I hope, however, what I have said in this last page will not discountenance those worthy characters who are employed in opening the book of knowledge to the eyes of the ignorant. In the words of a much-admired writer, “the delightful hope may be cherished by him who shall bring his mite for the promotion of the Lancastrian system of instruction for giving knowledge to the ignorant—the hope that he is providing for the display of a genius in works of the highest utility, which might otherwise have expended itself in a career of infamous contrivance, long operating as a pest to society, terminating in the ignominious destruction of the victim of the want of education. And when the intimate connexion between _ignorance_ and vice is considered, surely all who wish to lessen the sum of the latter will assist the endeavours that are now making to plant the tree of knowledge amid the desert and deformed waste;—to convert that which is now cheerless and blank into a field of profuse beauty teeming with the real wealth and strength of nations.” ------ [99] Several of these forts were sold by the legislature, after the conclusion of the war with America. [100] It has been the custom, although the _law_ does not command it, to pay to the captain of this fort 18s. currency, for every vessel, no matter what her tonnage, passing from the harbour. As there are many owners of small crafts in Antigua, whose pockets are not so well provided with this world’s wealth, as to enable them to fling it abroad upon every occasion, they are glad to take advantage of the absence of necessity, and retain for their own use the two dollars, which custom or caprice has reserved for the commandant, and pass the fort without paying the tribute. This conduct is generally resented by despatching after the offending vessel an angry message, in the shape of a cannon-shot. It appears extraordinary, that such a monstrous and illegal proceeding as firing upon the vessels should be permitted, or at least tacitly sanctioned by the government. CHAPTER XXVIII. Remarks upon the aboriginal Americans—Suppositions of various authors—Caribs—Arrowawks—Ferocity of the Carib—Complexion—Dress —Ornaments—Dreadful revenge—Wars-Chiefs—Severities practised— Feasts—Remarks upon paganism—Anthropophagi—A traveller’s tale— The Carib’s opinion of death—Religious tenets—Altars—The burning Carib.