176 TRINIDAD. 



cedence to any petty trade and peddling speculation, or handi- 

 craft, rather than to the adoption of the more healthy and noble 

 occupation of agriculture. They are excessively fond of display, 

 and of appearing to their best advantage in dress thus mistaking 

 vanity for that rational pride which ought to govern human 

 actions. Singularly improvident, and satisfied with the present 

 " daily bread," they do not seem to think for a moment of the 

 necessity of economy, in order to meet and alleviate cases of 

 illness, accidents, or other contingencies of the future. Although 

 thus extravagant, they use no steady exertion in earning their 

 wages ; nor, generally speaking, will they vest it advantageously 

 in the savings banks, or otherwise, even when earned : in fact, 

 they do not exert themselves beyond the merest necessity. As a 

 consequence, very few individuals have sensibly progressed ; on 

 the contrary, the emancipated as a class may be said to have 

 retrograded, and are now suffering severely from the general 

 distress. As they were liberated without any preliminary prepa- 

 ration, they are grossly ignorant not only in respect of their 

 social and religious duties, but also of their own true interests. 

 And yet the African, though inconstant and inconsistent, is 

 susceptible of improvement to an extent which, perhaps, has 

 never been fairly tested ; for he is, I consider, a being of pre- 

 eminently religious feelings, and possessed of a quick intelligence, 

 though sadly defective in the powers of reflection. Being robust, 

 and, under ordinary circumstances, of abstemious habits, the 

 African is capable of enduring privation and climatic exposure, 

 it cannot be said with fortitude, but with an apathy that is almost 

 inconceivable. 



The Europeans, and their descendants, do not offer any 

 peculiar traits beyond those which prevail among the nations of 

 their respective ancestries. In the mass, however, Creoles may 

 be characterised as improvident, fickle, and by no means exempt 

 from the censure I have attached to the emancipated class 

 that of disliking agriculture and other occupations which require 

 exertion and steadiness of purpose. To the European population 

 the Portugese emigrants from the Madeiras may be regarded as 

 a valuable addition : it is, therefore, to be deplored that greater 

 encouragement was not afforded them on their arrival ; as, owing 

 to this neglect, more than three-fourths of them have since re- 

 emigrated to the United States. The example, however, of those 



