V 



214 humboldt's cuba. 



the slaves to celibacy, under the pretext that vicious 

 habits were thus avoided. The Jesuits and the 

 Bethlemite friars, being superior to this sad prejudice, 

 were the only planters that allowed them on their 

 plantations. Although the census of 1775, which is 

 undoubtedly very imperfect, gave 15,562 female and 

 29,336 male slaves, we must bear in mind that this 

 census embraced the whole island, while the sugar 

 plantations, even at the present time (1825), do not 

 contain more than one-fourth of the entire slave 

 population. 1 



From the year 1795, the Consulado of Havana 



1 The " Cuadro Estadistico " of 1846 presents some partial in- 

 formation on this point, which is interesting. It states the number 

 of sugar plantations in the several departments of the island and 

 their population, as follows : — 



Plantations. Population. Average. 

 Western 735 96,462 131 



Central 404 23,768 59 



Eastern 303 10,586 85 



1442 130,816 



These numbers are undoubtedly under-stated ; but estimating an 

 average of ten per cent, as the white population of the sugar plan- 

 tations, we have a slave population of 116,735, being nearly 18 per 

 cent., engaged in the culture of sugar. It is to be regretted that the 

 " Cuadro *' does not state the relative numbers of males and females; 

 but well-informed persons think the sugar plantations have now one- 

 third females. 



