Page:Remarks upon the Situation of Negroes in Jamaica.pdf/25

 A negro man is purchaſed either for a trade, or the cultivation and different proceſs of the cane—the occupations of the women are only two, the houſe, with its ſeveral departments, and ſuppoſed indulgencies, or the field with its exaggerated labours. The firſt ſituation is the moſt honorable, the laſt the moſt independant; for I never knew a negro who would not willingly forego the comforts of the houſe (which ſervice requires a conſtant attendance) to be ſure of the hours of accuſtomed leiſure; and what that leiſure is, I ſhall endeavour in the courſe of theſe obſervations to explain.

It appears to me that too many ſlaves are brought to the Iſlands advanced in life; whereas, if only thoſe who are young, or at the moſt under twenty years of age were imported, there would not be much riſk of their having left behind them thoſe regrets, which thoſe may be ſuppoſed to have done, who have been forced from the endearing ties of wife and children, and under the painful anticipations of their future wretchedneſs and want. Thoſe who are at the period above deſcribed, conſider their entrance into a new ſtate