The causes, I believe, are two.

In the first place there is less difference between the sexes in mere physical strength and courage; and watching the average Negresses, one can well believe the stories of those terrible Amazonian guards of the King of Dahomey, whose boast is, that they are no longer women, but men.

There is no doubt that, in case of a rebellion, the black women of the West Indies would be as formidable, cutlass in hand, as the men.

The other cause is the exceeding ease with which, not merely food, but gay clothes and ornaments, can be procured by light labour.

The negro woman has no need to marry and make herself the slave of a man, in order to get a home and subsistence.