PREFACE TO THE 



fore given of the first interview between the Spaniards and the 

 natives of Hispaniola, when a ship of Columbus was wrecked 

 on that island. " As soon (says the Historian) as they heard 

 of the disaster, they crowded to the shore, with their prmce 

 Guacanahari at their head. Instead of taking advantage of the 

 distress in which they beheld the Spaniards, to attempt any 

 thing to their detriment, they lamented their misfortune with 

 tears of sincere condolence. Not satisfied with this unavail- 

 ing expression of their sympathy, they put to sea a vast num- 

 ber of canoes, and under the direction of the Spaniards, as- 

 sisted in saving whatever could be got out of the wreck ; and 

 by the united labour of so many hands, almost every thing of 

 value was carried ashore. Guacanahari in person took charge 

 of the goods, and prevented the multitude not only from em- 

 bezzling, but even from inspecting too curiously what belong- 

 ed to their g-uests. Next morning this prince visited Colum- 

 bus, and endeavoured to console him for his loss by offering 

 all that he possessed to repair it?*' 



Thus exceptions present themselves to every generai conclu- 

 sion, until we are burthened with their variety; And at last 

 we end just where we began; for the wonderful uniformity 

 which is said to have distinguished the American Indians, can- 

 not be supported by analogy, because it is not founded on na T 

 ture. 



Of the other branches of my work, great part, I presume 

 to think, will be new to many of my readers. I have not 

 met with any book that even pretends to furnish a comprehen- 

 sive and satitfactory account of the origin and progress of our 

 national settlements in the tropical parts of America. The 

 system of agriculture practised in the West Indies, is almost 

 as much unknown to the people of Great Britain as that of 

 Japan. They know, indeed, that sugar, and indigo, and 

 coffee, and cotton, are raised and produced there; but they 

 are very generally, and to a surprising degree, uninformed 

 concerning the method by which those and other valuable 

 commodities are cultivated and brought to perfection. So re~ 



