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Title: Narrative, of a five years' expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam, in Guiana on the Wild Coast of South America; from the year 1772 to 1777..., Volume 2 of 2
Author: Bartolozzi, Francesco, Holloway, Thomas, Stedman, John Gabriel
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Narrative, of a five years' expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam, in Guiana on the Wild Coast of South America; from the year 1772 to 1777..., Volume 2 of 2" ***
EXPEDITION AGAINST THE REVOLTED NEGROES OF SURINAM, IN GUIANA ON THE
WILD COAST OF SOUTH AMERICA; FROM THE YEAR 1772 TO 1777..., VOLUME 2 OF
2 ***
NARRATIVE,
OF A FIVE YEARS’ EXPEDITION, AGAINST THE
REVOLTED NEGROES OF SURINAM,
in Guiana, on the Wild Coast of
South America;
from the year 1772, to 1777:
elucidating the History of that Country, and
describing its Productions, Viz.
Quadrupedes, Birds, Fishes, Reptiles, Trees, Shrubs, Fruits, & Roots;
with an account of the Indians of Guiana, & Negroes of Guinea.
By CAPTN. J. G. STEDMAN.
illustrated with 80 elegant Engravings, designed from nature,
by the Author.
——Vol. II.——
“O quantum terræ, quantum cognoscere cœli
Permissum est! pelagus quantos aperimus in usus!
Nunc forsan grave reris opus; sed læta recurret
Cum ratis, et carum cum jam mihi reddet Iolcon;
Quis pudor heu! nostros tibi tune audire labores!
Quam referam visas tua per suspiria gentes!”
Valerius Flaccus.
London. Printed for J. Johnson, St. Paul’s Church Yard, & J. Edwards,
Pall Mall, 1796.
CONTENTS.
CONTENTS of the SECOND VOLUME.
Chapter XVI. Page 1.
A Reinforcement of fresh Troops arrives from Holland—Encampment on
Mount Magdenberg, in Tempatee Creek—Remarkable Instance of Lunacy
in a Negro—Mountains—Beautiful Views—The Sick sent to Europe.
Chapter XVII. Page 25.
New Instances of unprecedented Barbarity—Occurrences on Mount
Magdenberg—Prices of Provisions at Paramaribo—Description of a new
Animal—Great Mortality amongst the Troops in Tempatee and Comewina
River.
Chapter XVIII. Page 48.
A Tyger taken in the Camp—Fatal Rencounter of a Party with the
Rebels, who killed several of the Troops, and forced the rest
back—Description of a Planter of Surinam—Contagious
Distempers—Suicide—Scene of primitive Nature.
Chapter XIX. Page 65.
The Troops march to Barbacoeba, in the River Cottica—Frenzy
Fever—Gratitude in an English Sailor—Description of the Government
of Surinam—Some Account of the Emigrant Americans during the late
War—Scene of unprecedented Generosity.
Chapter XX. Page 87.
A Rebel Negro described—Bush-fighting—Sentimental Expressions of
the African Blacks—The Town of Gado-Saby taken by Colonel
Fourgeoud—Superstition—Wonderful Expedients—Great Generalship in
the Enemy.
Chapter XXI. Page 118.
Spirited Conduct of the Rangers and Rebels—A Skirmish—Scene of
brotherly Affection—The Troops return to Barbacoeba—Plan of the
Field of Action—A Slave killed by the Oroocookoo Snake.
Chapter XXII. Page 137.
Alarm in the Pirica River—A Detachment marches to its
Relief—Ambuscade—Wonderful Effect from the Biting of a Bat—Scene in
a Quagmire—Sketch of the Inquisition and Return of the Troops to
Cormoetibo Creek.
Chapter XXIII. Page 160.
Second March to Gado-Saby—Account of a living Skeleton—Beautiful
Landscapes—The Commander in Chief falls sick, and leaves the
Camp—Some Rebels taken—Discourse on the Existence of Mermaids—Heavy
Rains—Disease—Famine—Misery.
Chapter XXIV. Page 185.
Two Volunteer Companies raised, of free Mulattoes and
Negroes—Description of the Arrowouka Indian Nation—Colonel
Fourgeoud’s Regiment receives Orders to sail for
Europe—Countermanded—Re-enter the Woods—Trade of the
Colony—Description of a Cacao Estate—Sample of Sable Heroism.
Chapter XXV. Page 216.
Singular Method of detecting a Theft—Rencounter between the Rangers
and Rebels—Amazonian Action of a black Girl—Wonderful Sagacity in
wild Bees—The Regiment receives a second Order to return to Europe.
Chapter XXVI. Page 241.
The Troops on Board—Again ordered to disembark—Great
Dejection—Mutiny—Insolent Conduct of an Owca Negro Captain—Near two
hundred Sick sent to Holland—General Description of the African
Negroes.
Chapter XXVII. Page 291.
The Rape of the Sabines—Shocking Execution, and African
Fortitude—Description of an Indigo Plantation—The Spanso Bocko, a
Punishment—The Troops again re-enter the Woods—The Expedition draws
to a Conclusion.
Chapter XXVIII. Page 314.
The Rebels fly for Protection to Cayenne—Third March to Gado-Saby—A
second Re-inforcement of Troops arrive from Holland—Shipwreck of
the Transport Paramaribo—March to Rio Comewina—Dismal Picture of
Distress and of Mortality—The Peace of the Colony restored.
Chapter XXIX. Page 345.
Some Account of a remarkable Negro—The Troops prepare for
Europe—Description of a Coffee Plantation—Plan of Reform for the
Increase of Population, and universal Happiness—One more Instance
of horrid Barbarity; and Example of Humanity—The Regiment embarks.
Chapter XXX. Page 381.
The Ships weigh Anchor, and put to Sea—Review of the Troops—Account
of the Voyage—The Arrival in the Texel—Description of the Pampus
near Amsterdam—Final Debarkation in the Town of Bois-le-Duc—The
Death of Colonel Fourgeoud—End of the Expedition—Short History of
the late Scotch Brigade—Conclusion.
NARRATIVE OF AN EXPEDITION TO SURINAM.
CHAP. XVI.
A Reinforcement of fresh Troops arrives from Holland—Encampment on
Mount Magdenberg, in Tempatee Creek—Remarkable Instance of Lunacy
in a Negro—Mountains—Beautiful Views—The Sick sent to Europe.
I now once more return to the principal object of my Journal, viz.
Fourgeoud’s military operations. I have before mentioned, that a supply
of fresh troops was expected to reinforce our decayed little army; and,
on the 30th of January, 1775, the news came to Paramaribo that the
transport ship Maastroom, Captain Eeg, was arrived in the river
Surinam, and come to an anchor before the fortress Amsterdam, with
Colonel Seyburgh and two divisions, consisting together of one hundred
and twenty men, under his command, two more divisions being expected.
The following day I went down with a row-boat to welcome them; and
having dined on board together, the ship weighed anchor, and I sailed
up with them till before the fortress Zelandia, where they moored, and
were saluted by a few guns. Among the officers, I with pleasure
recollected my old ship-mate, poor Ensign Hesseling, whom we had left
behind us on the Helder, according to every appearance dying of the
small-pox, when we sailed from the Texel, the 24th of December, 1772.
This young man, who now joined us with rank of second lieutenant, had
been peculiarly unfortunate since his recovery; for, soon after taking
a passage on board another ship for Surinam, the vessel encountered a
gale in the Bay of Biscay; when off Cape Finisterre, her
quarter-gallery and rudder were beat away; besides which she lost her
fore-mast and main-top-mast. In this dangerous condition, having the
wind against her for Lisbon, the vessel run with difficulty into
Plymouth. From this place Mr. Hesseling took a passage for France, on
board a small sloop loaded with coals, with which he had no better
success; for she ran, through the inadvertence of the master, on the
Caskets, which rocks went through her bottom, and she foundered
immediately. Before the vessel sunk, however, he had time to break open
his chest, and take out some linen and other necessaries, with which he
arrived in a crazy yaul at Brest. He now took shipping again for
Amsterdam, on board a Dutchman; but the master ran the ship a-ground,
and he had nearly been once more wrecked. Nevertheless he arrived safe
at the Texel, whence he had twice in vain attempted to set out for
South America; and on this last passage it blew so violently hard, that
all the boats, the sheep, the pigs, and the poultry, were washed
overboard. Till this date I had been the oldest officer in the corps,
excepting only Colonel Fourgeoud.
On the arrival of the troops, our commander invited them to a dinner,
which consisted of salt beef, pork, barley, and hard pease, of which I
had the honour to partake, to my no small amusement, when I observed
the significant looks which were directed by these newcomers on their
commander and his entertainment. In the evening we conducted them to
the play-house, where the death of Cæsar, and Crispin Doctor, were
performed, the one exactly as laughable as the other. I must however
confess, that I was better entertained the next day, when the governor
gave to all a superb dinner and supper, where the strangers seemed to
be as much surprised with the magnificence of the feast, as they had
been the day before amazed with Colonel Fourgeoud’s frugality.
Having met at this table with some excellent preserved fruits, among
which was the guava, I will embrace an opportunity which is barren of
incident to say something of it. The guaba, or guava-tree, grows to
about twenty-four feet high, with leaves like those of a plum-tree. It
is light-coloured, and the wood of little consequence; but the fruit,
which is yellow, oval, and about the size of a gold pippin, incloses a
reddish pulp, full of small seeds; the pulp is very sweet, and may be
eaten raw, or made into marmalade or jelly, and then it is delicious.
There are two species of guava; that which is the sweetest has the
smallest quantity of seeds.
On the 5th of February, the troops that were so lately landed were sent
to the upper parts of the river Comewina to be encamped. I speak of the
privates, for most of the officers remained to partake of a feast at
the house of a Mr. Mercellus; by whose command (to crown the banquet)
half a dozen negroes continued blowing the trumpet and French horn in
the room where we dined, till the company were absolutely deafened by
discordancy and noise.
On the 6th, the whole corps, without exception, received orders to
leave Paramaribo, and to encamp at Magdenberg, a mountain near the
Tempatee Creek, in the upper parts of the river Comewina, to which, as
I have just mentioned, the reinforcement was already dispatched.
Having, therefore, prepared myself to set out on my fourth campaign,
and taken leave of my little family and friends, I repaired to the
water side, to set out in the same barge with Colonel Seyburgh, but
who, erroneously supposing that the troops which came with him from
Holland were a distinct corps from those arrived with Fourgeoud in
1773, made the negroes shove off the boat in my presence, when I was
not a stone’s cast from it, and left me on the beach, to my utter
surprize and mortification. I knew Fourgeoud had swore that he should
“dance just as much to his pipes as the youngest ensign in the
regiment;” and in that he was perfectly right: I therefore strenuously
supported the chief against his antagonist, and setting off immediately
with another boat, soon overtook him, to his astonishment, when we all
went ashore at the plantation Vossenburgh, in the river Comewina. The
next day we came to the estate Arentrust, having passed the heavy
barges that departed from Paramaribo on the 5th; and on the 10th we
made the Hope, where having spent so many months, I here present the
reader with a view of that estate, and of the estate Clarenbeek, where
still our hospital was kept. This day Colonel Fourgeoud also came up
the river, and slept at Wajampibo.
On the 11th, we arrived at the plantation Crawassibo, where we passed
the night. Here the overseer, a Mr. De Bruyn, was so very impertinent,
that, as I already had no abundance of affection for the fraternity of
overseers, I gave him such a sound beating that, with a bloody face, he
suddenly decamped from the estate in a small canoe with one negro, and
in this trim, at twelve o’clock at night, like Banquo the ghost,
appeared before the amazed Fourgeoud; who thought proper to give him no
other consolation than to dismiss him with a hearty curse.
On the 12th we arrived safe at Magdenberg, viz. Fourgeoud, the
officers, and the barges with the privates. From the Hope, the estates
now began to appear thinner; and after passing Goet-Accord, about ten
or twelve miles farther upwards, not a cultivated spot was to be seen,
the plantations having been all laid in ashes by the rebels in 1757, as
I have already mentioned, a small place excepted, just below
Magdenberg, which is, I think, called the Jacob, and where a few
negroes are kept to cut timber. The river above Goet-accord becomes
very narrow, being lined on each side with impenetrable brush-wood,
like the river Cottica, between Devil’s-Harwar and Patamaca; and the
Tempatee Creek, which may be considered as the source of the whole
river Comewina, becomes also much narrower. Magdenberg, which is about
a hundred miles from Paramaribo, was formerly an estate, but has now
not a vestige of cultivation left, a poor old orange-tree excepted, and
is at present neither more or less than a barren desolate mountain.
Here we found the surface of the earth in some places covered with a
kind of strata, that had the appearance of mother-of-pearl, and lay
scattered in small scales, about the size of an English shilling. In
many places of Surinam are found the marks of fossils and ores, as I
have already hinted. Indeed, iron ore is common, and I have no doubt
but gold and silver mines might be met with if the Dutch would be at
the expence, and persevere in making the discovery. I have already
mentioned the Marawina diamond, and white and red agate, which are
often seen in the upper parts of the river Surinam. On this mountain we
also found the air cooler and more pure, and of course more healthy
than in any other part of the colony.
On the 17th the news reached us, that the transport ship, the Maria
Helena, with the remaining two divisions of one hundred and twenty men,
commanded by Captain Hamel, had also arrived in the river Surinam on
the 14th instant. Thus the reinforcements together consisted of two
hundred and forty men, and, on the 5th day of March, they all arrived
in heavy barges at Magdenberg, where I may now say that Colonel
Fourgeoud’s whole forces were assembled. The same day one hundred negro
slaves also arrived, to carry the loads when we should march. One of
the new negroes being missed from on board a military barge, and marks
of blood discovered in it, the commanding officer, a Mr. Chatteauview,
and a sentinel, were both put under an arrest to be tried for murder.
On the same eventful day also, two of our captains fought a duel, in
which one of them received a wound in his forehead.
On the 13th, a barge with provisions, coming from Paramaribo (shocking
to relate!) found the negro that was missed on the 5th at the water’s
edge, lying in the brushwood, with his throat cut from ear to ear, but
still alive, the knife having missed the wind-pipe. This miserable
apparition of skin and bone they took on board, and brought to
Magdenberg, where, by a skilful surgeon, Mr. Knolaert, the wound was
sewed up, and the man surprisingly recovered, having lain nine days in
that dreadful condition without any subsistence or covering whatever,
and weltering in his own blood, even without a bandage. The week after
I had nearly lost my own life by an accident. Two negroes of the estate
Goet-Accord being employed in hunting and fishing for Fourgeoud, one of
them, named Philander, proposed to me to accompany them in the wood,
where we might chance to meet with some pingoes, or powesa; but a heavy
shower of rain coming on, when we had only walked two miles, we
determined to relinquish the project, and repair to the small spot
called the Jacob for shelter, to gain which we were obliged to pass
through a deep marsh. Having waded till up to our arm-pits, Philander,
who was the finest man without exception that I ever saw, began to
swim, as did his companion, with one hand, holding their fowling pieces
above the water with the other, and desired me to follow them. This I
tried, having nothing on but my shirt and trowsers; when, after
swimming two or three strokes, I sunk to the bottom like a stone, with
the weight of my musquet; but relinquishing it, I immediately rose to
the surface, and begged that Philander would dive for it; who having
secured his own to a mangrove, brought it up without difficulty. At
this moment a thundering voice called out through the thicket,—“Who
somma datty? and another sooto sooto da Bonny kiry da dago? Who is
that? Who is there? Fire! shoot! it is Bonny, kill the dog!”—and
looking up, we saw the muzzles of six musquets presented upon us at a
very little distance indeed. I instantly dived, but Philander answering
that we belonged to Magdenberg, we were permitted to come on shore one
by one at the Jacob, and found that these trusty negro slaves, having
heard a flouncing in the water, and seeing three armed men in the
marsh, took it for granted that the rebels were coming, headed by Bonny
himself, for whom they had mistaken me, being almost naked and so much
sun-burnt; besides my hair, which was short and curly, I entirely
resembled a mulatto. Being refreshed with some rum, and having dried
ourselves by a good fire, we now returned back to the Magdenberg, where
I congratulated myself on my escape.
On the 19th, Colonel Fourgeoud being now supplied with fresh troops,
sent a whole ship load of invalids to Holland, who sailed this day; and
on February the 26th, my dear friend Heneman also sailed for Holland,
in an extremely debilitated state.
Among the troops which sailed at the same time with Heneman were
several officers, not very sick, but justly disheartened and disgusted
at Fourgeoud’s injustice, in having stopped their preferment, as I have
intimated in the end of the tenth chapter; while they now saw
themselves superseded by raw youths, who were at school at the time
they were serving the colony in 1772. With this vessel sailed also the
officers whom he had put under an arrest, the 16th December, 1774.
Never was an hospital ship so ill provided with refreshments.
On the 21st, Fourgeoud reviewed with pleasure his recruited little
army, where I was sorry the rangers did not appear. He now dispatched
one hundred men as a patrole to reconnoitre the skirts of his new
encampment, of which number I had the honour to be one. During this
time nothing remarkable happened, except meeting with a large company
of quatas, which being one of the most remarkable species of monkies in
the world, from their affinity to the human race, I cannot tacitly pass
over. One evening walking with my black boy Quaco without the camp,
they came down so low to look at us, and threw small sticks and
excrements at us, that we stopped, and I had an opportunity thoroughly
to examine them. The quata, or quato, is very large, with an enormous
tail: their arms and legs being covered over with long black hair, they
make a very hideous appearance indeed; the more so, as the creature’s
face is quite naked and red, with deep sunk eyes, which gives it much
the appearance of an old Indian woman. It has short ears, and only four
fingers without a thumb on its hands or fore feet, but it has five toes
on the hinder feet, all of which have black nails. The extremity of its
tail has a spiral turn inwardly; it is naked and callous, by its
frequently hanging to the branches of the trees; for when so employed,
it serves the animal as a fifth limb. Most wonderful is the agility of
these monkies in swinging from one tree to another, but I never saw
them leap. Their throwing short sticks and excrements seems to be no
more than a mimicking of the human actions without any purpose, as they
neither have strength to throw far, nor dexterity to hit their objects,
and if they befoul them it is by accident only. But what appears
peculiarly remarkable is, that when one is hurt by a musket or arrow,
the poor animal instantly claps its hand on the wound, looks at the
blood, and with the most piteous lamentations ascends to the very top
of the tree, in which he is assisted by his companions; where, hanging
by the tail, he continues to bewail his fate, till by the loss of blood
he grows totally faint, and drops down dead at the feet of his
adversaries.
It is not so extraordinary that one of this species, when wounded,
should be assisted by his companions in climbing; but that they should
have so much knowledge in botany, as to procure vulnerary herbs, and
chew and apply them to the wound, is what I cannot credit, though it is
so confidently asserted by a late traveller: and as to the assistance
they give in passing a river, by holding each other’s tails, and
swinging till the lowermost is thrown up to the branch of a high tree,
though I have a great opinion of Ulloa, who relates it, and has given a
print of it in a vignette; since he does not say he saw it himself, I
must take the liberty to doubt this fact [1], and even what he says he
witnessed.
I must here mention another monkey that I saw at Colonel Fourgeoud’s
house, which is in Surinam called the wanacoe, and is covered over with
long black hair, like the quato; but its limbs are shorter and more
hairy, and its face is a kind of dirty white. This monkey is the only
one of the species that is not sociable, being constantly found alone;
and so despicable is this solitary animal, that he is continually
beaten and robbed of his food by all the others, from whom he is too
lazy to escape, though too cowardly to fight.
