CHAPTER X. 



Encumbered Estates, 



Another of the calamities which hang like plummets 

 at the heels of enterprise in Jamaica, is the encumbered 

 condition of the land. I was surprised to learn, that there 

 is scarcely an estate upon the island which is not mort- 

 gaged, or which has not been sold under a mortgage sale. 

 I should distrust the accuracy of my information, if I had 

 not received it from the most authentic and reliable sources. 

 I was assured by the Attorney General of the island, an 

 Irish barrister of high standing, and the highest authority 

 upon a matter of this sort, that an unencumbered estate of 

 any size or value, was hardly to be found here. I verified 

 his statements in numerous ways, and by inquiries ad- 

 dressed to those most likely to be informed upon such a 

 subject, and found no difference of opinion about it. A 

 gentleman who had been for many years a resident upon 

 the island, admitted to me, after some reflection, that he 

 could not call to mind an exception — a single large estate 

 that was unencumbered. 



