LETTER of the Minister to the Administrators, forbidding that nègres be taken from St-Domingue for the Spanish Colonies

I have seen, Sirs, by the letters written to me by MM. Coustard and de Bongars on 14 September last, that the Sieur Fromont, Procureur-gérant of M. the Comte de Mercy, had been able, under the permission granted to this Ambassador, to obtain only fifteen Black people at Jamaica, where he had paid very dearly for them, which came from his finding himself in competition with the Spanish, who buy Cargoes of Black people at the weight of gold. It appears, as has been observed, that this Nation has changed its system, and that, opening its eyes to the advantages of cultivation, it seeks to procure the means of making it flourish in its Colonies. However that may be, you must see, with the greatest attention, that no Black people are exported from Saint-Domingue to the Spanish Colonies, whether by our Vessels or by those of that Nation, to which you will nevertheless give free access for every other kind of Commerce.

During the war of 1778 considerable lots of Cargoes were bought at the Cap itself, for the Spanish Colonies, to the great disadvantage of St-Domingue, in every respect.