slaves of both sexes whom they keep for servile uses in their houses, have men slaves who wait on them abroad, for state; either running by their horse-sides when they ride out, or to carry them to and fro on their shoulders in the town when they make short visits near home.  Every gentleman or merchant is provided with things necessary for this sort of carriage.  The main thing is a pretty large cotton hammock of the West India fashion, but mostly died blue, with large fringes of the same, hanging down on each side.  This is carried on the negroes’ shoulders by the help of a bamboo about 12 or 14 foot long, to which the hammock is hung; and a covering comes over the pole, hanging down on each side like a curtain:  so that the person so carried cannot be seen unless he pleases; but may either lie down, having pillows for his head; or may sit up by being a little supported with these pillows, and by letting both his legs hang out over one side of the hammock.  When he hath a mind to be seen he puts by his curtain, and salutes everyone of his acquaintance whom he meets in the streets; for they take a piece of pride in greeting one another from their hammocks, and will hold long conferences thus in the street:  but then their 2 slaves who carry the hammock have each a strong well made staff with a fine iron fork at the upper end, and a sharp iron below, like the rest for a musket, which they stick fast in the ground and let the pole or bamboo of the hammock rest upon them till their master’s business or the complement is over.  There is scarce a man of any fashion, especially a woman, will pass the streets but so carried in a hammock.  The chief mechanic traders here are smiths, hatters, shoemakers, tanners, sawyers, carpenters, coopers, etc.  Here are also tailors, butchers, etc., which last kill the bullocks very dexterously, sticking them at one blow with a sharp-pointed knife in the nape of the neck, having first drawn them close to a rail; but they dress them very slovenly.  It being Lent when I came hither there was no buying any flesh till Easter-eve, when a great number of bullocks were killed at once in the slaughterhouses within the town, men, women and children flocking thither with great joy to buy, and a multitude of dogs, almost starved, following them; for whom the meat seemed fittest, it was so lean.  All these tradesmen buy negroes, and train them up to their several employments, which is a great help to them; and they having so frequent trade to Angola, and other parts of Guinea, they have a constant supply of blacks both for their plantations and town.  These slaves are very useful in this place for carriage, as porters; for as here is a great trade by sea and the landing-place is at the foot of a hill, too steep for drawing with carts, so there is great need of slaves to carry goods up into the town, especially for the inferior sort; but the merchants have also the convenience of a great crane that goes with ropes or pulleys, one end of which goes up while