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Show 68 DOMINICA. we were, at length, very much at a Joss to conjecture our true pos1·t L·O n. Ac c ording to the Captain's recko. nmg, we were yet lra i awc. ty t0 tl 1e e(a. st.' but our .o wn .c a.l culatiOns brought us on a line with Santa Cruz. Tlus opnuon proved to be correct. On the break of day, one morning, we found ourselves up. proaching that island. Although bonnd for St. Thoma~, we now thought it advisable to change our course, and soon found ourselves safe at West·End, in the midst of the cordial we]. comes and congratulations of our friends. We were a good deal wearied by long·continued excitement and exertion, and found in their society, for a few days, just that refreshment, both of body and mind, which was suited to our need. One change, which had taken place during the seven weeks of our absence, was remarkable. When we were there before, the subject of slavery was almost unmentionable ; n~w we could scarcely find time to answer the inquiries made of us, respect· ing the working of emancipation in the islands to the wmd· ward. Many of the planters openly professed their willingness to emancipate their slaves, if compensation were but granted. The question of compensation lies between the planters and the Danish Government; and we sincerely hope that the latter will exercise all due liberality on the occasion. Nevertheless, it is clear, that, in pure justice, this question can never bar the infinitely higher claim of a third party-that is, the negro-to a property in his own person. lam &c. &c. LETTER VII. JAMAICA. Flushing, L. 1. .Sixth·rnonth (.lime) 8th, 1840. MY DBI.R FRI&ND, Our second visit to Santa Cruz afforded us an or,poltunity of uniting with twenty or more of the boarders there-· individuals with whom we had formed a highly agreeable acquaintancein chartering the ship Whitmore, Capt. R. Watlington. It was agreed that the rest of the company should leave Santa Cruz, in the course of the Third-month, (March) and, after a cruise among some other islands, call for us at Jamaica, and convey us, by Havana, to the United States. For ourselves, we set sail, on the 18th of the Second-month (February) in our little brigantine, intending to lane!' at Jaquemel, a port on the south of Hayti, on our way to Jamaica. Our kind friends, the planters of Santa Cruz, loaded us with presents of oranges, shaddocks, syrup, new sugar, &c., for our use during the voy age, and heartfelt was our mutual expression of good wishes, on our departure fmm the island. We now had the delightful trade wind directly in our favor. Our course lay along the southern shore of Porto Rico, which extends ninety miles iu length. This coast presented to the eye no peculiar aspect of interest or beauty. The mountains to the south of the island m·e low, and we hardly perceived a speck of cultivation. That much of the interi~r is well cultivated and of great luxuriance, we are well aware, and melancholy in the extreme, is the fact that the negro population of the island is constant! y increasing by fresh importations. We afterwards learned from our friends in the Vl'hitmore, who called on their way to Jamaica, at the port of St. John's, that the slaver "Hound," under Amcricm1 |