Of the long-haired monkies, the saccawinkee is the smallest; indeed, I
may say of all the monkies in Guiana, if not in the world, being not
much larger than a Norway rat.
This is a beautiful little animal, with blackish grey frizzled hair, a
white face, and very bright shining eyes; its ears are large and naked,
yet they are not very perceptible, being covered by the very long and
white whiskers that grow round the whole visage of this little
creature: its feet are not unlike those of a squirrel, and its tail is
bushy and annulated. So very delicate is the saccawinkee, and so
sensible of the cold, that scarcely one of them is brought to Europe
alive, and if they are they very soon pine and die. The Dutch call them
the shagarintee, from their being chagrined at the smallest trifle. In
the annexed plate, I have delineated both those monkies, the large
quato, and the small saccawinkee, thus endeavouring to correct with my
pencil the deficiency of my pen.
On my return to the Magdenberg, I narrowly escaped being crushed to
death by an enormous tree, which dropped by age just at my feet. These
accidents frequently happen in the forest; this, however, only slightly
wounded two or three of our marines. During this trip we had much rain,
and were obliged to cross over a small creek. We cut down one of the
palm-trees on the water’s edge, which falling across the river formed a
temporary bridge.
I now paid a visit to the miserable negro who had been found with his
throat cut, and who was so well as to be able to converse; when he
declared to me, that he committed this violent action with his own
hand. The suspected officer and sentinel were, therefore, instantly
acquitted. I asked him by what reason he had been incited to suicide?
and he answered—“None.”
“I have,” said he, “as good a master and mistress as I could wish, and
a family of my own that I much love: I had slept sound during the whole
night till about four o’clock in the morning, when awaking I took my
knife to pick my teeth with it, and instantaneously cut my throat
without knowing why; but the moment after repented of what I had done.
I then rose from my hammock and got into the canoe to wash myself, and
try to bind up the wound, but stooping over the side and bleeding very
fast, I turned faint and fell into the river. I was now no more able to
get on board, or to cry for assistance. However, by struggling, I made
shift to get on shore, where I fell down and lay helpless, till I was
picked up by a boat going to Magdenberg; during all which time of nine
days I had my perfect senses, and saw a tamanoir or ant-bear come to
smell the putrid blood about my neck, who, on seeing me move, retired
into the forest.”
I gave the poor man some Boston biscuits which I had got from
Paramaribo, a large calibash with barley to make him some soup, and
also some wine. This negro appeared to be about sixty years of age.
I now to my sorrow received a letter from Mr. Kennedy, who was
preparing to visit Holland, requesting that my boy Quaco might be
returned to his estate. I accordingly sent him down with a letter,
offering to buy him of his master as soon as it should be in my power
to pay him.
On the 2d of April, Colonel Fourgeoud ordered all the sick remaining in
the colony to Magdenberg, where he had erected an hospital and a large
victualling magazine. Thus all the invalids from Clarenbeck arrived
here, with surgeons, apothecaries, attendants, &c.: and here, in fact,
as I said, the air was more healthy. At this period the old gentleman
was particularly ill-natured, and abused both friend and foe without
distinction; swearing, that not a soul should be exempt from duty,
provided they could but stand on their legs. About this time a strong
detachment was sent to the estate Bruyinsburgh in Comewina, where an
insurrection was expected, the slaves refusing to work upon a Sunday;
to which, however, they were driven by the lash of the whip.
It was now in the midst of the rainy season, that Fourgeoud declared
his intention of scouring the woods; and, in consequence, gave orders
for two strong columns to march the next day. The reason for chusing
this season was, that if he could now dislodge the rebels they must
starve for want, which would not be the case in the dry months, for
then the forest abounds with fruits and roots of many kinds. This was,
however, in my opinion, a false piece of generalship; if it be
considered on the other hand, the dreadful havock which the wet weather
must produce among his troops, of which he killed, I suppose, at the
rate of twenty to one rebel negro.
Fourgeoud was himself of a very strong constitution, having been used
to hunting and shooting the whole of his life-time: to which he added
temperance, and the daily use of his beloved ptisan.
His dress consisted of nothing but a waistcoat, through one of the
button-holes of which he wore his sword: on his head he wore a cotton
night-cap, with a white beaver hat above it, and in his hand a cane;
but he seldom carried his musket or his pistols. I have seen him all in
rags and bare-footed, like the meanest soldier.
On the morning of the 3d of April, at six o’clock, the two columns set
out upon their march, the one commanded by Colonel Seyburg, the other
by Fourgeoud; to which last I had the honour to belong. Our poor men
were now loaded like asses. They were ordered to put their fire-locks
in their knapsacks, of course the muzzles excepted: this was to keep
them from the rain, which absolutely poured in torrents. Our course was
south by east, up among the banks of the Tempatee Creek, where we soon
came to swamps, and were marching in the water above our knees.
During the first day’s march we met some very pretty squirrels, which
are of several kinds in this country. Those that we saw were brown,
with the belly white, the tail not so bushy; nor were they, upon the
whole, so large as those of Europe. There are also white squirrels in
this country with red eyes, and flying squirrels. These, it is well
known, have no wings, but a membrane between the fore and hinder leg,
being a part of their skin, which, when they leap, expands like the
wing of a bat, and by this, like a parachute, they rest upon the air,
and in their flights are carried to a considerable distance.
On the 4th of April we marched again, our course south by east, till
two o’clock, when we changed our course to south-south-west.
This day we passed by piles of fine timber, that were left there to rot
since 1757, when the estates were demolished by the negro slaves who
were in rebellion. Among these were the purple-heart-tree, the
iron-wood-tree, and the bourracourra, known in England by the name of
Brazil.
The purple-heart-tree grows sometimes to the height of fourscore feet,
and thick in proportion, with a smooth dark brown bark; the wood is of
a beautiful purple colour and an agreeable smell, and is much esteemed
on account of its weight and durability.
The iron-wood-tree, so called from the gravity and permanent quality of
its timber, grows to about sixty feet in height, with a light-coloured
bark. It is much valued by the natives as well as the Europeans, on
account of its hardness in particular (resisting even the hatchet), and
for taking a most beautiful bright polish. This wood sinks in water.
The bourracourra, or brazil, grows to between thirty and forty feet
high, but not very thick, with a reddish bark. The heart only of this
tree is valuable, after the white pithy part is cut away, though then
it is much diminished. This wood is as truly beautiful as it is useful,
the colour being a fine crimson, variegated with irregular and
fantastical black spots, from which, by the French, it is called bois
de lettres. It is heavy, hard, and durable, though rather brittle, and
is capable of taking the brightest polish; this last is scarce in
Guiana, but the others are more plentiful, growing on the highest
grounds; where also is found ebony. The heavy trees, being shaped into
timbers for sugar-mills, are chiefly sent to the English West India
islands, and often sold for the price of fifty guineas each piece.
The word of command being again given on the 5th, we unslung our
hammocks, then marched south-south-east, and south by east, through
deep and dangerous marshes up to our breasts in water, and in very
heavy rains; in which helpless situation we were suddenly alarmed, not
by a party of rebels, but by a company of large monkies, which we
discovered in the tops of the trees, knocking a kind of nuts against
the branches to break them for their contents, with the greatest
regularity, as it were keeping time alternately at every stroke, while
some of them threw down their burthens; and a nut falling from a
considerable height, broke the head of one of our marines. The sound of
breaking these nuts, we had mistaken for the rebel negroes cutting wood
with an axe.
In the evening we encamped near the Tempatee Creek; where we made large
fires, and built comfortable huts; thus this night we slept protected
from the wet. Here we found the best water I ever tasted: and in the
camp I saw two remarkable lizards, the one called the devil of the
woods, and the other agama, in this country. The first is an ugly small
lizard of a deep brown or blackish colour, which runs with amazing
swiftness up and down the trees; it has no scales, a large head, and it
is said to bite, which is supposed to be an uncommon property in a
lizard. The other is called the Mexican cameleon, which is remarkably
splendid; and, like others of the kind, is endued with the property of
changing its colour; but of its nature and qualities I can say little
more, having never had the opportunity of a close examination. In
Surinam there is also a species of lizard, known by the name of
salamander, which also I never saw.
On the 6th we marched again, keeping due west till twelve o’clock,
through very heavy rain and deep water; when we changed our course to
the north, and passed over very high mountains, by many supposed to be
pregnant with treasure.
“Rocks rich with gems, and mountains bright with mines,
That on the high equator ridgy rise;
Where many a bursting stream auriferous plays:
Majestic woods of every vigorous green,
Stage above stage high waving o’er the hills.”
Thomson.
The two highest mountains in South America, are that peak of the Andes
called Chimborazo, which measures 20,460 geometrical feet above the
surface of the South Sea; having, though under the line, 4000 feet of
its summit continually covered with snow. The other is that, on the
slope of which is built the city of Quito, at the height of 9,370 feet,
and is thought to be the highest inhabited land in South America, if
not in the world.
We still continued marching north, on the 7th, over mountains, from
which, at intervals, we had undoubtedly the most enchanting prospects,
as well from the wildness of the country, as the beautiful variegated
verdure displayed in so many different shades through this amazing
forest. Here I saw a bird which is called a woodcock, which appears to
have much of the colour of those in Europe, but which flew very
heavily; I was however informed, that it can run with incredible
swiftness. But the objects which most attracted my attention were the
arnotta-trees, a few of which we met with: of these I have copied one
of the twigs with great exactness. This tree, which is also called the
rowcow, or the orlean-tree, and by the Indians cossowee, may rather be
stiled a shrub, as it does not grow above twelve feet in height. The
leaves are greener on one side than the other, and are divided by
fibres of a reddish brown colour, as is also the stem; the pods, which
are as large as a small hen’s egg, are bristled like the outer husk of
a chesnut. At first they are a beautiful rose colour, which, as they
ripen, changes to a dark brown, when they burst open and display a rich
crimson pulp, in which are contained seeds that are black, like those
of a grape. The use of this pulp I have already described, when
speaking of the Aborigines or Indians; and now I present the reader
with a view of it, though from necessity on a small scale:—A is the
leaf above; B the same below; C the pod before it is yet ripe; D the
same ripe, and exposing the crimson pulp; E the black seed covered over
with part of the pulp. Here again I must take the liberty to observe,
that the rowcow plant, exhibited by the celebrated Madam Merian, is
very unlike the original that I saw; and to my great surprize she says
it grows on a large tree.
Having crossed an arm of the Mapanee Creek in the evening, we once more
returned to our camp at Magdenberg; Mr. Noot, one of our officers, and
several others, were so ill, that they were carried in their hammocks
upon poles by the negro slaves, and a great number were so very weak
that they could scarcely support the weight of their emaciated bodies;
but to complain of sickness was to mutiny, till they dropped down
almost ready to expire. During this expedition, in which we still
perceived nothing of the enemy, I was remarkably fortunate, having
neither suffered by fatigue, nor been persecuted by extraordinary bad
usage. The succeeding day Colonel Seyburg’s column arrived, having,
like us, seen no appearance of the rebels.
On the 9th, my boy Quaco returned from Paramaribo; his master, Mr.
Walter Kennedy, having, to my great joy, sold him to me for the sum of
five hundred Dutch florins, amounting with the expences to near fifty
pounds, for which Colonel Fourgeoud very civilly gave me a bill on his
agent. The payment of this faithful servant’s ransom, of course revived
my impatience for the long-wished moment of emancipation of my poor
Joanna and her boy; from whose new master I had not yet received any
answer.
While we continued here, a negro brought me a beautiful butterfly,
which I copied with all the correctness I was master of; and which I
saw since in Madam Merian’s collection, where it is coloured very ill.
This fly was a dark blue tinged with green, and variegated with spots
like a peacock’s feather, and on each wing it had a spot of pale
yellow; the under part of the wings were a charming crimson and purple;
the body a pale red.—The caterpillar is green and yellow; it is crowned
with eight horns on the head, and has two on the tail. About the same
time Captain Fredericy returned also from traversing the woods. He had
a corporal drowned by slipping off a tree in crossing over a creek;
which accident frequently happened, but the men were generally picked
up, except this poor fellow, who sunk to the bottom instantly with all
his accoutrements.
Another negro also brought me a regale of groe-groe, or cabbage-tree
worms, as they are called in Surinam.
This reptile is produced in a tree called the mountain-cabbage-tree,
which is one of the palm species. The worm grows to the size and
thickness of a man’s thumb, is produced from the spawn of a black
beetle, and is extremely fat. However disgusting to appearance, these
worms are a delicious treat to many people, and they are regularly sold
at Paramaribo. The manner of dressing them, is by frying them in a pan
with a very little butter and salt, or spitting them on a wooden
skewer. In taste they partake of all the spices of India, as mace,
cinnamon, cloves, nutmegs, &c. Several species of these worms are
produced in all the palm-trees when beginning to rot, but some are
larger than others. They are all of a pale yellow colour, with black
heads. In the plate annexed are represented the above-mentioned fine
butterfly, and the cabbage-tree-worm, both of the natural size, taken
from the life. By the Indians and negroes they are called toecoema.
On the 13th, a detachment departed for La Rochelle in Patamaca, and the
following day a captain was sent with a few men back to the Hope, in
Comewina, to protect the estates in that river.
On the same day, the miserable old negro who had cut his throat on the
5th day of March, but had since recovered, was seen by some slaves to
enter the wood with a knife, from which he no more returned, being soon
after found stabbed to death. We were afterwards informed by his
master, that for some time before he had attempted to do the same
almost regularly from month to month.
On the 17th, the detachment returned from La Rochelle, where the troops
of the Society were all sick.
Colonel Fourgeoud now treated me with the greatest politeness. And at
his earnest request I presented him, on the 20th, with various
drawings, representing himself and his troops struggling with the
hardships annexed to the service they were sent on; and which drawings
he told me were intended to shew the Prince of Orange and the States a
specimen of what he and his marines did undergo in the forests of
Guiana.
He now gave me leave, for fourteen days, to go to town to wish Mr.
Kennedy a prosperous voyage to Europe. Availing myself therefore of his
good humour, I left Magdenberg within one hour, and made such dispatch
that I came to Paramaribo on the 22d, where I found my friends and
little family all well, at the house of Mr. de la Mare, to which they
were immediately sent from that of Mr. Lolkens, who had, during my last
absence, entertained them, and treated them with the greatest attention
and hospitality.
CHAP. XVII.
New Instances of unprecedented Barbarity—Occurrences on Mount
Magdenberg—Prices of Provisions at Paramaribo—Description of a new
Animal—Great Mortality amongst the Troops in Tempatee and Comewina
River.
The first visit I now made was to Mr. Kennedy, to bid him farewel; I
then paid five hundred florins for the black boy, for which he gave me
a receipt, and Quaco was mine. About this time I fell ill with a fever,
which however lasted but a few days. Walking out on the 1st of May, I
observed a croud of people along the water-side, before the house of
Mr. S—lk—r, where appeared the dreadful spectacle of a beautiful young
mulatto girl, floating on her back, with her hands tied behind, her
throat most shockingly cut, and stabbed in the breast with a knife in
more than eight or ten different places. This was reported to have been
the work of that infernal fiend, Mrs. S—lk—r, from a motive of
jealousy, suspecting that her husband might fall in love with this poor
unfortunate female. This monster of a woman had before drowned a negro
infant merely for crying, as I have said; nay, she was accused of still
greater barbarity, were greater barbarity possible. Arriving one day at
her estate to view some negroes newly purchased, her eye chanced to
fall on a fine negro girl about fifteen years of age, who could not
even speak the language of the country. Observing her to be a
remarkably fine figure, with a sweet engaging countenance, her
diabolical jealousy instantly prompted her to burn the girl’s cheeks,
mouth, and forehead with a red-hot iron; she also cut the tendon
Achilles of one of her legs, thus rendering her a monster of deformity,
and a miserable object as long as she lived: the poor victim not
knowing what she had done to deserve so severe a punishment.
Some of the negroes now representing to this lady the many cruelties
she daily inflicted, and supplicating her to be of a milder
disposition; it was reported that she instantly knocked out the brains
of a Quaderoon child, and caused the heads of two young negroes, its
relations, to be chopped off, for having endeavoured to prevent her;
these heads, when she had left the estate, were tied in silk
handkerchiefs, and carried by the surviving relations to Paramaribo,
where they were laid at the feet of the governor, with the following
speech:
“This, your Excellency, is the head of my son, and this is the head of
my brother, struck off by our mistress’s command, for endeavouring to
prevent her murders. We know our evidence is nothing in a state of
slavery; but, if these bloody heads be a sufficient proof of what we
say, we only beg that such pernicious acts may be prevented in time to
come; in acknowledgment of which we will all chearfully shed our blood
for the preservation and prosperity of our master, our mistress, and
the colony.”
To this humble and pathetic remonstrance the answer was, that they were
all liars, and should, as such, be flogged round the streets of
Paramaribo; and this most iniquitous sentence was executed with the
greatest severity.
Such is the consequence of the law of the colony, that the testimony of
a negro is never to be taken. Had any one white person been present at
the above carnage, the evidence would have been good, but even then
this fury would have escaped by paying a fine of fifty pounds for each
murder.—But enough—my soul sinks within me while I dwell so long upon
the subject.
On the 2d of May, being again perfectly recovered, I took leave of
Joanna and her Johnny, for thus he was named after myself, though the
ceremony of baptism could not yet be performed; they now continued at
my friend De la Mare’s house, whilst I set out once more for Magdenberg
in a tent-boat with six oars.
On the 3d, I called at Egmond, on my French friend Monsieur Cachelieu,
and next day stopt at Oranjebo or Ornamibo, where I was heartily
entertained by my old adversary Captain Meyland, with whom I had fought
at the Wana Creek. But now this gentleman declared, that he loved me
better than any man in the colony. He was just returned from a twelve
days cruize through the woods.
Among his men I recollected one Cordus, a gentleman’s son from
Hamburgh, in which character I had known him, and who had been
trepanned into the West India Company’s service by the crimps or
silver-coopers as a common soldier. This corps, as I have already said,
is composed of all nations, Christians, Gentiles, and even Jews; the
latter, I must observe, devoured pork and bacon, without scruple or
hesitation, as often as they could find it.
On this spot, which had formerly been a plantation, but was now choked
with weeds, I met with some herbs which again I cannot pass unnoticed,
though I have no other names for them than those given me by the
negroes, one only excepted, which is commonly known by the name of the
Siliqua hirsulæ, cow-edge, or cow-itch, and called by the black people
crassy-weeree-weeree. I can only describe this as a kind of pea, or
rather flattish small purple bean, growing in a pod from a slender
creeping vine; these pods are covered with a kind of fine elastic
spicula, which, when touched, cause an intolerable itching. This hairy
coat scraped from the pod, and taken in a tea-spoon with jelly, &c. has
been strongly recommended as a vermifuge. A sort of wood was also shewn
me here by one of the slaves, which he called crassy-wood; this had the
same itching effect when touched, but with respect to its general
qualities I can say nothing further. The other shrubs that we found
were what they called consaca-weeree-weeree; these grow with large
green leaves, which the negroes use for the cure of a disorder in the
feet called consaca, when they can procure no limes or lemons, as I
have already mentioned: this plant also makes an excellent sallad. The
dea-weeree-weeree is a fine wholesome herb, and very much esteemed; but
the cutty-weeree-weeree is amongst the most serious pests in the
colony, being a kind of strong edged grass, which is in some places
very plentiful; and when a man walks through it will cut his legs like
a razor. Herbs in general are in this country known by the name of
weeree-weeree by the negroes.
