The Sun.
London, England, 1823-12-06 00:00:00

WEST INDIA ISLANDS.

We copy the following from the Glasgow
courier of Tuesday :
" By the arrival of the Agnes yesterday in the Clyde, from
Demerara, papers hare been received of the 20th, and letters of
the 24th October, from that colony. We have been politely
favoured by our mercantile friends with files of Papers to the.
21st. From these we have made several extracts. The colony was
tranquil, but martial law still continued in force, and the Courts
Martial were still proceeding in trying the Slaves implicated in
the late rebellion. Ten of the principal ringleaders are yet
absent and unaccounted for. Elliot, the Missionary, has, it
appears, been liberated, but charges of a different and scarcely
less serious nature, it appears, hang over him. The trial of
Smith commenced on the 13th. How far the evidence will
bear them out, the next arrisals will enable us to determine.
The trial was expected to hist three weeks. Only military
men are allowed to form the Court Martial.
"'There is but one opinion amongst all classes in the colony,
that the Missionaries from the London Society should leave the
colony, and their places be immediately supplied by clergymen
of the Established Church of England or of Scotland.
" The Demerara Gazette of Oct. 17, contains a most import.
MO document, namely, the triennial registration of the slave po-
pulation and the report of the Registrar upon it to the Governor.
It is not complete, but as far as it goes' it is, we think, very satis-
factory, it a complete refutation of the bitter falsehoods propagat-
cd against our coloniesby theirenemies in this country. The great
length of the document renders it impossible for us to lay any
part of it before our readers till Thursday. In the number regis.
tered, 50,000 Sfor only so far has the Registrar been able to proceed
on account of the rebellion) the decrease during the last three
yeara' is only 1675, in a population half of which are African
Negrbes., and these in the proportion of 18,259 male.; to 9,745
females, the sole cause that there is any decrease The rest of
the Slave Population are Creoles, and it is curious and satis-
faCtory to observe, that in these the number of Males and fe-
males are equal. The increase by births is 3026, and the de-
crease by deaths, under 10 years of age, is only 1,278, which
is also very satisfactory.
" The Registrar in his Report decidedly charges the Mis-
sionaries as the cause of the rebellion. When we remember
that Demerara is governed solely by the King and Council,
and that every public officer in it is appointed by and dependent
upon them, we may be very sure that the Register stood on sure
ground before he ventured upon such a serious acccusation.—
His words are :—" Far be it from me to accuse the missionaries
wrongfully; but unhappily there can remain no doubt

ioug.h ii, may not ajliviir
_to what an alarming eite'

,iey may have-been carried, that eftbrts to create disaffection
among the Slaves, have originated, and have long been silently
extensling themselves, in and from that very part pf the east
coast where the Missionaries have been most encouraged, to
every other part of the Colony ; and, it has been assumed with
considerable proof, that the present insurrection was accelerated,
if not produced, by inflammatory harrangues and letters to the
Slaves, holding out false and mistaken hopes of emancipation to
them against the avowed discountenance of every such hope, by
the highest authority in the kingdom. It would be satisfactory
could persons in Europe= who encourage these men by their
Very general hostile disposition against West India proprietors,
have the opportunity of personally ascertaining the progressive
but silent amelioration and augmentation which have been
going on in the condition and happiness of Slaves, within the
ast twenty years," &c.

AMERICAN TEA.—A letter from W. Y. LEWIS,
of New Orleans, states, that Mr. MALLET, Of
Louisiana, had succeeded in raising Green Tea
from the seed. His plantation is near the river
Amite. The bed of shrubs is of considerable ex-
tent. The climate appears to favour its growth.
Mr. M. thinks the shrub might be cultivated with
perfect success if proper attention was paid to it.
A specimen of the Dyson Tea thus raised in the
South, accompanied Mr. LEWIS'S letter, and on
repeated trial has been found to be palatable
and refreshing. The rolling and twisting opera-
tion upon the leaves, and the scenting and flavor-
ing by other sweet scented substances, seem to
be all that was wanting to render it equal to the
article we import from Canton. In short there
e ter in
citizens
is every reason to believe that the United States
is as favourable as China for the cultivation of
lant. l'h
the
The only
labourdoubtof o
is,
wulrth
otiumr Tea
lteo)fsociety,
cannot be more profitably bestowed than in the
rearing of this vegetahle.—(Philadelphia Paper.)

ST. RONAN'S WELL—The place which gives
the name to the forthcoming novel, from the
author of Waveriei, is supposed to be situated in
one of the islands of the Hebrides. In a statikti-
cal account of Scotland it is mentioned, that on
the island of Ronan, situated about 20 leagues
distant from the north-east point of Ness, in
Lewis, there is a chapel, dedicated to St. Ronan,
fenced round with a stone wall. This chapel the
natives take care to keep very neat and clean.
and sweep it every day. It contains an altar, on
which there lies a large plank of wood, about
ten feet long. Every foot has a hole in it, anti
in every hole there is a stone, to which the in-
habitants ascribe several virtues ; one of them,
they say, is eminent for promoting speedy de-
livery ; and each stone has its peculiar proper-
ties. Near this church, it is imagined, is situat-
ed St. Ronan's well, though no mention is made
of it in statistical accounts; it may therefore be
presumed, that the story of the novel is conuect-,
ed with superstitions of the western isles.