I cannot doubt that Captain Columbine would have concurred in my views, had he known of the circumstances to which I have alluded as affecting the capture of slave ships, or could he have believed that a naval force sufficient to scour the whole coast would be afforded by Government.

"I feel it incumbent on me to express my decided opinion, that a powerful and concurrent effort by an adequate number of cruizers along the whole line of the African coast, continued during the succeeding twelve months, would do more effectually to suppress this traffic, than the continuance of a smaller force on the coast for a much greater length of time. The trade might receive a blow during that time from which it would hardly recover. Should his Majesty's Government de termine on making such an effort, the island of Princes would afford a most convenient rendezvous for a small squadron, such as Captain Columbine proposes should be stationed to windward, from whence it would give most effectual annoyance to illicit slave ships throughout the Bight of Benin, and even occasionally as far as Cape Three Points, westward, and Angola, southward.

"I concur also in the general statements of the report with: respect to this colony. Its situation is extremely well chosen, and it possesses other advantages which give it a decided su periority over every other possession of the Crown in western Africa. I also anticipate many benefits to Africa and to Great! Britain from its maintenance."

F.

ON THE CULTURE OF INDIGO.

CACAO was exclusively cultivated in the provinces of Caraccas till a very recent period. In 1774, Don Pablo Orendain, a priest, and Don Antonio Arroide applied them-

selves, to the astonishment of their fellow-citizens, to the culture of indigo, which had previously been attempted and abandoned. All their firmness was requisite to brave the sarcasms of prejudice, which could perceive only folly in requiring indigo from a soil accustomed to yield no other produce than cacao.

The first essay was severely censured, the second experienced less severity; and after a short time this pretended madness found numerous apologists. The force of prejudice could not withstand the test of experience; and it was speedily ascertained that the indigo of Terra Firma was not inferior in quality to that of Guatimala, the invariable price of which (eighty dollars per hundred) is more than the indigo of any other part of the globe will command.

All new plantations were from that time prepared for indigo, and the vallies of Aragoa, chosen for this new species of culture, experienced an unexampled and astonishing rapidity of increase. Immense plains, till then uncultivated, were covered, as if by enchantment, with plantations of indigo. The concourse of cultivators and the profits resulting from the indigo, occasioned many villages to spring from nothing, and gave to others which were in a state of ruin, as Maracay, Tulmero, and Victoria, the smiling aspect and substantial consistence of cities. The culture of indigo has extended from the vallies of Aragoa to the south-west as far as Varinas: on the coast none of it is seen, nor eastward of Caraccas to the gulph of Paria, nor southward to the Oronoko.

The Soil requisite for Indigo.

Indigo is one of those plants which require a light soil and warm climate*. The land destined for it should be well

* It has been believed, till the present day, that the indigo plant flourishes only in the climate of the torrid zone, and in those parts of the temperate zone which are near the tropics. Experiments recently made by Bruley, in Italy, by order of Government, have proved that nature has not excluded Europe from the possession of this plant. It is only requisite to choose, ina southern climate, a suitable soil and exposure, to profit of the season most favourable to vegetation, to sow good seed, and the principal difficulties

cleared and drained; for the same degree of humidity which favours the nourishment of the plants, is fatal to indigo.

In ground on which indigo is to be sown, the wood should be cut four months before it is set on fire. The flames con sume it then more rapidly to the stumps. The lines, or rows, are then to be immediately traced; and the earth being thus well cleared, the seeds are to be sown under favour of the first rain, and three months suffice to produce a good crop.

Mode of Sowing.

Attention is due to the choice of seed and to the manner of making the holes which receive it. They should be three inches deep and two feet distant in good land, but ten inches only in land of a bad quality. In the French colonies the holes are but two inches deep and only from five to six inches distant. The quality of the soil requires it. It is customary to make these holes in straight lines; but at Terra Firma they also plant in beds, and those who have adopted this method, extol it with as much warmth as every projector employs to defend a new system. In each hole as many grains are thrown as can be taken between the finger and thumb: they

will disappear. Those which appertain to the manufacture of indigo would readily yield to an union of talent and observation. With these precautions and these expedients, M. Bruley has obtained the indigo plant in the gardens of the chateau de la Venerie, near Turin, and by submitting it to the process employed at St. Domingo, he extracted an indigo which might bear comparison with the finest indigo of the colonies.

