Travels in the West. Cuba: with notices of Porto Rico, and the slave trade

Front matter

TRAVELS IN THE WEST. CUBA; WITH NOTICES OF PORTO RICO, AND THE SLAVE TRADE. BY DAVID TURNBULL, ESQ. M.A. CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF HISTORY AT MADRID, AND OF THE ROYAL PATRIOTIC AND ECONOMICAL SOCIETY AT THE HAVANA. Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn. Burns. LONDON: PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS, PATERNOSTER ROW. 1840. London : Printed by A. Spottiswoode, New- Street- Square. THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF CLARENDON, G. C. B. &c. &c. &c. My Lord, I have persuaded myself, and I am therefore desirous of persuading others, that I have dis covered the means of accomplishing an object which your Lordship has very much at heart. If the conclusion I have come to be sound and practicable, it will, doubtless, make its way in spite of its humble origin.

It is not because I despair of its ultimate success with the country or the government, but simply in order to hasten the event, that I desire to shed around it the lustre of your Lordship's name. But for the opportunities I enjoyed, during the first years of your Lordship's memorable mission to Madrid, of witnessing your unwearied efforts for the abatement of "the greatest practical evil a that ever afflicted mankind," I should have wanted the primary motive for the performance of the journey of which this volume is the fruit. Deeply impressed with the necessity of finding or creating a remedy more prompt, practicable, and efficient than any thing heretofore suggested, my whole thoughts were turned in this direction ; and in the following pages I have endeavoured to develope a plan, conceived in the midst of the scenes of wretchedness this traffic has produced.

It was the treaty of 1835, which deprived the miscreants of all nations, wdio freight their ships with human misery, of the protection of the proud Lion and Castle of Spain. They have found shelter, for a time, under the mercenary banner of Portugal ; and when deprived of that, as they shortly shall be, it is to be feared that the Stars and Stripes ofthe North American Union may be way wardly and gratuitously interposed for their pro tection. Even without the shelter of any national flag, their profits are great enough to tempt their defiance of the naval power of England, backed and supported though it were by the cordial co operation ofthe rest ofthe civilised world. As physical force is proved to be powerless against a gain of cent per cent, I am for striking V at the root of the evil, and cutting off the profit at its source.

Preface

. The present volume represents the fragment of a tour of considerable extent on the western side of the Atlantic, begun in 1837 and concluded towards the close of 1839. On my arrival in the West Indies the appren ticeship system in the British Colonies was in full operation, and the shortening of the term in favour of the field labourers, so as to put them in possession of their freedom on the 1st of August, 1838, had not yet. been seriously agitated. It was in British Guiana, the most windward of our possessions, that I first landed, and having afterwards visited every island in the neighbouring Archipelago, I had the satisfaction to find in the course of my progress to leeward that the members of the various local legislatures were preparing with more or less re luctance to submit to the abandonment of this rem nant of slavery.

I had the good fortune to reach Jamaica in time to witness the rejoicings occasioned among the ne gro population by the disappearance of the last link of their chain. The moderation»with which they entered on their new state of existence is already matter of history. On this point the ominous forebodings of the planters have been a

PREFACE.

. agreeably disappointed ; and from the large amount of voluntary labour already obtained, it is not un fair to presume that they maybe equally at fault in the rest of their sinister prognostications. Disregarding my actual itinerary, I have resolved on giving precedence to the publication of the present volume, under a strong conviction that the suggestions it will be found to contain on the sub ject ofthe slave trade, if once sanctioned by public opinion, and adopted by the government, would lead to an easy, cheap, and almost immediate so lution of the much-vexed question of its suppression. It is by the force of public opinion, and by the great pecuniary sacrifice to which the people of England have willingly submitted, that the practice of negro slavery has been happily abolished through out her Majesty's dominions.

The national will was so strongly expressed as to have become irresistible. But the practice of domestic slavery, how ever deplorable, is not to be compared in magnitude or importance with the horrors of the slave trade. Public opinion is surely not to be powerless, the national will is not to be mute, because its objects can be accomplished without further sacrifice, pecuniary or personal. On this subject, also, the wishes and desires of the entire British people have long been loudly ex pressed. As'a nation, it is true, they have scarcely to reproach themselves with any direct or actual share in the abominable traffic ; and this consideration

PREFACE.