On the 5th, I arrived at Magdenberg. Here Colonel Seyburg, and what he
called his officers, seemed to form a distinct corps from those of
Fourgeoud. They appeared totally destitute of politeness, and treated
each other with the greatest rudeness, while their colonel was most
cordially hated by the commander in chief. This state of things
contributed to render our situation still more disagreeable: I however
had at this time little reason to complain, being for the present, at
least, in the good graces of Fourgeoud, which, by a trifling accident,
I had nearly again forfeited. Colonel Fourgeoud having purchased of
some Indians a couple of most beautiful parrots, called here cocatoos,
which were in a cage ready to be shipped off as a present to her royal
highness the princess of Orange, I persuaded Monsieur Laurant, his
valet-de-chambre, to take one of them out, that I might the better
examine it, but the cage-door was no sooner opened, than it gave a
shriek, and disappeared in an instant, flying over the Tempatee Creek.
The poor valet stood perfectly petrified, and could only pronounce
“Voyez-vous?” whilst I took to my heels to avoid the approaching storm,
but stopped near enough to observe Fourgeoud’s motions through the
underwood. He was no sooner informed of the dreadful accident, than he
began to storm, swear, and dance like a man totally deprived of reason;
he next, by kicking it, killed a poor waddling duck belonging to one of
our officers; and at last actually trampled his very wig under his
feet, while I stood trembling, and the rest of the spectators were
laughing aloud. In about half an hour his passion began gradually to
cool, and then he had recourse to a stratagem which actually brought
the parrot back into his possession. He placed the remaining captive on
the top of its cage, tied by a small cord round its claw; this he set
in the open air, putting a ripe banana inside, and leaving the door
open, so that any other bird except the prisoner might come at it; the
poor captive at last becoming very hungry, made such a noise and
shrieking as to be heard by his mate, who returning entered the cage in
quest of food, and was once more deprived of his freedom. I now
ventured from my concealment, and was acquitted after a gentle reproof;
though poor Laurant, as may well be imagined, did not escape without a
thundering lecture.
The cocatoos are less than the parrots, and of a green colour, except
the head and a few feathers in the tail, which are of a pale red. This
bird is crowned with a panashe or bunch of feathers, and which
generally lie backward, but which it erects at pleasure, when it is
irritated or afraid.
I have also seen in Surinam a parrot of a deep slate blue colour,
though not like those that come from the coast of Guinea, which are
rather of a lead-grey. This parrot is said to be very scarce, and only
inhabits the deepest recesses of the forest, whence it is brought to
Paramaribo by the Indians: this bird is less than the common parrot,
but appears very strong and lively. The most common parrots in Guiana
are those which Marcgrave calls ajurucura. These birds are not so large
as those that come from Africa; they are green, with the breast and
belly a pale yellow; on the top of the head they have a blue spot, and
the feet are grey, with four toes like the rest of the genus, two
before and two behind; in the wings they have some feathers of a bright
blue, and some a deep crimson; they are more a nuisance than a pleasure
in Surinam, where, in prodigious flocks, they perch amongst the coffee,
maize, rice, &c. and commit great devastations; and what makes them a
still greater nuisance, their shrieking noise is almost insupportable.
They always fly in pairs, and very swift, towards the east, as I have
observed, meeting the sun in the morning, and toward the west they
follow it in the evening: they generally breed in remote places and lay
two eggs. I brought down two of these parrots at a shot when I was at
Sporksgift estate; these animals not being quite dead, scratched me
most terribly with their sharp claws, as they are very strong and
tenacious of life. We had them dressed, and they made no bad soup; they
may also do in a pye as rooks in England, but dressed in any other way
they are tough and disagreeable. These green parrots may be taught to
speak, laugh, cry, bark, whistle, or mew, but not near so well as those
which come from Africa. It is said, they are often intoxicated by the
seeds of the cotton plant. These parrots are also subject to fits,
perhaps from their choleric disposition, yet longevity is peculiarly
ascribed to them by the Indians: they have strong hooked bills, which
assist them in climbing and cracking very hard nuts, and they sometimes
bite very severely; they delight in swinging and balancing, hanging
from the branches of trees, and in their wild as well as domestic state
use one of their claws as a hand to take their food.
In Surinam there are also some beautiful paroquets, which are a species
of parrots, but smaller though not less common; the finest of these is
of the size of a very small pigeon; they are of a lively green on the
back and tail, but the head and neck are auburn, the feathers on the
last being edged with a gold colour, which gives them the appearance of
rich scollops or scales: the breast is of a leaden hue, the belly
lilac, the wings tipped with orange and azure, and the bill of a very
dark blue; the eyes are the colour of fire, and the feet quite black.
The other species are perfectly green, with a white bill, and a crimson
spot on the head; these make an agreeable chattering, but are not so
easily domesticated as the former.
I was presented this evening by a soldier with a bird of a quite
different kind, which he had actually caught with his hands. This was
no other than the annamoe, or Surinam partridge, and a finer creature I
never saw: it was of the size of a large duck, extremely fat, and of a
dark brown colour on the back and wings, and on the top of the head,
the under part of which, the breast, the belly, and the thighs, were of
a fine cream-colour, intermixed with orange feathers and very small
transverse black bars. The body was exactly the shape of an egg, it had
no tail, the neck was long, the bill short, but very sharp-pointed, and
a little curved; the eyes were bright, and as black as jet; the legs
short, of the colour of vermilion, with three small toes on each foot.
This bird, it is said, runs with amazing swiftness, hiding itself
amongst the grass and weeds, but flies very heavily on account of its
plumpness, which was the cause of its being thus overtaken by the
marine. We had it roasted, and indeed nothing could be more delicious.
As I took a correct drawing of it, I refer the reader to the annexed
plate; where he may also see the parrot of South America, as described
above, besides a few curious nests, of which I have given an account in
Vol. I. p. 375, but where I had no opportunity of placing them; and
which, besides their curiosity, may serve to shew how much the public
are imposed upon; when, in Goldsmith’s Animated Nature, Vol. V. p. 253,
that author asserts, that they are built on the banana and plantain
trees, where he also describes the monkies, and numbers of large
serpents as assembling. All this I here think it my duty to pronounce
erroneous, as I consider it would be unpardonable in me to let such
absurdities pass by unnoticed.
On the 9th, an accident had nearly befallen me, which must have caused
me much poignant and lasting sorrow. My black boy, washing my cotton
hammock in the Tempatee Creek, was suddenly carried to the bottom by
the rapidity of the stream, and entangled in its lashings, so that both
the one and the other disappeared; the boy, however, luckily extricated
himself, though with great difficulty, and to my great joy, though more
than half drowned, appeared once more on terra firma; when he had the
presence of mind instantly to sink a large fish-hook, with a lead tied
to a strong line, some yards below the spot, with which he actually
brought up the hammock, to our astonishment, the stream running so
swift that it rolled over the ground, and was liable to shift its
station every moment.
The following day, as Captain Hamel was angling, his tackle got fast at
the bottom of the creek, when, in diving to clear it, I struck my ancle
with such violence against a rock, that it was several months before it
was perfectly recovered.
These accidents appeared greatly to entertain Colonel Seyburg, while in
return I could not help feeling a degree of indignation at what I
considered as unhandsome behaviour; but the most extraordinary
circumstance was, that this disgust between Seyburg and myself seemed
to gain me the favour of old Fourgeoud, almost as much as if I had
destroyed half the rebel negroes in the colony.—During all this time
strong patroles cruized between Magdenberg, La Rochelle, and the Jew
Savannah; and on the 17th, the commander in chief marched to Patamaca
with nearly the half of his troops, leaving me the command of those
that remained on the mountain, for I was not able to accompany him,
having by this time a dangerous mortification in my ancle.
As I had now the prospect of remaining some time at Magdenberg, I
dispatched Quaco to Paramaribo for provisions, and orders to buy me a
live goat.
Whatever may be thought of Fourgeoud’s manœuvres, in not being able to
bring the rebels to a pitched battle, it is very certain that he
exerted himself and his troops to the utmost; and that by his
constantly traversing the upper parts of the rivers, and scouring the
skirts of the colony, he prevented many depredations on the estates,
which was undoubtedly a very essential service to the inhabitants,
though at a dreadful expence of blood and money.
Being now the commander in chief at this post, the two negroes I have
formerly mentioned hunting and fishing for me, brought me almost every
day one or two pingos, which are the wild boars formerly mentioned,
besides a fish called newmara, some of which are as large as cod, and
which I shall afterwards describe. With these dainties I regaled all
the officers without exception, while I gave to the hospital all the
plantains, bananas, oranges, and lemons, that were occasionally sent me
as presents from the Jacob and the plantations in Upper Comewina; and
never was a deputy-governor more universally beloved. Patroles were
also daily sent out to every quarter; and the environs of Magdenberg
were so completely scoured, that no invasion from the rebels could be
practicable. These precautions were the more necessary, as they had
formerly surprised and taken by storm different military posts for the
sake of ammunition and fire-arms, which are to them of the utmost
value, and their seizure of the most pernicious consequence to the
colony. Indeed some posts had not only been attacked and plundered of
their stores and ammunition, but were actually massacred to a man.
Mortified that it was not in my power to take a more active part at
present, I availed myself of this leisure, by taking drawings of every
animal, reptile, or shrub, that I thought could illustrate my little
collection of natural curiosities, which I now began to form some idea
of exhibiting to the public, if it should be my fate ever more to
return to Europe.
One of my negroes, on the 24th of this month, brought me two curious
insects; which, though I had no opportunity of drawing, I will
endeavour to describe:—The one (which seemed to have some small
affinity to the grasshopper kind) was what is here generally called
spaanse-juffer, and is without exception the most singular animal I saw
in the colony. The body of this surprising creature, though not thicker
than a quill, was no less than seven inches and a half in length,
including the tail; it had no wings, and was mounted like a spider on
six legs that were near six inches long; it had four antennæ projecting
from its head, two being nearly five inches, and two much shorter; the
head was small, the eyes large, black, and prominent, and the tail
articulated like that of most insects: its colour was a brownish green,
and, upon the whole, it seemed a monster. This creature is found near
the marshy places, where its long legs appear designed to enable it to
wade through the water, but not to swim (according to Mr. Farmine’s
opinion) for which its feet are not calculated, as they terminate in
two small claws like those of some beetles. The other was a large fly,
which Madam Merian, who gives a drawing of it, calls the vielleur, but
which I have generally heard called the scare-sleep by the Dutch. These
words being extremely applicable, from the noise it makes towards the
evening, which nearly resembles the sound of a cymbal, or that of a
razor-grinder when at his work. This remarkable fly, whose grinding
noise always begins at sun-set or six o’clock, is also called the
porte-lanterne or lantern-bearer, from the light it diffuses after that
time, and which is much stronger than that of any of the fire-fly
species, affording sufficient light for almost any purpose: these flies
are above three inches long, and very thick, the body green, with four
transparent wings variegated with little marks of all colours,
particularly the under wings, on which are two large roundish spots not
unlike those on the tail feathers of a peacock. Beneath the head of
this insect is seen an inverted straight trump or tube like a needle,
with which it is said to suck its food from the flowers. With the same
instrument it is here supposed to produce that disagreeable, loud, and
grinding noise, which I have already noticed. But, for my own part, I
should rather ascribe the noise to the fluttering of its transparent
wings, as is supposed to be the case with some flies in England: a
large proboscis or snout striped red and yellow, and shaped like the
first joint of a man’s finger, projects from the head, and makes
one-third of the whole animal; this protuberance is vulgarly called its
lantern, and emits that surprising light whence it takes its second
name. I shall only add, that it is a very slow creeper, but flies with
amazing velocity.
On the 26th, my boy Quaco arrived from Paramaribo with the following
list of provisions, which he had purchased for me. In order to give the
curious a just idea of the prices in Surinam when things are cheapest,
I will here insert some articles as charged to my account, with the
prices in English money, calculating at the rate of eleven florins to
one pound sterling.
These articles were as follow:
2 bacon hams, 31 lbs. at 15d. per lb.
1 small cag of butter, 10 lbs. at 1s. 10d. per lb.
1 small ditto of flour, 100 lbs. at 4d. per lb.
1 Dutch cheese, 11 lbs. at 10d. per lb.
2 quart bottles of vinegar, at 1s. 10d. per quart.
4 lbs. spermaceti candles, at 3s. 8d. per lb.
2 lbs. dried sausages, at 2s. 9d. per lb.
The prices of wine and spirits I have already mentioned in the twelfth
chapter.
He also brought me a goat with its kid to supply me with milk, for
which I paid twenty florins, or near two pounds sterling: these prices
are at least double, and some treble, to what they used to be in
England.
Goats are very common in all Guiana; they are not large, but very
beautiful creatures, with small horns, and very short smooth hair,
mostly of a dun-colour; they are as nimble as stags, and are kept on
all the estates, where they breed fast and give much milk; they are
also delicious eating when killed young.
I had now the disagreeable news, that all my letters for Europe were
sunk on board Captain Visser, who was wrecked in the Texel roads among
the ice. I was also sincerely grieved to hear that my good friend Mr.
Kennedy, with his lady and family, had taken their final farewel of the
colony, and sailed for Holland. This gentleman, Mr. Gordon, and a Mr.
Gourluy, were the only Scotch; a Mr. Buckland, a Mr. Townsend, and Mr.
Halfhide, the only English; and Captain Macneal, the only native of
Ireland, residing in this colony.
On the 28th, Colonel Fourgeoud returned with his command from Patamaca,
much emaciated himself, and his men nearly exhausted by fatigue. He had
left a great number behind him in the hospital at La Rochelle, but
heard no account whatever of the rebels, although he varied his route
every time. It was therefore pretty evident that they were routed, if
latterly there had been any settled at all: but where to find them in
this unbounded forest was the question. He however never despaired, and
seemed as eager to discover the haunts of the rebels as he had been
formerly in springing a covey of partridges, or discovering a nest of
black badgers.
On the 29th, Mr. Matthew, one of our officers who had been out
shooting, presented me with the Taibo, an animal that is here called
the wood-rat. This creature was the size of a young hare, and of a
reddish brown colour, being remarkably thin, with long limbs, a
roundish head, and a tail not unlike that of a sucking-pig; the claws
were exactly like those of a common rat, but larger in proportion, and
so was the head, mouth, teeth, and whiskers; the ears were short and
naked, the eyes black and prominent, with a white iris; it is said to
run very fast: we had it dressed, and ate it, having been told that it
was very good, and so we found it, sweet, tender, and even fat,
notwithstanding its lank appearance. This creature, on account of its
size, reminds me of another animal, known in this country by the name
of crabbo-dago, or the crabbed dog, for its matchless ferocity, as it
kills and devours every thing that comes in its way, without exception,
whether quadrupeds, fowls, or reptiles; and never seeming to be glutted
with blood, it murders, even without being hungry, all it can vanquish,
which, on account of its courage, activity, and strength, are not a
few, though it be not larger than a common cat. From what I have said,
I should apprehend it much resembles the ichneumon, but still more that
animal mentioned by Mr. Allemand, in the Count de Buffon; (see Vol. IV.
p. 266.) which he there calls the grison or grey-weazel, though this
that I mention was rather larger; and he says, that notwithstanding its
being a native of Surinam, none of the people coming from that country
could give any account of it. If this be the same animal, (as I doubt
not, and have therefore given it the name of the crabbo-dago or grison)
I am happy to have had it in my power to give the reader some account
of it. I shall now literally quote the Count’s own words, as extracted
from Mr. Allemand, which will afford the best proof of its being the
same animal, when compared with the annexed plate, where both the
wood-rat, and the crabbo-dago or grison, are represented; and had I
seen this account during the Count’s life, I would have most assuredly
taken the liberty of informing him by a letter, of what I now, though
in this unconnected method, relate to the public.
“I received,” says Mr. Allemand, “the small animal represented in the
plate [2]. In the catalogue it was called the grey-weazel, from which
circumstance I derived the name grison, because I knew not how it is
denominated in the country where it is found. The whole upper part of
its body is covered with deep brown hair, having white points, which
gives it a greyish brown colour: under the head and neck is a bright
grey, because the hairs are very short, and the white part is of equal
length with the brown. The muzzle, the under part of the body, and
legs, are black, which singularly contrasts with the grey colour on the
head and neck.
“The head of this animal is very large in proportion to its body, its
ears almost form a semicircle, its eyes are large, and its mouth is
armed with strong grinders and sharp tusks: it has six cutting teeth in
each jaw, four of them hardly rising above the gums. Both the fore and
hind feet have five toes, with yellowish claws; the tail is pretty
long, and terminates in a point.
“The grison has a greater resemblance to the weazel, than to any other
animal, but it belongs not to the weazel tribe; for its body is not
long enough, and its legs are too long. It is not mentioned by any
author or traveller. I shewed it to several persons who had lived long
in Surinam, but none of them knew it; hence it either must be a rare
animal, even in its native country, or it must live in deserts and
unfrequented places: the length of its body is about seven inches; I
have not been able to learn any thing of its history.”
To this I shall only add my surprize.—It is true that this animal is
very rare in Surinam, but it probably owes its not being described by
naturalists to its extreme ferocity, which is without example, it being
a very uncommon circumstance to take a crabbo-dago or grison alive.
Our old commander and I were now inseparable friends, to whose board
being daily invited, he requested me to paint his portrait at full
length in his bush equipage, which was to be engraved at the expence of
the town of Amsterdam, and where he thought himself now as great a man
as the Duke of Cumberland was in England after the battle of Culloden.
Having provided a large sheet of paper, and some China ink, I began to
delineate this wonderful character in his own hut. While I was now
looking full in his face, to examine the features of this first of
despots, and laughing aloud, to think how he and I now sat staring at
one another, the whole mountain was suddenly shook by a tremendous clap
of thunder, while the lightning actually scorched the Colonel’s
forehead; and, what is very curious, broke all the eggs under a hen
that was sitting in a corner of the room where we were engaged. The
hero’s features being re-composed, I proceeded, and the picture was
completed in a short time after, to his great satisfaction.
About this time the captive rebel, September, who was taken in the year
1773, died of a dropsy. Ever since his capture, when his companion was
shot, this poor fellow was obliged to follow Fourgeoud like a dog
through all his expeditions; the colonel always expecting that this
negro would, one day or other, conduct him to different haunts of the
rebels—but he was mistaken. The other negro slaves, suspecting that he
had actually given some information, attributed his dreadful death to a
punishment from God, for his want of fidelity to his countrymen, to
whom they supposed he had sworn to be true.
The reader may remember, that I have stated it in the third Chapter, as
an invariable article of belief among the African negroes, that whoever
breaks his oath shall die miserably in this world, and be punished for
ever in that which is to come.
By the 2d of June, the Hope in Comewina was become so very unwholesome
for want of cleanliness, and being kept free from inundations (as it
was much neglected by the newly-arrived troops which were now stationed
there), that the commanding officer and most of his men were rendered
unfit for duty by sickness, and many of them already buried. To this
place Colonel Fourgeoud ordered down Captain Brant to take the command,
with a fresh supply of men, and orders to send, not to town but to
Magdenberg, all the invalids he should relieve. These orders he gave to
the above officer in such a brutal manner, and dispatched him so
suddenly, that he had not even time to pack up his cloaths; while
Colonel Seyburg deprived him of his only servant, whom he took for
himself. This usage so much affected Captain Brant, that he burst into
tears, and declared he did not wish longer to survive such galling
treatment: he then departed to the Hope, truly with a broken heart.
