48 
have proved a most valuable acquisition 
to this Settlement; indeed, without them, 
it would have little or no cultivation. 
They are great speculators, to which spirit 
many have fallen a victim; others have 
been utterly ruined, by the usurious prac¬ 
tices of some Europeans, who, taking 
advantage of their ignorance, induced 
them to sign Bonds, the meaning of which, 
they could not understand, Hence, in 
too many instances, they were only made 
sensible of their folly, by being driven 
from their Houses and Lands, (which last 
they had been induced to cultivate by 
the specious advantages held forth to them) 
by finding, but too late, that the fruits of 
their industry and labour were become 
the property of another, while their Wives, 
Children, and themselves, were once more 
to seek for a Habitation. 
