The facts brought forward in support of this affirmation are these:—That upon some estates the extent of acres in a state of cultivation is greater than before the abolition of slavery,— other properties make a larger annual crop with one-third the number of labourers,—and that although many efficient negroes have emigrated to other islands, estates that were dismantled have been re-cultivated. In _job-work_, as it is termed, the negroes accomplish twice as much work as when employed by the day; the simple reason of which is, that they gain a larger sum of money by such arrangements. It is a fact that has fallen under my own observation, that when a piece of land is holed[41] by _task-work_, the negroes will rise by one or two o’clock during moonlight, go to the field, and accomplish the usual day’s work (300 cane-holes) by five or six in the morning; and after resting for a short time, are prepared to take another task, which they also complete, and have some hours left, in which to till their own little spot of provision-ground. When the excessive heat of the climate is taken into consideration, as well as the labour it requires to dig one _cane-hole_, the work of a negro who can open _six hundred_ in one day, can be better estimated by those who are more acquainted with such matters than myself. Another proposition in favour of the free system is said to be the greater docility of the negroes now they are emancipated. Of this circumstance I am not able to give _personal_ information. To me they appear as aggravating as ever: equally suspicious, quarrelsome, and uncivil. Still there are many and great excuses to be made for them, when we consider how short has been their life of freedom!—how untutored their minds are!—how debased has been their state!—the very beast that eats the grass of the field has, in times past, been equally esteemed with the negro! Many planters, as well as other intelligent individuals, have affirmed to the truth of the statement, “that negroes are more easily managed as free men, than they were as slaves;” and certainly such persons ought to be better judges than myself, whose intercourse with the negro population is, of course, more restricted.