Upon his arrival he was informed that Captain Brough, the late
commanding officer, was dead. This poor man had been on hard service in
the woods, and being very corpulent, could no longer support the
fatigues and excessive heat; he melted down very fast, and a putrid
fever at last occasioned his dissolution. Captain Brant was soon
followed by Colonel Seyburg to the Hope, with orders to inspect the
sick.—In this interval of inaction, I shall describe two fishes, which,
though very different in size and colour, equally merit particular
attention.
The first, and indeed the only one of the kind I ever saw, was caught
by an angler. It was about the size of a large anchovy, and, the dorado
excepted, was certainly the most beautiful coloured fish I ever saw.
Its back and sides were divided in longitudinal bars of fine yellow and
a deep blueish black, the belly was silver, the eyes were black and
gold, and the fins a glowing transparent vermilion; its shape was not
unlike that of a trout, and the whole was covered with small scales; it
had one dorsal fin on the middle of its back, with only the vestige of
another near the tail, which was forked: under its belly were five
fins, two pectoral, two ventral, and one behind the anus; the under jaw
projected before the upper jaw, and made its mouth appear reversed; the
gills were small. Having enquired concerning this little fish, the only
information I could obtain was from a black man, who called it
dago-fisee.
The other is that fine large fish called by the English rock-cod, by
the Indians baro-ketta, and new-mara by the negroes, which I have
several times mentioned, but not described; they are taken plentifully
in all the upper parts of the rivers. This fish is the size of a large
cod, but covered with scales, and by some compared to a salmon; the
back is a brown olive colour, the belly is white, the head is strong,
with small eyes, of which the pupil is black and the iris grey; the
mouth is very large, and beset with one row of sharp teeth like those
of a pike, and, like it, this creature is extremely voracious; the tail
is obtuse and dark olive; as also the fins, six in number, one dorsal,
two pectoral, two ventral, and one abdominal. This fish is extremely
delicious eating, and particularly esteemed by the white inhabitants at
Paramaribo, where it is very scarce, though in the upper parts of the
rivers they are taken in great abundance. I painted these two fishes
very correctly, the dago-fish as large as life, and the new-mara
considerably less. The drawings were honoured in Surinam with the
epithets of masterly performances.
Several officers who kept poultry and hogs at this period lost all the
latter in the space of two days, being poisoned probably by eating
duncane, or some other fatal weed that was unknown to us. And yet it
has been a general observation, as I have said before, that all animals
know by instinct to distinguish their food from their poison.
Mr. Seyburg now returned from the Hope in triumph, with Lieutenant
Dederlin (one of Colonel Fourgeoud’s officers) guarded by a serjeant
and six marines with fixed bayonets, for having been wanting in
respect, as that gentleman pleased to call it.
On the 7th, the sick officers and soldiers also arrived from the Hope
in barges; some of the latter, being too ill to bear removing, died on
the passage without medicines, and without assistance. One of our
surgeons died also this day in camp, and a number of the privates died
daily. This was the consequence of having marched so much in the wet
season, which was judged however by our chief to be the only season in
which he was likely to root the rebels from the forest of Guiana.
CHAP. XVIII.
A Tyger taken in the Camp—Fatal Rencounter of a Party with the
Rebels, who killed several of the Troops, and forced the rest
back—Description of a Planter of Surinam—Contagious
Distempers—Suicide—Scene of primitive Nature.
I have just mentioned that several officers kept poultry, numbers of
which were now taken away every night by some unknown marauder; when a
Captain Bolts (suspecting the coati-mondi, or crabbo-dago) made a trap
of an empty wine-chest, only by supporting the lid with a stick fixed
to a long cord, into which (having first secured all the other poultry)
he put a couple of live fowls, the whole guarded by two negroes at some
distance. They had not been many hours on their post, when hearing the
fowls shriek, one negro pulled the rope, and the other ran to secure
the invader by sitting on the lid: when this proved to be actually a
young tyger, who would yet have cleared his way by beating against the
box, but that it was immediately secured by strong ropes, and drawn
along, with the prisoner in it, to the river; where, being held under
water, he was drowned, under the most vigorous efforts, by beating
against the chest to effect his escape. Captain Bolts ordered the skin
to be taken off, which he kept in remembrance of so very strange a
circumstance.
The Count de Buffon asserts, that there are no tygers in America, but
animals much resembling them, which go by that name. I shall however
describe them, from actual observation, as I found them, and leave the
reader to determine whether they are tygers or not.
The first and largest is that called the jaguar of Guiana. This animal,
which has by some been represented as a despiseable little creature,
not larger than a greyhound, is, on the contrary, very fierce, strong,
and dangerous; some of them measuring, from the nose to the root of the
tail, not less than six feet: and let us not forget the print of that
enormous tyger’s foot, seen by myself in the sand, near Patamaca;
though it may be allowed, that creature was of an extraordinary size,
and the sand very loose.—The jaguar is of a tawny orange colour, and
the belly white; on the back it is spotted with longitudinal black
bars; on the sides with irregular rings, light-coloured in the center;
and all over the rest of the body, and the tail, the spots are smaller,
and perfectly black: its shape is in every sense like that of the
African tyger, and being all of the cat kind, they need no particular
description; but their size and strength being so much greater than
that little domestic animal, they devour a sheep, or a goat, with the
same facility as a cat would kill a mouse or a rat; nay, cows and
horses are not protected from their attacks, for these they frequently
kill on the plantations; and though they cannot carry them off into the
forest on account of their weight, they tear and mangle them in a
dreadful manner, only for the sake of the blood, with which this
ferocious animal is never glutted. It has even happened that the jaguar
has carried off young negro women at work in the field, and too
frequently their children. This contemptible animal, as it is called
and misrepresented by some authors, will beat down a wild boar with a
single stroke of its paw, and even seize by the throat the strongest
stallion that ever was mounted in Guiana; while its savage nature, and
thirst after blood, is such that it cannot be tamed: it will, on the
contrary, bite the very hand that feeds it, and very often devours its
own offspring; still this creature is not a match for the aboma-snake,
which, when it comes within its reach, has the power of crushing it to
a jelly in but few moments.
The next is the couguar, called in Surinam the red tyger.—This indeed
may, with more propriety, be compared to a greyhound, for its shape,
though not for its size; being much larger than the dog which it
resembles in make, but it is not in general so large and heavy as the
jaguar. The colour of this animal is a reddish brown; the breast and
belly are a dirty white, with long hair, and not spotted; the tail an
earthy colour, the extremity black; the head is small, the body thin,
the limbs long, with tremendous whitish claws; the teeth are also very
large, the eyes prominent, and sparkling like stars. This creature is
equally ferocious with the former.
Another of the same species is the tyger-cat, which is extremely
beautiful. This animal is not much larger than I have seen some cats in
England: it is of a yellow colour, with small annotated black spots,
which are white within; the belly is a light colour; the ears are
black, with a white spot on each; the hair is smooth, and the skin is
very much esteemed: the shape like that of the tyger. The tyger-cat is
a very lively animal, with its eyes emitting flashes like lightning;
but ferocious, mischievous, and untameable, like the rest of the kind.
In Guiana is still another of this species, called the Jaguaretta, of a
blackish colour, with still blacker spots; but of this last I can say
very little, having never seen one; and, indeed, the others but very
seldom. Of the jaguar however, and the tyger-cat, I present the reader
with a drawing. All these animals have long whiskers, like common cats;
they sometimes climb trees, but generally lie in ambush under the
verdure, whence they bound with uncommon agility on their helpless
prey; which having murdered, they drink the blood warm, and never cease
to tear and devour it till they are gorged; but when no longer animated
by hunger they are cowardly, and may be put to flight by a common
spaniel. Of fire also they are exceedingly afraid, which is the best
guard to keep them at a distance, and as such, made use of every night
by the Indians in Guiana. More than once it has been observed, that
tygers had entered our camps for want of these precautions, but
fortunately without committing any depredations.
As I now seemed to be on a friendly intercourse with Colonel Fourgeoud,
I one day presented the old gentleman with a plan and bird’s-eye view
of all the encampment of Magdenberg, which pleased him so much that he
sent this (as he had done the first) to the Prince of Orange and the
Duke of Brunswick, as a specimen of his military manœuvres, &c. This
present had the desired effect; for I not only became one of his
favourites, but, declaring his highest esteem for the Scots and
English, he even promised to recommend me in particular at court. I was
so satisfied with this change in his behaviour, that I now took the
blame of all former animosity on myself. His attention, however, was
suddenly attracted by affairs of more consequence; since, on the 14th
of June, the news arrived that some rebel huts were discovered near the
sea-side; that Captain Mayland had marched in quest of the enemy, with
one hundred and forty men of the Society troops, and had actually
discovered them; but in wading through a deep marsh, had been first
attacked by the negroes, who had killed several of his people (among
whom his nephew, a young volunteer), wounded more, and beaten back the
whole detachment, after they had already passed the marsh, and were
mounting fast on the opposite beach to storm the village. From this
news it was evident, that our sable foes were not to be trifled with;
and since they were thus discovered, orders were immediately issued for
all the troops that were able to march to keep in readiness, viz.
Fourgeoud’s marines, the Society regiment, and my favourite rangers,
who wanted no spur, and now could hardly be restrained till the others
were prepared. These troops were to be assembled at a certain place of
rendezvous, while also a detachment marched to La Rochelle to give
information. In consequence of these orders all was activity and vigour
in the camp, in hopes that this decisive stroke would end the war, and
their misery together; and this, therefore, was the time to lead them
on to a spirited attack; but, for reasons best known to himself, our
commander delayed his movement till the 20th of August, which was above
two months.
In the mean time the disagreeable news arrived, that Captain Brant was
almost dead with a violent illness at the Hope, which was at present
the place where a number of the troops were quartered, though no better
than a pest-house, by the inundations; and for the command at this
place (as being one of his favourites) Fourgeoud now singled me out:
declaring, that I might thank my sound constitution for bestowing on me
this honour. From this conduct, I plainly discovered that all his
friendship was entirely interested; and I felt my resentment
involuntarily rekindled against him, for thus sending me to an
inglorious death, when he had so fair an opportunity of employing me
honourably on actual service.
On my arrival at the Hope, my orders were to send poor Captain Brant
not down to Paramaribo, but to Magdenberg. This young man, however,
frustrated the tyrannical command; for, justly suspecting it, he had
set out with a tent-barge to town a few hours before I came, where he
was no sooner carried to his lodgings than he expired, from the effects
of a burning fever, and a broken heart. No man could be more regretted
than Captain Brant; nor did Fourgeoud ever lose a better officer, or I
a sincerer friend.
This being the second commander dead in so short a time, I quietly took
for my motto—
Hodie tibi cras mihi.
But I was happily mistaken, and continued still as well as ever I was
in my life, following the advice of old Caramaca, and bathing twice a
day in the river; while I despised shoes and stockings, as useless and
unnecessary lumber.
On the 20th of June, a few days after my arrival, I had the honour to
receive a visit from the governor, Mr. Nepveu, on his return from his
estate Appecappe to Paramaribo, with whom I condoled on the loss of his
lady, who had died very lately; I also received daily visits from
several planters, who complimented me with refreshments from their
plantations: and here I had an excellent opportunity of acquainting
myself with the customs and manner of living of these West-India
nabobs.
A planter in Surinam, when he lives on his estate, (which is but
seldom, as they mostly prefer the society of Paramaribo) gets out of
his hammock with the rising sun, viz. about six o’clock in the morning,
when he makes his appearance under the piazza of his house; where his
coffee is ready waiting for him, which he generally takes with his
pipe, instead of toast and butter; and there he is attended by half a
dozen of the finest young slaves, both male and female, of the
plantation, to serve him; at this sanctum-sanctorum he is next accosted
by his overseer, who regularly every morning attends at his levee, and
having made his bows at several yards distance, with the most profound
respect informs his Greatness what work was done the day before; what
negroes deserted, died, fell sick, recovered, were bought or born; and,
above all things, which of them neglected their work, affected
sickness, or had been drunk or absent, &c.; the prisoners are generally
present, being secured by the negro-drivers, and instantly tied up to
the beams of the piazza, or a tree, without so much as being heard in
their own defence; when the flogging begins, with men, women, or
children, without exception. The instruments of torture on these
occasions are long hempen whips, that cut round at every lash, and
crack like pistol-shot; during which they alternately repeat, “Dankee,
massera,” (Thank you, master). In the mean time he stalks up and down
with his overseer, affecting not so much as to hear their cries, till
they are sufficiently mangled, when they are untied, and ordered to
return to their work, without so much as a dressing.
This ceremony being over, the dressy negro (a black surgeon) comes to
make his report; who being dismissed with a hearty curse, for allowing
any slaves to be sick, next makes her appearance a superannuated
matron, with all the young negro children of the estate, over whom she
is governess; these, being clean washed in the river, clap their hands,
and cheer in chorus, when they are sent away to breakfast on a large
platter of rice and plantains; and the levee ends with a low bow from
the overseer, as it begun.
His worship now saunters out in his morning dress, which consists of a
pair of the finest Holland trowsers, white silk stockings, and red or
yellow Morocco slippers; the neck of his shirt open, and nothing over
it, a loose flowing night-gown of the finest India chintz excepted. On
his head is a cotton night-cap, as thin as a cobweb, and over that an
enormous beaver hat, that protects his meagre visage from the sun,
which is already the colour of mahogany, while his whole carcase seldom
weighs above eight or ten stone, being generally exhausted by the
climate and dissipation. To give a more complete idea of this fine
gentleman, I in the annexed plate present him to the reader with a pipe
in his mouth, which almost every where accompanies him, and receiving a
glass of Madeira wine and water, from a female quaderoon slave, to
refresh him during his walk.
Having loitered about his estate, or sometimes ridden on horseback to
his fields, to view his increasing stores, he returns about eight
o’clock, when, if he goes abroad, he dresses, but if not, remains just
as he is. Should the first take place, having only exchanged his
trowsers for a pair of thin linen or silk breeches, he sits down, and
holding out one foot after the other, like a horse going to be shod, a
negro boy puts on his stockings and shoes, which he also buckles, while
another dresses his hair, his wig, or shaves his chin, and a third is
fanning him to keep off the musquitoes. Having now shifted, he puts on
a thin coat and waistcoat, all white; when, under an umbrella, carried
by a black boy, he is conducted to his barge, which is in waiting for
him with six or eight oars, well provided with fruit, wine, water, and
tobacco, by his overseer, who no sooner has seen him depart, than he
resumes the command with all the usual insolence of office. But should
this prince not mean to stir from his estate, he goes to breakfast
about ten o’clock, for which a table is spread in the large hall,
provided with a bacon ham, hung-beef, fowls, or pigeons broiled;
plantains and sweet cassavas roasted; bread, butter, cheese, &c. with
which he drinks strong beer, and a glass of Madeira, Rhenish, or Mozell
wine, while the cringing overseer sits at the farther end, keeping his
proper distance, both being served by the most beautiful slaves that
can be selected;—and this is called breaking the poor gentleman’s fast.
After this he takes a book, plays at chess or billiards, entertains
himself with music, &c. till the heat of the day forces him to return
into his cotton hammock to enjoy his meridian nap, which he could no
more dispense with than a Spaniard with his siesta, and in which he
rocks to and fro, like a performer on the slack-rope, till he falls
asleep, without either bed or covering; and during which time he is
fanned by a couple of his black attendants, to keep him cool, &c.
About three o’clock he awakes by natural instinct, when having washed
and perfumed himself, he sits down to dinner, attended as at breakfast
by his deputy governor and sable pages, where nothing is wanting that
the world can afford in a western climate, of meat, fowls, venison,
fish, vegetables, fruits, &c. and the most exquisite wines are often
squandered in profusion; after this a cup of strong coffee and a
liqueur finish the repast. At six o’clock he is again waited on by his
overseer, attended as in the morning by negro-drivers and prisoners,
when the flogging once more having continued for some time, and the
necessary orders being given for the next day’s work, the assembly is
dismissed, and the evening spent with weak punch, sangaree, cards and
tobacco.—His worship generally begins to yawn about ten or eleven
o’clock, when he withdraws, and is undressed by his sooty pages. He
then retires to rest, where he passes the night in the arms of one or
other of his sable sultanas (for he always keeps a seraglio) till about
six in the morning, when he again repairs to his piazza walk, where his
pipe and coffee are waiting for him; and where, with the rising sun, he
begins his round of dissipation, like a petty monarch, as capricious as
he is despotic and despiseable.
Such absolute power indeed, cannot fail to be peculiarly delightful to
a man, who, in all probability, was in his own country, Europe,
a—nothing.
But, in this colony, this is too frequently the case, where plantations
are sold upon credit, and left (by the absent proprietor) to the
appraisers, who, by selling cheap, have generally an understanding with
the buyer.
These are the planters who are the pest of the colony; such as the fine
gentleman just described, who, while he lives at the above rate, pays
nobody, under pretence of bad crops, mortality amongst the slaves, &c.
but like an upstart rascal massacres the negroes by double labour,
ruins and pillages the estate of all its productions, which he
clandestinely sells for ready money, makes a purse, and runs away.
Exceptions, however, take place in every circumstance of life; and I
have known many planters in Surinam as good men as I ever would desire
to be acquainted with, which I have already mentioned.
As for the ladies, they indulge themselves just as much, by giving way
to their unbounded passions, and especially to the most relentless
barbarity. But while I can bear witness to the exalted virtues of such
a woman as Mrs. Elizabeth Danforth, now Mrs. Godefroy, and a few more
whose characters shine with treble lustre, I shall draw a veil over all
the imperfections, too common to their sex in this climate. Before I
drop this subject, however, I must attest, that hospitality is in no
country practised with greater cordiality or with less ceremony, a
stranger being every where at home, and finding his table and his bed
at whatever estate necessity or choice may occasion him to visit. This
is the more to be regarded, as no inns are to be met with in the
neighbourhood of any of the Surinam rivers.
To vary the subject a little, I will now describe three kinds of fish,
with which I occasionally entertained my friends. The sun-fish, the
snake-fish, and the spotted-cat. The first frequents both the salt and
fresh water, like the salmon: it is about eighteen or twenty inches
long, shaped not unlike a kite; and being covered over with scales of a
golden colour, when it swims in clear water darts forth very bright
beams, from which it has derived its name of the sun-fish. The
snake-fish takes its name from its resemblance to that reptile: this is
a black eel with a white belly, it is not large, and is very common in
all the rivers. The spotted-cat is called so from its tabby colour, and
long whiskers: this fish is formed not unlike a pike, with very sharp
teeth; it has no scales, it is extremely fat, weighing sometimes above
seventy pounds, but its flesh is yellow, and not esteemed the most
delicate food: however, here excellent fish is seldom wanting, such as
the new-mara, passessee, warappa, jackee, and many others already
noticed. The Hope, with all this, was now truly a most shocking place
of residence: here I much regretted my former cottage, and sweet
companion, the one in ruins, the other at Paramaribo; while, at
present, not a man was to be seen without an ague or fever, or some
other wasting complaint. The dysentery also began to make its
appearance; and to add to our distress, we had neither surgeon,
medicines, nor so much as a light, and very little bread left. I was
moved with the situation of the troops, and again distributed all my
biscuits, lemons, oranges, sugar, wine, ducks and fowls, amongst the
unhappy sufferers, with a few spermaceti candles.
On the 23d I sent up to the hospital at Magdenberg two sick officers,
Orleigh and Francen, with all the privates that could bear to be
transported; and, at the same time, I repeated my humble entreaties to
be soon relieved from so very disagreeable a situation (for the
confinement to which there was not the least necessity), and requested
to be one of the party to march against the rebels, but to no purpose;
while the accounts came from below that a fresh nest of negroes were
discovered, even close to Paramaribo, and the news came from above that
the troops there were daily dying away; amongst others, on the 22d,
expired a Captain Seyburg, brother to the Colonel. This was actually
the third captain who died within the space of one month.
