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Show 56 DOMINICA. deliberate m. vesti· gatw· n, h ave br ought in a repo.r t reco.m mend- 1· ng-not any grad ua 1 dilatory process-but the wvmed.ate abo-lition of slavery. . . The attention of the French CommiSSioners was closely !Yiven (I believe by persona.\ visits) to the result of the expen~ ent of abolition in the neighboring Bnttsh colon~es ; and It can be no matter of surprise that the excellent worlnng of freedom in Antigua, where the change was made Without any mtervening apprenticeship, should have brought them to thiS conclusion. Nevertheless the strongest argument for the course recommended by them, might be drawn from the com-parison of Antigua and Dominica. . . . Never were two colonies more contrasted 111 their ci.rcumstances than these. Antigua is a d1y island, watered only from the skies, and cultivated nearly to the extent of Its capacitie~, the remaining wild land being of little value.. Dmmmca IS watered by a vast number of little streams which Oow (as .we were told) from a fathomless lake embosomed in the mountams, at a high level above the sea. It is in consequence, a moist island, and of luxuriant fertility; and mne tenths of the soil, productive us it is by nature, are wholly unoccupied--m a state of absolute wildness. Antigua again, long be~ore the date of emru1cipation, was the scene of much Christian labor, ru1d education had been spread extensively among the slaves. On the contrary, in Dominica, the people who speak a barbarous French patois, and are under the sway of the Roman Catholic religion, were, until lately, almost entirely destitute of schools, or ru1y other means of instruction- an ignorru1t and uncultivated race. And yet--wonderful to say- the expenment of emancipation, is working just as well, in Dominica, as it is in Antigua. The negroes of Dominica, neither squat on the wild land, nor shew my wildness themselves; the trifling unsettlement which took place at the date of full freedom, soon subsJded; and they are working, in a quiet inoO'ensive manner, on the estates of their former masters. "Their conduct," says one of the Stipendiaries (in his last report to the Governor General, DOMINICA. 57 dated" Jmuary 1," 1840) "is orderly, quiet, and peaceable." A second says, "They continue to conduct themselves with every propriety ;" a third observes that " their general conduct is orderly and industrious." The solution of the problem, is easy. EdLicated, or uneducated, the negro loves his home, humble though it be, and has no wish to exchmge it for a wild 1 ife upon the mountains. With equal sincerity he loves the silver "mochas" which are placed in his hands as the reward of his labor, and it is natuml to him to work, in order to obtain them. On the following morning we obtained a distant view of Dominica, but did not succeed in reaching Roseau, until nightfall. Columbus discovered this islru1d on the first day of the week- thence its name, Dominica; and when queen Isabella asked for a description of it, he cmmpled a sheet of paper in his hands, in order to give her some notion of the jagged and compressed appearance of its conical mountains. One crumot approach this romantic spot of earth, without feeling a kind of fascination. A late writer describes it as a lmd of "mists and torrents and rainbows," ru1d such it truly is. The mountains peaked and picturesque as they are, ru1d some of them very lofty- the highest five thousru1d six hundred feet above the level of the sea-are mrultled to their ve1y tops, with luxuriru1t vegetation; and through the deep ravines, ru1d luxuriant dells which divide them, mru1y a sudden gust of wind assails the mariner, and many a mountain stream finds its way into the ocean. As it was quite dark before we cast ru1chor, we concluded not to attempt a lmding until morning ; but after I had retired to my berth, I was told that two colored gentlemen, Louis Bellotr a plmter, ru1d Charles Fillm, clerk to the house of representatives, had come on hoard to offer us a hearty welcome, and tender their help ru1d hospitality. We declined their kindness for the night; but the next morning they rejoined our compru1y, md COI)ducted us to the clean and comfortable abode of Maria Dahymple, a colored Methodist matron, whom, not without good cause, they and many others in the place, are accustomed |