Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 2.djvu/100

 in their respective appraisements in favor of the former. Colonel Fitzhugh, in a letter which he wrote to a correspondent in London in 1686, mentions incidentally that his plantations were now cultivated by &#8220;fine crews&#8221; of slaves, the majority of whom were natives of the soil. Some of these had been purchased by him in the Colony. A few years before he had written to William Leigh, who lived in another part of Virginia, to inquire if one hundred pounds sterling, which had been placed in his hands for investment in negroes, could be expended to advantage in this form in the county where Leigh resided. He also conveyed the same request to John Buckner. A memorandum which Fitzhugh gave to his agent, who was about to set out for York, throws still more instructive light on these local purchases of slaves. This agent was directed not to buy more than two women under thirty years of age. The highest price to be paid for a man was twenty pounds sterling, unless he was a negro of extraordinary physical strength. Fifty-four pounds were prescribed as the limit of price for three boys whom a Mr. Walker had expressed a willingness to dispose of, and for two youths whom Major Peyton was prepared to sell, thirty-four were to be offered as the highest figure. The agent was ordered by Colonel Fitzhugh to confine himself strictly to these sums, unless he should find upon inquiry that the ruling prices