On the 26th two fine young officers arrived, unfit for service by
ruptures, occasioned by the slippery state of the ground in the rainy
season.
This evening one of our marines named Spanknevel, was missing, and was
not found till the 29th, when he was discovered suspended by a nebee to
the branch of a tree. Not one of his comrades would cut him down, he
having hanged himself; alledging, that to touch him, according to their
prejudices, (being Germans) would render them as infamous as himself.
Wherefore, by my orders, he was taken down, and interred by the
negroes.
An order at last came for my relief, and I immediately set out for
Goed-Accoord, in company with Captain Bolts; where the planter, Mr. de
Lange, and his lady, received us with great hospitality. This sugar
estate being the farthest that is cultivated in Rio Comewina, and
consequently exposed to the neighbourhood of the rebel negroes, makes
the slaves liable to their seductions; they are therefore treated with
peculiar kindness and indulgence, to prevent their concurring in any
insurrection, or being persuaded to leave their present situation.
Here we saw a great novelty indeed, the young negro women waiting at
the table all stark naked, as they came into the world. I was at first
startled at the unusual appearance; and asking the cause, was modestly
answered by the lady of the house, that it was ordered so by their
mothers and matrons, to prevent (by such means of detection, said they)
their too early intercourse with the males, and child-bearing, which
would spoil their shapes, weaken their strength, and cramp their
growth. Indeed finer made figures I never beheld than were both the men
(witness Philander) and the women on this plantation, whose beautiful
shapes, liveliness, strength, and activity, were inferior to no
Europeans.
Next day we departed for Magdenburg an hour before sun-set, against the
advice of Mr. and Mrs. de Lange, in a small barge, covered only with a
loose awning. We had not rowed above two miles when not only night came
on, but we were overtaken by such a shower of rain, as had nearly sunk
us, the boat’s gunwale not being more than two inches above the water:
however, by the help of our hats and calibashes, we kept her afloat,
while a negro sat upon the bow, holding out a boat-hook straight before
him to prevent us from being overset, by inadvertently running, in
pitch darkness, against the roots of mangroves, &c. which thickly lined
both the banks of the river all the way upwards.
In this state of wet and obscurity, at ten o’clock at night, we came to
the Jacob, being just afloat and no more; for Bolts and I had no sooner
leaped on the beach, than the boat sunk with all that was in her, the
slaves luckily swimming ashore. Alas! amongst the wreck, was my poor
box, with my journal, and all my paintings, which had cost me above two
long years so much labour, care, and attention. I was truly distressed
at this loss, when a skilful negro dived several times to the bottom,
and at last brought up my little treasure, which, though thoroughly
soaked, I was very happy to have again in my hands. Thus ended our
shipwreck, when having drank some warm grog and slung our hammocks, we
all fell asleep round a good fire, by which I made shift to dry myself,
and, what was of more consequence, my papers.
The following morning we again set out, and rowed for Magdenberg, but
about half-way our voyage was once more obstructed by an enormous tree
which had accidentally fallen across the Creek, so that we could
neither drag the boat over nor under it. Thus we were again obliged to
return to the Jacob, whence we now proceeded to Magdenberg on foot,
through thorns, roots, brambles, and briars, and where we finally
arrived wet and bloody; and my ancle, which had been nearly well, fresh
wounded to the bone, the skin and flesh being quite torn away by the
numberless obstructions to our steps.
Here we were acquainted that Mr. Orleigh, one of the two officers that
I had sent up to Magdenberg from the Hope on the 23d, was no more. Thus
died almost all our gentlemen, who had been during the last month upon
the hopeless Hope, from which now scarcely one single private returned
in health; and this, I am firmly of opinion, was greatly owing to the
dry and burning month of June, when the sun suddenly scorched them,
after marching and even sleeping in cold watery swamps, and constant
heavy showers during the rainy season. However, I hitherto escaped by
the strength of my constitution and good spirits, which I determined by
every possible means to keep from depression, by laughing, whistling,
singing, and (God forgive me!) sometimes swearing, while all the rest
were sighing, bewailing, and dying around me.
CHAP. XIX.
The Troops march to Barbacoeba, in the River Cottica—Frenzy
Fever—Gratitude in an English Sailor—Description of the Government
of Surinam—Some Account of the Emigrant Americans during the late
War—Scene of unprecedented Generosity.
The rainy season being again approaching, Colonel Fourgeoud, having
selected all the remaining healthy people, who now amounted to but one
hundred and eighty in number, on the 3d of July, 1775, proceeded on his
march for Barbacoeba, in the river Cottica; which spot he appointed for
the general rendezvous, previous to the grand attack on the rebels. Of
this party I had the honour to be one: but on the surgeon’s declaring
that I should run the hazard of losing my foot if I marched in the
woods, I was ordered to remain at Magdenberg, with liberty, if I soon
recovered, to join Fourgeoud, and make the best of my way to
Barbacoeba. My limb, indeed, was now so swelled, and my wound so black
with the mortification, that an amputation was dreaded by Mr.
Knollaert, Fourgeoud’s surgeon, and I could not even stand without
excruciating pain.—I shall bear the mark of it as long as I live.
During this confinement I received daily presents from Philander and
the other negroes, as I was always kind to them. Among these was a dish
of mountain-cabbage. This is the most esteemed of all the various sorts
which grow, as I have mentioned formerly, on the different species of
palm-trees; this tree grows sometimes near fifty feet high, the trunk
of a brown colour, hard, ligneous, divided into short joints, and pithy
within, like the elder: it is thick in proportion, streight and
tapering like the mast of a ship; near the top the tree assumes a
fluted form and a green colour, occasioned by the husky tegument that
forms the branches; which, near the summit, diverge in a horizontal
direction, like the crown of a pine-apple or ananas. These branches are
covered over on both sides with strong pinnated leaves about three feet
long, of a deep green colour, and sharp pointed, but folded and
confusedly intermixed, not gracefully drooping like those of the
manicole or cocoa-nut trees. The seed is inclosed in a brownish kind of
spatha, that arises from the center of the branches, and hanging
downwards consists of small roundish nuts, not unlike a bunch of dried
grapes, but much longer in proportion to their circumference. If the
cabbage is wanted, the whole tree must be cut down, when it is divested
first of its branches, and next of that fluted green husky tegument
that forms them; after this the heart or cabbage is taken out, white,
and about two or three feet long: it is as thick as a man’s arm, and
round like a polished ivory cylinder; it is composed of a kind of
tender longitudinal white flakes, like silk ribbands, ready to form the
succeeding green tegument, but so close that they form a crisp solid
body. This, when eaten raw, is in taste something like the kernel of an
almond, but is more tender and more delicious; when cut in pieces and
boiled, it eats like cauliflower: it may be also peeled in the
above-mentioned long thin flakes, and then it makes an excellent
sallad; but too much of it, whether eaten raw or dressed, is
unwholesome, as it is apt to occasion a diarrhœa. It is in the cavity,
after the cabbage is removed from it, that a black beetle deposits its
spawn, from which the palm-tree worms are produced, which feed on the
remaining tender substance when it begins to rot, till they acquire the
size already mentioned; though those in the manicole tree, and other
trees of the palm species, grow not so large, are less sweet, and are
also differently shaped.
The maureecee tree, by the French called latanie, is certainly the
tallest of all the palm-tree species; or, indeed, of any species in the
forest of Guiana. And I can aver, that I have seen some of these trees
whose lofty summits appeared to rise no less than a hundred feet from
the surface of the earth, while the circumference of their trunks was
about ten or twelve feet where thickest; the trunk of this tree is
largest at about one-fourth of its height from the root, whence it
tapers not only upwards but downwards also: this singularity has
perhaps escaped all other writers. It is of a light brown or grey
colour, and divided in joints all the way upwards to its branches, when
(but at a great height, and near the top) it diverges in long green
arched branches, naked till near their extremity, when these again
diverge or digitate in long broad leaves of a pale green colour, and
disposed in an orbicular manner with great regularity, not unlike
sun-beams, or a lady’s fan expanded. As the young branches spring up
from the centre at the summit, the old ones fade at the bottom and hang
downwards, shrivelled and dangling in the wind. From the heart of the
green leaves the Indians draw out long white fibres or threads, as they
do from the silk-grass plant: these, being equally strong, serve as
cords when twisted to firing their bows, to make nets, or to be used as
threads; from the middle of the branches appears the seed, hanging down
also in the form of a large rope of onions. I have seen many prints
representing palm-trees, but I must take the liberty to say that most
of them are impositions on the public, having either been executed from
fancy, or from a very bad description; but I can assure my readers,
that all those which I represent were taken from nature, and on the
spot: I speak of the cocoa-nut tree, the manicola, the
mountain-cabbage, and the maureecee trees, whose branches and leaves
are all extremely different from each other; and I have not confounded
the species, as they are in too many publications. The two first the
reader has already seen; and the two others I now offer to his view,
where A is the trunk of the mountain-cabbage-tree; B one of its
branches, separated from the rest, and C the seed or husky spatha
inclosing it; D is the trunk of the maureecee-tree, and E one of its
branches dropping down. F is the beetle that produces the maureecee
worms, G, which are not so large nor so delicious as those produced by
the mountain-cabbage. Having had no opportunity of shewing in what
manner the Indians and Africans ascend trees, by figure H I have
represented a negro climbing a young maureecee-tree, to which they do
not cling with their arms and legs, but taking the trunk between their
hands, they place the soles of their feet against it, and thus walk up
in a most astonishing manner; by this method they save their skin from
the bark, but it must certainly require very great strength, activity,
and practice.
Having thus far dwelt on the palm-tree species, I must once more return
to domestic occurrences.
I have said that all the officers and most of the privates who had
lately been stationed at the Hope, had died, or were sent up
dangerously ill, while I had escaped the contagion. But, alas! now it
became my turn, having only had a reprieve, and no more: for on the 9th
I was seized with the same burning fever that had carried off the rest;
and even my black boy Quaco was very ill.
On the 14th, necessity forced me to give up the command to another
officer, and depart from this inhospitable spot on my way to
Paramaribo: I could however reach, no farther than Goet Accoord, and
there, on the 15th, all expected my death; when an old negro woman
found means to make me partake of some butter-milk boiled with some
barley and melasses, which was the first food I had tasted since I was
taken ill. This certainly did me infinite service; and the day
following I was again able to be transported: the black boy also was
much better.
The evening of the 15th I reached Fauconberg, where I was met by a
packet of six or eight letters from different friends, accompanied with
presents of hung-beef, bullocks tongues, Madeira, porter, rum, and two
gallons of excellent shrub, besides a fine bacon ham, and a beautiful
pointer; both the last from the identical Charles Macdonald, the
English sailor, which he had brought me from Virginia, in return for
the little civility I had formerly shewn him so unexpectedly at the
Hope. This mark of the poor fellow’s gratitude and generosity, the true
characteristics of a British tar, gave me greater pleasure than all the
things I received put together. But still I must except two letters,
the one from Mr. Lude at Amsterdam, and the other from Mr. de Graav,
his administrator at Paramaribo, acquainting me finally, and to my
heartfelt satisfaction, that the amiable Joanna and the little boy were
at my disposal, but at no less a price than two thousand florins,
amounting, with other expences, to near two hundred pounds sterling, a
sum which I was totally unable to raise. I already owed the sum of
fifty pounds, that I had borrowed for the black boy Quaco’s redemption;
but Joanna was to me invaluable, and though appraised at one-twentieth
part of the whole estate, which had been sold for forty thousand
florins, no price could be too dear for a young woman, possessing so
much excellence, provided I could pay it.
Solomon well observes, “that as cold water is to a thirsty soul, so are
good tidings from a distant country;” and this news, on its first
arrival, had indeed the most reviving effect on me: but when reflection
taught me how impossible it was for me to obtain such a sum of money,
and while I was employed in giving all the presents I had received
(except the ham and the dog) to Joanna’s relations at Fauconberg, who
loaded me with adorations and caresses, I exclaimed, with a bitter
sigh, “Oh! that I could have but found a sum sufficient to purchase
every one of their freedoms!” I now found myself, though exceedingly
weak, however so much better, that on the next day I went down so far
as the estate Bergshove, whence the administrator, a Mr. Gourlay,
humanely caused me to be transported to Paramaribo in a decent
tent-barge with six oars; but relapsing, I arrived just alive on the
evening of the 19th, having past the preceding night on the estate
called the Jalosee, apparently dead.
I cannot leave the river Comewina without presenting the reader with a
view of Magdenberg, from the Tempatee; and a peep at Calais, from the
Hope, at the mouth of the Cosaweenica Creek.
Being now in a comfortable lodging at Mr. de la Mare’s, and attended by
so good a creature as Joanna, I recovered apace; and on the 25th was so
well, that I was able to walk out for the first time, when I dined with
Mrs. Godefroy, Mr. de Graav not being in town to concert matters
relative to the emancipation of Joanna, who had now once more literally
saved my life. At this table there was never wanting all the wholesome
and refreshing nourishment that I stood in need of, with the best of
fruits and wines. Among the articles conducive to the restoration of
health, are reckoned in this country all the different kinds of pepper
which it affords, and the no less efficacious acid of limes. Among the
first are the cica pepper, the lattacaca, and the dago-peepee, as they
are called in Surinam; for the negroes name each thing from the
resemblance it bears to another: but these are known in Europe by the
names of Cayenne, Pimento, and Capsicum. The first is properly called
Cayenne from the French settlement of that name in Guiana; but the name
cica or chica is derived from its round shape and size, resembling the
insect called chiga or chigoe, already described; the next resembles
rats excrements, &c. All the above species, besides some others, grow
on low green shrubs, they all equally excoriate the mouth, have all the
same fiery qualities, and when ripe are of a scarlet or rather a blood
colour. The Europeans seldom eat any thing without it; but the blacks,
and especially the Indians, swallow it I might say by handfuls, not
only as a relish, but as a remedy in almost every disease.
The limes grow on beautiful trees like lemons, but the leaf and the
fruit are much smaller; they are rather a brighter yellow than the
lemons, have a fine thin shell, and are extremely full of the richest
acid that I know, which has a particularly fine flavour, and is a great
blessing to the sick soldiers and sailors in this colony, who have them
for the trouble of gathering; so that it is not uncommon to see the
tars employing their leisure time in picking and carrying large hampers
full to their vessels. In Surinam there are whole hedges of lime-trees,
and all round Paramaribo they grow wild. It is much to be lamented
that, among other articles of luxury, this fruit cannot be transported
to Europe; but whole casks of this juice are frequently sent over, and
they are also pickled and preserved in large jars by the inhabitants.
At the dessert, among many other excellent fruits, I observed one which
is here called the mammee apple: it grows on a tree about the size of
an orange-tree, with a grey-coloured bark; the wood is whitish, and
coarse; the leaf very thick, polished, and of a triangular form,
without fibres. This fruit is nearly round, and is about five or six
inches in diameter, covered with a rusty coarse skin: the pulp has the
colour and consistency of a carrot, enclosing two large stones with
bitter kernels, but the fruit is of a delicious taste, sweet mixed with
acid, and a smell superior in fragrance to almost any other fruit in
the colony. There were also nuts of two species, usually called
pistachios, and by the negroes pinda; one kind of them resembles small
chesnuts, and these grow in bunches on a tree. The others are produced
by a shrub, and grow under ground; both have sweet oily kernels: of the
last there are two in one pod; they are agreeable eating raw, but still
better when roasted in hot ashes. To illustrate the above descriptions,
I present the reader with the plate annexed, where A is a sprig of
limes in full ripeness; B, the Cayenne or cica pepper; C, the pimento
pepper or lattacaca; D, the capsicum called dago-peepee; E, the mammee
apple when it is fully ripe; F, the leaf above, of a beautiful green;
G, the leaf below, of a yellowish green; H, the pistachio nut in the
husk; I, the ground pistachio in its dried state; K, one of the kernels
belonging to the latter.
The whole of the above were taken from nature, though upon a small
scale; yet I flatter myself they will be found more perfect copies of
the originals than some of Mad. Merian’s, with all their boasted
reputation.—I cannot dismiss this subject without a few other remarks
on the incorrectness of this lady’s drawings. For instance, her leaf of
the lime-tree is evidently too round; and if by her palisade branch, in
plate XI. she means the manicole-tree, I must declare I never
discovered such a leaf among the many thousands I have helped to cut
down. Her cotton twig, and especially the pod containing the cotton,
are also no true representation of those which are produced in Surinam.
In another place she declares, that grapes are common in Guiana—which I
also must contradict; for it is well known, that no thin-skinned fruit
can ever come to perfection in a tropical climate, such as grapes,
cherries, currants, strawberries, plums, apricots, and peaches, nor
even common apples or pears.
From the above observations, I take the liberty to say, that allowing
Mad. Merian due praise for her beautiful and valuable performance upon
the whole, she has still fallen into very notable mistakes. To correct
them is a duty incumbent on future observers; nor does it by any means
imply a general censure on the elegant work in question, nor can it
appear extraordinary that it should contain some errors, when we
consider that it is above an hundred years ago since she presented her
discoveries to the world. In the course of so many years therefore
mankind, by long experience and continued investigation, have become
more enlightened, and are more accurately informed.
Being now once more at Paramaribo, it may not be improper to divert our
attention for a while from the animal and vegetable productions to the
government of this fine colony; a topic which, I am persuaded, some of
my readers have long since expected; but not having had a previous
opportunity of gratifying their curiosity, I will no longer delay the
necessary information, though to some the detail may appear dry and
unentertaining.
I have already mentioned the nature of the charter, and stated, that at
present two-thirds of Surinam belong to the town of Amsterdam, and
one-third to the West India Company: also, that the judicial power is
exercised by several different courts of judicature.—I shall now
proceed to describe them in their proper order, as delivered to me by
the governor Mr. Nepveu. The court of policy and criminal justice
claims the first rank in the order of precedence—this consists of
thirteen members, chosen by the votes of the inhabitants, and each
member continues for life. Of this court the governor is president, and
the commandant or deputy governor first counsellor. The acting officers
are therefore
The governor.
The commandant.
The fiscal.
The town clerk; and
Nine counsellors.
To this court belongs the decision of all criminal matters, the
governor exercising the power of reprieve from death, and even
pardoning any convict by his own authority.
The court of civil justice consists also of thirteen members, but these
are chosen by the above court only, and are renewed every four years.
The governor is also president here, and the officers of this court are
The governor.
The fiscal.
The town-clerk; and
Ten counsellors.
By this court are decided not only the most important law-suits, but
also petty offences.
The next is the subaltern college, consisting of eleven members, chosen
also by the governor and court of policy; and, like the other, renewed
every four years, the town-clerk excepted, who sits for life. The
members are selected from the late counsellors of justice, and are
The deputy president.
The town-clerk; and
Nine counsellors.
The above court superintends the public buildings, streets,
orange-trees, canals, &c. and decides all pecuniary disputes that are
under twenty-five guineas; any sum above which must be referred to the
court of justice.
Besides these, there is an orphan and insolvent debtors college,
consisting of
The commissaries.
The town-clerk.
The book-keeper.
The treasurer; and
A sworn secretary.
The public revenue offices are:
The office of importation and exportation duties.
The office of excise and small imposts.
The office for head-money, or poll-tax.
The office for public sales and vendues.
The office for re-taking negro deserters, &c.
