The Sun.
London, England, 1848-01-07 00:00:00

LITERATURE.
THE --14-1-S7'ORY OF BARBADOS. By Sir Robert
This ,goocuy H. Schomburgk.
able
octavo is in-many respects a remark-
viork—remarkable for the skill, industry, and
resea zeh which it displays—remarkable for the in-
te.re'st which the writer forces his reader to take in
the, fortunes of the little Island of Barbados—and
r;tost remarkable as the work of a gentleman who " is
Writing in a language not acquired in early cbild-
Jii ood." Never have we read purer, racier, more
idiomatic English, and had it not been for the above
statement in the preface we should never have dis•
covered that the author was not an Englishman. The
History of Barbados is a moat interesting history to
an Englishman, it is the healthiest and the oldest of
our 'West India possessions. It was colonized
originally by England, and has never been
under the dominion of any other power.
It was acquired honestly—there were I'
natives dispossessed, or cheated, or murdered ;
the island was uninhabited when England took
possession of it. It was here that the first sugar cane
was planted in the British dominions, and during the
civil wars, it was to the fiugitive Cavaliers what the
North American colonies had been to the fugitive
Puritans in the reign of the first Charles, and under
the persecutions of 'Laud—a place of refuge for those
who wished to envoy their own opinions in their own
way. It was sa\s'J in consequence of our possession of
the Island or Barbados, that "the navigation-laws
were ,first enacted. In this history, Sir Itobei t
Se ombur xi( gives a complete geographical and sta-
tisticalh d ascription of the island, an elaborate account
of its gcsology and natural productions, and a narra-
tive of the historical events which have occurred in
the island from its first settlement, up to the
middle of the year 1847. The following opinions
san the future prospects of the British West in-
-41"1 colonies, will be read with interest at
the present moment. It is evident that they are
'the result of much thoughtful consideration of the
subject, The British colonists, it appears, clains the
following concessions in order to enable them to com-
pete in the production of sugar with Vtiba and the
Brazils
1. That the duties levied on British and colonial
spirits be equalized.
" 2. That sugar and molasses be admitted into the
British breweries and distilleries, and generally into all
the manufactories of the United Kingdom.
" 3. That the navigation-laws be abolished, and the
trade in shipping be rendered free.
" 4. That an unrestricted immigration into the West
Indies from all parts of the world be permitted.
" 5. That the productions of the colonies be admitted
into the British markets on the footing of raw materials,
and be free of import duty.
" 6. That Great Britain assist the colonies by loans
of money secured by Colonial Acts to Ise guaranteed by
Government on the terms concede
" These are the concessions ''nid. to Canada.
ch the colonists expect
from the Home Greeeeemee!,;
they are however not the
only things required tr, enable the British planter to
enter the struggle. 'with_ any hope of success : much
depends uponimportarittll crsionists themselves, and among the
mostNvants are an improved system of agri-
culture, machir ery
manual lab
Jur', to dispense as much as possible with
Tend the construction of railways and
tram-roe"
T' " J& •
the -00 'advantage of a separation of the cultivation of
,the from its mann fiscture into sugar is now generally
aithenowledged. The incongruity of the present system
must be especially felt in Barbados, where there are
estates with ten acres of land under cultivation of the
auger-cane, and to which a windmill and a set of works
is attached to produce eighteen or twenty hogsheads of
Sugar, or, to adduce an extreme case, where only ten
hogsheads are made under favourable circumstances.
The manufacturing department on a sugar estate is con-
enected with very heavy expenses, and it would prove
;more to the advantage of the eu!tivator if he could sell
1111 canes, and leave the manufacture to those who would
devote their whole attention to the means of extracting
the largest quantity and the best quality of sugar out of
the raw material. The central manufactories in Gua-
deloupe and Martinique in the West Indies, and in
Bourbon in the Indian Ocean, have realised every ex-
pectation ; and a company has just been formed in
London, ealled the British West India Company, to
undertake the separate manufacture of sugar in central
'establishments, on principles similar to those adopted in
the Usines Centrales' in Guadeloupe. The system is
followed on a small scale in Barbados by the labourers,
who cultivate sugar cane on their allotments. They
carry their canes to some neighbouring estate to be
ground, and receive in return two-thirds or three-fourths
of the sugar manufactured. Mr. S. Prescod, in his
evidence before the Select Committee of the House of
Commons, in July, 1840, estimated the quantity of sugar
cultivated by labourers upon their allotments at three
ttonsand hogsheads : I have heard it estimated at ten
thousand hogsheads at present.
" Relieved from the manufacturing process, the cul-
tivator of the cane would be able to devote his un-
divided attention to planting and reaping. It cannot be
denied that the tropical agriculture is at present con-
ducted upon more rational and scientific principles than.
it was ten years ago, to say nothing of the crude system
prevalent in the last century; still there is vast room for
Improvement. Agricultural chemistry is a science which
has only recently attracted attention in the West Indies:
nature under the tropics is so prolific, that only in the
old and worn-out colonies artificial means were required
to refresh the fertility of the soil, and these have not
always been employed with judgment and advantage.
