22 COOLIES IN THE WEST INDIES. [CHAP. I. 



lasting kind, as experience had proved throughout the American 

 continent. 



A Barbadoes planter, who was present, declared his opinion 

 that in his island the emancipation of the negroes had been suc 

 cessful ; the population, about 120,000, being dense, arid a large 

 proportion of them having white blood in their veins, with many 

 of the wants of civilized men, and a strong wish to educate their 

 children. The Americans, however, drew from him the admis 

 sion, that in proportion as the colored people were rising in so 

 ciety, the whites, whose aristocratic feelings and tastes were 

 wounded by the increased importance of the inferior race, were 

 leaving Barbadoes, the richest of them retreating to England, 

 and the poor seeking their fortunes in the United States. It was 

 also conceded, that in the larger islands, such as Jamaica, which 

 the Americans compared to their Southern States, the negroes 

 have retreated to unoccupied lands and squatted, and could not 

 be induced to labor, and were therefore retrograding in civiliza 

 tion ; so that the experience of more than ten years would be 

 required before the Americans could feel warranted in imitating 

 the example of England, even if they had the means of indemni 

 fying the southern planters. 



We landed at Halifax on the 17th of September, and spent 

 some hours there very agreeably, much refreshed by a walk on 

 terra firma, and glad to call on some friends in the town. I 

 was surprised to find that some of our fellow passengers, bound 

 for Montreal, intended to go on with us to Boston, instead of 

 stopping here ; so great are the facilities now enjoyed of traveling 

 from New England to Canada, passing via Boston by railway to 

 Albany, and thence by steam-boats through Lakes George and 

 Champlain to Montreal. 



The chief subject of conversation, during the remaining two 

 days of our voyage, was the death of Judge Story, the eminent 

 jurist, whose works and decisions have been often cited as of high 

 authority by English judges. The news of this unexpected event 

 reached us at Halifax, and was evidently a matter of deep con 

 cern to his fellow citizens, by whom he had been much loved and 

 admired. After retiring from the bench of the Supreme Court 