But these I shall more amply explain when I speak of the general
revenue of this colony, and for the present shall only consider its
government. I have formerly mentioned that the governor is at the head
not only of the civil but military departments; the other public
employments are chiefly
The secretary to his excellency the governor.
The commissaries of the victualling-offices.
Four inspectors of the exportation of sugars.
One inspector of the melasses hogsheads.
One supervisor of all the North American vessels.
Two public auctioneers.
Two serjeants or messengers of the court.
Two sworn land-surveyors.
Three measurers of the squared timber.
One inspector of the black cattle, &c.
One sworn overseer of weights and measures.
Three Low-Dutch clergymen.
One French clergyman.
One Lutheran clergyman.
Three public schoolmasters, &c.
The militia consists of eleven companies, with one captain, one
lieutenant, one second lieutenant, one ensign, one secretary, and one
cashier each. The captains are generally the sworn appraisers of the
estates for sale on the different rivers, where they chance to have
their department.
These are the principal functionaries in the government of Surinam;
which is not originally upon a bad establishment, were it not depraved
by sordid avarice, to the great detriment of this beautiful settlement
in general, and to that of its inhabitants in particular. The colony,
by proper management, might be made a garden of Eden, not only for the
European settlers, but also for their African domestics. It would not
indeed be difficult to suggest improvements, nor even to carry them
into effect. What has occurred to me upon the subject, I will candidly
state on another occasion; and I have no doubt but a little attention
even to one single point would be productive of the happiest
consequences. Thus, if I cannot on the spot, like the good Samaritan,
pour the balm into the wound of any one sufferer, at least I can leave
the prescription, which, if properly applied, would, I am persuaded,
afford relief to the complaints of thousands.
I have undertaken the unpleasing task of shewing how, by the desperate
means of blood, the colony was frequently saved from total
annihilation. How much more glorious would it be for those who have it
in their power not only to save the colony of Surinam, but many other
valuable West India settlements, by the help of a WELL-PLANNED
INSTITUTION OF GENERAL AND IMPARTIAL JUSTICE, and the laudable example
of humanity and benevolence!
Thus much for the political government of Surinam; which I will not
leave without transcribing its motto, so very contrary to what they
profess, being “Justitia—pietas—fides.” The arms are tripartite, which
I apprehend to be some of those of the house of Somelsdyke, the West
India company, and the town of Amsterdam, crowned and supported by two
lions rampant, and with these are stamped all their card money,
&c.——But to proceed with my journal.
On the 30th I met the poor sailor, Charles Macdonald, and having just
bought thirty gallons of Grenada rum, I gave him a handsome return for
his bacon ham and his dog, besides a fine cork-screw (mother-of-pearl
set in silver) as a keep-sake, he being to sail the day following for
Virginia, on board the Peggy, Captain Lewis, who, at my recommendation,
promised to make him his mate. As I am speaking of dogs, I must make
two general remarks on these animals in Guiana, viz. that in this
quarter of the world they lose the faculty, or at least the habit, of
barking; and it is a known fact, that the native dogs never bark at
all. In this country, it is observed also, that dogs are never seized
with the hydrophobia, at least I never remember to have seen or heard
of a mad dog in Surinam: and this is the more singular, as that
dreadful distemper is generally attributed in other countries to the
intense heat of the Caniculares or dog-days, as that appellation
sufficiently indicates. The Indians or natives of Guiana all keep dogs,
which they use in hunting; they are of a dirty white colour, meagre,
and small, with short hair, a sharp muzzle, and erect ears: all these
are very dexterous in finding game; but they possess all the
mischievous qualities of the terrier. I ought not to forget that if the
American dogs do not bark, their howl is very loud; on this account my
Virginian dog was so troublesome, that he got his brains knocked out by
the neighbours within a fortnight after he was in my possession.
About this period several American families arrived at Paramaribo, on
account of the war which broke out between the mother country and her
colonies. For many of these I felt very much; and must ever declare,
that no people could have a better heart or greater friendship for a
British individual than they had for me, which they shewed on many
different occasions.
On the 3d of August, Mr. de Graav being arrived in town, having finally
settled affairs with Mr. Lolkens, the late administrator of Fauconberg,
I now thought proper to take the first opportunity of settling matters
with him, by proposing him to give me credit till I should have it in
my power to pay the money for which Joanna and my Johnny had been sold
to me, and which I was determined to save out of my pay, if I should
exist on bread, salt, and water: though even then this debt could not
be discharged in less time than two or three years. Providence however
interfered, and at this moment sent that excellent woman, Mrs.
Godefroy, to my assistance: for no sooner was she acquainted with my
difficult and anxious situation, than she sent for me to dine with her,
when she addressed me in the following terms:
“I know, good Stedman, the present feelings of your heart, and the
incapacity of an officer, from his income only, to accomplish such a
purpose as the completion of your wishes. But know, that even in
Surinam virtue will meet with friends. Your manly sensibility for that
deserving young woman and her child must claim the esteem of all
rational persons, in spite of malice and folly: and so much has this
action recommended you to my attention in particular, that I should
think myself culpable in not patronizing your laudable intentions.
Permit me then to participate in your happiness, and in the future
prospect of the virtuous Joanna and her little boy, by requesting your
acceptance of the sum of two thousand florins, or any sum you stand in
need of; with which money go immediately, Stedman, go and redeem
innocence, good sense, and beauty from the jaws of tyranny, oppression,
and insult.”
Seeing me thunder-struck, and gazing upon her in a state of
stupefaction, without the power of speaking, she continued, with a
divine benignity:
“Let not your delicacy, my friend, take the alarm, and interfere in
this business: soldiers and sailors ought ever to be the men of fewest
compliments; and all I expect from you is, that you say not one word
more on the subject.”—As soon as I recovered I replied, “that I was at
a loss how to express my admiration of such benevolence.” I said, “that
Joanna, who had so frequently preserved my life, had certainly merited
my eternal affection; but that my gratitude could not be less to one
who had so generously put me in the way of redeeming that invaluable
woman from slavery;” and concluded with observing, “that I could not
now touch a shilling of the money, but should have the honour to call
upon her the next day; and immediately retired.”
I was no sooner returned home, than I acquainted Joanna with all that
had happened; who, bursting into tears, called out, “Gado sa bresse da
woma!”—“God will bless this woman!” and insisted that she herself
should be mortgaged to Mrs. Godefroy till every farthing should be
paid: she indeed was very anxious to see the emancipation of her boy,
but till that was done, she absolutely refused to accept of her own
freedom. I shall not here endeavour to paint the contest which I
sustained between affection and duty, but bluntly say that I yielded to
the wish of this so charming creature, and whose sentiments endeared
her to me still more. Thus I instantly drew up a paper, declaring my
Joanna, according to her desire, from this day to be the property of
Mrs. Godefroy, till the last farthing of the money she lent me should
be repaid; and, on the following day, with the consent of her relations
[3], I conducted her to Mrs. Godefroy’s house, where, throwing herself
at the feet of that incomparable woman, Joanna herself put the paper
into her hands; but this lady having raised her up, no sooner had read
the contents, than she exclaimed, “Must it be so? Then come here, my
Joanna, I have a spirit to accept of you not as my slave, but more as
my companion: you shall have a house built in my orange-garden, with my
own slaves to attend you, till Providence shall call me away, when you
shall be perfectly free, as indeed you now are the moment you wish to
possess your manumission; and this you claim both by your extraction
and your conduct [4].” On these terms, and on no other, I accepted of
the money on the 5th, and carrying it in my hat to Mr. de Graav’s, I
laid it on his table, demanding a receipt in full; and Joanna was
transferred from the wretched estate Fauconberg, to the protection of
the first woman perhaps in all the Dutch West-Indies, if not in the
world; and for which she thanked me with a look that could only be
expressed by the COUNTENANCE OF AN ANGEL.
Mr. de Graav, on counting the money, addressed me in the following
terms:—“Stedman, two hundred florins of this sum belong to me as
administrator. Permit me also to have a small share in this happy
event, by not accepting this dividend, as I shall find myself amply
paid by the pleasure of having been instrumental in bringing about what
seems so much to contribute to the enjoyment of two deserving people.”
Having thanked my disinterested friend with an affectionate shake by
the hand, I immediately returned the two hundred florins to Mrs.
Godefroy, and all were happy. I must not omit, as a farther proof of
Mrs. Godefroy’s humane character, that on hearing of the dejected
situation of the sick at Magdenberg, she at this time sent them a
present of a whole barge-load of fruit, vegetables, and refreshments of
every kind that the colony could afford, for their relief.
On the 7th of April, matters being thus far settled, I wrote a letter
to Mr. Lude, at Amsterdam, to give him intelligence, and to thank him
for having parted with the most valuable property of his estate; and my
ancle being now pretty well recovered, I also wrote to Colonel
Fourgeoud, that I should have the honour to join him in a few days.
This letter I directed to Barbacoeba, for there he still continued,
while the intrepid and active militia captain, Stoeleman, was beating
up the woods with a few rangers at another quarter, and who this day
sent in four captive rebel negroes to Paramaribo [5].
On the 10th, finding myself sufficiently recovered, and ready once more
to enter the forest, I bade farewell to my sweet family and friends,
leaving the first still at Mr. de la Mare’s, at their request; and
cheerfully set off with a tent-boat on my fifth campaign, in the hopes
of accompanying Fourgeoud; who, having assembled all his remaining
forces, and made the necessary arrangements to attack the enemy, was
now determined to march in a very few days.
On the 14th I arrived with a boat at Barbacoeba, in the upper part of
the river Cottica, where formerly I was when I killed the aboma snake.
I found here the old gentleman (who civilly welcomed me) ready to start
the following day. I never saw the troops in such fine spirits, or so
eager for service; which proceeded from different motives, as I had
said before, some in the hopes of plunder, some from revenge on the
rebels, and some from a wish to see the war at an end; while I believe
in my soul, that others were tired of existence by continual illness
and hard service; and heartily wished for a glorious end of all their
miseries—as nothing can be more wretched than a soldier’s or a sailor’s
life, perpetually soaking in the wet or scorching in the sun,
surrounded by an unbounded forest, and in a tropical climate.
CHAP. XX.
A Rebel Negro described—Bush-fighting—Sentimental Expressions of
the African Blacks—The Town of Gado-Saby taken by Colonel
Fourgeoud—Superstition—Wonderful Expedients—Great Generalship in
the Enemy.
On the 15th of August 1775, the rebels, flushed with their late victory
over Captain Meyland and his party, whether with a design to brave
Fourgeoud, or to intimidate his troops, being well apprised by their
spies that he was at Barbacoeba, had the assurance to set fire to all
the huts in two different camps which had been left standing by his
patroles, while they continued shouting and hallooing the whole night
within our hearing; but this only proved an incentive to action, and
enraged our veteran commander so much, that he now declared he would
have ample revenge at all hazards. During this night a large tiger also
alarmed the camp, but did no damage of any kind.
An hour before day-break next morning, Colonel Fourgeoud, with his
troops, were ready to march, and immediately entered the woods. They
now amounted exactly to two hundred Europeans fit for service, the rest
being ill and unfit for service; but no rangers were as yet arrived,
though they had been expected. The fact was, they were so much
disgusted with Fourgeoud’s command, that they did not appear at all,
which afforded this gentleman for once an opportunity of stigmatizing
them as a band of pusillanimous rascals; and I confess I was myself
extremely astonished at this wilful absence of my black favourites, who
were at other times so eager to rush upon the enemy, and had declared
their satisfaction at the hopes of a decisive engagement with their
sable countrymen.
This whole day our course was due E.; and after proceeding about eight
miles (which is a great distance in this country, where the pioneers
with bill-hooks must constantly open a path), we erected huts, and
encamped. Having frequently mentioned the rebel-negroes with whom we
were now certain to have a rencontre, I present the reader with the
figure of one of these people, upon his guard, as alarmed by a rustling
amongst the bushes. At a distance are supposed a couple of our rangers,
waiting the moment to take him by surprize. This rebel negro is armed
with a firelock and a hatchet; his hair, though woolly, may be observed
to be plaited close to his head, by way of distinction from the
rangers, or any other straggling negroes, who are not yet accepted
amongst them; his beard is grown to a point, like that of all the
Africans, when they have no opportunity of shaving. The principal dress
of this man consists of a cotton sheet, negligently tied across his
shoulders, which protects him from the weather, and serves him also to
rest on; while he always sleeps under cover in the most obscure places
he can find, when detached from his companions. The rest of his dress
is a camisa, tied around his loins like a handkerchief; his pouch,
which is made of some animal’s skin; a few cotton strings for ornament
around his ancles and wrists; and a superstitious obia or amulet tied
about his neck, in which he places all his confidence. The skull and
ribs are supposed to be the bones of his enemies, scattered upon the
sandy savannah.
The two rangers who make their appearance at a distance may be
distinguished by their red caps; and here I must observe, that the
rebels have many times availed themselves of seizing one of these
scarlet distinctions, which by clapping on their own heads in an
engagement, has not only saved their lives, but given them an
opportunity of shooting their enemies.
Another stratagem of theirs has sometimes been discovered, viz. that
fire-arms being scarce amongst them, numbers have intermixed in the
crowd, with a crooked stick shaped something like a musket; and this
appearance has more than once had the effect of preventing a proper
defence by the plantation slaves, when the rebels came to ransack the
estates; while with this show of armed numbers they have often struck
such a panic, and so damped the courage of the former, that they have
been calmly permitted, after burning their houses, even to carry away
their wives and daughters.
On the 16th we continued our march due E. upon a ridge or elevated
ground. These ridges, if I mistake not, run generally in this country
E. and W. as do also most of the marshes and swamps. Having advanced
rather a less distance than we did the day before, we were ordered
early to sling our hammocks, and to sleep without any covering, to
prevent the enemy from hearing the sound of cutting the trees; nor were
any fires allowed to be lighted, nor a word to be spoken, while a
strict watch was kept round the camp. These, in fast, were all very
necessary precautions; but if we were not discovered by the enemy, we
were almost devoured by the clouds of gnats or musquitoes, which arose
from a neighbouring marsh: for my own part I suffered more here than I
had even done on board the fatal barges in the upper Cottica, as we
could make no smoke to drive them away. In this situation I saw the
poor men dig holes with their bayonets in the earth, into which they
thrust their heads, stopping the entry and covering their necks with
their hammocks, while they lay with their bellies on the ground. To
sleep in any other position was absolutely impossible.
By the advice of a negro slave, I however enjoyed my rest.—“Climb,”
said he, “massera, with your hammock to the top of the highest tree
that is in the camp, and there go sleep; not a single musquito will
disturb you, the swarm will be sufficiently attracted by the smell of
the sweating multitude below.”—This I immediately tried, and slept
exalted near one hundred feet above my companions, whom I could not see
for the myriads of musquitoes below me, nor even hear them, from the
incessant buzzing of these troublesome insects.
This was the principal distress of the night; while, during the day, we
had frequently been attacked by whole armies of small emmets, called
here fire-ants, from their painful biting. These insects are black, and
very diminutive, but live in such amazing multitudes together, that
their hillocks have sometimes obstructed our passage by their size,
over which, if one chances to pass, the feet and legs are instantly
covered with innumerable of these creatures, which seize the skin with
such violence in their pincers, that they will sooner suffer the head
to be parted from their body, than let go their hold. The burning pain
which they occasion cannot, in my opinion, proceed from the sharpness
of their pincers only, but must be owing to some venomous fluid which
they infuse, or which the wound imbibes from them. I can aver that I
have seen them make a whole company hop about, as if they had been
scalded with boiling water.
On the 17th we continued our march still due E. till nine o’clock, when
we altered our course to the N. and had to scramble through great
quantities of those mataky roots, or trumpeters already described,
which proved that we were descending into the low grounds, and indeed
the soil soon became very marshy; fortunately, however, though it was
now the wet season, we had as yet very little rain.
This evening we encamped about four o’clock. Colonel Fourgeoud being
seized with a cold fit of the ague.
As I was slinging my hammock between two large branches, but not so
high as the preceding night, my eye chanced to fall upon what I
conceived to be the leaf of a tree, but which appeared to move and
crawl up the trunk. I called several officers to see it: when a
gentleman of the Society exclaimed, “C’est la feuille ambulante.” That
is the walking leaf. Upon closer examination it proved to be an insect,
whose wings so perfectly represent a leaf, that by many it has been
mistaken for a vegetable production. This seemed to be a species of
grasshopper, but covered over with four wings of an oval form, and
about three inches in length, the two uppermost so folded together as
to appear exactly like a brown leaf, with all the fibres, &c.
I now returned to my hammock; where, reflecting on all the wonders of
nature, while the silver-moon glittering through the verdure added
beauty to the scene, I fell into a profound sleep, which I enjoyed till
near midnight, when we were all awaked in pitch darkness and a heavy
shower of rain, by the hallooing and shouting of the rebel negroes, who
discharged several muskets; but as the shot did not reach our camp, we
were extremely astonished, the darkness rendering it impossible to form
any just idea of their meaning. This disturbance continuing till near
day-break, made us expect every moment to be surrounded, and keep a
very sharp look-out.
In the morning early we unlashed our hammocks, and marched due N.
towards the place whence we conjectured the hallooing noise to have
proceeded, being all much fatigued for want of rest, especially Colonel
Fourgeoud, who could hardly support himself, so much was he weakened by
the ague. We had not marched above two miles, I having the van-guard,
when a rebel negro sprang up at my feet from under a shrub, where he
had been asleep; but as we had orders not to fire upon stragglers, he
escaped, running with almost the swiftness of a stag amongst the
brambles. I no sooner made report to the old hero, than, swearing he
was a spy, which I believe was true, he shook off his illness, and
quickened his pace with redoubled vigour: but our pursuit was to no
purpose, at least this day; for about one o’clock we got into a bog,
from which we could hardly extricate ourselves, and were forced to
return to our last night’s encampment, missing two privates of the
Society troops, whom we supposed to have perished in the marsh.
This day we saw great quantities of arnotta-trees, with which this part
of the forest abounds. In the evening a slave presented me with a
bush-spider of such magnitude, that putting him into a case-bottle
above eight inches high, he actually reached the surface with some of
his hideous claws, whilst the others were resting upon the bottom. No
creature can be more dreadfully ugly than this enormous spider, which
the people of Surinam erroneously call the tarantula. The body is
divided in two, the posterior part oval, and the size of an
Orlean-plum; the fore-part square, with a figure somewhat resembling a
star upon it. This monster has five pair of thick legs, with four
joints in each; is entirely black or dark brown, and covered over, legs
and all, with thick and long black hair, like some caterpillars, while
each leg is armed with a crooked yellow nail, and from the head project
two long teeth with inverted pincers, resembling the claw of a crab,
with which it seizes its prey; while its bite, if not fatal by the
venomous liquid infused into the wound, always occasions a fever. It
has eight eyes like most spiders, and feeds on insects of every
species; nay, it is even asserted, that young birds do not escape it,
out of which this spider sucks the blood: its web is small but very
strong. Upon the whole, it is such a hideous creature, that the very
sight of it is sufficient to occasion a tremor of abhorrence, even in
persons most accustomed to inspect the deformities of nature.
Innumerable indeed are the pests and dangers to which one is hourly
exposed in the woods of this tropical climate; and though it is my
present business only to make mention of such as I met with in this
march, and which must appear new to the reader, yet a recapitulation of
the names only of our numerous plagues may not be improper to refresh
the memory of those who have a heart to sympathize with our sufferings.
