41.5 
MART 
ifland. The water which they flip ply, partaking of the 
nature of the foil over which they pafs, is in fome cafes 
excellent, and in others fo bad, that the inhabitants are 
under a neceffity of drinking the water which they have 
collected in the rainy feafon. The produce of the foil, 
fertilized by its rivers, is fugar, cotton, indigo, cocoa, gin¬ 
ger, and fuch other commodities as are found in the neigh¬ 
bouring iflands; and, as its bays and harbours are numer¬ 
ous, fate, commodious, and well fortified, it is favourably 
adapted for trade. The ifland is divided into twenty- 
eight parifnes, which contain about the fame number of 
towns and villages, and two principal towns, viz. Fort 
Royal and St. Pierre, which fee refpecfively. 
The firft Europeans, who formed a fettlement in this 
ifland, were the French, under the conduif of M. Def- 
naiubuc, accompanied by about one hundred perfons from 
St. Chriflopher’s, in the year 1635. They completed their 
firft fettlement without any difficulty. The natives, in¬ 
timidated by their fire-arms, or feduced by promifes, gave 
up the weftern and fouthern parts of the ifland to the new 
comers. In a thort time, however, perceiving the num¬ 
ber of thefe enterprifing ftrangers daily increafing, they 
refolved to extirpate them, and therefore called in the fa- 
vages of the neighbouring iflands to alfift them, They 
fell jointly upon a little fort that had been haftily eredted ; 
but were repulfed, with the lofs of 700 or 800 of their 
beft warriors, who were left dead on the fpot. After this 
check, the favages for a long time difappeared entirely ; 
but at laft they returned, bringing with th.em prefents to 
the French, and making excules for what had happened. 
They were received in a friendly manner, and the re¬ 
conciliation fealed with pots of brandy. This peace¬ 
able ftate of affairs, however, was of no long continu¬ 
ance; the French took fuch undue advantages of their 
fuperiority over the favages, that they foon rekindled 
that hatred which had never been entirely fubdued. The 
favages, whofe manner of life requires a vaft extent of land, 
finding themfelves daily more and more ffraitened, had 
recourfe to ftratagem, in order to deftroy their enemies. 
They feparated into fmall bands, and way-laid the French 
as they came fingly out into the woods to hunt, and, wait¬ 
ing till the fportfman had difcharged his piece, rufhed 
upon and killed him before be could charge it again. 
Twenty men had been thus affaffinated before any reafon 
could be given for their fudden difappearance; but, as 
foon as the matter was known, the French took a fevere 
and fatal revenge; the favages were purfued and maffacred , 
with their wives and children, and the few that efcaped 
weredriven out of Martinico,to which they never returned. 
The French, being thus left foie mafters of the ifland, 
lived quietly on thofe fpots which beft foiled their incli¬ 
nations. At this time they were divided into two claffes. 
The firft con^fted of thofe who had paid their paffage to 
the ifland, and thefe were called inhabitants ; and to them 
the government diftributed lands, which became their 
own, upon paying a yearly tribute. Thefe inhabitants 
had under their command a multitude of diforderly peo¬ 
ple brought over from Europe at their expenfe, whom 
they called engages, or bondfmen. This engagement was a 
kind of flavery for the term of three years ; on the expi¬ 
ration of which they were at liberty, and became the equals 
of thofe whom they had ferved. They all confined tliem- 
i'elves at firft to the culture of tobacco and cotton ; to 
which was foon added that of arnotto and indigo. The 
culture of fugar alfo was begun about the year 1650. 
Ten years after, one Benjamin Dacofta, a Jew, planted 
fome cocoa-trees; but his example was not followed till 
1684, when chocolate was more commonly ufed in France. 
Cocoa then became the principal fupport of the colonifts, 
who had not a fufficient fund to undertake fugar-planta- 
tions; but, by the inclemency of the feafon in 1718, all 
the cocoa-trees were deftroyed at once. Coffee was then 
propofed as a proper objedt of culture. The French mi- 
lriftry had received, as a prefent from the Dutch, two of 
thefe trees, which were carefully preferved in the king's 
Von. XIV. No. 386. 
