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running away with a dog or two, which appears to 

 be their venison and turtle. There is no river on 

 my estate large enough for their inhabiting ; but, 

 in Paradise River, which is not above four miles 

 off, I understand that they are common. 



January 19. 

 A young mulatto carpenter, belonging to Horace 

 Beckford's estate of Shrewsbury, came to beg my 

 intercession with his overseer. He had been ab- 

 sent two days without leave, and on these occasions 

 it is customary for the slaves to apply to some 

 neighbouring gentleman for a note in their behalf 

 which, as I am told, never fails to obtain the par- 

 don required, as the managers of estates are in 

 general but too happy to find an excuse for passing 

 over without punishment any offences which are 

 not very heinous ; indeed, what with the excellent 

 laws already enacted for the protection of the 

 slaves, and which every year are still further 

 ameliorated, and what with the difficulty of procur- 

 ing more negroes — (which can now only be done 

 by purchasing them from other estates), — which 

 makes it absolutely necessary for the managers to 

 preserve the slaves, if they mean to preserve their 

 own situations, — I am fully persuaded that in- 

 stances of tyranny to negroes are now very rare, 

 at least in this island. But I must still acknow- 

 ledge, from my own sad experience, since my 

 arrival, that unless a West-Indian proprietor occa- 



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