454 TEINIDAD. 



The four years o£ non-prsedial apprenticeship were drawing 

 to a close ; it was thought prudent and only fair to proclaim 

 emancipation of all, prsedial as well as non-prsedial ; and a reso- 

 lution was passed by the Legislative Council granting complete 

 freedom, as from the 1st August, 1838 — a measure which had 

 become unavoidable, and had the approbation of the planting 

 body. 



The other event to which I desire to refer is the mutiny, at 

 St. Josej)h, of the soldiers belonging to the 1st West Indis 

 Regiment. They were newly-liberated Africans, who had beei 

 induced to enlist as soldiers, but who knew nothing of th< 

 obligations they had contracted. They revolted, because thej 

 considered they were not treated as free men. About 280 oi 

 them were barracked at St. Joseph : on the night of the 17tl 

 of June, 1837, they rose, and at once set fire to some huts whicl 

 served for their use ; they next attacked the officers' quarters, 

 and fired at them — fortunately with no effect, as they knew not 

 how to handle their muskets. A party of them left the to) 

 about seven o'clock, marching eastward, in the hope, as thej 

 thought, of reaching their country. They were met at Arima bj 

 the militia; some were killed, and the rest dispersed in the 

 woods. That wild, unjustifiable mutiny, cost about thirty lives, 

 including three chiefs, who were sentenced to death and ex< 

 cuted. 



In 1834 a number of emigrants from Fayal and Madeira 

 were landed in Trinidad; that immigration was not followed 

 up. 



It was under the government of Sir George Hill that a few 

 Mico schools were established in the island. They, however, 

 were not carried on for any length of time. 



Sir George Hill died in Trinidad in 1839, and the governr 

 ment of the colony was assumed by Sir Murray Macgregor, 

 Governor-General of the Windward Islands, for only a short 

 time, and till the appointment of Colonel Sir Henry McLeod. 



Of the Governors who administered the colony since emanci- 

 pation I shall say very little, especially as some of them are still 

 living. I will only notice the most interesting events as they 

 occurred to the present day, and any important measure adopted. 



Sir Henry McLeod governed the colony from April, 1840, 

 to April, 1846. He was active and prudent, and his management 



