The Sun.
London, England, 1807-08-29 00:00:00

MINUTES OF EVIDENCE.

John. Bliukturn, in, and Ernmined.
How :many years have you resided in Jamaica
it is thirty-five years since' I went 'to Jamaica ; I
resiletl there thirty-two years.
Are! you aeqnainted with various sugar and other
•plhntailons in that-Island •
Hat,e you had aey: such plantations, under, your
care and management )-e-SeVetal• •• • •
Whin unintZr 1---Abouts thirty,. ' • .
What a're the different descriptions of property
'linvesfed in the cultiVationi.of sugar, ,cetfee, andtcot-
ton 1:--Land, bnildings, negroes, cattle, mules; ma-
chinery, tools; and-utensils of almost every descrip-
tion:.'!''
Which side of the Island wereeyou on I—l. have
been'on all sides ; latterly_on the south-east._
Ili all:ordinarpcaSes;. Must, the converting of a
sugat• plantation to any other objet ei•tultivatio9 be
attended with a great and ruinous saer;fice cof. pro;
perty on the part of the proprietor ?-4-'-Undoubtedly.
Explain to the Committee how. Ow, szcritice is
incUrred„?-4-T lki'wOrland buildings ornil 1.-;inds are
- totally ;. the Lind' beeioniess' of
~irecy little Value,.
as itjyp only be 'ti-to for'r isture-ground,-produting
a scanty supply of very had grass ; generally, in.
deed, it. runs into foapil and other sour grasses, but
in ninety-ninecaseS. an
~a lospdrede nconvese',ion is'
impracticable, and a total abandonmeet is the only
alternative.e In this ca:s6 items Lioti west be pur-
chased ; houses 'must he built both tOr the white
•. people ,and for the negroes, and: werk's must be
ereaertanew: The negroes, ton; liikt at an-
enortnous.eryence,,till the provisions of their own
• raising. are ripe, Their reineval is attended not
anly:vith '.great loss to their masters', brit with very
great loss and serious hardship to• thenrselveS, and
consequently produces much dissatisfadioree they:
are tern from their houses, their provision-grounds,
their, gardens and orchards (which they consider as
much their own property as' their master does his'
estate). Their local habits and efts 'are de-
stroyed; their domestic comforts aro lost to flu tu,
and cannot be replaced for years. Wile() arrived at
the:new estate; they experience all the • inconve-
nieneies whieh generally attend `'Settlers; houses
Must:be-ereeled, atid news green& broken pp .tOr
their future provkions,apd!ttlis at a time when the
situation of'. the :master calls for a more than ordi-
nary portion of their labour; and till their own pro-
vision be raided, it. may well .bel supposed wnen
very articleorfoodoomes dire& out of the'pocket
'of the master,- their allowanee, 'even under the most,
liberal management, will uot tie so atnple asinusual
cases,- even admitting, whatvill seldom happen un-
der SUcheircutostancese flint the waiter pussesse4
the means of supplying them amply. After all this,
no return can be expand freni the new plantation
sooner than fmr years, sinallJ coffee .'be planted,
and I know nothing else ihat cm be cultivated ex-
cept upon a very •strittlY,-scale, with auy probability
t of success..: Such. difficulties can only be eacoun-
tered by those Whqhave money or r ery goad credit ;
but, unfortunately, . the holders of , bueit estates as
have' become improfitable, and oteght, in
prudence, tohave been 'early abaudoned, have lin-
gered on in hopes 01' better times, and,. trent the.
'exxtremeTeluelaece of making the .eiceetce vv inch
'inevitably attends an.a4andonment, till their credit as
etOell as property is gone, and the abatid i emnent, n-
istead,of being voluntary, is enforced ':by creditors..
'Of what little value sugar estates becpwe, wh6l
de-
prived of their negrods and stdck, can, I at ink,
best 'explained
.by twq' er three instances in. point. •
There were,two estates:in toy own imnrediate neigh-
hourhoodi one beloaging to the heirs of a person of.
' the name of Sinelair, and, .another to the. heirs of
'Forster. March.., The negroci.and cattle upon those
estates; were taken hold of by the creditors, and' the
lands were sold' by. writ of extent, To the hest of
my recollection, the, lands upon Sineiair's estate
-were valued by. the Jury, and bold to the creditors
,at 1.35. 4d. currency-an acre, the works included;
.and upon March's estate, I think it was gas. cur-
renty per acre for the .latid; including the works.
sThere is an instance also which relates to myself; I
-think: int* year 1790, I purchased au estate from
.Bourdieu and,Challet, of, this town, which' they, as
'creditors, had been obliged to take, for which I
paid ',..?5001. sterling, 'and I behove the Works and
intensify upon it.could net have coatiess than :o,ooul.
,besides all the laird, about .00 or 1400 acres : pus-.
,sibly those estates I:havem4entiened. might have cost '
the prop.rieter,with thebuilditigs•npon 'them, twenty
or five: and twenty. thousand pounds corvency, and
they, were sold. at OM prices' l'havespektin so f, after
they were deprived of their ata-roia oriel eattle.:
Explain to the Committee why the:Coeverting of
' :sugar plantation to "my ether oftultivat:oll,.
• will be attended with' it greet :sod .ruin6u4 Sacrifice"
pi. the part 'of the :prow :con. l-s•Latids that have:
been long:under Nile it:'e so. exhauAcd,
that they are, t endered very unlit for any
; and sugar; .works, with seine few excep-
. lions, are situate- in -a soil and .climate where no,
, other cultivation can: bur profiintay cairried on.. The
:cenversion. of 'lands which- have. been under cane
eulta'ation to other, pie poses, kv“:11(1 not, in my epi!.
.be in -general : the land is unfit,
and the laiorks "would be enTrrelv lost, Such pro-,
pertiea can only JO converted into bad pens, which, .
even at ..the prosentinice of cattle, would he ruin,:
eus b9t; the multiplication of pens, and decay of
sugar woOtS, wenld increase the number of cattle,.
and diminish •the demand for the, and make' the:
ruin tenfold. m
•
Would ..11106e works which have been eretSed
. upon a sugar pidutcal6n, tie of. little or no* use'on a'
eoffe.e or coupe plapnitien avorks,that are fit
lor the making et sttg.ar, -if they ceold ha moved to
.0 place where craft .o would. grow, 'apie,h; be, with
Rine alteration, converted to tolerably good coffee
works.; but COlree w 111 net grow upon old :sugar
estates, auk he woks tnit;%t consequently be I.4OeSS.
_O:Ate-estates, ;vhich have been '.4reeerallv
t cd as A sn.;:flar plantatien advautageonsly, be made
use of for eel-fee or airtton"rH-They can eat :The
platitq cUotinpo to mike sonar, or stibmit to
an abap4onaent ;- be hits nos ether alternative : in
the 'st cese he will probably he ruined ; but in the

LONDON : Printed by R.:c HARRIS, 0(140. 4. MArtiett-court, How:street ; ind publi*hed by W i.t:tAa6 ARMX% IR SCRIPPS, ut
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