1793-Jan.-20: The Royal Gazette in Kingston reported on the increasing frequency of “French-speaking black mariners” wandering the streets of the city.

1793-Jan.-20: The Royal Gazette in Kingston reported on the increasing frequency of “French-speaking black mariners” wandering the streets of the city. Jamaican authorities expressed grave concern that these sailors were acting as couriers for revolutionary propaganda from Saint-Domingue. Several arrests were made of individuals suspected of attempting to “seduce” local enslaved people with tales of the successes of the black army across the water. The presence of these mobile agents of information highlighted the porous nature of Caribbean maritime boundaries during the revolutionary era. This report underscored the failure of the “ideological quarantine” that the British had attempted to impose.