LETTER OF MR. WARD. 



97 



dealers in the course of September and October, with in- 

 structions to get them ready to ship in a few weeks. No- 

 vember and December are the chief months for the 

 despatch of outward-bound West Indiamen, as the planta- 

 tion stores are usually required by the end of December, 

 or in all the month of January. The arrivals of West 

 Indiamen in England with homeward crops, begin in 

 April, and continue till October. Heavy vessels cannot 

 well be loaded during the autumnal months. 



Since the above was written I have received a letter 

 from an intelligent gentleman residing in one of the British 

 North American provinces, who spent many years of his 

 life in one of the West India islands, previous to the abo- 

 lition of slavery, and whose testimony in behalf of some 

 of the views I have expressed has seemed worth quoting. 

 It will be perceived that he agrees with me in regard to 

 the insolvent condition of the British West Indies before 

 the abolition of slavery, and his explanation of the cause 

 of that insolvency fills a place in my analysis which I could 

 not more adequately supply, than by copying his letter 

 entire. 



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