bedience could not be expected from these
people. To expect it was entirely out of the question; it was therefore
resolved to transport them from the island. Accordingly, in June, 1796,
six hundred were sent to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where lands were granted
them and a subsistence allowed until crops could be raised. Not liking
the climate, they were ultimately established in Sierra Leone, where
they became the nucleus of the present colony. Those who had submitted
remained in Jamaica, where their descendants are still well known.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

XI.

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEAS.

By the middle of the eighteenth century Spain had fallen behind, and
even Holland had lost her prestige. It followed, therefore, that the
only Power that could rival Great Britain was France, and she was an
enemy that could never be despised. The struggle in the West Indies
between these two Powers now became, if possible, more intense; and if
the result gave the sovereignty of the seas to Britons, they have mainly
to ascribe it to their naval training in this part of the world. The
mistakes of Admiral Vernon were lessons which, being borne in mind by
later admirals, tended to prevent similar disasters in the future.

There was a short intermission in the struggle between 1748 and 1756,
when the "Seven Years' War" commenced; but before the actual declaration
hostilities had commenced between the two rivals in India and North
America. Now arose one of England's great admirals, Rodney, who gained
his laurels in the Caribbean Sea, and was mainly instrumental in putting
France in the background as a naval power. He first came to the front in
1759, when he bombarded Havre, and later, with that other great seaman,
Sir Samuel Hood, he became a "household word" in the West Indies.

Before they appeared, however, the British captured Guadeloupe, and
commenced a general raid upon the French shipping. But, as usual, our
gallant foes were by no means despicable, for in 1760 they claimed to
have taken 2,539 English vessels, against a loss of only 944. On the 5th
of January, 1762, Rodney sailed from Barbados for Martinique, in command
of eighteen ships of the line, and on the 4th of the following month the
island capitulated. Then Grenada was taken, to be followed by Dominica,
Tobago, St. Vincent, and St. Lucia, thus giving the whole of the French
Caribbees into the possession of Great Britain. Spain being also
involved, Admi