Chap. III. of the FRENCH in AMERICA. 
each of about fix hundred Weight \ in GuardaloupCi 
about four thoufand Hogfheads ; and in the other Iflands, 
about one thoufand Hogfheads all together. Tht French^ 
employ in this Trade annually between two and three 
hundred Ships, from the Burden of one hundred to three 
hundred Tons. The time in which they fail iromFrance 
is htXMtQn September February^ that they may , avoid 
as much as polTible the Hurricanes, and arrive in a fit 
Seafon for compleating their Cargoes. 
The Veffels from Rochelle tiCid. B,ourdeaux are, general- 
ly fpeaking, laden with fait Beipf and Pork, Flour, 
Brandy, all forts of Wines of the growth of that Part of 
France^ and alfo Madeira, which they take in at that 
Ifland j dried Cod, pickled Herrings, Oil, Cheefe, 
Butter, Tallow, Iron, Linen, and moft forts of Mercery 
Goods. The Ships trom Rouen feldom carry Pro vifions, 
but are freighted with Woollen and Linen Goods, Silk, 
Ribbons, Shoes, Stockings of all Sorts, Hats, Tin, Cop- 
per, and Brafs Ware, fmall Arms, and Sword Blades, 
Pewter, Pins, Needles, Paper, Pens, Cards, and an 
infinite Number of other Things of the fame Kind. 
The Ships from Marfeilks and Toulon are freighted with 
Oils, dried Fruit, Wines, and feveral Kinds of light 
Stuffs, that are manufadlured in Provence. Thus we fee 
what prodigious Advantages thefe Settlements bring 
to France., by encouraging Induftry, employing a large 
Number of Ships, and confequently raifing and main- 
taining many hundreds of Seamen. It is no Wonder 
therefore that the French Government pay fo much At- 
tention to this important Branch of their Traffic, and are 
fo careful in taking every poffible Method to encourage 
thefe Colonies, and to protedt their Trade, which, how- 
ever, fuffered confiderably in the two laft Wars, and ftill 
more confiderably at the Beginning of this. 
As to the general Amount of their Trade, it is a very 
difficult thing to make fo much as a probable Calculation, 
but if we may depend upon that of Mr. Savary, who was 
allowed to underfland thefe Matters as well as any Man 
in France., the Goods exported from that Country rife to 
the Value of about four Millions of Livres, or two hun- 
dred thoufand Pounds of our Money, annually •, for 
which he computes they bring home very near double 
the Value in JVefi India Commodities ; and if we take in 
the other Branches of Trade before-mentioned, we may 
fairly compute the Profits of thefe Iflands at half a Mil- 
lion Sterling, provided the Calculations before-men- 
tioned are tolerably exadl. 
We may venture, before we quit this Subjedb, to 
make fome few Remarks, for the Service of the Englijh 
Reader : As for inftance. That it appears clearly from 
this Account, we were very confiderable Gainers, by 
fecuring to ourfelves that Part of the Ifland of St. Chri- 
ftopher^ which had been almoft one hundred Years in 
the PoflTeflion of the French., and in their Part of which 
they raifed more and better Sugars than in any of the 
Iflands they now polfefs, Martinico and Guardaloupe ex- 
cepted ; and perhaps we ffiould not carry the Matter too 
far, if we faid, more Sugar than in all their Iflands, ex- 
clufive of thofe before-mentioned. We may likewife 
obferve of how great Confequence it would be to us to 
plant the other Iflands to which we lay claim ; as this 
would increafe our Trade and our Strength in that Part 
of the World, at the fame time ; and contribute alfo, in 
^he Time of a French W^ar, to curb and annoy out 
Enemies. F\itFrench themfelves, for Reafons that have 
been already affigned, do not feem very defirous of ex- 
tending their Plantations, and therefore cannot offer any 
jufl Reafons why we ffiould be debarred any longer from 
fettling thofe Iflands that belong to us, and which they 
do not defire to fettle themfelves. We may alfo confider 
it as a Thing very practicable in any French War, to re- 
Guce thefe Iflands to the greateft Extremity, by the pro- 
per Dffiribution of our naval Force in the JFeJi Indies, 
which m Proportion to the Value of their Commerce, 
would diflrefs the Merchants in France to the laft De- 
gree, and give our own Colonies vaft Advantages in 
lupplying thofe Markets which are at prefent fupplied by 
, ^ ; and there are fome who are very good 
Judges of our Strength and theirs, who think thefe Iflands 
might be entirely ruined by us in a few Years. 
