344 PROCEEDINGS OP THE VICTORIA INSTITUTE. 
of decayed porphyry rock which made the best possible roads, 
and roads which once made could be kept up at as little cost 
as possible. All the southern part of the island had been 
cultivated in sugar except a small part of it which had been 
planted in cotton. He did not know why the} 7 gave up cotton, 
because Tobago used to grow the best cotton that went to Liver- 
pool, and he believed the indigo grown there was of the best 
quality. The question was what their attention might be 
turned to. They knew what had been of enormous assistance to 
i l’inidad and had regenerated Grenada, and they also knew 
what in the hands of one or two men of pluck and determination 
was being done in one or two small spots in Tobago. Cocoa 
and nutmeg cultivation had not been of long standing. He 
would advise no very large sale of Crown lands for the reason 
lie had given, and he hoped the Crown would be very jealous 
of whatever forest lands remained in Tobago. There were 
enormous tracts of land for sale, if any one wanted to buy them. 
I ^ <>re was 1)0 necessity for the Government to distress itself, 
because people wanted land in Tobago and could not get it. 
I Li traced on the map the part of the island that was capable 
of growing cocoa, nutmegs and other products, such as india 
rubber, which was the only tiling in agriculture that did not 
seem to be depressed. In going through a large cocoa property 
in Gienada the other day, he saw nutmeg trees growing under 
the cocoa trees, and when he suggested that the trees were 
crowding each other out, he was told that when the nutmeg 
trees were bearing, the owner would cut all the cocoa trees down 
and burn them for firewood. The population of Tobago was 
estimated at about 20,500 people. The great bulk of the popu- 
lation of course were agricultural labourers. There was very 
ltt e else for them to do, as there was no manufacturing in 
lobago. (uses had been told him which he only gave to the 
au lence as le received them — that on one estate pay day came 
at intervals of five months. 8ome people said the people of 
Tobago were good tor nothing, but any people would be good 
for nothing it t hey were paid like that. He said it was a distinct 
libel on the 1 obago labourer, because it was not his fault if lie was 
n o oi ,IZ )- e would not charge the planter, because the fault 
must re at the door of Die decadence of the great sugar industry 
whatever might have been the cause of that decadence. In 
.000 cwt. of 
he exported 
of half a million. Ia ' 1828'^ e^o^d 7 W f ° in , 8tead 
0 , • i qqa i j- sne expoi tea 8, r 00 cwt. of molasses 
and in 1890 she exported 3.864, or less than one half. That 
was the reason why the people in Tobago did not work hard- 
16 WaS beCaUSe their trade was gone, and very few pay tables 
whatever might have been the cause of that deca. 
lb-^ b0 ' ei,l y year® ago — Tobago exported 1.47,00 
nH l -oQ ln ? he ex P° rt ed 2,174 cwt. In 1828 sh 
oU4 ,.b gallons of rum, and in 1890 she exported 8,7 
