POPULATION. 



181 



I must confess this is a sad, yet not hopeless result, for in the 

 year 1842 it was 100 legitimate to 315 illegitimate children in the 

 same town of Port of Spain, as shown by the following returns, 

 carefully extracted by myself from the registries of Trinity Church, 

 the Catholic cathedral, and the dissenting Catholic chapels then 

 existing. The three periods comprise one year of slavery, one of 

 apprenticeship, and one of freedom : 



TABLE No. 6. 



These two numbers, 475 and 1,496, give, as already stated, 

 the proportion of 100 legitimate only to 315 illegitimate 

 children. 



In Prussia, the ratio is as 13*09 legitimate to 1 illegitimate ; 

 in France, as 13*69 to 1 ; in Havanna, for the whites, and the 

 free people of colour, as 1*02 to 1, or as 102 to 100. Though 

 there is a very great improvement since the abolition of slavery, 

 how far are we yet from the standard attained in France, Prussia, 

 and the European countries generally ! 



By reference to Table No. 2, we have the number of births 

 per quarter, and therefore can ascertain the months wherein a 

 larger average of births take place. Thus, we have 3,098 for the 

 first quarter, ending 31st of March ; 3,408 for the second quarter ; 

 3,680 for the third ; and 3,433 for the fourth quarter. The months 

 showing a majority of births are, therefore, July, August, Sep- 

 tember, October, November, and December ; the months more 

 favourable to conception would, consequently, be October, Novem- 

 ber, December, and January ; and those less so, March, April, 

 May, and June. 



On the other hand, the three periods already mentioned 

 exhibit the following results : 



