Comments
Panoramic view of Bridgetown in the immediate post-emancipation period; overlooking the town with its houses, two females are shown in the foreground, and a coach and horses in the center. It is doubtful if this scene was derived from an eyewitness drawing, but the illustration accompanies a brief article (pp. 17-18), by an unnamed author who apparently visited Barbados in early August of 1838 or 1839. The author comments on the vessels and activities in Carlisle Bay, gives a brief and conventional history of the island, briefly describes Bridgetown which he finds pleasant and containing about 1200 houses, and comments on the hawkers who are largely "blacks or mulattos"; he also notes that the islands black population is about four times as large as its white one and comments on its agricultural products and local customs.