¥ i6 HISTORY OF THE [book hi. 
were ordered to be sold on the same conditions as 
those of St. Vincent, by commissioners nominated 
for that purpose, and no less than 94,346 acres 
(comprehending one half of the island) were accord¬ 
ingly disposed of by auction, in allotments from 
fifty to one hundred acres, yielding the sum of 
<£.312,092. 1 is. Id. sterling money £ 
It does not however appear, that the purchases 
thus made by British subjects have answered the 
expectation of the buyers; for the French inha¬ 
bitants of Dominica are still more numerous than 
the English, and possess the most valuable cof¬ 
fee plantations in the island, the produce ot which 
has hitherto been found its most important staple- 
They differ but little in manners, customs, and re¬ 
ligion, from the inhabitants of the other French 
islands in the West Indies, and their priests have 
been hitherto appointed by superiors in Martinico ; 
to the government of which island, and to the laws 
very lease, <s that the possessor, hk heirs or assignes, should pay to 
his majesty, his heirs or successors, the sum of two shillings, sterling^ 
per ann. for every acre of land of which the lease should consist.” And 
further, “ that they should not sell or dispose of their lands, without 
the consent or approbation of the governor, or commander in chief of 
that island, for the time being.” This indulgence, however, did not 
extend to more than three hundred acres of land occupied by each 
French subject. 
* No person was allowed to purchase, either in his own name, or in 
the name of others, in trust for him, more than three hundred acres, 
if in Dominica, or five hundred acres if in St. Vincent. 
