and they had scarcely mastered that secret, after repeated showing.  We were astonished to observe that when Mr. M. asked them to point to their cheeks, they laid their finger upon their chins.  They were much pleased with the evolutions of a dumb clock, which Mr. M. exhibited, but none of them could tell the time of day by it.  Such is a specimen of the intelligence of the Antigua negroes.  Mr. M. told us that they were a pretty fair sample of the country negroes generally.  It surely cannot be said that they were uncommonly well prepared for freedom; yet with all their ignorance, and with the merest infantile state of intellect, they prove the peaceable subjects of law.  That they have a great desire to learn, is manifest from their coming such distances, after working in the field all day.  The school which they attend has been established since the abolition of slavery.

The next morning, we visited the day school.  It was opened with singing and prayer.  The children knelt and repeated the Lord’s Prayer after Mr. M. They then formed into a line and marched around the room, singing and keeping the step.  A tiny little one, just beginning to walk, occasionally straggled out of the line.  The next child, not a little displeased with such disorderly movements, repeatedly seized the straggler by the frock, and pulled her into the ranks; but finally despaired of reducing her to subordination.  When the children had taken their seats, Mr. M., at our request, asked all those who were free before August, 1834, to rise.  Only one girl arose, and she was in no way distinguishable from a white child.  The first exercise, was an examination of a passage of scripture.  The children were then questioned on the simple rules of addition and subtraction, and their answers were prompt and accurate.

DR. NUGENT.

The hour having arrived when we were to visit a neighboring estate, Mr. M. kindly accompanied us to Lyon’s, the estate upon which Dr. Nugent resides.  In respect to general intelligence, scientific acquirements, and agricultural knowledge, no man in Antigua stands higher than Dr. Nugent.  He has long been speaker of the house of assembly, and is favorably known in Europe as a geologist and man of science.  He is manager of the estate on which he resides, and proprietor of another.

The Doctor informed us that the crop on his estate had almost totally failed, on account of the drought—­being reduced from one hundred and fifty hogsheads, the average crop, to fifteen!  His provision grounds had yielded almost nothing.  The same soil which ordinarily produced ten cart-loads of yams to the acre—­the present season barely averaged one load to ten acres!  Yams were reduced from the dimensions of a man’s head, to the size of a radish.  The cattle were dying from want of water and grass.  He had himself lost five oxen within the past week.

Previous to emancipation, said the Doctor, no man in the island dared to avow anti-slavery sentiments, if he wished to maintain a respectable standing.  Planters might have their hopes and aspirations; but they could not make them public without incurring general odium, and being denounced as the enemies of their country.