punifh the authors of the difturbances>
the company imagined they would foon fubfide;
but their avarice, which had been too long amufed
with falfe and frivolous proteftations, was roufcd
at laft. John IV.. being informed that confider-
able armaments were making in Holland, and
fearing to be drawn into a \var which he wilhed
to avoid, exerted himfelf in earned to put an end
to the hoftilities in the Brazils.
VIERA, who had no refource for the completion
of his defigns, but in his fortune, his intereft, and
his abilities, did not even deliberate whether he
fhould obey. " If the king, faid he, were but
" informed of our zeal and our fuccefs, and ac-
" quainted with his own intereft j far from dif-
" arming us, he would encourage us to purfue
" our undertaking, and would lupport us with all
" his power." Then, left the ardor of his com-
panions fhould abate, he determined to haften his
operations ; and they continued to be crowned with
fuch fuccefs, that with the afliftance of Baretto,
Vidal, and fome other Portuguefe, who were able
and willing to i'erve their country, he completed
the ruin of the Dutch. The few of thefe repub-
licans who efcaped the fword and famine, evacuat-
ed Brazil in confequence of a capitulation figned
the 28th of January 1654.
THE peace concluded three months after be-
tween England and the United Provinces, feemed
to put the latter in a condition to recover a valu--
able poffelTion, which they had loft by an ill-judged
J-, 4 parfimony,
1 52 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B x K parfimony, and by an unfortunate concurrence of
v J . / circumftances j but both the republic and the
company fruftrated the general expectation ; and
the treaty, which put an end to the divifions be^
tween the two powers in 1661, fecured to Portu-
gal the fole poffeffion of all the Brazils, in confi-
deration of eight millions of livres* which that
crown engaged to pay to the United Provinces,
either in money or goods.
THUS did the Dutch part with a conqueft that
might have become the richeft of all the European
colonies, and would have, given the republic a de-
gree of importance it could never acquire from its
own territory. But, in order to keep it, the go-
vernment ought to have undertaken the admini-
ftration and defence of it; and to make it profper,
it fhould have enjoyed full liberty. With thefe
precautions, Brazil would have been preferved,
and would have enriched the nation, inftead of
ruining the company. Unfortunately it was not
yet known that the only way to make lands ufeful
in America is to clear them, and that the only
way to do this fuccefsfully, is to open a free trade
to all the inhabitants under the protection of go-
vernment.
suction of -^ s * on as t ^ ie Portuguefc were entirely freed
th 'V P '- rll the ^ r m ^ C -P utc ^' t ^ ie > r employed themfelves in
Brazils, after putting the colony into better order than ever it had
expdied tj* Deen even before the war. The firft ftep that was
taken for this purpofe, was to regulate the condi-
ion of the Brazilians who had either fubmitted
already, or might be hereafter reduced to fubjecr
* 750,000 1.
tion,
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. FJ
tion. Upon a more attentive examination it was B o o K
found, that the accounts, which reprefented theie ./ -*
favages as impatient of any kind of controul, were
without foundation. The firft impreflion that
the fight of Europeans made upon fmall nations,
who were divided by continual wars, was a fenfe
of diftruft; and as it is natural for fufpected per-
fons to be afraid of thofe who fufpect them, they
thought themfelves at liberty to treat them as
enemies, to opprefs them, and to put them in
irons. This treatment rendered them ferocious.
The difficulty of underftandingone another, gave
ftill more frequent occafions of animofity on both
fides. If the natives afterwards renewed their
hoftilities, it was commonly becaule they were
provoked to it by the imprudence, the rapaciouf-
nefs, the difhonefty, and the ill-ufage of that reft-
lefs and ambitious power which was come to dif-
turb the peace of this part of America. On fome
occafions, they might be charged with inadver-
tency, in too haftily taking up arms from the ap-
prehenfions of imaginary danger, but never with
injuftice or duplicity of conduct. They were al-
ways found true to their promifes, to the faith of
treaties, and to the facred rights of hofpitality.
THE juft idea that was at length entertained of
their character induced the Portuguefe to collect
them into villages along the coaft, or fome little
way up the country. By this contrivance a com-
munication was fecured between the Portuguefe
fettlements, and the favages who infcfted the in-
termediate parts with their depredations were kept
at a djftance. Some mjffionaries, who were moftly
Jefuits 3
4 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
OOK Jefuits, were intrufted with the temporal and fpi-
**' , ritual government of thefe new communities. Af-
ter making the ftric~teft inquiries that were poffible
in a country where every thing is myfterious, we
have been informed that thofe ecclefiaftics were
abfolute tyrants. Thofe who had retained foine
principles of moderation and humanity, whether
from indolence or fanaticifm, kept thefe little fo-
cieties in a ftate of perpetual infancy, and neither
improved their underilanding, nor their induftry
beyond a certain degree.
POSSIBLY, had they been ever fo willing, they
would have found it difficult to have been more
ferviceable to them. Some kinds of government
are faulty, both by the evil they do, and by the
good they prevent. A bad administration cor-
rupts every fource of virtue and profperity. The
court of Lifbon exempted the Indians from all
taxes, but made them iiibject to labours of vafTal-
age. This fatal law made them dependent on
the neighbouring commandants and magiflrates,
who, under the uiual pretence adopted by men in
office, of making them work for the public, too
often impofed labours upon them for their own
purpofes. Thofe who were not employed for
them or for their directors, were generally un-
employed. If they fhook off their natural indo-
lence, it was to go a hunting or fifhing, or to cul-
tivate a little caffada, juft as much as they wanted
for their own fubfiftence. Their manufactures
were confined to fome cotton girdles or fafhes to
cover their loins, ^nd the arrangement of a few
feathers to adorn their heads. The moft indufv
trious
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 155
trious among them, by cutting the wood in the B IX K
forefts, or by the labours of agriculture, procured u^
themfelves a fufficiency to pur chafe a few articles
of cutlery, and other trifles of fmall value. If any
of them, from a fpirit of inconftancy, hired them-
felves to the Portuguefe, either for domeftic fer-
vices or to navigate their fmall craft, it was always
for a fhort time; for they had the greateft aver-
fion for labour, and-held money in the highefl con-
tempt.
SUCH was the fate of the Brazilians who had
fubmitted, whofe number never exceeded 200,000.
The independent natives had little intercourfe with
the Europeans, except by the flaves they fold
them, or thofe that were taken from them. Acls
of hoftility became lefs frequent between the two
nations, and there was at length a total ceffation
of them. The Portuguefe have not been molefted
by the natives fmce the year 1717, and have not
molefted them fmce 1756.
WHILE the court of Lifbon was engaged in regu-
lating the interior concerns of the colony, fome of
the fubjects of Portugal were devifing the means of
extending it. They advanced to the fouth towards
the river of Plata, and to the north as far as the
Amazons. The Spaniards feemed to be in poi-
fefiion of both thofe rivers. The Portuguefe were
determined to drive them away, or fhare the na-
vigation with them.
THE river of the Amazons, fo famous for the settlement
length of its courfe; that great vaflal of the fea, ^'^j^'
to which it brings the tribute it has received from feriwof
fo many of its own vafials, feems to be produced zons. m>
by
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
by innumerable torrents that rufh down from the
eaft fide of the Andes, and unite in a fpacious
plain, to form that immenfe river. Yet the com-
mon opinion is, that it comes from the lake Llau-
ricocha, as from a refervoir of the Cordeleras,
fituate in the diftrift of Guanuco, thirty leagues
from Lima, about the nth degree of ibuth lati-
tude. In its progrefs of a thoufand or eleven hun-
dred leagues, it receives the waters of a prodi-
gious number of rivers, fome of which come from
far, and are very broad and deep. It is inter-
fperfed with an infinite number of iflands, that are
too often overflowed to admit of culture. It falls
into the ocean under the line, and is there fifty
leagues broad.
- THE mouth of this river was firft difcovered in
1500 by Vincent Pinion, one of the companions
of Columbus, and its fource is thought to have
been found out by Gonzalo Pizarro 1538. His
lieutenant Orellana embarked on this river, and
failed from one end to the other of it, He was
obliged to fight his way along, and to engage
with many nations, who obftructed his navi-
gation with their canoes, and poured Ihowers of
arrows upon him from the fhore. It was certainly
at this time that the fight of favages without
beards, as are all the American nations, ftruck
the lively imaginations of the Spaniards, and fug-
gefled the idea of an army of female warriors :
this muft have induced the commanding officer to
change the name of that river, which was then
called the Maragnon, and to call it the river of
the Amazons, which name it retains to this day.
IT
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 157
IT might appear a matter of aftonifhment that B j K
the difcovery of America had not fuggefted to the ' v -
imagination of the Spaniards a great number of
miraculous ftories, had not their conquefts, and
the riches they acquired by their unparalleled
cruelties, depopulated a country fo well adapted
to favour their propenfity to the marvellous.
There indeed, the fancy of the Greeks might have
found abundant matter for pleafmg chimeras.
They, who in every part of their limited terri-
tory could not but meet with a multitude pf won-
ders, had, even in the times of Hercules and The-*
feus, imagined the exiftence of a nation of Ama-^
zons. They were fo enchanted with this idea,
that it conftantly ferved to embellifh the hiftories
of all the heroes, down to Alexander. Perhaps,
the Spaniards, ftill infatuated with this dream of
profane antiquity, were the more difpofed to rea-
lize the fiction, by transferring to the new conti-
nent what they had learned in the old.
SUCH was, probably, the origin of the opinion
they eflablifhed both in Europe and America, of a
republic of female warriors, actually exiting, who
did not live in fociety with men, and only admitted
them once a year, for the purpofes of procreation.
To give the more credit to this romantic ftory, it
was reported, not without rcafon, that the women
in America were all fo unhappy, and were treated
with luch contempt and inhumanity, that many
of them had agreed to fhake off the yoke of their
tyrants. It was further faid, that being accufromed
to follow the men into the forefts, and to carry
their provifions and baggage when they went out
to
1 5 3 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK, to fight or to hunt, they muft neceflarily have been
v ^ ' inured to hardfhips, and rendered capable of form-
ing fo bold a refolution.
BUT it is abiurd to imagine that women who
had fo fixed an averfion for men, would ever con-
fent to become mothers j nor is it likely that the
men would run after their wives, when they had
made their lives infupportable at home, and al-
ways turned them away as foon as they had no more
occafion for them. Much lefs can it be fuppofed
that the fofter and more compaflionate fex would
expofe or flrangle their own children becaufe they
were boys; and coolly and deliberately agree to
commit fuch enormities as none would be guilty
of, but a few individuals urged by rage and de-
ipair. An ariflocratical or democratical republic,
which it requires abilities to govern, could not be
governed by a fenate of women j though a mo-
narchical or defpotic ftate, in which it is only ne-
ceiTary to command, has been, and may ftill be
ruled by a woman.
IF fome ftrange prejudices have formed focieties
of both fexes amongfl us, who live feparate, and
free from that natural attraction which was intend-
ed to unite them, it is not confiftent with the na-
ture of things, that chance Ihould have produced
a nation of men without women, and ftill lefs a
nation of women without men. Certain it is, that
fince this political conftitution has been talked of,
infinite pains have been taken to find it out, but
no traces of it could ever be difcovered. This
fmgular prodigy therefore will be like many others,
which
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
which are always fuppofed to exift, though.no BOO
perion knows where. uy
BE this as it may, the voyage of Orellana pro-
cured little information, but excited much curio-
fity. An opportunity of fatisfying it did not oc-
cur for fome time, on account of the civil wars
that difturbed Peru ; but when tranquillity was
reftored, Pedro d'Orfuo, a gentleman of Navarre,
diftinguifhed by his wifdom and courage, offered
the viceroy, in 1560, to refume that navigation.
He fet out from Cufco with feven hundred men.
Thefe fanguinary people, inveterate enemies to all
perfons of good character, mafiacred their chief,
who was a man of good morals, and attached to
order and regularity. They fet up at their head,
with the title of king, a native of Bifcay, of a fero-
cious difpofition, whofe name was Lopez d'Aguirre,
and who promifcd them all the treafures of the
new world.
INTOXICATED with fuch flattering hopes, thefe
barbarians failed down the river Amazon into the
ocean, and landing at Trinidad, murdered the go-
vernor, and plundered the iiland. The coafls of
Cumana, Caraccas, and St. Martha were ftill more
feverely treated, becaufe they were richer. They
then penetrated into new Granada, and were ad-
vancing to Quito and into the interior part of
Peru, where every thing was to be deftroyed by
fire and fworcl. A body of troops, haftily aflem-
bled, attacked thefe defperate men, beat and dif-
perfed them. D'Aguirre, feeing no way to efcape,
marked his defpair by an atrocious act. <f My
" child, faid he, to his only daughter who attend-
ed
1 60 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK ed him in his expeditions, I thought to have*
*.. ^ > ff placed thee upon a throne, but the event has
" not anfwered my expectation. My honour
" and thy own will not permit thee to live,
" and to be a flave to our enemies ; die there-
" fore by a father's hand." Saying this, he in-
ftantly ihot her through the body, and then put
an end to her life, by plunging a dagger into her
heart. After this unnatural actj his ftrength failed,
and he was taken prifoner, drawn and quartered.
AFTER thefe unfortunate events* the river of
the Amazons was entirely neglected, and was to-
tally forgotten for half a century. Some attempts
were afterwards made to refume the difcovery of
it, but they were ill-concerted and no better ex-
ecuted. The honour of conquering difficulties;
and acquiring a ufeful knowledge of that great
river, was referved to the Portuguefe.
THAT nation, which Mill retained fome remains
of her former vigour, had, fome years before,
built a town at the entrance of the river, which
was called Para* Pedro Texeira failed from this
place in 1638, and with a great number of canoes
full of Indians and Portuguefe, went up the river
of the Amazons, as far as the mouth of the Napo,
and then up the Napo, which brought him almoft
to Quito, where he arrived by land. Notwith-
ftanding the enmity fubfifting between the Spa-
niards and Portuguefe, though fubjecls of the fame
matter, Texeira Was received with that regard,
efteem, and confidence, which were due to a man
who was doing a fignal fervice. He returned in
company with d'Acughna and d'Artieda, two
learned
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
learned Jefuits, who were commiftioned to verify B
his obfervations, and to make others. An accurate
account of thefe two fuccefsful voyages was fent to
the court of Madrid, where it gave rife to a very
extraordinary project.
THE communication between the Spanilh co-
lonies had long been found very difficult. Some
pirates, who were at enmity with them, infefted .
the north and ibuth feas, and intercepted their na-
vigation. Even thole of their fhips which h'ad
got to the Havannah and joined others, were not
perfectly fare. The galleons were frequently at-
tacked and taken by whole fquadrons, and always
purfued by privateers, who feldom failed to carry
off the ftraggling vefTels, that were parted from
the convoy, either by ftormy weather or by failing
more (lowly than the reft. The Amazon river
feemed as if it would obviate all thefe difficulties.
It was thought pofiible, and even an eafy matter,
to convey thither the treaiures of New Granada,
Popayan, Quito, Peru, and Chili itfelf, by navi-
gable rivers, or at a fmall expence by land. It was
thought that coming down the river, they would
find the galleons ready in the harbour of Para to re-
ceive them. The fleet from Brazil would then
have joined, and confequently ftrengthened the
fleet from Spain. They would then have failed
with great fecurity in latitudes little known and
little frequented, and would have arrived in Eu-
rope at lead with a formidable appearance ; or
might really have been in a condition to furmount
any obflacles they might have met with. The re-
volution which placed the Duke of Braganza on
VOL. III. M the
1 62 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
throne, put an. end to thefe important projects-
Each of the two nations was then only intent upon-
fecuring to itfelf that part of the river which beft
fuited its own fituation.
THE Spanifh Jefuits undertook to fet up a mif-
fion in the country lying between the banks of the
Amazon and of the Napo, as far as to the conflux
of both thefe rivers. Every mifiionary, attended
only by one man, took with him hatchets, knives,,
'needles, and all kinds of iron tools, and pene-
trated into the thickeft of the forefts. There they
' fpent whole months in climbing up the trees, to
fee if they could difcover fome hut, perceive any
fmoke, or hear the found of any drum or fife.
When they were aflured that fome favages were in
the neighbourhood, they advanced towards them.
Moft of them fled, efpecially if they were at war.
Thofe the miflionary could come within reach of,,
were eafily bribed by fuch prefents as their igno-
rance" made them fet a value upon. This was all
the eloquence he had in his power, or all he had
any occaiion to exert.
WHEN he had affembled a few families, he led
them to the place he had fixed upon to form a
village. They were not eafily prevailed upon to
take up their abode there. As they were uied to-
rove about, they found it an unfupportable hard-
fhip'tb remain always in the fame i place. The
ftate of independence in which they had lived,
they thought preferable to the focial life that was
recommended to them : and their unconquerable
averfion for labour, induced them continually to,
return to the forefts, where they had parTed their
lives
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 165
livres in idlenefs. Even thofe who were retrained B x K
by the authority or the paternal kindnefs of their * v r*
legiflator, feldom failed to difperfe in his abfence,
though ever fo fhort. But his death always occa-
fioned a total fubverfion of the fettlement.
THE perfeverance of the Jefuits has at laft con-
quered thefe obflacles apparently invincible. Their
million, which began in 1637, has gradually ac-
quired fome degree of firmnefs, and now confifts
of thirty-fix villages, twelve of which are fituated
along the Napo, and twenty-four on the banks of
the Amazon. The moft populous has no more
than twelve hundred inhabitants, and the reft
much lefs. The increafe of the mifllon muft be
flow, and can never be confiderable.
THE women of this part of America are not
fruitful, and their barrennefs increafes, when they
remove from one place to another. The men are
of a feeble habit, and the cuftom they have of
bathing conflantly, by no means contributes to in-
creafe their flrength. The climate is not healthy,
and contagious diftempers are very frequent. It
has never been pofiible, and probably never will be,
to infpire the favages with an inclination for agri-
culture. Their chief delight is in fifhing and
hunting, amufements which are by no means fa-
vourable to the increafe of population; In a
country which is almoft all under water, there are
few fituations proper to form a fettlement upon.
Moil of thefe fituations are at fo great a diftance
from each other, that they cannot poflibly furnifli
any mutual afiiftance. The nations which one
might endeavour to incorporate are alfo too far
M 2 feparated;
f*4 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
Separated ; moft of them are intrenched in inaccef-
fible places, and are ib inconfiderable, that they
often confift only of five or fix families.
OF all the Indians the Jefuits had collected, and
whom they governed, none were fo lifelefs or fo
incapable of being animated as thefe. Every mif-
fionary was obliged to put himfelf at their head,
in order to make them pick up the cocoa, vanilla,
and farfaparilla that nature plentifully offers them,,
and which are fent every year to Quito, three hun-
dred leagues off, that they may be bartered for ne-
cefTaries. Their whole property confifts of a hut,
open on all fides, made of a few lianes, and covered
on the top with palm leaves, a few implements of
husbandry, a lance, bows and arrows for hunting,
fifhing tackle, a tent, a hammock, and a canoe.
It has not been poflible to infpire them with de-
fires beyond thefe articles. They are fo well fatis.-
fied with what they poffefs, that they wifh for no-
thing more; they live unconcerned, and die with-
out fear. They may be faid to be happy, if hap-
pinefs. confifts more in an exemption from the un-
eafy fenfation that attends want,, than in the mul-
tiplicity of enjoyments that our wants require.
THIS infant itate, the offspring of religion alone,
has hitherto been of no iervice to Spain, and it
can hardly be expected it ever ihould. However
the government of Maynas, with its capital- Borja,
have been formed. there. The deftroyers of Ame-
rica have never thought of eftablifhing any fettle-
ment in a country where there are no mines, nor any
of thofe rich commodities which fo powerfully al-
lured their covetoufnefs ; but this country has
fometimes attrafled the neighbouring favages.
WHILE
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 165
WHILE fome miflionaries were eftabliihing the B } K
authority of the court of Madrid on the banks of ^ '
the Amazon, others were doing the fame fervice
to that of Lifbon. Six or feven days journey be-
low the fettlements of St. Ignacio de Pevas, the
laft under the jurifdiction of Spain, is St. Paul,
the firft of the fix villages formed by fome Portu-
guefe Carmelites, at a very great diftance from
ach other. They are all on the fouth fide of the
river, where the ground is higher, and lefs liable
to be overflowed. Thofe millions exhibit a plea-
fant profpect five hundred leagues from the feaj
churches and houfes prettily built; Americans
neatly dreffedj and all forts of European furniture
which the Indians procure once a year at Para, '
when they go in their boats to fell the cocoa they
pick up along the water-fide, where it grows iponta-
neoufly. If the Maynas were at liberty to form
connections with thefe neighbours, they might ac-
quire by this intercourfe fome conveniences that
they cannot be fupplied with from Quito, being
feparated from that place by the Cordeleras, which
cut off the communication more effectually than
immenfe feas would do. This indulgence of go-
vernment might perhaps be productive of confi-
derable advantages} and, pofilbly, both Spain and
Portugal, though rival powers, might be fenfible
that it would be for their mutual interefl to extend
it. It is weil known that die province of Quito
is poor, for want of an opportunity of difpoiing
of the overplus of thofe very commodities that
are not to be had at Para. The two provinces
mutually aflifting each other by means of the Na-
M 3 po
1 66 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK r>o and the Amazon, would rife to a degree of
TV
L ^ ' t profperity they could never attain without this in-
tercourfe. The mother-countries would in time
reap great advantages from it, and it could never
be prejudicial to them, becaufe Quito can never
purchafe what is fent from Europe ' to America,
and Para confumes nothing but what Lifbon ob-
tains from foreign countries. But national anti-
pathies, and the jealoufies of crowned heads,
are attended with the fame effects as the paffions
and prejudices of men in private life. One un-
fortunate incident is fufficient to divide families,
and nations for ever, whofe greateft intereft it is
to love and affift one another, and to promote the
general good. The fpirit of hatred and revenge
will rather induce men to jubmit to iuffer than not
be gratified. Thofe paflions are conflantly kept
'up by the mutual injuries and the effufion of blood
they occafion. .How different is man in the flate
of nature from man corrupted by fociety ! The
latter amply deferves all the misfortunes he brings
upon himfelf.
EVIDENT proofs of his propenfity to evil may
be feen in thofe bulwarks, and that chain efforts
creeled by the avarice and diflruft of the con-
querors of Brazil, from the diftrict of Coari down
to the fea fide. The Portuguefe built them to pre-
ferve their ufurpations in that part of the world.
x Though thefe forts are at a great diftance from
each other, and are but flightly fortified and thin-
ly garrifoned, the few Indians who inhabit the in-
termediate fpaces are completely kept in fubjec-
tion. The petty nations who refufed to fubmit,
have
' IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 6 7
have difappeared, having fled for refuge to fome B ]3 K
remote or unknown region. The rich foil they ' v '
have forfaken has not been cultivated, though the
intereft of the mother-country feemed to require
it; fo that hitherto all the conquefts the Spaniards
and Portuguefe have made, have rather excited
hatred and indignation againft their cruelties, than
procured them riches and profperity.
THE country along the Amazon indeed furniflies
Portugal with farfaparilla, vanilla, coffee, cotton,
woods for cabinet work, timber and plenty of
cocoa, which, till of late years, was the current
coin of the country. But this produce is nothing
to what it might be. It is only to be found
for fome leagues about great Para, the capital
of the colony, whereas the cultures ought to ex-
tend all along the great river, and on the fertile
banks of an infinite number of navigable rivers
which fall into it.
THESE confiderable articles of trade are not the
only ones that this part of the new world could
fupply Portugal with, if from time to time it
had fent able naturalifts into its colonies, as other
nations have done into theirs. Chance alone has
difcovered the Cucheries and Pecuri, two aromatic
trees, whofe fruits have the fame properties as the
nutmeg and clove. Perhaps culture might give
them that degree of perfection they want. Conti-
nual application might procure much ufeful know-
ledge, in a country where nature is fo different from
what it is in our climate.
UNFORTUNATELY the Portuguefe, who in their
fettlements on the river Amazon employed none
M4 but
1 68 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B o^p K t> ut favages for their laborious work, attended to
> ^ nothing but making fiaves. At firft they fet up
a crofs on fome eminence in the countries they ran
over, and left the care of it to the Indians. If
they fuffered it to decay, they and their children
were piouily doomed to (lavery, for this heinous
profanation. Thus the fign of falvation and deli-
verance to chriftians, was made a fign of death and
flavery to the Indians. The forts that had been
erected ferved afterwards to increafe the number
of (laves. This refource proving infufficient, the
Portuguefe of Para made excurfions of rive or fix
hundred leagues to procure an additional number
of men to fupply the place of beafls in the culti-
vation of the land. In 1719, they procured fome
from the country of Maynas ; and in 1733 from the
millions of the Napo; and in 1741 as far as the
head of the river Madera, and at different times
from the banks of rivers nearer home. They pro-
cured the greateft number from Rio Negro, where
they have long fince built a confiderable fort. A
detachment from the garrifon of Para is always
encamped on the banks of that river, to keep the
reduced Indians in awe and to protect them. That
part of the country is covered with millions, where
the imitiionaries pioufly encourage their converts to
attack the neighbouring nations and bring away
flaves. At laft a party of foldiers, who were fent
out to make further difcoveries, went in boats as
far as Oroonoko. This laft enterprife has en-
larged the views of the Portuguefe, by removing
all doubt concerning the communication between
that river and the Amazon by Rio Negro. It
concerns
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 169
concerns the court of Madrid to examine the BOOK.
grounds of thefe views, and to lee how far they ^
ought to take meafures for difappointing them.
At leaft we may venture to affirm, that the pro-
jects of the court of Lilbon on the river Plata,
deferve the moft ferious attention.
THE Portuguefe, who had appeared there foon Sftti?m-nt
after the Spaniards, took a diflike to it and with- ^J^"
drew in a fhort time. In 1679 their inclination of Denver
. PiiU.
fettling there was revived, and with more fpirit than
they were thought capable of from their conduct
and manners in Europe, they penetrated into Pa-
raguay. They had already eflablifhed the colony
of St. Sacrament, near the iflands of St. Gabriel,
oppofite Buenos Ayres, when they were accident-
ally detected. The Guaranis Indians haftened
thither to make amends for the neglect of govern-
ment. They attacked the new erected fortifica-
tions without hefitation, and demolifhed them
with an intrepidity that has done honour to their
courage.
THE court of Lifbon, which had built great
hppes upon this fettlement, was not difcouraged
by the late misfortunes it had experienced; but
defired that, till its claims could be adjulted, it
might be allowed a place where the Portuguefe
might be fheltered from florms, and in fecu-
rity from pirates, if they were forced by flrefs
of weather to enter the river Plata.
CHARLES II., who dreaded a war, and hated
bufmefs, was weak enough to comply with their
requeft, and only flipulated that the place fo
granted fliould be deemed his property ; that no
more
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
more than fourteen Portuguefe families fhould be
fent thither; that the houfes fhould be built of
wood and thatched; that no fort iliould be erect-
ed; and that the governor of Buenos Ayres fhould
have a right to infpect both the colony and the
{hips that fhould come into it.
IF the Jefuits who had directed the war, had
alfo carried on the negociation, they would cer-
tainly have forefeen the confequence of fuch a
compliance. It was impofiible that a fixed fettle-
ment in fo important a fituation, however incon-
fiderable it might be, fhould not become afource
of frequent altercations with enterprifing neigh-
bours, whofe claims were very great, who were
certain of the protection of all the enemies of
Spain, and whofe vicinity to the Brazils would en-
able them to take advantage of every opportunity
to aggrandize and fortify themfelves. The event
foon Ihewed the danger that might have been
forefeen.
IMMEDIATELY upon the elevation of a French
prince to the throne of Spain, when all was ftill
in confufion and uncertainty as to the confequences
of that great revolution, the Portuguefe reftored
the fortifications of St. Sacrament with amazing
celerity. The precaution they took at the fame
time of giving alarm to the Guaranis, by order-
ing fome troops to advance towards their fron-
tiers, induced them to hope that they fhould pre-
vent any disturbances from them. But they were
mi ftaken. The Jefuits having detected the arti-
fice, brought their converts to St. Sacrament,
which was already befieged. Thofe brave Indians,
on
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
on their arrival, offered to mount the breach,
though they knew it was but juft opened. When
they began their march, fome batteries were fired
upon them from the town, but they Hood the
cannonade without ever breaking their ranks, nor
could they be reilraincd by the fire of the fmali
arms, which likewiie killed many of them. The
intrepidity with which they ftill advanced, raifed
fuch aftonifhment among the Portuguefe that they
fled to their fhips, and abandoned the place.
THE misfortunes which Philip V. experienced
in Europe prevented this fucceis from being of
any advantage. The colony of St. Sacrament was
firmly re-eitablifhed by the peace of Utrecht..
Queen Anne, who made this peace, and who neither
neglected her own interefts nor thofe of her allies,
required Spain to give up this important point.
AT this period the new fettlement, being now
under no apprehenfions, began to carry on an im-
menfe trade with Buenos Ay res. This contra-
band trade had long fubfifted. Rio Janeiro fur-
nilhed Buenos Ayres with fugar, tobacco, wine,
brandy, negroes, and woollen goods i and re-
ceived in return from thence, flour, bifcuit,
dried or fait meat, and money. As foon as the
two colonies had a fafe and commodious ftaple,
their connections were unlimited. The court of Ma-
drid, which foon perceived the road the treafures of
Peru were taking, fhewed great marks of difcon-
tent, which ftill increafed as the injury complained
of grew greater. This proved a perpetual fource of
divifions between the two nations, which was every
inftant expected to terminate in an open rupture.
The
1 ,-2 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B O j,? K The conciliating methods which were propofed
< ^ '. from time to time, were always found impracti-
cable. At laft, however, matters were adjufted.
IT was agreed at Madrid on the ijih of January
1750, that Portugal ftiould give up to Spain the
colony of St. Sacrament, and the north border of
the river Plata, together with the village of St.
ChriPiopher and the adjacent lands, fituated be-
tween the rivers Ypura and IfTa, which fall into
the Amazon. Spain, on her fide, gave up all the
lands and habitations bordering on the eaft fide
of the river Uraguay, from the river Ibicui to the
north, the village of Santa Rofa, and all the others
on the eaftern border of the Guarapey.
THIS exchange was cenfured in both courts.
Some ventured to fay at Lifbon, that it was bad
policy to facrifice a colony, whofe illicit trade
brought in eight or ten millions* a year to the
mother-country, for other pofieffions the advan-
tages of which were precarious, or at leaft diftant.
The clamours ran higher ftiil at Madrid, and were
more general. It was imagined that the Portu-
guefe were already matters of the whole extent of
the Uragnay, that the fettlements all along the
banks of the Plata were filled with their merchan-
dife-, that they were feen penetrating by means of
feVeral rivers into the Tucuman, into Chili, and
as far as Potofi, and by degrees fecuring to them-
felves all the riches of Peru. It appeared incre-
dible that the fame miniflers, who had confidered
it as impoffible to put a flop to a contraband trade
which could only be carried on from one fpot,
.* On an average about 400,000!.
Ihould
IN TKE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 173
fhould flatter themfelves they fhould be able to B ix K
prevent it, when a hundred channels were laid * w
open to it. It was, faid they, fhutting a window
againft a thief, and throwing open the doors.
THESE difpofitions gave rife to numberlefs ca-
bals, which were laid to the charge of the Jefuits.
They were known to be averfe from an arrange-
ment that mud necerTarily difmemb.er their repub-
lic; and it was therefore thought there was reafon
enough to iufpeft them of exerting every effort to
prevent the conclufion of the agreement. They
were banifhed from both courts; the intrigues
ceafed, and the treaty was ratified.
IT was then neceflary to enforce the execution of
it in America, which appeared to be a matter of
fome difficulty. The Guaranis had not been fub-
dued, but had freely fu 'omitted to Spain. They
might, poflibly, be of opinion, that they had not
given that crown a power of difpofing of them to
another. Without being converfant in the fubtle-
ties of the law of nations, they might think that
they had a right to determine what was mod con-
ducive to their own haj^pinefs. Their known ab-
horrence for the Portuguefe yoke was equally likely
to lead them into error, or to inform them of what
was their intereft; and that averfion might be
ftrengthened by infmuations from without. So cri-
tical a fituation made it neceffary to proceed with
the greateft circumfpeclrion, which was not neg-
lected.
THE forces which both powers had fent over
from Europe, and thole that could be collected in
America, joined to prevent or get the better of
thofe
174 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK thofe difficulties that were forefeen. This fyftem
' v ' did not alarm thofe againft whom it was intended.
Though the feven fettlements that had been ceded
were not fuccoured by the others, at lead not
openly; and though the chiefs who till then had
led them on to battle were no longer at their head,
they were not afraid to take up arms in defence of
their liberty. But their military conduct was not
fudv'as it ought to have been. Inftead of con-
fining themfelves to harafs the enemy, and to cut
off their fubfiftence, which came from two hun-
dred leagues off, the Guaranis ventured to engage
them in the open field, and met with fome incon-
fiderable lofles. If they had been totally defeat-
ed, they were determined to quit the country, to
carry off* all they could, to fet fire to the reft, and
to leave the conqueror nothing but a defert. Whe-
ther the two powers who had agreed to make the
exchange were intimidated by this fpirited beha-
viour, or whether one or perhaps both became
fenfible of the difadvantages of the treaty they
had entered into, it was cancelled in 1761, and
things remained upon the old footing in Americas
but both courts retained a violent refentment
againft the Jefuits, who were thought to have kin-
dled a war in Paraguay, to promote their own in-
tereft.
IT is uncertain how far they may have deferved
this accufation. The proofs in fupport of this
charge have not been laid before the public. All
that a writer, who has nothing to guide him but
conjecture, can venture to affert, is, that probabili-
ties are ftrong againft them. It was hardly poffible
4 that
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 175
that men who, with infinite labour, had erected fuch B I} K -
a vail edifice, could patiently bear to fee its ruin, v ** '
Independent of felf-intereft, which muft haveacon-
fiderable influence upon a fociety, that, from its
firft eftablifhment, had been fecretly aiming at do-
minion, the Jefuits muft have thought themfelves
intruded with the felicity of thofe humane and
iimple people, who flickering themfelves under
their protection, depended upon them for their
future deftiny. However this may be, we muft
now proceed to fpeak of another method the Por-
tuguefe took to enlarge their polTefiions.
IN the diftrict of St. Vincent, the fouthermoft Settlement
in Brazil, and the neareft to Rio de la Plata, thir- ? U g ue e f e "
teen leagues from the fea, is a town called St. St< PauL
Paul. It was founded by thofe malefactors who
were firft lent from Portugal into the new world.
As foon as they perceived that they were to be fub-
ject to the reftraints of law, they withdrew from
the places they had firft inhabited, intermarried
with the natives, and in a fhort time became fo
profligate, that their fellow citizens broke off all
intercourfe with them. The contempt they met
with, and the fear of being reftrained in their li-
centioufnefs, together with the love of liberty,
made them defirous of being independent. The
fituation of their town, which could be defended
by a handful of men againft the moil powerful
armies that could be fent againft them, infpired
them with the refolution of being fubject to no
foreign power, and their ambition was fuccefsful.
Profligate men of all nations reforted in great
numbers to this eftablilhment. All travellers were
ftri&lv
76 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
OOK ftrictly forbidden to enter this new republic. To
J- ' obtain an admittance, it was previoufly necelTary
to promife to fettle there; and candidates were to
undergo a fevere trial. Thofe who could not go
through that kind of noviciate, or who were fuf-
pe<5led of perfidy, were barbaroufly murdered -, as
were likewife all who fhewed any inclination to
quit the fettlement.
A PUIJ.E air, a ferene fky, a. very temperate cli-
mate, though in the 24th degree of fouth latitude,
and a land abounding with corn, fugar, and ex-
cellent pafturej all thefe circumftances confpired
to induce the Paulifts to lead a life of indolence,
eafe and effeminacy; but that reftlefTnefs fo natural
to refolute banditti, that defire of dominion, which
is nearly connected with a love of independence,
the advances of liberty, which lead men to wiih
for glory of ibmekind or other, and to diftinguifh
themfelvcs: perhaps all thefe motives combined,
prompted them to forego an*eafy life, and to en-
gage in troublefome and hazardous excurlions.
THE firft objects of thefe excurfions was to pro-
cure flaves for their cultures. When they had de-
populated the adjacent country, they proceeded
to the province of Guayra, where the Spanifli Je-
fuits had collected and civilized the Guaranis.
Thefe new Chriftians were expofed to fo many
maflacres, and fo many of them were carried off,
that they fuffered themfelves to be perfuaded to re-
move to the unwholefome banks of the Parana and
the Uraguay, which they ftill inhabit. They reap-
ed little advantage from this compliance; for they
could promife themfelves no tranquillity, unlefs
they
IN THE EAST AND WEST INt>IES.
they were allowed to defend themfelves with the B
fame arms as they were attacked with. '
To propofe that they Ihould be furnilhed with
fuch arms, was a matter of too delicate a nature.
Spain had laid it down as a fundamental maxim,
never to introduce the ufe of fire-arms among the
Indians, left the unfortunate victims of her in-
fatiable avarice fliould one day make ufe of them
to free themfelves from the yoke that had been
impofed upon them. The lawgivers of the Gua-
ranis applauded this necefTary precaution with re-
gard to Haves, who were kept under by corri-
pulfion, but they thought it needlefs with men who
were freely attached to the kings of Spain by fuch
cafy bands, that they could be under no temptation
of breaking them. They fo well pleaded the caufe
of their converts, that, in fpite of oppofition and
prejudice, they obtained their requeft; The Gua-
ranis were indulged with fire-arms in 1639, and
foon made fuch good ufe of them, that they be-
came the bulwark of Paraguay, and were able to
keep off the Paulifts.
THESE defperate men refolved to procure by
craft what they could not obtain by force. They
repaired to the places where the mifiionaries were
ufed to refort j and there they fet up crofies. Then
ibme of the mod intelligent of them, drefled in
the habit of Jefuits, made fome trifling prefents to
the iavages they met with, and enticed them to
follow them to a. habitation where every thing was
in readinefs to make them happy. When they
had afiembled a certain number, the troops that
lay concealed, rufhed upon the credulous Indians,
VOL. III. N loaded
.1)8 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B JX K loaded them with irons, and carried them off.
* v ' Some who made their efcape gave the alarm, which
raifed a general fufpicion, that occafioned a flop to
be put to thefe hoflile proceedings.
THE Pauiifls then carried on their depredations
another way, and extended them as far as the ri-
ver of the Amazons. They are faid to have de-
ftroyed no lefs than a million of Indians. Thofc
who have efcaped their fury, in an extent of three
or four hundred leagues, are grown more favage
than ever, they have fled for fafety to the caves
of the mountains, or difperfed themfelves among
the darkeft rccefles of the forefts. Their perfe-
cutors have not fhared a better fate, having all gra-
dually perifhed in thefe dangerous excurfions. But
to the misfortune of America, their place has been
fupplied with vagabond Brazilians, fugitive ne-
groes, and Europeans who were fond of the fame
roving life.
THE fame fpirit has always prevailed at St. Paul,
even after fomc particular circumftances had in-
duced the people to acknowledge the dominion of
Portugal. But their excurfions are now carried on
in fuch a manner that they rather promote than
obflruft the views of the mother- country. By
following the courfe of feveral rivers, they have
attempted to open a way into Peru by the north
of Paraguay. The vicinity of the lake of the
Xarayes has put them in pofTefiion of the gold
mines of Cayaba and Matto-Grofib, which they
have opened, and ftill continue to work, without
meeting with any interruption from Spain, who
lays claim to that country. They would have car-
ried
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 179
ried their ufurpations further, had they not been B K
prevented by the Chiqnitos. * ^
WHILE thefe refllefs and enterprifmg men were p r0 d uc -
ravaging the Amazon, the Plata, and the moim- jj^j*
tains of Pern, the coafts of Brazil daily improved
in rich productions. That colony fent over to the
mother-country thirty-two millions weight of fu-
gar, which was enough for its confumption, and
fufficient to fupply a great part of Europe 3 to-
bacco, which could be difpofed of to advantage
both in Africa and the European nations ; balfam
of capivi, a balfam ic oil that diftils from incifions
made in a tree called Copaiba; ipecacuanha, a
very mild emetic which is much ufed; cocoa, which
grew wild in fome places, and was cultivated in
others; cotton, fuperior to that of the Levant and
the Caribbee iflands, and almoft equal to the fined
that comes from the Eaft Indies; indigo, which
the Portugude have never fufficiently attended to;
hides, the produce of oxen that run wild, and
have greatly multiplied in the forefts; and, laftly,
logwood.
THE tree that produces the logwood is as tall
and as bufhy as our oak; the leaves are fmall,
roundifli, and of a fine bright green; the trunk
is commonly tortuous, rugged and knotty, like
the white-thorn. The bloffbms, which refemble
lilies of the valley, are of a fine red, and exhale
a fragrant fmell. The bark is fo thick, that there
is very little left when the wood is ftripped. This
wood is very fit for turnery work, and takes a fine
polifh; but its chief ufe is for the red dye. The
tree grows in dry and barren placesj and among
N 2 the
i8o HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B ix K t ^ ie roc k- S; it i s found in moft provinces in the
w v i Brazils, but chiefly in that of Fernambucca; and
the befl of all grows ten leagues from Olinda, the
capital of that captainfhip.
IN exchange for thefe commodities, Portugal
fupplied the Brazils with flour, wine, brandy, fait,
woollen goods, filks, linen, hard-ware and paper;
in fhort, all that Europe exports to America, ex-
cept gold and filver fluffs, which the mother-coun-
try had, whether properly or not, prohibited in
her colonies.
THE whole trade was carried on by a fleet, v/hich
failed every year from Lifbon and Oporto in the
month of March, and confided of twenty or twen-
ty-two fhips for Rio Janeiro, thirty for Bahia, as
many for Fernambucca, and feven or eight for
Para. The fhips parted when they came to a cer-
tain latitude, and proceeded to their refpeftive
deftinations. They afterwards met at Bahia to
fail for Portugal, which they reached in September
or October the year following, under convoy of
five or fix men of war, which had efcorted them
at their going out.
MANY judicious perfons blamed this regulation^
and thought it would have been better to have left
the merchants at liberty to fend out their fhips,.
and order them home when it fuited them beft.
This prudent fyllem would infallibly have reduced
the expence of freight, which muft affect the price
of the commodities. A free trade would have
employed more fhips, and voyages would have
been more frequent. It would have ftrengthened
the navy, and encouraged ..agriculture. The in-?
tercourfe
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. r8i
tercourfe between the colonies and the mother- B K
.country being more frequent, would have given > v -*t
information, which would have enabled govern-
ment to extend its protection more eafily, and to
fecure its authority.
THE court of Lifbon feemed frequently inclined
to yield to thefe confiderations, but was at firft
deterred by the fear of feeing the fhips fall into
the enemy's hands, if they failed feparately; and
afterwards by the obftacles which the viceroys of
Brazil oppofed to this alteration. The increafe of
their fortune and of their greatnefs required that
the bufmefs of the colony fhould be tranfadled in
the capital j fo that after having contrived to at-
tract it to that fpot, they fucceeded in retaining it
there j and confequently this town, which is called
either Bahia or San Salvador, became a very ftou-
rifhing city,
THE way to it is by the bay of All Saints,
which is two leagues and a half broad at the en-
trance. On each fide ftands a fortrefs, intended
rather to prevent landing, than to hinder fhips from
palling by. It is thirteen or fourteen leagues in
length, and interfperfed with little iflands, which
produce cotton, and form an agreeable profpecl,
It grows narrow towards the bottom, which is
flickered from every attack, and makes an excel-
lent harbour, where the largeft fleets may ride in
fafety. The town commands this harbour, being
built on the ilope of a fteep hill. The Dutch ha4
inclofed it with a rampart of earth, but the Por-
tuguefe have let it moulder away, thinking the,
tpwn fufficiently defended by a number of little
N 3
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
forts they have erected at fmall diftances, and by
a garrifon of four or five hundred men. Any en-
gineer who had (kill enough to make every advan-
tage of the fituation, might render it impregnable
at a fmall expence.
THE place well deferves this attention. It con-
tains two thoufand houfes, which are moft of them
built with great magnificence. Their furniture
is the more rich and elegant, as extravagance in
drefs is ftriftly prohibited. By a very old law,
which has often been broken, and which extends
to the Brazils fince the year 1749, the Portuguefe
are forbidden to wear any gold or filver fluffs, or
any laced cloths j but their paffion for fhew, which
no laws can eradicate, has induced them to con-
trive fome fubftitute, and to wear crofTes, medals,
and diamond chaplets, or beads, the rich enfigns
of a poor religion. The gold they cannot wear
themfelvesj they lavifh to adorn their domeflic
flaves.
As the fituation of the town will not admit of
coaches, the rich, who will always be diflinguiihed
from the vulgar, have contrived to be carried in
cotton hammocs. Supinely ftretched upon vel-
vet cufhions, and furrounded with filken curtains
which they open and fliut as they pleafe, thofe
proud and lazy mortals move about more volup-
tuoufly, though with lefs expedition, than in the
moft eafy and elegant carriages. The women fel-
dom enjoy this luxury. Thefe people, who are fu-
perftitious to a degree of fanaticifm, will hardly
allow them to go to church, covered with their
cloaks, on their high feftivals; and no one is fuf-
fere d
5
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
fered to lee them in their own houfes. This re-
ftraint, which is the effect of an ungovernable
paloufy, does not prevent their carrying on in-
trigues, though they are fure of being (tabbed to
death upon the flighted iulpicion. By a lenity
more judicious than ours, a girl who, without her
mother's corifent, or even under her protection,
yields to the importunities of a lover, is treated
with lefs feverity. But if the father cannot con-
ceal her infamy by difpofmg of- her in marriage,
he abandons her to the fcandalous trade of a cour-
tezan. Thus it is that riches bring on a train of
vices and corruption, efpecialiy when they are ac-
quired by bloodfhed and murder, and are not pre-
ferved by labour.
THE want of fociety, confequent upon the fe-
paration of the fexes, is not the only impediment
to the pleafures arid enjoyments of life at Bahia.
The hypocrify of fomej the fuperftition of others;
avarice within, and pompous parade without; ex-
treme indulgence, bordering upon extreme cruelty,
in a climate where all the lenfations are quick and
impetuous j the diftruft : that attends weaknefs}
that indolence that trufts every thing to flaves,
whethei it relates to- pleafure or bufmefs : all the
vices that are to be found, either feparately or col-
lectively, in the moft corrupt fouthern countries,
conftitnte the character of the Portuguefe at Bahia.
However, the depravity of their manners feems to
decreafe, in proportion as the government of the
mother-country is more enlightened. Thofe im-
provements in knowledge, the abufe of which
N 4 will
Difcovery
of the gold
and dia-
mond mines
in Brazil.
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
will fometimes corrupt virtuous nations, may re?
fine and reform a generous people ?
THE climate, though a good one, is attended
withmany inconveniences that leflen its excellence.
There is no mutton j poultry is fcarce, and the
beef is bad. The ants deflroy the fruits of the
earth, as they do all over the colony. The whales
devour the fifh, or frighten them out of the bay.
On the other hand, the wine, the meal, the fait
meats, and all the provifions brought from Eu-
rope, are not always found when they arrive , fo
that the good fells at an extravagant price. All
articles of induftry are fold at a flill more exor-
bitant rate. The loweft among the Portuguefe^
wholly employed in the trade of tobacco and fome
Other articles, would think it a difgrace to exercife
any art. Few of the free men have either genius
or inclination for it r The Haves who make up the
greateft part of the population are all employed
by the rich either in labour or for fhew.
NOTWITHSTANDING thefe vices, which gene^
rally prevailed, though not to the fame degree in
all parts of the colony, it had long been in a pro-
fperous condition. In the beginning of this cen-
tury the difcovery of the gold mines gave it an ad-
ditional luilre that occafioned univerfal aftonifh-
ment.
THE circumftances that produced thjs difcovery
are varioufly related. The moft common opinion
is, that a caravan of Portuguefe, who went from
Rio- Janeiro, penetrated into the continent in 1695.
They met with the Paulifts, who, in exchange for
fomp European goods^ gave them gold duft which
the}?
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES, 1 85
they found was procured from the mines of Pa- B <J *
rana-Panama, fituated in that neighbourhood. <* yr-w
A FEW years after this, a company of foldiers
from Rio- Janeiro, who were fent to quell fome
Jndians in the inland parts, found on their march
fome golden fiih-hooks, and were informed that
many torrents, rufhing down from the mountains,
brought gold into the valleys. Upon this infor-
mation, a ftrict fearch was made, and upon the
high grounds were found fome rocks that con-
tained gold; but this deceitful appearance of trea-
fure was neglected on account of the expence it
would have required to get at it; nor was a
vein of gold, that runs along an immenfe fpace,
found rich enough to anfwer the working of it.
After many fruitlefs trials, the Portuguefe con-
tented themfelves like the favages, with picking
up gold out of the land, when the waters had fub-
fided. This practice has proved very fuccefsful
at Villa- Rica, and through a very confiderable
extent of country. The government freely grants
from three to five leagues of this precious foil
to any one who is able to go and make a fortune
there.
SOME blacks are employed in looking for gold
in the beds of torrents and rivers, and feparating
it from the fand and mud, in which it is naturally
concealed. The moft ufual cuflom is, that every
flave is required to bring in the eighth part of an
punce of gold a day; and if any of them are fo
fortunate or fo diligent as to pick up more, the
pverplus is their own property. The firil ufe they
make of it, is to buy other (laves to do their work
8 for
6 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
OOK.' for them, that they in their turn may live in idle-
v ' j nefs. If a flave brings in the quantity of gold
prefcribed, his rnafcer can require nothing more.
It is fome confolation to him to be able to allevi-
ate the burden of his flavery, by the very labours
fhat are attached to that ftate.
IF we were to eftimate the quantity of gold that
Brazil annually fupplies, by the fifth that the
feiilg* of Portugal receives from thence, it might
be valued at forty-five millions of livres*; but we
fhall'not be fuppofed to exaggerate, when we af-
fert that the defire of eluding the duties deprives
the'government, notwithflanding its vigilance, of
die eighth part of the produce.
To this account muft be added the filver drawn
from the illicit trade with Buenos Ayres, which
was formerly immenfe; but the meafures lately
taken by Spain have reduced it to about three mil-
lions per annum f. Many people are even furprifed
that fuch an intercourfe ihould fubfift between two
nations, who, having no manufactures of their own,
and impofmg nearly the fame taxes on all foreign
induftry, ought certainly to have nothing to fell.
It. is not confidered that the coaft of Portugal is
very extenfive, and acceflible in all parts, fo that
the duties on goods exported to America, may be
eluded with much greater facility on that coaft,
than in the peninfula ipf Cadiz. Befides exchanges
are not the only means by which the Spanifh fpe-
cie is conveyed into the Portuguefe coffers. Inde-
pendent of all fale or purchafe, the Peruvians find
* 1,968,750!. f About 131,000!.
a great
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. iS;
a great advantage in fending the ir money over to BOOK
Europe by this indirect road. > -J* _
THE frrlV poHtiral writers' who turned their
thoughts towards the probable confequences of
the difcovery rrrade in Brazil, did not hefitate to
foretell- that the difference of vahie- between gold
and filver would be diminifnedi "The experience
of all countries and of all ages had taughr the'm
that, though many ounces cf filver had always
been given for an ounce of gold, bccaufe miner, cf
the former had always; been more common than
of the- latter, yet the value of both metals had
Varied in every country, in proportion to the abun-
dance of either.
IN Japan, the proportion of gold to filver is as
one to eight; in China, as one to ten; in -other
parts of India, as one to 'eleven, twelve, thirteen
or fourteen, as we advance'filrther weft.
THE like variations are to be met with in' Eu-
rope. In ancient Greece, gold was to filver as
one to thirteen. When the produce of all the
mines in the univerfe was brought to Rome, the
miflrefs of the world, the moft fettled proportion
was one to ten. It rofe as far as one to thirteen
under Tiberius. Nurnberlefs and infinite varia-
tions are to be met with in the barbarous ages. In
a word, when Columbus penetrated into America,
the proportion was lefs than one to twelve.
THE quantity of thefe metals which was then-
brought from Mexico and Peru, not only made
them more common, but flill increafed the value
of gold above filver, as there was greater plenty
of the latter in thofe parts. Spain, that was of
courfe
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
courfe the beft judge of the proportion, fettled it
as one to fixteen in the coin of the kingdom^
and this fyftem, with fome flight variations, was
adopted throughout Europe.
THIS proportion ftill exifts; but we have no
reafon on that account to contradict thofe who
had foretold that it would alter. If gold has fal~
len but little in the markets, and not at all in the
coin, fince the Brazils furnilh a great quantity of
it, this is owing to particular circumftances, which
do not affect the principle. A great deal of gold
is now ufed for fetting of jewels, and for gilding,
which has prevented the price of filver from fall-
ing fo much as it would have done if our fafhions
had not altered. It is this fame fpirit of luxury
that has always kept up the price of diamonds,
though they are grown more common.
AT all times men have been fond of making a
parade of their riches, either becaufe originally
they were the reward of flrength, and the mark of
power j or becaufe they have every where obtained
that regard which is clue only to abilities and vir-
tue, A defire of attracting the attention of others,
prompts a man to ornament himfelf with the
choiceft and mofl brilliant things nature can fup-
ply. The fame vanity, in this refpect, prevails,
among the favages as in the civilized nations. Of
all the fubftances that reprefent the fplendor of
opulence, none is fo precious as the diamond j nor
has any been of fuch value in trade, or fo orna-
mental in fociety, There are diamonds of all co-
lours, and of every Ihade of the feveral colours,
The diamond has the red of the ruby, the orange,
"pf
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
t>f the hyacinth, the blue of the faphire, and the
green of the emerald. This laft is the deareft
when it is of a beautiful tint. The rofe diamonds,
blue and yellow, are the next in value. The yel-
lowifh and the blackilh are leaft efteemed. Tranf-
parency and clearnefs are the natural and efiential
properties of the diamond, to which art has add-
ed the brilliant and fparkling luftre of the feveral
faces.
THERE are very few diamond mines. Till of
late years, we knew of none but in the Eaft-In-
dies. The oldeft is in the river Gouel, that comes
down from the mountains, and falls into the
Ganges. It is called the mine of Soulempour, from
the name of a village fituated near that part of the
river where the diamonds are found. Very few
diamonds have ever been taken out of it, as like-
wife out of the Succadan, a river in the ifland of
Borneo. The chain of mountains that extends
from Cape Comorin to Bengal, has yielded infi-
nitely more. They are not found in clufters, but
fcattered up and down, in a fandy, ftony and bar-
ren foil; lying at fix, eight, ten, and twelve feet
below the furface, and fometimes deeper. The
right of digging for them is purchafed, and the
purchafer is fometimes enriched and fometimes
ruined, according as he is either fuccefsful or un-
fortunate.
SOME apprehenfions were raifed that the conti-
nual wars in India would put an end to this fource
of riches, but thefe were removed by a difcovery
that was made at Serra-de-Frio in Brazil. Some
flaves who were condemned. to look for gold, ufed
to
1 9 o HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK. to fi nc j f ome -little bright flones, that they threw
ju . v i away among the fand and gravel. Some curious
miners preferved feveral of thefe fingular pebbles,
which were fhewn to Pedro d'Almeyda, governor
general of the mines. As he had been at Goa, he
fufpected that they might be diamonds. Toafcertain
this point the court of Lifbon in 1730 commiffion-
ed d'Acugna, her minifter in Holland, to make
neceflary inquiries. He put fome of thefe pebbles
into the hands of able artificers, who having cut
them, declared they were very fine diamonds.
THE Portuguefe immediately fearched for them
with fuch fuccefs, that the Rio Janeiro fleet brought
home 1 146 ounces. This produced fuch a plenty,
that their price fell connderably; but the miniftry
took fuch meafures as foon made them rife to their
original value, which they have maintained ever
fince. They conferred on a company the exclu-
five right of fearching for and felling diamonds;
and even to reftrain the avidity of the company
itfelf, it was required to employ no more than
600 Qaves in that bufmefs. It has fince been per-
mitted to employ as many as it pleafes, upon con-
dition that 1500* livres are paid for every miner.
In both contracts, the court has referved to itfelf
all diamonds that ftiall exceed a certain number of
carrats.
A LAW which forbad on pain of death to in-
croach upon this privilege, was not fufficient to
infure the obfervance of it. It was imagined to
be more effectual to depopulate the places that lay
near that rich mine, and to make a folitary wafte of
* 65!. 125. 6d.
all
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. I 9 ,
all the regions that might be tempted to interfere $ <0 o K
in fo lucrative a trade. Throughout the fpace of _
a hundred leagues, there is but one large village
left, which is wholly inhabited by the company's
agents and (laves.