. IX may possibly have some tendency to damp their zeal in the cause. Let it not be forgotten, however, that there are men of large capital, at this hour resident in Lon don, who in the full enjoyment of the rights and franchises of Englishmen, do not scruple to enrich themselves, under cover of a foreign partnership, by supplying the actual slave-dealer with the means of carrying on his ruthless war of extermination against the African race; nor that many of our manufacturers and merchants are accused, not alto gether without cause, of reaping a disgraceful pro fit from the fabrication and sale of articles of exchange, exclusively employed in this trade in human flesh. These, it must be admitted, are grievous blots on the national escutcheon. As long as a single vestige of them remains, to justify either the taunts of our enemies, or the honest regrets of our friends, we can never afford to sit down with tranquillity or composure under the disgraceful imputation.

Every man of us is bound to exert himself in the cause, as if his personal reputation were at stake. From all this pollution there is but one way of escape. It is by the suppression of the trade, finally, absolutely, irretrievably. Is that suppression so hopeless, so impossible, that we ought to give up the attempt in despair ? The means, on the contrary, are so easy, the remedy is so near the surface, that it will presently be a subject of wonder why it was not seen, pro- X

PREFACE.

. posed, and acted on years and years ago. There is but little merit I confess in arriving at so obvious a conclusion. It needed no profound cogitation, no extraordinary research. It lay in my path, and I found it.

ADVERTISEMENT.

The next volume will embrace the other foreign Colonies beginning with Martinique. The unavoidable absence of the author from London, while this volume has been passing through the press, is offered as an apology for the appearance of such typographical errors as may have escaped the vigilance of the professional reader of the proofs. Such communications on the present state of the British West Indies, or of British America, as may be addressed to the Author, to the care of the publishers, wdl be gladly received and gratefully acknowledged. CONTENTS.

Chapter I

Taking leave of Jamaica. — Santiago Hospitality. — The Volante. — Cobre. — Copper Mines. — Preparations for Departure. — The Dee. — Governor Lorenzo. — Captain-General Tacon. Page 1. CHAP. II. Departure from Santiago. — Armament of the Dee. — The Bench and the Bar. — The Grande Antilla. — British Authorities at Havana. — Travelling in Old Spain. — Captain-General Espeleta. — Commissary Judges. — Superintendent of Africans. — French Consul-General. — Letters of Introduction. - -24 CHAP. III. State of Slavery. — Field Slaves. — Whipping Posts. — The Prison. — The Barracoons. — Creoles and Bozals. — American Slave Trade. ... - - 47 CHAP. IV. Arrival of Strangers. — Free People of Colour. — Black Soldiers in the Receiving Ships. — Receiving Ships for liberated Africans. — Moral Effects of their Presence. — Condition of the Emancipados. — Concert among British Functionaries abroad. — Brazilian Judge at Sierra Leone. — The Cruisers' Liability. — Code of Instructions for Cruisers. — Comparative Rates of Premium. — Deficiency of Cruisers. — War Contribution. - - 67 CHAP. V. Circulating Medium. — Weights and Measures. — Bankruptcy rare. — Laws of Bankruptcy. — Judiciary. — Bank of Ferdinand VII. — Tariff of Customs. — Articles free of Duty. — Crown Revenues. — Effect of differential Duties. — Public Wharfs. - CONTENTS.

CHAP. VI. Statistics. — Imports. — Exports. — Shipping. — Tonnage. — Discriminating Duties. — Increase of Trade. — State of Trade. — Tariff. — War Contribution. — Price of Flour. — American Flour. — Education. — Periodical Literature. — The Slave Trade. — Causes of Prosperity. - - - - Page 112 CHAP. VII. Freedom of Trade. — Contraband in Flour. — Differential Duties. — Bonded Warehouses. — The Slave Trade. — Insurance Private Underwriters. — Merchants. — Emigrants. — Emigration. — Census of 1827. — Population. — Coartado System. — Slaves sent to Texas. — Slave Population. — State of Slavery. — Slave Censusi — Slavery. — Increase of Slave Trade. — Distribution of Slave Tax. - - - - - - - 136 CHAP. VIII. The Slave Trade. — The Emancipados. — The Portuguese Flag. — American Slave Trade. — Tacon's Administration. — Spanish Policy. — Fear of Insurrection. — Desire of Independence. — Means proposed. — Epigram. — American Aggrandisement. 158 CHAP. IX.

