In company with Rev. Mr. Packer, late Rector of St. Thomas, we rode out to the Belle estate, which is considered one of the finest in the island.  Mr. Marshall, the manager, received us cordially.  He was selected, with two others, by Sir Lionel Smith, to draw up a scale of labor for general use in the island.  There are five hundred acres in the estate, and two hundred and thirty-five apprenticed laborers.  The manager stated that every thing was working well on his property.  He corroborated the statements made by other planters with retard to the conduct of the apprentices.  On one point he said the planters had found themselves greatly disappointed.  It was feared that after emancipation the negroes would be very much verse to cultivating cane, as it was supposed that nothing but the whip could induce them to perform that species of labor.  But the truth is, they now not only cultivate the estate lands better than they did when under the lash, but also cultivate a third of their half-acre allotments in cane on their own accounts.  They would plant the whole in cane if they were not discouraged by the planter, whose principal objection to their doing so is that it would lead to the entire neglect of provision cultivation.  The apprentices on Belle estate will make little short of one thousand dollars the present season by their sugar.

Mr. M. stated that he was extensively acquainted with the cultivation of the island, and he knew that it was in a better condition than it had been for many years.  There were twenty-four estates under the same attorneyship with the Belle, and they were all in the same prosperous condition.

A short time before we left Barbadoes we received an invitation from Col.  Barrow, to breakfast with him at his residence on Edgecome estate—­about eight miles from town.  Mr. Cummins, a colored gentleman, a merchant of Bridgetown, and agent of Col.  B., accompanied us.

The proprietor of Edgecome is a native of Barbadoes, of polished manners and very liberal views.  He has travelled extensively, has held many important offices, and is generally considered the cleverest man in the island.  He is now a member of the council, and acting attorney for about twenty estates.  He remarked that he had always desired emancipation, and had prepared himself for it; but that it had proved a greater blessing than he had expected.  His apprentices did as much work as before, and it was done without the application of the whip.  He had not had any cases of insubordination, and it was very seldom that he had any complaints to make to the special magistrate.  “The apprentices.” said he, “understand the meaning of law, and they regard its authority.”  He thought there was no such thing in the island as a sense of insecurity, either as respected person or property.  Real estate had risen in value.