IIO 
HISTORY OF THE [book. hi. 
It is remarkable that no stipulation was made by 
the French government on this occasion, on behalf 
of their allies the Charaibes, whom they had sedu¬ 
ced from their allegiance; and it therefore reflects 
great honour, both on the British government and 
the resident planters, that no advantage was taken 
of their misconduct. The Charaibes, even those 
who had been the most active in the war, were 
permitted to return peaceably to their possessions 
and occupations. They were treated as an igno¬ 
rant and deluded people; as objects of compassion, 
not of vengeance; and it was prudently and gene¬ 
rously agreed, as by common consent, to bury all 
past offences and causes of complaint in oblivion, 
St. Vincent’s contains about 84,000 acres, which 
are every where well watered, but the country is 
very generally mountainous and rugged; the inter¬ 
mediate vallies, however, are fertile in a high de¬ 
gree, the soil consisting chiefly of a fine mould, 
composed of sand and clay, well adapted for sugar. 
The extent of country at present possessed by Bri¬ 
tish subjects is 23,605 acres, and about as much 
more is supposed to be held by the Charaibes. All 
the remainder is thought to be incapable of culti¬ 
vation or improvement. 
The island, or rather .the British territory within 
it, is divided into five parishes, of which only one 
was provided with a church, and that was blown 
down in the hurricane of 1780; whether it is re¬ 
built I am not informed. There is one town, calf 
