POPULATION. 



191 



as many free negroes as slaves, but that the total 

 colored population of the towns, compared with that 

 of the country, was as 2 to 3. On the other hand, 

 in the eastern portion of the island, from Alvarez to 

 St. Jago de Cuba, the number of blacks living in 

 the towns was nearly equal to that in the country. 1 



We shall see, further on, that between the years 

 1811 and 1825, Cuba received, through licit and 

 illicit channels, 185,000 African negroes, of which 

 nearly 116,000 were entered at the custom-house of 

 Havana, between 1811 and 1820. This recently 

 imported mass has undoubtedly been distributed 

 more in the country than in the towns, and will 

 have affected the estimated proportions which well- 



1 This disposition of the free blacks to abandon the rural districts, 

 and gather in the towns, is very striking, and worthy of careful 

 study by social economists. The form of the latest census returns 

 in Cuba, does not enable us to institute the exact comparison here 

 made by Baron Humboldt ; but that of 1846 shows that the city of 

 Havana and suburbs, contained the following proportions of the 

 total population of the Western department : 



White. Free Col'd. Slaves. 



Havana, 29 51 11 



Rest of department, 71 49 89 



It would be interesting to know if the same tendency to abandon 

 the rural districts exists among the free negroes of St. Domingo and 

 Jamaica, and, if so, what effect it has upon their social and moral 

 condition. 



