n the continent of America, the fertile country lying on
each side of the great river Mississippi, which disembogues itself into
the gulf of Florida; but the colony was so thinly peopled, and so
ill provided, that, far from being formidable, it scarcely could have
subsisted, unless the British traders had been base and treacherous
enough to supply it from time to time with provisions and necessaries.
The same infamous commerce was carried on with divers French plantations
in the West Indies; insomuch that the governors of provinces, and
commanders of the squadrons stationed in those seas, made formal
complaints of it to the ministry. The temptation of extraordinary profit
excited the merchants not only to assist the enemies of their country,
but also run all risks in eluding the vigilance of the legislature.
The inhabitants of Martinique found a plentiful market of provision
furnished by the British subjects at the Dutch islands of Eustatia and
Curaeoa: and those that were settled on the island of Hispaniola were
supplied in the same manner at the Spanish settlement of Monte-Christo.

INSURRECTION IN JAMAICA.

While the British commanders exerted themselves by sea and land with
the most laudable spirit of vigilance and courage against the foreign
adversaries of their country, the colonists of Jamaica ran the most
imminent hazard of being extirpated by a domestic enemy. The negro
slaves of that island, grown insolent in the contemplation of their
own formidable numbers, or by observing the supine indolence of their
masters, or stimulated by that appetite for liberty so natural to the
mind of man, began, in the course of this year, to entertain thoughts of
shaking off the yoke by means of a general insurrection. Assemblies were
held and plans resolved for this purpose. At length they concerted a
scheme for rising in arms all at once in different parts of the island,
in order to massacre all the white men, and take possession of the
government. They agreed that this design should be put in execution
immediately after the departure of the fleet for Europe; but their
plan was defeated by their ignorance and impatience. Those of the
conspirators that belonged to captain Forest's estate, being impelled by
the fumes of intoxication, fell suddenly upon the overseer, while he
sat at supper with some friends, and butchered the whole company. Being
immediately joined by some of their confederates, they attacked the
neighbour