THEIR privilege conftantly protected by the
mother-country, has never met with the leaft op-
pofition. The government itfelf is their agent ia
Europe. Whatever be the produce of the mines,
which muft necefiarily be fluctuating, the court
delivers annually, to one fingle contractor, dia-
monds to the value of 1 2,500,000 livres*. They
engage to fell no others, and hitherto this engage-
ment has been held facred. They are bought up
in their rough Hate by the Engliih and Dutch, who
cut them, and then difpofe of them all over Eu-
rope, but chiefly in France, where the greateft
confumption is made. They arc neither fo hard
nor fo clear as thofe of the Eaft-Indies, nor tlo
they fparkle fo much, but they are whiter. They
are fold ten per cent, cheaper, fuppofmg the
weights to be equal,
THE fined diamonds in the world are, that of
the Great Mogul, which weighs 279 carrats and
one fixteenth; that of the Grand Duke, v/hkli
weighs 139 carratsj the great Sancy, of 106 car-
rats; and the Pitt, 136 carrats three grains. All
thefeare ftill very trifling, compared to the diamond
Jent from Brazil to the king of Portugal; which
weighs 1680 carrats, or twelve ounces and a. half.
As we know of no proportion by which to afcer-r
tain the value of fuch a gem a an Englilh writer
* 5461875!.
fan
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TfcADE
x * has ventured to eftimate it at 1,298,006,000 of
-v^ livres *. A great abatement muft be made in this
eftimate, if, as fome very (killful lapidaries fufpect,
it fhould prove to be but a topaz.
IT is not known whether the diamonds of Brazrl
grow in the valleys where they are found, or whe-
ther they are brought down by an infinite number
of torrents that rufh into them, and by five fmall
rivers that flow from the neighbouring mountains.
What is certain is, that the diamonds do not come
from a quarry* that they are fcattered about; and
that they are picked up in larger quantities in the
rainy feafons and after violent ftorms.
THE gold and diamond mines, added to a rich
culture, fhould have made Brazil the chief colony
in the world; but in order to effect this, it fhould
have been preferved from inteftine commotions and
foreign invafions* Both thefe objects therefore
were taken into confideration.
,fures ALL the mines were fituated in the captainfhips
f St. Vincent and Rio Janeiro, and in the ad-
fccwtfw J acent lands* Some were in the hands of the
produce of Paulifts, and the reft lay expofed to their inroads*
the mmes. ^ thofe banditti were too numerous and too va-
liant to be brought into fubjection by force, it was
thought advifable to treat with them. As they
could make no ufe of their new acquired wealth^
without a free communication with the ports where
the luxuries and conveniences of Europe were to
be purchafed, they were more tractable than was
expected. They confented to pay, like the reft of
the Portugueft, a fifth of their gold -, but they
determined
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
determined the amount of this tribute themfelves,
and never made it what it ought to have been.
The government was prudent enough not to pay
any attention to this fraud. They forefaw that the
connections and the new way of life the Paulifts
were engaged in, would gradually foften their
manners, and that fooner or later they would be
brought to fubmit. This revolution accordingly
happened about the year 1730. An eloquent^
active, and artful man fucceeded in prevailing up-
on the principal men among thofe adventurers, and
the multitude followed their example. The whole
republic acknowledged the authority of the court
of Lifbon, and in the fame manner as all the other
Portuguefe in the Brazils.
BEFORE this great event, the town of Rio Ja-
neiro had been fortified, which is the mart for the
produce of moft of the mines, and of the com-
modities that are procured from the neighbouring
captainships for the confumption of Europe. The
bay in which it is fituated was firft difcovered in
1555 by Dias de Solis. Some French proteftants,
who were perfecuted in their own country, made
a fmall fettlement there under the guidance of
Villegagnon. This fettlement confided only of
fifteen or twenty huts, made of boughs and co-
vered over with grafs, after the manner of the fa-
vages in thofe parts. Some fmall bulwarks that
were erected for planting of cannon, occafioned
the name of Fort Coligni to be given to it. It
was deftroyed three years after by Emanuel de Sa,
who laid the foundation of a town on the continent,
which afterwards became confiderable by the cul-
VOL. III. O turc
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
tllre ^" toDacco > an d efpecially of fugar. Its fi-
tuation at fo great a diftance from Europe, in
22 2 2' fouth latitude, made it reafonable to ima-
gine that moderate fortifications would be fufficient
to defend it. But the temptation of attacking it
having increafed in proportion as it grew richer,
it was thought proper to fbrengthen it with addi-
tional works. Thcfe were already very confider-
able, when Du Guay Trouin took it in 1711, with
fuch intrepidity and (kill, as redounded much to
his honour, and was a great addition to the fame
he had already acquired. The new fortifications
that have fmce been added to thofe the French had
mattered, have not made the town more impreg-
nable, as it may be attacked on other fides, where
the landing is very practicable. If gold can make
its way into brazen towers through iron gates, much
more will iron break down the gates that defend
gold and diamonds. And indeed the court of
Lifbon has not thought it fufficient to fortify Rio
Janeiro.
BETWEEN the captainlhip of St. Vincent and
the mouth of the Plata, is a barren coaft, about
150 leagues in length. As nothing invited the
Portuguefe to fettle there, it was always totally
negle6ted. But the gold lately found in the rivers
that water thofe deferts, has attracted fbme co-
lonifts there; and the government has beftowcd
its attention in endeavouring to give ibme flability
to this new channel of wealth. It has eftabliflied
fome pofts along the coaft, and fortified St. Ca-
therine.
THIS
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
THIS iiland, which is only parted from the con- B
tinent by a very fmall canal, is about nine leagues v
long, and two leagues broad. Though the land
is not low, it is not ieen at adiftance, becaufe it is
lhaded by the neighbouring mountains on the con-
tinent. Navigators find there a perpetual fpring,
excellent water, great plenty of wood, a variety
of delicious fruits, vegetables which are fo welcome
to failors, and a pure air, except in the harbour,
where the hills intercept the circulation of air, and
make it conftantly damp and unwholefome.
ONE hundred and fifty or two hundred banditti,
who had taken refuge in this ifland towards the
beginning of this century, acknowledged the au-
thority of Portugal, but did not adopt the inte-
refled and exclufive fyflem of that flate. They
admitted indifcriminately the fhips of all nations
that were failing to the South Seas, and gave
them the produce of their iiland in exchange for
arms, brandy, linen, and wearing apparel. Be-
fides their contempt for gold, they fhewed an in-
difference for all the conveniences that nature did
not iupply them with, which would have done
honour to virtuous men.
THE fcum and refufe of civilized bodies may
fometimes produce a well regulated fociety. The
iniquity of our laws, the unjuft diftribution of
property, the miferies of want, the infolence and
impunity of wealth, and the abufe of power, often
make rebels and criminals. If we colleft together
all thofe unfortunate men who are banifhed from
fociety by the too great rigour and often the in-
juilice of the laws 3 and give them an intrepid,
O 2 gene-
196 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
generous, humane and enlightened chief; we fhall
make thefe profligate men become honeft, tract-
able and rational. If their necefiities urge them to
war, they will become conquerors; and to ag-
grandize themfclves they will violate the rights
of nations, though Uriel: obfervers of their own
reciprocal duties: fuch were the Romans. If for
want of an able leader, they - are left to chance and
natural events, they will be mifchievous, reflleis,
rapacious, unfettled, for ever at war, either among
themfelves or with their neighbours: fuch were
the Paulifts. Laflly, if they can more eafily live up 7
on the natural fruits of the earth, or by agriculture
and trade, than by plunder; they will contract the
virtues proper to their fituation, and the mild in-
clinations that arife from a rational love of eafe.
Civilized by the happinefs and fecurity of an ho-
neft and peaceable life, they will refpect in others
thofe rights which they themfelves enjoy, and will
barter the fnperfluities of their produce, for the
conveniencies of other nations: fuch were the
people who had taken refuge at St. Catherine's.
BANISHED from their native country by the
dread of thofe atrocious punifhments too often in-
flicted on (light offences, they formed a commer-
cial fettlement, which was beneficial even to the
country that had rejected them. About the year
1738, the crown fent them a governor, and forti-
fied their harbour. As it is far fuperior to any on
that coaft, it is eafy to forefee that, if the riches
of thofe parts anfwer the expectations that have
been raifed of them, that afylum of vagabonds
will in time become the chief colony of the Brazils,
and
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
and the moft confiderable fea-port in all South- B
America.
IT appears from this account, that the court of
Lifbon has taken the moft prudent meafures to r a evl * e |, lire
fecure to itfelf the produce of the mines. The ''"the Bra-
fame attention has not been paid to the culture of was'aban-
lands, nor has that point been fowell fettled; yet Jcountrf
that ineftimablc fource of riches was then in a cri- the min *'
tical fituation that required mature confideration.
ALL the European nations that had fettlements
in America, began to cultivate the lame produc-
tions that had long enriched the Brazils. This
competition had reduced the price of thofe com-
modities; and the Portuguefe, notwithftanding
they laboured as much as ever, found that their
profits grew conftantly lefs. Thefe labours became
irkfome to them, and many abandoned them en-
tirely, tempted by the hopes of enriching them-
felves by picking up gold. Had the mother-coun-
try underftood her true intereft, and been lefs
elated with this new fource of riches, the misfor-
tunes it gave rife to, might have been prevented.
This might eafily nave been done, by taking off
the enormous duties which the colonies paid for
all the goods they exported or imported; or if it
had been found neceffary, by giving encourage -r
ments, which her new treafures enabled her to do
with a liberal hand. This would have induced the
planter, who knew his foil to be far fuperior to
that of the Antilles, and was not ignorant of the
other advantages he had over the colonifts engaged
in clearing thofe iflands, to perfevere in a labour
which muft procure him a comfortable fubfiftence,
03 if
I 9 3 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK if not an ample fortune, without any anxiety or
, uncertainty.
ALL perfons who have attentively obferved Ame-
rica, know that the coafts of Brazil are very fer-
tile. The fugar-canes are ftronger than thofe of
the rival colonies, and other productions hatfe the
fame fuperiority. The inhabitants are not reduced
to the neceffity of manuring a poorer an e:*hauft-
ed foil. There is fuch a plenty of land, that when
one piece of ground is fpent, a frefh one may be
broke up, that will yield plentiful crops without
much trouble. The inland parts only want hands
to till them, and many navigable rivers are ready
to convey the produce to the fea. The plantations
are never deftroyed by hurricanes, or parched
with drought. There are few, filiations in the
Brazils where the intemperature of the air ihortens
the lives of thofe who are ufefully employed in
the labours of the fields, and none where the in-
habitants are fwept away by that dreadful mor-
tality, fo frequent in many parts of America.
Every undertaking is carried on with eafe by the
afiiftance of the numberlefs flocks with which the
plains are covered. The flave does not impatient-
ly expect his fubfiftence to be conveyed to him over
ftormy feas, which when it arrives is often at fuch
an immoderate price, that he cannot always pro-
cure a fufficiency. Ke finds without much trou-
ble a wholefome and plentiful provifion upon the
very land he cultivates. The matter, on his part,
can be under no apprehenfion of feeing an end to
his good fortune, as he well knows that the colony
has not yet attained to a tenth of its culture.
One
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
One hundred and fifty thoufand blacks are already B
employed there, which are annually recruited by
7 or 8000, and may eafily be multiplied. As it
is cuftomary for the planter to import them di-
rectly from Africa, he has nothing to fear from the
negligence, unfkilfulnefs or difhoneily of the Eu-
ropean merchants. His fhips have the double ad-
vantage of making a fmall Hay at the end of their
voyage, and of a fhort and eafy paiTage both
going and coming.
NOTWITHSTANDING all thefe advantages, the
culture of Brazil produced but 22,000,000 weight
cf raw fugar, n or 12,000 bales of tobacco, a
fnall quantity of farfaparilla, cocoa, coffee, rice
aid indigo; to which were added fome whale-
bcne, woods for dying, building, and cabinet
work, and 14 or 15,000 hides.
AMONG all the methods deviled for increafing
the produce of fo rich a country, the Portugueie
mi.iiftry have preferred that of giving freedom to
the Brazilians, as being the fafeft, the cheapen:,
and the moil humane. They declared in 1755,
that for the future, all the lubjech of the crown,
whether they were fo by their own free will or by
compulfion, fhould be deemed citizens to all in-
tents and purpofes, .and fhould be entitled to that
appellation on the fame terms as the Europeans.
No other duties are impofedupon them; the fame
path is open to their talents, and they may acquire
the fame honours. No other power has treated its
American iubjefts with fo much humanity. This
fingular circumftance, though fo flriking, has not
even been taken notice of. Every one is intent '
O 4 upon
o HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
ix K u P on polices, war, pleafure or fortune. A re-
^ volution Ib favourable to mankind efcapes every
eye, even in the middle of the eighteenth century,
in this enlightened and philofophical age. The
public good is the general topic of converfation,
but we neither perceive it nor are fennble of it
when it takes place.
PORTUGAL would receive a fufficient compenfa-
tion for this indifference, if the new fyftem had
produced the defired effect. We fhould fee the
Brazilians applying themfelves to the culture of
their lands, and multiplying their produce. Then
labour would enable them to procure numberlete
comforts which they have not enjoyed. The viev
of their happinefs would tempt the favages to qut
their forefls, and to embrace a more quiet way }f
life. By degrees, the influence of their example
would fpread, and in time all Brazil would be-
come civilized. A mutual confidence would be
eftablifhed between the Americans and the Euro-
peans, and they would become but one nation.
All would concur in producing the flock of an
immenfe trade to the mother-country, which on
her part would not neglect to fend a conftant fup-
ply for the increafing confumption of the colony.
An exact balance would be kept up between their
reciprocal interefts, and great care would be taken
that nothing (hould interrupt fo valuable a harmo-
ny. In a word, the Portuguefe, by one aft of
humanity, would have made amends for all the
injuries they have done the inhabitants of Ame-
rica.
UNFOK-?
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. ot
UNFORTUNATELY thefe flatten ngprofpefts have BOOK.
all proved chimerical. It might have been rea- u^^i
fonable to form expectations of their luccefs, if
this great change had been brought on by flow
degrees. The Brazilians might infenfibly have
been attached to the comforts of fociety; they
might have been trained up to ufeful labours; they
would gradually have got the better of their natu-
ral lazinefs, and been infpired with a clefireof pof-
feffing property. A happy revolution being thus
prepared by thefe mild meafures, much would (till
have remained to be done, which leems to have
efcaped the penetration of the miniftry. They
have neglected granting lands to the new fub-
jecls in convenient fituations. They have not
made them fufficient advances. They have not
fupplied them with able guides to direct them ;
nor have their chiefs been men of integrity and
humanity. Nothing, therefore, has been done for
the public good, by granting civil liberty to the
Brazilians; and much has been done againft it, by
abridging the Europeans of their freedom, in fub-
jecting them to the tyrannical monopoly of an
exciufive privilege. No perfon had forefeen, or
even fuljpected, a regulation ib contrary to the ge-
nius of the nation.
PORTUGAL has made immenfe difcoveries in Monopo.
Africa, and in the Eaft and Weft-Indies, without b'Sfcr
the afiiftanceof any company. Mere focieties of ^^ cot
merchants, in which kings, princes, and noble-
men were concerned, fitted out large fleets for
thofe three parts of the world, raifed the Portu-
guefe name above all others, and brought about
the
*02 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK the moft important and interefting revolution in
* y ' i commerce the univerfe had ever experienced. It
was not to be expected that a nation, which, in
the barbarous ages, had purfued the ineftimable
advantages of competition, would at laft, in an
enlightened age, 'adopt a pernicious fyftem, which,
by collecting the principles of life and motion into
a fmall part of the body politic, leaves all the reft
in a ftate of inactivity and ruin.
THIS fyftem was formed among the ruins of
Lifbon, when the earth had as it were caft out her
inhabitants, and left them no a.ylum or rlace of
fafety but on the fea, or in the other hemifphere.
The dreadful fhocks which had fubverted that
fuperb capital were Hill repeated, and the flames
that had reduced it to afhes were fcarce extinguifli-'
ed, when an exclunve company was eftablifhed, for
the purpofe of felling to foreign nations the wine
fo well known by the name of Port, which is
drunk in many of the colonies, in part of the
north, and efpecially in England. The city of
Oporto, the firjt in the kingdom for its popula-
tion, riches and commerce, fince Lifbon had as it
were difappeared, juftly took the alarm, thinking
that her trade would be ruined by this fatal alie-
nation of the rights of the whole nation, in favour
of a company. The province between the Douro
and the Minho, the moft fruitful in the kingdom,
formed no further expectations from its cultures.
Deipair excited a fpirit of fedition among the
people, and this gave occafion to the cruelties of
the government. Twelve hundred perfons were
either executed, condemned to public labour, ba-
nilhed
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 203
nifhed to the forts in Africa, or reduced to pover- BOOK.
ty by the confifcation of their pofTefiions. The * - w ' >
monopoly which had occafioncd all thcfe misfor-
tunes ftill continued, and prevails even at this day,
attended with all that train of evils which were
forefeen, even by thofe who are leaft converfant in
political fpeculation.
THIS fatal experiment, which ought to- have
enlightened the miniitry, made no imprefiion up-
on them. They had already, ever fince the 6th
of June 1755, created the Maragnan company j
and far from receding, they erected the Fernam-
bucca company four years after, and thereby en-
flaved all the northern part of Brazil. The ftock
of the firft company confided of 1200 fhares, and
the other of 3400. Their charter is for twenty
years, and foreigners fettled in Portugal may be-
come proprietors. They exercife the moil horrid
tyranny over the immenfe coaft that has been con-
figned to them. This attempt againft public li-
berty and the right of property has excited a vio-
lent fpirit of animolity, which is conftantly kept
up by the evident diminution of the productions.
WE are ignorant of the reafons that have indu-
ced the court of Lifbon to take a ftep, which has
given offence to all orders of the ftate, and all
parts of the monarchy. It is irrvoffible that fo
tyrannical a meafure fhould have been adopted,
with no other view than to prevent the contraband
trade, as it hath been afierted. Befides that ex-
clufive companies are from their nature more like-
ly to increafe the contraband trade, it is well
jknown that none is carried oa in the fouth of Bra-r
*o 4 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B ^x K Z ^ J ^ on ty P art t ^ iat i s affected by the monopoly.
v vr ' The only foreign connections this part of America
has, are the tranfactions of St. Catherine with the
Ihips that frequent the South Seas, and thofe of
Rio-Janeiro with Ihips of different nations, which,
under various pretences, put in there in their paf-
fage to and from the Eaft Indies.
WHATEVER motives may have given rife to
charter companies, we may venture to affirm that
among the powers of Europe, Portugal has net
been the greateft lofer by this abfurdiyftem. That
kingdom has adopted the fatal cuftom of being in
fome meafure a mere fpectator of the trade that
is carried on in its own colonies. So fmgular an
infatuation has been brought on by degrees.
Caufesof THE firft conquefts of the Portuguefe in Africa
th.-drravnf anc j Afia, did not ftifle the feeds of their induftry,
Portugal and
us colonies. Though Lifbon was become the general warehouie
for India goods, her own filken and woollen ma-
nufactures were ftill carried on, and were fufncient
for the confumption of the mother-country and of
Brazil. The national activity extended to every
thing, and made fome amends for the deficiency of
population, which was becoming daily more eonfi-
derable. Amidrl the various calamities that Spanifh
tyranny oppretfed the kingdom witii, the Portuguefe
could not compjainof a cefT/ition of i*r onr ac iiome!;
nor was the number of manufactures much leffened
at the time when they recovered.
THE happy revolution that placed the Duke of
Braganza upon the throne, was the period of this
decay. A fpirit of enthufiafm feized upon the
people. Some of them croffed the feas, in order
to
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 305
to defend diftant pofiefiions againft an enemy who B l K
was imagined to be more formidable than he really * y *
was. The reft took up arms to cover the fron-
tiers. The intereft of the whole nation prevailed
over private views, and every patriot was folicitous
only for his country. It might naturally be ex-
pelled that when the firft enthufiafm was paft,
every one would refume his ufual employment;
but unfortunately the cruel war which followed
that great event, was attended with fuch devafta-
tions in an open country, that the people chofe
rather not to work at all, than to expofe them-
felves to fee the fruits of their labours continually
deftroyed. The miniftry encouraged this fpirit of
indolence by meafures which cannot be too fe-
verely ceniured.
THEIR fituation put them under a neceflity of
forming alliances. Political reafons fecured to
them all the enemies of Spain. The advantages
they muft neceflarily reap from the diverfions made
in Portugal, could not attach them to its intereft.
If the new court had formed fuch extenfive views
as from the nature of their enterprife it might be
prefumed they had, they would have known that
they had no need to make any conceflions in order
to acquire friends. By an ill-judged precipitation
they ruined their affairs. They gave up their trade
to other powers, who were almoft as much in-
terefted in its prefervation as they were themfelves.
This infatuation made thole powers imagine they
might venture any thing, and they therefore un-
reafonably extended the privileges that had been
granted them. The induftry of the Portuguefe was
deftroyed
20<5 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
'^tftroyed by this competition, but was again reviv-
ed by an error of the French miniflry.
FRANCE, which then had but a fmall quantity of
bad tobacco, and no fugar at all, in 1644, refolved,
without any apparent reafon, to prohibit the im-
portation of fugar and tobacco from Brazil. Por-
tugal, by way of reprifal, prohibited the impor-
tation of all French manufactures, the only ones
it valued at that time. Genoa immediately feized
upon the filk trade, and has engrofled it ever
fince ; but the nation, after fome hefitation, began,
in 1 68 1, to manufacture their own woollen goods j
and, by the affiftance of fome Engliih artificers,
were enabled, in 1684, to prohibit feveral kinds
of foreign cloth, and foon after to forbid them all.
ENGLAND, which had raifed her own trade with
Portugal upon the ruins of that of France, was
much chagrined at thefe arrangements. For a long
time, the Englifh ftrove to open the communica-
tion afrem, and more than once when they thought
they had accomplifhed this, they found themfelves
totally difappointed in their expectations. It was
impoffible to difcover in what manner thefe at-
tempts would end, when a revolution happened
in the political fyflem of Europe, which at once
overturned all the former ideas.
A GRANDSON of Lewis XIV. was called to the
throne of Spain. All nations were alarmed at this
acceflion of power to the houfe of Bourbon, which
they already thought too formidable, and too am-
bitious. Portugal in particular, which has always
confidered France as a firm friend, now beheld in
her an enemy who muft neceflarily defire, and,
3 perhaps,
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. -207
perhaps, promote her ruin. This induced her to
apply for the protection of England, which being
accuftomed to turn every negociation to her own
commercial advantage took care not to neglect fo fa-
vourable an opportunity. The Englifh. ambaiTador
Methuen, a profound and able negociator, figned a
treaty, on the 2yth of December 1703, by which
the court of Lifbon engaged to permit the impor-
tation of all Britifh woollen goods, on the fame
footing as before the prohibition; upon condition
that the Portugal wines fhould pay a duty one
third lefs than thole of France, to the cuftom-
houfe in England.
THE advantages of this ftipulation were very
certain for one of the parties, but only probable
for the other. England obtained an exclufive pri-
vilege for her manufactures, as the prohibition re-
mained in full force with regard to thofe of other
nations; but granted nothing on her part, having
already fettled, for her own intereft, what fhe now
artfully reprefented as a great favour done to Por-
tugal. Since France had bought no more cloths
. of the Englifh, they had obferved that the high
price of French wines was prejudicial to the ba-
lance of trade, and had therefore endeavoured to
leflen the confumption, by laying heavier duties
upon them. They have again increafed them from
the fame motive, and flill made a merit of it to
the court of Lifbon, as being a proof of their
friendihip.
THE Portuguefe manufactures fell, being una-
ble to fupport - the competition of the Englifh.
Great Britain clothed her new ally, and as the
wine,
HISTC5RY OF SETTLEMENTS AND
wine, oil, fait, and fruit fhe bought, was a trifle
in comparifon to what fhe fold, it was neceffary
that the deficiency ihould be fupplied with the
gold of Brazil. The balance inclined more and
more in favour of the Englifh, and it was fcarce
poiTible that it fhould not.
ALL perfons who were converfantwith the theory
of commerce, or have attended to its revolutions,
know that an atftive, rich and intelligent nation,
which has once appropriated to itfelf any confider-
able branch of trade, will foon engrofs all the lefs
important branches of it. It has fuch great ad-
vantages over its competitors, that it difgufls them,
and makes itfelf mafter of the countries where its
induftry is exerted. Thus it is that Great Britain
has found means to engrofs all the productions of
Portugal and her colonies.
IT furnifhes Portugal with clothing, food, hard
ware, materials for building, and all articles of
luxury, and returns her own materials manufac-
tured. This employs a million of Englifh artifi-
cers or hufbandmen.
IT furnifhes her with fhips, and with naval and
warlike ftores for her fettlements in America, and
carries on all her navigation in Europe.
IT carries on the whole money trade of Portu-
gal. Money is borrowed in London at three or
three and a half per cent, and negociated at Lif-
bon, where it is worth ten. In ten years time,
the capital is returned by the intereft, and flill re-
mains due.
IT engrofles ail the inland trade. There are
Englifh houfes fettled at Lifbon which receive all
the
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 209
the commodities of their own country, and diftri- B ^ K
bute them to merchants,- who difpofe of them in v v- '
the provinces, moftly for the profit of their em-
ployers. A fmall profit is the only reward of this
induftry, which is difgraceful to a nation that
works at home for the benefit of another.
IT carries off even the commifiion trade. The
fleets deflined for the Brazils are the fole property
of the Englifh. The riches they bring back muft
belong to them. They will not even fuffer them
to pafs through the hands of the Portuguefe, and
only borrow or purchafe their name, becaufe they
cannot do without it. Thefe ftrangers difappear
as foon as they have acquired the fortune they in-
tend, and leave that nation impoverifhed and ex-
haufted, at whofe expence they have enriched
themfelves. It is demon ftrable from the regifuers
of the fleets, that in the fpace of fixty years, that
is, from the difcovery of the mines to the year
1756, 2,400,000,000 livres* worth of gold have
been brought away from Brazil, and yet in 1754,
all the fpecie in Portugal amounted to no more
than 1 5 or 20,000,000 f, and at that time the na-
tion owed 72,000,000 J. From this account we
may eafily judge of its fituation.
BUT what Lifbon has loft, London has gained.
England, by her natural advantages, was only in-
tended for a lecondary power. Though the changes
that had fucceffively happened in the religion, go-
vernment, and induftry of the Engliih had im-
proved their condition, increafed t heir ftrength,
* 105,000,000!. f On an average noc much more than
750,000!. 3,150,0001.
VOL. III. P .and
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TXADE
and unfolded their genius, they could not pofilbiy
ad: a capital part. They knew by experience that
the means which, in ancient governments, could
raife a nation to any height, when, without any
connection with its neighbours, it emerged as it
were fingly out of nothing, were infufficient in
modern times, when the intercourfe of nations
making the advantages of each commpn to all,
left to numbers and flrength their natural, fuperio^-
rity. Since foldiers, generals, and nations have
hired themfelves to engage in war; fmce the power
of gold hath opened every cabinet and made eve-
ry treaty j England had learned that the greatnefs
of a flate depended upon, its riches,, and that its
political power was eftimated in proportion to. it*
millions. This truth, which mull have alarmed
the ambition of the Englifh, became favourable
to them as loon as they had prevailed upon Por-
tugal to depend on them for necefTaries, and had
bound them by treaties to an impoffibility of pro-
curing them from any other power. Thus was,
that kingdom made dependent on a falfe friend for
food and raiment., Thefe were, to borrow the
expreffion of a certain politician^ like two anchors
which the Britons had fattened upon that empire..
They went further ftill: they made the Portugnefe
lofe all confideration, all weight, all influence in
the general fyflem of affairs, by perfuading them
to have neither forces nor alliances. Truft to us>-
faid the Englifh, for your fafety; we will nego*
ciate and fight for you. Thus without bloodshed-
or labour, and without experiencing any of the
evils that attend upon conqueil, they made them-
felves
IN TH3 EAST AND WEST INDIES. 211
ftlves r^.ore eiTeftu;illy maflers of Portugal than
the Pertu^uefe were of the mines of Brazil.
ALL things are connected together, both in na-
ture and politics. It is hardly pofiible that a
nation Ihouid loft its agriculture and hs induftry^
without a vifible decay of the liberal arts, letters,
fciences, and all the found principles of policy and
government. The kingdom of Portugal furnifhes
a melancholy inflance of this truth. Since Great
Britain has condemned it to a flate of inaction, it
is fallen into fnch barbarian as is fcarce credible.
The light which has fhone all over Europe, flop-
ping at the Pyrennees, Which feem to reflect it back
again, hath not extended itfelf to the frontiers of
Portugal. That kingdom has even been obierved
to degenerates and to attract the contempt of thofe,
whofe emulation and jealoufy it had before excited.
The advantage of having enjoyed excellent laws,
while all other Hates were involved in horrible con-
fufionj this ineftimable advantage lias been of no
fervice to the Portuguefe. They have loft the
turn of their genius, by forgetting the principles
of reafon, morality, and politics. The efforts
they may make to emerge from this ftate of de-
generacy and infatuation might, poflibly, prove
ineffectual; becaufe good reformers are not eafily
to be found in that nation which (lands mod in
need of them. Men who are qualified to caufe
revolutions in empires, are generally prepared to it
by previous circumftances; and feldom ftart up at
once. They generally have their forerunners, who
have awakened the minds of the people, difpofed
them to receive the light, and prepared the necef-
P 2 fary
212 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B ^ix K ^~ ar y means f r bringing about thefe great changes.
M ' As there is no appearance of any fuch preparatory
Heps in Portugal, it is to be feared the nation
muft flill continue in this humiliating condition,
unlefs it will adopt the maxims of more enlighten-
ed ftates, with proper precautions fuited to its fi-
tuation; and uniefs it calls in the affiftance of fo-
reigners capable of directing it.
Means of THE firft ftep towards its recovery, that leading
Kmugai one without which all the reft would be unfteady,
ioni' ts C ' imcerta ^ n ufelefs, and perhaps dangerous, would
be to fiiake off the yoke of England. Portugal,
in her prelent fituation, cannot iubfift without fo-
reign commodities ; therefore it is her intereft to
promote the greateft competition of fellers fhe
poilibly can, in order to reduce the price of what
fhe is obliged to buy. As it is no lefs the intereft
of the Portuguese to difpofe of the overplus of
their own produce and that of the colonies, they
ought, for the fame reafon, to invite as many pur-
chafers as poffible to their harbours, to enhance the
price and increafe the quantityof their exports. Thefe
political meafures are certainly liable to no objection..
By the treaty of 1703, the Portuguefe are only
obliged to permit the importation of woollen
goods from England, on the terms ftipulated be-
fore the prohibition. They might grant the fame
privilege to other nations, without incurring the
reproach of having broken their engagement. A
liberty granted to one nation, was never interpret-
ed as an exclufive and perpetual privilege, that
could deprive the prince who granted it, of his
right of extending it to other nations. He muft
necefiarily
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 213
necefiarily be the judge of what fuits his own king- B K
dom. It is not eafy to conceive what rational ob- * t
jeclion a Britifh minifter could make to a king of
Portugal who fhould tell him, I will encourage
merchants to come to my dominions, who will
feed my fubjech-as cheap and cheaper than you,
merchants who will take the produce of my colo-
nies, from whence you will receive nothing but gold.
WE may judge of the effect this wife conduct
would have, by the events that have taken place,
independent of this fpirited refolution. Portugal
receives annually to the value of feventy millions of
livres * in foreign commodities, which fhe eitherpays
for with the produce of her land, and with gold and
diamonds, or 'remains in debt. .The allurement
of a profit of thirty-five per cent, which is not un-
common in this trade, induces all nations to be
concerned in it as much as pofiible; nor are they
deterred from it by the well grounded fear of be-
ing never paid, or at leaft very late. Mod of
them have been fuccefsful in their endeavours.
France and Italy have engrofled one third of thofe
imports. Holland, Hamburgh, and the refb of
the north carry oft as much] and England, which
formerly abforbed almoft the whole, takes up the
remaining third. It appears from the regifters of
the cuitoms, that in the ipace of five years, from
1762 to 1766 inclunvely, England has fent goods
to Portugal only to the value of 95)613,547 li-
vres 10 fousf; and has received commodities to
the amount of 37,761,075 livres Jj fo that the
balance in money has been but 57,692,475 livres .
*3,o62,5ool. 14,183,092!. 145. od. |.
$1,652,047!. os. ;d. f. 2,524,045!. 155. 7<1. f.
P 3 THE
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
THE circumflance which deceives ail Europe,
with regard to the extent of the Englifh trade,
is that all the gold of Brazil is conveyed by the
road of the Thames. This feems to be a neural
and neceffary confequence of the affairs c.irri.'ci on
by that nation. But the truth is, that ine.tuls are
not allowed to go out of Portugal, and, therefore,
can only be brpught away by men of war, which
are not liable to be fearchedj that Great Britain
fends two every week, as regularly as the fea wi*l
permit; and that thefe fhips bring the riches of
all nations into their iiland, from whence the mer-
chants difperfed in the feveral countries receive
them either in kind, or in bills of exchange, pay-
ing one per cent.
THE Britifh miniftry, who are not the dupes of
thefe dazzling appearances, and are but too. fenfible
of the diminution of this moil valuable branch of
theirtrade, have for fome time pafc taken incredible
pains to re.ilore it to its former ftate. Their en-
deavours will never, fu.c.ceed, becaufe this is one of
thofe events which are not within the reach of po-
litical wifdom. If the evil arofe from favours
granted to rival nations, or if England had been
debarred from her former privileges, fome well
conducted negociations might occafion a new re-
volution. But the court of Lifbon has never va-
ried its conducl: neither with Great Britain nor
with other ilates. Her fubjects have had no other
inducement to give the preference to the mer-
chandife brought them from all parts of Europe,
than becaufe thofe of their former friends were fo.
loaded with taxes, that they bore an exorbitant
price.
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
price. The Portuguefe will procure many articles B
at a fall more reafonable rate, whenever their
government fhail eftablifti a perfect equality in
their ports between all nations.
THE court of Lifbon, after removing in fome
meafure the difadvantages of their trade, which is
merely paffive, fhould endeavour to make it ac-
tive. Their own turn, the tafte of the age, and
the defire of fame, feem to incline them to pret-
ty confiderable manufactures. A quantity of coarfe
woollen fluffs is already woven in the inland pro-
vinces, though the wool is too fhort, and might
be better employed to other purpofes. The go-
vernment has filk manufactures at Lifbon and at
Lamego, which coil more than they are worth. If
they do not weave gold or filver, it is becaufe the
wear of them is ftrictly prohibited both in the mo-
ther-country and in the colonies. We have al-
ready proved that this kind of indufiry was not
fit for Spain.} and for the fame reafons it is impro-
per for Portugal; which ought rather to turn its
views to the encouragement of agriculture.
ITS climate is favourable to the production of
filk, of which there was formerly great plenty,
The baptifed Jews made it their bufmefs to breed'
worms, and to prepare the filk, till they were per-
fecuted by the inquifition, which was ftill more
fevere and more powerful under the houfe of Bra-
ganza, than it had ever been under the Spanifii
dominion. Moll of the manufacturers fled to the
kingdom of Valencia, and thofe who fold the pro-
duce of their labours removed with their effects to
P. 4 England
6 HISTORY CF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
x K England and Holland, which improved the acli-
v ' vity of both thofe countries. This difperiion was
the ruin of the filk trade in Portugal, fo that no
trace of it remains at prefentj but it might be
refumed.
THE next cultivation that ought to be attended
to, is that of the olive tree. It is now caried on,
and conftantly fupplies all the oil that is wanted
for home confumption, befides a fmall quantity
every year for exportation j but this is net fuffi-
cient. It would be an eafy matter for Portugal to
ihare in a more direct manner with other nations
the profits they draw from this production, which
is wholly confined to the fouthern provinces of
Europe.
THEIR wool is likewife capable of improve^
ment. Though it is inferior to that of Spain, the
French, the Dutch, and even the Englifh, buy up
twelve or thirteen thoufand quintals every year, and
would purchafe a greater quantity if it were brought
to the market. Thofe who have travelled through
Portugal, with that fpirit of obfervation, which
enables men to form a right judgment of things,
are of opinion that double the quantity might
be obtained, without injuring the other branches
of induftry, and that, on the contrary, it might
tend to their improvement.
THE trade of fait feems to have been more
clofely attended to. The north annually takes off
150 tons, which may coft 1,500,000*. It is cor-
rofive, and takes off from the v/eight and flavour
Q{ our food ; but has the advantage of preferving
* About 65,690!..
I Mk
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 217
fiili and meat longer than Frencli fait. This pro- B ^ x K
perty will occafion a greater demand for it in pro- * w
portion as the navigation of the country is ex-
tended.
IT is impoffible to fay as much of their wines.
They are fo indifferent, that it is furprifmg how fo
many nations in Europe could ever think of mak-
ing them their conflant drink. It is flill more
furprifmg how the Portuguefe mini ftry could ever
make fuch an ill ufe of their authority, as to put a
flop to fo profitable a culture. The order for
rooting up the vines could only be dictated by pri-
vate intereft or falfe views. The pretence for fo
extraordinary a law is fo abfurd, that no one has
given credit to it. It is very well known that the
ground where the wines have flood, can never be
fit for the culture of corn.
BUT if this were ever fo practicable, it would
flill be an unwarrantable infringement of the facred
and unalienable right of property. In a monaftery
every thing belongs to ail : nothing is the property
of any individual, but the joint property of the
whole community; it is one fingle animal with
twenty, thirty, forty, a thoufand, ten thoufand
heads. But it is not the fame in fociety. Here
every individual has the difpofal of himlelf and
his property; he poffeffes a lhare of the general
wealth, which he is abfolute mafter of, and may
ufe, or even abufe, as he thinks proper. A pri-
vate man mufl be at liberty to let his ground .
fallow, if he chufes it, without the intervention of
adminiflration. If government aflumes a right to
judge of the abufe of property, it would foon take
upon
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
U P 011 itk'Jf to judge f tne u fe f ft an d then
every true idea of liberty and property will be de-
ftroyed. If it can require me to employ my own
property according to its fancy ; if it inflict pu-
nifhments on my difobedience, my negligence or
my folly, and that under pretence l
public utility, I am no longer abfolute mai
my own, I am only an adminiftrator, who is to be
directed by the will of another. The man who
lives in fociety, muft in this refpect be left at li-
berty to be a bad citizen, becaufe he will foon be
feverely punifhed by poverty, and by contempt,
which is worfe than poverty. He who burns his
own corn, or throws his money away, is a fool too
rarely to be met with, to make it neceffary to bind
him by prohibitive laws, which would be injurious
in themfelves, by their infringement of the uni-
verfal and facred notion of property. In every
well-regulated conftitution, the bulinefs of thema-
giftrate mult be confined to what concerns the
public fafety, inward tranquillity, the conduct of
the army, andtheobfervanceof the laws. Wherever
authority is extended beyond this, we may affirm
that the people are expofed to oppreffion. If we
take a furvey of all ages and nations, that great
and fubiime idea of public utility will prefent it-
felf to our imagination under the fymbolical figure
of a Hercules, crulhing one part of the people
with his club, amidft the fhouts and acclamations
of the other part, who are not fenfible that they
are foon to fall under the fame ftrokes.
To return to Portugal; that country ftands in
need of other meafures than have hitherto been
purfued
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 2 it
purfued to reflore the moft important of its cul- BOOK.
tures. It is fo inconfiderable, that the Portuguefe v '
annually import three-fourths of the corn they con-
fume. It is well known that before they had ap-
plied themfeives to navigation, they fupplied great
part of the Mediterranean with corn, and fome-
times England itfelf. Their own wants now call
for the exertion of their activity. Nothing but a
total impofiibility can juftify a government, that
fufrers both the mother-country and her colonies
to depend upon other nations for the common ne-
ceffaries of life,
THE court of Lifbon would lie under a fatal
miftake, if it fhould imagine that time alone will
bring about fo great a revolution. It behoves it to
pave the way for this revolution, by diminifhing
the taxes, and by changing the mode of railing
them, which is often more oppreflive than the tax
itfelf. When the impediments are removed, every
kind of encouragement muft be given. One of
the moft fatal prejudices, and moft deftructive of
the happinefs of men and the profperity of na-
tions, is that which fuppofes that men only are
wanting for the purpofes of agriculture. The ex-
perience of all ages has fhewn, that much cannot
be required of the earth, till much has been be-
ftowed upon it. There are not, perhaps, in all
Portugal, twenty farmers who are able to advance
the necefTary fums. Government fhould, there-
fore, aflift them. A revenue of about forty-four
millions*, near one half of which it draws from
the mother-country, and the reft from the colonies,
* 1,925,000 1.
4 will
o HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
?x K w *^ facilitate this liberality, which is frequently"
w ' more (Economical than the mod fordid avarice.
THIS firft change will be productive of others.
The arts necefiary to agriculture will infallibly rife
and grow up with it. Induftry will extend its fe-
veral branches, and Portugal will no longer exhibit
an inftance of a favage people in the midft of ci-
vilized nations. The citizen will no longer be
forced to devote himfelf to celibacy, or to leave
his country in fearch of employment. Commodi-
ous houfes will be erected upon ruins; and ma-
nufactures fupply the place of convents. The
fubjects of this almoft ruined ftate, which now
refemble thofe fcattered and folitary fhrubs that are
found upon the foil of the richeft mines, will no
longer be reduced to thofe necefiities they now ex-
perience, notwithstanding their mountains and ri-
vers of gold. The wealth of the ftate will be
kept in conftant circulation, and will no longer
be buried in the churches. Superftition will be ba-
nifried, together with ignorance, defpair, and in-
dolence. Thofe who have no other object in view,
but to commit exceffes, and expiate them, who are
fond of miracles and magic arts, will then be in-
flamed with public fpirit. The nation freed from
its fetters, and reftored to its natural activity, will
exert itfelf with a fpirit worthy of its former ex-
ploits.
PORTUGAL will then recollect, that Hie was in-
debted to her navy for her opulence, her glory, and
her ftrength, and will attend to the means of re-
ftoring it. It will no longer be reduced to eighteen
men of war, ill built, and as ill manned and armed,
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
and about a hundred merchant-men, from fix to
eight hundred tons burden, which are ftill in a
more ruinous flate. Her population, which has
infenfibly funk from three millions of fouls to
eighteen hundred thoufand, will increafe . and fill
her harbours and roads with active fleets. The
revival of her navy will be doubtlefs difficult for
a power whofe flag is not known on any of the^
European feas, and which, for a century paft, has
given up her navigation to any power that would
attend to it; but every obftacle will be furmounted
by a wife and prudent government. When once it
carries on all the navigation that fliould belong to
it, immenfe fums will be retained in the kingdom,
which are now conftantly expended for freight.
THIS change will extend its influence to the
iflands that are dependent on Portugal. The port
of Madeira will no longer be open to the Englifh.
The mother-country will have the fole power of
difpofmg of twenty-five or thirty thoufand pipes
of madeira which that ifland produces. It will be
in the roads of Lifbon and Oporto that all nations
will iupply themfelves with that wine, which is in
fuch requeft in the four quarters of the globe.
The Azores will furnifh Portugal for the purpofes
of agriculture, for its own confumption, and for
fait provifions, with oxen, which it is prevented
from breeding by the drynefs of its foil; and the
Cape de Verd iflands will fupply it with more
mules than it wants. The New England people
formerly procured them from thence to carry to
the Caribbee iflands; but a great mortality that
happened in 1750, put an end to that trade. This
deficiency
222 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK deficiency will foon be made good by a proper at-
^ ' tention to the breeding of this cattle.
THESE alterations will be productive of frill
more material ones. Brazil^ which has no other
defect than that of being too large for Portugal;
which has only a few habitations Icattered along
the fea-coafts; and has no other colonifls in the
inland parts, but fuch as are employed iri the
mines, will then aiTume a new afpecl : its govern-
ment will be new modelled. It will become evi-
dent how great a miftake has been committed with
regard to all modern nations, by transferring to
the new difcovered world all the abfurdities which
the barbarifm of the feudal government had ac-
cumulated in the old through a long feries of ages.
A few plain laws will be fubflituted in the place
of the fubtle arts of chicane, which are no more
than refinements on tyranny, and an increafe of
oppreflion.
THE execution of thefe laws will be fecured, if
employments are not fold, and if a proper choice
is made, and good governors appointed to com-
mand Para, Bahia, and Rio Janeiro, who lhall be
independent of each other, though the latter fhall
have the title of viceroy. The vigilance of the
three chiefs will put an end to the treacheries and
enormities which the Brazilian Portuguefe have
too long been guilty of, or caufed their flaves to
commit.
HAVING thus reformed their manners, the next
ftep will be to regulate their adminiftration. The
liberty offending out fhips from the mother-coun-
try at pleafure, which has been fubflituted to the
oppref-
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
oppreflive mode of carrying on trade by fleets,
will be productive of other favourable innovations.
Expeditions will not be confined to the roads of
Lifbon and Oporto, becaufe, as the other ports bear
their part in the public expences, it is fit they
fhould enjoy the fame advantages. Exclufive com-
panies will be abolifhed. That load of taxes,
which is the bane of Europe, will no longer op-
prefs the Brazils. This colony will no longer be
devoured by thofe numerous contractors who are
the ruin of the molt fuccefsful labours. The mo-
ther-country will be convinced that fne has no
right to demand any thing of her colonies but
their productions. Thcfe productions themfelves
will not in the firft inftance be clogged with enor-
mous duties, which prevent them from being cir-
culated. Gold, that mark of all other riches, that
moft valuable commodity of Brazil, freed from
the fetters that obftructed its progrefs, will freely
circulate in all countries which can fupply com-
modities in exchange for it. It will no longer be
neceflary that Dutch, French, and Englifh men
of war fhould favour or conceal the fraudulent ex-
portation of it under the fanction of their flag.
AGRICULTURE, ennobled by liberty, will fhake
off the yoke of opprefTion, to which ignorance,
avarice, anddefpotifm have made it fubject. The
means that will concur in promoting it will dnily
mcreafe. The Portuguefe, who firft opened Afri-
ca to other nations, Lave, notwithflanding their
decay, preferved fome confiderable advantages in
that country. They poflTefs large colonies on the
coaft moft favourable for the Have trade, while the
rival
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
rival nations have only fmall factories there; and
fome are deprived even of this refource. Thefe
exclulive pofieffions, which enable them to procure
their negroes one-third cheaper than they are to be
had in the ports where there is a competition, will
determine the Brazilians to increafe the number of
them, when once the duty is taken off, which is
now ten per cent, upon the heads of thefe unhap-
py Africans, as it is upon all commodities that
come from Europe. The mother- country will give
a further encouragement to this trade, fmce even
the call of humanity cannot prevail upon ambition
to difcontinue it, by permitting the colony to make
their own fait, inftead of fending for it from Por-
tugal, as it is now compelled to do. This will fa-
cilitate the fitting out of fhips, by adding fait beef
and pork to the proviiions of the crew, which hi-
therto have been only caflada and dried fifh. Tfyen,
inftead of thirty or forty fhips, from fixty to a
hundred tons burden, which are annually fitted
out, one hundred will be difpatched, and in pro-
cefs of time a greater number if it Ihould be
thought neceffary.
THIS improvement might be haftened, by per-
mitting a direct navigation from the Brazils to the
Eaft Indies. This trade is peculiarly ufeful to
Portugal j and her policy would require her to ex-
tend it as much as pofllble. As the Portuguefe
neither have nor can have any manufactures of
their own, they ought to give the preference to
thofe linens and fluffs which are agreeable, and
which are moil fuitable to their own climate and
that of their colonies, and abfolutely neceflary for
their
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
their African factories. Themother-countrywould
not facrifice any advantage by ailbciating Brazil to
this branch of induftry. It cannot have forgot
that it formed a company in 1723, which did not
fucceed. From that time, only one {hip has been
fitted out yearly, which for a long while put in
at Bahia on its return from Alia, and for fome
years pad, calls for refreshments at Angola, by
order of the government to which it belongs. The
direct voyages from Brazil would be much more
frequent. Its contraband trade with Buenos Ayres
would fupply it with piaftres for traffic, and it
would find on the Amazon part of the materials
for navigation. The banks of that immenfe river
abound with wood of the moil excellent kind. It is
known to be very lafting, neither does the v/orm,
which is the univerfal fcourge of the navy, ever
affect it, and the fcurvy never appears on board
the fhips that are made of it. The difficulty arif-
ing from the want of hemp or flax is already re-
moved. Two plants have been difcovered, which
grow in great plenty in the forefls about Bahia>
called Gravata and Tieu, which make very good
thread for coarfe linen, fail-cloth and ropes. Un-
fortunately a private man in the neigbourhood
has got a patent for fifteen years for the fole work-
ing of it.
AN infallible way to bring about thefe great
changes fpeedily, would be to open the ports of
Brazil to all nations. Such a liberty would give
the colony that activity which it never can acquire
without it. The nations that fail there would be
interefled in its profperity and defence. It would
VOL. III. C be
225 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE'
BOOK be far more ferviceable to the mother-country,by
._* the. gradual increafe of its cuftoms than by a per-
nicious monopoly. Portugal that has no manu-
factures, muft purfue a different fyftem from the
other powers in Europe, who have more goods
than they want to fupply their American fettle,
ments; and the very competition that might be
prejudicial to them, will certainly be very advan-
tageous to the Portuguefe,
IF the court of Lifbon does* not adopt this fyf-
tem, which no doubt may be liable to fome ob-
jections, it muft at leaft repeal the law that for-
bids all foreigners from refiding in the Brazils.
Not fifty years ago, there were feveral Englifh,
JDutch, and French houfes in Brazil, whofe in-
duftry encouraged every kind of labour. Far
from driving them away by barbaroufly oppreffing
them, encouragements ought to have been given
to fix them there, and to increafe their number.
Not that, ftrictly fpeaking, there is a fcarcity of
white people in thefe extenfive regions -, for by a
calculation that may be depended on, they amount
to near 600,000. This is more than are to be
found in any other colony > but the Creole Portu-
guefe are fo indolent, fo corrupt, fo paffionately
addicted to pleafure, that they are become inca-
pable of the leaft care and application to bufmefs..
Perhaps, the only way to rouze this degenerate
race, would be to fet before their eyes fome labo-
rious men, to whom fuitable parcels of land might
be allotted.
THIS might eafily be done. On the banks of
the moft navigable rivers are large plains that are
no
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
ho man's property, and might enrich any one who B <J K.
would take the pains to cultivate them. Even ^ ^-
by the fea fide it would be an eafy matter to fettle
a great number of cultivators. On the firft dif-
covery of that country, government granted whole
provinces to feveral noblemen under the title
of captainfhips ; but afterwards withdrew thefe
grants, and gave in exchange, titles, pensions,
or other marks of favour. This policy has brought
into the crown a large extent of territory, which
how lies wafte, and might be ufefully employed.
An infinite number of Englifh, French and Dutch
colonifts, whofe plantations are exhaufted, and
many Europeans who are feized with a pafllon of
making a fortune, fo prevalent in this age, would
remove thither with their induftry and their whole
flock.
THAT nothing might prevent them, they fhould
be fecured from the fury of the inquifition. TThat
cruel tribunal has never, indeed, been erected
in Brazil; but it has its emifiaries there, who
are more inhuman, if poffible,- than itfelf. It
is Hill remembered, that from the year 1702 to
1718, thofe infamous men fent over to Europe a
prodigious number of priefts, monks, and pro-
prietors of land, and even negroes, whom they
accufed of Judaifm. Thefe oppreflions ruined
agriculture to fuch a degree, that the fleets of
1724 arid 1725 found no provifions there. In
1728, the government enacted that for the fu-
ture, if any colonift were taken up by the holy
office, his goods and chattels and his flaves fhould
hot be forfeited, and that his fortune fhould de~-
Q2 fcend
228 HISTORY, OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK fcend to his heirs. The mifchief that was already
. done, could not be repaired by this decree, nor
ean mutual confidence be reftored, till the authors
of the misfortunes that have ruined the colony are
recalled.
EVEN this precaution will not- be fufHcient, im-
lefs the power of the clergy is abridged. Some
ftates have b^en known to favour the corruption
of priefts, in order to weaken the afcendant that
fuperflition gives them over the minds of the peo-
ple. That this method is not always infallible,
appears from what has happened in the Brazils,,
nof is this execrable policy reconcileable with the
principles of morality. It would be more fecure
and more eligible to open the doors of the fanc-
tuary to all the citizens without diftinclion^ Phi-
lip II., when he became mafler of Portugal, enact-
ed that they fhould be fhut againft all iuch whofe
blood was tainted with any mixture with Jews,
heretics, negroes, or Indians.. This difti'n&ion has
given a dangerous fuperiority to a fet of men who-
were already too powerful. It has been abolifhed
in the African fetdements; why fhould not thofe
of America enjoy the fame privilege? Why, after
taking from the clergy the authority they derived
from their birth, fhould they not be abridged of
the power they affume on account of their riches?
SOME politicians have afTerted that no govern-
ment ought ever to appoint a fixed income for the
. clergy, but that their fpiritual fervices fhould be-
paid by thofe who have recourfe to them. That
this method would excite their zeal and vigilance.
That they would grow daily more expert in the
care-
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 229
care of fouls by experience, ftudy, and applica- I! JX K
tion. Thefe flatefmen have been oppoied by * v '
philofophers, who maintained that an oeconomy
which would tend to increafe the activity of the
clergy, would be fatal to public tranquillity; and
that it was better to lull that ambitious body into
'dlenefs, than to give it new ftrength. It is ob-
ferved that churches and religious houfes which
have no fettled income, are fo many repofitories
of fuperftition, maintained at the expence of the
lower clafs of people, where faints, miracles, re-
.lics, and all the inventions with which impofturc
4ias loaded religion, are made. So that it would be
a benefit to fociety, if the clergy had a ftated pro-
vifion; but fo moderate as to reflrain the ambition
of the body and the number of its members. Po-
verty makes them fanatical; opulence independ-
ent ; and both concur to render them feditious.
SUCH at leaftwas the opinion of a philofopher,
who laid to a great monarch, There is a powerful
body in your dominions, which hath affirmed a
power of fufpcnding the labour -of your fubjects,
whenever it pleafes to call them into its temples.
This body is authorifed to fpeak to them a- hun-
dred times a year, and to fpeak in the name of
God. It tells them that the mofl powerful fove-
reign is no more in the fight of the Supreme Being
than the meaneft flave; and that as it is infpired
-by the creator of all things, it is to be believed in
preference to the matters of the world. The ef-
fects of fuch a fyftem threaten the total fubverfion
of fociety, unlefs the minifters of religion are made
dependent on the magi (Irate , and they will nevar
0.3 J*
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
be effectually fo, unlefs they hold their fubfiftenc?
from him. This is the only way to eftablifh
3 harmony between the oracles of heaven and the
maxims of government. Ij: is the bufmefs of a
prudent adminiftration to bring this about without
fdiflurbances or commotions.
TILL the court of Lifbon has attained this falu-
tary end, all projects of reformation will be in-r
effectual. The defeats of ecclefiaftical govern-
ment will Hill fubfift, notwithstanding all endea-
vours to reform them. The clergy muft be
brought tq depend upon the magiftrate, before
the Portuguefe who live in Brazil can dare to op-
pofe their tyranny. Perhaps even the prejudices
thefe inhabitants have imbibed from a faulty and
monaftic education, may be tqp deeply rooted in
their minds, to be ever eradicated. Thefe enr
lightened views feem to be referved for the next
generation. This revolution might be hailened
by obliging the chief proprietors to fend their
children to Europe for education, and by reform-
ing the plan, of public education in Portugal.
ALL ideas are eafily impreiTed upon tender or-
gans. The foul, without experience as without
reflection, readily admits truth and falfehpo4 in mat r
ters of opinion, and equally adopts what is either
conducive or prejudicial to the public welfare.
Young people may be taught to value or depre-
ciate their own reafon; to make ufe of it, or tp
neglect itj to conflder it as their beft guide, or tp
miftruft its powers. Fathers obftinately defencl
the abfurdities they were taught in their infancy j
their children wil| be as fond of the leading prin-
8 ciples
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
ciples in which they have been trained. They B
will bring back into Brazil notions of religion, mo- y ^'
rality, adminiftration, commerce, and agriculture.
The mother-country will confer places of truft on
them alone. They will then exert the talents they \
have acquired, and the face .of the colony will be -
totally changed. Writers who fpeak of it, will no
longer lament the idlenefs,, the ignorance, the
blunders, the fuperilitions which have been -the
ground-work of its adminiftration. The hiftory
of this colony will no longer be a fatire upon it.
