These were the "pariahs" of the plantation, constituting a class of runaways, who, to avoid work or punishment, or the gibes and jeers of their more RESPECTABLE companions, took refuge in the mountains, and in some of the islands became formidable by their numbers and ferocity.

In Dominico, at one period, these run-away negroes, MAROONS, as they were called, amounted to more than a thousand.

They were organized and armed, and subsisted by committing depredations and levying contributions on the plantations.

They were subdued only after a desperate and protracted struggle.
The owners of plantations in the English West India Islands, as I have already intimated, usually resided at "home," in "Merry England," or the "Land of cakes;" and if they realized a handsome yearly profit from their estates, seldom interested themselves in the condition or welfare of the slaves.

Their agents in the islands were called ATTORNEYS, and were vested with almost unlimited power in the management of the property.