The husbanding of manual labour is a point of the
greatest importance. On many estates the same system
is still followed which existed when compulsory labour
was in vogue.
" It is generally acknowledged that Barbados possesses
more advantages in her redundant population than any
other colony in the British West Indies. If that colony
therefore, roused to exertion by the press of circum-
stances, combine with this great advantage those which
science and modern invention offer to her—if economy
and retrenchments in individual life and in the concerns
of public administration be practised—she may weather
the storm which so seriously threatens the British sugar
colonies. Iles situation on the outskirts_ of the West
India& archipelago is a favourite one in a commercial
point of view; the signs of the times tell us in plain
terms that we are merely on the threshold of improve-
ments, and that, as our knowledge expands, inventions
will crowd upon inventions. Steam, that mighty power!
has materially lessened distances, acd has lent its power-
ful aid to commerce; its employment for other purposes
in the affairs of mankind, as agriculture and hu>-bandry,
remains a desideratum in Barbados. The use of the
plough proves annually of greater advantage to that
island, but there is still a wide scope for the adoption of
other machinery.
" The introduction of central manufactories, steam-
engines, railways and tramways are points of the
greatest importance in the sugar colonies. Cuba is said
to possess at present eight hundred miles of railway,—
the British West Indies only twelve miles. The remarks
of the Hon. George N. Taylor, the late Speaker of the
Rouse of Assembly, in a speech delivered by him in
favour of Legislative support for the railway intended to
be introduced in the island of Barbados, are very com-
prehensive, and bear upon the general question respect-
ing the economy of manual labour. I do not hesitate,
therefore, in conclusion, to insert the heads of that
speech, as reported in the local newspapers:—
'Unless we could diminish the cost of productisn
and improve the quantity of our sugar, we must aban-
don the cultivation of the cane. He knew of no other
means which would so effectually promote these objects
as the establishment of a railway in the island. Under
the present system the planter was a farmer. is manufac-
turer, and a carrier. A railway would relieve him of the
latter employment, and this would be a great advantage,
as a little calculation would show. Suppose a crop to
consist of twenty-five thousand hogsheads of sugar, and
nine thousand puncheons of rum and molasses, it would
require six hundred and twenty carters and three thou
sand one hundred oxen to be employed for fifty days to
bring the crop to the shipping port, allowing tali carters
and ten oxen to two hogsheads of sugar, and the eame
employment to three puncheons of rum or molasses.
Here, then, was a loss of thirty thousand effective days'
labour taken from the plantations at a very critical time,
besides the loss of the labour and manure of thr e thou
sand one hundred oxen fur fifty days. But this was not
the worst part of the system. The cattle by being thus
employed were rendered unfit for working agricultural
implements; and manual labour, the most expensive and
least effective, when agricultural implements could be
used, was obliged to be resorted to. The cattle, by not
being suffered to go out of the plantations, would be in
a far better condition to work, and the saving of manual
labour would be very great Another disad-
vantage attending the carrying the crops to town by the
cattle of the estates, was the retarding the reaping, and
the loss sustained by the rotting and dr) leg of the canes;
for it was well known that the sooner the canes were
made into sugar after they rere ripe, the more and
better sugar they made; and it was also well known,
that nothing was so destructive to the cattle as taking the
crops to town and bringing up the supplies. By relieving
the planter of the business,carryitik:suar a
het a less cost,bewsiuld a
able
to produce a larger quantity of g
a railway would relieve him of this business
twooauldgri.nat
extent. Then the establishment of a
railway
troduce the use of steam-engines, which had been very
truly said to be the greatest present which science ever
made to the arts. The steam-engine had
of l
been ti
to do the work of three hundred millions labourers in
Great Britain. It was this labour which had enriched
the mother country, and caused such vast accumulation
of capital which was now being expended to the extent
of millions in the construction of highways all over the
kingdom. It was impossible to say to what uses
this
Powerful agent might be applied when it was once fairly
introduced into the island. He was perfectly convinced
in his own mind that it would be found more economical
in the grinding of the canes than the windmill:"
The work is• profusely illustrated by tastefully exe-
cuted lithographs of the scenery of the island, b
b 3
several maps and diagrams, and by numerouswood
cuts. The map of the Carribee Islands, traced from
a manuscript chart of the world preserved in the
British Museum, and considered to have been exe-
cuted previous to the year 1536, which is given as one
of the illustrations, is quite a curiosity.

The Antwerp papers received yesterday quote a
letter from Frankfort, in which it is stated that the debts
and liabilities of the three houses which recently failed
there amount in all to about 6,000,000 florins (500,0001.).
No particulars relative to assets had as yet transpired.
A lodging-house keeper at Clifton, named Daniel
Thompson, committed suicide, on 2,louth.y morning last,
by throwing himself from the St. Vincent Rocks. A
verdict of temporary insmity was returned by the
coroner's jury..