FEBRUARY 4.
The violent gale of wind which persecuted us with so much
pertinacity on our leaving the English Channel is supposed to
have been the tail of a tremendous hurricane which has utterly
laid waste Barbadoes and several other islands. No less than
sixteen of the ships which sailed at the same time with us are
reported to have perished upon the passage ; so that I ought to
consider it at least as a negative piece of good luck to have
reached Jamaica myself, " no bones broke, though sore peppered ;" but I
am still trembling in
uncertainty for the fate of
the vessel which is bringing out all my Irish supplies, and the
non-arrival of which would be a misfortune to me of serious
magnitude. The negroes are so obstinate and so wilful in their
general character, that if they do not receive the precise articles
to which they have been accustomed, and which they expect as
their right, no compensation, however ample, can satisfy them.
Thus, at every Christmas it would go near to create a rebellion
if they did not receive a certain proportion of salt fish ; but if,
in the interveneing months, accident should prevent their receiving
their usual allownace of herrings, the giving them salt fish,
although double the value, would be considered by them as
an act of the grossest injustice.
