Concerning the West Indies, I can tell you in short that it is flooded with Negros, bondspeople of Europeans, who produce sugar, coffee, rum and other produce of warm climates, for their masters. The condition of these slaves (esclaves) is rather poor everywhere, while their lords lead their life in affluence. I would have never believed that Englishmen can treat people so cruelly had I not witnessed that on the isle of Antigua, where it was not uncommon to see poor blacks (arapov) used instead of horses.
Yuri F. Lisyansky, the second-in-command in the first Russian round-the-world voyage, writing home from an earlier journey to the West Indies (1795), where he nearly died of the yellow fever. Not exactly an example of the splinter-in-your-eye approach, but I am certain there were landowners in Russia at the time who would have no problem using their serfs as horses just for the fun of it.