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Notes on the West Indies: written during the expedition under the command of the late General Sir R. Abercrombie: including observations on the Island of Barbadoes, &c.... likewise remarks relating to the Creoles and Slaves of the Western Colonies, and the Indians of South America

Rhodes House, Oxford. Goldsmiths' Library of Economic Literature, University of London. British Library. Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Kongelige Bibliotek, Danmark.

West Indies Travel Notes Expedition Barbados Dutch Guiana Demarara Slavery Colonies South America Caribbean

Dr Pinckard's observations on slavery in the Americas, made during his voyage to Barbados and Guiana as a naval surgeon in 1796, were cited by abolitionists such as Wilberforce and Clarkson, and mentioned in British parliamentary debates. The Notes on the West Indies describe plantation slavery in the Americas as generally an inefficient and uncivilised society, with repulsive aspects. Pinckard describes many plantations as happy and well-run, but he is also horrified by public sale and ill-treatment of slaves. Despite these inconsistencies, his detailed notes on the punishments inflicted on slaves became useful eye-witness statements for abolitionists in Europe.

Three volumes. Volumes II and III are also available online: II:http://www.archive.org/stream/notesonwestindi02pincgoog#page/n8/mode/2up III:http://www.archive.org/stream/notesonwestindi03pincgoog#page/n5/mode/2up See also an extract from Pinckard's Notes on the West Indies: Interesting narrative of a Negro sale at Demarara (London: C. Whittingham, 1806). This five-page abolitionist pamphlet calls Pinckard's book "a work well worthy the attention of the friends to the Abolition of the Slave Trade" (1).