Note 117 — REMINISCENCES OF VILLAGE LIFE AND OF PANAMA AND CALIFORNIA. 1840-1850. (continued 2)

Great discontent had long prevailed there and the place was still in a disturbed condition. The liberated slaves between 1833 and 1841, then in a state bordering on revolt, had caused the suspension of cultivation on no fewer than 653 sugar plantations, besides 456 others where coffee was grown. The owners of these plantations had abandoned them. A more or less unsettled condition continued to prevail until 1865, when the natives rose in rebellion and shocking atrocities occurred. The famous Governor Eyre finally suppressed the uprising, but through measures so vigorous and severe that he was recalled to England. Jamaica is almost entirely peopled by blacks. They comprise about 87 per cent of the whole.