had become remarkably peaceable and subordinate.  It was his policy to give them every comfort that he possibly could.  Mr. K. made the same declaration, which has been so often repeated in the course of this narrative, i.e., that if any of the estates were abandoned, it would be owing to the harsh treatment of the people.  He knew many overseers and book-keepers who were cruel driving men, and he should not be surprised if they lost a part, or all, of their laborers.  He made one remark which we had not heard before.  There were some estates, he said, which would probably be abandoned, for the same reason that they ought never to have been cultivated, because they require almost double labor;—­such are the mountainous estates and barren, worn-out properties, which nothing but a system of forced labor could possibly retain in cultivation.  But the idea that the negroes generally would leave their comfortable homes, and various privileges on the estates, and retire to the wild woods, he ridiculed as preposterous in the extreme.  Mr. K. declared repeatedly that he could not look forward to 1840, but with the most sanguine hopes; he confidently believed that the introduction of complete freedom would be the regeneration of the island.  He alluded to the memorable declaration of Lord Belmore, (made memorable by the excitement which it caused among the colonists,) in his valedictory address to the assembly, on the eve of his departure for England.[A] “Gentlemen,” said he, “the resources of this noble island will never be fully developed until slavery is abolished!” For this manly avowal the assembly ignobly refused him the usual marks of respect and honor at his departure.  Mr. K. expected to see Jamaica become a new world under the enterprise and energies of freedom.  There were a few disaffected planters, who would probably remain so, and leave the islands after emancipation.  It would be a blessing to the country if such men left it, for as long as they were disaffected, they were the enemies of its prosperity.

[Footnote A:  Lord Belmore left the government of Jamaica, a short time before the abolition act passed in parliament.]

Mr. K. conducted us through the negro quarters, which are situated on the hill side, nearly a mile from his residence.  We went into several of the houses; which were of a better style somewhat than the huts in Antigua and Barbadoes—­larger, better finished and furnished.  Some few of them had verandahs or porches on one or more sides, after the West India fashion, closed in with jalousies.  In each of the houses to which we were admitted, there was one apartment fitted up in a very neat manner, with waxed floor, a good bedstead, and snow white coverings, a few good chairs, a mahogany sideboard, ornamented with dishes, decanters, etc.