ACCOUNT OF BOOKS. 



735 



ment, by their owners, from the 

 United States. And in no part of 

 the v.'orld whare slavery prevails, 

 can the condition of being so cir- 

 cumstanced be found of milder or 

 more indulgent form. The la- 

 bour they undergo bears no pro- 

 portion to that which they sus- 

 tain throughout the islands : nor 

 is it more to be compared with 

 what they experience in the States 

 of America, a country which at 

 least professes to confer a higher 

 portion of freedom than most 

 others, whether it really happen 

 or not. 



" Whenever power is exercised 

 with moderation, the task of re- 

 cording it can never be thought 

 superfluous. And where the charge 

 of inhumanity is general, any op- 

 portunity that may be afforded for 

 discrimination, it would be a vio- 

 lation of justice to withhold. Thus 

 much, therefore, seemed due to 

 the slave-holder in the present in- 

 stance, and with the acknowledg- 

 ment of it the subject is closed ; 

 for it is as distant from being in- 

 tended, as it would be remote 

 from the purpose in view, to pro- 

 ceed farther on one in all its forms 

 so uninviting; on which ability so 

 much superior has been exhausted 

 without producingconviction ; and 

 which, like many others of popular 

 description, has, perhaps, on some 

 occasions, fixed the reason in an 

 obsequious dependance on the 

 passions. 



" The value of the negro, if re- 

 cently from Africa, is computed 

 from 120/. to 160/. Jamaica cur- 

 rency. Those who have passed a 

 few years in the country, and 

 have become accustomed to the 

 labour of it, frequently produce 

 from 200/. to 800//' 



"The whole of the slaves of Hon- 

 duras are permitted to use arms, 

 and possibly a more expert body 

 of marksmen could not be found. 

 To many this would appear an im- 

 politic and questionable kind of 

 indulgence; but let it be borne in 

 view, that the expectation of fide- 

 lity and attachment may be best 

 founded on the consistentexercise 

 of humanity and forbearance, and 

 much of every inconvenient re- 

 sult will be at once diminished." 



The population of this settle- 

 ment is computed at 300 whites, 

 and 500 people of colour and free 

 blacks; the number of negro 

 slaves is supposed to be nearly 

 3,000. 



Captain Henderson has intro- 

 duced some observations o nthe dis- 

 eases peculiar to this climate, and 

 offers to Europeans several very 

 valuable hints for preserving their 

 health, which are alike honourable 

 to his philanthropy and his under- 

 standing. It becomes, he observes, 

 a matter of the highest impor- 

 tance to those who may be con- 

 ducted to the shores of Honduras, 

 «« to follow, as far as they conveni- 

 ently can, such rules as may seem 

 most rationally founded for the 

 preservation of health ; and that 

 such may be followed without any 

 material diminution of social en- 

 joyment, or violent exercise of 

 self-denial, will hardly require to 

 be insisted on. 



" It is well understood that there 

 are certain seasons, of which it has 

 usually been recommended to Eu- 

 ropeans to take advantage, on 

 making a voyage to countries si- 

 tuated within tl)e tropics. These 

 seasons as applied to the whole, 

 though subject from local causes 

 to frequent variation, must gene- 



