This decree had been lying ready for years in the desks of the Government officials, no Governor till recently having had the courage to publish an order so greatly in advance of their general policy. As it is, this is one of the greatest steps they have ever taken in the right direction; and I trust it may be attended with the best effects, although some of the restrictions on the China labourers may tell against it; and I fear that the large outlay necessary to import labour from China, while they have a supply, although it is a very uncertain one, at their doors, without incurring the expense and risk of doing so, may hinder the success of the scheme. There are very few people in the colony who are possessed of the capital necessary to start a plantation on a large scale. And the existing laws prevent or check foreigners doing so, unless they get married to a Spanish or native woman, which, from their general character, few British would like to do; or by abjuring their religion, and getting naturalized, which is a measure equally or more repugnant to the human breast, unless self-interest is the beacon which directs the path, or is the motive for doing so. However, should plantations on a large scale ever be carried on in these islands with an equal degree of facility, science, care, and attention, and with the improved machinery now employed in sugar estates in Jamaica and elsewhere, there can be little doubt that the productions of the islands will be greatly increased, and it will do good so far; but whether it would tend to improve the condition, or increase the comforts of the people, now so independent of care for a livelihood, appears to be more than doubtful; in other respects, it would do them good, by stimulating their energies. At present there are no large plantations on the islands, although two or three of small size exist, none of which are understood to be sufficiently remunerating to offer any inducement to invest money in a similar manner. At Jalajala, M. Vidie, an hospitable old Frenchman, has an estate; but I understand that the most unceasing efforts, and the greatest economy, care, and attention, have been necessary to make it answer, both on his part and on that of its former owner, an Anglo-American, and a person of great ingenuity, who got so much disgusted with the incessant battle he had to fight with the soil, and those who tilled it, that after overcoming the greatest difficulties, he sold the estate, and was glad to be quit of it. The whole of the productions of the islands are raised by the poor Indian cultivators, each from his own small patch of land, which they till with very simple, though efficient implements of agriculture.