56 TRINIDAD. 



of the population would rapidly improve, and a spirit of industry 

 be created ; I even consider the result as the necessary conse- 

 quence of the onward inarch of events. 



Several of the West India islands may be regarded, both from 

 their size and configuration, as unimportant : such, for instance, 

 are all the islands of the Bahama and Virgin groups, Montserrat, 

 Tobago, &c. Others, on the contrary, are, either from their size, 

 position, or fertility of soil, of an importance which cannot be 

 undervalued ; and a few of them, though at present disregarded 

 and neglected, must, by force of circumstances, and in the 

 mere progress of time, rise from their present depressed con- 

 dition to comparative wealth and prosperity. This may easily 

 be predicted of Cuba, Hayti, Porto Rico, Jamaica, and 

 Trinidad. 



Cuba never will, never can, become Africanized, as the Ameri- 

 cans would say, whether it continue a dependency of the crown 

 of Spain, become independent, or be annexed to the States, 

 for the following reasons : 1st, Cuba is one of the prin- 

 cipal marts of the world ; 2ndly, From its geographical position 

 and proximity to the States, it must afford them guarantees, or 

 become, at any cost, an integral part of the republic ere it can be 

 Africanized. Supposing even a servile war to break out in Cuba, and 

 that the " Queen of the Antilles " should be dragged through all 

 the horrors of a concussion of races, the white race must ulti- 

 mately triumph ; for Cuba would, to a certainty, receive from the 

 neighbouring continent such effective aid and support as must 

 decide the struggle in her favour. The United States, I repeat, 

 will not permit the Africanization of Cuba, since it would be an 

 abdication of their own influence in these seas. 



Less important than Cuba, Porto Rico is not exposed to the 

 same dangers, especially as the slave population and the African 

 race do not form the majority of its inhabitants, nor even of the 

 labouring class, more than two-thirds of the field-labourers being 

 freemen. 



The island of Hayti is divided into two independent states, 

 viz., the negro empire of Hayti, under Soulouque, to the west, and 

 the mixed republic of San Domingo to the east ; the latter had 

 been annexed to the former, by treachery, under President Boyer. 

 After the exile of Boyer, the Dominicans, though numerically one 

 against five, regained their independence under Sautana, after a 

 short but bloody struggle, and they have since maintained their 

 independence against both the troops and the intrigues of the 

 Haytian Emperor. The policy of the San Domingan Government 

 is liberal, instead of being tyrannical and exclusive like that of 

 its neighbour, the Haytian empire. Emigrants are invited to the 

 Dominican territory from every part of the world, life and property 

 are safe, and, as a consequence, agriculture arid commerce flourish ; 



