BOOK III. CHAP. II. 403 



txifling in Jamaica; the laws of which iinpofe fuch an obligdtion upon 

 every owner of flaves, and punifh all who fail of conforming to it. 



From the furvey I have taken of the African Negroes, and the na- 

 ture of the flavtry exifting among them, it will not, I think, be de- 

 duced, that the people they export undergo more havdfliip or injury 

 by the tranfition, than they would have fuffti-ed in their own countryi. 



The captives of war, inftcad of being inhumanly flatightered, pafs 

 into a ftate of fervitude, it is true ; but it is fuch a ftate, that, under 

 Chriftian maflers, who, I venture to fay, are not fuch tyrants as the 

 African flaveholders, they enjoy indulgence proportioned to, and of- 

 ten far tranfcending, the merits of their behaviour; the comforts, even 

 I may add, the pleafures of life; and not a few obtain their freedom . 



Such as are banifhed for crimes and mifdemeanors, have reafon to 

 rejoice at the fentence ; which reprieves them from fome horrid mode 

 of execution, and prolongs their exiflence. 



Should any be imjuflly exiled, they may think them felves happy in 

 being placed beyond the reach of a cruel and favage governmei:t. 



If they were flaves in their own country, or had forfeited their free- 

 dom by fome crime, they have no right to repine at the want of it in 

 the country to which they are driven. They were already flaves, and 

 have only exchanged their owner and laws; the former, for one lefs ar- 

 bitrary ; the latter, for one more beneficent and gentle than they before 

 had experience of. In general, they gain life, for death ; clemency, for 

 barbarity; comfort and convenience, for torture and mifery ; food, for 

 famine. Infomuch that, after fome trial of their new condition, under 

 a mafter who in fa£l purfues his own intereft beft in treating them 

 well, they would account it the higheft a6l of inhumanity to be fent 

 back to their native country. 



The choice of Negroes for different purpofes requires experience, 

 and particular attention ; for there is not only fome variety in their 

 paffions and bent of mind, but, from the conftitution of their native cli- 

 mates and local manners, they inherit a variety of different diflempers. 

 The Coromantins, and many others of the Gold Goafl: flaves, are 

 haughty, ferocious, and ilubborn. The Minnahs, timid and defpond- 

 ing, apt to deftrov themfelves upon the leaft, and often without any, 

 provocation. The Mundingo Negroes are very fubjcft to worm dif- 

 orders; the Congos to dropfics. The Ebo men are lazv, and averfe 



