These assistants were called BOOKKEEPERS or OVERSEERS. They were principally young men, of good characters, steady habits, and well educated, who had left their homes in Scotland to seek their fortunes in the West Indies. Those who were not swept off by malignant diseases incident to tropical climates, and who continued correct in their conduct which was not always the case after a few years would be promoted to the situation of manager; and perhaps in time, if they evinced sufficient capacity, would reach the highest object of their ambition and become an attorney. It will be recollected that the poet Burns passed a whole day in taking leave of his "Highland Mary," when he had made his arrangements for going to the West Indies and obtaining a situation as overseer on a sugar plantation. Very few cases ever came to my knowledge where a creole, a white person born and "brought up" in the West Indies, was engaged on an estate in any capacity. The creoles were reputed lazy, loose in their morals, ignorant and unfaithful agents. They were seldom employed, unless on a plantation which was notoriously unhealthy; where no man, unless he was born in the torrid zone, could expect to resist successfully the poisonous effects of the miasma. From what I have said it will be inferred that the manager of a plantation possessed great power, and that the treatment of the slaves was regulated in a great measure by the promptings of his head and heart. A manager with a clear understanding, equable temper, and elevated principles, could reconcile his duty to the proprietor with justice and even kindness towards the slaves. So far from treating them with cruelty or even severity, he allowed them every reasonable indulgence, and while he exacted the full quota of labor, looked after their condition, and made them as comfortable and contented as can be expected in a state of bondage. Such managers were seen in Grenada, and where they ruled, the estates were prosperous, and the slaves cheerful and happy. Some managers, however, were of a different character, and, instigated by whim, liquor, an evil temper, hatred to the African race, or a desire to get an impossible amount of work, acted the part of tyrants and oppressors, and made the slaves feel that they were trodden beneath the foot of a master.