Coal Mines. — Steam in the West Indies. — Cuba Steamers. Steamers landing Slaves. — Havana Railroad. — A glorious Inheritance. — Guines. — Labourers on the Railway. Irish Labourers. — Railway Loan. — United States' Rivalry. Railway Tariff. — Produce of the Railway. — Branches. — Cardenas Railway. - - - - - - 175 CHAP. X. The Havana. — The Harbour. — The Entrance. — Rules for entering. — Dangers at tbe Entrance. — Population. — Public Establishments. — - Fortifications. ■ — The Cabanos. Casa de Beneficencia. — Hospital of Incurables. Leprosy. - 1Q8 CHAP. XI. Matanzas. — Slaves found asleep. — Santiago. — Puerto Principe — Mode of granting Land. — Nuevitas. — Proposed Railroad — System of Expropriation. — Population of Cuba. - - CONTENTS. XV CHAP. XII. Geographical and relative Position of Cuba. — Coasts. — Geological Formation. — Provinces and Districts. — Ayuntamiento. — Municipality of Havana. — Secular Tribunals System of Trade. — Carriage of Produce. — Mineral Riches. — Silver and Copper. — Mineral Waters. - - - - Page 239 CHAP. XIII.

White Labour. — Clearing Land. — Sugar-making. 258 CHAP. XIV. Sugar Estates. — Treatment of Slaves. — Irish Hacendados. — Creole Grandees. — Sugar Cultivation. — M. Bonhomme. - 277 CHAP. XV. Coffee-growing. — Task-work. 293 CHAP. XVI. Tobacco-growing. — Native Forests. — Fruits. — Cereals. — The Plantain. — Indigo. — Cotton. — Cacao. — Wax. — Domestic Animals. — Ornithology. — The Turtle. — Fishmarket Honey and Wax. — The Jigger. — The Mosquito. — The Ant. — Seasons. - - - - - - - 317 CHAP. XVII. Proposed Addition to Treaty. — Slave Policy of Spain. — Orders and Counter Orders. — Portuguese System. — Portuguese Trade. — Spanish Trade. — Points to be watched. — Trading Season. — Hereditary Bondage. --''__-.. 340 CHAP. XVIII. Mr. Buxton's Estimate of Cuba Slave-Trade. — Mr. M'Queen's Estimate. — Mr. Consul Tolme's Estimate. — Extent ofthe Trade. — The Middle Passage. — Means of Repression. — Head-Money. — Tonnage- Money. — Her Majesty's Packets. - - 36l CHAP. XIX.

The Equipment Clause. — Mode of suppressing the Trade. — Evasion of Equipment Clause. — Spanish Treaty of 1835. — Case ofthe Vencedora. — Opinions of Mr. Buxton. — Case of the Vigilante. - - - - CONTENTS. CHAP. XX. Effects of Head-Money. — Capture of the Veloz. — Brazilian Slavery Associations. — African Slave Factories. — Question of Nationality. — A Slaver's Nationality. — Instructions to a Slave-Captain. Directions to the Agent on tbe Coast. — Slaves sent on Freight. — — Intercepted Letters. — Admiralty Licenses. — Number of Licenses. ■ — The Steamer and the Flag Ship. — Does landing in a British Colony confer Freedom ? - - Page 397 CHAP. XXI. American Consul at Havana. — Case of the Venus. — International Independence. — Shipments of Shackles. — A French Slave- Dealer. — French Consul-General. — Abuses of the American Flag. — Case of the Amistad. - 435 CHAP. XXII Historical Notices, A. D. 1492— 1761. 473 CHAP. XXIII.

Lord Albemarle's Expedition. 4.98 CHAP. XXIV. English Occupation. — Historical Notices, A. D. I76I — 1832. 528 CHAP. XXV. Porto Rico. — Crab Island.— French Slaves sent to Porto Rico. Trade of Martinique with Porto Rico. — The Virgin Islands. Kidnapping from English Islands. — Compensation for stolen Negroes. — System of Kidnapping. — Negotiation with Lopez Bafios. — Need of a Consul at Porto Rico. — Penalties on Kidnapping. — Spanish Maroons The Slave Trade. - . I learn with regret that I have been led into error in the last paragraph ofthe 1st chapter of this volume, pp. 22 and 23., respecting the events at Santiago. I have ascertained from undoubted authority that General Lorenzo was received on board the British cruiser alluded to, under a convention to which he was himself a party, the terms of which were faithfully fulfilled in every par ticular, as is farther proved by General Lorenzo's own subsequent admission, published at Cadiz in 1837; and that the published statements which I found at the Havana of the destruction of 500 persons, intended doubtless to damage General Tacon, were wholly unwarranted by fact : as it now appears there was no loss of life whatever conse quent on the events in question.