THE fear of incenfing Great Britain muft not
protract thefe happy alterations one fingle moment.
The motives which, perhaps, have prevented them
hitherto are but prejudices, which will be removed
upon the flighted examination, There are num-
berlefs political errors, which, once adopted, be-
come principles. Such is the prevailing notion at
the court of Lifbon, that the ftate cannot exift or
profper but by means of the Englifh. It is for-
gotten that the Portug.uefe monarchy was formed
without the hejp of other jiations; that during the
whole time of their .contefts with the Moors, they
were fupporte^ by no foreign power j that thek
greatnefs had been incr-eafing for three centuries
iuccefiively, when they extended their dominion
over Africa and theEaft and Weft-Indies by their
own ftrengtix. All thefe great revolutions were per-
formed by the Pprtuguefe alone. Was it necefiary
then that this nation fhould difcover a great trea-
fure, and be a proprietor of rich mines, merely
to fuggeft the idea of its being unable to fupport
itfelf? Are thp Portuguefe to be .compared to thofe
23* HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
o o
IX.
K foolifh individuals, ^hofe heads are turned by the
embarraiTment, which their ne\vly acquired riches
occafion ?
No nation ought to fubmit to be protected. If
the people are wife, they will have forces relative
to their fituation; and will never have more ene-
mies than they are able to withftand. Unlefs their
ambition is unbounded, they have allies, \vh^, xor
their own lakes, will warmly and faithfully fup-
port their intereft. This general truth is peculiar-
ly applicable to thofe ftates that are poflefTed of
mines. It is the interell of all other nations to be
in amity with them, and if there is occafion for it,
they will all unite for their prefervation. Let Por-
tugal but hold the balance even between all the
powers of Europe, and they will form an impe-
netrable barrier around her. England herfelf,
though deprived of the preference fhe has too
long enjoyed, will ftill fupport a nation whofe in-
dependence is efiential to the balance of power in
Europe. All nations would quickly join in one
common caufe, if Spain fhouid ever be fo mad
for conqueft, as to attempt any thing againft Por-
tugal. Never would the jealous, reftlefs, and
quick-fighted policy of our agefuffer all the trea-
fures of the new world to be in the fame hands,
or that one houfe fhouid be fo powerful in Ame-
rica, as to threaten the liberties of Europe.
THIS fecurity, however, fhouid not induce the
ourt of Lifbon to neglect the means of their own
prefervation, as they did when they trufled to the
Britifh arms for their defence, or indolently refted
on the fupinenefs of their neighbours : when, defti-
tute
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 233
tute of land or fea forces, they were accounted B J3 K
as nothing in the political fyftem, which is the -v *
greateft difgrace that can befal a nation. If the
Portuguefe will regain the confequencc they have
loft, they muft put themfelves in fuch a ftate, as
not to be afraid of war, and even to declare it
themfelvesj if their rights or their fafety fhould
require it. It is not always an advantage to a na-
tion to continue in peace, when all the reft are in
arms. In the political as in the natural world, a
great event will have very extenfive effects. The
rife or fall of one empire will effect all the reft.
Even thofe which are furtheft removed from the
feat of war, are oftentimes the victims of their
moderation or weaknefs, Thefe maxims are di-
rectly applicable to Portugal, particularly at this
juncture, when the example of her neighbours,
the critical fituation of her haughty allies, the fo-
licitations of the powers who are jealous of her
friendihip j in fhort, every thing calls upon her to
rouze, and to exert herfelf.
IF the Portuguefe will not at length frequent the
feas, where alone they can diftinguifh themfelves,
and from whence they muft derive their profpe-
rity, if they do not appear with a powerful force
at the extremity of Europe, where nature has fo
happily placed them, their fate is decided, the
monarchy is at an end. They will fall again into
the chains they had fhaken off for a moment: as
a lion that fhould drop afleep at the door of his
den after he had broken it open. The little cir-
culation there is ftill within, would but indicate
thofe feeble figns of life, which are the fymptoms
of
HISTORV OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
^" a PP roac hing death. The few trifling regu-
lations they might make from time to time, re-
fpedting the finances, the police, commerce, and
.the navy, whether at home or for the colonies,
would be but weak palliatives, which, by conceal-
ing their fituation, would make it only trie more
dangerous,
IT cannot be denied that Portugal has fuffered
the moft favourable opportunity that could have
offered, of refuming her former fplendour to
.efcape. They are not politics alone that prepare re-
volutions. Some deftructive phenomenon may
change the face of an empire. The earthquake
of the firft of November I755> w hi cn overthrew
the capital of Portugal, ought to have reflored the
kingdom. The deftruction of a proud city is often
the prefervation of a whole flate, as the opulence of
one man may be the ruin of thoufands. Stately
.edifices may be fubyerted ; effects, moftly belong-
ing to foreigners, might be deflroyedi idle, de-
bauched and corrupt men might be buried under
Jieaps of ruins, without affecting the public wel-
fare. The earth, in a tranfient fit, had only taken
what fhe was able to reflore; and the gulphs fh,e
opened under one city, were already digged for the
foundations of another,
A NEW flate, a. new people might have been
^expected to rife out .of thofe ruins. But as much
as thefe violent and uncommon Marts of nature ani-
mate great minds, fo much they deprefs little fouls,
Corrupted by a long habit of ignorance and fuper-
flition. Government, which every where takes
.advantage of the credulity of ;the people, and
which
IN THE EAST ANP WEST INDIES, *$$
which nothing can divert from the fettled purpofe BOOK
of extending the boundaries of authority, became w^
more encroaching at the very inftant that the
nation grew more timorous, Men of bold Ipi-f
rits opprefled thofe that were weak; and the
period of that great phenomenon proved that of an
increafe of flaveryj a fad but common effect of
the cataftrophes of nature. They ufually make
men a prey to the artifices of thofe who are ambi-
tious of ruling over them. Then it is that they
take large ftrides, by repeated acts of arbitrary
power. Whether thofe who govern, do really be-
lieve that the people were born to obey, or whether
they think tha,t, by extending their own power,
they increafe the flrength of the public ; thofe
falfe politicians are not aware that with fuch prin-
ciples, a ftate is like an over-drained fpring, that
will break at laft, and recoil againft the hand that
bends it. The prefent fituatipn of the continent
of South America, but too plainly evinces the
juftnefs of this comparifon. Let us now proceed to
ihew the effects of a different conduct in th$
American iflands.
BOOK
236 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK X.
Settlement of the "European nations in the great
Arxhipelago of America, known by the name of
- the Antilles cr Caribbee iflands
* x? * *~p H AT part of North America, which x-
* v X tends from the 29jd to the 31 6th degree of
longitude, contains the moft numerous, extenfive
and rich Archipelago the ocean has yet opened to the
curiofity, the indulhy, and avidity of the Euro-
peans. The iflands that compofe it are known,
fince the difcovery of the New world, by the name
of the Caribbees, Thofe that lie neareft the Eaft,
have been called the Windward iflands; the others,
the Leeward, on account of the winds blowing
generally from the eaflern point in thofe quarters.
They form a continued chain, one end of which
feems to be attached to the continent near the
gulphof Maracaybo; the other, to clofe the en-
trance of the gulph of Mexico. They may, per-
haps, with fome degree of probability, be con-
fidered as the tops of very high mountains for-
merly belonging to the continent, which have been
changed into iflands by fome revolution that has
laid the flat country under water.
Am
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 237
ALL the iflands of the -world feem to have been B x K
detached from the continent by fubtejraneous fires, J >
or earthquakes.
THE celebrated Atlantica, whofe very name, whether
would fome thoufand years ago have been buried \* n *
in oblivion, had it not been tranfmitted down to *j
us by Plato, from the obfcure tradition of Egyp-
tian priefts was, probably, a large traft of land fi-
tuated between Africa and America. Several cir-
cumftances render it probable that England was
formerly a part of France > and Sicily has evidently
been detached from Italy. . The Cape de Verd
iflands, the Azores, Madeira, and the Canaries
muft have been part of the neighbouring conti-
nents, or of others that have been deflroyed. The
late obfervations of EnglilH navigators leave us
fcarce any room to doubt that all the iflands of the
South Sea formerly compofed one entire conti-
nent. New Zealand, the largeft of them, is full
of mountains, on which may be perceived the
marks of extinguished volcanos. Its inhabitants
are neither beardlefs nor copper-coloured as thofe
of America; and though they are feparated fix
hundred and eighty leagues from each other, they
fpeak the fame language as the natives of the
ifland of Otaheite, difcovered by M. De Bou-
gainville.
INDISPUTABLE monuments evince that fuch
changes have happened, of which the attentive
naturalift every where difcovers fome traces ilill re-
maining. Shells of eveiy kind, corals, beds of
oyfters, fea-filh entire or broken, regularly heaped
up in every quarter of the globe, in places the mofl
4 diflant
S HISTO'RY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
OOK diflant from the fea, in the bowels and on the fur-
-,'- ' faces of mountains; the variablenefs of the con-
tinent fubject to all the changes of the ocean by*
which it is conftantly beaten; worn away or fub-
verted : while at a diftance, perhaps, on one fide
it lofes immenfe tracts of land; on the other dif-
covers to us new countries, and long banks of fand
heaped up before thofe cities that formerly were
celebrated fea-ports: the horizontal and parallel!
pofition of the flrata of the earth and of marine
productions collected and heaped up alternately in
the fame order, compofed of the fame materials,
that are regularly cemented by the corifta'nt and'
fucceffive exertion of the fame caufe: the corre-
ipondent fimilarity obfervable between fuch coafts
as are feparated by an arm of the fea; on one fide
of which may be perceived falient angles oppofite :
to re-entering angles ori the other; on the right-
hand, beds of the fame kind of fand, or fimilar
petrifactions difpofed on a level with fimilar flrata
extending to the left: the direction of mountains
and rivers towards the fea as to their common ori-
gin: the formation of hills and vallies, on which
this immenfe body of fluid hath, as it were, ftamp-
ed indelible marks of its undulations : all thefe fe-
veral circumftances atteft, that the ocean has
broken its natural limits, or perhaps, that its li-
mits have never been infurmountable ; and that
varying the furface of the globe, according to the
irregularity of its own motions, it hath alternately
taken the earth from its inhabitants, and reflored
it to them again. Hence thofe fucceflive though
never univerfai deluges that have covered the face
of
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
of the earth, but not rendered it totally invifible
to us at once; for the waters acting at the fame
time in the cavities and on the furface of the globe,
cannot pofiibly increafe the depth of their beds
without diminifhing their breadth j or overflow, on
one fide, without leaving dry land on the other;
nor can we conceive any alteration in the whole
fyftem that can pofiibly have made all the moun-
tains difappear at once, and occafioned the fea to
rife above their fummits. What afudden transfor-
mation muft have forced all the rocks and every
folid particle of matter to the center of the earth,
to draw out of its inmoft recefTes and channels all
thofe fluids which animate itj and thus blending
its feveral elements together, produce a mafs of
waters and ufelefs germina floating in the air? Is
it not enough that each hemifphere alternately be-
comes a prey to the devaflations of the ocean ?
Such conftant fliocks as thefe have doubtlefs fo
long concealed from us the New world, and, per-
haps, fwallowed up that continent, which, as is
imagined, had been only feparated from our own.
WHATEVER may be the fecret caufes of thefe
particular revolutions, the general caufe of which
refults from the known and univerfal laws of mo-
tion, their effects, however, will be always fen-
fible to every man who has the refolution and fa-
gacity to perceive them. They will be more par-
ticularly evident in regard to the Caribbee iflands,
rf it can ever be proved that they undergo vio-
lent {hocks whenever the volcanos of the Corde-
leras throw out their contents, or when all Peru is
ihaken. This archipelago, as well as that of the
Eaft-
HISTORY OP SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
Eaft-Indies, fituated nearly in the fame degree of
latitude, feems to be produced by the fame caufe;
namely, the motion of the fea from eaft to weft:
a motion imprefied by that which caufes the earth's
revolution from weft to eaft j more rapid at the
equator, where the globe of the earth being more
elevated, revolves in a larger circle and in a more
agitated zone; where the ocean feems, as it were,
willing to break through all the boundaries nature
oppofes to it, and opening to itfelf a free and un-
interrupted courfe, forms the equinoctial line.
THE direction of the Caribbee iflands, begin-
ning from Tobago, is nearly north and N. N. W.
This direction is continued from one ifland to ano-
ther, forming a line fomewhat curved towards the
north-weft, and ending at Antigua. In this place
the line becomes at once curved, and extending
itfelf in a ftraight direction to the W. and N. W.
meets in its courfe with Porto-Rico, St. Domingo,
and Cuba, known by the name of the Leeward
Iflands, which are feparated from each other by
channels of various breadths. Some of thefe are
fix, others fifteen or twenty leagues broad; but
the foundings in all of them are from a hundred
to a hundred and twenty or a hundred and fifty
fathom. Between Grenada and St. Vincent's there
is alfo a fmall Archipelago of thirty leagues, in
which fometimes the foundings are n&t ten fa-
thom.
THE mountains in the Caribbee iflands run in
the fame direction as the iflands themfelves. This
direction is fo regular, that if we were to confided
the tops of thefe mountains only independent of
their
tN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 241
their bafes, they might be looked upon as a chain BOOK
of hills belonging to the continent, of which *
Martinico would be the moft north-wefterly pro-
montory.
THE fprings of water which flow from the moun-
tains in the Windward iflands, run all in the weft-
crn part of thefe iflands. The whole eaftern coaft,
that is to fay, which, according to our conjectures,
has always been covered by the fea, is without any
running water. No fprings come down there from
the mountains ; they would, indeed, have been ufe-
lefs, for after having run over a very Ihort tract of
land, and with great rapidity, they would have
fallen into the fea.
IN Porto-Rico, St. Domingo, and Cuba, there
are a few rivers, which difcharge themfelves into
the fea on the northern fide, and whofe fources rife
in the mountains running from eaft to weft, that
is, through the whole length of thefe iflands.
Thefe rivers water a confiderable extent of low
country, which has certainly never been covered
by the fea. From the other fide of the mountains
facing the fouth, where the fea, flowing with great
impetuofity, leaves behind it marks of its inunda-
tions, feveral rivers flow into thefe three iflands,
fome of which are confiderable enough to receive
the largeft fhips.
THESE obfervations, which feem to prove that
the fea has feparated the Caribbee iflands from
the continent, are further confirmed by others
of a different kind, though equally conclufive in
fupport of this conjecture. Tobago, Margaretta,
and Trinidad, iflands that are the neareft to the
VOL. IIL R C9ntment,
242 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B o^o K continent, produce as well as the Caribbees, trees
*- v i \vhofe wood is Toft, and wild cocoa. This parti-
cular fpecies are not to be found, at Icafb in any
quantity, in the northern- ifiands. In thefe the
only wood we meet with is hard. Cuba, fituated
at the other extremity of the Caribbees, abounds,
like Florida, from which, perhaps, it has been fe-
parated, with cedars and cypreffes, ' both equally
ufeful for the building of fnips.
Nature of THE foil of the Caribbees confifts moltly of a
theCarib- layer of clay or gravel, of different thicknefs; un-
b*,flandi. der w i lich is a j^ of flone or rock. The nature
of fome of thefe foils is better adapted to vegeta-
tion than others. In thole places where the clay
is dryer and more friable, and mixes with the
leaves and remains of plants, a layer of earth is
formed of greater depth, than where the clay is
moifter. The fand or gravel has different proper-
ties according to its peculiar nature i wherever it
is lefs hard, lefs compact, and lefs porous, iinall
pieces feparate themfelves from it; which, though
dry, preferve a certain degree of coolnefs ufeful
to vegetation. This foil is called in America, a
pumice-ftone foil. Wherever the clay and gravel
do not go through fuch modifications, the foil be-
comes barren, as foon as the layer formed by the
decomposition of the original plants is deftroyed,
from the neceflity there is in weeding it, which too
frequently expofes its falts to the heat of the fun.
Hence, in thofe cultures which require lefs weed-
ing, and where the plant covers with its leaves the
vegetable falts, there the fertility of the ground
has been preferved.
IN THE EAST AND WEST IND/ES. 243
WHEN the Europeans landed at the Caribbee B K
iflands they found them covered with large trees, ^ v s
connected as it were to one another by a fpecics of
creeping plant; which, riling up in the fame man-
ner as the ivy, wove itfelf around all the branches,
and concealed them, from the fight. There was
fo great a plenty of this plant, and it grew fo
thick, that it was impoffible to penetrate into the
woods before it was cut down. From its great
degree of flexibility it was called Liane.
IN thefe forefts, as old as the world itfelf, there
were varieties of trees, that from a fmgular par-
tiality of nature, were very lofty, exceeding
ftraight, and without any excrefcences cr defecls.
The annual fall and breaking down of tlie leaves,
and the decay of the trunks rotted away by time,
formed a moift fediment upon the ground; which
being cleared, occafioned a furprifing degree of
vegetation in thofe plants that were fubfcituted
to the trees that were rooted up.
IN whatever foil thefe trees grew, their roots
were fcarcely two feet deep, and generally much
lefs: though they extended themfelves on the fur-
face, in proportion to the weight they had to fup-
port. The exceffive drynefs of the ground, where
the moil plentiful rains never penetrate very deep,
as they are foon attracted by the fun-beams; and
the conftant dews that moiften the furface, made
the roots of thefe plants extend themfelvcs hori-
zontally, inftead of defcending perpendicularly, as
they generally do in other climates.
THE trees that grew en the tops of mountains
and in deep places were very hard, Their bark
R -2 was
*44 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B o^o K was fmooth, and firmly fixed to the wood. The
* ^ > courbari, the acajou, the machineel, the barati,
iron-wood, and feveral others, hardly yielded to
the fharpeft inftrument: it was necefiary to burn
them, in order to fell and root them up. When
they were on the ground, they were worked by
the faw and the hatchet. The moft remarkable
of thefe trees was the acoma; which when put
into the earth, becomes petrified. The gum tree
was efteemed the moil ufeful, the trunk being
five feet in circumference, and the ftem from
forty-five to fifty feet, ferved to make a canoe of
one fingle piece.
THE vallies, which are always rendered fertile by
the mountains, abounded with foft wood. At the
foot of thefe trees grew promifcuoufly thofe plants
that the liberality of the earth produced for the
fubfiflence of the natives of the country. The
couch-couch, the yam, the Caribbee cabbage and
potatoe were moft generally ufed. Thefe were a
fpecies of potatoes produced at the root of fuch
plants as creep along the ground, breaking through
all thofe impediments which feemed to render
their growth impoflible. Nature, which appears
to have eftablifhed a Certain analogy between the
characters of people and the provifions intended
for their fupport, had provided the Caribbee iflands
with fuch vegetables as could not bear the heat of
the fun, flourifhed beft in moift places, required
no cultivation, and were renewed two or three
times in the year. The iflanders did not thwart
the free and fpontaneous operations of nature, by
deftroying one of her productions to give the greater
vigour
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 245
vigour to another. The preparation of the vege- B x K
tating falts was entirely left to the mere effect of \~^~t
nature; nor did the natives pretend to fix the
place and time of her fertility. They gathered as
chance threw in their way, or the feafon pointed
out, luch fruits as fpontaneoufly offered them-
felves for their fupport. They had obferved, that
the putrefaction of the weeds was necefiary to the
reproduction of thofe plants that were moft ufeful
to them.
THE roots of thefe plants were never unwhole-
fome; but they were infipid when raw, and had
very little flavour even when boiled, unlefs they
were feafoned with pimento. When mixed with
ginger, and the acid juice of a plant fomewhat re-
fembling our forrel, they produced a ftrong li-
quor, which was the only compound drink of the
favages. The only art they made ufe of in pre-
paring it, was fuffering it to ferment fome days
in common water, expofed to the heat of the fun.
EXCLUSIVE of the roots, the iflands alfo fup-
pliedthe inhabitants with a great variety of diffe-
rent fruits. Some of thefe were nearly of the fame
kind as our apples, cherries, and apricots; but we
have nothing in our climates that can give us any
idea of moft of the fruits of the Caribbee idands.
Among thefe the moft ufeful was the banana. In
Ihape, fize and colour it refembled our cucum-
bers: its tafte was fomewhat fimilar to our pears;
it grew in cool places, on a foft and fpungy Item
about feven feet high. This ftem decayed as the
fruit ripened; but before it fell, t fhot forth a
young fprig from its trunk, which a year after
R 3 produced
<5 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
o^c K produced its fruit., perilhed in its turn, and was
- v regenerated lucceflively in the fame manner.
ONE.fmgular circumftarice worthy. of remark is,
that while the voracious plant, which v.;c have
termed Liane, climbed, round all the barren, trees,
it avoided the fertile ones, though premifcuoufly
blende^ with the former. - ; Nature Teemed as it
were, to -have prefcribed to it, to refpeft what fhe
had deftined the fuftenance of man.
THE iflanders were not fo plentifully fupplied
with pot-herbs as with roots and fruits. Purilain
and creffes were the only herbs of this kind they
had.
THEIR other food was confined within: a very
narrow compafs: they had no tame fowl, and the
only quadrupeds that were fit for food, . did not
amount to more than five forts $ the largeft of
which did not exceed in fize our common rabbits.
The birds more pleafmg to the eye, though lefs
varied than in our climates, were valuable almoft
only on account of their feathers: few of them
warbled forth thole melting notes that are fo cap^
tivating to the ear -, molt of them were extremely
thin, and very infipid to the tafte. Fifh was near-
ly as plentiful as in other feas, but generally lefs
wholefome, and lefs delicate.
THE plants that nature had placed in thefe
iflands, to cure the very few diibrders the inhabi-
tants were fubjecl: to, cannot be too highly com-
mended. Whether they were applied externally,
or taken internally, or the juice of them given in
infufion, their effefts were as fpeedy as falutary.
The invaders of thofe formerly peaceable regions,
have
IN THE EAST AND^WEST INDIES. 347
have employed thefe fimpJes, which are always B x K
green and in full vigour, and preferred them to all v '
the medicines that Afia can furnilh to the reft of
the world.
THE generality of the inhabitants of thefe iflands Climate
confider but two feafons among them, that of i
drought and that of rain. Nature, whofe opera-,
tions are conftant, and concealed under a perpe-
tual verdure, appears to them to aft always uni-
formly. But thole who attentively obferve her pro-
grefs, difcern, that in the temperature of the cli-
mate, in all. the revolutions, and the changes of
vegetation, fhe obferves the fame laws as in Eu-
rope, though in a lefs fenfible manner.
THESE almoft imperceptible changes, are no
prefervative againft the dangers and inconveniences
of luch a fcorching climate as muft be naturally
expected under the torrid zone. As thefe iflands
are all under the tropics, their inhabitants are ex-
pofed, allowing for the varieties refulting from
difference of fituation and of foil, to a perpetual
heat, which generally increafes from the rifmg of
the fun till an hour after noon, and then decreafes
in proportion as the fun declines. The thermo-
meter in thefe places Ihews, that the degree of
heat rifes fometimes to forty-four, and even to
forty-feven and a half above the freezing point.
A covered fky, that might ferve to alleviate this
heat, is feldom feen. Sometimes, indeed, clouds
appear for an hour or two, but the fun is never
hid for four days during the whole year. .
THE variations in the temperature of the air,
depend rather upon the wind, than the changes of
R 4 the
24* HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B o^o K the f ea f ons . J n thofe places where the wind does
* v ' not blow, the air is exceffively hot, and none
but the eafterly winds contribute to temperate and
refrefh it, thofe that blow from the fouth and weft
afford little relief; but they are much lefs frequent,
and lefs regular than that which comes from the
eaft. The branches of the trees expofed to its in-
fluence, are forced round towards the weft, in that
direction which they feemed to be thrown into, by
the conftant and uniform courfe of the wind. But
their roots are ftronger and more extended under
ground towards the eaft, in order to afford them,
as it were, a fixed point, whofe refiftance may
counteract the power of the ruling wind, It has
been alfo obferved, that whenever the wefterly
wind blows pretty ftrong, the trees are eafily
thrown down; in order therefore to judge of the
violence of a hurricane, the number of trees, as
well as the direction in which they fall, is equally
to be confidered.
THE eafterly wind depends upon two invariable
caufes, the probability of which is very ftriking.
The firft arifes from the diurnal motion of the earth,
from weft to eaft, and which muft neceffarily be
more rapid under the equinoctial than under the
parallels of latitude, becaufe a greater fpace muft
be paffed over in the fame time. The fecond is
owing to the heat of the fun, which as foon as it
rifes above the horizon, rarifies the air, and caufes
it to blow towards the weft, in proportion as the
earth revolves towards the eaft.
THE eafterly wind, therefore, which at the Ca-
ribbee iflands is fcarcely felt before nine or ten
o'clock
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
'o'clock in the morning, increafes in proportion as B
the fun rifes above the horizon; and decreafes as
it declines. Towards the evening it ceafes entirely
to blow on the coafts, but not on the open fea.
The reafons of this difference are very evident.
After the fettingof the fun, the air from the land,
that continues for a confiderable time rarified, on
account of the vapours which are conftantly rifmg
from the heated globe, necefiarily flows back up-
on the air of the fea : this is what is generally
called a land breeze. It is mod fenfibly felt in the
night, and continues till the air of the fea, rare-
fied by the heat of the fun, flows back again to-
wards the land, where the air has been condenfed
by the coolnefs of the night. It has alfo been ob-
ferved, that the eaflerly wind blows more regu-
larly and with greater force in the dog-days than
at any other times of the year; becaufe the fun
then afbs more powerfully on the air. Thus na-
ture caufes the exceffive heat of the fun to contri-
bute to the refrefliment o f thole climates that arc
parched up by its rays. It is thus that in fire-en-
gines art makes the fire inftrurnental in fupplying-
conflantly with frefh water the copper veflels from,
which it is exhaufted by evaporation.
THE rain contributes alfo to the temperature
of the American iflands, though not equally in
them all. In thofe places where the eafterly wind
meets with nothing to oppofe its progrefs, it dif-
pels the clouds as they begin to rife, and caufes
them to break either in the woods or upon the
mountains. But whenever the dorms are too vio-
lent, or the blowing of the eafterly wind is inter-
rupted
55 o HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND. TRADE
E bo K riiptetl by the changeable and temporary effect, of
J i the fouthern and wefteriy ones, it then begins to
rain. In the other -Caribbee -iflands, where this
\vind dqe.5 not generally blow, the rains are fo fre-
quent and plentiful, especially in the winter fea-
ib.n, : which lails from the middle of July to the
middle cf October $ that, according to the moft
accurate obftrvations,- as much water falls in one
week, during this time, as in our climates in the
fpace of a year. Inflead of thofe mild and re-
frefhing Ihowers which we fometimes .enjoy in Eu-
rope, the rains in theie climates are torrents, the
found of which ml^h ::en for that of hail,
if this were not ajj ..npwn under fo burning-
a Iky.
THESE Ihowers, it rauft be allowed, refrefh the
air ;_ but they occafion a.dampnefs, the effecls of
which are no lefs clifagreeable than fatal. The dead
mufl be interred within a few hours after they have
expired. Meat will not keep fwee't above four and
twenty hours. The fruits decay, whether they are
gathered ripe, or before their maturity. The
bread mufl be made up into bifcuits, to prevent its
growing mouldy. Common wines foon turn four:
and iron grows nifty in a day's time. The feeds
can only be preferred by conftant attention and
care, .till the proper feafon returns for fowing
them. When the Caribbee iflands were firft dif-
covered, the corn that was conveyed there for the
fupport' of thofc who could not accuftom them-
.felves to the food of the natives of the country, was
fo foon damaged, that it became neceffary to fend
it in the ears. This neceflary precaution enhanced
the
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 2
.the price of it ,fo much that few people were able B x
to buy it. Flour was then fubftituted in lieu ^_J
of corn, which lowered, indeed, the expences of
transport, but was attended with this inconveni-
.ence, that it was fooner damaged., It was ima-
gined by a merchant, that if the flour were entire-
ly feparated fro;n the bran, which contributes to
its fermentation, it would have this double advan-
tage, of cheapnefs and of keeping, longer.-. He
c,a,ufed it therefore to be fifte,4> and put the fineft
jlour into ftrong cafks, and beat it clofe together
with iron hammers, till it became fo hard a body,
that the air could icarccly penetrate it. , Experi-
ence juflilled i'o fenfible a contrivance, the practice
of it has become general, and been confiderably
improved ever fince. If this method does not
preferve the flour, -as long as in our dry and tem-
perate climates, i: may, however, be kept by it,
for the fpace of .fix months, a year, or even longer,
according to the degree of care that has been tak^n
in the preparation. Such an interval is fuirlcient
for the activity and induflry of the mother-coun-
r.ry to fupply its colonies.
HOWEVER troublefome thefe natural effects of cr-in.r
the rain may be, it is attended with fome ftill ^'li
more formidable : fuch as frequent and fometimes illjnd8 -
dreadful earthquakes in the iilands. As they
generally happen during the time, or towards the
end of the rainy leafon, and when the tides are
higheil, fome ingenious naturalifls have, there-
fore, fuppofed that they might be owing to thefe
two caufes.
THE
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
THE waters of the fky and of the fea, under-
mine, dig up, and ravage the earth in feveral
ways. The ocean, in particular, exerts its fury
upon this globe with, a violence that can neither be
forefeen nor prevented. Among the various fhocks
to which it is conftantly expofed, from this reftlefs
and boifterous element, there is one, which at the
Caribbee iflands is diftinguilhed by the name of
raz de maree, or whirlpool. It conftantly happens
once, twice, or three times, from July to October,
and always on the weftern coaftsj becaufe it takes
place after the time of the wefterly and foutherly
winds, or while they blow. The waves which at
a diftance feem to advance gently within four or
five hundred yards, fuddenly fwell againft the
Ihorei' as if acted upon in an oblique direction by
fome fuperior force, and break with the greateft
impetuofity. The ihips, which are then upon the
coaft, or in the roads beyond it, unable either to
put to fea, or keep their anchors, are dafhed to
pieces againft the land, leaving the unhappy failors
entirely without hopes of efcaping that certain
death, the approaches of which they have been
expecting for feveral hours.
So extraordinary a motion of the Tea has
been hitherto confidered as the confequence of a
ftorm. But a ftorm follows the direction of the
wind from one point of the compafs to another;
and whirlpools are felt in one part of an ifland that
is flickered by another ifland, where the Ihock is
not at all perceived. This observation has induced
Mr. Dutafta, who has travelled through Africa,
and America, as a natural philofopher, a mer-
chantj
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 353
chant, and a ftatefman, to feek for a more proba- B x K -
ble caufe of this fingular phenomenon. He has ' w
not only diicovered this, but alfo feveral other
truths that may be ufeful to many of the fciences,
if he ever makes them public. We fhall then pro-
bably acquire more certain information concern-
ing hurricanes.
THE hurricane is a violent wind generally ac-
companied with rain, lightning and thunder,
fometimes with earthquakes; and always attended
with the moft melancholy and fatal confequences
that the wind can produce. The day, which, in the
torrid zone, is ufually bright and clear, is fudden-
ly changed into a dark and univerfal night; the
appearance of a perpetual fpring into the dreari-
nefs and horror of the moft gloomy winter. Trees
as ancient as the world itielf are torn up by the
roots, and inftantly difappear. The ftrongeft and
the moft folid buildings are in a moment buried
in ruins. Where the eye delighted itfelf with the
profped: of rich and verdant hills, nothing is to
be feen but plantations entirely deftroyed, and
frightful caverns. The unhappy fufferers, de-
prived of their whole fupport, weep over the car-
cafes of the dead, or fearch among the ruins for
their friends and relations. The noife of the wa-
ters, of the woods, of the thunder, and of the
winds, that break againft the fhattered rocks; the
cries and howlings of men and animals, promif-
cuoufly involved in a whirlwind of fand, ftones,
and ruins of buildings : all together feem to por-
tcnd the laft ftruggles of expiring nature.
8 THUSE
z 5 4 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK THESE hurricanes, however, contribute to pro-
>. duce more plentiful crops, and to ripen the fruits
of the earth. Whether thefe violent concuffions
tear up the ground, in order to render it more fer-
tile, or whether the hurricane brings along with it
certain fubftances rit to promote the vegetation of
plants, is not eafily determined : but it has been 1
obferved, that this feeming and temporary confu-
fion was not only a confequence of the uniformity
of nature, which makes even diflblution itfelf in-
flrumental to regeneration, but alfo the means of
preferring the general fyftem, the life and vigour
of which is maintained by an internal fermenta-
tion, the fource of partial evil and of general
good.
THE firft inhabitants of the Caribbee iflands
imagined that they had difcovered infallible pro-
gnoftics of this alarming phenomenon. They ob-
ferved, that when it was near at hand, the air was'
mifty, the fun red, and yet the weather calm, and
the tops of the mountains clear. Under the earth
and in the refervoirs of water, a dull found was
heard, like that arifing from pent up winds. The
ftars were clouded by a vapour, that made them
appear larger. The fky, in the north-weft, was
overfpread with dark and black clouds, that feem-
ed very alarming. The fea lent forth a ftrong and
j difagreeable fmell, and in the midft of a calm,
was fuddenly agitated. The wind changed in a'
moment from eaft to weft, and blew very violently
at different intervals, each of which continued for
two hours together.
THOUGH
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
THOUGH the truth of all thefe ofjfervations can-
not be afcertained, yet to pay no attention to the
ideas and even prejudices of favage natrons on
times and feafons, would be a feeming indication of
imprudence, or of a mind too little addicted to
philofophical inquiries. The want of employment
of thefe people, and their being habituated to live
in open air, afford them an opportunity and put
them under a necefiity of obferving the fmalleft
alterations in the air, and of acquiring fuch infor-
mations on this point, as have efcaped the more
enlightened nations, which are more employed and
more devoted to works of a iedentary nature.
Pofllbly we muft be indebted to favages for the
difcovery of effects, and to learned people for the
inveftigation of caufes. Let us trace, if poffible,
the caufe of hurricanes, a phenomenon fo fre-
quent in America, that this alone would have been
fufficient to make it be deferted, or render it un-
inhabitable many years ago.
No hurricanes come from the eaft, that is, from
the greateft extent of the fea at the Caribbee
ifiiinds. As this is an acknowledged fact, it would
induce us to believe, that they are formed on the
continent of America. The weft wind which
blows conftantly, and fometimcs very violently
in the fouthern parts, from July to January, and
the north wind blowing at the lame time in the
northern parts, muft, when they meet, oppofc
each other with a force proportionate to their na-
tural velocity. If this Ihock happens in the long
and narrow paries of the mountains, it muft occa-
fion a ftrong current of air, that will extend kfclf
in a compound ratio of the moving power, -rid
*$6 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B x K ^ Diameter ^ tne n ^rrow pafs of the mountain*
^ ' Every folid body that meets this current of air,
will be impreiTed with a degree of force propor-
tioned to the extent of furface it oppofes to the
current; fo that if the pofition of that furface
Ihould be perpendicular to the direction of the
hurricane, it is impoflible to determine what effect
might be produced upon the whole mafs. For-
tunately the different bearings of the coaft of thefe
iflands, and their angular or fpherical figure, oc-
cafion thefe dreadful hurricanes to fall upon fur-
faces more or lefs oblique, which divert the cur-
rent of air, break its force, and gradually deftroy
its effects. Experience alfo proves, that their
action is by degrees fo much weakened, that even
in the direction, where the hurricane falls with
moft force, it is fcarcely felt at ten leagues dif-
tance. The moft accurate obfervers have re-
marked, that all the hurricanes which have fuc-
cefiively fubverted the iflands, came from the
north-weft, and confequently from the narrow
paffes formed by the mountains of St. Martha.
The diftance of fome iflands from this direction,
is not a fufficient reafon for rejecting this opinion;
as feveral other caufes may contribute to divert a
current of air to the fouth or eaft. We cannot
help thinking, therefore, that thofe perfons have
been miftaken, who have afferted, that the vio-
lence of a hurricane was felt under whatever point
of the compafs the wind came from. Such arc
the deftructive phenomena nature has oppoied to
the acquifition of the riches of the New world :
but
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. *
but what barrier could reftrain the daring fpirit of B x
that navigator who difcovercd it? * '-
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS having firft formed a " t hc
fettlement at St. Domingo, one of the greater An- r a ' n b t 5 ; ei ^
tilles, difcovered the lefs. The iilanders he had to ^ ab t 'J a e nu
encounter there, were not fo weak and cowardly windwar
as thofe he had at firft fubdued. The Caribs, who
thought they originally came from Guiana, and that
they were of the fame nation as the Galibees, were
of moderate ftature, thick fet and ftrong, andfuch
as feemed adapted to form men of fuperior flrength>
if their manner of life and exercifes had affifted
thefe natural appearances. Their legs thick and
mufcular, were generally well made; their eyes
black, large, and fomewhat prominent. Their
whole figure would have been pleafing, had they
not fpoiled their natural beauty by fancied and ar-
tificial ornaments, which could only be agreeable
among themfelves. The eye-brows and the head
are the only parts of the body on which they fuf-
fered any hair to grow. They wore no garment,
nor had this any influence on their chaitity. In or-
der to guard againft the bite of infccls, they
painted all their bodies over with the juice of the
focou, or arnotto, which gave them the appear-
ance of alobfter when boiled.
THEIR religion confided only in fome confufed
belief of a good and bad principle; an opinion fo
natural to man, that we find it diffufed among the
moft favage nations, and preferred even among
many civilized ones. They were little concerned
about the tutelary divinity, but had the greatelt
dread of the evil principle. Their other fuperiti-
VOL. III. S tions
<5< HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B x K tions were more abiurd than dangerous, and the/
1 J ' were but little attached to them. This indiffer-
ence did not continue to render them more ready
to embrace chriflianity when propofed to them.
Without entering into difpute with thofe who ex-
pounded the doctrines, they contented themfelves
with rejecting the belief of them, for fear, as they
faid, that their neighbours Jhould laugh at them.
THOUGH the Caribs had no regular form of go-
vernment among them, yet they lived quietly and
peaceably with one another. The tranquillity they
enjoyed, was entirely owing to that innate prin-
ciple of compafiion which precedes all reflection,
and is the fource of all focial virtues. This hu-
mane fpirit of benevolence arifes from the very
frame and nature of man, whofe felf-love alone is
fufficient to make him abhor the fufferings of his
fellow-creatures. To infufe, therefore, a fpirit of
humanity into the minds of tyrants, it would
only be necefTary to make them the executioners
of thofe victims they facrifke to their pride, and
of thofe cruelties they order to be practifed upon
others. The hands of thofe voluptuaries fhould be
obliged to mutilate the eunuchs of their feraglios;
they fliould be forced to attend the field of battle;
they ihould there behold the bleeding wounds,
hear the imprecations, and be witnefTes of the ago-
nies and eonvulfions of their dying foldiers; they
(hould next attend the hofpitals, and at leifure
contemplate the wounds, the fractures, the dif-
eafes occafioned by famine, by labours equally
dangerous and unwholefome, by cruel fervicesand
taxes, and the other calamities which arife from the
vices
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 2;?
vices and profligacy of their manners. How greatly ft x K
would fcenes like thefe, occafionally introduced in <^/
the education of princes, contribute to lefien the
crimes and fufferings of the human race! What
benefits would not the people derive, from the
compaflionate emotions of their ibvereigns ?
AMONG the Caribs, whofe hearts were not depra-
ved by the pernicious inftitutions that corrupt us, nei -
ther adultery, treafon, nor maflacres, fo common
among civilized nations, were known. Religion,
the laws, and penal punifliments, whofe barriers
railed to protect old cuftoms for the encroach-
ments of new ones, were ufelefs to men who fol-
lowed nature alone. Theft was never heard of among
thefe favages, before the Europeans came among
them. When they dilcovered any thing miffing,
they obferved, that the cbriftians bad been with
them.
THESE iflanders were little acquainted with the
ftrongeft paflions of the foul, not even with that
of love* This paflion was with them merely a
fenfual appetite. They never fhewed the leaft
marks of attention or tendernefs for that fex, fo
much courted in other countries. They confider-
ed their wives rather in the light of (laves than
of companions; they did not even fuffer them to
eat with them, and had ufurped the right of di-
vorcing them, without permitting them the in-
dulgence of marrying again. The women felt
themfelves born to obey, and fubmitted patiently
to their fate.
IN other refpects, a tafte for power had little
influence on the minds of the Caribsj as they had
$2 no
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
x K no diftin<5tion of ranks among them, they were all
v ' on a footing of equality, and were extremely fur-
prifed to find degrees of fubordination among the
Europeans. This fyftem was fo repugnant to their
ideas, that they confidered thofe as flaves, who
had the weaknefs to receive the commands of a
fuperior, and obey them. The fubjection of the
women among them, was a natural confequcnce
of the weaknefs of the fex. But in what manner,
and for what reafon, the flronger men fubmitted
themfelves to the weaker, and how one man com-
manded the whole body, was a problem, that nei-
ther war, treachery, nor fuperitition, had been able
to refolve.
THE manners of a people, neither influenced by
intereft, vanity, or ambition, muft be very fimple.
Every family formed within itfelf a republic, dif-
tinct in fome degree from the reft of the nation*
They compofed a hamlet, called carbet^ of greater
or kfs confequcnce in proportion to the fpace of
ground it occupied. The chief, or patriarch of
the family, lived in the center, with his wives and
younger children. Around him were placed the
huts of fuch of his dependents as were married.
The columns that fupported thefe huts, were
ftakes j the roofs thatched j and the whole furni-
ture confiiled of fome arms, cotton beds made
very plain and fimple, fome bafkets, and utenfils
made of calabafhcs.-
IN thefe huts the Caribs fpent the greateft part
of their life, either in lleeping or fmoking. When
they went out, they retired into fome corner, and
- fat upon the ground, feemingly abforbed in the
moft
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
moft profound contemplation. Whenever they
fpoke, which was not very often, they were heard
without interruption, or contradiction, and with-
out any anfwer, but the fign of a tacit approba-
tion.
As they ate little, they were not much troubled
in providing for their fuflenance. Men who live
in woods, confume lefs than thofe who dwell in
open countries. The air is more condenfed, and
it is probable that the exhalations of vegetables
produce fome nutritive particles. The temperance,
therefore, of the Caribs, which at firft was confi-
dered as a confequence of their indolence, might
poffibly be afcribed, in fome degree, to that air
impregnated with the juices of vegetables which
they breathe among the woods, with which their
iflands were covered.
IN the midft of thefe woods, this indolent
people, without being compelled to the labours of
cultivation, found conflantly a wholefome food,
fitted to their conftitutionj and which required no
care, or at leafl very little, to prepare it. If they
fometimes added to thefe gifts of liberal and un-
cultivated nature, what they had taken in hunting
and rifhing, it was feldom but upon occafion of
fome public feaft.
THESE extraordinary feftivals were held at no
ftated times. The guefts thcmfelves ihewcd no
alteration in their ufual characters. In thefe meet-
ings they were not more gay or fprightly, than at
other times. A fpirit of indolence and liftlefs-
nefs appeared in their countenances. Their dances
were fo grave and folemn, that the motions of
S 3 their
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
their bodies were expreffive of the dulnefs of their
minds. But theie gloomy feftivals, like thofe
clouded fides that are the forerunners of a tem-
ped, were feldom concluded without bloodfhed.
Thefe favages, who were fo temperate when alone,
grew drunk when aflembled in companies, and
their intoxication excited and revived thofe fami-
ly diflentions that were either only ftifled, or not
entirely extinguifhed : and thusthefe feftivals ter-
minated in maffacres. Hatred and revenge, the
only paflions that could deeply agitate the minds
of thefe favages were thus perpetuated by convi-
vivial pleafures. In the height of thefe entertain-
ments, parents and relations embraced one ano-
ther, and fwore that they would wage ware upon
the continent.
THE Caribs ufed to embark upon boats, made
of a fingle tree, that had been felled by burning
its roots. Whole years had been employed in
hollowing thefe canoes, by hatchets made of (tone,
or by means of fire Ikilfully applied within the
trunk of the tree, in order to bring it to the
moft proper form. Thefe free and voluntary
warriors being arrived on the coafts of Guiana,
went in queft of the Araucos, who formerly drove
them out from thence. At their return from this
military expedition, which was the more fpeedily
brought to a conclufion, as mutual enmity ren-
dered it more cruel and fpirited, the favages fell
again into their former ftate of indolence and in-
activity.
THE Spaniards, notwithflanding the advantage
of fire-arms, did not continue long at war with
this
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 'a5j
this people, nor were they always fuccefsful. At B x *-
firft they fought only for gold, and afterwards for J
flaves; but not meeting with any mines, and the
Caribs being fo proud and fullen, that they died
when made flaves; the Spaniards gave up all
thoughts of making conqucfts, that they thought
of little confequence, and that they could neither
acquire nor preferve without conftant and bloody
wars.
THE Englifh and French being apprized of TheEng.
thefe tranfaclions, ventured to equip a fmall fleet, ?!
in order to intercept the Spanifli veflels which fre- | e h "'^.
quented thefe latitudes. The advantages gained, ward
... , , inndj,nd
increaled the number or pirates. Peace, which -* the
frequently took place in Europe, did not prevent
thefe expeditions. The cuftom that prevailed
among the Spaniards, of flopping all fhips that
failed beyond the trbpic, juftified fuch piracies.
THE two nations had long been acquainted with
the Windward iilands, without ever thinking of
making any fettiement there, or having been able to
fix upon the mode of doing it. They were, perhaps,
apprehenfivc of irritating the Caribs, by whom
they had been favourably received: or, perhaps>
they confidered, that a foil which afforded none of
thofe productions that were of ufe in the old
world, was unworthy of their attention- At length,
liowever, fome Englifli and French, the former
headed by Warner, and the latter by Defnambuc,
landed at St. Chrifto peer's on the fame day,, at two
oppofite parts of the ifiand. The frequent loffes
they fuftained, ferved to convince them both, that
they certainly would never triumph over, and en-
S 4 rich
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
rich themfelves with the fpoils of the common ene-
my, unlefs they had fome fixed refidence, ports,
and a place of general redezvous. As they had
no notion of commerce, agriculture, or conqueft,
they amicably divided the coafts of the ifland,
where they accidentally met together. The nar
lives of the country retired from the fpot they
were fixed upon, telling them at the fame time,
that land muft either be very bad or very fcarce "joith
them : fince they were come from fo great a diftance y
and bad expcfed thiinfefoes to fo many dangers, to feek
for it among them.
THE court of Madrid were not fo peaceably in-
clined. Frederic of Toledo, who was fent to
Brazil in the year 1630, with a powerful fleet, to
attack the Dutch, was ordered in his pafTage to
deftroy the pirates, who, according to the preju-
dices of that nation, had invaded one of their ter-
ritories. The vicinity of two active and induftri-
ous nations, occafioned the greatefl anxiety to the
Spaniards. They were fenfible that their colonies
woulcj be expofed to attacks, if any other people
fhould come to fettle in that part of America.
THE French and Englifli in vain united their
weak powers againft the common enemy: they
were beaten, and thole who were not either killed
in the action, or not taken prifoners, fled for fhelter
with the utmoft precipitation into the neighbour-
ing iflands. When the danger was over, they
moft of them returned to their former fettle-
ments. Spain, whofe attention was engrofled by
objects fhe confidered as of greater importance^
diflurbed them no more; taking it for granted,
8 perhaps,
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. z
perhaps, that their mutual jealoufies would occa- B x <>
fion their deftru&ion. > ^
UNFORTUNATELY for the Caribs, the two na-
tions, thus conquered, fufpended their rivaifhip.
The Caribs, already fufpected of forming a con-
fpiracy in St. Chriftopher's, were either banilhed
or deftroyed. Their wives, their provifions, and
even the lands they occupied, were feized upon.
A fpirit of reftleffnefs, the confequence of ufur-
pation, inclined the Europeans to believe that
the other favage nations had entered into the con-
fpiracy; and they were therefore attacked in their
iflands. In vain did thofe plain and inofFenfive
men, who had no inclination to contend for the
pofleiTion of a land which they confidered not as
their property, remove the boundariesof their habi-
tations in proportion as the Europeans advanced
with their encroachments; they were ftill purfued
with the fame eagernefs and obflinacy. As loon as
they perceived that their lives or liberties were in
danger, they at length took up arms; and the fpi-
rit of revenge, which always goes beyond the inju-
ry, muft have fometimes contributed to render
them cruel though not unjuft.
IN earlier times, the Engliih and the French
confidered the Caribs as their common enemy}
but this kind of cafual aflbciation was frequently-
interrupted. It implied not a lading engagement,
much lefs the becoming guarantee for their mutual
pofieffion. The favages artfully contrived to be
at peace, fometimes with one nation, and fome-
times with the other; and thus they gained the
advantage of having only one enemy at a time.
This
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
This management would have been but of little
fervice to thefe iflanders, had not Europe, fcarce
paying any attention to a few adventurers, whofe
excurfions had as yet been of no ufe to her, and
not fufHciently enlightened to penetrate into futu^
rity, neglected both the care of governing them,
as well as that of putting them into a- condition to
extend or recover the advantages they had already
acquired. The indifference fhewn by the two
mother-countries, determined their fubjedls of the
New world, in the month of January 1660, to
enter into an alliance, fecuring to each people
thofe poiTeffions the various events of war had pro-
cured them, and which till then had been totally
unfettled. This alliance was accompanied with
an offenfive and defenfive league, to compel the
natives of the country to join in this plan, to
which their fears induced them to accede the very
fame year.
BY this treaty, which eftabliflied tranquillity in
this part of America, France obtained Gaudalupe,
Martinico, Granada, and fome lefs confiderable
acquifitions. England was confirmed in the pof-
feflion of Barbadoes, Nevis, Antigua, Montferrat,
and fevcral other iflan ds of little value : St. Chrif-
topher's belonged to both nations. The Caribs
were confined to Dominica and St. Vincent's j
where all the fcattered body of this people united,
and did not at that time exceed in number 6000
men.
AT this period the Englifh fettlements had ac-
French fet- quired, under a government, which, though not
Domingo. & ee from defects, was yet tolerable, fome kind
of
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 267
of form, and were in a fiourifhing ftate. On the B x *
contrary, the French colonies were abandoned by * M *
a great number of their inhabitants, reduced to
dei^air, from the neceflity they were under of fub-
mitting to the tyranny of exclufive privileges.
Thefe men, pafiionately attached to liberty, fled
to the northern coaft of St. Domingo, a place of
refuge for feveral adventurers of their own coun-
try, fmce they had been driven out of St. Chrif-
topher's about thirty years before.
THEY were called Buccaneers, becaufe they
imitated the cuftom of the favages, in drying the
food they lived upon by fmoke, in places called
Buccans. As they had no wives, nor children,
they ufually aflbciated two in a company, to afiift
one another in family duties. In thefe Ibcieties
property was common, and the laft furvivor in-
herited all that remained. Theft was unknown
among them, though no precautions were taken
againft it; and what was wanting at home was
freely borrowed from fome of the neighbours,
without any other reftriction than that of a pre-
vious intimation, if they were at home, if not,
of muking them acquainted with it at their return.
Differences ieldom arofe, and when they did, were
eafily adjufted. If the parties, however, were ob-
flinate, they decided the matter by fire-arms. If
the ball entered at the back or the fides, it was
confidered as a mark of treachery, and the afTafiin
was immediately put to death. The former laws
of their country were dilregarded, and by the
ufual fea baptifm they had received in palling the
tropic, they confidered themfelves exempted from
all
*6g HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK all obligation to obey them. They had even quit-
v -^ i ted their family name to aiTume others, borrowed
from terms of war, moft of which have been
fcranfmitted to their pofterity.
THE drefs of thefe barbarians confifted of a
fhirt dipped in the blood of the animals they
killed in hunting; a pair of drawers dirtier than
the fhirt, and made in the lhape of a brewer's
apron, a girdle made of leather, on which a very
fhort fabre was hung, and fome knives; a hat,
without any rim, except a flap before, in order to
take hold of it; and fnoes without {lockings.
Their ambition was fatisfied, if they could but
provide themfelves with a gun that carried balls
of an ounce weight, and with a pack of about
five and twenty or thirty dogs.
THE whole employment of the Buccaneers con-
fifted in hunting the wild bulls, of which there
, - were great numbers in the ifland, fmce the Spa-
niards had brought them. As foon as they were
killed they were immediately flayed, and the piir^-
fuit was never ended, till as many bulls were
deftroyed as there were huntfmen in company.
Some pieces of the flefh were then prepared and
feafoned only with pimento and juice of orange.
They ate no bread, and drank only water. Their
daily employment was conitantly the fame, and
was continued till they had provided themfelves
with a fufEcient number of fkins to fupply the
vefTels of the feveral nations that traded in thofe
feas. Thefe were then fent to fale in fome fre-
quented road; and carried thither by men who
were called engages 3 or bondfmen; a fet of perfons.
who
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 269
*who were ufed to fell themfelves in Europe to BOOK
ferve as (laves in the colonies, during the term of y v . *
three years. One of thefe miferable men, pre-
fuming to reprefent to his mafter, who always
fixed upon a Sunday for this voyage, that God
had forbidden fuch a practice, when he had de-
clared,^ days jhalt thou lab our ', and en the f even tb
day jh alt tbou reft; And I, replied the brutal BUC*
caneer, fay to thee: fix days thou Jhalt kill bulk
andftrip them ef their Jkins^ and on the feventh day
thou fh alt carry their hides to the fea-Jhore. This
command wa* followed by blows, which fome-
times enforce obedience, fometimes difobedience
to the laws of God.
MEN of fuch a caft, habituated to conftant ex-
ercifes, and feeding every day on frefh meat, were
little expofed to difeafes. Their excurfions were
only fufpended by a flight fever, which lafted one
day, and was not felt the next. They muft, how-
ever, have been weakened by length of time, un-
der a climate of too intenfe a heat, to enable them
to fupport fo hard and laborious a manner of
life.
THE climate, indeed, was the only enemy the
Buccaneers had reafon to fear. The Spanifh colo-
ny, at firft fo confiderable,. was reduced to no-
thing. Neglected and forgotten by the mother-
country, it had even loft the remembrance of its
former greatnefs. The few inhabitants that fur-
vived, lived in a ftate of indolence: their flaves
had no other employment but to fwing them in
their hammocks. Confined to thofe wants only
that are fatistkd by nature, frugality prolonged
their
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
their lives to an old age, rarely to be met with in
more temperate climates.
IT is probable they would not have been rouzed
from their indolence, had not the enterprifmg and
active fpirit of their enemies purfued them in pro-
portion as they retreated. Exafperated at length,
from having their tranquillity and eafe continually
xiifturbed, they invited from the continent and
from the neighbouring iflands fome troops who
fell upon the difperfed Buccaneers. They unex-
pectedly attacked thefe barbarians in fmall parties
in their excurfions, or.jn the night-time, when re-
tired into their huts, and many of them were maf-
facred. Thefe adventurers would moil probably
-have been ail deflroyed, had they not formed
themfelves into a body for their mutual defence.
They were under an abfolute neceffity of fe-
parating in the day-time, but met together in
the evening. If any one of them was miffing,
it was fuppofed that he was either taken prifoner
or killed, and the chace was delayed, till he was
.either found or his death revenged. We may
eafily conceive how much blood muft have been
fhed by fuch ruffians, belonging to no country, and
fubject to no laws; hunters and warriors from the
<:alls of nature and inftinc~bj and excited to mur-
der and maflacres from being habituated to attack,
and from the neceffity of defending themfelves.
In the height of their fury, they devoted every
thing to deftrinftion, without any diftinftion of fex
or age. The Spaniards, at length defpairing of
being able to get the better of fuch favage and ob-
ftinate enemies, took the refolution of dcftroying
all
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. ;
all the bulls of the iflands, by a general chace. B o i
The execution of this defign having deprived the ^ v ^
Buccaneers of their ufual refources, put them un-
der the necefiity of making fettlements and culti-
vating the lands.
. FRANCE, who till that time had difclaimed for
her fubjects thefe ruffians, whofe fuccefles were
only temporary, acknowledged them, however, as
foon as they formed themfelves into fettlements.
In 1665, fhe fent them over a man of probity and
underftanding to govern them. Several women
attended him, who, like moft of thole who have
at different periods been fent into the New world,
were noted for their vices and licentioufnefs. The
Buccaneers were not offended at the profligacy of
their manners. / do not de/ire you to give me an ac-
count of your paft conduit* was "the fpeech each of
them made to the woman that chance had allotted
him. Tou did not then belong to me. Give me your
word* for the future* as you are now mine ; I acquit
you of what is paft. Then ftriking his hand on the
the barrel of his gun, he added; This will revenge
me of your breach of faith ; if you are falfe* this will
certainly be true to my aim.
