IN THE WEST INDIES.
505
“ You will say,” says Mr. Coleridge to the gentlemen of Grenada, “ that there are just forty ladies in the island ! it may be so — but show them, gentlemen, to the world, and put to silence the moralities of Englishmen and Barbadians.” Now, although I do not see the actual necessity of showing the fair creoles to the world, yet I trust that the tender moralities of Englishmen and Barbadians, and even of Mr. Coleridge himself, will be sufficiently put to silence when they observe that Grenada contains, instead of forty white females, no less than one hundred and ninety-five, and that out of this number about seventy-two are ladies moving in society, and enlivening its fairy circle with a thousand charms and graces—gay, young, lively, beautiful, and fair—mild and gentle as the breezes that murmur in their orange groves, and graceful as the waving and feathery branches of their mountain palms ; ever assembling together in a blissful routine of soirées, balls, and parties—scenes that derive their animation, their brilliancy, and their effect from the lovely beings who brighten them with their presence. Grenada is divided into six parishes, St. George, St. John, St. Mark, St. Patrick, St. Andrews, St. David, and the little island (at least the greater part of it) of Cariacou is also attached to its government. The number of estates, including Cariacou, is near one hundred and eighty, and the amount of produce in the year 1827 was as follows :—Sugar 24,048,791 lbs. Molasses 152,947 gals. Rum 1052,576 gals. Coffee 41,888 lbs. Cocoa 224,934 lbs. Cotton 296,618 lbs.