people--he has not yet arrived at that
stage where civilised man uses the platform and press. It follows,
therefore, that his passions smoulder for weeks and months, until some
trifle--often a misunderstanding--brings them to the surface.

At St. Croix there does not appear to have been anything like race
prejudice, or that envious feeling which makes the negro think himself
down-trodden by his rivals; but that is a characteristic of most riots,
and is strikingly exemplified in two that have taken place in Demerara.

After the emancipation the negro in British Guiana became of less and
less importance as more and more immigrants arrived, until he grew quite
sore. No longer could he demand extortionate wages, for the labour
market was virtually governed by the current rates paid to the coolies.
These people, however, were quite able to hold their own, and the negro
knew this; it followed, therefore, that he vented his spite upon the
most inoffensive people in the colony.

The Portuguese from Madeira came to British Guiana absolutely destitute
just after the failure of the vines on their island. They found the
negro more prosperous than perhaps he has ever been since, for this was
the time when, if he worked, he could always save money if he chose. In
fact, many did so, and bought land which is still in the hands of some
of their descendants, on which houses much superior to those now in
existence were erected. The Portuguese could not endure the hard labour
of sugar-planting, but soon found openings as small shopkeepers or
pedlars. Hitherto there was little competition in these businesses, but
the few who carried them on were negroes or coloured persons. These were
soon ousted out, and the Portuguese became almost the only small trader
in the colony. This was a grievance to the negro, who could not see that
he himself reaped the benefit--certainly he took advantage of the
reduced prices while abusing the sellers.

At the beginning of the year 1856 the negroes of Georgetown were excited
by the arrival of an anti-Popery agitator, who had become notorious in
England, Scotland, and the United States. John Sayers Orr, known as "the
Angel Gabriel," because he blew a trumpet to call the people together,
was a native of Demerara, and soon found out what a strong antipathy to
the Portuguese existed among the people. This suited his ideas exactly,
for were they not Roman Catholics--the very body which he had been
declaiming ev