It affords me satisfaction, also, that I am able to remove the misstatements thus un intentionally made affecting the character of the British navy. March 9. 1840. ISLAND OF CUBA TRAVELS IN THE WEST. CUBA, etc.

CHAPTER I. TAKING LEAVE OF JAMAICA.

— SANTIAGO HOSPITALITY. THE VOLANTE. COBRE. COPPER MINES. PREPA- RATIONS FOR DEPARTURE. THE DEE. GOVERNOR LORENZO. — CAPTAIN-GENERAL TACON. At the time of my visit to Cuba, towards the close of the year 1838, the means of communica tion between the various districts of the island, with the exception of the neighbourhood of the Havana, were exceedingly imperfect. My friend Mr. Cater, the chief of the Colonial Bank in Jamaica, was good enough to write from thence to his correspondents at Santiago de Cuba and the Havana, to ascertain what means there were of conveyance between these two points ; and in answer he received the most distinct information, that, on a given day in the month of No vember, the steamer the Royal Peacock, El Pavo Real, would leave her moorings at Santiago at two B CUBA o'clock in the afternoon, and, touching at various intermediate points, would proceed to Batabano, the nearest place to the capital on the south side of the island.

Relying on the printed advertise ments which were forwarded to Mr. Cater, I men tioned the matter to Sir Lionel Smith, with whom I was staying at the time, when his Excellency, with his accustomed good-nature, was pleased to suggest that, as Her Majesty's government con templated a regular communication by steam be tween Jamaica and the neighbouring islands of Cuba and St. Domingo, it might be desirable to ascertain the time that would be required for a steamer to make the passage between Port Royal and Santiago. Combining this public object with the convenience of his guest, Sir Lionel lost no time in writing to Commodore Douglass, in com mand of the naval force at Port Royal, desiring that the Dee, Captain Sherer, might be held in readiness to sail on such a day as would best meet the purpose I had in view, which was to inspect the copper mines in the neighbourhood of Santiago, and afterwards avail myself of the sailing of the Peacock, which presented so favourable an op portunity for seeing something of the southern shores of the island.

Delighted with this arrangement, which was most satisfactorily completed by the arrival of the Commodore and Captain Sherer, at the King's House in Spanish Town, I had the good fortune, with the ready concurrence of Captain Sherer, to prevail on the Chief Justice and Lady TAKING LEAVE OF JAMAICA. Rowe to accompany Mrs. Turnbull and myself on the excursion ; to which they consented the more readily, from the well-known hospitality of Captain Sherer, and the rareness of the opportunity of se curing their return from such a trip on a given day. We had scarcely left the harbour, however, when, to our great mortification, we discovered that the coals, which had lain in the government stores at Port Royal for several years, had suffered so much from the climate, that it was found impossible to keep up the steam ; so that the time we had calculated on for making the passage was more than doubled, and we did not pass the magnificent entrance to the harbour of Santiago, until the morning of the day that the Peacock was ad vertised to sail.

As the hour advertised was two in the afternoon, and we saluted the Moro Castle at six in the morning, I had reluctantly made up my mind to relinquish my visit to the Cobre, and to content myself with paying my respects to the British Consul, Mr. Hardy, and to the lieutenant-governor ofthe province. I had just come to this resolution when a steamer hove in sight in the narrowest part of the narrow entrance, which proved to be the Pavo Real herself, on which I had so much depended. In stead of leaving her moorings at two in the after noon, she must have started between five and six in the morning. The current in this narrow passage is so strong, and the navigation, even for steamers, so difficult, that it was impossible in passing to do, more than intimate that we had passengers for the b CUBA Peacock on board, and to receive in return the short and unwelcome answer, — No es possible, Seiiores.

