Page:Substance of the speech of His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence, in the House of Lords.djvu/55

 vessels. They therein state, that between 1780 and 1787, from the dreadful effects of hurricanes, and their disagreeable consequences, such as famine and disease, that notwithstanding the annual importation of Negroes from the coast of Africa into Jamaica, at the time of presenting the Address, the Negro population was 15,000 short of what it was in 1780. It is true, that upon some estates, the Negro population may and does increase; and it is equally clear, that upon many others it rapidly diminishes: consequently the planters are obliged to purchase Slaves annually. In the Island of Jamaica, a particular friend of mine has two adjoining estates, both in Montego Bay. On the one the Negroes increase; and on the other, though adjacent, they are obliged, by the decrease of population, to make annual purchases. Some estates in St. Vincent's increase, whilst in Tobago there is little probability of an increase; and as the latter, in most cases, diminish, there is consequently a very great