refugees were left in
charge of four men, and had much ado to find enough turtle to keep them
from starving. After remaining here for three months an English
privateer arrived, and, at their request, took them on to New
Providence, to which the inhabitants had just returned after being
driven off by Spaniards. Pitman at last got to Amsterdam, and from
thence to England, where the revolution had just taken place, and his
friends had succeeded in obtaining a free pardon.

The white bond-servant, being under a short engagement, was generally
worked to his utmost capacity. No matter if he died before the end of
his term as long as he paid for the expense incurred. But Englishmen
were no more inclined to be slaves then than they are now, and the
planters of St. Kitt's found them so troublesome to manage that they
soon became afraid of buying, and showed a preference for negroes. Some
of the English servants committed suicide, and it is recorded that a
pious master told one of them, who had expressed his intention of
destroying himself, that he trusted that God would give him more grace,
than, for a short term of trouble in this life, to precipitate himself
into hell.

Even in the earliest times some of the planters were absentees, living
in England. The system was always more or less fortune-hunting, the
whole end and aim being to get rich and return to the old country. There
were, as we have seen, many difficulties and dangers to encounter, and
not the least of the drawbacks was the want of good society. We who live
in an age when there is daily communication with the whole world, can
hardly conceive how entirely these pioneers were cut off from their
friends. The long voyage was full of discomfort, and at the best
uncertain as to its termination. The words still found on bills of
lading, "the act of God or the queen's enemies," had a meaning then
hardly appreciable by the present generation. Barbary pirates and French
corsairs ranged the Channel; in the broad Atlantic storms shook the
crazy vessels to pieces; and when they escaped these dangers, it was
often to fall into the hands of the buccaneers when in sight of their
destination. Then there were hurricanes on both sea and land, and
earthquakes on some of the islands. Vessels were sunk in harbour, houses
blown away, and sugar buildings torn down. As for the negro huts, they
were carried off altogether, and the crops injured so as to become
useless. Then, perhaps, whe