ess
and neglected part of the island. Principally by the energy and
tact of one man, the wild inhabitants had been conciliated, brought
under law, and made to pay their light taxes, in return for a safety
and comfort enjoyed perhaps by no other peasants on earth.

A few words on the excellent system, which bids fair to establish in
this colony a thriving and loyal peasant proprietary. Up to 1847
Crown lands were seldom alienated. In that year a price was set
upon them, and persons in illegal occupation ordered to petition for
their holdings. Unfortunately, though a time was fixed for
petitioning, no time was fixed for paying; and consequently the vast
majority of petitioners never took any further steps in the matter.
Unfortunately, too, the price fixed--2 pounds per acre--was too
high; and squatting went on much as before.

It appeared to the late Governor that this evil would best be dealt
with experimentally and locally; and he accordingly erected the
chief squatting district, Montserrat, into a ward, giving the warden
large discretionary powers as Commissioner of Crown lands. The
price of Crown lands was reduced, in 1869, to 1 pounds per acre; and
the Montserrat system extended, as far as possible, to other wards;
a movement which the results fully justified.

In 1867 there were in Montserrat 400 squatters, holding lands of
from 3 to 120 acres, planted with cacao, coffee, or provisions.
Some of the cacao plantations were valued at 1000 pounds. These
people lived without paying taxes, and almost without law or
religion. The Crown woods had been, of course, sadly plundered by
squatters, and by others who should have known better. At every
turn magnificent cedars might have been seen levelled by the axe,
only a few feet of the trunk being used to make boards and shingles,
while the greater part was left to rot or burn. These
irregularities have been now almost stopped; and 266 persons, in
Montserrat alone, have taken out grants of land, some of 400 acres.
But this by no means represents the number of purchasers, as nearly
an equal number have paid for their estates, though they have not
yet received their grants, and nearly 500 more have made
application. Two villages have been formed; one of which is that
where we rested, containing the church. The other contains the
warden's residence and office, the police-station, and a numerously
attended school.

The squatter