M. Bruley made his plantations towards the end of February. They gave him three cuttings of a plant, handsomer than those produced by the generality of land in the torrid zone, for it rose to the height of five feet, while that in America rarely exceeds three feet. It also furnished an equal quantity of indigo, with that given by a plant of equal bulk in the colonies. These remarks, it is true, are only warranted by small experiments: possibly they would experience some variation in larger undertakings.

M. Icard de Bataligni, another colonist, proprietor at St. Domingo, and a man of excellent observation, cultivates the indigo plant at this momen (1805), in the department of Vaucluse. His results confirm the hopes formed with respect to the culture of indigo in Europe.

are then covered with an inch of earth. It is of no use to sow fields of indigo except in time of rain: the earth must have already imbibed water, or rain must speedily follow the, sowing; otherwise the seed becomes heated, corrupts, and is lost, with all the labour it has occasioned.

Weeding.

Provided the season favours vegetation, the indigo begins to sprout the fourth day, often even on the third. At the end of fifteen days it is already assailed by weeds which dispute its subsistence, and which finish by destroying it, if the hoe be not speedily employed.

Not only the abundance of the crop, but even the manufac ture and quality of indigo, absolutely require the weeding to be so scrupulously performed as to remove every other plant. If this care be not rigorously employed, difficulties will occur in the fabrication which cannot be obviated after the ap pearance of the indigo. They are occasioned by other herbs being cut and carried to the vat (or cuve) with the indigo. These herbs, by fermentation, give a juice which deranges all the signs of fabrication, and by its interference prevents the developement and re-union of the essential parts of the indigo. The indigo thus obtained is bad in quality, and less in quantity than the crop promised.

The Cutting of Indigo.

After three months, the indigo is commonly fit to cut, and this operation is far from immaterial: it has also its rules and its procedure. The first object of attention is the maturity of the indigo: the second, to cut the plant one inch from the earth. To cut it higher may retard the shoots of a second cutting, or may even entirely prevent them. Large crooked knives are much more convenient for this purpose than any other instrument; and at the same time much more advantageous with regard to the subsequent crops.

The indigo plant is transplanted, as soon as cut, to the place where art must give it the form under which it becomes merchandize. All the implements necessary for the

M

chemical process are reduced to three great vats (or cuves) of mason work, built one above the other, in such manner that the middle cuve can receive the liquid from that which is above it, and can discharge it into that which is below. The first and most elevated is called la Pourriture, or Trempoire; and is much larger than the other two. In the French colonies, it is from ten to twelve feet long, nine or ten broad, and three deep. In the province of Venezuela it is from eighteen to twenty feet long, fourteen or fifteen feet broad, and only twenty inches deep.

The second cuve bears the name of Batterie. It is not so wide as the pourriture, but much deeper, that the water may be agitated in it without escaping over the edge."

The third cuve, smaller than the preceding, is called 'Bassinott, or Repository. It is there that the indigo undergoes the last operation. But the most essential article to an indigo maker, is a rapid and very limpid stream of water, that may be employed at pleasure in the fabrication of the indigo.

Fabrication, or Manufacture of Indigo.

I come now to speak of the fabrication or manufacture, which appears in these places so simple, easy, and natural, - that it is confided to negroes who know nothing, or to whites who are equally ignorant. Both are incapable of giving a reason for the slightest cause, but they know admirably well how to command effects, and to obtain, by practice, results of 7 which the most skilful chemists would be proud. "The blue colouring substance known to us under the name of indigo, is combined with heterogeneous articles, from which the manufacturer must disengage it. This combination is ́so intimate that it eludes the nicest eye. Like many other results, it appears to be the product of a peculiar operation, the effect of which gives great satisfaction; but we are groping in the -dark when we endeavour to pursue the causes which have contributed to produce it.

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The whole body of the plant, compressed in a certain quantity of water, enters into an extremely active fermentation, of which we will notice the details. If q? D«a