GENERAL HISTORY. 



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tile liouse to furnish supplies 

 for various fortiticatious, it was 

 represented, that such was the 

 distress of their constituents, that 

 they could not provide money for 

 mauy objects which they thought 

 highly expedient; and they as- 

 serted that the expence of the ord* 

 nance department ought to be de- 

 frayed at the . gei»eral co&t of the 

 empire. They passed a resolution 

 for the support of the white troops 

 necessary for the protection of the 

 island, but upon a. ^ew and ifioye 

 economical plan. 



At Dominica, some differences 

 rose between the governor, Barnes, 

 and the council. The governor 

 had dissolved two successive 

 Houses of Assembly ; one for hav- 

 ing refused to vote the necessary 

 supplies ; the other for having de- 

 clined to meet in October last, 

 when a general alarm prevailed oq 

 account of the conspiracy at Mar- 

 tinique. The board of council, 

 declaring their disapprobation of 

 the refusal of the house to meet 

 for the dispatch of public business, 

 added their belief that the motives 

 which actuated the individuals 

 were good, and that the utmost 

 harmony prevailed in the legisla- 

 tive intercourse between the board 

 and the house. Governor Barnes 

 commented with severity upon the 

 rnconsisteney of this declaration, 

 and from several circumstances in- 

 timated his opinion that there was 

 a design to alienate the affections 

 of the French inhabitants from his 

 Majesty's government. 



In consequence of the scarcity 

 of provisions in Barbadoes, the le- 

 gislature, at the recommeiida- 

 tHoii of the governor, griinted 

 a bounty on the importntion of 



yaips, potatoes, and plantains, from 

 Dutch Guiana ; and the governor 

 by |)roclamation opened the ports 

 for so,me other articles of supply. 

 These measures were prodiictive of 

 beneficial effects. 



Soon after the commencement 

 of the American war, the West 

 Indian seas swarmed with priva- 

 teers; which made numerous ca:p- 

 tures, and from the shelter they 

 obtained in small islands of difl^- 

 cult a,Gces.«, were not easily disco- 

 vered or avoided. A meeting of 

 the merchants and others concern- 

 ed in the coasting trade of Jamaica 

 was held at Kingston on September 

 25, in which a resolution was passed 

 relative to its unprotected state^ 

 and a committee was appointed to 

 wait upon Vice-admiral Sterling, 

 requesting him to grant all the 

 protection to the coast in his power 

 to afford. He informed them that 

 two cruizers were already stationed 

 on the coasts, and that upon the 

 arrival of other vessels of war, they. 

 should be employed on the same 

 service. It appears, however, that 

 during the remainder of the year, 

 the defence of the commerce of 

 the West India islands was yery 

 inadequate to the means of annoy- 

 ance possessed by the enemj'. 



The usual periodical scourge of 

 these islands, a hufricane, occurred 

 on the night of October 12, and 

 occnsioned rnnch damage in vari- 

 ous parts of Jamaica, sweeping 

 away outhouses and negro habita- 

 tions, unrooting buildings, tearing 

 up trees by the roots, and destroy- 

 ing cane and other plantations. 

 The mischief at sea was not very 

 considerable, the duration of the 

 tempestuous weather being short. 

 At St. Lucia most of the vessels in 



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