I have already mentioned the musquitoes, monpieras, patat and serapat
lice, chigoes, cock-roaches, common ants, fire-ants, horse-flies, wild
bees, and spiders; besides the prickly heat, ring-worm, dry-gripes,
putrid fevers, boils, consaca, bloody-flux, thorns, briars, alligators,
snakes, tigers, &c.; but I have not yet spoken of the bush-worms, large
ants, locusts, centipedes, scorpions, bats, and flying-lice, the
crassy-crassy, yaws, lethargy, leprosy, and dropsy, with a thousand
other grievances that continually annoyed our unhappy troops;—a
particular description of which I must delay till a more suitable
opportunity occurs for introducing them into this narrative.
Such were the pests that we had to struggle with in this baneful
climate, whilst our poor men were dying in multitudes, without proper
assistance, unpitied, and frequently without a friend to close their
eye-lids, neither coffin nor shell to receive their bones, but thrown
promiscuously into one pit, like heaps of loathsome carrion.
On the 19th, we again left our encampment, and after keeping a little
S. marched E. till ten o’clock, when we were overtaken and joined by a
party of one hundred rangers, with their conductor, Mr. Vinsack, to my
great satisfaction. At this period we mustered three hundred men; and
however little Colonel Fourgeoud affected, at other times, to value
these black soldiers, he was now not at all displeased with their
company, upon our near approach to an enemy with whom the rangers were
well acquainted, and knew how to engage much better than the marines:
while it will ever be my opinion, that one of these free negroes is
preferable to half a dozen white men in the forest of Guiana; it indeed
seems their natural element, whilst it is the bane of the Europeans.
Colonel Fourgeoud now issued orders for our little army to march in
three lines or columns, his own regiment in the centre, the Society
troops on the right, the rangers or black soldiers on the left, all
within hearing of each other, with a few flankers or riflemen outside
the whole: thus formed we advanced till about noon, when we changed our
course from E. to N. E. and continued our march over a biree-biree
swamp, or quagmire: these are very common and dangerous in this
country, being a deep soft miry bog, covered over with a thin crust of
verdure, sufficient in most places to bear the weight of a man, and
quaking when walked over; but should this crust give way, whoever
breaks it is swallowed up in the chasm, where he must inevitably perish
if not immediately extricated; thus it has frequently happened that men
have been seen to sink, and have never more been heard of.
Quicksands are quite different, as they overwhelm by a gradual suction,
whereas the effects of a quagmire are instantaneous. To avoid
accidents, we opened our files as much as possible, which occasioned a
very long rear; but even with this precaution several men sunk through
it, as if the ice had broken under their feet, and some in my presence
up to the arm-pits, but were fortunately, though with much difficulty,
extricated.
In the afternoon we passed through two old cassava fields, which
indicated our near approach to the rebel settlement; we afterwards fell
in with Captain Meyland’s path, which we knew by the marks cut upon the
trees, as before explained. The evening being too far advanced to
attack the enemy, we once more encamped a few miles from the swamp in
which Captain Meyland and his party had been defeated.
Having had a long march, and the men being much fatigued, Colonel
Fourgeoud allowed, during this night, both huts and fires; which
surprized me greatly, being so near the rebels, though he had forbidden
these comforts when we were at a very considerable distance from them.
I however availed myself of his bounty, and having got some pigeon-peas
from my serjeant, which he had picked up in the old cassava grounds,
and laid hold of one of the kettles, I invited him, and a captain of
the black corps called Hannibal, to a share; who having thrown their
salt-beef and rusk-biscuit into the mess with mine, and stirred it
round with a bayonet, we made a very excellent supper, though in a sad
dreary night and heavy rain.
The pigeon or Angola peas grow on a shrub about eight or ten feet high;
five or six of these peas are contained in a pod; they are flat like
lentils, and of a reddish-brown colour: the negroes are extremely fond
of them, and cultivate them in their gardens without any expence or
much trouble.
Hannibal now observing that we should certainly see the enemy
to-morrow, asked me if I knew in what manner negro engaged against
negro? Having answered in the negative, he gave me the following
relation, while smoking his pipe under my hammock.—“Massera,” said he,
“both parties are divided in small companies of eight or ten men,
commanded by a captain, with a horn, such as this (shewing me his) by
which they do every thing, and fight or run away. When they fight they
separate immediately, lie down on the ground, and fire at the flash of
each other’s pans through the trees; while each warrior is supported by
two negroes unarmed, the one to take his place if he is killed, and the
other to carry away the dead body, to prevent its falling into the
hands of their adversaries [6].”
From this discourse I perfectly understood his meaning, which I have
since seen put in practice; and for the clearer conception of the
reader, I have illustrated it with the following plan, where the whole
engagement is exhibited at one view.
The two columns E and F are supposed to be first engaged, where No 1 in
the column E commences the attack by firing at random in the opposite
bushes; and instantly retires, by shifting his place to No 1 in the
column C, where he re-loads; while No 2 in the column F, having fired
at the flash of his pan, advances in the same manner, shifting his
station to re-load at No 2 in the column D; and at the flash of whose
pan No 3 fires in E, and receives the fire of No 4 in F, &c. &c. Thus
continuing through both lines, till No 8 has fired in F, when the whole
have shifted their stations; and the same manœuvre is continued with
the columns C and D, beginning again with the identical numbers 1, 2,
3, &c. at the top; while these lines, having shifted their places,
still the firing is repeated by the lines A and B, and thus ad
infinitum, until by sounding the horn one of the parties gives way in
flight, and the battle is over. I shall only add, that when the forest
is thick, instead of lying on their bellies, or kneeling, each negro
skulks behind a thick tree, which serves him as a bulwark, and from
which he fires at his adversary with more certainty and less danger,
usually resting his piece against the trunk, or in the forked branches,
like the Shawanese and Delaware Indians.
Captain Hannibal also informed me, that the famous chief Bonny was
supposed to be in person amongst the neighbouring rebels; and that he
was born in the forest amongst them, notwithstanding his being a
mulatto, which was accounted for by his mother escaping to the woods
from the ill treatment of her master, by whom she was then pregnant.
Having frequently mentioned the different shades between a black and a
white, the same plate represents them to the reader at one view. From
the above two colours the mulatto is produced; from the mulatto and
black, the samboo; from the mulatto and white, the quaderoon, &c.
&c.—This sable warrior made me also acquainted with the names of
several other rebel commanders, against whom he had frequently fought
for the Europeans. Such as Quammy, who was the chief of a separate
gang, and had no connection with the others; Coromantyn, Cojo, Arico,
and Joli-Cœur; the two last being celebrated captains, whose revenge
was insatiable against the whites, particularly Joli-Cœur’s, who had I
confess great reason, as has been already stated. The noted rebel negro
Baron, he believed, was now serving also under the great chief Bonny.
He next proceeded to tell me the names of the principal rebel
settlements, some of which were already destroyed, some now in view,
and some of these were only known to us by name. These appellations
were all very expressive indeed; and as they may serve in some measure
to elucidate our enquiries concerning the negro nations, I have thought
proper to give them a place in this narrative, with their meaning in an
English translation; viz.
Boucoo I shall moulder before I shall be taken.
Gado Saby God only knows me, and none else.
Cofaay Come try me, if you be men.
Tessee See Take a tasting, if you like it.
Mele me Do disturb me, if you dare.
Boosy Cray The woods lament for me.
Me Salasy I shall be taken.
Kebree me Hide me, O thou surrounding verdure.
The others were:
Quammi Condre From Quammi, the name of the chief.
Pinenburgh From the pines or manicole-trees which formerly
surrounded it.
Caro Condre From the quantity of maize it afforded.
Reisee Condre From the quantity of rice it produced.
Such were the names of the negro warriors, and their settlements.
I now shook hands with Captain Hannibal, while my mind being occupied
with the hopes of victory unstained by cruelty, and being very much
fatigued, I soon fell profoundly asleep.
On the 20th in the morning, no one could awake in a more beautiful day
and better spirits than I did, until they were damped by observing that
at so critical a time, and even in the moment before the conflict,
instead of that kind treatment which it would have been prudent to have
shewn to those from whose exertions we were to expect a happy period to
our sufferings, there was even then such discouragement of the
subaltern officers and private men as involuntarily drew from me the
reflection—That (if possible to avoid it) princes and ministers should
never invest any one individual with unlimited authority, especially in
a foreign country, without being perfectly well acquainted with the
rectitude of their moral principles and disposition; no men being fit
to command but those who are possessed of manly feelings, and whose
valour is tempered with humanity; since ’tis a truth that sterling
bravery is incompatible with a cruel heart.
At six o’clock we advanced N. E. by N. towards the marsh, my melancholy
evaporating with the rising sun.
About eight o’clock we entered this formidable swamp, and soon found
ourselves above our middle in water, well prepared nevertheless for the
warm reception we expected from the opposite shore, as the former party
had so fatally experienced. After wading above half a mile, our
grenadiers rapidly mounted the beach with cocked firelocks and bayonets
fixed; the main body instantly followed, and also mounting the beach,
the whole formed without the smallest opposition. We now beheld a
spectacle sufficient to shock the most intrepid, the ground strewed
with skulls, bones, and ribs still covered with human flesh, and
besmeared with the blood of those unfortunate men who were killed with
Captain Meyland.—That officer had indeed found means to bury them, but
the rebels had dug them up for the sake of their cloaths, and to mangle
the bodies, which, like ferocious animals, they had torn limb from
limb. Amongst these, the fate of Meyland’s nephew, a promising young
man, was peculiarly affecting. He came from the mountains of
Switzerland in quest of military preferment, and met his fate in a
marsh of Surinam just after his landing. His bravery was equal to that
of his uncle, his intrepidity, voluntarily exposing himself to danger,
knew no bounds.—Such is the enthusiasm of military ambition.
“And ’tis most true, while Time’s relentless hand
With sickly grasp drags others to the tomb;
The soldier scorns to wait the dull command,
But springs impatient to a nobler doom.
“Tho’ on the plain he lies, outstretch’d and pale,
Without one friend his stedfast eyes to close,
Yet on his honour’d corpse shall many a gale
Waft the moist fragrance of the weeping rose.
“O’er the dread spot the melancholy moon
Shall pause a while—a sadder beam to shed;
And starry night amidst her awful noon
Sprinkle light dews upon his hallowed head.
“There too the solitary bird shall swell
With long-drawn melody her plaintive throat;
While distant echo from responsive cell
Shall oft with fading force return the note.
“Such recompence be valour’s due alone.”
This being the second or third heap of human bones we had met with in
our march, I frankly acknowledge did not operate upon me as a
stimulative to engage with negroes; yet these awful relics spurred on
the common soldiers to take revenge for the loss of their massacred
companions.
Having so frequently had occasion to speak of marching through a swamp,
it may not be improper to illustrate the description by the annexed
drawing. The first figure represents Colonel Fourgeoud (preceded by a
negro slave, as a guide, to give notice by his swimming when the water
deepens) followed by myself, some other officers and marines, wading
through the marsh above our middle, and carrying our arms, ammunition,
and accoutrements above our heads, to prevent their being damaged by
the wet.
In the back-ground may be seen the manner in which the slaves carry all
burdens whatever on the head, and the mode of the rebel negroes firing
upon the troops from the tops of high palm-trees, &c. A march of this
nature, though occasionally necessary in Surinam, must be always very
dangerous, being exposed to an attack from under cover of the
surrounding bushes, without having the power of returning the fire more
than once; for in such a depth of water no soldier can re-load his
musket without wetting both the lock and the priming.
We now followed a kind of foot-path made by the enemy, which after a
little turning led us in a westerly direction. Serjeant Fowler, who
preceded the van-guard, at this time came to me pale, declaring, that
the sight of the mangled bodies had made him extremely sick; and that
he felt himself completely disarmed, being that moment, as it were,
rivetted to the ground, without the power of advancing one single step,
or knowing how to conceal his tremor:——I d—n’d him for a pitiful
scoundrel, and had only time to order him to the rear.
“No force, no firmness, the pale coward shews:
He shifts his place, his colour comes and goes;
A dropping sweat creeps cold on every part,
Against his bosom beats his quivering heart:
Terror and death in his wild eye-balls stare;
With chattering teeth he stands, and stiff’ning hair,
And looks a bloodless image of despair.”
At ten o’clock we met a small party of the rebels, with each a green
hamper upon his back; they fired at us, dropped their bundles, and
taking to their heels ran back towards their village. These we since
learned were transporting rice to another settlement for their
subsistence, when they should be expelled from Gado-Saby (the name of
this settlement) which they daily expected, since they had been
discovered by the gallant Captain Meyland. The green hampers, which
they call warimbos, were very curiously plaited with the manicole
leaves. And when our men cut them open with their sabres, there burst
forth the most beautiful clean rice that I ever saw, which was
scattered and trampled under foot, as we had no opportunity of carrying
it along. A little after this we perceived an empty shed, where a
picquet had been stationed to give notice of any danger, but they had
precipitately deserted their post. We now vigorously redoubled our pace
till about noon; when two more musket shot were fired at us by another
advanced guard of the enemy, as a signal to the chief, Bonny, of our
approach. Major Medler and myself, with a few of the van-guard, and a
small party of the rangers, at this time rushing forward, soon came to
a fine field of rice and Indian corn: we here made a halt for the other
troops, particularly to give time for our rear to close up, some of
whom were at least two miles behind us; and during which period we
might have been cut to pieces, the enemy, unknown to us, having
surrounded the field in which we were, as we were afterwards informed.
In about half an hour the whole body joined us, when we instantly
proceeded by cutting through a small defile of the wood, into which we
had no sooner entered, than a heavy fire commenced from every side, the
rebels retiring, and we advancing, until we arrived in the most
beautiful field, of ripe rice, in the form of an oblong square, from
which the rebel town appeared at a distance, in the form of an
amphitheatre, sheltered from the sun by the foliage of a few lofty
trees, the whole presenting a coup-d’œil romantic and enchanting beyond
conception. In this field the firing was kept up, like one continued
peal of thunder, for above forty minutes, during which time our black
warriors behaved with wonderful intrepidity and skill. The white
soldiers were too eager, and fired over one another at random, yet I
could perceive a few of them act with the utmost coolness, and imitate
the rangers with great effect; amongst these was now the once-daunted
Fowler, who being roused from his tremor by the firing at the beginning
of the onset, had rushed to the front, and fully re-established his
character, by fighting like a brave fellow, by my side, until the
muzzle of his musket was split by a shot from the enemy, which rendered
it useless; a ball passed through my shirt, and grazed the skin of my
shoulder; Mr. Decabanes, my lieutenant, had the sling of his fusee shot
away: several others were wounded, some mortally, but I did not, to my
surprize, observe one instance of immediate death—for which seeming
miracle, however, I shall presently account.
This whole field of rice was surrounded and interspersed by the enemy
with the large trunks and roots of heavy trees, in order to make our
approach both difficult and dangerous; behind these temporary
fortifications the rebels lay lurking, and firing upon us with
deliberate aim, whilst their bulwarks certainly protected them in some
measure from the effects of our fire, we having vast numbers of these
fallen trees to scramble over before we could reach the town: but we
still advanced, in defiance of every obstacle, and while I admired the
masterly manœuvres of their general, I could not help pitying them for
their superstition. One poor fellow, in particular, trusting to his
amulet or charm, fancied himself invulnerable; he mounted frequently
upon one of the trees that lay near us, discharged his piece, descended
to re-load, and then with equal confidence and the greatest
deliberation returned to the charge in my full view; till at last a
shot from one of my marines, named Valet, broke the bone of his thigh,
and he fell crawling for shelter under the very same tree which had
supported him just before; but the soldier instantly advancing, and
putting the muzzle of his musket to the rebel’s ear, blew out his
brains, while several of his countrymen, in spite of their spells and
charms, shared the same fate.
Being now about to enter the town, a rebel captain, wearing a tarnished
gold-laced hat, and bearing in his hand a torch of flaming straw,
seeing their ruin inevitable, had the resolution to stay and set the
town on fire in our presence, which, by the dryness of the houses,
instantly produced a general conflagration, when the firing from the
woods began gradually to cease. This bold and masterly manœuvre not
only prevented that carnage to which the common soldiers in the heat of
victory are but too prone, but also afforded the enemy an opportunity
of retreating with their wives and children, and carrying off their
most useful effects; whilst our pursuit, and seizing the spoil, were at
once frustrated both by the ascending flames, and the unfathomable
marsh, which we soon discovered on all sides to surround us, as in the
Maccabees:
“Behold the battle is before us, and behind us, and the water of
Jordan on this side, and that side, and the marsh, and forest, so
that there is no place for us to turn aside.”
I must indeed confess that within this last hour the continued noise of
the firing, shouting, swearing, and hallooing of black and white men
mixed together; the groans of the wounded and the dying, all weltering
in blood and in dust; the shrill sound of the negro horns from every
quarter, and the crackling of the burning village; to which if we add
the clouds of smoke that every where surrounded us, the ascending
flames, &c. &c. formed, on the whole, such an uncommon scene as I
cannot describe, and would perhaps not have been unworthy of the pencil
of Hogarth: this scene I have, however, faintly endeavoured to
represent in the frontispiece—where I may be seen, after the heat of
the action, fatigued, and dejectedly looking on the body of an
unfortunate rebel negro, who, with his musket in his hand, lies
prostrate at my feet.
In short, having washed off the dust, sweat, and blood, and having
refreshed ourselves with a dram and a bit of bread till the flames
subsided, we next went to inspect the smoking ruins; and found the
above town to have consisted of about one hundred houses or huts, some
of which were two stories high. Among the glowing ashes we picked up
several trifles that had escaped the flames, such as silver spoons and
forks, which we supposed, by the marks BW. to have been pillaged from
the Brunswick estate in Rio Cottica. We found also some knives, broken
china and earthen pots; amongst the latter one filled with rice and
palm-tree worms fell to my share: as this wanted no fire to dress the
contents, and as my appetite was very keen, I emptied it in a few
minutes, and made a very hearty meal. Some were afraid this mess had
been left behind with a view to poison us; but this suspicion, proved
however, fortunately for me, to be without foundation.
The silver plate I also purchased from the men that picked it up,
determined to carry it off as a trophy, and I have used it ever since.
Here we likewise found three skulls fixed upon stakes, the mournful
relics of some of our own brave people, who had been formerly killed;
but what surprized us most, were the heads of two young negroes, which
seemed as if fresh cut off, these we since learned had been executed
during the night of the 17th, when we heard the hallooing and the
firing, for speaking in our favour.
Having buried all these remains promiscuously in one pit, we returned
to sling our hammocks, under those beautiful and lofty trees which I
have already mentioned; but here I am sorry to add, we found the
rangers shockingly employed, in playing at bowls with those very heads
they had just chopped off from their enemies; who, deaf to all
remonstrance,
“Resistless drove the batter’d skulls before,
And dash’d and mangled all the brains with gore.”
They related that upon reconnoitring the skirts of the surrounding
forest, they had found quantities of human blood in different places,
which had flowed from the dead and wounded bodies the rebels had
carried away during the action.
To reprimand them for this inhuman diversion would have been useless,
as they assured us it was “Condre fassee,” the custom of their country;
and concluded the horrid sport by kicking and mangling the heads,
cutting off the lips, cheeks, ears, and noses; they even took out the
jaw-bones, which they smoke-dried, together with the right hands, to
carry home, as trophies of their victory, to their wives and relations.
That this barbarous custom prevails amongst savages is a well-known
fact, which originates from a motive of insatiable revenge. And though
Colonel Fourgeoud might have prevented their inhumanity by his
authority, in my opinion he wisely declined it; observing, that as he
could not do it by persuasion, to do it by power, might break their
native spirit, and produce no other effect than alienating them from
the service, so necessary were they to us, though so savagely
revengeful, and so bloody.