LNICO. 
botanical garden. Two young (hoots were taken from 
thefe, put on-board a (hip for Martinico, and intrufred to 
the care of one Mr. Defclieux. The (hip happened to be 
ffraitened for want of frefh water ; and the trees would 
have periflied, had not that gentleman (hared with them 
that which was allowed for his own drinking. The cul¬ 
ture of coffee was then begun, and attended with the 
greateft and moft rapid fuccefs. About the end of the 
17th century, however, the colony had made but fmall ad¬ 
vances. In 1700, it had only 6597 white inhabitants ; 
the favages, mulattoes, and free negroes, men, women, 
and children, amounted to no more than 507 ; the num¬ 
ber of (laves was 14,566. All thefe together made a po¬ 
pulation of only 21,645 perfons. The whole of the cattle 
amounted to 3668 hordes or mules, and 9217 head of 
horned cattle. The ifland produced cocoa, tobacco, and 
cotton ; had nine indigo-houfes, and 183 fmall fugar-plan¬ 
tations. 
After the peace of Utrecht, Martinico began to emerge 
from that feeble ftate in which it had fo long continued. 
.The ifland then became the mart for all the windward 
French fettlements. In the ports of it, the neighbouring 
iflands fold their produce, and bought the commodities of 
the mother-country ; and, in fhort, Martinico became fa¬ 
mous all over Europe. In 1736, there were on the ifland 
447 fugar works; 11,953,232 coffee-trees, 103,870 of co¬ 
coa ; 2,068,480 plants of cotton, 39,400 of tobacco, 6750 
of arnotto. The fupplies for proviflons confifted of 
4,806,142 banana-trees, 34,483,000 trenches of caffava; 
and 247 plots of potatoes and yams. The number of 
blacks amounted to 72,000 men, women, and children. 
Their labour had improved the plantations as far as was 
confident with the confumption then made in Europe of 
American productions; and the annual exports from the 
ifland amounted to about 700,0001. lterling. 
The connexion of Martinico with the other iflands en¬ 
titled her to the profits of commiffion, and the charges of 
tranfport, as (he alone was in the poffeflion of thipping; 
and her connexion with Cape Breton, Canada, and Loui- 
fiana, procured a market for the ordinary fugars, the in¬ 
ferior coffee, the molaffes, and the rum, which would not 
fell .in France. In exchange, the inhabitants received 
falt-fifli, dried vegetables, deals, and fome flour. In the 
clandeftine trade on the coafts of Spanifh America, con¬ 
fiding wholly of goods manufactured by the nation, the 
commonly made a profit of 90 per cent, on the value of 
about 175,0001. fent yearly to the Caraccas, or neighbour¬ 
ing colonies. So many profperous engagements brought 
immenfe fums into Martinico. Upwards cf 787,000!, 
were conftantly circulated in that ifland with great rapi¬ 
dity; and this is perhaps the only country in the world 
where the fpecie has been fo confiderable as to make it a 
matter of indifference to them whether they dealt in gold, 
filver, or commodities. 
This extenfive trade brought into the ports of Marti¬ 
nico annually two hundred fiiips from France; fourteen 
or fifteen fitted out by the mother-country for the coaft 
of Guinea, flxty from Canada, ten or twelve from the 
iflands of Margaretta and Trinidad ; befides the Englifli 
and Dutch (hips that came to carry on a fmuggling-trade. 
The private navigation from the ifland to the northern 
colonies, to the Spanith continent, and to the windward 
iflands, employed 120 vefl’els, from twenty to thirty tons 
butden. The war of 1744 interrupted this profperity. 
An entire flop was put to the navigation of the colony, 
both to the Spanith coaft and to Canada; and they were, 
conftantly difturbed even on their own coafts. The few? 
(hips that came from France, in order to coinpenfate the 
hazards they were expofed to by the lofs of their commo¬ 
dities, fold them at a very advanced price, and bought 
them at a very low one. By this means the produce de- 
created in value, the lands were ill-cultivated, the works 
negledted, and the flaves perifhing for want. 
When every thing thus feemed tending to decay, tbp 
peace at la(£ reftored the freedom of trade, and with it tha 
5 X hopes 
