Page:Remarks upon the Situation of Negroes in Jamaica.pdf/30

 infirmity, he is not able to make; for how can he be expected to run, who with difficulty can barely walk? The frequent conſequence of his inability is a revenge upon the intruding cattle; for as he cannot ſtir to drive them away, he throws a ſtone to knock out an eye, or a lance to pierce them to the heart.

As many negroes of this deſcription watch the pens, in which the cattle are nightly encloſed, when manuring the land for future cultivation, much, too much I think, is expected from their watchfulneſs, perſeverance, and care; nor are they ſufficiently relieved or ſupported in this painful and uncertain truſt. If by chance, after having toiled all day long to make the pens ſecure, and if after his bodily exertions, he drop to ſleep, or pinched by the deſcending dews, or chilly winds (which often blow with an intenſeneſs that would even make the moſt hardy European ſhudder) he retire to his hut for warmth, or to prepare his food; and if, in this temporary abſence, nay, although he ſhould be intent upon his watch, a refractory mule, or an obſtinate ſteer ſhould break the