Letter received by Banks from Richard Shepherd, November 1806 (Series 20.61) - No. 0003

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about 20 miles northward vast quantities of hemp growing wild & of an excellent quality, as I was assured by a Person who saw the specimens he brought away with him.  But when my Lord St Helens had found means to accomodate our Differences with the Court of Petersburg, the Cultivation of Hemp was no longer thought of & that part of the Country remains in its former neglected State.  The people indeed seem to think they do not meet with all the encouragement & support  they are entitled to from the Mother Country whose indifference they attribute to an impression that the Colony may becoma a Province of the United States on our first rupture with that Country.  This much is certain, that the Americans are well aware of its local advantages & intrinsic value;  & that the present military force is in no respect adequate to the Defence of the Colony.

          But what has also tended lately to retard the Progress of Cultivation & general improvement is the  unpleasant situation of the present Governor, whose want of Prudence in his private Concerns has render'd  him less independant in public affairs than is compatible with the Interests of the Country;  which are further counteracted by the constant Opposition he meets with from the Assembly.  The Governor, I understand, has been long in expectations of receiving Permission to resign & is soliciting a Pension thro'  the interest of Lord Fitzwilliams.  In the mean time the Industry & enterprising spirit of the People will not suffer the Country to decline:  I wish I could say as much of my Bermudian Friends, whom I have now to introduce to your acquaintance, if I have not already exhausted your Patience by a tedious Account, in which your very extensive information will I fear have found little Novelty or Interest.