OCR Text |
Show 20 SANTA CRUZ. hands of the original owners into those of the managers- that many others arc heavily mortgagcd,-and that the land for several years past, has been under a !Jrocess of o-radual exhaustion. The emancipation of b d the property of this island fi·om its burd~ns, a~ the restoration of its soil, is reserved as I bebevc, tor the annals of fi·eedom. I understand that the slaves form about four-fifihs of the population, and are in nnmhcr about 1!),000. Time was, when the treatment to which they were exposed, was harsh and severe; and then their num· hers were constantly ucclining. Of late years, however, the Danish government has instituted various restrictions which have ameliorated the condition of the slaves. They are not allowed, as I understand, to be worked longer in the day, than from 6 o'clock in the morning, to the samP hour in the evening, with intervals (not always long enough) for breakfast and dinner. Legal provisions are made respecting food and clothing. The driver in the field is not permitted to carry any more terrible instrument than a tamarind switch of moderate size; and twelve lashes with the rope, and a short period of solitary confinement, (mostly I believe in a light room) are the extent punishment which even the manager or master is per· mitted to inflict. This rope however, is a dangerous instmmcnt of torture; and I am told that the reduc· tion of the allowed number of lashes, from thirty to twelve, is uo matter of law, but the simple result the imperative benevolence of the governor-genera~, Von Scholten. Any negro has a right to buy h1s own freedom; ami, in case of need, the price is settled SANTA CRUZ. 21 by a public appraiser. The consequence of these benevolent provisions is, that the condition of the slaves is improved, and their number is now kept up, with a very small increase. I cannot, however, refrain from observing, that legal pro,·isions for the amolioration of slavery, arc in general of little use. In the British Coloni~s, the measures of this kind which were enacted by the Parliament at home, were constantly frustrated by local influence; and, in spite of law or reason, man will often be found in the hour of temptation, to abnsc arbitrary power over his fellow man. I consider it therefore highly probable, that even in Santa Cruz, where the ameliorating laws arc enforced by a local government, at once vigilant and despotic, acts of oppression and cruelty may at times take place, which are wholly unknown to the government; much more, to an occasional visitor of the island. In the mean time the degradation occasioned by slavery in the Danish islands-the low physical, intellectual, and moral condition of the slaves, as compared with that of the liberated negroes of the British islands-is obvious and unquestionable. The worst feature of the system is the "Sunday market," as it is called. The slaves are allowed no one of the working days of the week for their own business. The consequence is, that multitudes of tiJCm throng from the country (often from a great distance) into the towns of Bassin and West End on the First day of the week, with their provisions ~nd fruits for sale. The rum shops arc hard by the market places. The buyers, of course, misuse the day as well as the sell- |