THE Englifh had not waited till their rivals had The Er) m
obtained a firm fettlement in the great Antilles to Ii(h con ~
procure themfelves an eftabliihment there. The "
declining ftate of the kingdom of Spain, weaken-
ed by its internal divifions, by the revolt of Cata-
lonia and Portugal, by the commotions of Naples,
by the deftruftion of its formidable infantry in the
plains of Rocroy, by its continual lofies in the
Netherlands, by the incapacity of its minifters, and
even
4 7 2 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS ANS 'TRADE
B o^o K even by the extinction of that national pride, which
< v- ' after having been kept up and maintained by fix-
ing itfelf on great objects, had degenerated into
an indolent haughtiness: all thefe circumftances>
tending to the ruin of the Spanifh monarchy, left
no room to doubt that war might be fuccefsfully
waged againfl her. France fkilfully took the
advantage of thefe confufions fhe had partly occa-
fionedj and Cromwell, in the year 1655, joined
her, in order to fhare in the fpoils of a kingdom
haftening to deftruction in every part.
THIS conduct of the protector caufed a revolt
among the beft Englifh ofHcers, who, confidering
it as art inftance of great injuftice, determined to
quit the fervice. They thought that the will of
their luperiors could not give fanction to an en-
terprife, which violated all the principles of equi-
ty, and that by concurring to put it into execu-
tion, they would be guilty of the greateft crime.
The reft of the Europeans looked upon thefe prin-
ciples of virtue and honour as the effect of that re-
publican and fanatical fpirit, which then prevailed
in England; but they attacked the protector with
other motives.
SPAIN had long threatened to enflave all other
nations. Perhaps, the multitude, who are little able
to eftirriate the ftrength of nations, and to weigh
the variations in the balance of power, were not
yet recovered from their ancient prejudices. An
univerfal panic had jeized in the minds of thofe
able men who attentively ftudied the general pro-
grefs of affairs. They v/ere fenfible that if the ra-
pid and extraordinary fuccefifes of France were not
checked
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 273
checked by fome foreign power, (he would de- B x K
prive the Spaniards of their polTefiions, impofe on < '
them what laws ihe pleafed, compel them to the
marriage of the Infanta with Lewis the XIV., (ecure
to herfelf the inheritance of Charles the V., and
opprefs the liberty of Europe that flie had for-
merly protected. Cromwell, who had lately fub-
verted the government of his country, feemed a
fit perfon to give a check to the power of kings:
but he was looked upon as the weaken: of politi-
cians, when he was obferved to form connections,
which his own private interefts, thofe of his coun-
try, as well as thofe of Europe in general, ought
abfolutely to have prevented him from entering
into.
THESE obfervations could not pofllbly efcape
the deep and penetrating genius of the ufurper.
But, perhaps, he was defirous of preferving the
idea the nation already entertained of his abilities,
by fome important conqueft. If he had declared
himfelf on the fide of Spain, the execution of this
project mutt have been chimerical -, as the utmoft
he could pofllbly expect was to reftore the balance
of power between the two contending parties. He
imagined it more favourable to his defins to be-
gin to form a connection with France, and after-
wards to attack her, when he had made himfelf
matter of thofe pofTeflions that were the object of
his ambition. Whatever truth there may be in
thefe conjectures, which, however, may be fup-
ported from the evidence of hifrory, and are s at
leait, confident with the character of the extraor-
dinary politician, who is fuppofed to have adopt-
VOL. III. T ed
274 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B o^o K e( j t i^ s met hod of reafoning, the Englifh went
' w ' into the New world to attack an enemy they had
juft brought upon themfelves*
THEIR firft attempts were directed agaunft the
town of St. Domingo, whofe inhabitants retired
into the woods as foon as they faw a large fleet
commanded by Penn,. and nine thoufand land
forces headed by Venablcs, appear before the ci-
ty. But the errors committed by their enemies,
' infpiring thefe fugitives with frefh courage,, they re-
turned, and compelled the enemy to reimbark with
difgrace. This misfortune was the confeqirence
of the ill-concerted plan of this expedition.
THE two commanders of this enterprife,. were
men of very moderate abilities* They 'were at
variance with each other,, and ill-affected to* the
protector. Infpectors had been appointed to*
watch over them,, who, under the name of com-
mifTaries,, checked their operations. The foldiers
who were fent from Europe were the refufe of the
army; and thofe that were taken from Barbadoes
and St. Chriftopher's, were common robbers. They
were forbidden to plunder, which was the only
proper encouragement for men of this caft r and
which the experience of all ages has found to be
the moft effectual motive to, infure-fuccefs in dif-
tant and dangerous enterprifes.. Every thing was
fettled in fuch a manner, that the foldiers- could
not be upon good terms with their officers, nor the
officers with one another,, nor the commiflaries
with either. Proper arms* provifions fit for the
climate, and the information necelTary to conduct
the enterprife, were all wanting.
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
THE execution of the attack was anfwerable to
the plan. The landing of the troops, which might
have been effected without danger even in the port
itfelf, was conducted without a guide at forty miles
diftance* The troops wandered about for four
days> without water or provifions. Exhaufted by
the exceflive heat of the climate^ and diicouraged
by the cowardice and mifunderftanding of their
officers, they did not even contend with the Spa-
niards for victory. They fcarce thought them-
ielves in fafety when they had got back to their
fhips.
BUT ill fuccefs contributed to reconcile the con-
tending parties> that were highly exafperated
with each other. The Englifh, who had not yet
contracted the habit of bearing difgrace, reclaimed
by the very faults they had committed, and re-
ftored to the love of their country, to a fenfe of
their duty, and a thirft for glory, failed for Ja-
maica, under a fixed refolution, either to perilh
there, or to make the conqueil of it*
THE inhabitants of this ifland, fubject to Spain
fmce the year 1 509, were ignorant of what had
happened at St. Domingo, and did not imagine
they had any enemy failing in their latitudes. The
Englifh therefore landed without oppofition. They
were boldly marching to lay fiege to St. Jago, the
only fortified place in the colony, when the go-
vernor gave a check to their ardour> by offering
them terms of capitulation. The difcuffion of the
articles, artfully prolonged, gave the colonifts time
to remove their moft valuable effects into lecret
places. They themfelves fled for flicker to inac-
T 2 ceflibie
37 6 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
> o
x.
3 K cefilble mountains, leaving only to the conque-
rors, a city without inhabitants, moveables, trea-
fures, or provifions.
THIS artifice exafperated the befiegers to the
higheil degree. They fent out detachments on
every fide, with exprefs orders to defiroy every
thing they met with. The difappointment they
felt on finding thefe parties return without having
difcovered any thing; the want of every conve-
nience more fenfibly felt by this nation than any
other; the mortality which increafed among them
every day ; the dread they were under of being
attacked by all the forces of the New world : all
thefe circumflances confpired to make them cla-
morous for returning to England. The cowardly de-
fertion of fo rich a prize as Jamaica, which they
had almoft refolved upon, would have foon ex-
pofed them to the mortifying rcpioaches of their
country, had they not difcovered fome paflure
land, where the Spaniards had conveyed their nu-
merous flocks. So unexpected an inftance of good
fortune occafioned a change in the fentiments of
the Englifh, and made them refolve to complete
their conquefr..
THE fpirit of activity, which this laft refolution.
had excited, convinced the belieged, that they
could not remain with fafety in the forcfls and pre-
cipices, where they had concealed themfelves.
They unanimoufly, therefore, agreed to let fail for
Cuba. Here they were received with fuch marks,
of difgrace as the weaknefs of their defence de-
ferved, and they were fent back again; but with
fuch fuccours as were unequal to the forces they
8 had
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 2
had to contend with. From that principle of ho- B x
nour, which in moft men arifes rather from a fear * tf
of fhame than a love of glory, they made a more
obftinate refinance than could have been expected
from the few refources they had. They did net
evacuate this confiderable ifland, till they were re-
duced to the greateft extremities; and from that
period it has been one of the moft valuable pof-
leflions of Great Britain in the New world.
BEFORE the Englifh had made any fettlement at The HOC.
Jamaica, and the French at St. Domingo, fome wgeVh.""
pirates of both nations, who have fmce been fo b"oi.
much diftinguifhed by the name of Buccaneers, j^^".
had driven the Spaniards out of the fmall ifland <|'t"ns*nd
of Tortuga; and fortifying themfelves there, had the'epi-
with an amazing intrepidity made excurfions
againft the common enemy. They formed them-
felves into fmall companies, confining of fifty, a
hundred, or a hundred and fifty men each. A
boat, of a greater or fmaller fize, was their only
armament. Here they were expofed night and
day to all the inclemencies of the weather, with-
out having fcarce room enough to lay down. A
love of independence, the greateft blefling to thofe
who are not proprietors of land, rendered them
averfe from thole mutual neftraints which the
.members of fociety impole upon themfelves for
the common good ; fome of them chofe to fing,
while others were dcfirous of going to deep. As
the authority they had conferred on their captain,
was confined to his giving -orders in brittle* .they
lived in the greateft confufion. Lik.e the favages,
having no apprehenfion of want, nor any care to
T 3 preferve
* HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
o^o K p re fe r ve the neceflaries of life, they were con-
J, i ftandy expofed to the fevereft extremities of
hunger and thirft. But deriving, even from their
very diftrefles, a courage fuperior to every dan-
ger, the fight of a fhip tranfported them to a
degree of frenzy, They never deliberated on the
attack, but it was their cuftom to board the fhip
as foon as poffible, The fmallnefs of their vef-
fels, and the fkill they fhewed in the management
of them, fcreened them from the fire of the greater
fliipsj and they prefented only the fore^part of
their little veffels filled with fufileers; who fired at
the port holes with fo much exa&nefs, that it en--
tirely confounded the moft experienced gunners,
As foon as they threw out the grappling, the
largeft veffel feldom efcaped them.
IN cafes of extreme neceffity, they attacked the
people of every nation, but fell upon the Spa-
niards at all times. They thought that die cruel-
ties they had exercifed on the inhabitants of the
New world, juflified the implacable averfion they
had fworn againft them. But this was heightened
by a perfonal pique, from the mortification they
felt, in feeing themfelves debarred from the pri-
vilege of hunting and fifhing, which they juftly
confidered as natural rights. Such were their prin-
ciples of juftice and religion, that whenever they
embarked on any expedition, they ufed to pray to
heaven for the fuccefs of itj and they never came
back from the plunder, but they conftantly re-
turned thanks to God for their victory.
THE fliips that failed from Europe into Ame-
rica, feldom tempted their avidity. The merchan-
dife
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
<life they contained, would not eafily have been B x
fold, nor been very profitable to ti.jfe barbarians ^
in thofe early times. They always waited for
them on their return, when they were certain,
that they were laden with gold, filver, jewels and
ail the valuable productions of the New world.
If they met with a fmgJe (hip, they never failed
to attack her. As to the fleets, they followed
them, till they failed out of the gulph of Bahama ;
and as foon as any one of the veflels was feparated
by accident from the reft, it was taken. The
Spaniards, who trembled at the approach of the
Buccaneers, whom they called devils^ immediately
furrendered. Quarter was granted if the cargo
were a rich ojie, if not, all the prifoners were
thrown into the fca.
PETER LEGRAND, a native of Dieppe, had no
more than four pieces of cannon and twenty-eight
men on any one of his verTels: with this fmall
number he ventured to attack the vice-admiral of
the galleons. He boarded them, having firfl given
orders to fink his own vefielj and the crew were
fofurprifed and intimidated by this daring inftance
of bravery, that they made no refiftance. He
went immediately to the captain's cabbin, who was
then engaged at play, and having prefented a
piftol to his throat, compelled him to furrender.
This commander, with the greater part of the
crew, they landed at the neareft cape, as an ufe-r
lefs burden to the fhip they had fo ill-defended,
and referved only a fufficient number of failors to
work her.
T 4 FIFTV-
28o HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B o^o K FIFTY-FIVE Buccaneers, who had failed into the
-w--*v ' fouthern fea, proceeded as far as California. To
return into the northern fea they were obliged to
fail two thoufand leagues againft the wind in a ca-
noe. They arrived at the ftreights of Magellan,
when difappointed and chagrined at having made
no plunder in fo rich a country, they took the re-
folution to (leer again their courfe towards Peru.
They received intelligence that there wzls in the
port of Auca, a fhip whofe cargo was valued at
feveral millions: they took it, and immediately
embarked upon it.
MICHAEL de BASCO, Jonque, and Lawrence le
Graff were cruifmg before Carthagena with three
fmall veffels, when two men of war failed out of
the harbour with orders to attack thefe Buccaneers,
and to bring them alive or dead. The.pirates had
no fooner perceived them, but they began the en^
gagement and took them. Thofe who were not
killed in the aclion were fet on ftiore with a letter
of thanks to the governor, for having fent two
fuch good fhipsj at the fame time acquainting
him, that if he had ftill any to fpare, they would
wait for them a fortnight ; but if they had no
money on board, the mea were not to expect any
quarter.
THE captains Michael and Brouage, having re-
ceived intelligence that, in order to elude their vi-
gilance, a very valuable cargo had been fhipped
from Carthagena in veffels carrying a foreign flagj
fell upon the two Dutch fhips that were loaded
with this treafure, and plundered them. The
Dutch, exafperated at their being beaten by Ihips
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. *
fo inferior to theirs in ftrength and fize, ventured B
to tell Michael de Bafco openly, that if he had ^
been alone, he would not have been fo fuccefsful.
Let us begin the fight again, replied the captain,
with haughtinefs, and my companion jhall only be
fpeftc.tor cf the engagement. If I am the conqueror -,
I will not only have the Jilver yen carry on board, but
loth ycur JJjips Jhall alfo be mine. The Dutch, far
from accepting the challenge, quickly made off,
fearing, that if they took any time to confider of
it, they would not have the liberty of refufing.
CAPTAIN LAWRENCE was unexpectedly over-
taken by two Spanifh fhips, carrying each fixty
pieces of cannon, and fifteen hundred men. Ton
have, faidhe, addrefiing himfelf to his companions,
too much experience not to befetijible of your danger, and
too much cc-wage to fear it. On this occafion we muft
avail ourfelves of every circuwftance, hazard every
thing, attack and defend ourfelves at the fame time.
Valour ; artifice, rcjbmfs, and even defpair iff elf, mtijl
now be employed. Let us dread the ignominy of a de-
feat ; let us dread the cruelty of our enemies; and let
us fight that we way efcape them.
AFTER this fpeech, that was received with ge-
neral apphufc, the captain called to the braved of
the Buccaneers, and, in the prefence of the reft,
ordered him to fet fire to the gun-powder, on the
firft fignal he fliould give him; fhewing, by this
refolution, that they mull either expeil death, or
defend themfelves. He then ranged his men on both
fides of his veflel, and raifmg his voice, in order
to be more diilinclly heard by every one, and ex-
fending his hand toward the enemy: lift rnujl, fays
he,
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
he, pafs between their Jhips, and fire upon tbemfrom
every fide. This plan of operation was executed
with equal courage and difpatch. The galleons,
however, were not taken; but the fhips company
were To reduced 'in number, that they either were
not able, or had not courage enough to continue
to combat againft a handful of refolute men, who,
even in their retreat, had carried away the honour
of the victory. The Spanifh commander atoned, by
his death, for the difgrace his ignorance and
cowardice had ftamped upon his country. In
every engagement the Buccaneers fhewed the fame
fpirit of intrepidity.
WHEN they had got a confiderable booty, at
firft they held their rendezvous at the ifland of
Tortuga, in order to divide the fpoil j but after-
wards the French went to St. Domingo, and the
Englifh to Jamaica. Each perfon holding up his
hand, folemnly protefted that he had fecreted no-
thing of what he had taken. If any one among
them was convidled of perjury, a cafe that feldom
happened, he was left, as foon as an opportunity
offered, upon fome defert ifland, as a traitor un-
worthy to live in fociety. Such brave men among
them as had been maimed in any of their expedi-
tions, were firft provided for. If they had loft a
hand, an arm, a leg, or a foot, they received two
hundred crowns*. An eye" a finger, or a toe, loft
in fight, was valued only at half the above fum.
The \vounded were allowed a crown f a day for
two months, to enable them to have their wounds
taken care of. If they had not money enough to
* 26!. 5 s. f zs. 7 d. f.
anfwer
JN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 383
anfwer thefe feveral demands, the whole company B x *
were obliged to engage in fome frelh expedition, _- - y ^
and to continue it till they had acquired a fufficient
ilock to enable them to fatisfy fuch honourable
contracts.
AFTER this aft of juftice and humanity, the
remainder of the booty was divided into as many
fhares as there were Buccaneers. The commander
could only Jay claim to a fmgle fhare as the reft;
but they complimented him with two or three, in
proportion as he had acquitted himlelf to their fa-
tisfaction. When the veflel was not the property
of the company, the perfon who had fitted it out,
and furnifhed it with neceffary arms and provi-
fions, was entitled to a third of all the prizes.
Favour never had any influence in the divifion of
the booty j for every ftiare was determined by lot.
Inftances of fuch rigid juftice as this, are not cafi-
ly met with; and they extended even to the dead.
Their lhare was given to the man who was known
to be their companion when alive, and therefore
their heir. If the perfon who had been killed had
no intimate, his part was fent to his relations, when
they were known. If there were no friends or rela-
tions, it was diftributed in chanty to the poor and
to churches, which were to pray for the perfon in
whofe name thefe benefactions were given, the
fruits of inhuman but neceflary piratical plunder.
WHEN thefe duties had been complied with,
they then indulged themielves in all kinds of pro-
fufion. Unbounded licentioufnefs in gaming, wine,
women, every kind of debauchery was carried to
the utmoft pitch of excefs, and was ftopt only by
4 the
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
the want which fuch profufions brought oh. Thofe
men who were enriched with feveral millions, were
in an inftant totally ruined, and deflituteof cloaths
and provifions. They returned to fea, and the
new fupplies they acquired were foon lavifhed in
the fame manner. If they were afked, what fatis-
faction they could find in diflipating fo rapidly,
what they had gained with fo much difficulty;
they made this very ingenious reply: " Expofed
" as we are, to fuch a variety of dangers, our
ff life is totally different from that of other men.
" Why fhould we, who are alive to-day, and may
ft be dead to-morrow, think of hoarding up ? We
" reckon only the day we have lived, but never
cf think upon that which is to come. Our con-
" cern is rather to fquander life away than to pre-
" ferve it."
THE Spanifh colonies flattering themfelves with
the hopes of feeing an end to their miferies, and
reduced almoft to defpair in finding themfelves a
perpetual prey to thefe ruffians, grew weary of
navigation. They gave up all the power, conve-
niencies and fortune their connections procured
them, and formed themfelves almoft into fo many
diftinct and feparate flates. They were fenfible of
the inconveniencies arifing from fuch a conduit,
and avowed themj but the dread of falling into
the hands of rapacious and favage men, had greater
influence over them, than the dictates of honour,
intereft, and policy. This was the rife of that fpi-
rit of inactivity which continues to this time.
THIS defpondency ferved only to increafe the
boldnefs of the Buccaneers. As yet they had on-
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 285
ly appeared in the Spanifh fettlements, in order B x K -
to carry off fome provifions, when they were in v
want 'of them. They no fooner found their cap-
tures begin to diminifh, than they determined to
recover by land what they had loft at fea. The
richeft and moft populous countries of the conti-
nent were plundered and laid wafte. The culture
of lands was equally neglected with navigation;
and the Spaniards dared no more appear in their
public roads, than fail in the latitudes which be-
longed to them.
AMONG the Buccaneers, who fignalized them-
felves in this new fpecies of excurfions, Montbar,
a gentleman of Languedoc, particularly diitin-
guifhed himfelf. Having, by chance, in his in-
fancy, met with a circumstantial account of the
cruelties praclifed in the conqueft of the new world,
he conceived an averfion that he carried to a de-
gree of frenzy againft that nation that had com-
mitted fuch enormities. Upon this point a ftory
is told of him, that when he was at college, and
acting in a play the part of a Frenchman, who
quarrelled with a Spaniard, he fell upon the per-
fon who perfonated the Spaniard, with fuch fury,
that he would have ftranglcd him, had he not been
refcued out of his hands. His heated imagina-
tion continually reprefented to him innumerable
multitudes of people maffacred by favage monfters
who came out of Spain. He was animated with
an irrefiftible ardour to revenge fo much innocent
blood. The enthufiafm this fpirit of humanity
worked him up to, was turned into a rage more
cruel than that of religious fanaticifm, to which,
fo
16 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
x K fo many victims had been facrificed. The names
v * of thefe unhappy fufferers feemed to rouze him,
and call upon him for vengeance. He had heard
fome account of the Buccaneers, who were faid to
be the moft inveterate enemies to the Spanifh
name : he therefore embarked on board a ihip in
order to join them.
IN the paffage they met with a Spanifti vefTel,
attacked it, and as it was ufual in thofe times,
immediately boarded it. Montbar, with a fabre
in his hand, fell upon the enemy, broke through
them, and hurrying twice from one end of the fhip
to the other, levelled every thing that oppofed him.
When he had compelled the enemy to furrender,
leaving to his companions the happinefs of divid-
ing fo rich a booty, he contented himfelf with the
favage pleafure of contemplating the dead bodies
of the Spaniards, lying in heaps together, againft
whom he had fworn a conftant and deadly hatred.
FRESH opportunities foon occurred, that enabled
him to exert this fpirit of revenge, without extin-
guilhing it. The fhip he was in arrived at the
coafl of St. Domingo i where the Buccaneers on
land immediately applied to barter fome provifions
for brandy. As the articles they offered were of
little value, they alleged an excufe, that their
enemies had over-run the country, laid wafte their
fettlements, and carried off all they could. "Why,
<f replied Montbar, do you tamely fuffer fuch in-
<c fults?" " Neither do we, anfwered they in the
fc fame tonej the Spaniards have experienced what
<f kind of men we are, and have therefore taken
<( advantage of the time when we were engaged in
" hunting.
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 2*7
" hunting. But we are going to join fome of our B x K
" companions, who have been ftill more ill-treat- j *
" ed than we, and then we (hall have warm work."
<f If you approve it, anfwered Montbar, I will
<c head you, not as your commander, but as the
" foremoil to expofe myfelf to danger." The
Buccaneers perceiving, from his appearance, that
he was fuch a man as they wanted, cheerfully ac-
cepted his offer. The fame day they overtook
the enemy, and Montbar attacked them with an
impetuofity that aftonilhed the braveft. Scarce
one Spaniard efcaped the effects of his fury. The
remaining part of his life was equally diftinguifh-
ed as this day. The Spaniards furFered fo much
from him, both by land and at fea, that he ac-
quired the name of the Exterminator.
His favage di{pofition, as well as that of the
other Buccaneers who attended him, having oblig-
ed the Spaniards to confine themfelves within their
fettlements, thefe freebooters refolved to attack
them there. This new method of carrying on the
war required fuperior forces, and their aflbcia-
tions in confequence became more numerous. The
firft that was confiderable, was formed by Lolo-
nois, who derived his name from the fands of
Clones the place of his birth. From the abject
ftate of a bondfman, he had gradually raifed him-
felf to the command of two canoes, v/ith twenty-
two men. With thefe he was fo fuccefsful, as to
take a Spanifh frigate on the coaft of Cuba. A
flave having obferved that after the engagement,
all the men who were wounded were put to death,
and fearing left he Ihould fhare the fame fate,
wanted
288 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
) o
X.
BOOK. W anted to fave himfelf by a perfidious declaration,
but very coniiflent with the part he had been def<-
tined to take. He allured them, that the gover^
nor of the Havannah had put him on board, i-n
order to ferve as executioner to all the Buccaneers
he had fentenced to be hanged, not doubting in
the leaft but they would be all taken prifoners.
The favage Lolonois, fired with rage at this de-
claration, ordered all the Spaniards to be brought
before him, and cut off their heads one after ano-
ther, fucking, at each ftroke, the drops of blood
that trickled down his fabre. He then repaired
to the Port-au-Prince, in which were four fhips,
fitted out purpofely to fail in purfuit of him-. He
took them, and threw all the crew into the fea,
except one man, whom he faved, in order to fend
him with a letter to the governo^of the Havannah,
acquainting him with what he had done, and af-
furing him, that he would treat in the fame man-
ner all the Spaniards that fhould fall into his hands,
not excepting the governor himfelf, if he fhould
be. fo fortunate as to take him. After this expedi-
tion, he ran his canoes and prize fnips aground,
and failed with his frigate only to the iiland of
Tortuga.
HERE he met with Michael de Balco, who had
fo much difiinguifhed himfelf, for having taken,
even under the cannon of Porto-Bello, a Spanifh
iliip, eftimated at five millions of livres*", and by-
other actions equally brave and daring. Thefe -two
adventurers gave out, that they were going to em-
bark together on an expedition equally glorious
*2i8, 5 coi.
and
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
fcnd profitable ; in confequence of which they foon
collected together Four hundred and forty men.
This body of men* the moft numerous the Buc-
caneers had yet been able to mutter, failed to the
bay of Venezuela, which runs up into the country
for the fpace of fifty leagues. The fort that was built
at the entrance of it for its defence, was taken;
the cannon nailed up> and the whole garrifon, con-
fiding of two hundred and fifty men, put to death.
They then reimbarkedj came to Maracaybo, built
on the weftern coaft of the lake of the fame name,
at the diftance of ten leagues from its mouth.
This city, which had become fiourifhing and rich
by its trade in (kins, tobacco, and cocoa, was de-
ferted. The inhabitants had retired with their
effects to the other fide of the bay. If the Bucca-
neers had not loft a fortnight in riot and debauch^
they would have found at Gibraltar, near the ex-
tremity of the lake, every thing that the inhabi-
tants had fecreted, to fecure it from being plun-
deredi On the contrary, they met with fortifica-
tions lately erected, which they had the ufelefs fa-
tisfaction of making themfelves matters of, at the
expcnce of a great deal of blood; for the inhabi-
tants had already removed at a diftance the mod
Valuable part of their property. Exaiperated at
this difappointment, they let fire to Gibraltar.
Maracaybo would have fhared the fame -fate, had it
not been ranfomed. Befides the fum they received
for its ranforrij they alfo carried off" with them,
all the crofles, pictures, and bells of the churches -,
intending, as they faid, to build a chapel in the
ifland of Tortuga^ and to confecrate this part of
VOL. III. U their
290 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B x K their fpoils to facred purpofes. Such was the reli-
* -v ' gion of thefe barbarous people, who could make
no other offering to heaven, than that which arofe
from their robberies and plunder.
WHILE they were idly difTipatmg the fpoils they
had made on the coaft of Venezuela, Morgan, the
more renowned of the Englifn Buccaneers, failed
from Jamaica to attack Porto-Bello. His plan of
operations was fo well contrived, that he furprifed
the city, and took it without oppofition. In or-
der to fecure the fort with the fame facility, he
compelled the women and the priefts to fix the
fcaling ladders to the walls, from a full conviction,
that the gallantry and fuperftition of the Spaniards
would never fuffer them to fire at the perfons they
confidered as the objects of their love and reve-
rence. But the garrifon was not to be deceived
' by this artifice, and was only to be fubdued by
force of arms ; the treafures that were carried away
from this famous port, were acquired at the ex-
pence of much bloodlhed.
THE conqueft of Panama was an object of much
greater importance. To fecure this, Morgan
thought it neceflary to fail in the latitudes of
Cofta-Ricca, to procure fome guides in the ifland
of St. Catherine's, where the Spaniards confined
their malefactors. This place was fo ftrongly for-
tified, that it ought to have held out for ten years
againft a confiderable army. Notwithftanding this,
the governor, on the firft appearance of the pi-
rates, fent privately to concert meafures how he
might furrender himfelf without incurring the im-
putation of cowardice. The refult of this conful-
tation
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 29*
tation was, that Morgan, in the night-time, fhould B x K
attack a fort at fome diftance, and the governor >r !
fhould fally out at the citadel to defend a poft of
fo much confequence ; that the aflailants Ihould
then attack him in the rear, and take him prifo-
ner, which would confequently occafion a furren-
der of the place. It was agreed that a fmart fir-
ing fhould be kept on both fides, without doing
mifchief to either. This farce was admirably car-
ried on. The Spaniards, without being expofed
to any danger, appeared to have done their duty 5
and the Buccaneers, after having totally demo-
lilhed the fortifications, and put on board their
veflels a prodigious quantity of warlike ammuni-
tion, which they found at St. Catherine's, fleered
their courie towards the river Chagre, the only
channel that was open to them to arrive at the
place which was the objeft of their utmoft
wifhes.
AT the entrance of this confiderable river, a fort
was built upon a fteep rock, which the waves of
the fea conftantly beat againft. This bulwark,
very difficult of acceis, was defended by an officer,
whofe extraordinary abilities were equal to his
courage, and by a garrifon that deferved fuch a
commander. The Buccaneers, for the firft time,
here met with a refiftance that could only be
equalled by their perfeverance: it was a doubtful
point, whether they would fucceed, or be obliged
ro raife the fiege, when a lucky accident happen-
ed, that proved favourable to their glory and their
fortune. The commander was killed, and the
fort accidentally took fire: the befiegers then tak-
U 2 ing
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
ing advantage of this double calamity,, made them-
felves matters of the place.
MORGAN left his veffels at anchor, with a fuffi-
cient number of men to guard them, and failed up
the river in his {loops for thirty-three miles, till he
came to Cruces, where it ceafes to be navigable.
He then proceeded by land to Panama a that was
only five leagues diftant. Upon a large and ex-
tenfive plain that was before the city, he met with
a confiderable body of troops, whom he put to-
flight with the greateft cafe, and entered into the
city, that was now abandoned.
HERB were found prodigious treafures conceal-
ed in the wells and caves. Some valuable com-
modities were taken upon die boats that were left
aground at low water. In the neighbouring fo-
refts were alib found feveral rich depofits. But the
party of Buccaneers who were making excurfions
into the country, little fatisfied with this booty,
exercifed the moft fhocking tortures on the Spa-
niards, Negroes, and Indians they difcovered, to
oblige them to confefs where they had fecreted
their own as well as their matters riches. A beg-
gar accidentally going into a cattle, that had been
deferred through fear, found fome apparel that he
put on. He had fcarcely drefled himfelf in this
manner, when- he was perceived by thefe pirates,
who demanded of him where his gold was. The
unfortunate man fhewed them the ragged cloaths
hehadjuft thrown off. He was inftantly tortur-
ed, but as he made no difcovery, he was given up
to fome flavesj who put an end to his life. Thus
the treafure the Spaniards had acquired in the New
4 world
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 93
by maflacres and tortures, were reftored B x K
again in the fame manner. v-^
IN the midft of fuch fcenes of horror, the fa-
vage Morgan fell in love. His character was not
likely to infpire the object of his attachment with
favourable fentiments towards him. He was re-
folved therefore to fubdue by force the Spaniard
that inflamed and tormented him. Stop, cried fhe
to this favage, as fhe fprung with eagernefs out of
his arms, Stop : Tbinkeft tbou then, that thou canft
ravi/h my honour from me^ as tbou haft wreftedfrom
me my fortune and my liberty ? Be affured that I can
die and be revenged. Having faid this, Jhe drew
out a poignard from under her gown, which fhe
would have plunged into his heart, had he not
avoided the blow.
BUT Morgan, ftill inflamed with a paflion, that
this determined refiftance had turned into mad-
nefs, inftead of the tendernefs and attention he
had made ufe of to fubdue his captive, now pro-
ceeded to treat her with the greateft inhumanity.
But the fair Spaniard, imrnoveablyrefolute, excited,
at the fame time that fhe refifted the frantic be-
haviour of Morgan; till at laft the pirates, expref-
fmg their refentment, at being kept fo long in a
flate of inactivity, by a caprice which appeared
extravagant to them, he was under the necefllty
of liftening to their complaints, and giving up his
purfuit. Panama was burnt. They the^n fet fail
with a great number of prifoners, who were
ranfomed a few days after, and came to the mouth
of the Chagre with a prodigious booty.
U 3 BEFORE
294 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK BEFORE the break of the day that had been
' fixed upon for the divifion of the fpoil, Morgan,
while the reft of the pirates were in a deep deep,
with the principal Buccaneers of his own country,
failed for Jamaica, in a veflel which he had laden
with the rich fpoils of a city that ferved as the
ftaple of commerce between the Old and the New
world. This inftance of treachery, unheard-of
before, occafioned a rage and refentment not to be
defcribed. The Erjglifh purfued the robber, in
hopes of wrefting from him the booty of which
* their right and their avidity had been fruftrated.
The French, though fharers in the fame lofs, re-
tired to the ifland of Tortuga, where they made
feveral expeditions. But they were all trifling,
till, in the year 1603, they attempted one of the
greateft confequenee.
THE plan of this expedition was formed by Van
Horn, a native of Oftend, though he had ferved
all his life among the French. His intrepidity
would never let him fuffer the leaft figns of cow-
ardice among thofe affociated with him. In
the heat of an engagement he went about his fhip,
fucceffively obferved his men, and immediately
killed thofe who fhrank at the Hidden report of a
piftol, gun or cannon. This extraordinary difci-
pline had made him become the terror of the
coward, and the idol of the brave. In other re-
fpects, he readily lhared with the men of Ipirit and
bravery the immenfe riches that were acquired by
fo truly warlike a difpofition. When he went up-
on thefe expeditions, he generally failed in his fri-
gate, which was his own property. But thefe new
deflgns
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 295
defigns requiring greater numbers to carry them B x K
into execution, he took to his affiftance Grammont, * / J
Godfrey, and Jonque, three Frenchmen, diftin-
guilhed by their exploits, and Lawrence de Graff,
a Dutchman, who had fignalized himfelf Mill more
than they. Twelve hundred Buccaneers joined
themielves to thefe famous commanders, and fail-
ed in fix velfds for Vera Cruz.
THE darknefs of the night favoured their land-
ing, which was effected at three leagues from the
place, where they arrived without being difco-
vered. The governor, the fort, the barracks,
and the pofts of the greateft confequence ; every
thing, in fhort, that could occafion any refiftance,
was taken by the break of day. All the citizens,
men, women, and children, were fhut up in the
churches, where they had fled for flicker. At the
door of each church were placed barrels of gun-
powder to blow up the building. A Buccaneer,
with a lighted match, was to fet fire to it upon the
lead appearance of an infurrection.
WHILE the city was kept in fuch terror, it was
eaiily pillaged , and after the Buccaneers had car-
ried off what was mod valuable, they made a pro-
pofal to the citizens who were kept prifoners in
the churches, to ranfom their lives and liberties by
a contribution often millions of livres*. Thefe
unfortunate people, who had neither ate nor drank
for three days, cheerfully accepted the terms that
were offered them. Half of the money was paid
the fame day : the other part was expected from
the internal parts of the country ; when there ap-
* 437,500 1.
U 4 peared
896 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B x K P eare d on an eminence a confiderable body of
w- ^ - troops advancing, and near the port a fleet of fe-
venteen fhips from Europe. At the fight of this
armament the Buccaneers, without any marks of
furprife, retreated quietly with fifteen hundred
flaves they had carried off with them, as a trifling
indemnification for the reil of the money they ex-
pefted, the fettling of which they referred to a
more favourable opportunity. Thefe ruffians fin-
cerely believed, that whatever they pillaged or
exacted by force of arms upon the coails where
they made a defcent, was their lawful property;
and that God and their arms gave them an un-
doubted right not only to the capital of thefe
contributions they compelled the inhabitants to
iign a written engagement to fulfil, but even to,
the intereft of that part of the fum that was not
yet paid.
THEIR retreat was equally glorious and daring.
They boldly failed through the midft of the Spa-
nifh fleet, that let them pafs without firing a finglc
gunj and were, in fad, rather afraid of being
attacked and beaten. The Spaniards would not
probably have efcaped fo eafily, and with no other
inconvenience, but what arofe from their fears, if
the veflels of the pirates had not been laden with
filver, or if the Spanifh fleet had been freighted
with any other effects but fuch merchandife as were
little valued by thefe pirates.
A YEAR had fcarce elapfed fince their return from
Mexico, when on a fudden they were all feized
with the rage of going to plunder the country of
Peru, It is probable, that the hope of finding
greater
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. . 297
greater treafures upon a fea little frequented, than BOOK
on one long expofed to piracies of this kind, was
the caufe of this expedition, But it is fomewhat
remarkable, that both the French and Englifh, and
the particular afibciations of thefe two nations,
had projected this plan at the fame time, without
any communication, intcrcourfe, or defign of act-
ing in concert with each other. About four thou-
fand men were employed in this expedition. Some
of them came to Terra-Firma, others by the
ftreights of Magellan, to the place that was the
object of their wilhes. If the intrepidity of thefe
barbarians had been directed, under the influence
of a fkilful and refpectable commander, to one
fmgle uniform end, it is certain that they would
have deprived the Spaniards of this important co-
lony. But their natural character was an invincible
obftacle to fo rare an union; for they always form-
ed themfelves into feveral diftinct bodies, fome-
times even fo few in number as ten or twelve,
who acted together, or feparated as the moft tri-
fling caprice directed. Grognier, Lecuyer, Pi-
card, and Le Sage, were the moft diftinguiflied
officers among the French : David, Samms, Peter,
"Wilner, and Towley, among the Englifh.
SUCH of thofe adventurers as had got into the
South Sea by the ftreights of Darien, feized upon
the firft veflels they found upon the coaft. Their
afifociates, who had failed in their own veflels,
were not much better provided. Weak however
as they were, they beat feveral times the fquadrons
that were fitted out againft them. But thefe vic-
tories were prejudicial to them^ as they interrupt-
ed
S HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
OOK ed their navigation. When there were no more
-J . t fhips to be taken, they were continually obliged
to make defcents upon the coafts to get provi-
fions; or to go by land in order to plunder thofe
cities where the booty was fecured. They iuc-
cefiively attacked Seppa, Puebla-Nuevo, Leon,
Realejo, Puebla-Viejo, Chiriquita, Lefparfo, Gra-
nada, Villia, Nicoya, Tecoanteca, Mucmeluna,
Chiloteca, New-Segovia, and Guayaquil, the moft
confiderable of all thefe places.
MANY of them were taken by furprife, and
mofl of them deierted by their inhabitants, who
fled at the fight of the enemy j taking, however,
the precaution of carrying off with them their
valuable effects. The Spaniards never ventured
to defend themfelves, unlefs they were at leaft
twenty in number to one, and even then they were
beaten. They were fo much degenerated, that
they loft all ideas of the art of war, and were even
unacquainted with the uie of fire-arms, They
were even more ignorant and cowardly than the
Americans they trampled upon. This want of
courage had increafed from the terror the name
of a Buccaneer infpired them with. The monks
had drawn them in the fame colours in which they
reprefented devils, as anthropophagi, beings who
had not even the appearance of humanity > a fpe-
cies of monkies, more miichievous than men.
Such 3 picture, the offspring of a wild and terri-
fied imagination, equally imprinted on every mind
averlion and terror. As the Spaniards always fled at
the approach of thefe monftersin human fhape, they
knew of no other method of revenging themfelves,
but
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 299
but by burning or cutting in pieces a Buccaneer. B o o K;
As foon as thefe adventurers had quitted the place \ ^j
they had plundered, and any of them had been
killed jn the attack, the body was dug up again,
mangled in different parts, or made to pafs through
the various kinds of torture, that would have been
pradifed upon the man had he been alive. This
abhorrence of the Buccaneers was extended even
to the places on which they had exercifed their
cruelties. The cities they had taken were excom-
municated; the very walls and foil of the places
which had been laid wafte, were anathematized,
and the inhabitants abandoned them for ever,
THIS rage, equally impotent and childifh, con-
tributed only to embolden that of their enemies.
As foon as they took a town, it was directly fet on
fire, unlefs a fum, proportioned to its value, was
given to fave it. The prifoners taken in battle
were malTacred without mercy, if they were not
ranfomed by the governor or fome of the inhabi-
tants: gold, pearls, or precious ftones, were the
only things accepted of for the payment of their
ranfom. Silver being too common, and too weighty
for its current value, would have been trouble-
fome to them. The chances of fortune, that fel-
dom leave guilt unpunished, nor adverfity without
a compenfation for its fuffering, atoned for the
crimes committed in the conqueft of the New
world, and the Indians were amply revenged of
the Spaniards.
BUT it happened in this, as it generally does in
events of this nature, that thofe who committed
fuch outrages, did not long enjoy the fruits of
them.
'joo HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B x K them. Several of them died in the courfc of thefc
v v i piracies, from the effects of the climate, from dif-
trefs or debauchery. Some were Ihipwrecked in
panning the flreights of Magellan and at Cape
Horn. Moft of thofe who attempted to get to
the northern fea by land, fell into the ambufcade
that was laid for them, and loft either their lives
or the booty they had acquired. The Englifh and
French colonies gained very little by an expedi-
tion that lafled four years, and found themfelves
.^deprived of their bravefl inhabitants.
\A $ WHILE fuch piracies were committed on the
\ fouthern ocean, the northern was threatened with
the fame by Grammont. He was a native of Paris,
by birth a gentleman, and had diftinguifhed him-
felf in a military capacity in Europe; but his paf-
fion for wine, gaming and women, had obliged
him to join the pirates. His virtues, perhaps,
were fufficient to have atoned for his vices. He
was affable, polite, generous, and eloquent : he
was endued with a found judgment, and was a
perfon of approved valour, which foon made him
be confidered as the chief of the French Bucca-
neers. As foon as it was known that he had taken
up arms, he was immediately joined by a number
of brave men. The governor, of St. Domingo,
who had at length prevailed upon his matter to ap-
prove of the project, equally wife and juft, of
fixing the pirates to fome place, and inducing
them to become cultivators, was defirous of pre-
venting the concerted expedition, and forbad it in
the king's name. Grammont, who had a greater
fhare of fenfe than his aflbciates, was not on that
account
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 501
account more inclined to comply, and fternly re- B x K
plied : How can Lewis dif approve of a defign be is v_ -^i i
unacquainted with, and which has leen planned only
a few days ago ? This anfwer highly pleafed all the
Buccaneers, who directly embarked, in 1685, to
attack Campeachy.
THEY landed without oppofition. But at fome
diftance from the coaft, they were attacked by eight
hundred Spaniards, who were beaten and purfued
to the townj where both parties entered at the
fame time. The cannon they found there was im-
mediately levelled againft the citadel. As it had
very little effe6t, they were contriving fome ftrata-
gem to enable them to become mailers of the
place; when intelligence was brought that it was
abandoned. There remained in it only a gunner,
an Engliihman, and an officer of fuch fignal cou-
rage, that he chofe rather to expofe himfelf to the
greateft extremities, than bafely to fly from the
place with the reft. The commander of the Buc-
caneers received him with marks of diflinction,
generoufly releafed him, gave him up all his
effects, and befides complimented him with fome
valuable prefents : fuch influence have courage
and fidelity even on the minds of thofe, who feem
to violate all the rights of fociety.
THE conquerors of Campeachy fpent two months
in fearching all the environs of the city, for twelve
or fifteen leagues, carrying off every thing that
the inhabitants, in their flight, thought they had
preserved. When all the treafure they had col-
lected from every quarter was depofited in the
ihips, a propofal was made to the governor of the
province,
302 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B cy> K province, who flill kept the field, with nine hun-
* - -v ' dred men, to ranfom his capital city. His refufal
determined them to burn it, and demolifh the ci-
tadel. The French, on the feftival of St. Louis,
were celebrating the anniverfary of their king;
and in the tranfports of their patriotifm, intoxica-
tion, and national love of their prince, they burnt
to the value of a million of logwood; a part,
and a very considerable one too, of the ipoil they
had made. After this fingular and extravagant
inftance of folly, of which Frenchmen only could
boaft, they returned to St. Domingo.
THE little advantage which the Englifh and
French Buccaneers had made by their laft expedi-
tions upon the continent, had infenfibly led them
to have recourie to their ufual pyratical expedi-
tions upon the fea. Both were employed in attack-
ing the fhips they met with ; when a particular
train of circumftances again engaged the French
in that courfe which every thing had rendered
them diffatisffed with. The powerful influence
that the words glory, country, and gold carry with
them, determined twelve hundred of them to join
a fquadron of feven ihips, that failed from Eu-
rope in 1697, under the command of Pointis, to
attack the famous city of Carthagena. This was
the moft difficult enterprife that could be attempted
in the New world. The fituation of the port, the
ftrength of the place, the badnefs of the climate,
were fo many obftacles that feemed infurmountable
to any but fuch men as the Buccaneers were. All
nations concurred in conferring on them the glory
they had acquired by their fuccefs; but they were
bafely
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 3 d
bafely deprived of the advantages refulting from it. B x K
The rapacious commander, who had gained booty, u -,-^
cftimated at forty millions of livres*, fcruplednotas
foon as they fet fail, to offer forty thoufand crowns f
for the fhare of thofe who had been the chief inftru-
ments in procuring him fo confiderable a fpoil.
THE Buccaneers, exafperated at this treatment,
refolved immediately to board the vefTel, called
tbe Scepter, where Pointis himfelf was, and which,
at that time, was too far diftant from the reft of
the (hips, to expect to be a'ffiited by them. This
avaricious commander was upon the point of be-
ing mafTacred, when one of the male-contents
cried out: Brethren, why Jhould ive attack this raf-
cal? he has carried off -nothing that belongs to us.
He has left our fhare at Carthagena, and there we
muft go to recover it. This propofal was received
with general applaufe. A favage joy at once fuc-
ceeded that gloomy melancholy which had feized
them, and without further deliberation all their
Ihips failed towards the city.
As foon as they had entered the city without
meeting with any refiilance, they fhut up all the
men in the great church, and fpoke to them in the
following words: " We are fenfible that you con-
" fider us as men void of faith and of all religion,
" as devils rather than men. The opprobrious
<c language you affect to make ufe of when you
tf fpeak of us, and the refufal you have made to
" treat with us of the lurrender of your city, are
cc evident indications of the lentiments you enter-
" tain of us. You lee us here armed, and capable
* 1,750,000!. t 5.250!.
" of
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
". of avenging ourfelves. The palenefs vifible
tc upon your countenances 4 , convinces us that you
<f expect the molt fevere treatment, and your
te confcience teftifies that you deferve it. We
" ihall foon undeceive you, and convince you
<c that we do not deferve the infamous appella-
" tions you load us with : but that they belong
<f rather to the general under whofe command we
{( have lately fought. The traitor has deceived
ce us. Though he owes the conqueft of this city
ff to our valour, he yet refufes to Ihare the fpoils
" of it with us, and by this inftance of injuflice
" has compelled us to return to you. We
c< do it with regret, and the moderation we Ihall
" iliew will be a proof of it. We pledge our faith
c< to you, that we will immediately retreat as foon
<e as you have paid us five millions of livres*j
cc this is the utmoft of our claim. But if you re-
<e fufe us fo equitable a demand, the greateftdif-
<f trefles await you, the caufe of which you can only
<c afcribe to yourfelves, and the infamous Pointis,
<c whom you are at liberty to load with all kinds
" of execrations. "
AFTER this difcourfe, the moft venerable prieft
in the city mounted the pulpit, and made ufe of
the influence that his character, his authority, and
his eloquence gave him, to perfuade his hearers to
yield up without referve all the gold, filver, and
jewels they had. The collection, which was made
after the fermon, not furnilhing the fum requir-
ed, the city was ordered to be plundered. From
the houfes they proceeded to pillage the churches,
* 218,750!.
and
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
and even the tombs, but not with that fucccfs they
expected, and they concluded by torturing the
principal inhabitants.
Two of the citizens of the greateft diflinction
were feized, and feparately ,queitioned where the
public money and that of the individuals was de-
pofited. They declared they knew nothing of*
the matter;. but their aufwer was accompanied
with fo much fimplicity as well as firmnefs; that
the pirates would not make ufe of any feverities
againft them. It was, however, agreed, that they
fhould apparently be killed, by difcharging feve-
ral ihots at them. Two other citizens were then
called; whofe behaviour wasfimilar to that of the
former, and the fame ceremony was practifed up-
on them. It was publickly given out that all the
four had been killed, and that all thofe who fhould
perfift in the fame obftinate filence, fhould be
treated in the fame manner. This proclamation
proved extremely fucce&ful, for above a million*
was brought in the very fame day; and fome fur-
ther, contributions were made fome days after.
The adventurers, at length, defpairing to add any
thing to what they had already amafied, let fail.
Unfortunately they met with a fleet of Dutch and
Englifh fhips, both thofe nations being then in
alliance with Spain. Several of the pirates were
either taken or funk, with all the cargo they had
on board their fhips ; the reft eicaped to St. Do-
mingo.
SUCH was the laft memorable event in the hif-
toryof the Buccaneers. The feparation of the
* 43.75 1-
VOL, III, X EnglifK *
3 c6 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK Englifh and French, when the war, on account of
c_^-_ ; the Prince of Orange, divided the two nations :
the fuccefsful means they both made ufe of to
promote the cultivation of land among their colo-
nies, by the affiftance of thefe enterprifing. men,
and the prudence they fhewed in fixing the moil
diftinguiihing among them and intruding them
with civil and military employments : the protec-
tion they were both under a neceflity of affording-
to the Spanifh fettlements, which till then had
been a general object of plunder , all thefe cir-
cumftances, and various others, befides the im-
pofiibility there was of fupplying the place of thefe
remarkable men, who were continually dropping
off, concurred to put an end to a fociety,. as extra-
ordinary as ever exifted. Without any regular
fyftem, without laws,, without any degree of fub-
rdination, and even without any fixed revenue >
they became the aftonifhment of that age in which
they lived,, as they will be alfo of poflerity. They
would have conquered all America, if conqueft
and not piracy had been th-e motive of their
actions.
ENGLAND* France and Holland had fcnt at
different times confiderable fleets into the New
world. The intemperance of the climate, the want
of fubfiftcBCt, the dejection of the troops, rendered
the bed concerted fchemes unfuccefsfuL Neither
f thefe nations acquired any national glory,: nor
made any confiderable progrefs by them. Upon
the very fcene of their difgrace, and on the very
ifpot where they were fo fhamefully repulfed, a
fmall number of adventurers,, who had no other re-
fourccs
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. J
fources to enable them to carry on a war, but what B x
the war itfelf afforded them, fucceeded in the moft v^.^
difficult enterprifes. They fupplied the want of
numbers and of power, by their activity, their vi-
gilance, and bravery. An unbounded pafiion for
liberty and independence, excited and kept up in
them that energy of foul that enables us to under-
take and execute every thing; it produced that
vigour, that fuperiority in action, which the moft
approved military difcipline, the moft powerful
combinations of ftrength, the beft regulated go-
vernments, the moft honourable and moft ftriking
rewards and marks of distinction, will never be
able to excite.
THE principle which actuated thefe extraordi-
nary and romantic men, is not eafily difcovered.
It cannot be afcribed to want : the earth they trod
upon, offered them immenle treafures, collected
ready to their hand by men of inferior capacities.
Can it then be imputed to avarice? But would
they then have fquandered away in a day the fpoils
acquired in a whole campaign ? As they properly
belonged to no country, they did not therefore
facrifice themfelves for its defence, for the ag-
grandizing its territories, or revenging its quar-
rels. The love of glory, had they known it,
would have prevented them from committing fuch
numberlefs enormities and crimes, which caft a
(hade on all their brighteft actions. Neither could
a fpirit of indolence and eafe ever make men rufh
into conftant fatigues, and fubmit to the greateft
dangers,
X a WHAT
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENT'S AND TRADE
WHAT then were the moral caufes that gave
rife to fo fmgular a fociety as that of the Buccaneers ?
That country, where nature feems to have obtain-
ed a perpetual and abfolute power over the moft
turbulent paffionsj where the intemperate riot and
intoxication occafioned by public feftivals, was ne-
ceffary to rouze men from an habitual ftate of le-
thargy , where they lived fatisfied with their tedi-
ous and indolent courie of life : that country be-
came at once inhabited by an ardent and impe-
tuous people, who from. the fcorching heat of their
atmofphere, feemed to have carried their fenti-
ments to the greateft excefs, and their paffions to
a degree of phrenzy. While the heats of a burning
.climate enervated the old conquerors of the New
world; while the Spaniards, who were fo reftlefs
and turbulent in their own country, enjoyed with
conquered Americans a life habituated to eafe and
melancholy j a fet of men, who had come out of
the rnoft temperate climates in Europe, went under
the equator to acquire powers unknown before.
IF we are defirous of tracing the origin of this
revolution, we may perceive that it arifes from the
Buccaneers having lived under the (hackles of Eu-
ropean governments. The fpirit of liberty being
reprefTed for fo many ages, exerted its power to a
degree almoft inconceivable, and occafioned the
moft terrible effects that ever appeared in the mo-
ral world. Reftlefs and enthufiaftic men of every
nation joined themfelves to thefe adventurers, as
foon as they heard of the fuccefs they had met
with. The charms of novelty, the idea of and
defire excited by diftant objects, the want of a
change
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 3
change in fituation, the hopes of better fortune, B x
the impnlfe which excites the imagination to the < c
undertaking of great actions, admiration, which
eafily induces men to imitation, the ne-ceffity of
getting the better of thofe impediments that are
the confequences of imprudence, the force of ex-
ample, and the being equally partakers of the
fame good and bad fortune' among thofe who have
frequently aflbciated together; in a word, the
temporary ferment which all the elements toge-
ther, with feveral accidental circumftances, had
raifed in the minds of men, alternately elevated to
the greateft profperity, or funk in the deepefl dif-
trefs, at one time flained with blood, at another
plunged into voluptuoufncfs, rendered the Bucca-
neers a people wholly diftincl: in hiftory; but a
people whofe duration was fo tranfient, that its
glory lafled, as it were, but a moment.
WE are, however, accuflomed to confider thefe
ruffians with a kind of abhorrence. This they de-
fervej as the inftances of fidelity, integrity, difin-
tereftednefs and generofity, they fhewed to one
another, did not prevent the outrages they perpe-
tually committed againft mankind. But amidft
fuch enormities, it is impoffible not to be ftruck
with a variety of brave and noble actions, that
would have reflected honour on the moft virtuous
people.
SOME Buccaneers hud agreed for a certain fum
to el'cort a Spanifli fliip, very richly laden.. One
of them ventured to propofe to his companions to
enrich themfclves at once, by making themfclvcs
mailers of the Ihip. The famous Montauban,
X 3 who
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
> K TV
X.
BOOK wno W as the commander of the troop, had no fooner
heard the propofal, than he defired to refign the
command, and to be fet on fhore. What! re-
plied theie brave men, would you then leave us ?
Is there any one who approves of the treachery
that you abhor? A council was immediately held;
and it was determined that the guilty perfon
fhould be thrown upon the rirft coaft they came
to. They took an oath, that fo difhoneft a man
ftiould never be admitted in any expedition in
which any of the brave men prefent fhould be con-
cerned, as they would think themfelvesdifhonoured
by /uch a connection. If this is not to be looked
upon as an inftance of heroifm, muft we then ex-
pect to meet with heroes in an age, in which every
thing great is turned into ridicule, under the idea
of enthufiafm?
esufesthat AMERICA had fcarcely recovered from the ra-
fheTnrl vages fhe had iuftained; fhe had icarce begun ,to
SJh* be lenfible of the advantages fhe derived from the
in 11 " iflduftry of the Buccaneers, who were now become
conqueit in citizens and hufbandmen; when the Old world ex-
5uring"th e hlbitcd the fcene of fuch a revolution, as alarmed
spani/i. 1 * 10 and terrified the New. Charles the Second, king
fuc,effi<n. O f Spain, had juft ended a life of trouble and
anxiety. His fubjecls perfuaded that a defcen-
dent of the houfe of Bourbon alone, was able
to preferve the monarchy entire, had urged him,
towards the clofe of his life, to appoint ^he
duke of Anjou his fucceflbr. The idea of hav-
ing the government of two and twenty kingdoms
devolve to a family that was not only his rival,j
but his enemy, had filled him with the mofl
gloomy-
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 311
gloomy apprehenfions. But after feveral internal B K
ftruggles, and numberlefs marks of irrefoliition, v ^L^
he at laft prevailed upon himfelf to fhew an exam-
ple of juflice, and greatnefs of foul, which the
natural weaknefs of his character gave little reafon
to expect from him.
EUROPE, tired out for half a century, with the
haughtinefs, ambition, and tyranny of Lewis
XIV., exerted its combined forces to prevent
the increafe of a power already become too for-
midable. The fatal effects of a bad adminiftra-
tion had entirely enervated the Spaniards; the
fpirit of fuperflition, and confequently of weak-
nefs, that prevailed then in France, had procured
iiich advantages to the league, as are hardly to be
paralleled from the union of feveral powers againft
a fingle one. This league gained an influence,
that was increafed by the victories, equally glo-
rious and beneficial, it obtained every campaign.
