200 A. D. 1734. 



1734 Purfuant to an order of the houfe of peers, in the year 1734, 



we have the reprefentation of the lords commifrioners of trade and plant- 

 ations, exhibiting an exadl and curious ftate of the trade, people, and 

 llrength, of our iflands in the Weft-Indies, viz. 



' Jamaica, though having 19 parifhes, has but 7644 white people on 

 ' it; though its militia confifts of 3000 men, horfe and foot, difperfed 



* all over the inhabited part of the ifland. They have fix forts ; and of 



* late have had no fewer than eight independent companies of the king's 



* forces, each confifting of 100 men.' 



The diminution of the white people of Jamaica is owing to the great 

 decay of their private or illicit trade to the Spanifh main, which drew 

 thither many white people, who generally foon acquired great wealth, 

 and returned therewith to their mother country, fo that the Spanilh 

 money they got in Jamaica at length centered in England. From Ja- 

 maica our people privately carried all forts of our manufadures, &c. to 

 New Spain, which, it is well known, can only be legally carried thither 

 by the flota and flotilla from Old Spain : they alio carried thither great 

 numbers of negroes. 



' Our exports to Jamaica, at a medium of four years, from chriftmas 

 ' 1728 to chriftmas 1732, were to the value of Li47,675 : 2:3!, and 

 ' our imports were L539,499 : 18 : 3^. Annual excefs of our imports 

 ' from Jamaica is L39 1,8 24 : 15 : Hi. 



' Barbados has 18,295 white people ; its militia confifts of one troop 

 ' and two regiments of horfe, and of feven regiments of foot, in all 



* 4812 men. In this ifland there are no fewer than 21 forts and 26 bat- 

 ' teries, mounted with 463 cannon.' 



All our fugar ifles together are thought to produce annually 85,000 

 hogfheads of fugar, each hogftiead containing 1 200 cwt. or in all 

 1 ,020,000 cwt. ; of which Great Britain is thought to confume annually 

 70,000 hogfheads, or 94,080,030 pounds of fugar ; which, for ten mil- 

 lions of people, if fo many there be in Britain, comes to g^ lbs of fugar 

 to each perfon, or if but eight millions of people, then about i ly lbs of 

 fugar to each perfon ; and as there are undoubtedly about two millions 

 and upwards of people in Ireland, we may omit them in this computa- 

 tion, as there may probably be near that number in all the Britifli do- 

 minions who ufe little or no fugar at all. 



It is computed, that 300 fail of fhips go annually from Great Britain 

 to the fugar iflands, befide thofc which go thither from our continental 

 colonies ; and that about 4,500 feamen are employed in navigating 

 them : and that there is annually exported thither to the value of 

 L240,ooo in Britifh manufactures. 



' In all the Britifli Leeward iflands, viz. St. Chriflophers, Antigua, 



* Nevis, and Montferrat, with all their dependencies, Barbuda, An- 



