HISTORICAL. 13 
theii administrative weakness, occurred. The energy and 
vigour of Captain John Roberts, who arrived in 1703, and Captain 
h 01nes co 'Operation, however, caused matters to assume a 
-a uer state ; industry was encouraged, lime burnt, Munden’s 
a e1 } elected, sugar-canes planted, bricks and tiles made, with many 
sue 1 undertakings, which gave employment to the islanders. The 
succession of Captain Bouchier was unfortunate, for of him it is chiefly 
recorced, that the Government gardens were laid waste and thrown 
u ° pastuie lor his asses, of which he kept a numerous stud; and in 
icei o indulge in his favourite exercise of riding them in all 
ex i 1618 tj • ere °^ a ahed 400 feet in length at the Company’s 
p nse. is eccentricities continued until the close of his govern- 
’ aUC ^ that “ he stripped Government House of all that 
0 £ 01 a ^ w hen he left, even the locks and the keys from many 
e ( ooi s, and everything else that might be serviceable to him 
on his voyage home.” 
At this period the population numbered 832, in about equal pro- 
,1 ' lul ' ,s Elites and blacks, and it went on steadily increasing at 
tne rate of about forty-five or fifty each year. 
Governor Pike’s speciality appears to have been agricultural 
provement. He also constructed the first safe roadway from the 
own to the country by way of Ladder Hill. His administration was, 
iiowever, characterized by much severity, of which an anecdote is 
o d that some soldiers, whom he had unjustly punished, escaped 
iom the Island and his power in an open boat, and performed a 
\°}age of near 4500 miles, eventually arriving at Nevis. He was 
transferred to Bencoolen, but was, in 1731, reappointed Governor 
of the Island, where he died seven years afterwards. On the 
13th June, 1719, Mr. Edward Johnson assumed the government, 
and died after four years’ administration. The Senior Member 
of Conned, Mr. Edward Byfield, succeeded him for a short time 
until Captain John Smith arrived from England, who is described 
as a man capable of seeing others’ faults more than his own; and, 
seek mg popularity as a moral reformer, like others of his class’ 
ell mto disfavour through his inconsistency, and by orders from the 
tinie^ 11 ^ Wa& SUCCee( ^ ky Mr. Byfield, as Governor for the second 
g |. c ^ an S c that was coming over the Island, through the de- 
UC 1011 the native vegetation, at this time attracted attention, 
