By repeated charters from the crown of Great Britain, the island of St Helena is assigned to the East India Com pany as perpetual proprietors, with all the powers of so vereignty and legislation. The supreme authority on the island is vested in the governor and a council. The coun cil is composed of the lieutenant-governor, and senior civil servant, with the addition occasionally of a fourth and some times a fifth member, as the Court of Directors may judge proper. These represent the loi.ds proprietors, superintend all the concerns of the island, act as justices of the peace, and exercise the ordinary jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical court. When the council is not assembled, the whole au thority of the board centres in the governor, who may also exercise, as occasion requires, all the powers of Captain General. The civil establishment consists of an accountant, pay-master, store-keeper, and the secretary to government, with their assistants, some of whom are at the head of infe rior departments, and among whom promotion takes place according to seniority. The ordinary military force is com posed of a corps of artillery, commanded by a lieutenant colonel, a regiment of infantry, and five companies of white and black militia, who are at times rather on the footing of volunteers. There are also a head surgeon, an engineer, and a chaplain.
The whole island forms only one parish, but is divided into three districts, the East, West, and South or Sandy Bay divisions. There are two churches, one in the town, and the other in the country ; and the ministers of religion in the settlement have, of late years, been as highly distin guished for the excellence of their character, as, in the ear-' tier period of its history, they were noted for their incom petency. and profligacy.
The civil and military establishments cost at an average 40.000/. per annum ;" and there is generally an additional expenditure of 10,000/. on the head of contingencies. The only revenue of the Company is derived from the rents of their lands, which may amount to about 1100/. but gradu ally increasing as the old leases expire ; and from the pro fits of a monopoly of arrack, which are estimated at 60001. But they have a dead capital of 200,000/. sunk in public works, naval and military stores, &c. ; and also warehouses for all kinds of articles useful to the natives or the ship ping, which, though sold at a profit of ten per cent. do not cover the expences. But the best returns from the island must be sought in the accommodation which it affords to the Company's shipping, and the security which it provides for their commerce, against the hazards ofthe sea, and the attacks of an enemy. Its water,fi climate, and vegetable productions, are so excellently adapted, particularly for scorbutic diseases, that many who have been sent to the hospital in the last stage of the scurvy, have, in the space of two weeks, been restored to perfect health. It is gene rally acknowledged, however, that the spirit of monopoly renders all the necessaries of life immoderately expensive, especially to strangers ; and that a more abundant supply of fruits and vegetables might be provided for the vessels which arrive in the roads, if it were not that the persons who raise these articles for sale prefer a high price to a large disposable crop ; and would rather, it is affirmed, al-' low them to rot, than sell them at a lower rate. Fresh beef; which, by a regulation of the government, is fixed at a cer tain rate, (of late years about 6d. or 60. per pound,) is the only kind of provisions which can be procured at a mode rate price. Other articles of food, in the year 1805, were purchased at the following prices, which vary, however, con siderably, according to the demand.
Strangers residing in the town can be accommodated in private houses, at the rate of thirty shillings, or one guinea a day, with an excellent table, good wines, and comfortable lodgings.
By the registered returns for the year 1805, the popula tion of St Helena, exclusive of the garrison and Company's civil establishment, amounted to 2064, of which number 504 were white inhabitants, and 1560 blacks : Of the latter, 329 were free. In 1814, the whole population, including
the garrison, which ought always to be about one thousand men, was estimated at 4000 souls. Upon an average of five years, from 1801 to 1805 inclusive, 165 ships touched annually at the island ; and in time of war, when fleets are detained for convoy, the crews and passengers frequently equal the whole amount of the population. No strangers are pct witted to settle on the island, without permission from the East India Company. It has been recommended to allow the soldiers, whose time of service may have ex pired, to remain as husbandmen ; and to import Chinese labourers, who might be bound to serve the Company in the first instance, but permitted to hire themselves to others when not required to work for government. No importa tion of slaves has been allowed for a long time ; and those who belong to the island, being generally treated with much kindness, arc rather increasing in number. The inhabi bitants arc in general a robust and healthy race, but rarely attain to a great age. The diseases to which they are sub ject, are principally of a catarrhal nature ; and yet it has been observed that the driest seasons are frequently the most unhealthy. The inhabitants of the town retire to their farms and gardens during the greater part of the year ; but, upon the arrival of the homeward bound India fleets, they flock with alacrity to the town, open their houses for the accommodation of the passengers, and entertain their guests with plays, dances, and concerts. They are a wor thy, humane, and cheerful race, of people, superficially ac complished, and sufficiently fond of gaiety. The young women are described-as very smart and agreeable in their manners. They are bold and expert riders, galloping up and down the most formidable precipices. Their complex ions are fine, and they are said to be very successful in pro -curing hasty matches among those who touch at the island, on their return from India. 'Most of the settlers, more re cently arrived from Europe, employ their capital rather in mercantile than in agricultural concerns ; and considerable gains are made among them by the sale of European, arti cles to the India fleets.
This extraordinary spot of ground, independent of its po litical and commercial advantages, may justly be regarded as a most interesting natural curiosity, and, notwithstanding all that has been written respecting it, there is still want ing a scientific survey, and accurate classification of its na tural history. But it has recently become a peculiar object of curiosity to the nations of Europe, in consequence of its having been selected as the prison of Napoleon Bonaparte ; and as there appears to be but one opinion as to the justice and policy of his detention, the principal point of enquiry generally relates to its adaptation for the security of his person. In addition to the almost inaccessible ramparts with which it has been provided by nature, its eminences are covered with telegraphs and watch towers; and its va rious fortifications defended by nearly 500 pieces of cannon, so that, with ordinary vigilance and a competent garrison, it may be pronounced impregnable by any external force. But though a rescue may he next to impossible, an escape is not accounted impracticable. There are various points on the coast, where one or two individuals, with a certain degree of naval assistance from without, (which the multi tude of fishing boats and ordinarily favourable state of the must tend to facilitate,) may, without much diffi culty, I -lye the island ; and instances have occurred to prove, that, even in an open boat, a run might be accom plished, with little hazard, to the island of Ascension, or even to the coast of Brazil. See Lord Valentia's Travels, vol. i. Forbes's Oriental Memoirs. Campbell's Travels in ?ifrita. Brooke's History of the island of St Helena.
Johnson's -*count of St Helena. Beatson's Tracts relative to the Island of St Helena. (q)