Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 2.djvu/339

 recorded in Rappahannock in the same year from Epiphany Hill of Barbadoes, to Mr. Gates Hussey of that county, to collect all indebtedness to Hill, not only in the form of pork and beef, but also of tobacco and money sterling, as evidenced by note, bond, and judgment. Many ships from year to year arrived in Virginia with cargoes of West Indian commodities, the owners of which depended on casual purchasers for the disposal of their stock, these purchasers being sought by passing from landing to landing in the principal rivers, the lower rates at which these articles were often sold under these circumstances inducing many planters who were engaged in trade not to send their orders to merchants in the West Indies. The operations of these persons covered all parts of the Colony, from the country adjacent to the Potomac on the north to the valley of the James on the south. The rum, sugar, and molasses were conveyed in casks and barrels. The former not infrequently held only