in number—­most decidedly lit upon our legs, and the cuisine and the cellar lent effectual aid.  The proprietor is an elderly man, and the son, who has travelled a good deal in Europe, manages the properties, which consist of several plantations, and employ about twelve hundred slaves.  The sound of the lash is rarely heard, and the negroes are all healthy and happy-looking; several of them have means to purchase their liberty, but prefer their present lot.  A doctor is kept on the estate for them; their houses are clean and decent; there is an airy hospital for them if sick, and there is a large nursery, with three old women who are appointed to take charge during the day of all children too young to work:  at night they go to their respective families.  On the whole property there was only one man under punishment, and he was placed to work in chains for having fired one of his master’s buildings, which he was supposed to have been led to do, owing to his master refusing to allow him to take his infant home to his new wife till it was weaned; his former wife had died in child-bed, and he wished to rear it on arrowroot, &c.  This the master—­having found a good wet nurse for it—­would not permit.  The man had generally borne a very good character, and the master, whose entourage bears strong testimony to his kind rule, seized the opportunity of my visit to let him free at my request, as he had already been working four months in chains similar to those convicts sometimes wear; thus were three parties gratified by this act of grace.

It is well known that there are various ways of making sugar; but as the method adopted on this plantation contains all the newest improvements, I may as well give a short detail of the process as I witnessed it.  The cane when brought from the field is placed between two heavy rollers, worked by steam, and the juice falls into a conductor below—­the squashed cane being carried away to dry for fuel—­whence it is raised by what is termed a “monte jus” into a tank above the “clarifier,” which is a copper boiler, with iron jacket and steam between.  A proper proportion of lime is introduced, sufficient to neutralize the acidity.  When brought to the boiling-point the steam is shut off, and the liquid subsides.  This operation is one of the most important in the whole process; from the clarifier it is run through an animal charcoal filterer, which, by its chemical properties, purifies it; from the filterer it runs into a tank, whence it is pumped up above the condensers, i.e., tubes, about fifteen in number, laid horizontally, one above the other, and containing the steam from the vacuum pans.  The cold juice in falling over these hot tubes, condenses the steam-therein, and at the same time evaporates the water, which is always a considerable ingredient in the juice of the cane; the liquor then passes into a vacuum pan, which is fitted with a bull’s-eye on one side, and a corresponding bull’s-eye with a lamp on the