Both kingdoms were foon left without ftrength or
fame. To add to iheir misfortunes, their cala-
mities were a general object of joy, and none
were touched with a fenfe of compaflion at the
miferies they experienced,
ENGLAND and Holland, after having profufely
Javiflied their blood and trcafures in defence of the
Emperor, thought it necefTary to attend to their
own interefts in America, This country invited
them to rich as well as eafy conquefts. Spain,
fmce the deftruction of its galleons at Vigo, had
no ihips; and France, after having experienced
that fatal reverfe of fortune that had reduced her
X 4 to
3 ia HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK to the loweft ebb, had neglected her navy. This
v *'-.. inattention was owing to a diftant caufe.
LEWIS XIV. was, in his earlier age, ambi-
tious of every thing that might add to his glory,
and confequently imagined, that without a navy,
the fplendor of his reign would in Come degree
be diminifhed. It is more than probable, that he
confidered his fleet only as one of the means that
would tend to fill all nations with admiration, to
punifh the Genoefe and Algerines, and convey the
terror of his name to the extremities of the globe.
Had he, in that plan of greatnefs he was defirous
of acquiring to himfelf/ confidered a naval power
as apart of it, he would have imitated Cromwell,
and encouraged navigation, which fupports a ma-
rine by commerce. Falfe ideas of things mifled
him in this particular. In proportion as the reft-
leilhefs of his temper drew upon him frefli ene-
mies, and that he found himfeif obliged to main-
tain a greater number of troops in conftant pay;
that the frontiers of the kingdom were extended,
and that his forts were more numerous, the num-
ber of his {hips decreafed. He made ufe of part
of the funds that were deflined to eftablifh his ma-
ritime power, even before his neceflities obliged
him to it. The frequent removals of the court,
public buildings that were either ufelefs or too
magnificent, objects of oilentation or of mere
pleafure, and various other caufes, equally trifling,
drained the money that ought to have been em-
ployed in fupporting his navy. From that time,
this part of the power of France began to grow
weak: it infenfibiy declined, and was entirely loft
2 in
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES'. 3 j 3
in the misfortunes of the war that was raifed for BOOK
the Spanifh fucceflion. , *' t
AT this period the acquifitions the Spanifh and
French had made in the Weft-Indies, were not put
in a Hate of defence. They were, therefore, the
more likely foon to become the property of Great
Britain and the United Provinces; the only mo-
dern nations who had eftablifhed their political in-
fluence upon the principles of commerce. The
vaft difcovcrie.s of the Spaniards and Portuguefe,
had given them, indeed, an exclufive pofTeffion
of thofe treafures and productions that leemed to
promife them the empire of the world, if riches
could obtain it: but thefe nations, intoxicated as
they were with the love of gold and the idea of
conquefr, had never in the leaft fufpedted that their
poflefllons in the New world could fupport their
power in the old. The Englifh and Dutch went
into the contrary extreme, building their opinions
upon the fyftem of the influence they fuppofed
America muft neceirarily give to Europe. A fyf-
tem which they not only mifapplied, but carried
to excefs.
THESE two nations, one of which had no natu-
ral advantages, and the other very inconfiderable
ones, had from the earliefl period difcovered the
true principles of commerce, and purfued them
with greater perfeverance than might have been
expected from the different fituations they had
been engaged in. Accidental circumftances hav-
ing at firft animated the induftry of the pooreft
of thefe nations, fhe found herfelf very quickly
equalled by her rival power, whofe genius was
more
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
more lively, and whoferefourceswere much great-
er. The war, occafioned by a fpirit of induftry,
and excited by jealoufy, loon degenerated into
fierce, obftinate and bloody engagements. Thefc
were not merely fuch hoftilities as are carried on
between two different people; the/ refembled ra-
ther the hatred and revenge of one private man
againft another. The neceflity they were under
of uniting, in order to check and reftrain the power
of France, fufpended thefe hoftilities. The fuc-
cefs they met with, which was, perhaps, too rapid
and decifive, revived their former animofity.
From the apprehenfion they were under, that each
ftate was labouring for the aggrandizement of the
other, they entirely neglected the invafion of
America. Queen Anne, at length, availing herfelf
of a favourable opportunity for concluding a fe-
parate peace, procured fuch advantageous terms,
as gave the Englifh a great fuperiority over their ri-
vals the Dutch. From that time England became
of the greateft importance in the political fyflem
of Europe, and Holland was totally difregarded.
THE years fucceeding the peace of Utrecht
revived the ideas of the golden age to the world,
which would be always in a fufficient ftate of tran-
quillity, if the Europeans did not difturb its peace,
by carrying their arms and their diflentions into
every quarter of the globe. The fields were now
no more covered with dead bodies. The harveft
of the hufbandman was not laid wafte. The failor
ventured to fail in every fea without dread or pi-
rates. Mothers no more faw their children forced
from them to lavifli their blood at the caprice of
a weak
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
a weak monarch, or an ambitious minifter. Na-
tions did no longer unite to gratify the paffions of
their fovereigns. For fome time, men lived toge-
ther as brethren, as much, at leaft, as the pride of
princes and the avidity of the people would allow.
THOUGH this general happinefs was to be attri-
buted to thofe who held the reins of government,
yet the improvement of reafon contributed, infome
degree, to produce it. Philofophy then began to
lay open and recommend the fentiments of bene-
volence. The writings of fome philofophers had
been made public or difperfed among the people,
and contributed to polilh and refine their man-
ners. The fpirit of moderation had infpired men
with the love of the more ufeful and pleafmg arts
of life, and abated, at leaft, the defire they till
then had of deftroying one another. The thirft
of blood feemed to be aflwaged, and all nations,
with the afiiftance of the difcoveries they had
made, ardently fet about the improvements of their
population, agriculture, and manufactures.
THIS fpirit of activity exerted itfelf principally
in the Caribbee iflands. The ftates upon the con-
tinent can fubfift, and even flourifh, when the rage
of war is kindled in their neighbourhood and
on their frontiers; becauie the principal object of
their attention is the culture of their lands, their
manufactures, their fubfiftence and internal con-
fumptions. The cafe is very different with regard
to thofe fettlements that different nations have
formed in the great Archipelago of America. In
thefe, life and property are equally precarious.
None of the neceiraiiei> of life are the natural pro-
duce
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
duce of the climate. Wearing apparel and the
inftruments of hufbandry are not even made in the
country. All their commodities are intended for
exportation. Nothing but an eafy and fafe com-
rhunication with Africa, with the northern coafts
of the New world, but principally with Europe,
can procure thefe iflands that free circulation of
the neceffaries of life they receive, and of thofe
fuperfluities they give in exchange for them. The
more the colonifts had fuffered from the effects of
that long and dreadful commotion that had
thrown every thing into confufion, the greater
was their vigilance in endeavouring to repair the
lofTes their fortunes had fuftained. The very hopes
entertained that the general weaknefs would in-
fure a lafting tranquillity, encouraged the moft
cautious merchants to fupply the colonifts with
x goods in advance; a circumftance that contribut-
ed greatly to quicken the progrefs they made,
which, notwithftanding all their care and atten-
tion, would otherwife have been very flow. Thefe
afiiftances infured as well as increafed the profpe-
rity of the iflands, till a ftorm, that had been a
longtime gathering, broke out in the year 1739,
and difturbed the peace of the world.
The ;/Unds THE Englifii colonies, but chiefly Jamaica, had
of Ameri- carried on a contraband trade with the Spanifh fet-
eiufe of the 'dements in the New world, which cuftom had long
1739? made tnem confider as lawful. The court of Ma-
drid, becoming better acquainted with its interefts,
concerted meafures to put a Hop to, or at leaft to
check this intercourle. The plan might poflibly
be prudent, but it was neceffary it fhould be put
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
in execution with equity. If the fhips that were
intended to prevent this fraudulent trade had only
feized upon thofe vefiels that were concerned in it,
this meafure would have deft-rved commendation.
But the abufes irreparable from violent rrieafures,
the eagernefs of gain, and, perhaps, too a fpirit of
revenge, incited them to flop, under the pretext
of their carrying on a contraband trade, many
fhips which in reality had a legal destination.
ENGLAND, whofe fccurity, power and glory is
founded upon commerce, could not very patiently
differ even her ufurpations to be reftrained; but
was highly incenfed when fhe found that thefe
hoftilities were carried to an excefs inconfiitent with
the law of nations. In London, and in the houfe
of parliament, general complaints were made
againft the authors of them, and invectives againft
the minifter who fuffered them. "Walpole. who
had long ruled Great Britain, and whofe character
and abilities were better adapted to peace than
war, and the Spanifh council which fhewed lefs
fpirit as the itorm increafed, concerted together
terms of reconciliation. Thole fixed upon, and
figned at Pardo, were not approved by a people
equally inflamed by its interests, its refentments,
,and by party fpirit, and efpecially by the number
of political writings that were conftantly publifhed
on the fubject.
ENGLAND teems daily with numberlefs produc-
tions of the prefs, in which all the concerns of the
nation are treated with freedom. Among thefe
writings fome are judicious, written by men of
undcrftanding, or citizens well informed and zea-
loui
5,8 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK lous for the public good. Their advice contri-
* J butes to difcover to the public their true interefts,
and to aflift the operations of government. Few
ufeful regulations of internal ceconomy are adopt-
ed in the ftate, that have not firft been pointed
out, modelled, or improved in fome of thefe
writings. Unhappy are the people who are de-
prived of fuch an advantage. But among the few
fenfible men, who ferve to enlighten their coun-
try, numbers are to be met with, who either from
a difguft to thofe in power, or from a defire of
falling in with the tafte of the people, or from
fome perfonal motives, delight in fomenting a
fpirit of diflention and difcontent. The means
generally made ufe of for this purpofe, are to
heighten the pretenfions of their country beyond
their juft and legal bounds, and to make the peo-
ple confider the fmalleft precautions taken by other
powers for the prefervation of their pofleflions, as
vifible encroachments. Thefe exaggerations, equal-
ly partial and falfe, eftablifli prejudices, the effects
of which occafion the nation to be conftantly at
war with its neighbours. If government, from a
defire of preferving the balance of juftice between
itfelf and other powers, Ihould refufe to yield to
popular prejudices, it finds itfelf, at length, under
a necefllty of doing it.
THE mob of London, the moft contemptible
of any in the univerfe, as the people of England
confidered in a political view, are the firft people
in the world; abetted by twenty thoufand young
men, the fons of diftinguifhed merchants, befet
the parliament houfe with clamours and threats,
8 and
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 3
and influence its deliberations. Such tumults are B x
frequently excited by a party in the parliament y
itfelf. Thefe defpicable men, once rouzed, revile
the moft refpectable citizen, who has incurred
their difpleafure, and been rendered fufpicious to
them: they fet fire to his houfe, and fcandaloufly
infult the moft facred characters. The tumult can
never be appeafed, unlefs they force the miniftry
to yield to their fury. This indirect, though con-
tinual influence of commerce upon the public
meafures, was, perhaps, never fo fenfibly felt as
at the period we are fpeaking of.
ENGLAND began the war with much fuperior
advantages. She had a great number of failors
on foot. Her ftore-houfes filled with warlike am-
munitions, and her dock-yards were in the moft
flourifhing condition. Her fleets were all manned
and ready for fervice, and commanded by experi-
enced officers, who waited only for orders to fet fail,
and fpread the terror and glory of her flag to the
extremities of the world. Walpole, by neglect-
ing fuch great advantages, muft not be cenfured
as having betrayed his country. In this particular
he is above fufpicion, fince he was never even ac-
cufed of corruption, in a country where fuch
charges have been often made without being be-
lieved. His conduct, however was not entirely
irreproachable. The apprehenfion he was under
of involving himfelf in difficulties that might en-
danger his adminiftrationj the neceflity he found
of applying thofe treafures in military operations,
that he had amafled to bribe and fecure to himfelf
a party, joined to that of impofing new taxes,
which
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
which muft neceffarily raife to the higheft degree
the averiion that had been entertained both for his
perfon and principles: all thefe and fpme other
circumftances occafioned an irrefolutionin his con-
duel that was attended with the moft fatal con-
fequences. He loft time, which is of the utmoft
importance in every expedition, but particularly
decifive in all naval operations.
THE fleet that Vernon commanded, after hav-
ing deft-rdyed Porto-Bello, was ynfuccefsfui at
Carthagena, rather from the badnefs of the cli-
mate, the mifunderftanding and inexperience of
the officers, than the value of the garrifon. An-
fon's fleet was loft at the doubling of Cape Horn,
which fome months fooner might have been per-
formed without danger. If we were to judge of
what he might have done with his whole fquadron,
from what he actually performed with a {ingle fhip,
it is not improbable but that he would. at leaft have
ihaken the empire of the Spaniards in the South
Sea. A fettlement that was attempted in the ifland
of Cuba was not proiperous. Thofe who intend-
ed building a city there, all died. General Ogle-
thorpe, after having 'opened the trenches for thir-
ty-eight days, was forced to rafe the fiege of fort
St. Auftin in Florida, vigoroufly defended by Ma-
nuel Montiano, who had time enough to prepare
himfelf againft the attack.
THOUGH the firft efforts of the Englifli againft
Spanifh America were not fuccefsful, yet the
alarm was not appeafed. The navy, the cha-
racter, and government of the Englifh, were three
great reiburces they had ftill left, fufficient to make
the
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
the Spaniards tremble. In vain did France unite
her naval powers, to aft in conjunction with thofe
of Spain. This confederacy neither checked the
intrepidity of the common enemy, nor animated
the minds of fuch as were overwhelmed with fear.
Fortunately for both nations, as well as for Ame-
rica, the death of the emperor Charles the Vlth,
had kindled in Europe an obltinate war, in which
the Britifh troops were detained^ to fupport an in-
tereft that was extremely doubtful. The hoftili-
ties, commenced in diftant countries with fuch
great preparations, terminated at laft infenfibly in
a few piracies, that were committed on both fides.
The moft remarkable event that happened at that
time, was the taking of Cape-Breton, which ex-
pofed the fiihery, commerce and colonies of
France, to the greateft dangers. This valuable
pofleffion was reftored to the French at the peaces
but the treaty that gave it up, was not lefs the ob-
ject of cenfure.
THE French, ever influenced by a fpiritof chi-
valry, that has fo long been the dazzling folly of
all Europe^ imagine the facrifice of their lives fuf-
ficiently compenfated, if it has contributed to ex-
tend the frontiers of their country; that is to fay^
v/hen they have compelled their prince to the ne-
ceflity of governing them with lefs attention and
equity than he did before j but if their territory
remains the fame as it was before the war, they
then think their honour is loft. This rage for
conquell, cxcuiable indeed in a barbarous age,
but which more enlightened ones fhould never be
reproached with, threw cfifgrace on the peace of
VOL. III. Y Aix-
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
Aix-la-Chapelle, which reftored to Auftria all the
places that had been taken from her. The na-
tion, too trifling and capricious to attend to po-
litical difcuflions, could not be convinced, that by
forming any kind of eftablifhment for the in-
fant Don Philip, an alliance with Spain was effec-
tually fecured ; that fhe herfelf was thereby en-
gaged to adjuft, with the houfe of Auftria, fome
interefls of the greateft importance ; that by be-
coming guarantees to the king of Pruffia for Sile-
fia, two rival powers would in confequence of fuch
an arrangement be formed in Germany -, to pro-
duce which happy effect had been the labour and
care of two centuries : that by reftoring Friburg,.
and thofe towns in Flanders that had been de-
ftroyed, they would be eafily retaken, if war
fhould again be declared and carried on with vi-
gour : befides, that the number of land forces
might always be very eafily diminifhed of fifty-
thoufand men,, and the faving which fuch a reduc-
tion would produce, might and ought to be em-
ployed in increafmg the navy.
IF therefore the French nation had not even
been obliged to attend to the management of its
affairs at home, which, were then in a very alarm-
mg ftate ; if her credit and commerce had not
been entirely ruined;, if fome of her moft confi-
derable provinces had not been ki the greateft dif-
trefs; if fhe had not loft the key of Canada; if her
colonies, had not been threatened with certain and
immediate invafion; if her navy had not been fo
entirely deftroyed, as fcarcely to have a fhip left
to. fend into the New world j, and if Spain had not
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 32$
been upon the point of concluding a feparate trea- B x K
ty with England: independent of all thefe cir- * \r '
cumftances, yet the peace, that was then made,
would have deferred the approbation of the moft
fenfible and judicious men.
THE eafewith which Marfhal Saxe could pene^
trate into the internal provinces of the Netherlands,
was an object that particularly attracted the French*
It will readily be allowed, that nothing feemed
impofiible to the victorious arms of Lewis XV. j
but it may be thought paradoxical to aflert, that
the Englifh were extremely defirous of feeing the
Dutch fubdued. If the republic, which could not
pofllbly feparate itfelf from its allies,, had been
conquered, its inhabitants, filled as they were with
ancient as well as prefent prejudices againfl the
government, laws, manners and religion of their
conqueror, would hardly have fubmitted to his
dominion. Would they not certainly have con-
veyed their people, their Hock, and their in-
duftry to Great Britain? And can there be the
leaft doubt whether fuch confiderable advantages
would not have been infinitely more valuable to
the Englifh, than an alliance with the Dutch ?
To this obfervation let us venture to add an-
other, which though not attended to before, wilJ,
perhaps, not feem lefs evident. The court of Vi-
enna has been thought either very fortunate, or
very fkilful, to have been able by the means of ne-
gociations, to have wrefted out of the hands of
the French thofe places which had been taken
from her during the war. But would fhe not have
been more fortunate, or more fkilful, had fhe uf-
Y * fered
324 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
f
r enem y to keep P art of tne conquefts ob-
tained over her? That period is now palled, when
the houfe of Au ftria was equal, or, perhaps, fupe-
rior to the houfe of Bourbon. Policy, therefore,
fhould have engaged her to intereil other powers
in her fortune, even from the loiTes fhe had fuf-
tained. This ihe might have effected by facrific-
ing fomething, apparently at leaft, to France. Eu-
rope, alarmed at the increafing power of this mo-
narchy, which is naturally an object of hatred,
envy and fear, would have renewed that fpirit of
animofity that had been iworn againft Lewis
XIV.; and more formidable leagues would ne-
ceflarily have been formed in confequence of fuch
fentiments. This general difpofition of the people
was more likely to have recovered the greatnefs of
the new houfe of Auftria, than the re-acquifition
of a diftant and limited territory, always open to
an attack.
IT is probable, however, that the French ple-
nipotentiary who managed the negociation, as
well as the minifter who directed it, would have
feen through the artifice. We do not even fcru-
ple to aflert, that neither of thefe ftatefmen had
any view of extending the French dominions. But
would they have found the fame penetration to
unravel political defigns in the council, to which
they were refponfible for their conduct? This is a
point we cannot prefume to determine. All go-
vernments are generally inclined to extend their
territories, and that of France is, from its confti-
tution, equally fo.
But
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. '325
. BUT whatever truth there may be in thefe re- B x K
flections, it muft be allowed, that the expectations ^ v t
of the two French minifters, who fettled the peace,
were difappointed. The principal object they had
in view was the prefervation of the colonies, that
.had been threatened by the enemy. But as foon
as the clanger was over, this unbounded fource of
opulence was neglected. France kept on foot a
large body of troops, retained in her pay a great
part of Germany, and acted in the fame manner
as if another Charles V. . had threatened her
frontiers; or another Philip II. could have thrown
the internal parts of the kingdom into con-
Jufion by his intrigues. She was not fenfible that
her fuperiority upon the continent was acknow-
ledged, that no fingle power could venture to at-
tack her; and that the event of the lad war, and
the arrangements fettled by the laft peace, had
rendered the union of feveral powers againft her
impoffible. A number of apprehenfions equally
weak and trifling difturbed her tranquillity. Her
prejudices prevented her from perceiving that fhe
had only one enemy really deferving her attention,
and that this enemy only could be retrained by a
confiderable fleet.
THE F,nglilh, naturally more inclined to envy
the profperity of others than to enjoy their own,
are not only defirous of becoming rich, but of be-
ing exclufively fo. Their ambition is gain, as that
of the Romans was empire. They do not properly
feek to extend their dominions, but their colo-
nies. Commerce is the fole object of all the
wars they are engaged in, and the defire of en-
Y 3 grofling
J26 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B x K g r fii n 11L a ^ to themfelves, has made them per-
v ' form many great actions, and commit the mod
flagrant acts of injuftice. This pafilon is fo power-
ful that even their philofophers are not free from
it. The celebrated Mr. Boyle ufed to fay, that it
would be a commendable action to preach chrifti-
anity to the favages; becaufe, were they to know
only fo much of it as would convince them of their
obligation to wear clothes, it would prove of great
fervice to the Englilh manufactures.
America A SYSTEM of this nature, that the Englifh have
ufeof fcarcely ever loft fight of, difcovered itfelf more
the war in openly in 1755, than it had ever done before.
The rapid improvements made in the French co-
lonies furprifed every attentive mind, and awaken-
ed the jealoufy of the Englifh. Afhamed how-
ever, to let it appear at firft, they concealed it for
fome time under myflerious difguifes ; and a peo-
ple who have pride or modefty enough to term
negociations the artillery of their enemies, did not
fcruple to employ all the windings and artifices of
the moil infidious policy.
FRANCE, alarmed at the confufed ftate of her
finances, intimidated by the fmall number of her
fhips, and the inexperience of her admirals; fe-
diiced by a love of eafe, pleafure and tranquillity,
favoured the attempts that were made to deceive
her. In vain did fome able ftatefmen continually
urge that Great Britain was and ought to be dcfi-
rous of a wan and that fhe was compelled to be-
gin it before the naval eftablifhment of her rival
had attained to the fame degree of perfection as
her trading navy. Thefe causes of apprehenfion
feemcd
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES* 527
feemed abfurd in a country where trade had been
hitherto carried on by a fpirit of imitation only;
where it had been lhackled by every fpecies of
reftraint, and always facrificed to finance; where
it had never met with any real encouragement,
and men were, perhaps^ ignorant that they were
in pofTeffion of the moft valuable and richeft com^
merce in the world. A nation, that was indebted
to nature for a moft excellent foil ; to chance for
her colonies; to the vivacity and pliancy of her
difpofition for a tafte in thofe arts which vary and
increafe the enjoyments of life; to her conquefls
and her literary merit, and even to the difperfion
of the proteflants fhe had unfortunately loft, for
the defire excited in other countries of imitating
her : this nation that would be too happy, were
fhe permitted to enjoy her happinefs, would not
perceive that fhe might be deprived of fome of
thefe advantages, and infenfibly fell a facrifice to
thofe arts employed to lull her into fecurity.
When the Englifh thought there was no further
occafion to difTemble, they commenced hoftilities,
without having previoufly paid any attention to
thofe formalities that are in ufe among civilized
people.
THOUGH a declaration of war were only a mere
ceremony between nations, which feem to be bound
by no ties as foon as they intend to maflacre one
another; yet it is very evident, that the Britifh
miniftry were more than doubtful of the injuftice
of their conduct. The timidity of their meafures,
the perplexity of their operations, the prevaricat-
ing modes of juftification they adopted, and the
Y 4
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE;
influence they in vain exerted to make parliament-
approve fo fcandalous a violation; thefe, with fe-
yeral other circumstances, plainly difcovered the
guilt of their proceeding. If thofe weak minif-
ers of fo great a power had been as bold in com-?
mitting crimes, as they appeared regardlefs of the
laws of virtue, they would have formed a project
of the moil extenfive nature. When they unjuit-
ly gave orders to attack all the French fhips upon
the northern coaft of America, they would have
extended thefe orders to every fea. The ruiq
of the only power that was capable of making
any refiftance, would have been the necefiary con-
fequence of fuch a ftrong confederacy. Its fail
would have intimidated all other nations, and
whereyer the ErjgUiri flag had appeared, it would
have commanded obedience in every quarter of
the worlcj. A lucccfs fo remarkable and decifive
would have made the multitude overlook the vio-
lation of public right, would havejuftjfied it to the
political world, and the remonftrances of the wife
would have been loft in the clamours of the igno-
rant and,, ambitious.
The be- A TIMID, but equally unjuftifiable conduct, was
the war is attended with very contrary effects. The council
abie'IoVhe of .George II. .was hated as well as dclpifed
EnglHh. over a jj ur0 p ei and the events correfponded tq
fhefe fentiments. France, though unexpectedly
attacked, was victorious in Canada, gained confi T
derable advantages by fea, took Minorca, and
threatened London itfelf. Her rival was then fen-
fible of the truth of what men of underftanding
had long fmce obferved in England, that the
French
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
French united the greateit contrarieties in their
character; that they blended virtues and vices,
marks of weaknefs and flrength that had always
been thought inconliftent with each other j that
they were brave, though effeminate ; equally ad-
dicted topleafure and glory j ferious in trifles, and
trifling in matters of importance; ever difpofed to
war, and ready to attack : in a word, mere child-
ren, fuffering themfelves, as the Athenians of
old, to be difquieted and moved to anger for real or
imaginary intereftsj fond of enterpriies and action,
ready to follow any guide, and comforted in the
greateft misfortunes with the moll trifling luccefs.
The Englifh, who according to a vulgar, though
ftrong expreffion of Swift's, are always in the cel-
lar cr in the garrst, and know no medium, began
then to be too much afraid of a nation that they
had imjuftly defpiled. A fpirit of defpondency
fi -.led to that of prefumption.
THE nation, corrupted by the too great confi-
dence it had placed in its opulence; humiliated
by the introduction of foreign troops, and by the
moral character and inability of its governors;
weakened too by the collifion of factions, which
keep up an exertion of ftrength among a free
people in times of peace, but which deftroy their
power in times of war: the nation, difgraced, af-
toniflied, and uncertain what meafures to purfue;
equally fenfible of the diflrefles it had already been
expofed to, as of thofe it forefaw, was incapable
of exerting itfelf to avenge the one, or prevent
the other. All zeal for the common caufe was
confined to the granting of immenfe fupplies.
That
3
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
5K T
X
BOOK That the coward is fooner difpofed to part with
his money than the brave man in order to ward
off the danger, and that the prefent critical fi-
tuation of" affairs required them not to confider
who fliould pay, but who fhould ftand forward to
fight j thefe were truths, which at that time feemed
to have been forgotten.
THE French, on their part, were dazzled with
fome inftances of fuccefs that were of no confe-
cjuence. Prefuming, that the furprife their ene-
mies had been thrown into, was a proof of their
weaknefs, they involved themfelves further than
was confiftent with their intereft, in the diflurb-
ances that then began to divide the German
powers.
A SYSTEM, which, if unfuccefsful, mufl have
been attended with the greateft difgrace, and if
fortunate, muft have been .deflructive in the end,
ferved to confound them. Their levity made them
forget, that . a few months before,, they had ap-
plauded the wife and enlightened ftatefman, who
being defirous to avoid a land war, which fome
minifters were willing to enter into from their
defpairing of fuccefs at fea, had, with the vivacity
and confidence peculiar to genius, addrefled him-
felf to them in the following words: Gentlemen,
faid he, let* us all, who are here prefent in council,
go out with torches in our hands, and fet fire to all
cur Jhips^ if they are ufelefs to our defence, and are
cnly conducive to make cur enemies infult us. This
political infatuation threw them into the greateft
difficulties. Errors of the cabinet were followed
by military faults. The management of the army
8 was
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
was fubjected to the intrigues of the court. A
feries of bad fuccefs was the confequenceof a per-
petual change of commanders. This light and
fuperficial nation did not perceive, that even fup-
pofing, what indeed was impoflible, that all thofe
who were fuccefiively intmfted with the direction
of the military operations, had really been men of
abilities, yet they could not contend with advan-
tage againft a man of genius, afiifted by one of
diftinguifhed capacity. Misfortunes made no al-
teration in the plan that had been formed, and the
changes of generals was endlefs.
WHILE the French were thus deceived, the
Englifh, from a fpirit of dejection, were inflamed
with the utmoft refentment : they changed a mi-
nifter who hadjuftly excited general diflatisfaction,
and placed at the head of affairs a man who was
equally an enemy to timid meafures, to the royal
prerogative, and to France. Though this choice
was the confequence of that fpirit of party which
caufes the greateft revolutions in England, yet it
was fuch as the circumftances of the time re-
quired. William Pitt, a favourite from his youth
in the three kingdoms, on account of his integrity
and difmtereftednefs, his zeal againft corruption,
and his inviolable attachment to the intereft of
the public, had a foul formed for great defigns;
was diftinguifhed by a fpecies of eloquence that
never failed to captivate the minds of his hearers,
and by a character equally firm and enterprifing.
He was ambitions to make his country rife fuperior
to all others, and at the fame time to raife his own
fame. His cnthufiafm fired a nation, which will
always
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
always be infpired by a love of liberty. The ad-
miral who had fuffered Minorca to be taken, was
arrefted, thrown into prifon, accufed, tried, and
fentenced to death. Neither his rank, abilities, fa-
mily nor friends, could protect him from the rigour
of the law. His own fhip was fixed upon as the
ipot where the fentence parTed upon him was to be
put in execution. All Europe, at the news of this
melancholy event, was ftruck with aftonifhment,
blended with admiration and horror. It recalled the
memory of the ancient republics. The death of
Byng, whether he was guilty or not, proclaimed
in the moft alarming manner to thole who were
employed by the nation, what fate they mult ex-
peel, if they betrayed the confidence repofed
in them. Every man faid within hjmfelf in the
initant of battle: It is on this field I mud die,
rather than with infamy on a fcaffold. Thus the
blood of one man, accufed of cowardice, was pro-
ductive of a fpirit.of heroifm.
THIS fyftem of holding out an example of ter-
ror to fubdue the irnpreilions of fear, was further
ftrengthened by an emulation, that feemed tq
promife the revival of public fpirit. Dimpation,
pleafure, indolence, and often vice and a cor-r
ruption of manners,^ cccafion warm and frequent
Connections in moft kingdoms of Europe. The
JEnglifh have lefs intercourfe and connection
with each other; they have, perhaps, lefs tafte
for focial life than other nations j but the idea of
any project that may be ferviceable to the flate,
immediately unites them, and they feem, as it
were, animated by one foul. All ranks, parties,
and
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 353
and feels, contribute to infure its fuccefs, and with B x
fuch liberality as cannot be paralleled in thofe v ^ '
places where the notion of a particular native
country does not prevail. This z^al is more re-
markably diftinguifhed when the nation has placed
an implicit confidence in the minifter who has the
direction of public meafures. As loon as Mr. Pitt
was made prime minifter, a marine fociety was
eftablifhed, which perceiving that there appeared
a remifihefs in general to enter into the fea fervice^
and difapproving the cuftom of prefling men into
it, invited the children of the pooreft clafs in the
three kingdoms, to become fhip boys, and their
fathers failors. They undertook to pay the ex-
pences of their voyage ; to take care of them in
ficknefs; to feed, clothe, and furnilh them with
everything neceflary to preferve their health during
the time they were to be at lea. The king, ftruck
with this inftanceof patriotifm, gave them 22,500
livres*; the prince of Wales 9OOolivresf, and
the princefs of Wales 4500^. The actors of the
different theatres, whole abilities have not been
treated with contempt by this enlightened nation,
acted their beft plays for the increafe of fo re-
fpectable an eftablilhment. The theatres were
never fo much crouded as on this occafion. A
hundred of thefe fhip boys, and a hundred of the
failors, clothed from a zeal that may truly be held
facred, appeared upon the ftage; a decoration
this furely not inferior to that arifmg from the
multitude of lights, the elegance of drefs, and
the brilliancy of jewels.
'984!. ~s. 6d. f39?l. i>s. 1196!. 175. 6d.
THIS
3 3 4 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B cy> K THIS public zeal and attachment to the interefts
* J of the nation animated the minds of all the Eng-
ilflTaJe" 8 " lift, and the effects of it were difplayed in the
*oufed difference of their conduct. They ravaged the
trotn their J
Uthargv, coafts of their enemies j beat them every where by
andfeize ... . .
-the French tea.-, intercepted their navigation, and gave a check
5Ln* P . amfh to all their forces in Weftphalia. They drove
them out of North-America, Africa, and the
Eaft-Indies. Till Mr. Pitt became minifter, all
the expeditions of the nation, made in diftant
countries, had been unfuccefsful, and muft ne-
ceffarily have been fo, becaufe they had been ill-
concerted. He, on the contrary, planned fuch
prudent and ufeful defigns; his preparations were
conducted with fo much forefight and difpatch;
his means were fo well adapted to the ends he
wanted to obtain; he made fuch a prudent choice
of the perfons whom he intrufted with his de-
figns j he eftablifhed fuch harmony between the
land and fea forces, and raifed the fpirits of the
Englifh to fuch a height, that his whole admini-
ftration was a feries of conquefts. His mind, ftill
fuperior to this glory, made him defpife the idle
clamours of thofe who cenfured his profufions.
He ufed to fay with Philip, father of Alexander
the Great, That viftory was to be purchafed by mo-
ney , and that money muft not be fyared at tbe expence
of viffory.
BY fuch a conduct, and fuch principles, Mr.
Pitt had at all times and in all places triumphed
over the French. He purfued them to their mod
valuable iflands, even to their fugar plantations.
Thefe pofTeffions, fo juftly prized for their riches,
were
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 335
were not, however, better fecured. The fortin- B x K
cations that were creeled there, were conftrucled *
without judgment, and were in a ruinous ftate.
Ever fmce the beginning of hoftilities, all inter-
courie between thefe great fettlements and the
mother-country, had been at an end. They could
neither receive fubfiftence from it, nor enrich ic
with their productions. The buildings neceffary
for the carrying on of agriculture, were a heap of
ruins. The mailers and the flaves, equally defti-
tute of the neceffaries of life, were obliged to feed
upon the cattle deftined for the works of hufban-
dry. If any rapacious navigators ever reached
them, it was through fo many dangers, that the
colonifts were obliged to pay for what they bought
of thefe traders at a very advanced price, and to
give them in exchange whatever they chofe to take
from them at the loweft. Though the colonifts
did not call in the aid of any foreign power to
their afliftance, yet it was not to be expected, that
their attachments to their mother-country would
induce them to make a vigorous defence againil
an enemy that might put an end to their dif-
trefies.
IN this fituation of affairs, ten fhips of the line,
fome bomb-ketches, and frigates, with five thou-
fand land-forces, failed from England,, and arrived
at Gaudalupe. They appeared before the town
on the 2 id of January 1759, and the next day
bombarded the town of Bafle-Terre. If the be-
fiegers had known how to take advantage of the
terror they had fpread, the iQand would have
made a. very ihort refinance : but the flownefs, ti-
mid ity
356 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B x K m idity, anc ^ irreiblution of their operations af-
v J forded the garrifon and the inhabitants leifure to
fortify themfelvcs in a pafs that was at the diftance
of two leagues from the place. From this fpot
they flopped the progrefs of the enemy, who were
equally diftrefied from the heat of the climate and
the want of provifions. The Englifh, defpairing
of making themfelves matters of the colony on
this fide, proceeded to attack it in another quar-
ter, known by the name of Grande-Terre. It
was defended by a fort called Fort Lewis, which
made ftill lefs refiftance than that of Bafle-Terre,
that had furrendered in four and twenty hours.
The conquerors were again guilty of the error
they had before fallen into, and futfered the fame
inconveniencies from it. The event of the expe-^
dition began to be doubtful, when Harrington, who
fucceeded to the command at the death of Hop-
fon, changed the plan of operations. He gave
up the idea of penetrating into the country, and
re-imbarked his foldiers, who fucceflively attacked
the houfes and villages upon the coafts. The ra-
vages they committed, obliged the colonies to
i'ubmit. The whole ifland, after three months de-
fence, furrendered on the 1 1 ft day of April, up-
on very honourable terms of capitulation.
THE troops that had obtained this victory did
not engage in this expedition, till they had inef-
fectually threatened Martinico. Three years after,
Great Britain revived a defign that had been too
haflily given up* but greater preparations and
more effectual means were employed to carry it
kito execution. On the i6th of January 1762,
eighteen
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 337
eighteen battalions, under the command of ge- B x K -
ncral Monckton, and eighteen (hips of the line < j '
commanded by admiral Rodney, the firft fent from
North America, and the latter from Europe, ap-
peared before the capital of the illand. The land-
ing of the troops the next day was foon effected,
without difficulty and without lofs. To take
pofieflion of the eminences that were fortified and
defended by Fort Royal, feemed to be a matter
not fo cafily accompliflied. Thefe obftacles, how-
ever, were after ibme warm engagements fur-
mounted, and the place that would foon have been
reduced to afhes by the bombs, capitulated on
the pth of February; and the whole colony did
the fame on the ijth. It is probable that the
profperity of Guadalupe under the Britifh go-
vernment, contributed to bring about this gene-
ral furrender; which might and ought to have
been delayed longer. Granada and the other
Leeward iflands, whether fubject to France, or
which, though peopled by Frenchmen, were neu-
tral, furrendered themfelves, without making any
refiftance. *
EVEN St. Domingo, the only poflcflion the
French itill retained in the Archipelago of Ame-
rica, was likely to fall into the hands of the Eng-
lifh; and its lofs feemed to be not far diftant. If
it had not even been known that this was the firil
conqueft Great-Britain would attempt, yet it could
not be fuppofed that it would efcape its avidity.
Would this ambitious nation have checked the ca-
reer of its own fuccefTes fo far as to give up all
thoughts of a conqueft that would have com-
VOL. III. Z pletcd
33 3 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK pl e ted its profperity ? This was a point that feem-
v^-^L t ed not to admit of a doubt. The colony was ge-
nerally known to be entirely without any means of
defence, either within or without, and therefore
incapable of making the leaft refiftance. It was
fo fenfible of its weaknefs, that it feemed difpofed
to furrender as foon as it fhould be fummoned to
do it.
THE court of France was equally aflonifhed and
alarmed at the loffes it had fuftained, and at
thofe it forefaw. It had expected fuch an obfti-
nate refiftance as would have been fuperior to eve-
ry attack. The defccndants of thofe brave ad-
venturers, who had fettled thefe colonies, feemed
a rampart fufficient to repel all the forces of the
Britifli empire. They almoft felt a fecret- fads-
faction that the Englifh were directing their efforts
towards that quarter. The miniilry had infpirecl
the nation with the fame confidence that poffeffed
them, and it was the mark of a bad citizen to
Ihew the leaft uneafmefs.
IT is an obiervation, we may now be per-
mitted to make, that events, which have once
happened, will^iappen again. A people whofe
whole fortune confifts in fields and paftures will,,
if influenced by any degree of fpirit, refolutcly
defend their poffeflions. The harveft of one year
is the utmoft they can lofe, and whatever calamity
they may experience, does not diftrefs them to
fuch a degree as to leave them without hopes of re-
covery. The cafe is very different with regard to
the wealthy cultivators of thefe colonies. When-
ever they take up arms, they run the rifque of
having the labours of their whole lives deftroyed,
their
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
their flaves carried off, and all the hopes of their B
pofterity either loft by fire or plunder: they will ^
therefore, always fu limit to the enemy. Though
i'atisfied with the government under which they
live, they are lefs attached to its glory than to
their own riches.
THE example of the firft colonifls, whole perfe-
verance could not be fhaken by the moft vigorous
attacks, does not affect the truth of this obferva-
tion. The object of the v/ar was then the acqui-
fition of territory, and the expulfion of the inhabi-
tants; at prcfent, a war waged againft a colony, is
directed only againft the fovercign of it.
THE plan of attacking Martinico was laid by
Mr. Pitt; though he was not in the miniftry when
it was fubduecL The refignation of this great
man drew the attention of Europe, and deferves
to be confidered by every one, who inveftigates
the caufes and effects of political revolutions. An
hiftorian, who ventures to write the tran factions of
his own age, hath feldonij it mult be granted^
fufficient lights to guide him. The councils of
kings are Ib fecrct, that time alone can gradually
withdraw the veil that furrounds them. Their
minifters, faithful depofitaries of the fc-crets they
have been intruded with, or intereded to conceal
them, explain themfelves no further than is fuffi-
cient to miflcad the curious inquirer, who wifhes
to difcover them. Whatever penetration he may
poffefs, in tracing the fource and connection of
events, he is at lad reduced to conjecture. If his
conjectures happen to be juft, dill he is ignorant
that they are fo, or cannot depend upon them;
Z 2 and
340 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK and this uncertainty is fcarcely more fatisfactory
^_^__/ than a total ignorance. He muft, therefore, wait
till prudence and intereft, fre^d from the reflraint
of filence, fhall unfold the truth; in a word, till
fome valuable and original records be produced
for public infpection, wherein the latent fprings
on which the deiliny of nations has depended.
Hi all be difcovered.
THESE reflections fhould fufpend the inquiries
of the man who wants only to attend to the pro-
grefs of political intriguesr But we are defirous of
penetrating into the foul of one of the greateft
men of his age, and perhaps, we can never do
it with greater propriety. The moil confpicuous
actions only of a man's life are tranfmitted to pof-
terity, which will, therefore, be. deprived of a va-
riety of fimple and artlefs details, that enlighten
the mind of an obferver, who lived at the time
they happened.
MR. PITT, after having refcued England from
the kind of difgrace it had been expofed to in the
beginning of the war, arrived to a height of fuc-
cefs that aftonifhed all the world. Whether he
forefav/ this, or not, he did not feem to be embar-
raflfed with it, and refolved to carry it as far as he
could. The moderation which fo many ftatefmen
had affected before him, feemed to him to be only
a pretence to conceal their weaknefsjor their indo-
lence. He thought that all flates fhould exert
their power to the utmoft, and that there was no
inftance of one nation being able to become fupe-
rior to another and not affecting it. The parallel
that he drew between England and France con-
firmed
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
firmed him in his opinion. He perceived with B x
uneafmefs that the power of England founded ' *
upon a trade, which fhe might and would lofe,
was very inconfiderable, when compared with that
of her rival; which nature, art, and particular
circumftances had raifed to fuch a degree of
ilrength, under favourable adminiftrations, as had
made all Europe tremble. Scnfible of this truth,
he therefore determined to deprive France of
her colonies, and by confining her to the conti-
nent, diminifh her importance, and reduce her to
the ftandard of other nations.
THE means ncceffary to complete this project,
which was fo far advanced, appeared to him ab-
folutcly certain. While the imagination of weak
minds took fhadows for realities, the greateft dif-
ficulties appeared trivial to him. Though the
nation, of which he was the idol, was fome times
alarmed at his vaft and uncommon enterprifes, he
was not in the leaft difquieted about them ; be-
caufe, in his eyes, the multitude was like a tor-
rent, whole courfe he knew how to direct which
way he would.
PERFECTLY indifferent with regard to fortune, lie
was ftill more fo with regard to power. His fuc-
cefies had made his administration abfojute. With
the people he was a republican, with the nobles
and the fovereign he was a defpotic minifler. To
think differently from him .was a man; of being
an enemy to the common caufe.
HE availed himfelf of the fuperiority he had
gained, in order to excite the ardour of the peo-
ple. Little influenced by that fpecics of philofo-
z 3 phy>
342. HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
n x K phy, which, divefling itfelf of the prejudices of
' -V-- -' national glory, to extend its views to the welfare of
all mankind, tries every thing by the principles of
univerial reafon; he kept up a violent and favage
fpirit of enthufiaim, which he called, and, per-
haps, believed, to be a love of his country ; but
which was, in reality, nothing more than a ftrong
averfion for the nation he wanted to opprefs.
FRANCE was as much difcouraged by this fpirit
of inveteracy, that conftantly purfued her, as by
the diftrefles Ihe had undergone. The diminu-
tion, the exhaufted flate, or, to fay the truth, the
total ruin of her naval powers, afforded her a dif-.
couraging profpeft for the future. The expecta-
tion that a fortunate fuccefs by land might occa-
fion a change in the face of affairs, was merely
imaginary. If one of their fquadrons had dertroy-
ed one or feveral of thofe of her rival, the Eng-
lilh would not have renounced any of their claims.
This is one general rule; and another is, that
whenever any power has acquired a very deter-
mined fuperiority at fea, it can never lofe it in the
courfe of the war; more particularly, if that fupe-
riority can be traced from a diftant caufe, and
cfpecially if it proceeds partly from the character
of the nation. The fuperiority of one continent
above another depends entirely on the abilities of
a fmgle man, and may be loft in a moment: on
the contrary, fuperiority at fea, as it refults from
the vigilance and intereft of each individual in the
ftate, muft always increafe, particularly when it
is encouraged by national conftitution : a fudden
jnvafion can only put a flop to it.
No*
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 343
Nothing but a general confederacy could have BOOK
reftored the balance of power j the impoffibility v
.of which Mr, Pitt plainly faw. Fie knew the re-
ftraints by which Holland was confined, the po-
verty of Sweden and Denmark-, the inexperience
of the Ruffians, and the little regard that feveral
of thefe powers paid to the intereft of France.
He was confcious alfo of the terror which the Eng-
]iih forces had fpread among them all, the miftruft
they entertained of each other, and the apprehenfion
that each of them muft have, that they fhould
be diftrefled before they could receive afiiftance.
THE affairs of Spain were particularly circum-
ftanced. The ravages that laid wafte the French
colonies, and which every day increafed, might
afily extend to the fettlement of the Spaniards.
Whether this kingdom was not, or would not be
fenfible of the danger that threatened it, its ufual
indolence accompanied it with regard to thefe great
objects. At length, upon a change of minifler, a
new fyflem took place. Don Carlos endeavoured
to extinguifh the flame; but it was too late. His
overtures were received with a contemptuous
haughtinefs. Mr. Pitt, having deliberately confi-
dered the extent of his power, anfwered every pro-
pofition that was made, in the following manner:
I will lift en to them^ faid he, when you have taken the
Tower of London fword in band. This mode of ex-
preffion might difguft, but it was impofing.
SUCH was the fituation of affairs, when the
court of France thought herfelf obliged to make
overtures of peace to that of Great-Britain. Both
courts were equally apprehenfive, and with good
Z 4 reafon,
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
reafon > that Mr. Pitt would oppofe them. He
confented to enter into a negotiation j but the
event fhewed, as fenfible politicians had conjec-
tured, that his intention was not to continue it,
His defign was only to furnifh himfelf with iuffi-
cient proofs of the engagements that the two
branches of the houfe of Bourbon had entered into
againft Great-Britain, and to lay them before his
country. As foon as he had gained this intelli-
gence, he broke off the negociation, and propofed
declaring' war againft Spain. The fuperiority of
the naval power of England above that of both
thefe kingdoms, and the affurance he had that
it would be infinitely better directed, infpired him
with this confidence.
Mr. Pitt's fyftem appeared to diftinguilhed poli-
ticians, the only important, and indeed, the only
reafonable one. The Englilh nation had contract-
ed fuch a load of debt, that it could neither free
itfelf from it, nor fupport it, without opening to
itfelf new fources of opulence. Europe, tired
out with the grievances Great-Britain had made
her fubmit to, waited impatiently for an opportu-
nity to difable her oppreifor from continuing them.
The hcufe of Bourbon could not but preierve a
ftrong refentment for the injuries it had fuffered,
and for the loffes it had fuftained; it could not
but make fecret preparations, and gradually work
up a fpirit of revenge to which a combination of
all its forces might infure fuccefs. Thefe motives
obliged Great-Britain, though a commercial pow-
er, to aggrandize itfelf for its fupport. This cruel
necefiity was not fo fenfibly felt by the council of
George
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
George the Third as Mr. Pitt dcfired. Modera-
tion appeared to him a work of weaknefs or of in-
fatuation, perhaps of treachery; and he refigned
his poft, becaufe he was not allowed to be the de-
clared enemy of Spain.
MAY we venture to form a conjecture? The
Englifh miniftry plainly faw that there was no
poffibility of avoiding a frefh war; but equally
tired out and difgraced by the power Mr. Pitt haci
afllimed, they were defirousof reftoringthatfpiritof
equality which is thel'pring of a republican govern-
ment. Defpairing of being able to raife themfelves
upon a level with a man fo highly efteemed, or of
making him ftoop to them, they united their forces
to effect his ruin. As open attacks would only have
turned againft themfelves, they had recourfe to
more artful methods, They attempted to four his
temper; the natural fire of his character laid him
open to fuch a ihare, and he fell into it. If Mr.
Pitt refigned his poft through peevifhnefs, he de-
ferves to be cenfured for not having fupprerTed or
mattered it. If he hoped by this expedient to
humble his enemies, he fhewed he had greater
knowledge of affairs than of men. If, as he af-
ferted, he reilgned, becaufe he would no longer
be refponfible for the meafures he did not guide,
we may be allowed to think that he was more
ftrongly attached to his own peribnal glory, than
to the interefts of his country. But whatever may
h?.ve been the caufeof hisrefignation, nothing but
the blindeft, moft unjuft, and moft violent par-
tij.licy can venture to aflert, that his virtues and
abilities were merely the eftect of chance.
BUT
34 6 EISTCRY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK BUT however this may be, the firft ftep the new
. .^-,-j miniftry took was conformable to the principles of
Mr. Pitt; and this was a kind of homage they
were compelled to pay him. It was thought ne-
ceffary to declare war againft Spain, and the We{t
Indies were to be the fcene of thefe new hoftili-
ties. Experience had already difcouraged them
from making any attempts on the continent of
America, and all their views were turned towards
Cuba. Men of fenfe and understanding perceived
that the taking of this ifland would not be at-
tended with any apprehenfion of vengeance from
the other colonies ; that the empire of the gulph
of Mexico would be fecured ; that the enemy,
whole riches arofe principally from the amount of its
cuftoms, would be deprived of all their refources^
that the whole commerce of the continent would
be feized upon, and the inhabitants would chufe
rather to deliver up their riches to the conqueror
of their country, than to give up thofe commodi-
ties they had been ufed to receive from Europe ;
in a word, that the power of Spain would be fo
much reduced by this confiderable lofs, that it
would be obliged to fubmit to any terms.
AGREEABLE to this idea, a fleet, confifting of
nineteen fhips of the line, eighteen frigates, and
about a hundred and fifty tranfports, with 10,000
troops- on board, which were to be joined by 4000
more from North- America, fet fail for the Havan-
nah. To arrive at this formidable place, it was
determined to pafs through the old ftreight of Ba-
hama, not fo long in extent, though more danger-
ous than the new one. The obstacles that were
to
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 347
to be expeded in this paffage little known, and BOOK
too little attended to, were fuccefsfully furmount- .*
cd in a manner worthy the reputation that admi-
ral Pocock had acquired- On the 6th of July he
arrived at the place, of his deftination; and the
landing of the troops was effected without any op-
pofition, at the diflance of fix leagues eaftward of
thofe dreadful fortifications that were to be taken.
THE operations by land, were not fo well con-
ducted as thofe by fea. If Albemarle, who had
the command of the army, had been a man of
abilities, equal to the commifTion he was intruded
with, he would have begun his attack by the city.
T,he fmgle dry wall that covered it, could not
have held out four and twenty hours. It is
probable, that the generals, the council, and the
regency, who muft infallibly have fallen into his
hands by this fuccefs which might fo eafily have
been obtained, would have refolved to capitulate
for the Moro. At all events, he would thus have
prevented the fort from receiving any afiiftance or
provifions that werefupplied from the city during
the fiege, and have fecured the moft likely means
to reduce it in a very Ihort time.
THE plan he purfued of beginning his opera-
tions by the attack of the Moro, expofed him to
great diftrefles. The water that was near him was
\mwholefome, and he found himfelf under a ne-
ceility of procuring fome at three leagues diftance
from his camp. As the (loops that were fent for
this purpofe might be attacked, it was thought
neceflary to poft a body of fifteen hundred men
on the eminence of Aroftigny, at a quarter of a
league's
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
o K league's diftance from the town, in order to pro~
Y ' tecl them. This body of troops entirely detached
from the army, and which could not be withdrawn
or fupported but by fea, was perpetually in danger
of being cut off.
ALBEMARLE, who might have judged of the
difpofition of the enemy from their not molefting
the troops pofted at Aroftigny, Ihould have placed
another body of men upon the public road leading
to the city. By this ftep he would have been able
almoft to furround it j he would moft undoubtedly
have diitreffed it by famine, prevented all removal
of the effects into the country, and opened a lefs
dangerous communication with Aroftigny, than
by the detachments he was conftantly obliged to
fend, in order to fupport this advanced body of
troops.
THE fiege of the Moro was carried on without
opening the trenches. The foldiers advanced to-
wards the ditch, and were covered only with bar-
rels of flints, which were, at length, exchanged
for facks of cotton, that were taken out of fome
merchant fhips arrived from Jamaica. This want
of forefight occafioned the lofs of a great number
of men, always of great value, but more efpecial-
ly fo in a climate, where difeafes and fatigues
caufe fo great a confumption of them.
THE Englifh general, having loft a great part
of his army, and finding the neceflity, for want
of troops, of reimbarking in a few days, deter-
mined to attempt {forming the caftle; but a large
and deep ditch cut in the rock was firfl to be
paffed,
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 349
pafiecl, and no preparations had been made to fill B x K
it up. ' v '
IF the faults of the Englifh were very confider-
able, thofe of the Spaniards were flill greater.
Though apprized above a month before that war
had commenced between the two nations, they
were not rouzed from their lethargy. The enemy
was already upon their coafls, and they had made
no provifions of balls of a proper fize for their
cannons, nor of cartridges ; neither had they one
fingle gun, or even a firelock fit to make ufe of.
THE great number of officers of the land and
fea fervice who were at the Havannah, occafioned,
during fome days of the fiege, a great uncertainty
in the reiblutions that could not but be favourable
to the befiegers.
THREE Ihips of war were funk, to flop up the
entrance into the port, which the enemy could
not pafs. The road into the harbour was by this
means damaged, and three great Ihips loft to no
purpofe.
THE moft common prudence would have fug-
gefted that the twelve men of war that were at the
Havannah fhould have been got ready to fail.
They could not poflibly be of any fervice in de-
fending the place, and it was a matter of fome
confequence to fave them. But this was neglected.
Neither did the precaution occur of fetting them
on fire, although this was the only way left to
prevent them from falling into the hands of the
enemy.
THE deflrudtion of the body of Englilh troops
polled at Aroftigny, .where they could not receive
i anv
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND
any affiflance, might have been eafily effected.
This check would have put the befiegers to fome
difficulty in procuring water, would have deprived
them of men, intimidated them, retarded their
operations, and infpired the Spanifh forces with
fome degree of confidence. But far from making
fo eafy an attempt, they did not attack, even in
the open part of the country, any of the Englifh
detachments, though compofed entirely of infan-
try, and v/hich might have been oppofed by a re-
giment of dragoons and a great number of militia
that were provided with horfes.
THE communication of the city with the inter-
nal parts of the country was fcarce ever inter-
rupted, and yet none of thofe who had a fhare in
the adminiftration, ever thought of conveying the
royal treafure into the inland parts, to prevent its
falling into the hands of the enemy.
THE lad inflance of neglect ferved to complete
the whole. In the middle of the ditch had been
left a piece of rock terminating in a point, and
ftanding by itfelf. The Englifh placed upon this
a few tottering planks, which reached from the
breach to the counterfcarp. A ferjeant, with fif-
teen men, pafied over them at one' in the after-
noon ; and concealed themfelves among fome
ftones that had fallen down. They were followed
by a company of grenadiers and fome foldiers.
When they had collected about a hundred men, in
the fpace of an hour, they got upon the breach,
under no apprehenfion of being difcovered, and
found no men placed there to defend it. Velafco,
indeed, informed of what had happened, haftened
to
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 35,
to fave the place; but he was killed in coming B *
up, and his death putting the Spanifh troops that ^ >
followed him into confufion, they furrendered to a
handful of men. The neglect of placing a cen-
tinel to obferve the motions of the enemy lodged
upon the ditch, occafioned this event. A few days
after, a capitulation was entered into, for the
city, for all the places of the colony, and for the
whole ifland. Independent of the great import-
ance of this victory in itfelf, the conquerors found
in the Havannah about forty-five millions* of
filver, and other valuable effects, which fully in-
demnified them for the expences of the expedi-
tion.
THE lois of Cuba, the center of the power of AJvint*sn
Spain in the New world, made peace as neceflary cSTS**
to the court of Madrid, as it could poffibly be $".!?'*
to that of Verfailles, whole diftrefles were now ^^^>
brought to the higheft pitch. The Englilh mi-
ni flry, at that time, conferred to a peace ; but it
fecmed a matter of much difficulty to fettle the
conditions. The fuccefies of Great Britain had
been aftonifhing in North and South America.
But, however ambitious fhe might be, Ihe could
not flatter herfelf with the hopes of retaining all
the conquefts fhe had made. It was reaibnable to-
flippofe that fhe would give up the pofleflions fhe
had gained in North America, as the advantages
Ihe might expect from them were diilant, incon-
fiderable and uncertain,* and that Ihe would be
content with refer ving -to herfelf the fugar colonies-
Ihq had lately acquired, which the Mate of her fi-
* 1,968,750!.
