chap, iv.] WEST INDIES. 
149 
I HAVE now finished all that I proposed to offer 
on West Indian productions and agriculture. The 
subject is naturally dry and forbidding, and having 
wearied myself, I have no doubt, that I have ex¬ 
hausted the patience of others. Let it not be for¬ 
gotten, however, that I have had to conduct my 
readers through a path—not strewed with roses, 
but—perplexed with briars, and hitherto almost 
untrodden. In such a pursuit I may, perhaps, be 
content to give up all pretensions to the happy ta¬ 
lent of blending pleasure with instruction, satisfied 
with the homely praise of being useful to the most 
useful part of the community.* 
* To the productions of the British West Indies, imported into 
Great Britain, might be added turmerick, cinnamon, and cloves. Plan¬ 
tations of each are established 5 but they are yet in their infancy. 
Enough however has been produced of each of those commodities, and 
the quality such, as to demonstrate, that they can be raised in our 
sugar islands, in as great plenty and perfection as in any part of the 
world. 
