Note 29 — SECTION III.

The first Europeans established at Jamaica were Spaniards or Portuguese; but the island was, 1655, conquered by the English, when all the old colonists retired, carrying away the greater portion of their wealth. Cromwell hastened to re-people the island, by transporting to it a number of political convicts. In 1659, four years after the conquest, there were already 4,500 Europeans and 1,400 Negroes on the island. In 1670, the white population amounted to 7,500, slaves 8,000. It will then, be observed, that the population of Jamaica descends exclusively from English colonists and Negro slaves. With regard to the Caribs, they have been entirely exterminated by the Spaniards a century before the arrival of the English.