5 nances
352 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK nances feemed more particularly to require. The
< ^ i increafe of her cuftoms, that was a necefiary con-
fequence of fuch a fyftem, would have procured
her the beft finking fund that could have been
imagined, and which mufl have been fo much the
more agreeable to the nation, as it would have
been obtained at the expence of the French. This
advantage would have been attended with three
others very considerable. It would, in the firft
placej have deprived a rival power, and formidable,
notwithftanding the faults it had committed, of
its richeft branch of trade. Secondly, it would
have contributed to weaken it, from its being
under a neceffity of defending Canada; a colony,
which, from the nature of its fituation, muft be
detrimental to a nation that had long neglected
its navy. Laftly, it would have kept New-Eng-
land in a clpfer and more abfolute dependence
on the mother-country, a part of America that
would always want to be fupported againft a reft-
lefs, active and warlike neighbour.
BUT though the council of George III. fhould
have thought it necefTary to reftore to their
enemies a bad country of the continent, and to
referve the valuable iflands, yet they would not,
perhaps, have ventured to adopt fo judicious a
meafure. In other countries the faults of the
minifters are imputed only to themfelves, or to
their kings, who punifli them for their mifcon-
duct. In England, the errors of adminiftration
are generally the errors of the nation, who infift
upon obedience to their will, though guided by
caprice.
THE
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 353
THE Englifh, who have complained of the B X OK
terms of the lail peace, when they have been < ^ >
Ihewn how far fhort they fell of the advantages
they expecled from them, had, however in fome
rneafure, dictated thofe very terms themfelves by
the tenor of their complaints, either previous to, or
during the war. The Canadians had committed
fome outrages, and the favages many acts of cruelty
in the Englifh colonies. The peaceable inhabi-
tants, terrified at the diftreffes they fuffered, and
more fo at thofe they feared, had cauied their
clamours to be heard even in Europe. Their
correfpondents, interefted to obtain them a fpeedy
and powerful redrefs, had aggravated their com-
plaints. Thofe writers, who eagerly lay hold of
every circumftance, that can render the French
odious, had loaded them with every fpecies of in-
vedtive. The people, exafperated by the report
of the fhocking fcenes that were perpetually pre-
iented to its imagination, wilhed to fee a flop put
to thefe barbarities.
ON the other hand, the inhabitants of the fugar
colonies, fatisfied with the carrying on of their
own commerce and gaining a part of that of their
enemies, were very quiet. Far from wifhing the
conqueft of their neighbours fettlements, they
rather dreaded it, confidering it as deftructive to
themfelves, though advantageous to the nation.
The lands of the French are fo much fuperior to
thofe of the Englilh, that no competition could
pofiibly have taken place. Their allies were of the
fame opinion, and followed the example of their
moderation.
VOL. III. A a THE
354 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B o^o K THE confeqnence of fo contrary apian of con-
> v ,i duct was, that the nation was extremely indifferent
about the fugar colonies, but very anxious to ac-
quire what they wanted in North America. The
miniftry, which, in England, can never fupport
its authority againft the people, or, at leaft, cannot
long maintain itfelf fuccefsfully againft its ge-
neral odium, turned all their views to this object,
and found France and Spain readily difpofed to
adopt fuch a fyftem. The courts of Madrid and
France gave up to the Englifh all their former
poffeflions, from the river at t. Lawrence up to
the Miflifippi. Befides this, France ceded the
iQands of Granada and Tobago, and confented
that the Englifh fhould keep the iflands of St.
Vincent and Dominica, ' that had been confidered
x ss neutral, provided that, on her part, fhe might
appropriate St. Lucia to herielf. On thcfe con-
ditions, the conquerors reftored to the allied
powers all the conquefts they had made in Ame-
rica.
FROM this time England loft the opportunity,
which, perhaps, may never return, of feizing
all the avenues and making itfelf mafter of the
fources of all the wealth of the New world. Mexi-
co was in its power, as the Englifh only were in
poffeffion of the gulph that opens the way to it.
This valuable continent muft, therefore, foon have
become their property. It might have been al-
lured, either by the offers of an eafier govern-
ment, or by the flattering hopes of liberty : the
Spaniards might have been invited to {hake off
the yoke of the mother-country, which only took
up
IN TttE EAST AND WEST INDIES. Wr
up arms to diftrefs its colonies, and not to protect B x K
them; or the Indians might have been tempted to ' v '
break the chains that en/laved them to an arbi-
trary government. The whole face of America
might, perhaps, have been entirely changed, and
the Englifh more free and more equitable than
other monarchical powers, could not but be bene-
fited by refcuing the human race from the op-
prefilons they iuffered in the New world, and by
removing the injuries this oppreiTion has occafioned
to Europe in particular.
ALL thofe lubjeclsj who are vicYims of the fe-
vcrity, exactions, opprefllon, and deceit of arbitrary
governments; all thofe families that are ruined by
the raifing of foldiers, by the ravages of armies,
by the loans for carrying on war, and by the in-
fractions of peace; all men born to think and
live as men, inflead of obeying and becoming
fubje<ft like brutes, would have gladly taken re-
fuge in thofe countries. Thefe, as well as a mul-
titude of workmen without employment; of
hufbandmen without land; of men of fcience
without any occupation; and numbers of diftreflecl
and unfortunate perfons, would have fled into
thefe regions, which require only juft and civilized
inhabitants, to render them happy. Above all, the
peafants of the north, (laves to the nobility who
trample upon them, would certainly have been
invited there: thofe Ruffian peafants, who arc
employed as executioners to torture the human
race, inftead of cultivating and fertilizing the
earth. Numbers of them would certainly have
been loft in thefe tranfmigrations through extenfive
A a 2 feas,
356 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK. f e as, into new climates j but this would have been
v v ' an infinitely lefs evil than that of a tyranny, work-
ing by flow and artful means, and facrificing fo
many people to the wills of a frnall number of
men. In a word, the Englifli would be much
more glorioufly employed in fupporting and fa-
vouring fo happy a revolution, than in tormenting
themfelves in defence of a liberty, that excites the
envy of all kings, and which they endeavour by
every method to undermine and deftroy..
THIS is a wifh which,, though founded on jtiftice
and humanity, is yet, alas! vain in itfelf, as it
leaves nothing but regret in the mind of him that
formed it. Mufb then the defires of the virtuous
man for the profperity of the world,, be for ever
loft, while thofe of the ambitious and extravagant
are fo often favoured by cafual events ?
SINCE war has been the caufe of fo much evil,,
why does it not run though every fpecies of ca-
lamity that it may, at length, tend to procure
fome good. But what has been the confequence
of the laft war, one of thofe that has been the
mod diftrefsful to the human race ? It has occa-
fioned ravages in the four quarters of the globe ;
and has coft Europe alone above a million of its
inhabitants. Thofe who were not its victims, are
now diftreffed by it, and their pofterity will long
be oppreffed under the weight of the enormous
taxes it has given rife to. The nation, whom
victory attended in all parts, ftill feels the wounds
by which its triumphs were obtained. Its public
debt, which, at the beginning of the war, did
not
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 357
not exceed 1,617,087,060 livres*, arofe, at the
conclufion of the peace, to 3,330,000,000 livres f,
for which it muft pay an intereftof 111,577,490
livres J.
BUT it is time to quit the fubjecl of war. Let
us now proceed to confider by what means the na-
tions, who have divided the great Archipelago of
America, that has been the origin of fo many
quarrels and negociations, and has given rife to fo
many reflections, have been able to raife it to a
degree of opulence, that may, without exagge-
ration, be confidered as the firft caufe of all the
great events that at prefent difturb the peace of the
globe.
*7>747>55 81 - *?* 6d - t i45> 6
J 4,881,515!. 35. 9d.
A a 3 BOOK
3>3 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK XI.
The Europeans go into Africa to purchafejlavcs
to cultivate the Carlbbee iflands. The manner
of conducing this fpecies of commerce. Pro*
duce arifmgfrom the labour oftbejlaves.
oo K /CERTAIN reftlefs fugitives, the greateft part
\^J of whom had either been difgraced by the
laws of their country, or ruined by their excefles;
in this flate of defperation, formed a defig'n of at-
tacking Spanifhor Portuguefefhips that were rich-
ly laden with the fpoih of the New world. Some
defert iflands, whofe fituation infured fuccefs to
thefe piracies, ferved at firft for a place of rendez-
vous to thefe robbers, and foon became their coun-
try. Habituated to murder, they meditated the
maffacre of a plain and unfufpecting people, who
had received and treated them with humanity; and
the civilized nations, of which thefe Buccaneers
were the refufc, adopted this infamous Icheme
without hefitationi which was immediately put in
execution. It then became necefTary to confider
what advantages might accrue from fo many enor-
mities. Gold and filver, which were ftill looked
upon as the fole valuable productions to be deriv-
ed front. America, had -cither^ never exifted in fe-
ver al
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIF.S. 359
veral of thefe new acquifitions, or were no longer B K
to be found therein lufficient quantities to expecl '
any confiderable emoluments from working the
mines. Certain fpeculative men, k-fs blinded by
their prejudices than the multitude generally are,
imagined, that a foil and climate, fo totally diffe-
rent from ours, might either furnifh us with com-
modities to which we were ftrangers, or which we
were obliged to purchafe at an exorbitant price:
they, therefore, determined to apply themfelves to
the culture of them. There were fome obftacles,
apparently infurmountable to the execution of this
plan. The ancient inhabitants of the country were
now entirely deflroyed, and had they not been fo,
the weaknefs of their conftitutions, their habit of
eafe and indolence, and their invincible averfion
from labour, would fcarcely have rendered them
fit inftruments to execute the defigns of their op-
prerTors. Thefe barbarians too, born in a temperate
clime, could not fupport laborious works of agri-
culture under a burning and unwholefome iky.
Sclf-intereft, ever fruitful in expedients, devifed
the plan of feeking cultivators in Africa, a coun-
try in which the abominable and inhuman cuftom
of felling its inhabitants hath ever prevailed.
AFRICA is an immenfe region, connected to Afia
only by a narrow neck of land of twenty leagues, pe^s^o "
called the ifthmus of Suez. This natural and po- r, Atn
litical boundary, mutt fooner or later he broken '""J,^
down by the ocean, from that tendency it is ob-
ferved to have of forming gulphs and ftraits eaft-
ward. This great peninfula, cut by the equator
into two unequal parts, forms an irregular tri-
A a 4 angle,
360 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B xi K an S^ e ^ one f w Hfe fides fronts the eaft, the other
v ' the north, and the third the weft.
Opinions . THE. eaftern fide, which extends from Suez as
JheVaftlS! ^ r as the Ca P e of " Good Hope, is wafhcd by the
coaft of R e j Sea and the ocean. The interior parts of the
country are but little known,, and what has been
difcovered of them, can neither excite the merce-
nary views of the trader, the curiofity of the tra-
veller, nor the humanity of the philofopher. Even
the miffionaries after having made fome progrefs
in thefe countries, efpecially in Abyffinia, totally
difcouraged by the treatment they met with, have
abandoned thefe people to their inconftancy and
perfidy. The coafts are in general only dreadful
rocks, or a wafte of dry and burning fand. Thofe
portions, which are fit for cultivation, are par-
celled out among the natives of the country, the
Arabs, the Portugueie, and the Dutch, Their
commerce, which confifts only in a little ivory or
gold, and fome ilaves, is connected with that of
the Eaft-Indies,
Opinions THE northern fide, which extends from the
concerning jfthmus of Suez to the ftraits of Gibraltar, is
the northern . .
ert cf bounded by the Mediterranean. On this fide,
nine hundred leagues of coaft are occupied by
Egypt, and by the country, which has for feveral
centuries been known by the name of Barbary.
EGYPT, which was the nurfery of arts and fci-
encesj of commerce and government, offers no-
thing that can recall to the remembrance of the
learned the idea of its former greatnefs. Bending
under the yoke of defpotifm, which the ignorance
and fuperftition of the Turks have impofed on
her.
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 361
her, the folc intcrccurfe (he fcems to have with B x K
foreign nations by the ports of Damietta and of ' M '
Alexandria, ferves only to render them witnelTes
of her total decleniion and ruin.
THE fate of ancient Lybia, now Barbary, is no
lefs wonderful. The early periods of this exten-
five country are involved in the greateft obfcurity;
nor was any light thrown upon their hiflory till
the arrival of the Carthaginians. Thefe mer-
chants, originally of Phoenician extraction, about
a hundred and thirty-feven years before the foun-
dation of Rome, built a city, whofe territory, at
firft, very limited, in .procefs of time, extended
to all that country, known by the name of the
kingdom of Tunis, and afterwards much further.
Spain, and the greateft part of the iflands in the
Mediterranean fell under its dominion. Many
other kingdoms muft apparently have ferved to
aggrandize this enormous power, when her ambi-
tious views interfered with thofe of Rome. At
the time of this dreadful collifion, a war between
thefe two nations was inftantly kindled, and carried
on with fuch obftinacy and fury, that it was eafy
to forefee it would not terminate, but in the utter
deftruction of the one or the other. Rome, which
was now in the height of its republican and
patriotic principles, after many ftubborn engage-
ments in which the greateft military fkill was dif-
played, obtained a decifive fuperiority over that
which was corrupted by its riches. The commer-
cial people became the flaves of the warlike
power.
THE
1STCRY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
' K
XI.
THE conquerors maintained themfelves in the
poiTefTion of their conquefts, till about the middle
of the Vth century. The Vandals, then hurried
on by their original impetuofity beyond the limits
of Spain, of which they were matters, pafTed the
pillars of Hercules, and, like an inundation, dif-
fufed themfelves over the country of Lybia. Thefe
barbarians would certainly have preferved the ad-
vantages they had acquired by their irruptions, if
they had kept up that military ipirit which their king
Genferic had infpired them with. But with this
barbarian, who was not deftitute of genius, this
fpirit became extinft ; military difcipline was re-
laxed, and the government which refted only on
this bafis, was overthrown. Belifarius furprifed
thefe people in this confufion, extirpated them,
and re-eftablifhed the empire in its ancient
privileges. But this revolution was only momen-
tary. Great men, who can form and bring to ma-
turity a rifing nation, cannot impart youth and vi-
gour to an ancient and decayed people.
IN the Vllth century, the Saracens, formidable
in their inftitutions and their fuccefs, armed with
the fword and with the coran, obliged the Ro-
mans, weakened by their divifions, to repafs the
fcas, and augmented with the acceflion of the
northern part of Africa, that vaft dominion Mo-
hammed had jnft founded with fo much glory.
The lieutenants of the Caliphs afterwards deprived
their mafters of thefe rich fpoils, and creeled the
provinces intrufted to their care, and independent
ftates.
SUCH
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 363
' SUCH was the ilate of affairs at the beginning of BOOK.
the XVIth century, when the Mohammedans of . . v *
Algiers, who were afraid of falling under the yoke
of Spain, invited the Turks to their afiiftance.
The Porte fent Barbaroffa, who at firft protected,
but in the end enflaved them. The BafTas, who fuc-
ceeded him, and were the governors of Tunis and
Tripoli, cities that were both equally conquered
and oppreiTed, exercifed a tyranny, which very
fortunately was carried to fuch a height, that from
its excefs it muft necefiarily terminate in its own
deftruction ; and the fame violent meafures that
fupported it, were exerted in delivering the people
from it. One circumftance, however, is worthy
of obfervation, that the three ftates adopted the
fame kind of government, which is a fpecies of
ariftocracy. The chief, who, under the title of Dey,
governs the republic, is elected by the foidiers,
who are always Turkilh, and conftitute the only
nobility of the country. Thefe elections are fel-
dom made without bloodfhed, and it is no unu-
fual thing for a man, who has been elected in the
midft of riot and fiaughter, to be afterwards aflaf-
fmated by a reftlefs faction, who defign either to
fecure that diftinclion for themfelves, or to fell it
for their advancement. The empire of Morocco,
which has fuccefTively fwallowed up the kingdoms
of Fez, of Tafilet, and of Sus, becaufe it is he-
reditary in a national family, is, however, fubjedt-
ed to the fame revolutions. The atrocious difpo-
fitions of the princes and the people are the pri-
maiy caufe of this inftability.
THE
-<5 4 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B o^o K. THE interior parts of Barbary are full of Arabs,
* v ' j who are what men in the primitive ages muft have
been, fhepherds in a wandering and imfettled
flate. Cuftoms, which are difguftful to our effe-
minate manners, are confidered by them as great,
or fimple as nature by which they are dictated.
When the moft illuflrious among the Arabians in-
tend to receive a flranger with marks of diftinc*
tion, they go themfelves in fearch of the choiceft
lamb of their flocks, flay it with their own hands,
and like the patriarchs of Mofes, or the heroes of
Homer, cut it in pieces, while their wives are
occupied in the other preparations of the feaft.
The children of the moft diftinguifhed men among
them, even of Scheiks and Emirs, tend the fami-
ly flocks. The girls and boys have no other em-
ployment during their tender years.
THESE are not the happy manners of thofe who
live in towns or inhabit the fea-fhore. Equally
averfe from the toils of agriculture and from the
more fedentary arts, they are become pirates. At
firft, they contented themfelves with ravaging the
vaft and fertile plains of Spain. They furprifed
the indolent inhabitants of the rich countries of
Valencia, Granada, and Andalufia, while they were
afleep, and carried them off for flaves. After-
wards, difdaining the booty they acquired from
countries they had formerly cultivated, they built
large veflels, and infulted the flags of all nations.
Thefe naval equipments, which were gradually
improved into little fquadrons, received an an-
nual accefllon, by means of the avarice of great
numbers of chriftians, who furnifhed the people of
Barbary
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 365
Barbary with materials for their armaments, who in- B x . K
terefled themfelves in their cruifes, and who fome- * v
times even ventured to direct their operations.
Thefe pirates have reduced the greatefl powers of
Europe to the difgrace of making them annual
prefents, which, under whatever name they are
difguifed, are in reality a tribute. They have
fometimes been puniflied and humbled; but their
plunders have never been totally fupprefled.
CHARLES V. though always bufy in exciting
commotions during the age in which he lived,
would fometimes penetrate into futurity, by
that forefight which atones, in fome 'degree,
for the faults of a turbulent fpirit, and faw
what the people of Barbary might one day be~
come. Difdaining to enter into any kind of treaty
with them, he formed the generous plan of de-
ftroying them. The rivalry of Francis I. made
his project mifcarry; and fince his time hif-
tory has had no opportunity of celebrating any
prince for reluming the idea of fo glorious an en-
terprife, the execution of which would, however,
be attended with no great difficulty.
THE inhabitants of Barbary groan under a yoke
of which they are impatient. The tyrant of Mo-
rocco infolently fports with the liberties and lives-
of his fubjecls. This defpotic fovereign, an exe-
cutioner in the fmcleft fenfe of the word, every
day expofes on the walls of his palace, or his ca-
pital, the heads of the innocent or the guilty
whom he has flaughtered with his own hand. Al-
giers, Tunis, and Tripoli, though exempt from
a like ferocity, are, however, under a fevere fub-
jeclion.
3 66 HISTORY, OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK jection. Slaves to fifteen or twenty thoufand Turks,
> who have been chofen out from among the dregs
of the Ottoman empire, they become in a variety
of ways the victims of this brutal foldiery. An
authority refting on fo unfteady a bafis, cannot
pofiibly be firmly eftablifaed, and might be eafily
fub verted.
No foreign fuccotir would retard its fall for a
moment. The only power that might be fufpec~b-
ed of wifhing its prefervation, namely the Ot-
toman empire, is not fo highly gratified with the
vain title of protector, which it confers on it, as
to intereft itfelf warmly in their fafety. All en-
deavours to excite the Turks to interfere, by fub-
rniffions, which particular circumilances might
probably extort from thefe plunderers, would cer-
tainly be ineffectual. Their intreaties would not
impart ftrength. For thefe two centuries paft y
the Porte has no navy, and its military power is
continually decaying.
BUT to what people is referved the glory of
breaking thofe fetters which Africa is thus infenfi-
bly preparing for us, and of removing thofe terrors,
which are fo formidable to navigation ? No nation
can attempt it alone; perhaps, if it did, the jea-
loufy of the reft would throw fecret obftacles in
its way. This rnuft, therefore, be the work of a
general combination. All the maritime powers
mud concur in the execution of a defign, in which
all are equally intereftcd. Thefe dates, which
every thing invites to mutual alliance, to mutual
good-will, to mutual defence, ought to be weary
of the calamities which they reciprocally bring
upon
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
upon each other. After having fo frequently united
for their mutual dellruftion, let them at length
take up arms for their prefervation. War for once,
at leaft, will then become ufeful and juft.
ONE may venture to aflfert, that fuch a war
would be of no long continuance, if it were con-
dueled with (kill and unanimity. Each member
of the confederacy, attacking at the fame time the
enemy it had to reduce, would experience but a
weak refiftance, or, perhaps, none. The people
of Barbary, being thus fuddenly deprived of all
power of defending themfelves, would undoubt-
edly abandon their governors, and relinquifh the
government by which they have been confcantly
oppreffed. Perhaps this nobleft and grcatefl of
enterprifes would coft Europe lefs blood and trea-
fure, than the mod trivial of thole quarrels with
which it is continually agitated.
No man would do the politicians who fhould
form this plan the injuftice to fuppofe, that they
would confine their ambition to the rilling up of
roads, demolifhing of forts, and ravaging of
coafts. Such narrow notions would be inconfift-
ent with the prefent improvements of reafon.
The countries fubdued, would remain to the con-
querors, and each of the allies would acquire poi-
feftions, proportionate to the afliftance they had
given to the common caufe. Thefe conquefts
would become ib much the more fecure, as the
happinefs of the vanquifhed would be the confe-
quence of them. This race of pirates, thefe fca
monflers, would be changed into men by falutary
kws, and examples of humanity. The progrefg
6 thev
368 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
they would gradually make, by the knowledge we
fhould impart to them, would in time difpel that
fanaticifm which ignorance and mifery have kept
up in their minds. They would ever recollect
with gratitude the memorable a?ra which had
brought us to their fhores.
WE fhould no longer fee them leave a country
uncultivated, which was formerly fo fertile. Corn
and various fruits would foon cover this immenfe
tract of land. Thefe productions would be bar-
tered for the works of our induflry and of our ma-
nufactures. European traders fettled in Africa,
would become the factors of this trade, which
would prove of mutual advantage to both coun-
tries. A communication fo natural, between op-
pofite coafts, and between people who have a ne-
ceflary intercourfe with each other, would, as it
were, extend the boundaries of the world. This
new kind of conquefl which prefents itfelf to us,
would amply compenfate for thofe, which during
fo many centuries, have contributed to the diftrefs
of mankind.
THE jealoufy of the great maritime powers,
who have obftinately rejected all expedients to re-
eftablifh tranquillity on our feas, hath been the
chief impediment to fo important a revolution.
The hope of checking the induflry of every weak
ftate, hath accnflomed them to wifh, that thefe
piracies of Barbary fhould continue, and hath even
induced them to encourage thefe plunders. This
is an enormity, the ignominy of which they would
never have incurred, if their underflanding had
equalled their mercenary views. All nations
5 would
ftt THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
Would certainly profit from this happy change] but
the greateil advantages would infallibly redound to
the maritime ftates, in proportion to their power.*
Their fituation, the fafety of their navigation
the greatnefs of their, capital, and various other
means, would fecure them this fuperiority. They
are conftantly complaining of the fhackles which
national envy, the folly of reftraints and prohibi-
tions, and the confined idea of exclufive traffic,
have impofed upon their activity. The people
gradually become as much ftrangers to one another
as they were in the barbarous ages. The voidj
which this want of communication necefifarily occa-
fions, would be filled up, if Africa were brought
to have wants and refourcesto fatisfy them. The
fpirit of commerce would have a new career open-
ed to its exertion.
HOWEVER, if the reduction and fubjection of
Barbary would not become a fource of happinefs
for them as well as for ourfelves; if we are refolv-
ed not to treat them as brethren; if we wifh not to
confider them as our friends; if we muftkeep up
and perpetuate flavery and poverty amongfc them j
if fanaticifm can (till renew thofe deteftable cru-
fades, which philofophy too late has coniigned to
the indignation of all ages ; if Africa muft at
length become the fcene of our cruelties, as Afia
and America, have been, and ftill are; may the
project which humanity hath now dictated to us,,
for the good of our fellow-creatures^ be buried
in perpetual oblivion ! Let us remain in our ports.
It is indifferent, whether they be Chriftians or
VOL. IIL B b Mufful-
370 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK MufTulmen who 'fuffer. Man is the only object
.^ . worthy to intereft man.
Do we hope to accuflom the Africans to com-
merce, by the flow and gentle expedients of trea-
ties, which muft often be renewed, when they are
obliged to be purchafed every time ? To be allured
of the contrary, it is only necefiary to take a tran-
fient view of the preient ftate of the Europeans
with regard to thefe people.
THE French have never trafficked with Mo-
rocco, but have always been in a ftate of war with
it. The Englifh, Dutch, and Swedes, dilgufted by
the repeated infults they have received, never ap-
pear there but occasionally. The whole com-
merce is almoft entirely in the hands of Denmark,
which hath committed the management of it to a
company, formed upon a capital of five hundred
ihares of five hundred crowns each*. Itwaseftablifh-
ed in 1755, and it is to continue forty years. It im-
ports Englilh. cloth, filver tilTues, and filks : fome li-
nens, planks, iron, tar, and iulphur; and brings in
exchange, copper, gums, wool, wax, and leather.
Thefe exchanges are made at Sally, Tetuan, Mon-
gador,Safia, and Santa- Cruz. One may judge of the
extent cf this commerce by the profits of the cuf-
toms farmed out, which they are for 255,000
livres-j-.
THE trade of Algiers is not fo confiderable.
The Englifh, French, and Jews cf Leghorn, are
rivals in it. The two firft lend in their own vef-
fels, and the laft under a neutral flag, cloth, fpice,
paper, hardware, coffee, fugar, linens, alum, in-
*6$l.i2s.6d. f 11,156!. 5 s.
digo,
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 371
digb, and cochineal ; and receive in exchange,- B x K
wool, wax, feathers, leather, oil, and feveral goods < v .;
arifing from captures. The returns, though they
amount to a fourth more than the out-goings, do
not annually exceed a million of livres*. France
has one half, and her rivals nearly divide the reft.
INDEPENDENT of this commerce, which is to-
tally carried on by the capital, there is fome traffic
at Callua, Bona, and Collou, three other ports of
the republic. This trade would have been ex-
tended and improved, if it had not been fubjecl-
ed to a monopoly and that too a foreign one. An-
cient treaties, which have been generally obferved^
have yielded this vaft coaft to an exclufive com-
pany eftablilhed at Marfeilles. Its capital is twelve
hundred thoufand livres f, and its annual traffic in
merchandife, which may amount to eight or nine
hundred thoufand J, employs thirty or forty fliips.
It purchafes corn, wool, coral, and leather, with
fpecie.
TUNIS may receive t\vo millions in foreign
merchandife, and fells its own for two millions five
hundred thoufand livres |[. The French engrofs
two thirds of.this traffic, and the Tufcans the reft.
This commerce is fupported and carried on nearly
in the fame manner as every traffic in other ftates
of Barbary.
THE trade carried on at Tripoli is the leaft con-
ilderable* The country is fo wretched, that no-
thing can be imported thither but fome hardware
of little value. The exports of wool, fenna, afhes,
* 43751- t 52,500!. t About 3 7,000 1. on art
average. 87,50 jl. || 109,375!.
B b 2 wax.
S7 2 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BO X K wax, and pulfe, are fcarce worth notice. But
v -j though this coaft is of fmali advantage to com-
merce, by the little it can furnifh; and though it
is detrimental to it by the piracies that are exer-
cifcd there, the weftern coaft of Africa fully com-
penfates thefe lofles by the benefits it procures to
the American colonies.
ci'rratpcf THE coaft of this iilQifiefift country extends
coaft of from the ftraits of Gibraltar to the Cape of Good
known' by Hope. Allits inhabitants are black. The caufe
^ e " a e dft af this fmgularity has been the fubjed of much in-
f Gumea. quirv, v/hich hath given rife to a variety of fyftems.
Some have abfurdly fuppofcd, that the negroes be-
ing the defcendents of Cain, have had this mark
of infamy ftamped upon them, as a punifhment
for the fratricide of their anceftor. If it were ib,
it muft be allowed, that his pofterity have made a
fevere atonement for his crime ; and that the de-
fcendents of the pacific Abel, have thoroughly
avenged the blood of their innocent father.
BUT waving the difcufiion of fuch ridiculous
fancies, let us inquire whether it is pofiible that
the negroes fnould derive their colour from the
climate they inhabit ? Some philofophers and emi-
nent naturalifls are of this opinion. There are no
negroes, fay they, but in the hottefl countries.
Their colour becomes darker, the nearer they ap-
proach to the equator. It becomes lighter or
more bright at the extremities of the torrid zone..
The whole human fpeciesin general contract white-
nefs from the fnow, and grow tanned in the fun.
Various Ihades may be oblerved from white to
" black, and from biack to white, marked out as
it
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 373
k were by the parallel degrees which cut the earth B x K
from the equator to the poles. If the zones, ima- - v *
gined by the inventors of the fphere, were repre-
fented by real bands, one might perceive the jetty
colour of the natives mfenfibly decreafe to the right
and left as far as the two tropics j from thence the
brown colour of the inhabitants grow paler and
brighter to the polar circles, by fhades of white,
becoming more and more brilliant. But it is
fomewhat remarkable, that nature, which hath
lavifhed the brightnefs of the moft beautiful co-
lours on the Ikin and plumage of animals, and on
vegetables and metals, ihould, properly fpeaking,
have left men without colour, lince black and
white are nothing but the beginning and ab-
fcnce of all colours.
WHATEVER be the original and radical caufe of
that variety of complexion in the human fpecies,
it is agreed, that this complexion is owing to a ge-
latinous fubftance that is lodged between the cu-
ticle and the fkin. This fubftance is blackilh in
negroes, brown in olive coloured or fwarthy peo-
ple, white in Europeans, and diverfified with red-
difh fpots in people who have extremely light or
red hair.
ANATOMY hath difcovered, that in negroes the
fubftance of the brain is blackifh, that the pineal
gland is entirely black, and their blood is of a
much deeper red than that of white people.
Their Ikin is always hotter, and their pulfe quick-
er. The paffions, therefore, of fear and love, are
carried to excefs among thefe people; and this is
the reafon why they are more effeminate, more indo-
B b 3 lent,
374 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
P o^o K i ent) more weak, and unhappily more fit for fla-
v v i very. Befides, their intellectual faculties being
nearly exhaufted by the excefles of fenfual plea-
fures, they have neither memory nor underilanding
to fupply by art the deficiency of their ftrength.
Their hair, it is faid, is curled, becauie, having
to penetrate through a net-work of a more denfe
and tenacious fubftance, it becomes twirled, and
cannot be lengthened out. The fweat of the ne-
groes difFufes a flrong and difagreeable odour, be-
caufe it is impregnated with that thick and rancid
greafe which hath been long lodged, and flowly
pozes out between the cuticle and the fkin. This
fubftance is fo palpable, that one may diftinguifh
in it with a microfcope a fediment formed in little
blackifh globules. Hence the perfpirafion of a ne-
gro, when it is copious, tinges the linen cloth
which wipes it off. Qne of the inconveniences of
this black colour, an emblem of the night which
confounds all objects, is, that the negroes have
been obliged, in order to be known at a diflance,
to ilalh themfelves, and mark their Ikins with dif-
ferent colours. This cuftom is general, eipecially
among the wandering tribes of this people. As
we find it, however, eftabliflied among the fa-
vages of Tartary and Canada, it may be doubtful
whether the practice does not rather arife from
the roving way of life, than from the nature of
their complexion.
ANATOMY hath gone further, and difcovered
the origin of the blacknefs of negroes in the prin-
ciples of generation. Nothing more it fnould
feem would be neceflfary to prove, that negroes are
a parti-
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 375
a particular fpecies of men. For if any thing clif- B x K
criminates the fpecies, or the daffes in each fpecies, * v ->
it is certainly the difference of the femen. The
colour of the negroes is, therefore, falfely fup-
poled to be owing to the climate, fmce in Africa,
under the fame parallels, the eaftern coaft has no
negroes, and even produces white people; and
that in America the heat of the fun, and nature of
the foil, have never produced any negroes.
THOUGH it fhould be allowed, that the weflern
coaft of Africa is the hotteft region of the whole
globe, the only inference to be deduced from this,
would be, that there are climates proper only to
certain fpecies, or certain fpecies adapted to parti-
cular climates ; but not that the difference of cli-
mates would change the fame fpecies from white to
black. The fun has not the power of altering
and modifying the germinaof reproduction. White
people never become black in Africa, nor negroes
white in America. An union, indeed, between
the fexes of thefe two fpecies, produces the meftees,
who partake equally of the colour, features, and
complexion of both. If man were originally white,
it mud be fuppofed, that having been created
nearer to the frigid than to the torrid zone, he
peopled the earth fuccefiively from the poles to the
equator: while, on the contrary, the fertility of
the globe between the tropics, is a preiiimption,
that it has been peopled from the equator to the
poles.
THE climate inhabited by the negroes exhibits
no palpable variations but fuch as may be occafi-
oned by fands or morafies. The almoft infupport-
B b 4 able
376 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK able heat of their days., is fucceeded by very cool
* v ' and refrefhing nights, with this difference only,
that they are lefs Ib in the rainy feafons than in
the times of drought. The dew, lefs profufe un-
der a cloudy fky than under a ferene horizon, is
undoubtedly the caufe of this fingularity.
Soli of FROM the frontiers of the empire of Morocco,
as far as Senegal, the land is entirely barren.
Some Arabs, the defcendents of thofe who con^
quered Barbary, and fome Moors, the ancient in-
habitants of the country, lead a miferable wander-
ing life amidft thofe burning and dry fands, which
are finally loft in the vaft folitudes of Sahara.
THE banks of the Niger, Gambia, and Sierra
keona, and thofe of fome lefs confiderable rivers,
which flow in that long fpace that intervenes be-
tween thcfe principal rivers, exhibit proofs of the
greateft fertility. Maize grows there without
much cultivation, as well as all the fruits that are
natural to America ; and the care of flocks con-*
flitutes almoft the fole employment of the inhabi-
tants. They are fond of mare's milk, which is their
principal nourishment; and travel but little, be-
caufe they have no wants to induce them to leave
their country.
THE inhabitants of Cape Monte, environed on
every fide by fands, form a nation entirely fepara-
ted from the reft of Africa. In the rice of their
marines confifts all their nourifhment and their fole
riches. Of this they fell a fmall quantity to the
Europeans, for which they receive in exchange
brandy and hard-ware.
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 377
FROM the Cape of Palmas to the river Volta, B X1 *
the inhabitants are traders and hufbandinen. They v w '
are hufbandrnen, becaufe their land, though flany,
abundantly requites the necefiary labour and ex-
pence of clearing ic. They are traders, becaufe
they have behind them nations which furnifh them
with gold, copper, ivory, and Haves j and becaufe
nothing obftrucls a continued communication be-
tween the people of the country and thofe of the
coaft. It is the fole country in Africa, wliere, in
a long fpace, there are no deferts or deep rivers to
obftrucl the traveller, and where water and the
means of fubfiftence may be found.
BETWEEN the river of Volta and that of Cal-
bary, the coaft is flat, fertile, populous and culti-
vated. The country which extends from Calbaiy
to Gabon is very different. Almoft totally cover-
ed with thick forefts, producing little fruit and
no corn, it may be faid to be rather inhabited by
wild beafts than by men. Though the rains are
there very frequent and copious, as they muft be
under the Equator, the land is fo fandy, that im-
mediately after the fhowers are fallen, there re-
mains not the leafl appearance of moifture.
To the fouth of the line, and as far as Zara,
the coaft prefents an agreeable profpect. Low
at its beginning, it gradually rifes, and exhibits a
fcene of cultivated fields, intermixed with woods,
always verdant, and of meadows covered with
palm-trees.
FROM Zara to Coanza, and ftill further, the
coail is in general high and craggy. In the inte-
rior parts of this country is an elevated plain, the
4 foil
378 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK foil O f which is compofed of a large, thick, and
' ^ i fertile fand.
A LITTLE beyond Coanzaa barren region inter-
venes, of above two hundred leagues in extent,
which is terminated by the country of the Hotten-
tots. In this long fpace, there are no inhabitants
known except the Cimbebes, with whom no inter-
courfe is kept up.
THE varieties, obfervable on the fhores of the
weft of Africa, do not prevent them from enjoy-
ing a very extraordinary, and, perhaps, a (ingular
advantage. On this immenfe coaft, thole tremen-
dous rocks are no where feen, which are fo alarm-
ing to the navigator. The fea is imiverfaily calm,
the wind regular, and the anchorage fecure. Se-
veral excellent havens are here to be met with,
where the mariner unmolefted may purfue the
labours which the refitting of large fhips re-
quire.
THE winds and currents, during fix months of
the year, from April to November, have nearly
the fame direction. To the fouth of the line, the
fouth-eaft wind predominates, and the uire-etion of
the currents is towards the north -, and to the north
of the line, theeaft wind prevails, and the direc-
tion of the currents is towards the north -eaft. Du-
ring the fix other months, liorms, by intervals,
change the direction of the wind, but it no longer
blows with the fame violence : the fpring of the
air feems to be relaxed. The caufeof this varia-
tion appears to influence the direction of the cur-
rents : to the north of the line, they tend to the
fouth- weft, beyond the line to the fouth.
VAGUE
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
VAGUE conjectures can only be formed with re-
gard to every thing which refpects the interior
parts of Africa; but it is a fact well authenti-
cated, that throughout the whole extent of the
coaft the government is arbitrary. Whether the
defpotic fovereign aicends the throne by right of coaft of
birth, or by election, the people have no other Guinc
law but his will.
BUT what will feern extraordinary to the inha-
bitants of Europe, where the great number of he-
reditary monarchies obitructs the tranquillity of
elective governments, and the profperity of all free
ftates, is, that in Africa, the countries which are
leafl liable to revolutions, are thofe which have
preferved the right of electing their chiefs. This
is uiiially an old man, whofe wifdom is generally
known. The manner, in which this choice is made,
is very fimple; but it is only fuited to very fmall
flates. In three days the people, by mutual con-
fent, meet at the houfe of that citizen who appears
to them the moil proper perfon to be their fove-
reign. If the fwfirages are divided, he who has
obtained the greateit number of them, names on
the fourth day one of thofe who have had fewer
voices than himfelf. Every freeman hath a right
to vote. There are even fome tribes where the
women enjoy this privilege.
SUCH is, excepting the hereditary kingdoms of
Benin and Juda, the manner in which that little
group of ftates that are to the north of the line, is
formed. To the fouth we meet with Mayumba and
Cilingo, where chiefs are admitted among thcmini-
fters of religions and with the empires of Loangp
3 and
3 So HISTORV OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK an d Congo, where the^crown is perpetual in the
^^^j male line, by the female fide; that is, the eldeit
fon of the king's elcieic fifcer inherits the throne,
when it becomes vacant. Thefe people believe,
that a child is much more certainly the fon of his
mother, than of the man whom fhe marries : they
truft rather to the time of delivery which they fee,
than to that of conception, of which they are not
witnefTes.
THESE nations live in a total ignorance of that
art fo revered among us, under the name of poli-
tics. They do not, however, neglect to obferve
fome of its formalities. The cuftom of fending
embodies is familiar to them, whether to folicit aid
againft a powerful enemy, or to requeft a media-
tor in their differences, or to congratulate others
upon their fucceffes, upon the birth of a child, or
.upon the falling of a fhower after a great drought.
The envoy mult never ftay longer than a day at
the place of his million; nor travel during the
night in the ftates of a foreign prince. He is
preceded by a drum, which announces from afar
his dignity, and he is accompanied by five or fix
friends. In thofe places where he Hops to refrefh
himfelf, he is received with refpeft; but he can-
not depart before the fun rifes, and without the
ceremony of his hoft affembling fome perfons to
witnefs that no accident hath happened to him. In
other refpects, thefe people are ftrangers to any ne-
gociations that are in the lead complicated. They
never enter into any flipulations for the paft, nor for
the future; but confine themfelves wholly to the
prefent. Hence we may conclude, that thefe na-
tions
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 381
tions cannot have regular or fettled connections B K
with the other parts of the globe. v__ ^l_j
THEIR fyftem of war is as little complicated as
their politics. None of thefe governments retain
troops in pay. Every freeman is by condition a
foldier. All take up arms to guard their fron-
tiers, or to make excurfions in queft of booty.
The officers are chofen by the foldiers, and the
choice is confirmed by the prince. The army
marches, and mofl frequently the hoftilities ; which
are begun in the morning, are terminated in the
evening. At leait, the incurfion never continues
for any length of time; for as they have no ma-
gazines, the want of fubfiftence obliges them to
retire. It would prove a great misfortune to thefe
people, if they were acquainted with the art of
keeping the field fifteen days together.
THE defire of extending their territories is nor!
the caufe of the difturbances which frequently
throw thefe countries into confufion. An infult
committed in a ceremony, a clandeftine or violent
robbery, the rape of a daughter; thefe are the or-
dinary occafions of a war. The day after the bat-
tle, each fide redeems their refpective prifoners.
They are exchanged for merchandife, or for (laves.
No portion of the territory is ever ceded, the
whole belongs to the community, whofe chief
fixes the extent which every perfon is to cultivate,
in order to reap the fruits of it.
THIS manner of terminating differences is not
merely that of little ftates, whofe chiefs are too
wife to afpire after enlarging their dominions, and
too much advanced in years not to be fond of
peace.
3 8z HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B x? K P eace - Great empires are obliged to conform to
v ' thefe principles with neighbours much weaker than-
themielves. The fovereign has never any iland-
ing army, and though he difpofes at pleafure of
the lives of the governors of his provinces, he
prefcribes them no rules of adminiftration. Thefe
are petty princes, who for fear of being fuf-
pefted of ambition and ptinifhed with death^
live in concord with the elective colonies which
liirround them. Unanimity between the more
confiderable powers and the fmaller flates, is pre-
ferved as much by the great authority the prince
hath over his fubjefts, as by the impoflibility there
is of his exerting it as he pleafes. He can only
flrike a fingle blow, or caufe a fmgle head to be
flruck off. He may, indeed, command that his
lieutenant fhould be afTarTinated, and the whole
province will obey his orders; but were he to
command all the inhabitants of a province to be
put to death, he would find no one ready to exe-^
cute his orders; nor would he be able to excite
any other province to take up arms againfl that
which difobeyed him. His power againfl indivi-
duals is unlimited; but he can do very little againfl
the whole collective body.
ANOTHER reafon which prevents thefmall flates
from being enflaved by the great ones, is, that
thefe people annex no idea to the glory of con-
quefls. The only perfon who appears to have
been animated with it, was a flave-broker, who
from his infancy had frequented the European
veflels, and who in his riper years had made a
voyage to Portugal. Every ; thing he faw and
heard,
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 383
heard, fired his imagination and taught him that a B x K
great name was frequently acquired by being the 4 *
caufe of great calamities. At his return into his
country, he felt himfelf greatly humiliated at be-
ing obliged to obey people lefs enlightened than
himfelf. His intrigues raifed him to the dignity
of chief of the Acanis, and he prevailed on them
to take up arms againft their neighbours. Nothing
could oppofe his valour, and his dominion extend-
ed over more than an hundred leagues of coaft, of
which Anamabou was the center. At his death
no one dared to fucceed him : and all the iupports
of his authority failing at once, every thing re-
turned to its former fituation.
THE Chriftian and Mohammedan religion feem
to have taken poflefiion of the two extremities of
that part of the weft of Africa, which is frequented
by the Europeans. The muffulmen of Barbary
have carried their religious fyftem to the people of
the Cape de Verd iflands, who have extended it flill
further. In proportion as thcfe religious opinions
have been diftant from their fource, they have un-
dergone fo great an alteration, that each kingdom,
each village, each family maintained a different
fyftem. Excepting circumcifion, which is univer-
fal, it would fcarcely be imagined that thefe peo-
ple profeiTed the lame worfnip. This religion
does not penetrate beyond the cape of Monta,
whofe inhabitants have no communication with
their neighbours.
WH AT the Arabs had done to the north of the
line for the Coran, the Portuguefe afterwards
did to the fouth for the Gofpel. Towards the end
of
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
of the fifteenth century, they eflabliOied it from
the country of Benguela to Zara. A mode 01
worihip, which offered fure and eafy means for the
expiation of all crimes was perfectly agreeable to
the tafte of nations, whofe religion did not afford
them fuch comfortable profpeels. If it was af-
terwards profcri bed in feveral ftates, it was owing
to the excefifes of thofe who propagated it, which
drew upon it this difgrace. It hath even been
totally difguifed in the countries where it has been
preferved; a few trifling ceremonies are the only
remains of it.
THE coafts which are in the center have pre-
ferved fome local fuperflitions, whofe origin muft
be very ancient. They confift in the worfhip of
.that innumerable multitude of divinities or Feti-
ches, which every perfon makes after his own fan-
cy and for his own ufe; in the belief of auguries,
trials by fire and boiling water, and in the power
of Gris-Gris. There are fome fuperfutions more
dangerous; I mean that blind confidence which
they repofe in the priefts who are the minifbers and
promoters of them; thefe are intrufted with the
facred depofit of the national traditions and pre-
tend to prophecy. The correfpondents which they
are fuppofed to hold with the evil fpirit makes
them conficlered as the arbiters of the barrennefs
and fertility of the country. On this account the
firft fruits are always offered to them. All their
other errors have a focial tendency, and confpire
to render man more humane and peaceable.
THE different religions which are fpread through
Africa have not changed the manner of living;
becaufe
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 38;
becaufe the influence of the climate there is fo prG- B 9^ K
dominant, that opinions have but little effect up- "*- v- 1 '
on their manners. The houfes are always built of
the branches of the palm-tree, moft commonly of
earth and covered with draw, ofiers, or reeds.
Their furniture confifts folely of bafkets, earthen
pots, mats which ferve as beds, and cabalafhes of
which all their utcnfils are made. A girdle round
the loins is their only apparel. They live on game^
fifh, fruit, rice, or on bread made of maize, ill-
baked. Their drink is the wine of the palm-tree.
Arts are unknown amongft them. All their la-
bours are confined to certain ruftic employments;
Scarce one hundredth part of their country is cul-
tivated, and that in a very wretched manner>
either by poor people, or by flaves, who, from their
indolence and ftation, have the greateft averfion
from labour.
THERE is a greater variety obfervable in their
manners than in their wants. On the banks of the
Niger, the women are generally handfome, if
beauty confifts in fymmetry of proportion and not
in colour. Modeft, affable and faithful^ an air of
innocence appears in their looks, and their language
is an indication of their baflifulnefs. The names
of Zilia, Calypfo, Fanny, Zama, which feem to be
names of pleafure, are pronounced with an inflec-
tion of voice, of the foftnefs and fweetnefs of
which our organs are not fufceptible. The men
are of a proper fize, their fkin is as black as ebony,
and their features and countenances pJeafmg. The
habit of taming horfes and hunting wild beafts
gives them an air of dignity. They do not eafily put
VOL. III. C c up
386 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
3 x? K 11 P w ^k an affront, but the example of thofe ani-
* v ' mals they have reared, infpires them with bound-
lefs gratitude for a mailer who treats them with
indulgence. It is impofilble to find fervants more
attentive, more fober, and who have flronger at-
tachments; but they do not make good hufband-
men ; becaufe their body is not habituated to
ftoop and bend towards the ground, in order to
clear it.
THE complexion of the Africans degenerates
towards the eaft. The people of this climate
are ftrong, but fhort. They have an air of
ftrength, which is denoted by firm mufcles; and
the features of their faces are fpread out, and have
no expreflion. The figures impreffed on their
foreheads and on their cheeks increafe their natu-
ral deformity. An ungrateful foil, which is not
improveable by culture, has forced them to have
recourfe to fifliing, though the fea, which they can
fcarce venture upon on account of a bar that runs
along the coaft, feems to divert them from it.
Thus repulfed, as it were, by the elements, they
have fought for aid among adjacent nations more
favoured by nature; from whom they have de-
rived their fubfiftence by felling them fait. A
fpirit of traffic hath been diffufed among them
fmce the arrival of the Europeans ; becaufe ideas
are unfolded in all men in proportion to the varie-
ty of objects that are prefented to themj and be-
caufe more combinations are necefiary to barter a
flave for feveral forts of merchandife> than to fell
a bufliel of fait. Befides, though they are well
adapted to all employments where ftrength only is
required,
IN TkE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 5 S
required, yet they are unfit for the internal duties B x K
of domeftic life. This condition of life is repug- < v
nant to their euftoms, according to which they
are paid feparately for every thing they do. And,
indeed, the reciprocation of daily labour and daily
recompence is, perhaps, one of the heft incentives
to induftry among all men. The wives of thefe
mercantile negroes lhare all their labours exc'
that of fifhing. They have neither the amiable-
nefs, modefty, difcretion nor beauty of the wo-
men of the Niger, and they appear to have lefs
fenfibility. In comparing the two nations it might
perhaps, be imagined, that the one confifts of the
loweft clafs of people in a polifhed and civilized
city, and that the other hath enjoyed the advan-
tages of fuperior education. Their language is a
ftrong indication of their character. The accents
of the one have an extreme fweetnefs, thofe of the
other, are harfh and dry like the foil they inhabit
Their vivacity, even in pleafures> refembles the
furious traniports of anger.
BEYOND the river Volta, in Benin, and in the
other countries, known under the general name
of the Golden Coaft, the people have a fmooth
fkin, and of a dark black colour) their teeth are
beautiful j they are of a middling ftature, but well
fhaped, and have a bafhful countenance. Their
faces though agreeable enough would be much
more fo, if the women were not ufed to fear them,
and the men to burn their foreheads. The ba-
fis of their creed is a metempfychofis of a peculiar
kind: they believe, that in whatever place they
remove to, or wherever they are tranfported, they
C c 2 (hall
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
OOK {hall return after their death, whether caufed by
J- ' the laws of nature, or by their own hands, to their
native country. This conviction conftitutes their
happinefs; becaufe they confider their country as
the moft delightful abode in the ur.iverfe. This
pleafing error conduces to humanize them. Fo-
reigners, who refide in this climate, are treated
with refpectful civility,, from a perfuafion that they
are come there to receive the recompence due to
their conducl. This people have a difpofition to
cheerfulnefs not obfervable in the neighbouring
nations; they are inclined tolabour, have a ready
conception, a folidity of judgment,, principles of
equity feldom altered by circumftances, and a
great facility of adapting themfelves to foreign
manners. They are tenacious of their commer-
cial cuftoms, even when they are not advantageous
to them. The method of trafficking with them
was, for a long time, the fame that had been at firft
practifed among them. The firit veiTel that ar-
rived difpoied of its cargo before another was per*
initted to trade. Each had its turn. The com-
modities were fold at the fame fixed price to all.
It is but very lately that the nation hath reiblved to
avail itfelf of the advantages it might derive from
the number of European nations frequenting its-
ports.
THE people fituated between the Line and Zara,
have all a great refemblance to one another. They
are well made. Their bodies are lefs robufl than
thofe of the inhabitants to the north of the equa-
tor; and though there are fome marks on their
faces* none of thofe fears are to be perceived
which
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 389
which are fo fhocking at firft fight. Their food B x K
is fimple, and their life frugal. They love eafe ' v~ *
and never labour beyond their ftrength. Their
feafts are accompanied with military fports, which
revive the iden of our ancient tournaments} with
this difference, that in Europe they conftituted
the exercifes of a warlike nation, whereas in
Africa they are the amufements of a timid people.
The women are not admitted to thefe public di-
verfions. Affembled together in certain houfes
they fpend the day in private, and no men are ever
admitted into their fociety. The pride of rank
is the ftrongeft paffion of thefe people, who are
naturally peaceable. A certain degree of cere-
mony obtains both at the court of princes and in
private life. Upon the moft trivial occurrences,
they haften to their friends either to congratulate
them or to condole with them. A marriage occa-
fions vifiting for three months. The funeral ob-
fequies of a perfon of diftinction continue fome-
times two years. Thofe who were connected to
him, in any degree, carry his remains through (e-
veral provinces. The crowd gathers as they pro-
ceed, and no perfon departs, till tire corpfe is de-
pofited in the tomb, with all the demonftrations of
the deepeft forrow. So determined a tafte for ce-
remony hath proved favourable to fuperftition, and
fuperftition hath promoted a fpint of indolence.
In thefe countries, the earth iufficiendy fertile,
without requiring much labour, is only cultivated
by women, whom fervitude or penury condemn to
this drudgery i Men flaves, or free men if poor,
are employed in hunting and fifhing, or are dei-
C c
390 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B 'x? K ti ne d to augment the retinue of .the great. There
v- ,, i is in this nation in general lefs equality between
the two lexes, than is found among their neigh-
bours. Birth and rank here impart to fome wo-
men the right of choofing a hufband, whom they
keep in the mod extreme fubjection. They have
even the right, whenever they are difiatisfied with
their choice, of condemning him to flavery; and
it is to be imagined that they freely make ufe of
this privilege, however humiliating it may be to
the two fexes, For, what is that man, whom a
woman can make*her (lave? He is good neither
for her, nor for himfelf.
FROM Zara to the river of Coanza, the ancient
cuftoms ftill remain; but they are blended with a
confufed mixture of European manners, which
are not to be found ejfewhere. It is probable that
the Portuguefe, who have large fettlements in this
country, and who were defirous of introducing
the chriflian religion among them, had a greater
intercourfe with them than they had with other
nations, who having only factories to the north of-
the line, have been only employed in carrying on
their commerce.
THE reader need not to be told, that all we have
related concerning the people of Guinea, ought
only to be applied to that clafs which, in all coun-
tries, {lamps the character of a nation. The in-
ferior orders and flaves are further removed from
this refemblance, in proportion as they are debafed
or degraded by their occupations or their condi-
tions. The moft difcerning inquirers have, how-
ever, imagined that- the difference of conditions
did
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
39'
did not produce in this people varieties fo diflin- BOOK
guifhable as we find in the ftates which are fituated v ^_ >
between the Elbe and the Tiber, which are nearly
of the fame extent of country as the Niger and
the Coanza. The further men depart from na-
ture, the lefs mufl they refemble one another. The
multiplicity of civil and political inftitutions ne-
cefiarily occafions a difference in the moral charac-
ter and in the natural cuftoms of men, which is
unknown to focieties lefs complicated. Bcfides,
nature being more powerful under the torrid than
under the temperate zone, does not permit the
influence of manners to exert itfelf fo flrongly.
Men in thefe countries bear a greater fimilitude to
one another, becaufe they owe every thing to na-
ture, and very little to art. In Europe, an exten-
five and diverfified commerce, varying and mul-
tiplying the enjoyments, the fortunes and feveral
conditions of men, adds likewife to the differ-
ences which the climate, the laws and the com-
mon prejudices have eftablifhed among active and
laborious nations.
IN Guinea, trade has never been able to caufe Ancient
a material alteration in the manners of its inhabi- iea[
tants. It formerly confided of certain exchanges
of fait and dried fifh, which were confumed by
the nations remote from the coaft. Thefe gave
in return fluffs made of a kind of thread, which
was only a woody fubftance, clofely adhering to
the inner fide of the bark of a particular tree in
thefe climates. The air hardens it, and renders
it fit for every kind of weaving. Bonnets, fcarfs,
and aprons to ferve for girdles, are made of it,
C c 4. which
HISTORY CF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
which vary in fhape according to the particular
mode of each nation. The natural colour of the
thread is a pale grey. The dew, which bleaches
our flax, gives it a citron colour, which rich peo-
ple prefer. The black dye, generally ufed among
the people, is extracted from the bark of the tree
of which this thread is made, by fimple infufion
in water. As this thread readily takes all colours,
this hath induced the people to work it up into
different figures of men, birds, and quadrupeds.
The fluffs thus wrought, ferve to hang their apart-
ments with, to cover their feats, and for other
kinds of furniture.
THE firil Europeans, who frequented the weftern
coafcs of Africa, fixed a value on wax, ivory, and
gum, which before had none. They gave a price
to gold, from which they drew at moft three thou-
fand marks a year. Their reftlefs avarice, which hath
never been fatisfied with this produce, made them
frequently concert expedients to. augment it. They
flatter themfelves, that their defigns will foon be
fuccefsful by the following Icheme.
IN the interior parts of Africa, under the twelfth
or thirteenth degree of north latitude, there is,
lays a modern traveller, a pretty large country,
known by the name of Bambuck. It is not fub-
ject to a particular king, but governed by village
Jords, called Farims. Thefe hereditary and in-
dependent chiefs are all obliged to unite for the
defence of the ilate, when it is either attacked as
3, community, or only in any one of its branches.
THE territory of this ariiiocraticid ft ate js dry
?,nd barren. It produces neither maize, rice, nor
j.nilfe.