To all appearance, therefore, there was nothing for it but to return in the Dee to Jamaica; in the meantime enjoy the agreeable society we had brought with us, and throw ourselves at Kingston on the chapter of accidents ; with the comfortable assurance that we had not quite exhausted the good will to serve us, which, during a three months' stay in Jamaica, bad been so frequently manifested by the gallant and venerable occupant of Govern ment House. I have entered into these details for the sake of warning the reader, wherever Spaniards are con cerned, to be on his guard against their habitual want of punctuality. On three different occasions I came into town from my residence in the neighbourhood, ofthe Havana, with the view of proceeding by one of the steamers duly advertised for Matanzas ; and in each of the three instances was disappointed.

The first time there had been some derangement of the machinery ; the second it was blowing a norte ; and the third the reason was not disclosed ; but I afterwards learned that it was perfectly sa tisfactory to the proprietors, who found it more profitable to send the vessel out in the direction of Mariel, there to meet a slaver announced from the coast of Africa, and relieve her of her human cargo with less risk of detention by some British cruiser, than to fulfil their contract with the public. In taking my departure from the island, I had oc casion to complain of a still more serious violation SANTIAGO HOSPITALITY. of a rule, the observance of which is so essential to men of business. The " Daniel Webster," an Ame rican vessel in which I had engaged my passage for Charleston, was detained for eight and forty hours after she had cleared at the Custom House and was ready for sea, because another passenger had chosen to embark without a regular passport.

In the present instance, fortunately for us, a counterbalancing accident had occurred to relieve us from our embarrassment. We had scarcely reached our anchorage when we ascertained that a passenger ship called the Grande Antilla, from Cadiz and Barcelona, Don Antonio Vicent y Vives, commander, had arrived off the harbour, bound for the Havana and Vera Cruz, but from adverse winds had been unable to enter. As the same wind continued to prevail for nearly a week, we had ample opportunity of seeing all that we desired to see in this district of the island, without any other cause of regret than the great inconvenience to which some seventy cabin passengers in the Grande Antilla were exposed, nearly the half of them being ladies, hanging off and on after a long voyage, in the open sea, without knowing whether they would be able to effect a landing.

Having sent our letters of introduction on shore, we learned that the consul, Mr. Hardy, was absent at the Copper Mines, of which he is one of the principal proprietors ; but the attentions which our knowledge of his character had led us to expect from him were promptly and cordially supplied by the resident partners of the leading English house b CUBA of Wright, Shelton, and Co. ; one of whom, Mr. Brooks, was speedily on board, bringing carriages to the wharf to carry us to the town residence of Mr. Wright, his senior partner. There, although on so short a notice, we found all sorts of English comforts and accommodations for the whole of our party, the captain and some of his officers included. Nay, our excellent host would not afterwards hear of our separating so as to give to some of the other residents ; to whom we were recommended, a share of the trouble of receiving us, until, as he said himself, he was enabled to hand us over to his friend and neighbour, the consul, who, he was sure, would make his appearance as soon as he heard of our arrival.

In this conjecture he was perfectly correct. On the following morning the consul arrived, and insisted on carrying us without delay to visit his family at their mountain abode, within a mile or two ofthe Copper Mines. The saddle, or the peculiar carriage of the island, the volante, forms the only means of conveyance in a country where the roads are so eminently exe crable. No written description we had previously read of the volante had been able to q*ive us a satisfactory idea of it. Before seeing them our fellow traveller, Sir Joshua Rowe, had formed the design of purchasing one for his own use in Jamaica ; but he was probably deterred by the grotesque appearance of the vehicle, or by the probable difficulty of finding an experienced calesero, who, to all appearance, must be a person " to the manner born ;" so that he finally abandoned the idea.

THE VOLANTE. The wheels of the volante are placed so wide apart, that it is next to impossible to overturn it, even in ruts where an ordinary carriage would disappear. The wheels themselves are always at least six feet, and some that I have measured have proved even seven feet in diameter. The shafts are proportionably long ; indeed so long, that a second horse might be placed between the croupe of the first and the body of the carriage. The body is suspended on C springs, also very wide apart ; and is hung so low between the shafts that the heads of the travellers are always a foot or two below the level of the upper section of the wheels. In the city of the Havana there is a police re gulation, directing that no more than one horse shall be attached to these carriages, whether public or private, within the walls ; but in the country, of course, such a regulation would be impracticable.

