Not only were these cut off as an incident of the war, entailing great embarrassment and suffering, which elicited vehement appeals from the planter community to the home government, but the American privateers preyed heavily upon the commerce of the islands, whose industries were thus smitten root and branch, import and export.

In 1776, salt food for whites and negroes had risen from 50 to 100 per cent, and corn, the chief support of the slaves,--the laboring class,--by 400 per cent.

At the same time sugar had fallen from 25 to 40 per cent in price, rum over 37 per cent.

The words "starvation" and "famine" were freely used in these representations, which were repeated in 1778.

Insurance rose to 23 per cent; and this, with actual losses by capture,[21] and by cessation of American trade, with consequent fall of prices, was estimated to give a total loss of L66 upon every L100 earned before the war.