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 593
pulfe. The infupportable heats it is iubjeft to, B o^o K
proceed in part from its being furrounded by high * y - '
mountains, which prevent the wind from refrefh-
ing the air. The climate is as unwholefome as it
is difagreeable : vapours, which continually iflue
from the bowels of a foil replete with minerals,
render this country unfit to live in, efpecially to
flrangers.
IT is gold that hath made this miferable country an
objefn worthy of notice; gold, which in the eyes of
the covetous man, feems to compenfate for all the
evils of nature, though in reality it jncreafcs them
all. This metal is fo common in this country, that it
is found almoft indifcriminately every where. To
obtain it, fometimes it is fufficient to fcrape the
furface of the earth, that is clayifh, light, and
mixed with fand. When the mine is very rich, it
is digged only to the depth of a few feet, and
never deeper; though it has been obferved, that
the lower it was digged, the more gold the foil
afforded. The miners are too indolent to purfue
a toil which conftantly becomes more tedious, and
too ignorant to prevent the inconveniences it would
be attended with. Their negligence and their
folly are in this inftance fo extraordinary, that in
wafhing the gold, in order to feparate it from the
earth, they only preferve the larger pieces: the
light parts pafs away with the v/ater, which flows
down an inclined plain.
THE inhabitants of Bambuck do not work thefe
mines at all times, nor are they at liberty to do it
when they pleafe. They are obliged to wait till
private or public wants determine the Farims to
grant
f 94 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK grant this permifiion. When it is proclaimed, ail
^ who are able to avail themfelves of this advantage
meet at the appointed place. When their work is
finifhed, a divifion is made, Half of the gold-
goes to the lord, and the remainder is equally dif-
tributed among the labourers. Thofe who want
gold at any other time than that of the general
digging, fearch for it in the beds of the rivers,
where it is very common.
THE French and Englifn have fucceffively been
defirous of appropriating to themfelves thefe real
or imaginary riches. Some thought they could
reach this country by the Niger, others by the
Salum. Far from having fucceeded in their at-
tempts of becoming matters of this country, they
have not yet afcertained its exiftence. The unfuc-
cefsfulnefs of pail efforts hath redoubled the acti-
vity of fanguine minds : fenfible and judicious
merchants have chofen to limit themfelves to a
commerce much more important, which is that of
flaves.
New com- THE property which fome men have acquired
Cuine^ or over otners ln Guinea, is of very high antiquity,
the /lave j t j s g ene rally eftablifhed there, excepting in fome
fmall dillricts, where liberty hath, as it were, re-
tired and is ftill maintained. No proprietor, how-
ever, has a right to fell a man who is born in a
ftate of fervitude. He can only difpofe of thofe
flaves whom he gets, whether by war, in which
every prifoner is a flave unlefs exchanged, or in
lieu of compenfation for fome injury j or if he
' hath received them as a teftimony of acknowledg-
ment. This law, which feems to be made in fa-
vour
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 395
vour of one who is born a flave, to indulge him BOOK
with the enjoyment of his family and of his coun- v__^l*
try, is yet ineffectual, fmce the Europeans have
eftablilhed luxury on the coafts of Africa. It is
every day eluded by concerted quarrels, which two
proprietors mutually diflemble, in order to be re-
ciprocally condemned, each in his turn, to a fine,
which is paid in perfons born flaves, the difpofal
of whom is allowed by the fanction of the lame
law.
CORRUPTION, contrary to its ordinary progrefs,
hath advanced from private perfons to princes.
The procuring of flaves hath given frequent occa-
fion to wars, as they are excited in Europe in or-
der to obtain foldiers. The cuftom has been efta-
blifhed of punifhing with flavery not only thofe
who have attempted the lives or properties of
citizens, but thofe alfo who were incapable of pay-
ing their debts, and thofe who have violated con-
jugal faith. This punifliment, in procefs of time,
has been inflicted for the moft trivial offences, af-
ter having been at firft referved only for the great-
eft crimes. Prohibitions even of things indiffe-
rent have been conftantly multiplied, in order to
increafe the revenues ruifed from the fines by in-
creafing the number of offences. Injuftice hath
known no bounds or reftraints. At a great dif-
tance from the coaft, there are chiefs, who give
orders for every thing they meet with in the vil-
lages around them to be carried off. The chil-
dren are thrown into facks : the men and women
are gagged to ftifle their cries. If the ravagers
are flopped by a fuperior force, they are conducted
i before
$96 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
O
XJ.
BOOK before the prince, who always difowns the com-
million he has given, and under pretence of do-
ing juflice, inflantly fells his agents to the Ihips
he has treated with.
NOTWITHSTANDING thefe infamous arts, the
people of the coaft have found it impoffible to
fupply the demands of the merchants. They
have experienced what every nation mutt, that can
trade only with its nominal flock. Slaves are to
the commerce of Europeans in Africa, what gold
is in the commerce we carry on in the New world.
The heads of the negroes reprefent the flock of
the flate of Guinea. Every day this flock is car-
ried off, and nothing is left them but articles of
consumption. Their capital gradually vanifhes,
becaufe it cannot be renewed, by reafon of the
fpeedy confumptions. Thus the trade for blacks
would long fmce have been entirely loft, if the
inhabitants of the coafts had not imparted their
luxury to the people of the inland countries, from
whom they now draw the greateft part of the
flaves that are put into our hands. Thus the trade
of the Europeans, by gradual advances, has al-
mofl exhaufted the only vendible commodities of
this nation.
IN the fpace of twenty years this circumflance
hath raifed the price of flaves almoft to four times
above the former coft; the reafon is this. The
flaves are chiefly paid for in merchandile from the
Eafl-Indies, which has doubled its value in Eu-
rope. A double quantity of thefe goods muft be
given in Africa. Thus the colonies of America,
where the fale for blacks is concluded, are obliged
to
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 597
to fupport thefe feveral augmentations, and con- B x K
fequently to pay four times more than they for- v^^ j>
merly did.
NoTwiTHSTAri DING this, the diftant proprietor
who fells his flave, receives a lefs quantity of mer-
chandife than the perfon received fifty years ago,
who fold his flavein the neighbourhood of the coaft.
The profits intercepted by pafiing through diffe-
rent hands, the expences of tranfportj the imports,
fometimes of three per cent, that muft be paid to
thofe princes through whofe territories they pafs,
fink the difference betwixt the fum which the firft
proprietor receives, and that which the European
trader pays. Thefe expences continually increafe
on account of the great diftances of the places
where there are frill Haves to be fold. The fur-
ther off the firft fale is, the greater will be the
difficulties attending the journey. They will be*
come fuch, that of the fum which the European
merchant will be able to pay, there will remain fo
little to offer to the firft feller, that he will rather
choofe to keep his flave. All trade of this kind will
then be at an end. In order, therefore, to fupport
it effectually, our traders muft furniili at an exor-
bitant price, and fell in proportion to the colo-
nies; which, on their part, not being able todif-
pofe of their produce but at a very advanced price,
will no longer find a confumption for it. But till
that time comes^ which is, perhaps, not fo diftant
as the colonifts imagine, they will, without the
lead remorfe, continue to makes the lives and la-
bours of the negroes fubfervient to their interefts.
They will find navigators who will hazard the pur-
chafing
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
chafing of them, and thefe will meet with tyrants
who will fell them.
SC^xoncf^wn^cqllefl: themfelves into compa-
nies, and forming a fpecies of caravans, in the
fpace of two or three hundred leagues they con-
duct feveral files of thirty or forty flaves, all laden
with water and corn which are neceflary to their
fubfiilence in thofe barren deferts through which
they pafs. The manner of fecuring them without
much incommoding their march, is ingenioufly
contrived. A fork of wood from eight to nine
feet long is put round the neck of each (lave. A
pin of iron rivetted fecures the fork at the back
part in fuch a manner that the head cannot difen-
gage itfelf. The handle of the fork, the wood
of which is very heavy, falls before, and fo em-
barraffes the perfon who is tied to it, that though
he has his arms and legs at liberty, he can neither
walk, nor lift up the fork. When they get ready
for their march, they range the flaves on the fame
line, and fupport and tie the extremity of each
fork on the fhoulder of the foremoft flave, and
proceed in this manner from one to another, till
they come to the firfl, the extremity of whofe fork
is carried by one of the guides. Few reflraints are
impofed that are not felt by the perfons who im-
pofe them. In order that .thefe traders may enjoy
the refreshment of fleep without uneafmefs, they
tie the arms of every flave to the tail of the fork
which he carries. In this condition he can nei-
ther run away nor make any attempt to recover
his liberty. Thefe precautions have been found
indifpenfable, becaufe, if the flave can but break
his
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
his chain, he becomes free. The public faith,
which fecures to the proprietor the pofiefnon of
his flave, and which at all times, delivers him up
into his hands, is filent with regard to a flave and
a trader who exercifes the moft contemptible of
all profeflions,
GREAT numbers of flaves arrive together, ef-
pecially when they come from diltant countries.
This arrangement is necefiary, in order to diminifti
the expence which is unavoidable in conducting
them. The interval between one voyage and ano-
ther, which by this fyftem of ceconomy is already
made too diftant, may become ftill greater by par-
ticular circumftances. The moft ulual are the
rains, which caufe the rivers to overflow, and put
a (lop to this trade. The feafon moft favourable
to travelling in the interior parts of Africa, is
from February to September; and it is from
September to March, that the return of thefe
flave traders produces die greatefl plenty of this
traffic on the coafls.
THE trade of the Europeans is carried on to ^ crni!ntn f
the fouth and north of the line. The firft coaft, <''<; L ' l<lct:s
and mau-
by the name of Angola, hath but three
on.
ports, which are equally free to all nations j thefe <hve trade
areCabanda, Loango, and Malemba; and befides :s
thefe, two more, of which the Portuguefe are the
fole mailers, St. Paul de Loando, and St. Philip
de Bcnguela. Thefe latitudes nearly fupply one
third of the blacks that are carried to America,
who are neither the moft intelligent, the moft la-
borious, nor the moft robuft. The fecond coaft, .
known by the general name of the Gold coaft,
abounds
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
abounds more in harbours, but they are not equal-
ly favourable to commerce. The reftraint o'cca-
fioned by the forts, which the Europeans have
erected in feveral places, drives away the dealers
in flaves. They are to be met with in much
larger numbers at Anambou and Calbary, where
commerce is entirely free.
IN 1768, there were exported out of Africa*
104,100 flaves. The Englifh brought up 53,100
of them for their iflands; their colonifts on the
north continent 6,300; the French 23,500"; the'
Dutch 11,300; the Portuguefe 8,700; and the
Danes 1,200. All thefe unhappy men did not
arrive at the place of their deftination. In the or-
dinary courfe of things, the eighth part mufthave'
perilhed in their paffage. Every nation hath em-
ployed in its colonies the cultivators ithathpurchaf-
ed. Great-Britain alone has ceded four thoufand of
them to the Spaniards, and fraudulently introduced
about three thoufand in the French fettlements.
Ixwould be a very great miftake to imagine that
America regularly receives the fame number of ne-
groes. Not to mention the confiderable diminution
in the number of expeditions to Guinea, on account
of the war, the arrangements of the laft peace have
occafioned new lands to be cultivated, which re-
quired extraordinary fupplies. The number of
men muft be reduced to fixty thoufand, of which
the African coafts are deprived every year. Sup-
pofing that each of thefe flaves coils on the ipot
three hundred livres*, thofe barbarous regions re-
ceive eighteen millions f, for fo horrid a facrifice,
13!. zs. 6d. 1787,500!.
THE
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 401
THE French merchant will exclaim, we doubt
not, at the price which flaves are here flated at*
It is univerfally known that he purchafes them
much dearer; and that the Englifh and Dutch
purchafe them at a lower price, becaufe they
are not reduced by the infufficiency of their Afia-
tic commerce and the imperfection of certain ma-
nufactures proper to the African trade, to pay, as
the French merchant does, for commifTion, freight
and infurance, in order to draw from foreign ports
fome merchandife, without which trade cannot be
carried on. The Portuguefe have flill another ad-
vantage over thefe nations. They carry on their
expeditions from Brazil; their exchanges are ge-
nerally made with the tobacco and brandy of their
own country; and they maintain an exclufive
trade on the coafls, which are two hundred leagues
long, and forty broad.
EXCEPTING the Portuguefe, all nations pay for
flaves with the fame merchandife. Thefe are
fabres, firelocks, gun-powder, iron, brandy, hard^-
ware, woollen fluffs, efpecially Eafl-India cottons,
or thofe which are wrought in Europe, and co-
loured in the fame manner. The people north
of the line have adopted, inftead of money, little
white fhells, which we import among them from
the Maldives. South of the line, the European
trade is deprived of this object of exchange. There
fmall pieces of flraw fluff, eighteen inches long,
and twelve broad, are uied as marks of value.
This real mark is only the fortieth part of an ideal
value, which they call piece*
VOL. III. D d " Tni3
102 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
o^o K. THIS word, from the time the Europeans have
' * ' frequented Africa, is become the numerical term
of all things that bear the greateft value. The
price of each fpecies of merehandife imported thi-
ther is invariably fixed under the denomination of
one, two, three or more pieces. Each piece, in
its original value, is nearly worth a piftole, and
for fome time paft, thirty-five or thirty-fix pieces-
have been given for a negro, all taxes included.
The greateft of them is the fee that muft be given
the factor, who always mediates between the ven-
der and the pnrchafer, whom it is neceflary to
make a friend of, and who is become of fo much
the more confequence, as the competition between
the Europeans has increafed, and the want of ilaves
has been more fenfibly felt. Another tax, which
though aiked under the name of a prefent, is no
lefs an extorted tribute, is, that which muft be
paid to the, prince and his chief officers, for the
liberty of trading. The fum is in proportion to
.the fize of the vefTel, and may be valued at three
per cent.
Are forts THE European nations have been of opinion
-"'oKkTro ^ at ' lt was con( ^ uc ^ ve to tne utility of their corn-
procure merce, to form fettlements on the coaft of Afri-
ca. The Portuguefe, who firft traverfed theie im-
menfe regions, left every where the marks of
their ambition, rather than of their fagacity. The
weak and numberlefs colonies which they poured
in, foon forgot a country, which had itfelf for-
.gotten them. In procefs of time, there remain-
ed of thefe great conquefts nothing but that vaft
fpace which extends from Zara to cape Negro,
from
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 403
From whence Brazil ftill procures its flaves. They B x K
have alfo preferved fome ifles of little confequence. v -v '
Thofe which are fituated at the weft end of Cape
de Verd, produce fait, feed cattle, and ferve as a
place of refrefhment for vefTels going to the Eaft-
Indies. Prince's Ifland, and St. Thomas, which
are at the entrance of the Gulph of Gabon, fup-
ply navigators with frefh provifions, who, after
leaving the Gold coaft, fail to America. They
are both of no importance in the commercial
world.
Though Portugal, even in the earlieft times,
derived but very moderate advantages from the
coaflsof Africa, it was yet fo jealous of the fove-
feignty which is exercifed there, in virtue of its
difcovery, that it thought no nation had a right to
approach them. The Englifh, who firft ventured
to queftiori the right of thefe pretenfions, about
the year 1553, fuftained the affront of having their
vefTels feized. A national war immediately en-
fued, and the fuperiority of arms put a final period
to this tyranny. In procefs of time, the exclufive
companies of England, which had embarked iri
this trade, fuccefiively formed factories without
number, of which that of Cape Corfc, fituated OR
the Gold coaft, and that of James, placed in an
ifland at the mouth of the river Gambia, were for
a confiderable time the principal and the moft ufe-
ful. Though many of them had been abandoned,
there ftill remained fixteen, when the parliament,
rouzed by the public clamour, determined in
1752, to put a ftop to this monopoly. The
nation purchafed of the proprietors all thefe forti-
D d 2 fied
404 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK fi e d magazines, for the fum of 1,523,198 livrei
s ' 13 fois*, where there were no more than one
hundred and twenty men. The expence of main-
taining them amounts annually to about 292,500
livresf.
THE Englifh alniofl entirely engrofied the
African trade, when the Dutch, in 1637, under-
took to fhare it with them. The war they were
carrying on againft Spain, authorifed them to at-
tack the Portuguefe fettlements in Guinea; and
they made themfelves mafters of both of them in
a very fhort time. The treaty of 1641 fecured
the property of them to the republic. This ftate
pretending to enter into all the rights of the firfl
poffeiTor, intended to exclude her rival from thefe
latitudes, and ceafed not to moleft her till the
peace of Breda. Of all thefe conquefls, that of
fort Mina on the Gold coaft, was found the rnoft
important. It had been built, in 1452, by the
Portuguefe who had enriched its territory by
planting fugar-canes, maize, and different kinds
of excellent fruits -, and had fupplied it with a num-
ber of ufeful animals, which they had imported
thither. They drew from thence a confiderable
quantity of gold and fome flaves. This fettle-
ment did not degenerate in the hands of the Hol-
landers, who made it the center of all the facto-
ries they had acquired, and of all the bufmefs they
carried on in Africa.
The profperity of the Dutch, in this part of
the world, was at its height, when they were at-
tacked by Lewis XIV. This prince, who afpired
66,6321. 8s. 9<1. f. f 12,726!. 175. 6d.
after
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. . 405
after univerfal glory, feized an opportunity offered BOOK
him by the war of 1672, of extending the terror * y ' ./
which his flag carried with it on all the feas, even
the borders of Africa. He took from the Dutch
the forts of Arguin and Portendic, which were at
that time the general market for gums. His fub-
jects afterwards eftablifhed on the coaft feveral
pofts which were obliged to be abandoned, either
bccaufc they were injudiciously chofen, or becaufe
they were not fufficient forces to lupport them.
Since the time that France, by a feries of errors
and misfortunes, hath found herfelf under a nc-
cefTity of giving up Senegal to the Englifh by the
laft treaty, Ihe hath nothing now remaining but
the factory of Juida, and the ifland of Gorea,
where there is not, nor ever will be any trade.
Some years ago, a fettlement that would have
been of advantage to Anambou, began to be
formed, when the workmen were driven away by
cannon fhot fired in a time of full peace, by the
{hips of Great-Britain. An able merchant who
was then at London, at the news of this outrage,
exprefled his aftonifhment at a conduct fo impru-
dent. 5/r, faid a minifter to him, who was in
great favour with this enlightened people, if we
iv ere to be juft to the French, we Jhould not exift thir-
ty years longer.
THE Danes, who fettled in Africa a little after
the middle of the laft century, and who purchafed
of the king of Aquambo the two forts of Frede-
rickburg and Chriftianburg, fituated on the golden
coaft near each other, never experienced a fimilar
treatment. They owed the tranquillity which they
D d 3 enjoyed
4 c6 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK enjoyed to the infignificancy of the trade they car-
c__^!l_j ried on. It was in fo low a ftate, that they only
fitted out a fmgle veflel every two or three years.
This trade hath been extended for fome time paft,
but it is itill far from being confiderable,
IF we except the Portuguefe, all the European
nations fubjected their African trade to exclulivc
charters. The companies in poflefiion of this mo-
nopoly, the errors of which all governments at
laft have felt and put a flop to, fortified their fac-
tories, both in order to drive away ftrangers, and
to oblige the natives to fell to none but themfelves.
"When the diftricts, in which thefe forts were ereft-
edhad no more flaves to deliver, trade languifhed>
becaufe the people in the inland countries preferred
the conveying their flaves into free ports, where
they might chufe the purchafers. Thus the fac-
tories, which had been of fuch utility when the
coaft was populous, are no longer fo valuable,
fmce the faclors of them are obliged to make long
voyages, in order to complete their purchafe. The
advantage of thefe eftablifhments was loft, when
the object of their commerce was exhaufted.
in the fl.ve ^ HE Difficulty of procuring flaves naturally
tnde Jmaii points out the neceffity of employing; fmall fhips
vefolsare 5 rr A , r il
preferable for carrying them oft. At a time when a imall
o. r ^ C territory, adjacent to the coaft, furniihed in a fort-
night Or three weeks, a whole cargo, it was pru-
dent to employ large vefTels, becaufe there was a
poflibility of underftanding, looking after, and
encouraging the flaves, who all fpoke the fame
language. At prefent, when each Ihip can fcarce
2. procure
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 407
procure fixty or eighty flaves a month, brought B x K
from the diftance of two or three hundred leagues, * \ r '
exhaufted by the fatigues of a long journey, ob-
liged to remain on board the veflels they are em-
barked upon five or fix months in fight of their
country, having all different idioms, uncertain of
the deftiny that awaits them, ftruck with the pre-
pofieflion that the Europeans eat them and drink
their blood; their extreme uneafmefs alone de-
ilroys them, or occafions diforders which become,
contagious by the impoflibility of feparating the
fick from the healthy, A fmall fliip deftined to
carry two or three hundred negroes, by means of
the fhort flay it makes on the coaft, avoids half the
accidents and lofles to which a fhip capable of
holding five or fix hundred flaves is expofed. Thus
the Englifh, who have extended this commerce as
far as poflible, have adopted the cuftom of fend-
ing only veflels of a hundred and twenty, or a
hundred and thirty tons, into the feas which ex-
tend from Senegal to the river Volta, and to fit
out veflels a little larger only for Colbar, where
the trade is more confiderable, and where they
make their principal cargoes. The French are
the only people who obftinately adhere to the an-
cient practice. The town of Nantes, however,
which alone carries on as much trade in Africa as
all the other ports of the kingdom together, be-
gins to feel the abfurdity of thefe prejudices. It
will undoubtedly entirely relinquilh them ; and all
the merchants who conduct the fame trade on
their own bottoms, will follow its example.
D d 4 THZR*
4c8 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK. THERE arer abufes of the utmoft confequence,
J. <. to be reformed in this voyage, which is naturally
(fetal* 1 * unhealthy. Thole who engage in it commonly fall
M S r fa r * nto two 8 reac miftakes. Dupes to a mercenary
vour.bie to difpofition, the privateers pay more regard to the
pi*. port than to the difpatch of their vefiels; a circum-
ftance which necefiarily prolongs the voyage, which
every thing fhould induce them to Ihorten as much
as poiTible. Another inconvenience Hill more dan-
gerous, is, the cuftom they have of failing from
Europe at all times; though the regularity of the
winds and the currents hath determined the moft
proper feafon for arriving at thefe latitudes,
THIS bad practice hath given rife to the diftinc-
tion of the great and little voyage, The little
voyage is the ftraighteft and the Ihortefl. It is no
more than eighteen hundred leagues to the moft
diftant ports where there are Haves. It may bo
performed in thirty-five or forty days, from the
beginning of September to the end of November;
becaufe, from the time of fetting out to the time
of arrival, the winds and the currents are favour-
able. It is even poflible to attempt it in Decem-
' ber, January, and February, but with lefs fecurity
and fuccefs.
SAILING is no longer practicable in thefe lati-
tudes, from the beginning of March to the end
of Auguft. The fhips would have continually to
ilruggle againft the violent currents which run
northward, and againft the fouth eaft wind, which
conftantly blows. Experience has taught naviga-
tors, that during this feafon, they muft keep at a
diftance from the Ihore, get into the open fea,
&il towards the fouth as far a& twenty- fix or twen-
ty-
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 409,
ty-eight degrees betwixt Africa and Brazil, and BOOK
afterwards draw gradually hearer and nearer to v
Guinea, in order to land at a hundred and fifty
or two hundred leagues to windward of the port
where they are to difembark. This route is two
thoufand five hundred leagues, and requires ninety
or a hundred days fail.
THIS great route, independent of its length, de-
prives them of the moft favourable time for trade
and for returning. The fliips meet with calms,
are thwarted by winds, and carried away by cur-
rents; water fails them, the provifions are fpoiled,
and the flaves are feized with the fcurvy. Other
calamities not lefs fatal, often increafe the danger
that attends this expedition. The negroes, to the
north of the Line, are fubjccT; to the fmall-pox,
which, by a fmgularity very diftreffing, fcldom
breaks out among this people till after the age of
fourteen. If this contagious diflemper affects a fhip
which is at her moorings, there are leveral known
methods to lefien its violence. But a fhip attacked
by it, while on its paiTage to America, often lofes
the whole cargo of flaves. Thole who arc born
to the fouth of the Line, avoid this difeafe by
another, which is a kind of virulent ulcer, whofe
malignity is more violent and more irritable on
the fea, and which is never radically cured. Phy-
ficians ought, perhaps, to obferve this double
erre6l of the fmall-pox among the negroes which
is, that it favours thofe who are born beyond the
Equator, and never attacks the others in their in-
fancy. The number and variety of effects Ibtne-
pmes afford occafion for the inveftigation of the
caufes
4?o HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK caufes of diforders, and for the difcovery of rc-
< v ' i medics proper for them.
THOUGH all the nations, concerned in the Afri-
can trade, are equally interefted in preferving the
flaves in their paffage, they do not all attend to
it with the fame care. They all feed them with
beans mixed with a fmall quantity of rice; but
they differ in other refpects in their manner of
treating them. The Englifh, Dutch and Danes
keep the men conftantly in irons, and frequently
hand-cuff the women : the fmall number of hands
they have on board their Ihips obliges them to
this feverity. The French, who have great num-
bers, allow them more liberty j three or four days
, after their departure they take off all their fetters.
All thefe nations, efpecially the Englifh, are too
negligent with regard to t^e intercourfe between
the failors with the women flaves. This irregu-
larity occafions the death of three-fourths of thofe
whom the Guinea voyage deftroys every year.
None but the Portuguefe, during their parTage,
are fecured againfl revolts and other calami-
ties. This advantage is a conlequence of the
care they take to man their veffels only with the
negroes, to whom they have given their freedom.
The flaves encouraged by the converfation and
condition of their countrymen, form a tolerably
favourable idea of the defliny that awaits them.
The quietnefs of their behaviour induces the Por-
tuguefe to grant the two fexes the happinefs of
living together: an indulgence, which, if allowed
in other vefTels, would be productive of the greateft
inconveniencies.
IT
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 41,
IT is a generally received opinion, that the BOOK.
blacks, who are brought from America, are now ,-
fold at a higher price than they were formerly.
This is a miftake, arifmg from this circumflance,
that thepurchafer pays attention only to the num-
ber of thoie arbitrary marks of value which he
gives, inftead of reckoning the quantity of thofe
commodities he delivers in exchange. This pro-
portion, which is the only exact one, will make
him fenfible that the price of negroes hath not
advanced; fmce they are purchafed with the fame
quantity of thofe commodities as they were in the
earlieft times. It is the value of money that hath
changed, and not that of the unhappy (lave.
ALL nations do not fell their (laves in the fame ^ethodof
manner. The Englifhman, who hath promifcu- fl^ e n s s ;l he
oufly bought up whatever prefented itfelf in the America.
general market, fells his cargo by wholefale. A
fingle merchant buys it entire ; and the planters
parcel it out. What they reject is fent into fo-
reign colonies, either by fmuggling, or with per-
miffion. The cheapness of a negro is a greater
object to the buyer to induce him to purchafe, than
the badnefs of his conflitution is to deter him from
it. Thefe traders will one day be convinced of
the abfurdity of fuch a conduct.
THE Portuguefe, Dutch, French, and Danes,
who have no way of difpofing of the infirm and
weakly flaves, never charge themfelves with them
in Guinea. They all divide their cargoes, ac-
cording to the demands of the proprietors of
plantations. The bargain is made for ready mo-
ney, or for credit, according as die circumitances
vary.
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
vary. When the terms are fixed for eighteen
months, as it happens but too often in the French
colonies, the negro's labour muft by that time
have brought in two-thirds of the price paid for
him. If that does not always happen, it is owing
to particular reafons, the detail of which would
be fuperfluous.
Wretched IN America it is generally believed and aflerted,
condinon ^^ ^ Africans are equally incapable of reafon
flavej. an( } o f virtue. The following well-authenticated
fact will enable us to judge of this opinion.
AN Englifh fhip that traded in Guinea in 1752,
was obliged to leave the furgeon behind, whofe
bad ftate of health did not permit him to continue
at fea. Murray, for that was his name, was there
endeavouring to recover his health, when a Dutch
veflel drew near the coaft, put the blacks in irons,
whom curiofity had brought to the fhore, and in-
ilantly failed off with their booty.
THOSE who interefted themfelves for thefe un-
happy people, incenfed at fo bafe a treachery, in-
ilantly ran to Cudjoc, who flopped them at his
door, and afked them what they were in fearch
of. The white man, who is with you, replied they,
"who Jhould be put to death, becaufe his brethren have
carried off ours. The Europeans, anfwered the ge-
nerous hoft, who have carried off our countrymen,
are barbarians , kill them whenever you can find them.
But he who lodges with me is a good man, he is my
friend; my hoitfe is bis fortrefs^ I am his foldier,
and I will defend him. Before you can get at him ,
you Jhatt pafs over my body. O my friends, what juft
man would ever enter my doors , if 1 had fuffered tny
habitation
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 413
habitation to be Jlained with the blood of an innocent B ^
man? This difcourfe appealed the rage of the * ^ >
blacks : they retired afhamed of the defign that had
brought them there j and fome days after acknow-
ledged to Murray himfelf, how happy they were
that they had not committed a crime, which would
have occafioned them perpetual remorfe.
THIS event renders it probable, that the firfl
impreflions which the Africans receive in the New
world, determine them either to good or bad ac-
tions. Repeated experience confirms the truth of
this obfervation : thofe who fall to the fhare of a
humane mailer, willingly efpoufe his interefls.
They infenfibly adopt the fpirit and manners of
the place where they are fixed. This attachment
is fometimes exalted even into heroifm. A Por-
tugueie (lave who had fled into the woods, having
learnt that his old mafter had been taken up for an
afTafiination, came into the court of juftice, and
acknowledged himfelf guilty of the fact j let himfelf
be put in prifon in lieu of his mafter ; brought
falfe, though judicial, proofs of his pretended
crime, and fufFered death inftead of the guilty per-
fon. Actions of a lefs heroical nature, though
not uncommon, have touched the hearts of fome
colonifts. Several would readily fay, as Sir William
Gooch, governor of Virginia, when he was blamed
for returning the falutation of a black, I jhould be
veryforry that a Jlave Jhould be more polite than myfelf.
BUT there are barbarians, who confidering pity
as a weaknefs, delight in making their depend-
ents perpetually fenfible of their tyranny. They
juflly, however, receive their punifhment in the
negligence,.
4*4 HISTORY Of SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK negligence, infidelity, defertion, and fuicide of
v -j the deplorable victims of their infatiable avarice.
Some of thefe unfortunate men, efpecially thofe
of Mina, courageoufly put an end to their lives,
under the firm perfuaiion, that they fhall imme-
diately after death rife again in their own country,
which they look upon as the fineft in the world.
A vindictive fpirit furniflies others with refources
flill more fatal. Inftructed from their infancy in
the arts of poifens, which grow, as it were, un-
der their hands, they employ them in the deftruc-
tion of the cattle, the horfes, the mules, the com*
panions of their flavery, and of every living thing
employed in the cultivation of the lands of their
oppreffbrs. In order to remove from themfelves
all fufpicion, they firft exercife their cruelties on
their wives, their children, their miftrefies, and on
every thing that is deareft to them. In this dread-
ful projedl, that can only be the refult of defpair,
they take the double pleafure of delivering their
fpecies from a yoke more dreadful than death, and
of leaving their tyrant in a wretched ftate of mi-
iery, that is an image of their own condition.
The fear of puniihment does not check them.
They are icarce ever known to have any kind of
forefightj and they are, moreover, certain of con-
cealing their crimes, being proof againft tortures.
By means of one of thole inexplicable contradic-
tions of the human heart, though common to all
people, whether civilized or not, negroes, though
naturally cowards, give many inftances of an un-
Ihaken firmnefs of foul. The fame organifation
which fubjeds them to fervitude, from the indo-
lence
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 415
lence of their mind, and the relaxation of their B x R
fibres, infpires them with vigour and unparalleled ^ *
refolution for extraordinary actions. They arc
cowards all their life-time and heroes only for an in-
ftant. One of thefe miferable men has been known
to cut his wrift off with a ftroke of a hatchet, ra-
ther than purchafe his liberty, by fubmitting to
the vile office of an executioner.
NOTHING, however, is more miferable than the
condition of a black, throughout the whole Ame-
rican Archipelago. A narrow, unwholefome hut,
without any conveniences, ferves him for a dwell-
ing. His bed is a hurdle, fitter to put the body to
torture than to afford it any eafe.- Some earthen
pots, and a few wooden difhes are his furniture.
The coarfe linen which covers part of his body,
neither fecures him from the infupportable heats
of the day, nor the dangerous dews of the night.
The food he is fupplied with, is caffava, fait beef,
cod, fruits and roots, which are fcarce able to
fupport his miferable exiflence. Deprived of eve-
ry enjoyment, he is condemned to a perpetual
drudgery in a burning climate, constantly under the
rod of an unfeeling matter.
THE condition of thefe flaves, though every
where deplorable, is fomething different in the
colonies. Thofe who have very extenfive eftates,
generally give them a portion of land, to fupply
them with the neceffaries of life. They are al-
lowed to employ a part of the Sunday in cultivat-
ing it, and the few moments that on other days
they fpare from the time allotted for their meals.
In the fmaller iflands, the colonift himfclf furnifhes
their
416 HISTORY" OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B o^o K t { ic i r food^ t j lc greateft part of which hath been
v v i imported by fea from other countries. Ignorance,
avarice, or poverty, have introduced into fome
colonies, a method of providing for the fubfiftcnce
of negroes, equally deftruftive both to the men
and the plantation. They are allowed on Satur-
day, or fome other day, to work in the neigh-
bouring plantations, or to plunder them, in order
to procure a maintenance for the reft of the
week.
BESIDES thefe differences arifing from the par-
ticular fituation of the fettlements in the Ame-
rican iflands, each European nation hath a man-
ner of treating flaves peculiar to itfelf. The Spa-
niards make them the companions of their in-
dolence j the Portuguefe, the inftruments of their
debauch ; the Dutch, the victims of their ava-
rice; the Englifh, who eafily derive their fubfifl-
ence from their eftates on the northern continent,
are lefs attentive to the management of them than
any other nations. If they never promote inter-
marriages among the blacks, they yet receive with
kindnefs, as the gifts of nature, thofe children
that are the produce of lefs reftrained connexions,
and feldom exact from the fathers or mothers a
toil or a tribute above their ftrength. Slaves,, by
them, are confidered merely as natural productions,
which ought neither to be ufed, nor deilroyed
without neceffity; but they never treat them with
familiarity; they never fmile upon them, nor
fpeak to them. One would think they were afraid
of letting them fufpect, that nature could have
given any one mark of refemblance betwixt them
and
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 417
and their fiaves. This makes them hate the Eng- B x K
lifh. The French, lefs haughty, lefs difdainful, * / '
confiderthe Africans as a fpecies of moral beings;
and thefe unhappy men, fenfible of the honour of
feeing themfelves almoft treated like rational crea-
tures, feem to forget that their matter is impatient
of making his fortune, that he always exacts la-
bours from them above their ttrength, and fre-
quently lets them want fubfiftence. ,
THE opinions of the Europeans have alfo fome
influence on the condition of the negroes of
America. The proteflants, who are not actuated
by a defire of making profelytes, fuffer them to
live in Mohammed ifm, or in that idolatry in which
they were born, under a pretence, that it would be
injurious to keep their brethren in Chrift in aftate of
flavery. The catholics think themfelves obliged to
give them fome inftruction, and to baptize them;
but their charity extends no further than the bare
ceremonies of a baptifm, which is wholly ufelefs
and unnecefiary to men who dread not the pains of
hell, to which, they fay, they are accuttomed in
this life.
THE torments they experience in their flavery,
and the diforders to which they are liable in Ame-
rica, both contribute to render them infenfible to
the dread of future pimiihment. They are parti-
cularly fubjec~t to two difeafes, the yaws, and a
complaint that affects their ftomach. The firft
etfedt of this lafl diforder is, to turn their fkin and
complexion to an olive colour. Their tongue be-
comes white, and they are overpowered by fuch a
defire of fleeping that they cannot refift: they
VOL. III. E e grow
41* HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
3 O
XI.
> K grow faint, and are incapable of the leaft exercife.
It is a languor, and a general relaxation of the whole
machine. In this fituation they are in fuch a ftate
of defpondency, that they fuffer themfelves to be
knocked down rather than walk. The loathing
which they have of mild and wholefome food, is
attended with a kind of rage for every thing that is
faked or fpiced. Their legs fwell, their breath is
obftructed, and few of them furvive this diforder.
The great-eft part die of fuffbcation, after having
fuffered and languilhed for feveral months.
THE thicknefs of their blood, which appears to
be the fource of thefe diforders, may proceed from
feveral caufes. One of the principal, is, undoubted-
ly, the melancholy which muft feize thefe men who
are violently torn away from their country, are fet-
tered like criminals, who find themfelves all on a fud-
den on the lea, where they continue for two months
or fix weeks, and who, from the midft of a beloved
family, pafs under the yoke of an unknown people,,
from whom they expect the moil dreadful punifh-
ments. Afpecies of food, new to them, and dif-
agreeabie in itfelf, difgufts them in their paiTage.
At their arrival in the iflands, the provifions that
are diitributed to them, are neither good in qua-
lity, nor fufrlcient to fupport them. To complete
their mifery, feveralamong them have contracted
in Africa, the habit of eating a certain kind of
earth, which gratified their tafte, without being in
the leafl hurtful to them: they feek for fomething
that refembles this, and chance has thrown in their
way a foft ftone of a deep yellow, which totally
fpoils their ftomach,
THE
IN T.HE EAST AND WEST INDIES; 419
THE yaws, which is the fecond diforder pecu- B x p K.
liar to negroes, difcovers itfclf by blotches that are < * '
dry, hard, callous, and round, fometimes covered
by the (kin, but moil commonly ulcerated, and
fprinkled, as it were, with a whitifh flower inter-
mixed with yellow. The yaws have been con-
founded with the venereal difeafe, becaufe the
lame remedy is proper for both. This opinion,
though pretty general, has lefs to fupport it, than
at firft fight it appears to have.
ALL the negroes, as well male as female, who
come from Guinea, or are born in the iilands,
have the yaws once in their lives: it is a difeafe
they muft necefiarily 1 pafs through; but there is
no infuance of any of them being attacked with it
a fecond time, after having been radically cured.
The Europeans fcldoin or never catch this difor-
der, notwithstanding the frequent and daily con-
nection which they have with the negro women.
Thefe women fuckle the children of the white peo-
ple, but do not give them the yaws. How is it pof-
fible to reconcile thefe facts, which are inconteftible,
wi th the fyftem which phyficians feem to have adopt-
ed with regard to the nature of the yaws ? Can it
not be allowed, that the femen, the blood, and flun
of the negroes, are fufceptible of a virus peculiar to
their fpecies ? The caufe of this diforder, per-
haps, is owing to that which occafions their colour:
one difference is naturally productive of another:
and there is no being or quality that exifts abfo-
lutely detached from others in nature.
BUT whatever this diforder may be, it is evident
from the mod -accurate and undeniable calcula-
E e a dons,
420 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B x?. K tlons > tnat tnere dies every year in America, the
v v- ' feventh part of the blacks that are imported thither
from Guinea. Fourteen hundred thoufand un-
happy beings, who are now in the European colo-
nies of the New world, are the unfortunate remains
of nine millions of flaves that have been conveyed
thither. This dreadful deftruction cannot be the
effect of the climate, which is nearly the fame as
that of Africa, much lefs of the diforders, to which,
jn the opinion of all obfervers, but few fall a facri-
fice. It muft originate from the manner in which
thefe flaves are governed : and might not an error
of this nature be corrected ?
in what THE firft ftep neceffary in this reformation
n""tTon he would be to attend minutely to the natural and
mi hVbe moral ftatc of man. Thofe who go to purchafe
rendered blacks on the coafts of favage nations; thofe who
portable. convey them to America, and efpecially thofe who
direct their labours, often think themfelves oblig-
ed, from their fituation, and frequently too for the
fake of their own fafety, to opprefs thefe wretched
men. The foul of thefe managers of flaves, loft
to all fenfe of compaffion, is ignorant of every mo-
tive to enforce obedience, but thofe of fear or feve-
rity, and thefe they exercife with all the harfhnefs
of a temporaryjajtfhority. If the proprietors of
plantations would ?eal& to regard the care of their
flaves, as ati occupation below them, and confi-
der it as an office to which it is their duty to at-
tend, they would loon difcard thefe errors that
arife from a fpirit of cruelty. The hiftory of all
mankind would fliew them, that, in order to ren-
der flavery ufeful, it is, at leaft, necerTary to make.
3 it:
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 4 zi
it eafy; that force does not prevent the rebellion B x K
of the mind j that it is the matter's intereft that * xr !
the (lave fhould be attached to life, and that no-
thing is to be expected from him the moment that
he no longer fears to die.
THIS principle of enlightened reafon, derived
from the fentiments of humanity, would contri-
bute to the reformation of feveral abufes. Men
would acknowledge the necefilty of lodging,
clothing, and giving proper food to beings con-
demned to the mofl painful bondage that ever has
exifted fince the infamous origin of flavery. They
would be fenfible that it is naturally impoffible
that thofe who reap no advantage from their own
labours, can have the lame underftanding, the
fame oeconomy, the fame activity, the fame ftrength
as the man who enjoys the produce of his induflry.
That political moderation would gradually take
place, which confitts in leflening of labour, alle-
viating punilhment, and rendering to man part
of his rights, in order to reap with greater cer-
tainty the benefit of thofe duties that are impofed
upon him. The prefervation of a great number
of flaves, whom diforders occafioned by vexa-
tion or regret deprive the colonies of, would be
the natural conlequence of fo wife a regulation.
Far from aggravating the yoke that opprefTes
them, every kind of attention fhould be given to
make it eafy, and to diflipate even the idea of it,
by favouring a natural tafte that feems peculiar to
the negroes.
THEIR organs are extremely fenfible of the
powers of mufic. Their ear is fo true, that in
E e 3 their
422 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS' AND TRADE
5 xi? K ^eir dances, the time of a fong makes them fpring
Ui v- ' up a hundred at once, ftriking the earth at the
fame inftant. Enchanted, as it were, with the
voice of a finger, or the tone of a flringed in-
flruroent, a vibration of the air is the fpirit that
actuates all the bodies of thefe men : a found agi-
tates, tranfports, and throws them into extafies.
In their common labours, the motion of their
arms, or of their feet, is always in cadence. At
all their employments they fing, and feem always
as if they were dancing. Mufic animates their
courage, and rouzes them from their indolence.
The marks of this extreme fenfibility to harmony
are vifible in all the mufcles of their bodies, which
are always naked. Poets and muficians by nature,
they make the words fubfervient to the mufic, by
a licence they arbitrarily afifume of lengthening or
fhortening them, in order to accommodate them
to an air that pleafes them. Whenever any ob-
ject or incident ftrikes a negro, he initantly makes
it the fubjecl: of a fong. In all ages this has been
the origin of poetry. Three or four words, which
are alternately repeated by the finger and the ge-
neral chorus, fometimes conftitute the whole poem.
Five or fix bars of mufic compofe the whole length
of the fong. A circumftance that appears fmgu-
lar, is, that the fame air, though merely a conti-
nual repetition of the fame tones; takes entire
porTeflion of them, makes them work or dance
for feyeral hours : neither they, nor even the
white men, are difgufted with that tedious unifor-
mity which thefe repetitions might naturally occa-
fion. This particular attachment is owing to the
warmth,
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 423
warmth and exprefllon which they introduce into B *
their fongs. Their airs are generally Double time, v v >
None of them tend to infpire them with pride.
Thofe intended to excite tendernefs, promote ra-
ther a kind of languor. Even thofe which are
mod lively, carry in them a certain exprefllon of
melancholy. This is the higheil entertainment to
minds of great fenfibility.
So flrong an inclination for mufic might become
a powerful motive of action under the direction of
ikilful hands. Feftivals, games and rewards might
on this account be eftablifhed among them. Thefe
amuferaents, conducted with judgment, would
prevent that ftupidity fo common among (laves,
cafe their labours, and preferve them from that
conftant melancholy which confumes them, and
fhortens their days. After having provided for
the prefervation of the blacks exported from Afri-
ca, the welfare of thofe who are born in the iflands
jthemfelves would then be confidered.
THE negroes are not averfe from the propaga-
tion of their fpecies even in the chains of flavery.
But it is the cruelty of the mailers which hath
effectually prevented them from complying with
this great end of nature. Such hard labour is re-
quired from negro women, both before and after
their pregnancy, that their children are either
abortive, or live but a fhort time after delivery.
Mothers, rendered defperate by the punilhments
which the weaknefs of their condition occafions
them, fnatch fometimes their children from the
cradle, in order to ftrangle them in their arms,
and facrifke them with a fury mingled with a fpi-
E e 4 rit
424 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
rit of revenge and companion, that they may not
become the property of their cruel matters. This
barbarity, the horror of which muft be wholly im-
puted to the Europeans, will, perhaps, convince
them of their error. Their fenfibility will be
rouzed, and engage them to pay a greater attention
to their true interests. They will find that by com-
mitting fuch outrages againft humanity, they in-
jure themfelves ; and if they do not become the
benefactors of their (laves, they will at leaft ceafe
to be their executioners.
THEY will, perhaps, refolve to fet free thofe
mothers who rtiall have brought up a confidefable
number of children to the age of fix years. The
allurements of liberty are the moft powerful that
can influence the human heart. The negro wo-
men, animated by the hope of fo great a blefiing,
to which all would afpire, and few would be able
to obtain, would make neglect and infamy be
fucceeded by a virtuous emulation to bring up
children, whofe number and prefervation would
fecure to them freedom and tranquillity.
AETER having taken wife meafures not to de-
prive their plantations of thofe fuccours arifing
from the extraordinary fruitfulnefs of the negro
women i they will attend to the care of conducting
and extending cultivation by means of population,
and without foreign expedients. Every thing in-
vites them to eftablifh this eafy and natural fyflem.
THERE are fome powers, whofe fcttlements in
the American ifles every day acquire extent, and
there are none whofe manual labour does not con-
tinually increafe. Thefe lands, therefore, con-
ftantly
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 425
ftantly require a greater number of hands to clear BOOK.
them. Africa, where all Europeans go to recruit * ^1 *
the population of the colonies, gradually fur-
nifhes them with fewer men, and fupplies them
at the fame time with worfe flaves and at a higher
price. This fource for the obtaining flaves will
be gradually more and more exhaufted. But were
this change in trade as chimerical, as it feems to
be not far diftant, it is neverthelefs certain that a
great number of flaves, drawn out of a remote
region, perifli in their pafiage, or in the New
world; and that when they come to America they
are fold at a very advanced price; that there are
few of them whofe natural term of life is not
Ihortened ; and that the greater part of thofe who
attain a wretched old age, are extremely ignorant,
and being accuftomed from their infancy to idle-
nefs, are frequently very unfit for the employ-
ments to which they are deftined, and are in a
continual ftate of defpondency, on account of
their being feparated from their country. If we
are not miftaken in our opinion, cultivators born
in the American iflands themfelves, always breath-
ing their native air, brought up without any other
expence than what confifts in a cheap food, habi-
tuated in early life to labour by their own parents,
endowed for a fufficient fliare of wnderftanding,
or a fingular aptitude for all the ufeful arts; fuch
cultivators cannot but be preferable to flaves that
have been fold and live in a perpetual exile and
reftraint.
THE method of fubftituting in the place of fo-
reign negroes thofe of the colonies themfelves, is
very
4i S HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK, very obvious. It wholly confifts in fuperintending
L v ' , the black children that are born in the iflands, in
confining to their workhoufes that multitude of
flaves who carry about with them their worthleff-
nefs, theirjicentioufnefs, and their luxury and in-
dolence of their matters, in all the towns and ports
of Europe; but above all, in requiring of naviga-
tors who frequent the African coalts, that they
fliould form their cargo of an equal number of
men and women, or even of a majority of wo-
men, during fome years, in order to reduce that
difproportion which obtains between the two
fexes.
This laft precaution, by putting the pleafures
of love within the reach of all the blacks, would
contribute to their eafe and multiplication. Thefe
unhappy men, forgetting the weight of their
chains, would w'th tranfport fee themfelves live
again in their children. The majority of them
are faithful, even to death, to thofe negro women
whom love and flavery have afiigned to them for
their companions; they treat them with that com-
pafilon which the wretched mutually derive from
one another even in the rigour of their condition;
they comfort them under the load of their em-
ployments; they fympathize, at lead, with them,
when, through excefs of labour, or want of food,
the mother can only offer her child a breaft that is
dry, or bathed in her tears. The women, on
their part, though tied down to no reftriftions of
chaftity, are fixed in their attachments; provided
that the vanity of being beloved by White people
does not render them inconflant. Unhappily this
is
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 427
is a temptation to infidelity, to which they have Cf \ a K
too often opportunities to yield. ,.
THOSE who have inquired into the caufes of this
tafte for black women, which appears to be Ib de-
praved in the Europeans, have found it to arife
from the nature of the climate, which under the
torrid zone irrefiilibly excites men to the pleafures
of love; the facility of gratifying this infur-
mounfable inclination without reftraint, and with-
out the trouble of a long purfuit; from a certain
captivating attraction of beauty, difcoverable in
black women, as foon as cuftom hath once recon-
ciled the eye to their colour ; but principally from
a warmth of conftitution, which gives them the
power of infpiring and returning the moft ardent
tranfports. Thus they revenge themfelves, as it
were, for the humiliating defpondence of their
condition, by the violent and immoderate paffions
which they excite in their matters; nor do our
ladies, in Europe, poflefs in a more exalted degree
the art of wafting and running out large fortunes
than the negro women. But thofe of Africa have
the fuperiority over thofe of Europe, in the real
pafiion they have for the men who purchafe them.
The happy difcovery and prevention of confpira-
cies that would have deftroyed all their opprefibrs
by the hands of their (laves, hath been often ow-
ing to the faithful attachment of thefe negro wo-
men. The double tyranny of thefe unworthy
ufurpers of the eftates and liberty of fuch a num-
ber of people, deferved, doubtlefs, fuch a pu-
piihmentt
WE
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
Wz will not here fo far debafe ourfelves as to
enlarge the ignominious lift of thofe writers who
devote their abilities to juftify by policy what mo-
rality condemns. In an age where fo many errors
are boldly laid open, it would be unpardonable
to conceal any truth that is interefting to huma-
nity. If whatever we have hitherto advanced
hath feemingly tended only to alleviate the
burden of flavery, the reafon is, that it was
firft necefiary to give fome comfort to thofe un-
happy beings, whom we cannot fet free; and
convince their opprefibrs that they are cruel to
the prejudice of their real interefts. But, in the
mean time, until fome confiderable revolution lhall
make the evidence of this great truth felt, it may
not be improper to purlue this fubjeft further.
We ihall then firft prove, that there is no reafon
of ftate that can authorife flavery. We (hall not
be afraid to cite to the tribunal of reafon and
juftice thofe governments which tolerate this cru-
elty, or which even are not alhamed to make it
the bafis of their power.
MONTESQUIEU could not prevail upon himfelf
to treat the queftion concerning flavery in a ferious
light. In reality it is degrading reafon to employ
it, I will not fay in defending, but even in refut-
ing an abufe fo repugnant to it. Whoever jufti-
fies fo odious a ,fyftem, deferves the utmoft con-
tempt from a philofopher, and from the negro a
ftab with his dagger.
IF you touch me, faid Clarifla to Lovelace, that
moment I kill myfelf; and I would fay to him,
who attempted to deprive me of my liberty, If
you
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 429
you approach me, I will flab you. In this cafe, B x K
I fhould reafon better than ClarifTa; becaufe, de- * -
fending my liberty, or, which is the fame thing,
my life, is my primary duty; to regard that of
another, is only a fecondary consideration; and if
all other circumftances were the fame, the death
of a criminal is more conformable to juftice than
that of an innocent perfon.
WILL it be faid, that he who wants to make
me a flave does me no injury, but that he only
makes ufe of his rights? Where are thofe rights?
Who hath ftamped upon them fo facred a character
as to filence mine ? From nature I hold the right
of felf-defence ; nature, therefore, has not given
to another the right of attacking me. If thou
thinkefl thyfelf authorifed to opprcfs me, becaufe
thou art ftronger and more ingenious than I am ;
do not complain if my vigorous arm fliall plunge
a dagger into thy breaft; do not complain, when
in thy tortured entrails thou fhalt feel the pangs
of death conveyed by poifon into thy food : I am
ftronger and more ingenious than thou: fall a vic-
tim, therefore, in thy turn; and expiate the crime
of having been an opprefibr.
HE who fupports the fyftem of flavery is the
enemy of the whole human race. He divides it
into two focieties of legal afiaflins; the oppreflbrs
and the opprefled. It is the fame thing as pro-
claiming to the world, if you would preferve your
life, inftantly take away mine, for I want to have
yours.
But the right of flavery, you fay, extends only
to the right of labour and the privation of liberty,
not
430 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
xt K not *" *^ e ' W ^ at does not tne matter, whcr
u i difpo'ies of my ftrength at his pleafure, likewiie
difpofe- of my life, which depends on the volun-
tary and proper uie of my faculties? What is ex-
Jftence -to him, who has not the difpofal of it? I
cannot kill my (lave; but I can make him bleed
under the whip of an executioner; I can over-
whelm him with -forrows, drudgery and want; I
can injure him everyway, and fecretly undermjne
the principles and fprings of his life; I can Imo-
thsr'by flow punifhments, the wretched infant
which a negro woman carries in her womb. Thus
;the laws protect the flave againft a violent death 3
-only to leave to my cruelty the right of making
him di'e by degrees.
LET us proceed a ftep further: the right of
flavery is that of perpetrating all forts of crimes:
thcfe crimes which invade property; for (laves are
not iufFered to have any even in their own per-
<fons: thofe crimes which deftroy perfonal lafety;
for the flave may be facrificed to the caprice of
his mailer: thofe crimes which make modefty
fhudder. My blood rifes at the-fe horrid images.
I deteft, -I abhor the human fpecies, made up on-
'ly of victims and executioners, and if it is never
to become better, may it be annihilated !
I^RTHER, that I may difclofe without referve
my fentiments on this fubjefl. Cartouche, the
highwayman, fitti' ng at the foot of a tree in a deep
foreib, calculating rlie profits and loffes of his rob-
beries, the rewards and pay of his aflbciates, and
adjufting with them the ideas of proportion and
distributive juflice; tlNis Cartouche is not a very
different
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 431
different character from that of the privateer, B S
who, reclined on his counter, with his pen in his v ,,. v >
hand, fettles the number of attacks which he can
order to be made on the coafts of Guinea; who
deliberately examines how many firelocks each
negro will coft him, in order to fupport the war
which is to furnifii him with flaves; how many
iron fetters to confine him aboard, how many
whips to make him work: how much each drop
of blood will be worth to him with which each
negro will water his plantation : if the black wo-
man will contribute more to his eftate by the la-
bours of her hands, or by thofe of bearing chil-
dren? What think you of this parallel? The
highwayman attacks you and takes your money;
the trader carries off even your perfon. The one
invades the rights of fociety, the other, thofe of
nature. This certainly is the truth; and if there
exifted a religion which authorifed > which tale-
rated, even by its filence, fuch enormities; if,
moreover, occupied by idle or factious queflions,
it did not eternally denounce vengeance agarnft
the authors or inftruments of this tyranny; if it
made it criminal for a flave to break his bonds; if
it did not expel the nnjuft judge who condemns
the fugitive to death; 'if fuch a religion exifted,
its minifters ought to be mafTacred under the rains
of their altars.
BUT thefe negroes, fay they, are a race of men
born for flavery; their difpofitions are narrow
treacherous, and wicked; they themfelves allow
the fuperiority of our underilandings, and alrnoft
acknowledge the juftice of our authority.
THT.
432 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
THE minds of the negroes are contracted} be-
caufe flavery deftroys all the fprings of the foul.
They are wicked; but not fufficiently fo with you.
They are treacherous, becaufe they are under no
obligation to fpeak truth to their tyrants. They
acknowledge the fuperiority of our underftand-
ings j becaufe we have abufed their ignorance :
they allow the juftice of our authority, becaufe
we have abufed their weaknefs. I might as well
fay, that the Indians are a Ipecics of men born to be
crufhed to death ; becaufe there are fanatics among
them, who tjirow themfelves under the wheels
of their idol's car before the temple of Jaguernat.
BUT thefe negroes, it is further urged, were
born flaves. Barbarians, will you perfuade me,
that a man can be the property of a fovereign, a
fon the property of a father, a wife the property of
a hufband, a domeilic tl^kproperty of a mailer,
a negro the property of a Jointer?
BUT thefc flaves have fola themfelves. Could a
man ever by compact, or by an oath permit an-
other to ufe and abufe him ? If he aiTented to this
compact, or confirmed it by an oath, it was in^a
tranfport of ignorance or folly ; and he is releafed '
from it, the moment that he either knows him-
felf, or his reafon returns.
