The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-08-02 00:00:00

CONDITION OF THE WEST INDIES.

We have been favoured with the following from a respecta-
ble party in this town. The evidence which it affords of the
ruinous state of our W est Indian colonies is distressingin-
deed, and ought to excite the serious attention of the con!-
mittee which is now sitting on \Vest Indian affairs. 0
commend the picture presented of the prosperous condition
of the Ilill-Coolies to those pseudo philanthropists who are
accustomed to designate the employment of those poor In-
dians in sugar cultivation as only a remove from slavery
itself

" Plantation River, Berbice.
" Saturday. May 29, 1842.
"MY DEAR —, * * * * * *
I also stated in that letter, that I had many difficulties to
surmount, and much hard labour to encounter, and many
heart-burnings and bickerings with this ill-disposed gang,
ere I could hope to make any progress towards improving
the estate ; still I did hope ultimately to overcome all those
obstacles, and to be as successful here as I was last year at
; but all hope seems now to be vanished, and it grieves
me much to say that I am making no progress whatever
towards improving the condition of the estate. In fact,
there is a long dark vista before me, and I can see no crevice
through which I may hope to perceive a glimmer of better
days. The labourers, instead of getting better, are daily
becoming more and more indolent. In fact, the greater part
of them are freeholders, having small patches of land on
which they locate and spend their time in idleness. The
cultivation of this estate has been and still is kept up by
Hill Coolies, of which there are ninety males ; and to make
matters worse, the term of servitude (five years) of those
Coolies expires at the end of this year, and I believe they
are all determined to return to Calcutta. What an unenvi-
able predicament I shall then be in ; in fact, unless, in the
mean time, we can procure sufficient emigrants from Sierra
Leon, St. Helena, or elsewhere, to replace those Coolies, the
valuable cultivation of this estate must be abandoned, for to
keep it up with our present negroes would be labour in
vain. You now perceive that I have sufficient cause for
being uneasy, and in truth I am fretting very much :
indeed it is grievous to have the management of a valuable
property, on which there is an outlay of many thousands,
and not to be able to make sufficient returns even to pay in-
terest on the outlay, and all for want of labour. In January
last we received 20 emigrants, or rather captured Africans,
from St. Ilelena, and we shortly expect more; but what are
two or three hundred, or even a thousand, labourers to do ?
They are but like a drop of water to the ocean. We require
several thousands before any good effects can be felt by emi-
gration; and I am sure if any of our disinterested statesmen
could see the improved condition, both morally and physi-
cally, of both Coolies and Africans, there would be no bar-
rier to their coming here. I myself, on Good Friday last,
drove a Coolie to town in my gy for the purpose of deposit-
ing 200 dollars in the Savings Bank, the whole of which
(except 18 dollars, which he had borrowed from his brother
to make up the amount) he had saved since his arrival here
four years ago ! Now let me ask you in what other country
any labourer would save ZlO in four years. .Yet by some
short-sighted policy, those people whose constitutions are so
well adapted to this climate, are prevented from coining
here; and I may also here remark, that for upwards of
twelve months there has not been one death among them
either here or at —; and I believe on the aggregate there
are upwards of 150 persons on the two estates.' This can-
not be too widely known, and if you think any good
may be derived from it by its being made known to the
committee now sitting to inquire into our condition.
I will vouch for its correctness. While on the subject of
emigration, I may here observe, that we are expecting some
good from Lord Stanley's committee of enquiry on West
India :ratters. In fact, things here are at their lowest ebb,
and, like drowning men, we grasp at straws. We have so
often had our fondest hopes dashed to the ground, that we
are almost become incredulous. We have been miserably
disappointed in Sierra Leone ; but hearing there are from
two to three thousand captured Africans at St. Helena, there
have been several vessels sent there for them ; and I trust we
shall not be disappointed in that quarter. Does not the
falling off of West India produce materially effect your
business ? In fact, not only your business, but almost every
branch of British manufacture—the effects of negro emanci-
pation—are severely felt here by all but quashie, who is now
becoming lord of the soil. Situations both for managers and
overseers are now very scarce and precious. Estates that
formerly kept three overseers have now but one, and in two
instances one manager manages two estates ; and among
them I must painfully name and —, two first class
estates, the former of which, in 1836, alone made 750 hhds.
of sugar, 42-inch truss, and which are now managed by one
manager. Is not this a bad state of affairs ?"

4)l)tpptug Entelltarna.

FRIDAY, Jinx 29.—Wind N.W. moderate:
ARRIVED. —Benjamin Hart, Douglas, from Montreal—Storm
Ring, --, from Laguna—Don, Haag, from Copiapo—Comercio,
Aritabe, from Amsterdam—Betsey, Hammond, from Alicati—Mary
Anderson, Barker, from Nantes—Ceres, Vernes, from Dordt—and
Portland, Robinson, from St. John, N.B.
SAlLED.—Provost, for Bahia—and Hannah, Ratray, for St.
Petersburg.

