-258 HISTORY OF THE [book nr. 
In the various publications with which the press 
abounded during the time that the disputes be¬ 
tween the African company and the private traders 
were an object of national concern, it is asserted 
by one party, and not denied by the other, that 
about 140,000 negroes had been exported by the 
company, and 160,000 more by private adventu¬ 
rers, between the years 1680 and 1700: Total 
300,000. From 1700 to December 1786, the 
number imported into Jamaica was 610,000. I 
say this on sufficient evidence, having in my pos¬ 
session lists of all the entries.. Of the number im¬ 
ported' during the same interval into the southern 
provinces of North America, as well as the Wind¬ 
ward Islands, I cannot speak with precision; but I 
am of opinion, that the Jamaica import may fairly 
be reckoned one third of the whole. On these 
grounds, the total import into all the British colo¬ 
nies of America and the West Indies, from 1680 
to 1786, may be put at 2,130,000, being, on an 
average of the whole, 20,095 annually. This I ad¬ 
mit is much less than is commonly supposed: An¬ 
derson roundly fixes the annual import at 100,000; 
but vague and general assertions prove nothing. 
The re-export may be stated at about one-fifth part 
of the import. 
If appears to me, that the British slave trade had 
attained to its highest pitch of prosperity a short 
time before the commencement of the late Ameri¬ 
can war. The following has been given to the 
public as an accurate account of the ships which* 