BUT they had been taken in war. What does
this fignify to you ? Suffer the conqueror to make
what ill ufe he pleafes of his own victory. Why
do you make yourfelves his accomplices?
BUT they were criminals condemned in their
country to flavery. Who was it that condemned
them? Do you not know, that -in a defpotic ftate
there is no criminal but the tyrant.
THE
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 4-33
THE fubject of an abfolute prince is the fame B x K
as the flave in a ftate repugnant to nature. Every ' w '
thing that contributes to keep a man in fuch
a ftate is an attempt againfl his perfom Every
power which fixes him to the tyranny of one man,
is the power of his enemies : and all thofe who
are about him are the authors or abettors of this
violence. His mother, who taught him the firft:
leflbns of obedience j his neighbour, who fet him
the example of it 3 his fuperiors, who compelled
him into this ftate; and his equals, who led him
into it by their opinion: all thefe are the minifters
and inftruments of tyranny. The tyrant can do
nothing of hirnfelf; he is only the firft mover
of thofe efforts which all his fubjects exert to their
own mutual oppreflion. He keeps them in a ftate
of perpetual war, which renders robberies, trea-
fons, afTaffinations lawful. Thus, like the blood
which flows in his veins, all crimes originate from
his heart, and return thither as to their primary
fource. Caligula ufed to fay, that if the whole
human race had but one head, he fhould have
taken pleafure in cutting it off. Socrates would
have faid, that if all crimes were heaped upon
one head, that fhould be the one which ought to
be ftruck off.
LET us, thereforej endeavour to make the light
of reafon and the fentiments of nature take place
of the blind ferocity of our anceftors. Let us
break the bonds of ib many victims to our merce-
nary principles, fhould we even be obliged to dif-
card a commerce which is founded only on injuf-
tice, and whofe object is luxury*
VOL. Ill, F f BUT
454 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK B UT even this is not necefTary. There is no
v ' occafion to give up thofe conveniences which.
cuftom hath fo much endeared to us. We may
draw them from our colonies, without peopling
them with (laves. Thefe productions may be cul-
tivated .by the hands of freemen,, and then be
reaped without remorfe.
THE iflands are filled with blacks, whofe fetters
have been broken. They fucceffively clear the
fmall plantations that have been given them, or
which they have acquired by their induftry. Such
of thefe unhappy men, as fhould recover their
independence, would live in quiet upon the fame-
manual labours, that would be then free and
advantageous to them. The vafTalsof Denmark;,
who have lately been made free, have not aban-
doned their ploughs.
Is it then apprehended, that the facility of ac-
quiring fubfiilence without labour, on a foil natu-
Killy fertile, and of diipenfmg with the want of
cloaths, would plunge thefe men in idlenefs ?
Why then do not the inhabitants of Europe con-
fine themfelves to fuch labours as are of indif-
penfable neceffity ? Why do they exhauft their
powers in laborious employments which tend only
to the fenfual gratifications of a frivolous imagi-
nation ? There are amongft us a thoufand profef-
nons, fome more laborious than others, which
owe their origin to our inPdtutions. Human laws
have given rife to a variety of factitious wants,
which otherviie would never have had an exift-
ence. By difpofing of every fpecies of property
eir capricious inftitutions, they have~
fubjecled
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
Tubjefted an infinite number of people 1 to the im-
perious will of their fellow-creatures, fo far as
even to make them fmg and dance for fubfiflence.
We have amongft us beings, formed like our-
felves, who have confented to inter themfelves un-
der mountains, to furnifh us with metals and with
copper, perhaps to poifon us : why do we ima-
gine that the negroes are lefs dupes and lefs foolifli
than the Europeans?
AT the time that we gradually confer liberty
'on thefe unhappy beings as a reward for their
ceconomy, their good behaviour> and their induf-
try, we muft be careful to fubjecl: them to our
laws and manners, and to offer them our fuper-
fluities. We muft give them a country, give them
interefts to ftudyj productions to cultivate, and
an object adequate to their refpeclive taftes^ and
our colonies will never want hands, which being
eafed of their chains, will be more active and
robuft.
IN order to overturn the whole fyftem of flave-
ry, which is fupported by pafllons fo univerfal,
by laws fo authentic, by the emulation of fuch
powerful nations, by prejudices (till more power-
ful, to what tribunal lhall we refer the caufe o
humanity* which fo many men are in confederacy
to betray? Sovereigns of the earth, you alone can
bring about this revolution. If you do not fport
with the reft of mortals, if you do not regard the
power of kings as the right of a fuccefsful plun-
der, and the obedience of fubjects as artfully ob*
tained from their ignorance, reflect on your own
obligations. Refufe the fanction of your autho-
F f 2 rity
436 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK rky to the infamous and criminal traffic of meit
v_ jr ' -. turned into fo many herds of cattle, and this trade
will ceafe. For once unite for the happinefs of
the world, % thofe powers and defigns which have
been fo often exerted for its ruin. If fome one
among you would venture to found the expecta-
tion of this opulence and grandeur on the gene-
rofity of all the reft, he inftantly becomes an ene-
my of mankind, who ought to be deftroyed. You
may carry fire andfword into his territories. Your
armies will foon be infpired with the facred en-
thufiafm of humanity. You will then perceive
what difference virtue makes between men who
fuccour the oppreffed, and mercenaries who ferve
tyrants.
BUT what am I faying? Let the ineffectual calls
of humanity be no longer pleaded with the peo-
ple and their mafters : perhaps, they have never
been attended to in any public tranfactions. If then,
ye nations of Europe, intereft alone can exert ita
influence over you, liftcn to me once more. Your
flaves ftand in no need either of your generofity
or your counfels y in order to break the facrile-
gious yoke of their oppreffion.. Nature fpeaks a
more powerful language than philofophy, or in-
tereft. Some white people already mafTacred,
have expiated a part of our crimes; already have
two colonies of fugitive negroes been eftablilhed,
to whom treaties and power give a perfect fecu-
rity from your attempts. Poifon hath' at different
times been the inftrument of their vengeance.
Several have eluded your oppreffion by a volun-
tary death. Thefe enterprifes are fo many indica-
tions
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 437
lions of the impending ftorm ,- and the negroes x K
only want a chief, fufficiently courageous, to lead * ^ *
them to vengeance and (laughter.
WHERE is this great man to be found, whom
nature, perhaps, owes to the honour of the hu-
man ipecies ? Where is this new Spartacus, who
will not find a Craifus ? Then will the black code be
no more; and the white code will be a dreadful
one, if the conqueror only regards the right qf
repriials.
TILL this revolution takes place, the negroes
groan under the yoke of oppreflion, the defcrip-
tion of which cannot but interefl us more and
.more in their deftiny.
THE foil of the American iflands hath little re- Labours of
femblance to ours. Its productions are very differ-
ent, as well as the manner of cultivating them.
Except fome pot-herbs, nothing is fown there j
every thing is planted.
TOBACCO being the firfl production that w r as
cultivated, as its roots do not ftrike deep, and the
leafl injury deftroys them, a fimple harrow was
only employed to prepare the lands which were
to receive it, and to extirpate the noxious weeds
which would have choaked it. This cuftom ftill
prevails.
WHEN more troublefome cultures began to be
attended to, which were more delicate, the hqe
was made ufe of to work and weed ; but it was
not employed over the whole extent of ground
that was to be cultivated. It was thought fufr]-
cient to dig a hole for the reception of the plant.
THE
43$ HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
^ HE ^ nec l ua ^ t y f tne ground, moft commonly
full of hillocks., probably gave rife to this cuftpm.
It might be apprehended, that the rains, which
always fall in torrents, fhould deftroy by tlie ca-
vities they make, the land that had been turned
up. Indolence, and the want of means at the
time of the firft fettlements, extended this practice
to the moft level plains, and cuilom, which no one
ever thought of deviating from, gave a fanction
to it. At length fome planters, who were adventu-
rous enough to difcard former prejudices, thought
of ufmg the plough, and it is probable, that this
method will become general wherever it fhall be
found practicable. It has every circumftance in
its favour that can make it defirable.
ALL the lands of the iflands were virgin lands,
when the Europeans undertook to clear them.
The firft that were occupied, have for a long time
yielded lefs produce than they did in the begin-
ning. Thofe which have been fucceffively clear-
ed, are likewife more or lefs exhaufted, in pro-
portion to the period of their firft cultivation.
Whatever their fertility at firft might have been,
they all lofe it in procefs of time, and they will foon
ceafe to requite the labours of thofe who cultivate
them, if art is not exerted to affift nature.
IT is a principle of agriculture generally ad-
mitted by naturalifts, that the earth becomes fer-
tile only in proportion as it can receive the influ-
ence of the air, and of all thofe meteors which
are directed by this powerful agent, fuch as fogs,
dews, and rains. Continual labour can only pro-
cure this advantage to it : the iflands in particu-
lar
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 4J9
iar conflantly require it. The wet feafon rnuft BOOK
be chofen for turning up the ground, the drynefs v^ ^
of which would be an impediment to fertility.
Ploughing cannot be attended with any inconve-
nience in lands that are level. One might pre-
vent the danger of having flielving grounds de-
ftroyed by florins, by making furrows tranfverfcly,
on a line that fhould crofs that of the (lope of the
hillocks. If the declivity w.ere fo fteep that the
cultivated grounds could be carried away, notwith-
Handing the furrows., fmall drains, ibmething
deeper, might be added for the fame purpole ajt
particular diftances, which would partly break the
force and velocity that the fteepnefs of the hills
adds to .the fall .of heavy rains.
THE utility of the plough would not be merely
limited to the producing a greater portion of the
vegetable juice in plants ; it would make their
produce the more certain.. The iflands are the re-
gions of infects; their multiplication there is fa-
voured by a conftant heat, and one race fucceeds
another without interruption. The cxtenfive ra-
vages they make are well known. Frequent and
fucceiTive ploughing would check the progrefs pf
this devouring race, difturb their reproduction,
would kill great numbers of them, and deftroy
the greateft part of their eggs. Perhaps, this ex-
pedient would not be fufBcient againit the rats
which {hips have brought from Europe into Ame-
rica, where they have iucreafcd to that degree,
that they often deftroy one-third of the crops.
T|ie induflry of Hayes might alfo be made ufe of,
Ff4 and
440 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B ^xi? K ant ^ tne * r vigilance might be encouraged by fome
' w ' gratification.
THE ufe of the plough would probably intro-
duce the cuftom of manuring; it is already known
oh the greateft part of the coaft. The manure
there in ufe is called varech, a kind of Tea-plant,
which when ripe, is detached from the water, and
driven on the ftrand by the motion of the waves :
it is very productive of fertility, but if employed
without previous preparation, it communicates to
the fugar a difagreeable bitternefs, which muft
arifefrom the falts that are impregnated with oily
particles abounding in fea-plants. Perhaps, in or-
der to take off this bitter tafte, it would only be
necefiary to burn the plant and make ufe of the
afhes. The falts being by this operation detached
From the oily particles, and triturated by vegeta-
tion, would circulate more freely in the fugar-cane,
and impart to it purer juices.
THE interior parts of this country have not till
lately been dunged. Neceflity will make this
practice become more general ; and in time the
foil of America will be affifted by the fame me-
thods of cultivation as the foil of Europe; but
with more difficulty. In the Iflands where herds
of cattle are not fo numerous, and where there is
feldom the convenience of ftables, it is neceflary
to have recourfe to other kinds of manure, and
multiply them as much as poflible, in order to
compenfate the quality by the quantity. The
greateft refource will always be found in the weeds,
from which ufeful plants muft be conftantly freed.
Thefe muft be collected together in heaps, and
left
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 441
left to putrify. The colonifts who cultivate coffee, BOOK:
have let the example of this practice ; but with < v >
that degree of indolence which the heat of the
climate occafions in all manual labour. A pile of
weeds is heaped up at the bottom of the coffee-
trees, without regarding whether thefe weeds,
which they do not even take the trouble of cover-
ing with earth, heat the tree, and harbour the in-
fects that prey upon it. They have been equally
negligent in the management of their cattle.
ALL the domcitic quadrupeds of Europe were
imported into America by the Spaniards j and it
is from their fettlements that the colonies of other
nations have been fupplied. Excepting hogs, which
are found to thrive beft in countries abounding
with aquatic productions, infects and reptiles, and
are become larger and better tafted, all thefe ani-
mals have degenerated, and the few that remain
in the iflands, are very fmall. Though the bad-
nefs of the climate may contribute fomething to
this degeneracy, the want of care is, perhaps,
the principal cauie. They always lie in the open
field. They never have either bran or oats given
them, and are at grafs the whole year. The co-
lonifts have not even the attention -of dividing the
meadows into feparate portions, in order to make
their cattle to pafs from one into the other. They
always feed on the fame fpot, without allowing the
grafs time to fpring up again. Such paftures Can
only produce weak and watery juices. Too quick
a vegetation prevents them from being properly
ripened. Hence the animals, deftined for the
food
412 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK food of man, afford only flefh that is tough and
uJ^ flabby.
THOSE animals, which are referved for labour,
do but very little fervice. The oxen draw but
light loads, and that not all day long. They are
always four in number. They are not yoked by
the head, but by the neck, after the Spaniih cuf-
torru They are not ftimulated by the goad, but
driven by a whips and are directed by two drivers.
WHEN the roads do not allow the ufe of car-
riages, mules are employed inftead of oxen. Thefe
are faddled after a fimpler method than in Europe,
hut much inferior to it in flrength. A mat is fixed
on their back, to which two hooks are fufpended
on each fide, the firft that are cafually met with
in the woods. Thus equipped, they carry, at moft,
half the weight that European horfes can bear,
and go over but half the ground in the fame time.
THE pace of their horfes is not fo flow : they
have preferved fomething of the fleetnefs, fire,
and docility of thofe of Andalufia, from which
they derived their pedigree ; but their flrength is
not anfwerable to their fpirit. It is neceffary to
breed a great number of them, in order to obtain
that fervice from them which might be had from a
fma-ller number in Europe. Three or four of
them muft be harnefied to very light carriages uled
by Indolent people for making excurfions, which
they call journeys, but which with us would only
be an airing.
THE degeneracy of the animals in the iflands
might have been prevented, retarded, or diminifti-
cd., if care had been taken to renew them by a
foreign.
IN THE. EAST AND WEST INDIES. 443
foreign race. Stallions brought from colder or BOOK
warmer countries, would in ibme degree have < v t
corrected the influence of the climate, feed, and
rearing. With the mares of the country they
would have produced a new race far fuperior, as
they would, have come from a climate different
from that into which they were imported,
IT is very extraordinary, that fo iimple an idea
ihould never have occurred to any of the planters;
and that there has been no legiflature attentive
enough to its interests, to fubftitute in its fettle-
ments the bifon to the common ox. Every one
who is acquainted with this animal, mud recollect
that the bifon has a fofter and brighter fkin, a dif-
pofition lefs dull and ftupid than our bullock, and
a quicknefs and docility far fuperior. It is fwift
in running, and when mounted can fupply the
place of a horfe. It thrives as well in fouthern
countries, as the ox that we employ loves cold or
temperate climates. This fpecies is only known
in the eaftern iflands, and in the greater part of
Africa. If cuitom had iefs influence than it com-
monly has, even over the wifeft governments, they
would have been fenfible, that this ulcful animal
was fingularly well adapted to the great Archipe-
lago of America, and that it would be very eafy
to export it at a very fmall expence from the Gold
Coaft, or the coaft of Angola.
Two rich planters, one in Barbadoes, the other
in St. Domingo, -equally ftruck with the weaknefs
of thofe animals, which, according to eftablifhed
cuftom, were employed in drawing and carrying,
endeavoured to fubftitute the camel to them.
This
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
This experiment, formerly tried without fuccefs
in Peru by the Spaniards, did not fucceed better
here, nor was it poffible it fhould. I tis well
known, that though a native of hot countries, it
dreads exceffive heat, and can as little thrive as
propagate under the burning Iky of the torrid
zone, as in the temperate ones. It would have
been better to have tried the Buffalo.
THE buffalo is a very dirty animal, and of a
fierce difpofition. Its caprices are fudden and fre-
quent. Its ikin is firm, light, and almoft impe-
netrable, and its horn ferviceable for many pur-
pofes. Its flefh is black and hard, and difagree-
able to the tafte and fmell. The milk of the fe-
male is not fo fweet, but much more copious than
that of the cow. Reared like the ox, to which it
has a ftriking refemblance, it greatly furpaffes it
in ftrength and fwiftnefs. T\vo buffaloes yoked
to a waggon by means of a ring paffed through
their nofe, will draw as much as four of the flout-
eil bullocks, and in lefs than half die time. They
owe this double fuperiority to the advantage of
having longer legs, and a more confiderable bulk
of body, the whole power of which is employed
in drawing, becaufe they naturally carry their head
and neck low. As this animal is originally a na-
tive of the torrid zone, and is larger, ftronger, and
more manageable in proportion to the heat of the
. country it is in, it cannot ever have been doubted
that it would have been of great fervice in the Ca-
ribbee iflands and propagate happily there. This
is highly probable, efpecially fmce the fuccefsful
'experiments that have been made of it at Guiana.
INDOLENCE*
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
INDOLENCE, and old eftablifhed cuftoms, which
have hindered the propagation of domeftic ani-
mals, have no lefs impeded the fuccefs of tranf-
planting vegetables. Several kinds of fruit-trees
have been fucceflively carried to the iflands. Thofe
that have not died, are fome wild flocks, whofe
fruit is neither beautiful nor good. The greateft
part have degenerated very fad, becaufe they have
been expofed to a very ftrong vegetation, ever
lively, and conftantly quickened by the copious
dews of the night, and the ftrong heats of the
day, which are the two grand principles of ferti-
lity. Perhaps, an intelligent obferver would have
known how to profit from thefe circumftances, and
have been able to raife tolerable fruit; but fuch
men are not found in the colonies. If our kitchen
herbs have fucceeded better; if they are always
fp ringing up again, evergreen, and ripe; the rea-
fon is, that they had not to ftruggle againft the
climate, where they were afllfted by a moift and
clammy earth, which is proper for them; and be-
caufe they required no trouble. The labour of
the flaves is employed in the cultivation of more
ufeful productions.
THE principal labours of thefe unhappy men
are directed towards thole objects that are indifpen-
fable to the prefervation of their wretched exiftence.
Except in the iflands that are occupied by the Spa-
niards, where things are very nearly in the fame
ftate as they were at the arrival of the Europeans
in the New world, thofe productions, which were
fufficient for the favages, have diminifhed in pro-
portion as they have deftroyed the forefts, in order
to
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
to form plantations; It was ncceiTary to procure
other means of fubfiftence, and moft of thcfe that
were wanted, have been drawn from the country
itfelf of the new-comers.
AFRICA has furnifhed the iflands with a fhrtibi
which grows to the height of four feet, lives four
years, and is ufeful throughout its whole duration.
It bears hulks, which contain five or fix grains
of a fpecies of a very wholefome and very nou-
rifhing pea. Every part belonging to this Ihrub
is remarkable for fome particular virtue. Its blof-
fom is good for a cough ; its leaves when boiled
are applied to wounds, and of the afhes of this
plant is made a lixivium, which cleanfes ulcers and
diflipates the external inflammations of the Ikin.
This fhrub is called the Angola pea. It flourifhes
equally in lands naturally barren^ and in thofe
whofe falts have been exhaufted. For this reaforij
the beft managers among the colonifts never fail
to fow it on all thofe parts of their eftates, which
in other hands would remain uncultivated.
THE moft valuable prefent, however, which the
iflands have received from Africa, is the manioc.
Moft hiftorians have conlidered this plant as a na-
tive of America. It does not appear on what
foundation this opinion is fupported } though pret-
ty generally received. But were the truth of it
demonftrated, the Caribbee iflands would yet fraud
indebted for the manioc to the Europeans, who
imported it thither along with the Africans, who
fed upon it. Before our invafions, the intercourfe
between the continent of America and thefe ifles
was fo trifling, that a production of the Terra
4 Firma
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 44,
Firma might be unknown in the Archipelago of BOOK
the Antilles. It is certain, however, that the fa- < Jt
vages who offered -our firft navigators bananas*
yams, and potatoes, offered them no manioc;
that the Caribs in Dominica and St. Vincent had
it from us; that thp chara6ter of the favages did
not render them fit to conduct a cirlture requiring
ib much attention j that this culture can only be
carried on in very open fields, and that in the fo-
reds, with which thefe iflands were overgrown,
there were no clear and unincumbered fpaces of
ground above five and twenty toifes fquare. In
fliort, it is beyond a doubt, that the ufe of the
manioc was not known till after the arrival of the
negroes, and that from time immemorial it hath
"eonftituted the principal food of a great part of
Africa.
HOWEVER this may be, the manioc is a plant
which is propagated by flips. It is fet in furrows
that are five or fix inches deep, which are filled
with the fame earth that has been digged out.
Thefe furrows are at the diftance of two feet, or
two feet and a half from each other, according to
the nature of the ground. The fhrub rifes a little
above fix feet, and its trunk is about the thick-
nefs of the arm. In proportion as it grows, the
lower leaves fall off, and only a few remain to-
wards the top; its wood is tender and brittle.
THIS is a delicate plant, whofe cultivation is
troublefome, and the vicinity of all forts of grafs
is prejudicial to it. It requires a dry and light
foil; its fruit is at its root, and if this root is
fhaken by the motion the wind gives to the
body
4 3 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
i o o K body of the plant, the fruit is formed but imper-
, fectly. It takes eighteen months before it grows
to maturity.
IT is not rendered fit for human food till after
it has undergone a tedious preparation. Its firft
flcin muft be fcraped: it muft be waihed, rafped
and prefied, t extract the aqueous parts which
are a flow poifon, againft which there is no remedy
known. The roafling of it caufes every noxious
particle it might flill contain, totally to evapo-
rate. When there appears no more fleam, it is
taken off the iron plate, on which it v/as roafted,
and fuffered to cool. Repeated experiments have
fhewn, that it was almoft as dangerous to eat it
hot as to eat it raw.
THE root of the manioc grated and reduced in-
to little grains by roafling, is called flour of ma-
nioc. The pafte of manioc is called caflava, which
hath been converted into a cake by roafling,
without moving it. It would be dangerous to eat
as much caflava as flour of manioc, becaufe the
former is lefs roafted. Both keep a long time,
and are very nourifhing, but a little difficult of
digeflion. Though this food feems at firfl infipid,
there are a great number of white people, who have
been born in thefe iflands, who prefer it to the
befl wheat. All the Spaniards in general ufe it
conftantly. The French feed their flaves with it.
The other European nations, whp have fettlements
in the iflands, are little acquainted with the ma-
nioc. It is from North America that thefe colo-
nies receive their fubfiftence; fo that if by any
accident, which may very poflibly take place, their
connexions
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 449
connexions with this fertile country were inter- BOOK
rupted but for four months, they would be expofed \ 8 -
to perifli by famine. An avidity that hath no
bounds, makes the colonifts of the iflands infen-
fibleofthis imminent danger. All, at leall the
greater part, find their advantage in turning the
whole induftry of their (laves towards thofe pro-
ductions which are the objects of commerce. The
principal of thefe are, cocoa, cotton, indigo, and
coffee. We ftiall elfewhere fpeak of their cultiva-
tion, value, and deftination; and at prefent con-
fider only the cultivation of fugar, whofe produce
alone is more important than that of all the other
commodities.
THE cane that yields the fugar^ is a kind of
reed, which commonly rifes eight or nine feet,
including the leaves growing out of the top of it.
Its mofl ordinary thicknefs is from two to four
inches. It is covered with a hardifh rind, which
inclofes a fpungy fubftance. It is interfered at
intervals with joints, that ferve as it were to
ftrengthen and fupport it; but without impeding
the circulation of the fap, becaufe thefe joints are
foft and pithy in the infide.
THIS plant hath been cultivated from the earlieft
antiquity in fome countries of Afia and Africa*
About the middle of the twelfth century, it be-
came known in Sicily, from whence it patted into
the fouthern provinces of Spain. It was afterwards
tranfplanted into Madeira and the Canaries. From
thefe iflands it was brought into the New world,
where it fucceeded as well as if it had been ori-
ginally a native of it.
VOL. III. Gg ALL
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
ALL foils are not equally proper for it. Such
as ure rich and itrong, low and marfhy, environed
with woods, or lately cleared, however large and
tall the canes may be, produce only a juice that
is aqueous, infipid, of a bad quality, difficult to
be boiled, purified and preferved. Canes planted
in a ground where they foon meet with foft ftone
or rock, have but a very fhort duration, and yield
but little iugar. A light, porous, and deep foil,
is by nature moft favourable to this production.
THE general method of cultivating it, is to
prepare a large field, to make at the diftance of
three feet from one another, furrows eighteen
inches long, twelve broad, and fix deep; to lay
in thefe, two, and fbmetimes three flips of about
a foot each, taken from the upper part of the
cane, and to cover them lightly with earth. From
each of the joints in the (lips iffues a ftem, which
in time becomes a fugar-oane.
CARE Ihould be taken to clear it conftantlyfrom
the weeds, which never fail to grow around it.
This labour only continues for fix months. The
canes then are fufficiently thick and near one ano-
ther to deftroy every thing that might be preju-
dicial to their fertility. They are commonly luf-
fered to grow eighteen months, and are feldom cut
at any other time.
FROM the ftock of thefe, iilue fuckers, which
are in their turn cut fifteen months after. This
fccond cutting yi&lds only half of the produce of
the firft. The planters fometimes make a third
cutting, and even a fourth, which are always fuc-
cellively lefs, however good the foil may be. No-
i thing,
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
thing* therefore, but want of hands for planting
afrefli can oblige a planter to expect more than
two crops from his cane.
TntsTi crops are not made in all the colonies at
the fame time. In the Daniftj, Spanifh, and Dutch
fettlements, they begin in January and continue
till October. This method does not imply any-
fixed feafon for the maturity of the fugar-cane.
The plant, however like others, muft have its
progrefs; and it has been juftly obferved to be in
flower in the months of November and December.
It muft neceiTarily follow from the cuftom thefe
nations have adopted of continuing to gather their
crops for ten months without intermifilon, that
they cut fome canes which are not ripe enough,
and others that are too ripe, and then the fruit has
not the requifite qualities. The time of gathering
them Ihould be at a fixed feafon, and probably
the months of March and April are the fitteft for
it; becaufe all the fweet fruits are ripe at that
time, while the four ones do not arrive to a ftate
of maturity till the months of July and Auguft.
THE Englifh cut their canes in March and
April; but they are not induced to do this on ac-
count of their ripenefs. The drought that prevails
in their iflands renders the rains which fall in
September necefTary to their planting; and as the
canes are eighteen months in growing, this period
always brings them to the precife point of matu-
rity.
IN order to extract the juice of the canes, when
cur, which ought to be done in four and twenty
hours, otherwife it would turn four, they are parted
G g 2 between
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
between two cylinders of iron, or copper, placed
perpendicularly on an immoveable table. The
motion of the cylinders is regulated by an hori-
zontal wheel turned by oxen, or horfes; but in
water-mills this horizontal wheel derives its move-
ment from a perpendicular one, whofe circum-
ference meeting a current of water, receives an
impreflion which turns it upon its axis: this mo-
tion is from right to left, if the current of water
ftrikes the upper part of the wheel; from left to
right, if the current flrikes the lower part.
FROM the refer voir, where the juice of the cane
is received, it falls into a boiler where thofe par-
ticles of water are made to evaporate that are mofl
eafily feparated. This liquor is poured into ano-
ther boiler, where a moderate fire makes it throw
up its firft fcum. When it has loft its clammy
confidence it is made to run into a third boiler>
where it throws up much more fcum by means of
an increafed degree of heat. It then receives the
Tail boiling in a fourth cauldron whofe fire is
three times ftronger than the firft.
THIS laft fire determines the fuccefs of the pro-
cefs. If it hath been well managed, the fugar
forms cryftals that are larger or fmaller, more or
lefs bright, in proportion to the greater or lefs
quantity of oil they abound with. If the fire hath
been too violent, the fubftance is reduced to a
black and charcoal extract which cannot produce
any more ertential fait. If the fire hath been too
moderate, there remains a .confiderable quantity
of extraneous oils, which diftinguifh the fugar,
and render it thick and blaekifh; fo that. when it
is
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
is to be dried, it becomes always porous, becaufe
the fpaces which thefe oils filled up, 'remain
empty.
As foon as the fugar is cool, it is poured into
earthen vefTels of a conic figure; the bafe of the
cone is open, and its top has a hole, through
which the water is carried off that has not formed
any cryftals. This is called the fyrup. After this
water hath flowed through, the raw fugar remains,
which is rich, brown, and fait.
THE greateft part of the iflands leave to the
Europeans the care of giving fugar the other pre-
parations which are neceflary to make it fit for ufe.
This practice fpares the expcnce of large build-
ings, leaves them more negroes to employ in agri-
culture, allows them to make their cultures with-
out any interruption for two or three months to-
gether, and employs a greater number of fliips
for exportation.
THE French planters alone have thought it their
interefr. to manage their fugars in a different man-
ner. To whatever degree of exaflnefs the juice
of the fugar-cane may be boiled, there always re-
mains an infinite number of foreign particles at-
tached to the falts of the fugar, to which they ap-
pear to be what lees are to wine. Thefe give it a
dead colour, and the taileof tartar, of which they
endeavour to deprive it, by an operation called
earthing. This confifls in putting again the raw
fugars into a. new earthen veiTel, in every reipecl
fimilar to that \ve have mentioned. The furface
of the fugar, throughout the whole extent of the
Jpafis of the cone, is then co/cred with a \vhitc
G g 3 marl*
454 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B x? K mar ^' on which water is poured. In filtering it
v v ' through this marl, the water carries with it a por-
tion of a calcareous earth, which it finds upon the
different faline particles, when this earth meets
with oily fubftances to which it is united. This
water is afterwards drained off through the open-
ing at the top of the mould, and a fecond fyrup
is procured, which they call molafies, and which
is fo much the worfe, in proportion as the fugar
was finer; that is, contained lefs extraneous oil ;
for then the calcareous earth, diflblved by the
water, pafies alone, and carries with it all its
acrid particles.
THIS earthing is followed by the laft prepara-
tion, which is effected by fire, and ferves for the
evaporating of the moifture with which the falts
are impregnated, during the procefs of earthing.
In order to do this, the fugar is taken in its
whole form out of the conieal veffel of earth, and
conveyed into a ftove which receives from an iron
furnace a gentle and gradual heat, where it is left
till the fugar is become very dry, which common-
ly happens at the end of three weeks.
THOUGH the expence which this procefs re-
quires, is in general ufelefs, fmce the earthed fugar
is commonly refined in Europe in the fame man-
ner as the raw fugar; all the inhabitants of the
French iflands, however, who are able to purify
their fugars in this manner, generally take this
trouble. To a nation whofe navy is weak, this
method is extremely advantageous, as it enables it
in times of war, to convey into its own mother-coun-
try the moft valuable cargoes with a lefs number of
Jhips than if only raw fugars were prepared.
ONE
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 455
ONE may judge from thefe fpecies of fugars 5 B X 7 K
but much better from that, which has undergone ' v '
the earthing, of what fort of falts it is compofed.
If the foil, where the cane hath been planted, is
hard, ftony and (loping, the falts will be white,
angular, and the grain, very large. If the foil is
marly, the colour will be the lame; but the gra-
nulations, being cut on fewer fides, will reflect lefs
light. If the foil is rich and fpungy, the granu-
lations will be nearly fpherical, the colour will
be dufky, the fugar will flip under the ringer,
without any unequal feel. This lad kind of fu-
gar is confidered as the worft.
WHATEVER may be the reafon, thofe places
that have a northern afpect produce the bell fugar ;
and marly grounds yield the greatefl quantity.
The preparations which the fugar that grows in
thefe kinds of foil require, are lefs tedious and
troublefome than thofe which the fugar requires
that is produced in a rich land. But thefe obfer-
vations admit of infinite variety, whofe inveftiga-
tion is properly the province of chymifts, or
fpeculative planters.
BESIDES fugar, the cane furnifhes fyrup, whofe
value is only a twelfth of that of the price of
fugars. The beft fyrup is that which runs from
the firft vefiel into the fecond, when the raw fugar
is made. It is compofed of the grofler particles
which carry along with them the. falts of fugar,
whether it contains or feparates them in its pai-
fage. The fyrup of an inferior kind, which is
more bitter, and lefs in quantity, is formed by the
water which carries off the tartareous and earthy
G g 4 particles
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
K " P ar tides of the fugarwhen it is wafhed. By meana
' of fire, fome fugar is befides extracted from the
firft fyrup, which, after this operation, is of lefs
value than the fecond.
BOTH thefe kinds are carried into the north of
Europe, where the people ufe them inftead of
butter and fugar. In North America they make
the fame ufe of them, where they are further em-
ployed to give fermentation and an agreeable tafte
to a liquor called Prufs 3 which is only an infufion
of the bark of a tree.
THIS fyrup is Hill more ufeful, by the fecret
that has been difcovered of converting it by diftil-
lation, into a fpirituous liquor which the Englifh
call Rum, and the French faffia. This procefs,
v/hich is very fimple, is made by mixing a
third part of fyrup with two-thirds of water.
When thefe two fubftances have fufficiestly fer-
mented, v/hich commonly happens at the end of
twelve or fifteen days, they are put into a clean
ftill, where the diftiilation is made as ufual. The
liquor that is drawn oil is equal to the quantity
of the fyrup 'employed.
SUCH is the method which, after many experi-
ments and variations, all the iflands have gene-
rally purfued in the cultivation of fugar. It is un-
doubtedly a good one; but, perhaps, it hath not
acquired that degree of perfection of which it is
capable. If inftead of planting canes in large
fields, the ground were parcelled out into divi-
fions of fixty feet, leaving between two planted
divifions a fpace of land uncultivated, fuch a me-
would probably be attended with great ad-
vanta?es.
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
Vantages. In the modern practice, none but the
canes which grow on the borders are good, and
attain to a proper degree of maturity. Thofe in
the middle of the field in part mifcarry, and ripen
badly, becaufe they are deprived of a current of
air, which only acts by its weight, and feldom gets
to the foot of thefe canes that are always covered
with the leaves.
IN this new fyftem of plantation, thofe portions
of land which had not been cultivated would
be mofl favourable for reproduction i when the
crops of the planted divifions had been made,
which in their turn would be left to recover. It is
probable that by this method as much fugar
might be obtained as by the prefent practice; with
this additional advantage, that it would require
fewer (laves to cultivate it. One may judge what
the cultivation of fugar would then produce, by
what it now yields notwithstanding its imperfec-
tions.
ON a plantation fixed on a good ground, and
fufficiently flocked with blacks, with cattle, and
all other neceffaries, two men will cultivate a fquarc
pf canes, that is a hundred geometrical paces in
every direction. This fquare mud yield on an
average fixty quintals of raw fugar. The common
price of a quintal in Europe will be twenty livres*,
after deducting all the expences. This makes an in-
come of 600 livresf, for the labour of each man.
One hundred and fifty livres J, to which the price
of fyrup and rum rmift be added, will defray the
fxpences of cultivation ; that is to fay, for the
* 17 s. 6 d. f 26 1. 5 s. t 6 1. 1 1 s. 3 d.
maintenance
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
maintenance of Haves, for their lofs, their di-for-
ders, their clothes, and repairing their uteniils,
and other accidents. The net produce of an acre
and a half of land will then be four hundred and
fifty livres*. It would be difficult to find a cul-
ture productive of greater emoluments.
IT may be objected, that this is Hating the pro-
duce below its real value, becaufe a fquare of canes
does not employ two men. But thofe who would
urge fuch an objection ought to obferve, that the
making of fugar requires other labours befide thofe
of merely cultivating it, and confequently work-
men employed elfewhere than in the fields. The
eftimate and compenfation of thefe different kinds
of fervice, oblige us to deduct from the produce
of a fquare of plantation, the expence of main-
taining two men.
IT is chiefly from the produce .of fugar that the
iflands fupply their planters with all the articles of
convenience and luxury. They draw from Eu-
rope flour, liquors, fait provifions, filks, linens,
hardware; and every thing that is neceffary for
apparel, food, furniture, ornament, convenience,
and even luxury. Their confumptions of every
kind are prodigious, and muft neceiTarily influence
the manners of the inhabitants, the greateft part
of whom are rich enough to fupport them,
charafter * T ^ ou ^ & em tnat tne Europeans, who have
of the EU. been tranfplanted into the American iflands, muft
Toucans fet-
tied in the no lefs have degenerated than the animals which
ifl^fi. c * n they carried over thither. The climate acts on all
living beings; but men being lefs immediately
* 19!. 135. 9d.
fubject
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. , , 459
fubject to the laws of nature, refift her influence B
the more, becaufe they are the only beings, who
aft for themfclves. The firft colonifts, who fet-
tled in the Antilles, corrected the activity of a new
climate, and a new foil, by the conveniences
which it was in their power to derive from a
commerce that was always open with their former
country. They learnt to lodge and maintain
themfelves in a manner the bed adapted to their
.change of fituation. They retailed the cuftoms of
their education, and every thing that could agree
with the natural effects of the air they breathed.
With thefe they carried into America the food and
cuftoms of Europe, and familiarifed to each other
beings and productions which nature had feparated
by an interval of the fame extent as a Zone. But
of all the primitive cuftoms, the moft falutary,
perhaps, was that of mingling and dividing the
two races by intermarriages.
ALL nations, even the leaft civilized, have pro-
fcribed an union of fexes between the children of
the fame family; whether it was, that experience
or prejudice dictated this law, or chance led them
to it. Beings brought up together in infancy, ac-
cuftomed to fee one another continually, in this
mutual familiarity, rather contract that indiffer-
ence which arifes from habit, than that lively and
impetuous fenfation of fympathy, which fuddenly
affects two beings, who never faw one another.
If in the favage life hunger difunites families,
love undoubtedly muft have reunited them. The
hiflory, whether true or fabulous, of the rape of
the Sabine women, fhews that marriage was the lirft
alliance
460 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK alliance between nations. Thus the blood will have
t*_ ^_! > become gradually intermixed either by the cafual
meetings occafioned by a wandering life, or by the
conventions and agreements of fettled communities .
The natural advantage of croffingthe breed among
men as well as animals, in order to preferve the
fpecies from degenerating, is the refult of flow
experience, and is pofterior to the acknowledged
utility of uniting families, in order to cement the
peace of fociety. Tyrants foon difcovered how
far it was proper for them to feparate, or con-
ned their fubjefts, in order to keep them in a
ftate of dependence. They formed men into fe-
parate ranks by availing themfelves of their pre-
judices : becaufe this line of divifion between them
became a bond of fubmilTion to the fovereign, who
maintained his authority by their mutual hatred
and oppofition. They connected families to each
other in every ftation, becaufe this union totally
extinguifhed every fpark of diffention repugnant
to the fpirit of civil fociety. Thus the intermix-
ture of pedigrees and families by marriage, has
been rather the refult of political inftitutions, than
formed upon the views of nature,
BUT whatever be the natural principle and mo-
ral tendency of this cuilom, it was adopted by
Europeans, who were defirous of multiplying in
the iflands. The greateft part of them either
married in their own country, before they removed
into the New world, or with thofe who landed
there. The European married a Creole, or the
Creole an European, whom chance or family con-
nections brought into America. From this happy
S aflbciation
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 461
afibciation hath been formed a peculiar character, B 9^ K
which in the two worlds diftinguilhes the man * y
born under the fky of the New, from parents
originally natives of both. The marks of this
character will be pointed out with fo much the
more certainty, as they are taken from the writ-
ings of an accurate obferver, from whom we have
already drawn fome particulars refpecting natural
hiftory.
THE Creoles are in general well made. There
is fcarce a fmgle perfon among them afflicted with
thofe deformities which are fo common in other
climates. They have all an extreme fupplenefs in
their limbs; whether it is to be attributed to a
particular organization adapted to hot countries,
o the cuftom of their being reared without the con-
inement of fwaddling clothes, and (lays, or to
he exercifes they are habituated to from their in-
r ancy. Their complexion, however, never has
.hat air of vivacity and frelhnefs which contri-
:>utes more to beauty than regular features do. As
:o their colour, w r hen they are in health, it re-
embles that of perfons juft recovering from a fit
of illnefs; but this livid complexion, more or lefs
dark, is nearly that of our fouthern people.
THEIR intrepidity in war has been fignalized
a feries of bold actions. There would be no
setter foldiers, if they were more capable of be-
ing difciplined.
HISTORY does not afford any of thofe inftances
of cowardice, treachery and meannefs among them,
which fully the annals of all nations. It can hard-
4 S 3 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS ANt> TRADE
B ,, K ty fc alleged, that a Creole ever did a mean
* ^! , action.
ALL ftrar.gers, wichout exception, find in the
iflands the moft friendly and generous hofpitality.
This uieful virtue is practifed with a degree of
eftentation, which fhews, at lead, the honour they
attach to it. Their natural propenfity to benefi-
cence banifhes avarice ; and the Creoles are gene-
rous in their dealings*
THEY are ftrangers to difTimulation, craft and
fufpicion. The pride they take in their franknefs,
the opinion they have of themfelves, together with
their extreme vivacity, exclude from their com-
mercial tranfations all that myftery and referve,
which flifles natural goodnefs of difpofition, ex-
tinguiflies the focial fpirit and diminifhes our fen-
fibility.
A WARM imagination, incapable of anyreftraint,
renders them independent and inconftant in their
talle. It perpetually hurries them with frefh ar-
dour into pleafures, to which they facrifice both
their fortune and their whole exiflence.
A REMARKABLE degree of penetration, a quick
facility in feizing all ideas, and exprefling them-
felves with vivac-ityj the power of combining
added to the talent of obfervation, a happy mix-
ture of all the qualities of the mind and of the
heart which render men capable of the greateft
actions, will make them attempt every thing,
when oppreffion compels them to it.
THE fharp and faline air of the Caribbee iflands
deprives the women of that lively colour which is
the beauty of their fex. 'But they have an agree-
able
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
able and fair complexion, which does not deprive
the eyes of all that vivacity and power, that en-
ables them to convey into the foul fuch ftrong im-
preilions as are irrcfiftible. As they are extremely
fober, they drink nothing but chocolate, coffee,
and fuch fpirituous liquors as reftore to the organs
their tone and vigour enervated by the climate;
while the men are continually drinking in propor-
tion to the heat that exhaufts them.
THEY are very prolific, and often mothers of
ten or twelve children. This fertility arifes from
love, which ftrongly attaches them to their huf-
bands; but which aifo throws them inftantly into
the arms of another, whenever death has difiblved
the union of a firft or fecond marriage.
JEALOUS even to diftraction, they are feldom
unfaithful. That indolence, which makes them
neglect the means of pleafing, the tafte which the
men have for negro women, their particular man-
ner of life, whether private or public, which pre-
cludes the opportunities or temptations to gallan-
try; thefe are the befc fupports of the virtue of
thefe females.
THE folitary kind of manner in which they live
in their houfes gives them an air of extreme timi-
dity, which embarraffes them in their intercourfe
with the world. They lofe, even in early life,
the fpirit of emulation and choice, and this pre-
vents them from cultivating the agreeable talents
of education. They feem to have neither power
nor tafte for any thing but dancing, which un-
doubtedly tranfports and animates them to higher
pleal'ures. This inftin&of pleafure attends them
through
464 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
B C X K tnrou gh their whole life; whether it is, that the/
* v * flill retain fome fhare of their youthful fenfibility,
or are ftimulated with the recollection of it 3 or
from other reafons which are unknown to us.
FROM fuch a conftitution arifes an exremely
fenfible and fympathizing character, ib that they
cannot even bear the fight of mifery j though they
are, at the fame time, rigid and fevere with refpect
to the offices they require of thofe domeftics that
are attached to their fervice. More defpotic and
inexorable towards their (laves than the men them-
felves, they feel no remorfe in ordering chaflife-
ments, the feverity of which would be a punifh-
ment and a leffon to them, if they were obliged
to inflict them themfelves, or were witneffes to
them.
-THIS flavery of the negroes is, perhaps, the
caufe from whence the Creoles in part derive a
certain character, which makes them appear ftrange,
fantaflic, and of an intercourfe not much relifhed
in Europe. From their earlieft infancy they are
accuflomed to fee a number of tall and flout men
about them, whofe bufinefs it is to conjecture and
anticipate their wifhes. This firft view muft im-
mediately infpire them with the moil extravagant
opinion of themfelves. Seldom meeting with any
oppofition to their caprice, though ever fo unrea-
fonable, they aflame a fpirit of prefumption, ty-
ranny, and difdain for a great part of mankind.
Nothing is more infolent than the man who al-
ways lives with his inferiors ; but when thefe hap-
pen to be flaves, habituated to wait upon chil-
dren, to dread even their cries, which mult expofe
them
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 46;
them to punifhment, what imift mailers become B o^o K
who have never obeyed ; wicked men who have -v^ '
never been punifhed ; and madmen who are ufed
to put their fellow-creatures in irons?
So cruel an example of dependence gives the
Americans that pride which muft necefiarily be de-
tefted in Europe, where a greater equality pre-
vailing among men teaches them a greater fhare of
mutual refpecl:. Educated without knowing ei-
ther pain or labour, they are neither able to fur-
mount difficulties, or bear contradiction. Nature
hath given them every advantage, and fortune re-
filfed them nothing. In this refpecl, like moft kings,
they are unhappy, becaufe they have never ex-
perienced adverfity* If the climate did not ftrongly
excite them to love, they would be ignorant of every
real pleafufe of the foul : and yet they feldom
have the happinefs of forming an idea of thofe
pafiions, which, thwarted by obftacles and refufals^
are nourifhed with tears and gratified with virtue.
If they were not confined by the laws of Europe,
which govern them by their wants, and reprefs or
reftrain the extraordinary degree of independence
they enjoy, they would fall into a foftnefs and
effeminacy which would in time render them the
victims of their own tyranny, or would involve
them in a date of anarchy, that would fubvert all
the foundations of their community.
BUT if they once ceafed to have negroes for
flaves, and kings who live at a diftance from them
for mafters, they, perhaps, would become the
moft aftoniihing people that ever appeared on
earth. The fpirit of liberty which they would im-
. III. H h bibc
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
om tne i r earlieft infancy j the underfland-
ing and abilities which they would inherit from
Europe $ the activity, which the neceffity of re-
pelling numerous enemies would infpire; the large
colonies they would have to forms the rich com-
merce they would have to found on an immenfe
cultivation* j the ranks and focieties they would
have to create j and the maxims, laws and man-
ners they would have to eftablilh on the principles
of reafon : all thefe fprings of action would, per-
haps, make, of an equivocal and mifcellaneous
race of people, the mod flour ifhing nation that
philofophy and humanity could wifh for the hap-
pinefs of the world.
IF ever any fortunate revolution fhould take
place in the world, it will begin in America, Af-
ter having experienced fuch devaflation, this new
world muft flourifh in its turn, and, perhaps,
command the old. It will become the afylum of
our people who have been opprefled by political
eftablifhments, or driven away by war. The fa-
vage inhabitants will be civilized, and opprefTed
grangers will become free. But it is neceflary
that this change fhould be preceded by confpi-
racies, commotions, and calamities; and that a
hard and laborious education fhould predifpofe
their minds both to act and to fuffer.
YE young Creoles, come into Europe to exer-
cife and practife what we teach you ; there to col-
lect, in the valuable remains of our ancient man-
ners, that vigour which we have loft; there to
fludy our weaknefs, and draw from our follies
themfelves thofe leiTons of wifdpm which produce
3 great
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 4^7
great events. Leave in America your negroes, B o K
\vhofe condition diftreffes us, and whole blood, v
perhaps, is mingled in all thofe ferments \vhich
alter, corrupt and deftroy our population. Fly
from an education of tyranny, effeminacy, and
vice, which you contraft from the habit of living
with flaves, whofe degraded ftation infpires you
with none of thofe elevated and virtuous fenti-
ments which can only give rife to a people that
will become celebrated. America hath poured all
the fources of corruption on Europe. To com-
plete its vengeance, it muft draw from it all the
muniments of its profperity. As it has been de-
flroyed by our crimes, it muft be renewed by our
vices.
NATURE feems to have deflined the Americans
to a greater iharc of happinefs than the inhabitants
of Europe. In the iilands, fuch difeafes as the
gout, gravel, ftone, apoplexies, pleurifies, com-
plaints of the cheft, and the various diforders oc-
cafioned by the winter, are fcarcely known. None
of thofe fcourges of the human race, which are fo
fatal in other countries, have ever made the lead
ravages there. If the air of the country can be
withftood, and the middle age be attained to, this
is fufficient to infure a long and happy life. There
old age is not weak, languifhing and belet with
thofe infirmities which affect it in our climate.
IN the Caribbee iflands, however, nev/-bornin- Difrifrste
fants are attacked with a difeafe which feems pe- jjjj^
culiar to the torrid zone: it is called ietanos. If a ?*****
child receives the impreffion of the air or wind, inane,,
if the room where it is juft born is expofed to
H h 2 frrv-
458 HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
BOOK fmoke, to too much heat or cold, the diforder
^~, /hews itfelf immediately. It firft feizes the jaw,
which becomes rigid and fixed, fo as not to be
opened. This fpafm foon communicates itfelf to
the other parts of the body; and the child dies
for want of being able to take nourishment. If
it elcapes this danger, which threatens the nine
firft days of its exiftence, it has nothing to fear.
The indulgences which are allowed to children
before they are weaned, which is at the end of
the twelve months, fuch as the ufe of coffee, cho-
colate, wine, but efpecially fugar and fweetmeats;
thefe indulgences that are fo pernicious to our
children, are offered to thofe of America by na-
ture, which accuftoms them in early age to the
productions of their climate.
THE fair fex, naturally weak and delicate, has
its infirmities as well as its charms. In the iflands
they are fubject to a weaknefs, an almoft total de-
cay of their ftrength j an unconquerable averfion
for all kind of wholefome food, and an irregular
craving after every thing that is prejudicial to their
health. Salt or fpiced food is what they only relilh
and defire. This difeafe is a true cachexy, which
commonly degenerates into a dropfy. It is attri-
buted to the diminution of the menfes in thofe
women who come from Europe, and to the weak-
nefs or total fuppreffion of that periodical difchargc
in Creoles.
THE men, more robuft, are liable to more vio-
lent complaints. In this vicinity of the equator,
they are expofed to a hot and malignant fever,
known under different names, and indicated by
I haemorrhages.
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 469
haemorrhages. The blood which is boiling under B x K
the fervent rays of the fun, is difcharged from the vr ^
nofe, eyes, and other parts of the body: nature
in temperate climates does not move with fuch
rapidity, but that in the mod acute dilbrders there
is time to obferve and follow the courfe fhe takes.
In the iflands, her progrefs is fo rapid, that if \ve
delay to attack the dilbrder as foon as it appears,
its effects are certainly fatal. Thus it is, that the
patient, in the fpace of twenty-four hours, mud
be bled fifteen or eighteen times, while in the in-
tervals he has recourfe to other remedies. No
fooner is a perfon felzed with ficknefs, but the
phyfician, the lawyer, and the pried, are all called
to his bed-fide.
MOST of thofe who furvive thefe violent fhocks,
being exhauded by the manner in which they have
been treated, recover very flowly and with diffi-
culty. Several fall into an habitual weaknefs, oc-
cafjoned by the debility of the whole machine,
whom the noxious air of the country and the little
nourifhment their food fupplies, are not able to.
redore. Hence obdruclions, jaundice, andfwell-
ings of the fpleen, are produced, which fometimes
terminate in dropfies.
ALMOST all the Europeans who go over to Ame-
rica are expofed to this danger, and frequently
the Creoles themfelves on their return from more
temperate climates. But it never attacks women
whofc blood has the natural evacuations, and ne-
groes, who, born under a hotter climate, are
inured by nature, and prepared by free perfpiration,
for all the ferments that the fun can produce.
II h 3 THESE
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
THESE violent fevers are certainly owing to the
heat of the fun, whofe rays are lefs oblique and
more conftant than in our climates. This heat
muft undoubtedly thicken the blood through the
excefs of perfpiration, a want of elafticity in the
folids, and a dilatation of the vefTels by the impulfe
of the fluids, whether in proportion to the rare-
faction of the air, or the lefs degree of compref-
fion which the furface of the bodies is expofed to
in a rarefied atmofphere.
SOME of thefe inconveniences might, perhaps,
be prevented, if perfons going to America were
purged and bled in their paflage as they advanced
toward the torrid zonej by repeating thefe precau-
tions in the iflands, and by the ufe of the cold bath.
BUT far from having recourfe to thefe expe-
dients, which reafon indicates, the inhabitants fall
into fuch excefles as are moil likely to haften
and increafe the diforder. The ftrangers who ar-
rive at the Caribbee iflands, are excited by the
entertainments jthey are invited to, the pleafures
they partake of, and the kind reception they meet
withj every thing induces them to an immoderate
indulgence of all the pleafures which cuftom ren-
ders lefs prejudicial to thofe who are born under
this climate. Feafting, dancing, gaming, late
hours, wine, cordials, and frequently the chagrin
of difappointmentin their chimerical expectations,
confpire to add to the ferment of an immoderate
heat of the blood, which foon becomes inflamed.
WITH fuch indulgence, it is fcarce poflible to
refift the heats of this climate, when even the
greateft precautions are not fufficient to fecure per-
fons
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 471
fons from the attack of thofe dangerous fevers i B x *
when the moft Ibber and moderate men, who ^
are the moft averfe from every kind of excefs,
and the moft careful of all their actions, are vic-
tims to the new air they breathe. In the prefent
ftate of the colonies, of ten men that go into, the
ifhnds, four Englifh die, three French, three
Dutch, three Danes, and one Spaniard.
WHEN it was obferved how many men were loft
in thefe regions, at the time they were firft occu-
pied, it was generally thought, that the ftates who
had the ambition of fettling there would be depo-
pulated in the end.
EXPERIENCE hath altered the public opinion Advantages
upon this point. In proportion as thefe colonies tw^Um*"
have extended their plantations, they have been Jjjjjj 1 pof ~
fupplied with frefh means of expence. Thefe the iflandi.
have opened into their mother-country new fources
of confumption. The increafe in exportations
could not take place without an increafe of la-
bour. Thefe labours have brought together a
greater number of men, which will ever be the
cafe when the means of fubfiftence are multiplied.
Even foreigners have reforted in great multitudes
to thofe kingdoms, which opened a vaft field to
their ambition and induftry.
POPULATION net only increafed among the pro-
prietors of the iflands, but the people have alfo
become more happy. Our felicity in general is.
proportioned to our conveniences, and it muft in-
creafe as we can vary and extend them. The
iflands have been productive of this advantage to
their poflefibrs. They have drawn from thefe fer-
tile
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS AND TRADE
tile regions a number of commodities, the con
fumption of which hath added to their enjoyments,
They have acquired fome, which when exchanged
for others among their neighbours, have made
them partake of the luxuries of other climates.
In this manner, the kingdoms which have acquir-
ed the poiTeflion of the iflands, by fortunate cir-
cumftances, or by well-combined projects, are
become the refidence of the arts, and of all the
polite amufements which are a natural and necef-
iary confequence of great plenty.
BUT this is not the only advantage : thefe colo-
nies have raifed the nations that founded them,
to a fuperiority of influence in the political world,
by the following means. Gold and filver, which
form the general circulation of Europe, come from
Mexico, Peru, and Brazil. They belong neither
to the Spaniards nor the Portuguefe, but to
people, who give their merchandife in exchange
for thefe metals. Thefe people have commercial
tranfactions with each other, that are ultimately
fettled at Lifbon and Cadiz, which may be looked
upon as a common and univerfal repqfitory. It is
in thefe places that one mufl judge of the increafe
or decline of the trade of each nation. That
nation whofe accounts of fale and purchafe are
kept in balance with the reft, receives the whole
intereft of its capital. That which hath purchafed
more than it hath fold, withdraws lefs than its in-
tereflj becaufe it hath ceded apart of it, in order
to fatisfy the demands of the nation to which it
was indebted. That which hath fold more to other
nations than it hath purchafed of them, does not
only
IN THE EAST AND WEST INDIES.
only get what was owing from Spain and Portugal,
but alfo the profit it has derived from other nations
with whom it hath made exchanges. This laft
advantage is peculiar to the people who poffefs
the iflands. Their capital is annually increafed by
the fale of the valuable produftions of thefe coun-
tries ; and the augmentation of their flock confirms
their fuperiority, and renders them the arbiters of
peace and war. But we fhall explain, in the fol-
lowing Books, how far. each nation hath increafed
its power by the pofieflion of the iflands.
END OF THE THIRD VOLUME.
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