1830.] Four Years in Ike Weft Indies. 315 



it may not be amiss to state that I neither have, nor ever had, any inte- 

 rest in the West Indies, except that naturally arising from a local resi- 

 dence in them." The first evidence he had of the abject condition of 

 slavery was in the behaviour of the pilot who boarded them at Barba- 

 does. He took possession of the vessel with as much importance as if 

 he had been a fine, rough old English seaman bearing up channel ; 

 inquired for the ladies, drank their healths ; gave his orders to the 

 crew with an air of authority, calling to the helmsman " Vy you no 

 teer teady ? tarn you, Sir, vy you no teer teady ?" Yet this man 

 was a slave, earning about twenty-five dollars a month, above two-thirds 

 of which he was allowed to keep to his own use. Of Barbadoes and its 

 inhabitants Mr. Bayley gives a pleasant account. He remarks of some 

 thousands of slaves and negroes assembled together, that, "could those 

 who picture to themselves this race of beings as a miserable, unhappy, 

 and oppressed people, have witnessed, as I have done, thousands of 

 their laughing faces, and have seen their healthy and contented appear- 

 ance, they might have wondered to see them looking tenfold happier 

 than the lower class of their own countrymen/' (p. 36.) ^The only class 

 in which there are individuals in a state of beggary, seem to be the 

 whites and free negroes ! 



On the subject of religious instruction, Mr. Bayley notices the dis- 

 like entertained by the Barbadians of the missionaries. He justly 

 remarks, that all persons, whether missionaries or otherwise, who go to 

 the West Indies with a view of imparting Christian knowledge to the 

 slaves, or who are expected to hold any influence over their minds, 

 should be men not only of good education, but of sound character and 

 judgment. Had this rule been always observed, the labours of the 

 sectaries never would have been objected to in our colonies. There 

 are now, including all, fifteen or sixteen places of worship in Barbadoes 

 a great number for so small a colony ; and the bishop deserves every 

 praise for his exertions in propagating the Christian religion throughout 

 all the islands. 



In a casual visit to the boiling-house of a sugar estate, he found the 

 manager cheerfully greeted by, " How d'ye, massa," from a dozen 

 mouths at once ; but as a " new buckra," Mr. Bayley was good humour- 

 edly asked to pay his footing. 



He found the common negro houses, consisting of two rooms, comfort- 

 ably furnished. The house of one of the slaves, a mechanic, contained 

 a four -post bedstead, with the usual accompaniments. " The hall was 

 furnished with half a dozen chairs and two tables ; on one of these stood 

 a pair of decanters, with some tumblers and wine glasses, and about 

 eight cups and saucers of different patterns; while on a shelf above 

 were ranged some dozen of plates and dishes. There were two framed 

 pictures hanging in the room, and many more without frames, pasted 

 against the walls." (p. 92.)* The negroes cook their little messes 

 before their doors. To each hut is attached a small garden, which is 

 pretty well cultivated : for the slaves have always time to attend to their 

 little portions of ground ; they grow yams, taniers, plantains, bananas, 

 sweet potatoes, okros, pine apples, and Indian corn ; and the luxuriant 

 foliage that shades their little dwellings from the sun, usually consists of 



* One of these " oppressed slaves," whose hut he visited, politely offered him a glass of 

 wine and a piece of plum-cake ! 



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