Sletvart's Past and Pi 



Europe, of various cliaraclcrs and dis- 

 j)ositions. Some are mild, docile, and 

 limid — wliilo otiirrs are fierce, irascible 

 and easily roused to revciif^e. They are 

 in general cral'ty, artful, and plausible, 

 IKlle ashamed of falsliood, and stranjccly 

 addicled to theft : to pilfer from their 

 masters they consider as no crime, though 

 lo rob a fellow-slave is accounted hoi- 

 nous: when a slave makes free with his 

 iiiaster's property, he thus ingeniously 

 argues, — " What I take from my master, 

 being for my use, who am his slave, or 

 property, he loses nothing hij its tranfer." 



The Eboc is crafty, arttui, disputativc 

 in driving a bargain, and suspicions of 

 being over- reached by those with whom 

 lie tleals; but withal, patient, indus- 

 trious, saving, and tractable. 'J'lic Co- 

 romantee is, on the contrary, fierce, vio- 

 lent, and rcvengcfid, under injury and 

 provocation; but hardy, laborious, and 

 manageable, under mild and just treat- 

 ment. I'his tribe has generally been 

 at the head of all insurrections, and was 

 the original parent-stock of the Maroons. 



The Congo, Pa[)aw, Chamba, Man- 

 dingo, &c. are of a more mild and peace- 

 able disposition than the Coromantee, 

 but less industrious and provident than 

 the Eboc. The Mandingoes arc a sort 

 of Mahomedans, Ihousrh they are too 

 ignorant lo understand any thing of the 

 Alcoran, or of the natinc of their reli- 

 gion: soineof I hem, however, can scrawl 

 a few rude Arabic characters, but with- 

 out understanding or being able to ex- 

 plain much of their meaning. Probably 

 ilicy are scraps iVoin the Alcoran which 

 they have been taught by their inians, 

 or |)riesls. 'J'hc creoln negroes arc the 

 des(;endants of the Africans, and may 

 be said to possess in conunon the min- 

 gled dispo.sitions of their paienis or an- 

 cestors. Jjut they prct< nd to a great 

 superiority in intiliect and nianiu'rs over 

 the /MVitans — boast of (heir good for- 

 tune in being born Creoles, — and liie 

 farther they are removed from the African 

 blood the more they pride thtiiiselves 

 lliereou. 



'I'lie |)assions and aflVctions of the ne- 

 groes, not being under the control of 

 reason or religion, sometimes break out 

 with frightfni \iolenee; rage, i<;venge, 

 giief, jealousy, have ol'l< ri been pro'liie- 

 tive of terrible calaslr<iphcs ; but it is 

 otdy in their intercourse with each other 

 that this impetuosity jirevaiis ; they are 

 .so lar subdued by a habitual awe of the 

 wliifrs as lo have a mastery over their 

 (lassions, and, if ill Irealed, they brood 

 in silence oNcr their wronz-, walch 



esent Stai» of Jamaica. 6 13 



ing for a favourable opportunity of re- 

 venge. 



Mnmerous instances of the gratitude 

 and altachtnent of negro slaves towards 

 their masters have come within the au- 

 thor's knowledge; though he has also 

 had occasion to witness the most hard- 

 ened ingratitude in individuals of this 

 race, not only to their masters and their 

 fellow-slaves, birt even to their parents, 

 when age and decrepitude had rendered 

 their kindness and assistance doubly 

 necessary and welcome. T'llial grati- 

 tude is not so powerful an aft'eetion as 

 parental love, and among the negro race 

 this is often strikingly exemplified. 



Very affecting scenes often occurred 

 of negro sales during the existence of 

 the slave-trade. Gi'oups of slaves were 

 seen with tiieir arms entwined round 

 ciicli otiK'r's necks, waiting, with sad 

 and anxious looks, the expected mo- 

 ment of separation. Perhai)s they were 

 sisters and friends — perhaps a mother 

 and her children — [)crliaps a husband 

 and wKe. In vain was the endeavour 

 to separate them — they cliuig closer to- 

 gether, they wept, they shrieked piteous- 

 ly, and, if foicibly lorn asunder, the 

 buyer had generally cause to regret his 

 inhumanity ; despair often seized on the 

 miserable creatures, and they cither 

 sinik into an niter despondency or put a 

 period to tiieir lives. 



The negroes, though so rude and ig- 

 norant in their savage stati', have a na- 

 tural slircwdiic.'-s and geiiins which is 

 doubtless snsceplible of cnllnre and im- 

 [jrovement. Those who have been reared 

 among the u Idles are greatly superior in 

 intellect to the native Africans brought 

 at a matinc age to the country. Many 

 are wonderfully ingenious in making a 

 variety of arti('les for their own use, or 

 to sell ; and such as are propci ly brought 

 upto any trade, show a skill and dexte- 

 rily in it little inferior to tlie J^iropi^ans. 

 In rickoning inimbcrs they are some- 

 what puzzled, being obliged to mark the 

 decima s as tliey proceed. Some author 

 mentions a nation so extremely slupid 

 that Ihey conid not ri'<'.kon beyond tho 

 innnber five. The negro can go far bc- 

 V'n<l this — indeed, give him lioie, and 

 he vv ill, by a mode of cond>inalion of his 

 own, inaki' onl a pre'tly roinid sum ; bnt 

 hois utieily perjilcxed by llie minnler 

 eomliinations of lignrrs accor<ling to the 

 I'iOropean system of arithmetic. 



'I'lie negroes are astonished at the in- 



geiMiily of llie linropeans, and thcie arc 



some iirlicli's of their mamdaclure whic-li 



ajipcur (juitv iinaccounlablc to them, as 



walclus, 