Lady Cornewall, Fame, Achiever, Laurina, and Star, hence at
Buenos Ayres
Oriental, hence at Buenos Ayres. Cargo supposed to be much
damaged In extinguishing a fire caused by sulphuric acid
Alexander, Leeds, hence at Baltimore
Ignazio, hence at I•hiladelphia
Samuel, Elias. Becker; New York, Cropper; Huron, Red-
mond, and Leander, Taylor, hence at New York
Olive Branch, Dyer, and South Carolina, hence at Boston
Albion, Moran ; Rebecca, Peckance ; Duncan, Robertson, and
Duke of Wellington, Grant, hence at St. John, N.B.
Queen, from New York ; Greenock. from Mobile ; and John
Bolton, Teulon ; Dori Muir ; Caledonia, Livingston ; Coronation,
Richards ; Covenanter, Patterson ; Jessie, Horn ; Sherbrooke,
Grry ; Normanton, Robinson ; Victoria, M'Mahon, and Scotland,
Buchanan, hence at Quebec
Enterprise, Durfee, hence at Yarmouth
Catherine, Abbinet, sailed from Halifax for this port 7th instant
Creole, sailed from Buenos Ayres for London lfith April
Franklin, hence to New Orleans, struck on the Balance Rocks
near Nassau, previous to the 27th ultimo, but was got off without
much damage, after being lightened.

SATURDAY, JULY 30.—Wind S.W. moderate.
ARRIVED.—EIiza Swan. Reed, from Onega—Diamond, Johnson,
from Danzic—Eliza, Toilet, from Guernsey—and Menopia, Quinn,
from Alexandria. _ _

SAlLED.—Aristocrat, Thompson, for Montreal, &c.—Agitator,
Henry, for Miramichi—Coburg, Green, for Harlingen—Pursuit,
Spence, for St. John, N.B.—Favouriten, Syoberg, for Pernau—
Gleaner, Balls, for Dordt—Lockwoods, Young, for Quebec—Jos.
Cristal, Broad, for Syra, &c.—Palmyra, Croal, for Demerara—and
Gardner, Cole, for Calcutta.

Swiftsure, Tasker, from Africa, at this port; sailed from Cape
Mount 23rd May. On the 20th, off Cape Mount, spoke the Medi-
terranean. hence ; and, on the 27th instant, off Tuskar, the Al-
banian . _ _

---
Countess of Durham. from Buenos Ayres, at Monte Video
Arkwright, Dambrell, from Port Philip, at Sydney
Monkton, Armon, from Constantinople for this port, at Malaga
Ludwig Wilhelm, Muller, hence at Pillau
Emelia & Ferdinand, Hastings; Amalia, Alrbecht, and Nord
stern, Sartorins, hence at Dauzic
Krone, Burehardt, hence at Swinemunde
Wm. Sharpies, Jones, sailed from Sydney, for India 15th March
Jane, Pennington, from Malta, at the Clyde
Sarah, Bushell, hence for Leghorn, off Scilly
Hannah, for St. Petersburg, (leaky, having struck on the bar of
Victoria Channel;) Five, Heldes, for Genoa, (leaky having struck
on the bar of Victoria Channel;) and Fanny, for Africa, (leaky.
having been on shore near the mouth of the Ribblc,) have put
back.

SUNDAY, JULY 33.—Wind N.N.W. light.
ARRlVED.—Speculant, Myers, from Neuestadt—and Zeloges.
Anderson, from Marseilles.

Medora, Turner, hence at Charleston
Brunswick, Dallimore, hence at St. Andrew
Peel's One, Lickis, hence at Richibucto
Pollock, Fraser, hence at Miramichi
Nautilus, Rennels, hence at Newfoundland
Resolution, ht Rio Janeiro
Mentor, Lancelot, hence at Nantes
Nelson, Rose, and Rose, , hence for Dordt, at Deal
Kate, from Monte Video, at Cove
Pickwick, Cornish, from Chincha Islands, at Callao, and sailed
11:th April for Valparaiso
Vicar of Bray, sailed from Callao for this port 18th March, and
Octavia, Bayfield, for Huanchoco 12th April

MONDAY, AUGUST I.—Wind variable.
ARRlVED.—Acastus, Hayes, from Alcxandretta and Cyprus—
Bethea, Campbell, from Odessa—and Eupheinia, Freeland, from
Drogheda.
Oil the Port.—Copia, May, from Messina—and Louisa, Piper,
from Marseilles.
SAlLED.—Honesta, Andrew, from Palermo—Mad. del Carmine,
Scatto, for Oran—Britain's Pride, Scott, for Constantinople— Ny-
verheid, Lievens, for Ostend—Lavinia, Brown, for St. Petersburg—
Beerta Schurinza, De Vries, for Amsterdam—Frisk, Whiteway, for
Monte Video—Mary, Walker, for Malta—Gracc Darling, Tasker,
for Santa Martha—and Frederick, Krause, for Danzic.