MEASURES OE IMPHOVEMEHT. 
279 
taken advantage of those propitious circumstances, and of 
the ascendency of some men of abilities over their country- 
men, the state' of society would have undergone progressive 
changes ; and in our days, the inhabitants of the island of 
Cuba would have enjoyed some of the improvements which 
have been under discussion lor the space ot thirty years. 
Tlie movement at Saint Domingo, in 1790, and those which 
took place in Jamaica, in 1791, caused so great an alarm 
among the Iiaciendados of the island oi Cuba, that in a unta 
economica it was warmly debated what measure could be 
adopted to secure the tranquillity of the country. Eegula- 
tions were made respecting the pursuit of fugitive slaves,* 
which, till then, had given rise to the most revolting excesses ; 
it was proposed to augment the number of negresses on the 
sugar estates, to direct more attention to the education of 
children, to diminish the introduction of African negroes, to 
bring white planters from the Canaries, and Indian planters 
from Mexico, to establish country schools with the view of 
improving the manners of the lower class, and to mitigate 
slavery in an indireeffway. These propositions had not the 
desire’d effect. The junta opposed every system of immi- 
gration, and the majority of the proprietors, indulging their 
old illusions of security, would not restrain the slave-trade, 
* Reglamenio sohre los Negros Cimmarrones tie 26 de Dec. de 1796. 
Before the year 1788, there were great numbers of fugitive negroes 
(cimmarones) in the mountains of Jaruco, where they were sometimes 
apalancados, that is, where several of those unfortunate creatures formed 
small intrenchments for their common defence, by heaping up trunks ot 
trees. The maroon negroes, born in Africa (bozales), are easily taken ; 
for the greater number, in the vain hope of ending their native land, 
inarch day and night in the direction of the east. When taken, they are 
so exhausted by fatigue and hunger, that they are only saved by giving 
them, during several days, very small quantities of soup. 1 lie creole 
maroon negroes conceal themselves by day in the woods, and steal pro- 
visions during the night. Till 1790, the right of taking the fugitive 
negroes belonging only to the Alcalde mayor provincial, an hereditary 
office in the family of the Count de Bareto. At present, any of the inha- 
bitants can seize the maroons, and the proprietor of the slave pays tour 
piastres per head, besides the food. If the name of the master is not 
known, the Consulado employs the maroon negro in the public works. 
This man-hunting, which, at Hayti and Jamaica, has given so much fatal 
celebrity to the dogs of Cuba, was carried on in the most cruel manner 
before the regulation which 1 have mentioned above- 