1 2. We referved the Ifland of St. Domingo to be treated 
of feparately, as being a diftind Government, and in- 
deed a diftind Concern to the French from all their other 
Iflands. When this Country was firft difeovered by 
Columbus, in 1492, it was called by the Inhabitants in 
their own Language Ayty \ but their Followers gave it 
the Name of Hifpaniola, or Little Spain *, the Admiral 
himfelf intended to call it If abella but the City he founded 
in 1494 being dedicated to St. Dominic, the Name was 
firft extended to that Quarter, and, in Length of Time, 
to the whole Ifland j fo that it is now equally well known in 
Europe and the W fi Indies, by the Appellation of St. Do- 
mingo, and is generally fo called in Charts : This Ifland 
is reckoned four hundred Leagues in Circumference | 
but if all the Creeks, Inlets, and Bays, be meafiired , 
it will be found fix hundred at leaft •, it is allowed to be 
the moft fruitful, and by much the pleafanteft, in the 
JVefi Indies ; the Forefts are vaft in Extent, and the 
Trees taller and larger, the Fruit more lovely to the Eye j 
and better tafted than in the other Iflands ; the Meadows 
or Savannahs, as they are called, are extremely large, 
aiid in a manner boundlefs, in which there are innume- 
rable Herds of Black Cattle that belong to the Country, 
as alfo wild Horfes, and wild Hogs, produced from the 
Stock of thofe Animals brought over by the Spaniards. 
There is fcarce a Country in the World better watered, 
either by fmall Brooks or by navigable Rivers, all of 
which are full of Fiffi. Add to this, that there are many 
rich Mines of Gold, Silver, and Copper, which were 
formerly wrought with great Profit j but the Spaniards 
being now too weak to carry them on for their own. 
Advantage, conceal them with all imaginable Care, to 
prevent any other Nation’s driving them out, and reaping 
the Advantage of thofe Treafures which by their Indo- 
lence and ill Management are no longer in their Power. 
The Reafons that induced that Nation to abandon fo 
rich and valuable a Country, were chiefly thefe : Firft, 
the Severity of the Government 5 for the fovereign Coun- 
cil of the Indies being eftabliffied at St. Domingo, kept 
the Inhabitants more within Bounds than in other Places. 
Secondly, the vaft Riches gained by their Countrymen 
in Mexico, theNoife of which drew Numbers to forfake 
this Ifland, in Hopes of coming in for a Share of this 
Wealth that was to be had elfe where. Thirdly, the 
great Demands for People to maintain and fecure their 
Conquefts on the Continent. Fourthly, the Deftrudion 
of the Indians, which put it out of the Power of the 
Spaniards to cultivate their Lands; for as yet, theUfeof 
Negroes had not reached the Spanijh Settlements ; but 
was confined intirely to the Portuguefe in Brazil. And, 
laftly, the Defeents of the Engltfh and French on the 
weftern Part of the Ifland, which by Degrees obliged the 
Spaniards to abandon all the Country between Mont^ 
chrifto and Cape Mongon. 
This made Way for the Settlement of the Buccaneers 
in thofe Parts, but chiefly in the little Ifland of Tortugo, 
where they foon raifed a kind of Settlement, which, 
however, the Spaniards the Year 1638, with 
inexorable Cruelty ; notwithftanding which the Buccaneers 
were not hindered from returning, and refettling in that 
Ifland, under the Command of Captain Wilks, an Eng- 
lijhman of eftabliffied Reputation, whofe Courage and 
Condufl foon put them out of Fear of being difturbed 
by the Spaniards. It was not long however that they 
continued in this Situation, for Monf. de Poincy, whom 
we have fo often mentioned, thought fit to fecure this 
Ifland for the French ; and with that View fent thither 
one Mr. Vaffeur, with whom the French Buccaneers that 
were already in the Ifland joining, Capt. Wilks, with the 
Forces under his Command, found himfelf under an ab- 
folute Neceffity of abandoning the Place. 
This put the French in Poffeffion of it for that Time ; 
but the Spaniards harraffed them for many Years, and 
drove them out of the Ifland more than once ; however, 
being conftantly fupported from their Iflands, and being 
joined from Time to Time by Adventurers of all Na- 
tions, they ftill kept up their Claim, and not only fixed 
themfelves effedtually upon this little Ifland, but began 
alfo to make Settlements upon the Weft End of St. Do- 
mingo % where, in twenty Years Time, they became fo 
ftrong. 
