chap, in.] WEST INDIES. 81 
That this is no creation of the fancy, nor even 
an exaggerated picture, the records of the courts 
of law, in all or most of our islands, (Jamaica 
especially), and the recollection of every inhabitant, 
furnish incontestible proof. At the same time it 
cannot justly be denied, that there are creditors, 
especially among the British merchants, of a very 
different character from those that have been de¬ 
scribed, who, having advanced tbeir money to resi¬ 
dent planters, not in view of deriving undue ad¬ 
vantages from their labours and necessities, but 
solely on the fair and honourable ground of reci¬ 
procal benefit, have been compelled, much against 
their inclination, to become planters themselves j 
being obliged to receive unprofitable West Indian 
estates in payment, or lose their money altoge¬ 
ther. I have known plantations transferred in 
this manner, which are a burthen instead of a be¬ 
nefit to the holder ; and are kept up solely in the 
hope, that favourable crops and an advance in the 
prices of West Indian produce, may some time or 
other, invite purchasers. Thus oppression in one 
class of creditors, and gross injustice towards ano¬ 
ther, contribute equally to keep up cultivation in 
a country, where, if the risques and losses are 
great, the gains are sometimes commensurate ; for 
sugar estates there are, undoubtedly, from which, 
instead of the returns that I have estimated as the 
average interest on the capital, double that profit 
has been obtained. It is indeed true, that such 
instances are extremely rare ; but perhaps to that 
very circumstance, which to a philosopher specu- 
Vol. III. 
L 
