chap, in.] WEST INDIES. 67 
cause, from the nature. of the soil, and rugged 
surface of the country, the lands vary greatly in 
quality, and it is seldom that even three hundred 
acres of soil in contiguity, fit for the production of 
sugar, can be procured. A purchaser therefore 
must take the bad with the good. Nevertheless, 
as it is my intention to give as precise an idea as I 
can of the profits to be made in the sugar-plant¬ 
ing business, under the most favourable circum¬ 
stances, I will allow nothing for a dead capital vest¬ 
ed in unproductive woodland, but fix on six hun¬ 
dred acres, as sufficient for all the purposes that 
have been mentioned; appropriating one-half of 
the whole, instead of one-third, to the culture of 
the cane. 
The price of woodland in Jamaica depends 
chiefly on its situation. In seasonable parts of the 
country, and in the vicinity of the sea, I conceive 
it would be difficult to purchase a quantity of a su¬ 
gar land sufficient for a good estate, unless at a ve¬ 
ry high price. On the north side, in a fertile and 
seasonable parish, I have lately known a tract of 
eight hundred acres, with a fine river running 
through it, sell for ten pounds currency per acre, 
but it was at the distance of ten miles from the 
sea; and the purchaser had a new and difficult road 
to make for three miles of the w r ay. Such another 
territory, without the inconveniencies to which this 
was subject, would as lands sell in Jamaica, be 
well worth, and easily obtain, fourteen pounds 
