226 CUBA AND POBTO BIOO 



probably now amounts to 717,016 people, or 173 per square 

 mile. In area and density of population the island closely 

 resembles Connecticut. According to the census of 1891, 

 the blacks numbered 488,624, the colored 121,955. To- 

 gether these classes number 610,579, or five sixths of the 

 total population. The whites are next in proportion, num- 

 bering 14,692, while there are 10,116 East Indian coolies. 

 Besides these there were 481 Chinamen, and 3623 people 

 whose race was not stated. There were nearly 28,000 more 

 females than males, and 292,288 people, or one half the 

 population, were illiterate not such a bad showing for a 

 black man's country when we think that two thirds of the 

 white population of Porto Rico are equally ignorant. The 

 population of Jamaica is increasing veiy rapidly by births. 

 From 1861 to 1871 the increase was 64,890 ; from 1871 to 

 1881, 74,680. The birth-rate in 1892-93 was 37.3 per cent, ; 

 the death-rate 20.9 per cent. 



The black population outnumbers the white in the pro- 

 portion of nearly forty to one, but the government control 

 is in the hands of the whites. No more refined people 

 can anywhere be found than the colonial army and naval 

 officials who compose the higher class of Kingston society, 

 while throughout the island there are many estimable 

 planters, pen-keepers, and clergymen, who in this distant 

 colony bravely keep up the customs, traditions, and habits 

 of the mother-country. These form but a fractional por- 

 tion of the Jamaican population. The mass of the people 

 are black or colored, and there are few old families on the 

 island which do not show traces of African blood. During 

 the days when the large plantations were prosperous, 

 miscegenation prevailed to an alarming degree, and al- 

 though not common now, its effects are seen on every 

 side. Prior to this, however, the Jews, who constituted 

 the mercantile class of the island, had mingled freely with 

 the black race, and before them the Spanish blood had 

 made a contribution of mestizos. As a result of this 

 peculiar combination, there are many grades and qualities 