One out-rigger is always added to the left, on which the calesero is mounted, instead of riding the shaft horse, as is the invariable custom in the Havana. Where the roads are worse than usual, or where more state is thought necessary, a second out-rigger is attached on the right hand side. The quitrin is a mere variety of the volante, the one having a fixed and the other a moveable top. The calesero, particularly in towns, is usually dressed in a very smart livery, resembling, in some degree, the gayest ofthe French postilions ; but, instead of his enor mous boots, wearing long black gaiters, with silver buckles to his shoes ; the buckles of the harness being often of the same precious metal. b CUBA This system of three horses abreast is that usually adopted by the native gentry of the island of St. Domingo.

In that island, even in their heaviest field waggons, a leader is never to be seen ; although it is not uncommon in the plains of the Cul de Sac, or Leogane, to find two horses or mules attached to the pole of a two-wheeled waggon, with a bar like that of a curricle across, and an out rigger on either side, making in all four animals abreast. Before ascending the mountain on which Mr. Hardy's cottage is situated, we stopped at the village of Cobre; and changing our outward habili ments for those provided by the captain of the mine, we placed ourselves in the tiny railway car riages, which pass into the interior, and prepared to enter the principal tunnel, which has been driven directly into the face of the mountain. Fortunately for the proprietors, the present workings are so situated, with reference to the external surface of the ground, that it has not been necessary to resort to the aid of shafts and pumping machinery for the purpose of raising the mineral or carrying off the water.

After all that we had heard of the value and importance of these works, their actual extent did not fail to surprise us. We learned from Mr. Hardy, that the labourers employed were nearly nine hun dred in number ; but to our great regret we found that more than the half of them were slaves, some the property of the Mining Company, and others hired out, as is not uncustomary, from their owners COBRE in the neighbourhood. A considerable proportion ofthe residue consisted of Islenos or free emigrants from the Canaries ; and a year before our arrival, there had been two hundred Englishmen from Corn wall ; but a single sickly season had carried off the half of them, including two of the captains, the brothers ofthe person who had kindly lent us the necessary attire for entering the "bowels of the land."

In following the veins of copper we found that the principal tunnel soon branched off into various directions. On descending from our railway carriage, at one of the cross roads, I had the misfortune to put my foot into a rift, or crevice of the rock ; from which, however, I escaped without a fracture, but with such a degree of lameness as considerably to damp my courage in further ex ploring the secrets of this crust of earth, of which, after all our labour, so very little has yet been disclosed. We were not suffered to leave the mines without an ample supply of specimens of the ore, some of them so rich as to afford not less than 53 per cent. of pure metal. We were informed, however, that the ordinary average produce is not more than 27 per cent. ; but even that proportion is so great as to ensure enormous profits to the proprietors, in competing with the produce of our native mines of Cornwall, where 10, and even 8, per cent, are considered sufficient to afford a remunerating re turn.

The competition with Cornwall, probably, CUBA could not be maintained, if the produce of the Cuba mines did not reach 18, or at least 16, per cent., in consequence of the expense attending the working of mines in a tropical climate, together with the heavy charges of freight, commission, and insurance. Still, if the general average be as high as 27 per cent, the profits of the company must be so great as to insure a rapid fortune to the partners, who consisted originally of only four individuals. The recent history of this mine is somewhat re markable. It was known that in the palmy days of Spanish greatness, the neighbouring mountains had been explored to a very considerable extent ; and, indeed, the fact is sufficiently indicated by the very name of the town of Cobre, which is certainly not a place of modern origin.

For more than a hundred years, however, the workings had been abandoned ; and it was by mere accident some eight or ten years ago, that Mr. Hardy, the present consul, was induced, on visiting the neighbourhood for quite another purpose, to carry off some specimens of the refuse, thrown up from the old work ings, in order to subject them to analysis. He had, in fact, been employed by his father, a man of large property, and now one of his partners in the mine, to visit the island in order to ascertain the probability of recovering a mortgage debt, which he held over a neighbouring property. Whether the debt was secured I did not inquire ; but supposing it to have proved a total loss, the creditor has doubtless been amply compensated by COBRE the brilliant results of the experiments on which the tact and penetration of his son had induced him to enter.