JANUARY 24. (Saturday.)
Our favourable breeze lasted till Tuesday, the 20th; when,
having brought us balf-way between St. Domingo and Jamaica
it died away, and we dragged on at the rate of two or three
miles an hour till Thursday afternoon, which placed us at the
mouth of Black River. If we had arrived one hour earlier, we
could have immediately entered the harbour; but, with our
usual good fortune, we were just too late for the daylight. We
therefore did not drop anchor till two o'clock on Friday, before
the town of Black River; and on Saturday morning, at four
o'clock, I embarked in the ship's cutter for Savannah la Mar.
Every one assured us that we could not fail to have a favourable
sea-breeze the whole way, and that we should be on land by
eight: instead of which what little wind there was veered round
from one point of the compass to the other with the most indefatigable
caprice; and we were not
on shore till eleven. Here
I found Mr. T. Hill, who luckily had his phaeton ready, in
which he conveyed me once more to Cornwall. The accounts
of the general behaviour of my negroes are tolerably good, and
they all express themselves satisfied with their situation and their
superintendents. Yet, among upwards of three hundred and
thirty negroes, and with a greater number of females than men,
in spite of all indulgences and inducements, not more than twelve
or thirteen children have been added annually to the list of the
births. On the other hand, this last season has been generally
unhealthy all over the island, and more particularly so in my
parish; so that I have lost several negroes, some of them young,
strong, and valuable labourers in every respect; and in consequence, my
muster-roll is rather
diminished than increased since
my last visit. I had been so positively assured that the custom
of plunging negro-infants, immediately upon their being born,
into a tub of cold wate, infallibly preserved them from the
danger of tetanus, that on leaving Jaiaca, I had ordered this
practice to be adopted uniformly. The negro mothers, however,
took a prejudice against it, and have been so obstinate in their opposition,
that it was thought
unadviseable to attempt the enforcing
this regulation. from this and other causes I have lost several
infants ; but I am told, that on other estates in the neighbourhood they have
been still more
unfortunate in regard to their
children ; and one was named to me, on which sixteen were
carried off in the ocurse of three days.