About three o’clock, whilst we were resting from our fatigue, we were
once more surprised by an attack from a party of the enemy; but after
exchanging a few shots they were repulsed. This unexpected visit,
however, put us more upon our guard during the night, so that no fires
were allowed to be lighted, and double sentinels were placed around the
camp. Thus situated, being overcome by excessive toil and heat, I after
sun-set leaped into my hammock, and soon fell fast asleep; but in less
than two hours my faithful black boy Quaco roused me, in the midst of
pitch darkness, crying, “Massera, massera! boosee negro, boosee
negro!”—“Master, master! the enemy, the enemy!” Hearing, at the same
moment, a brisk firing, with the balls whistling through the branches,
I fully concluded that the rebels were in the very midst of our camp.
Surprised, and not perfectly awake, I suddenly started up with my fusee
cocked; and (without knowing where I ran) first threw down Quaco, and
next fell down myself, over two or three bodies that lay upon the
ground, and which I imagined to be killed. When one of them, “d—ning me
for a son of a b—ch, told me, if I moved I was a dead man; Colonel
Fourgeoud having issued orders for the troops to lie flat on their
bellies all the night, and not to fire, as most of their ammunition had
been expended the preceding day.” I took his advice, and soon
discovered him by his voice to be one of our own grenadiers, named
Thomson. In this situation we lay prostrate on our arms until sun-rise,
during which time a most abusive dialogue was carried on indeed between
the rebels and the rangers, each party cursing and menacing the other
at a very terrible rate; the former “reproaching the rangers as
poltroons and traitors to their countrymen, and challenging them next
day to single combat; swearing they only wished to lave their hands in
the blood of such scoundrels, who had been the principal agents in
destroying their flourishing settlement.” The rangers “d—n’d the rebels
for a parcel of pitiful skulking rascals, whom they would fight one to
two in the open field, if they dared but to shew their ugly faces;
swearing they had only deserted their masters because they were too
lazy to work.” After this they insulted each other by a kind of
war-whoop, sung victorious songs on both sides, and sounded their horns
as signals of defiance; when the firing commenced once more from the
rebel negroes, and continued during the night, accompanied by their
martial voices, at intermissions resounding through the woods, which
echo seemed to answer with redoubled force.
At length poor Fourgeoud took a part in the conversation, myself and
Serjeant Fowler acting as his interpreters, by hallooing, which created
more mirth than I had been witness to for some time: he promised them
life, liberty, victuals, drink, and all they wanted. They replied, with
a loud laugh, that they wanted nothing from him; characterized him as a
half-starved Frenchman, who had run away from his own country; and
assured him that if he would venture to pay them a visit, he should
return unhurt, and not with an empty belly. They told us, that we were
to be pitied more than they; that we were white slaves, hired to be
shot at and starved for four-pence a day; that they scorned to expend
much more of their powder upon such scarecrows; but should the planters
or overseers dare to enter the woods, not a soul of them should ever
return, any more than the perfidious rangers, some of whom might depend
upon being massacred that day, or the next; and concluded by declaring
that Bonny should soon be the governor of the colony.
After this they tinkled their bill-hooks, fired a volley, and gave
three cheers; which being answered by the rangers, the clamour ended,
and the rebels dispersed with the rising sun.
Our fatigue was great; yet, notwithstanding the length of the contest,
our loss by the enemies fire was very inconsiderable, for which I
promised to account; and this mystery was now explained, when the
surgeons, dressing the wounded, extracted very few leaden bullets, but
many pebbles, coat-buttons, and pieces of silver coin, which could do
us little mischief, by penetrating scarcely more than skin deep. We
also observed, that several of the poor rebel negroes who were shot,
had only the shards of Spa-water cans, instead of flints, which could
seldom do execution; and it was certainly owing to these circumstances
that we came off so well, as I have mentioned before; yet we were
nevertheless not without a number of very dangerous scars and
contusions.
Inconceivable are the many expedients which these people employ in the
woods, where in a state of tranquillity they seemed, as they boasted,
to want for nothing, being plump and fat, at least such as we had an
opportunity of observing. It should be noticed, that game and fish they
catch in great abundance, by artificial traps and springs, and preserve
them by barbacuing; while their fields are even overstocked with rice,
cassava, yams, plantains, &c. They make salt from the palm-tree ashes,
as the Gentoos do in the East Indies, or frequently supply the want of
it with red pepper.
We here found concealed near the trunk of an old tree a case-bottle
filled with excellent butter, which the rangers told me they made by
melting and clarifying the fat of the palm-tree worms: this fully
answers all the purposes of European butter, and I found it in fact
even more delicious to my taste. The pistachio or pinda nuts they also
convert into butter, by their oily substance, and frequently use them
in their broths. The palm-tree wine they have always in plenty; they
procure it by making deep incisions of a foot square in the fallen
trunk, where the juice being collected, it soon ferments by the heat of
the sun; it is not only a cool and agreeable beverage, but sufficiently
strong to intoxicate. The manicole or pine-tree affords them materials
for building; they fabricate pots from clay found near their dwellings;
the gourd or callebasse tree procures them cups; the silk grass plant
and maurecee-tree supplies materials for their hammocks, and even a
kind of cap grows naturally upon the palm-trees, as well as brooms; the
various kinds of nebee supply the want of ropes; fuel they have for
cutting; and a wood called bee-bee serves for tinder, by rubbing two
pieces on each other; it is also elastic, and makes excellent corks;
candles they can make, having plenty of fat and oil; and the wild bees
afford them wax, as well as excellent honey.
Cloaths they scorn to wear, preferring to go naked in a climate where
the warmth of the weather renders every kind of covering an useless
incumbrance.
They might breed hogs and poultry, and keep dogs for hunting and
watching them, but this they decline, from the apprehension of being
discovered by their noise, as even the crowing of a cock may be heard
in the forest at a considerable distance.———I shall now once more
proceed.
The rebels of this settlement being apparently subdued and dispersed,
Colonel Fourgeoud made it his next business to destroy the surrounding
harvest; and I received orders to begin the devastation, with eighty
marines and twenty rangers. Thus I cut down all the rice that was
growing plentifully in the two above-mentioned fields; this being done,
I discovered a third field south of the first, which I also demolished,
and made my report to Fourgeoud, with which he appeared highly
satisfied. In the afternoon Captain Hamel was detached, with fifty,
marines and thirty rangers, to reconnoitre behind the village, and to
discover, if possible, how the rebels could pass to and fro through an
unfathomable marsh, whilst we were unable to pursue them. This officer
at length perceived a kind of floating bridge amongst the reeds, made
of maurecee-trees, but so constructed, that only one man abreast could
pass it. On this were seated astride a few rebels to defend the
communication, who instantly fired upon the party, but were soon
repulsed by the rangers, who shot one of them dead, but he was carried
away by his companions.
On the morning of the 22d, our commander ordered a detachment to cross
the bridge and go on discovery, at all hazards. Of this party I led the
van. We now took the pass without opposition; and having all marched,
or rather scrambled over this defile of floating trees, we found
ourselves in a large oblong field of cassava and yams, in which were
about thirty houses, now deserted, being the remains of the old
settlement called Cofaay. In this field we separated into three
divisions, the better to reconnoitre, one marching north, one
north-west, and the third west. And here, to our astonishment, we
discovered that the reason of the rebels shouting, singing, and firing,
on the night of the 20th, was not only to cover the retreat of their
friends, by cutting off the pass, but by their unremitting noise to
prevent us from discovering that they were employed, men, women, and
children, in preparing warimboes or hampers filled with the finest
rice, yams, and cassava, for subsistence during their escape, of which
they had only left the chaff and refuse for our contemplation.
This was certainly such a masterly trait of generalship in a savage
people, whom we affected to despise, as would have done honour to any
European commander, and has perhaps been seldom equalled by more
civilized nations.
CHAP. XXI.
Spirited Conduct of the Rangers and Rebels—A Skirmish—Scene of
Brotherly Affection—The Troops return to Barbacoeba—Plan of the
Field of Action—A Slave killed by the Oroocookoo Snake.
Colonel Fourgeoud, on finding himself thus foiled by a naked negro, was
unable any longer to restrain his resentment, and swore aloud he would
pursue Bonny to the world’s end. His ammunition and provisions were
however expended, and if they had not, it would have been in vain now
to think of overtaking the enemy.—To the surprize of most persons, our
hero however persevered in this impracticable project, and dispatched
Captain Bolts, with one hundred men and thirty rangers, besides a
number of slaves, to transport a quantity of shot, and a week’s
provisions from Barbacoeba, and at the same time issued orders for the
troops to subsist upon half allowance, desiring the men to supply the
deficiency by picking rice, peas, and cassava, and prepare them in the
best way they could for their subsistence, and this was also my lot, as
well as most of the officers; while it was no bad scene to see ten or
twenty of us with heavy wooden pestles, like so many apothecaries,
beating the rice in a species of mortars, cut all along in the hard
trunk of a levelled purper-heart-tree by the rebel negroes (being the
only contrivance used by them to separate the rice from the husk) this
was however for us a most laborious business, the sweat running down
our bodies as if we had been bathing, while water was at this time the
only beverage in the camp.
Among other vegetables we had the good fortune to find here great
quantities of wild purslane, which only differs from the common, by
growing nearer the ground, the leaves being less, and more of a
blackish green; this vegetable grows wild in the woods of Guiana, and
may be either eaten as a sallad, or stewed, without reserve, being not
only a cooling and agreeable food, but reckoned an excellent antidote
against the scurvy.
Here were also great quantities of gourd or calebasse trees, which are
very useful to the natives of the country. This tree grows to the
height of a common apple-tree, with large thick pointed leaves: the
gourds it produces are of different forms and dimensions, some being
oval, some conical, and some round, growing often to the size of ten or
twelve inches in diameter; the shell is hard and very smooth, covered
over with a shining skin or epidermis, which becomes brown when the
gourd is dry and fit for use: the heart or pulp is a pithy substance,
which is easily extricated by the help of a crooked knife. The uses are
various to which these gourds are applied, they furnish bottles,
powder-flasks, cups, basons, and dishes: I seldom travelled without
one, which served me as a bason, plate, &c. in the forest. The negroes
generally adorn them by carving on the outer skin many fantastical
figures, and filling up the vacancies with chalk-dust, which sometimes
has a very pretty effect.
The rangers having been out to reconnoitre, returned on the afternoon
of the 23d, and reported that they had discovered and destroyed another
field of rice to the N. E. This pleased Colonel Fourgeoud very well;
but when in the dusk of the evening I observed to him, that I saw
several armed negroes advancing at a distance, he turned pale,
exclaiming, “Nous sommes perdus!” and ordered the whole camp
immediately under arms. In a few seconds these negroes were near enough
to be discerned, and we now saw that several of them were carried upon
poles, in hammocks. Fourgeoud then said, “We still are ruined, though
not the enemy: ’tis Captain Bolts, beaten back, with all his party;”
and this proved literally to be the fact, when that unfortunate officer
(having delivered the wounded to the surgeons) made his report, that
having entered the fatal swamp where Captain Meyland had been defeated,
he was attacked by the enemy from the opposite shore, who, without
hurting a single European, had made a dreadful havock amongst his
rangers; that Captain Valentine, a brave young fellow, belonging to
that corps, whilst sounding his horn to animate his countrymen, had it
shot away, with his pouch also, and was himself most desperately
wounded in five different parts of the body. In this situation he was
met by his brother, named Captain Avantage, who, upon seeing his mortal
condition, a scene of such real fraternal affection ensued as is seldom
to be observed in a civilized country:—kneeling at his side, and
bending over the mangled Valentine, he sucked the blood and gore from
his shattered breast and sides; then cherished him with the manly
promise to revenge his death upon his foes, and the hopes that when he
himself was killed he should meet him again in a better place.
Colonel Fourgeoud now found that the rebels had kept their promise of
massacring the rangers; while Captain Bolts reported that some had
fired upon his party from the tops of the palm-trees, and then sliding
down with surprising agility, disappeared, whilst the rangers were
foaming for revenge on their active adversaries, and could hardly be
restrained from an immediate pursuit through the verdure.
Our mighty leader now found his absurd scheme of pursuing the enemy
compleatly frustrated, and himself in danger of total destruction;
being cut off from every supply, and having neither ammunition nor
provisions left in his camp, with very few men, except the sick and
wounded, to defend it. Thus he at last began most seriously to consider
how to secure a safe retreat; to which he was urged likewise by the
general and incessant murmurings of the troops, who were not only
almost starved, but indeed dreadfully harassed by daily fatigues and
nightly watchings:
“They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way, they found no
city to dwell in.
“Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.”
On the 24th, a detachment of one hundred and forty men, commanded by
two field officers, were still ordered to destroy the fields, and the
old settlement called Cofaay; of this party I had the honour again to
be one. We soon performed the service we were sent upon, and also
picked up, out of the marsh, several utensils, such as tea-kettles,
iron pots and pans, &c. that the rebels had formerly pillaged from the
estates, and had thrown into the water to conceal them from us, with an
intention, no doubt, of returning to fish them up, as soon as we were
gone from Gado-Saby.
Upon the return of the detachment in the afternoon, we immediately
decamped, and began to retreat for Barbacoeba. Here I must remark in
Colonel Fourgeoud an instance of bad policy, at least, though many have
not hesitated to bestow upon it a harsher epithet. This evening, upon
our return, when we entered the ominous swamp, he suddenly caught up
one of the empty bread-boxes, and having stuffed a hammock into it, he
carried it before him as a shield, crying aloud to his men, “Sauve qui
peut!” At this moment a Walloon named Mattow stepped up to him, and
said, “Mon Colonel, but few can, and I hope fewer still will, follow
your example. Drop your shield, and do not intimidate your soldiers:
one brave man creates others, then follow thy Mattow, and fear for
nothing.” Upon which he instantly threw open his bosom, and charging
his bayonet was the first that mounted the opposite beach: this
intrepidity inspired the rest, and they passed the marshy swamp without
opposition; for which act of heroism this private marine was since made
a serjeant. I should think myself deficient if I did not observe, that
the Walloons in general behaved with great spirit, and were in every
respect excellent soldiers. This evening we encamped upon the same
ground where we had passed the night before the engagement, with
excessive bad weather and very heavy rain.
Early on the morning of the 25th, we again marched, and proceeded on
our return, having now a beaten path before us. It will suffice to say,
that we reached our place of general rendezvous, Barbacoeba, on the
afternoon of the following day, but in a most shocking condition; the
whole of the detachment being mostly spent and wore out with fatigue,
some nearly starved, others mortally wounded; whilst all the slaves
were employed in carrying the sick and lame in their hammocks, on long
poles, though these poor wretches were scarcely able to support
themselves.—Such was the concluding scene of the taking of Gado-Saby.
However, if during this expedition we neither captured any of the
rebels, nor gained booty, we nevertheless rendered the colony a very
essential service, by rooting out this concealed nest of enemies, who
being thus discovered and driven away from their capital settlements,
never think (as I have already observed) of returning to live near the
same spot. I might, indeed, pronounce our victory almost decisive; I
say almost, for if we except the demolishing a few plantations for
immediate subsistence, and from a spirit of revenge, the rebels were,
by being driven from this settlement, so disconcerted and panic-struck,
that from the present period their depredations were certainly less, as
they soon afterwards retired to an inaccessible depth in the forest,
where they neither could do any material injury, nor be joined by negro
deserters.
To shew the masterly manœuvres of our sable foes to more advantage, I
here present the reader with a plan of this extraordinary settlement,
together with our different stages, after leaving our encampment on the
borders of the Cottica River, viz.
Nos 1, 2, and 3, are supposed to be the general rendezvous at
Barbacoeba, and the two succeeding nights encampment.
No 4. The spot where we heard the firing and shouting of the rebels, on
the night of the 17th.
No 5. The latitude where the troops were joined by the black corps or
rangers.
No 6. The night’s encampment previous to the engagement.
No 7. The beach on the opposite side of the marsh, where Captain
Meyland with his troops had been defeated.
No 8. The advanced post of the rebels, whence the first shot was fired
at the troops.
No 9. The field with rice and Indian corn, entered without opposition.
No 10. The pass or defile in which the firing commenced.
No 11. The beautiful rice-field in which the action continued above
forty minutes.
No 12. The town of Gado-Saby in flames at a distance.
No 13. The spot whence the rebels fired on the camp, and held the
conversation, on the night of the 20th.
No 14. The ground of the old settlement Cofaay, with the floating
bridge that covered the retreat of the rebels.
No 15. The fields with cassava, yams, and plantains, that were at
different times destroyed.
No 16. The field of rice discovered and demolished by Captain Stedman
on the 21st.
No 17. A field demolished by the rangers on the 23d.
No 18. The swamp or marsh which surrounded the settlement.
No 19. The quag-mire, or biree-biree, adjoining it.
No 20. The forest.
Having formerly described the manner in which we erected our huts, I
shall here also add a small plan of the mode of arranging them during
our encampment in the woods of Guiana, which camps were generally of a
triangular form, as being most secure in case of a surprize, and the
easiest to defend our provisions and ammunition; but the situation of
the ground would not always permit this, and then we encamped in any
form, square, oblong, or circular, &c.—In the annexed plan,
No 1. Is the hut or shed of Colonel Fourgeoud, or the commanding
officer, in the centre, with a sentinel.
No 2. The huts of all the other officers, in a small triangle,
surrounding that of the commander in chief.
No 3. The angles of the outer triangle formed by the huts of the
privates in three divisions, viz. the main body, the van, and the rear
guards, with sentinels at proper distances, to cover the front of each.
No 4. Powder-chests, provisions, and medicines, with a sentinel.
No 5. The fires in the rear of each division to dress the victuals, and
round which the negro slaves are lodged upon the ground.
No 6. A coppice of manicole-trees to erect the huts or sheds.
No 7. A rivulet or creek to provide the troops with fresh water. And,
No 8. The surrounding forest.
I must now return once more to my narrative, and observe, that
Barbacoeba, instead of being in a state of sending provisions to
Gado-Saby, as our chief had expected, it could scarcely afford daily
subsistence to his emaciated troops on their arrival; who having for
many days lived on rice, yams, peas, and Indian corn, were now most
violently attacked by the flux; for although that kind of nourishment
will keep the Indians and negroes strong as horses, the Europeans
cannot long subsist without animal food; which was at this time so very
scarce, that even the Jew soldiers of the Society troops devoured salt
pork as fast as they could catch it.
I nevertheless continued among the few that still were healthy; which
was almost a miracle, as I had fared very hard indeed for want of my
private stores, and which I had left at the neighbouring estate Mocha:
however, expecting leave now to bring them in person from that
plantation, I was in good spirits also. But here I was disappointed, by
Colonel Fourgeoud’s declaring he could not spare me one moment, while I
was able to stand upon my feet. I therefore waited patiently for an
opportunity of sending for them; in the mean time sharing with my black
boy the scanty allowance of a private soldier, with the casual addition
of some mountain-cabbage, or palm-tree worms, and perhaps a few
warrappa fish.
As for the miserable slaves, they were so starved, that having killed a
Coata monkey, they broiled it, with skin, hair, intestines and all,
then tore it to pieces with their teeth, and devoured it like so many
cannibals, before it was even half dressed. Of this animal they offered
me a limb; but, hungry as I was, my stomach could not relish this kind
of venison.
A good constitution, sterling health and spirits, now supported me, or
I must have sunk under the load of misery and hardships, which were at
this time become so intolerable, that the rangers again forsook the
camp; and Mr. Vinsack, their conductor, as brave and active a man as
ever entered the wood, threw up his commission, as Mr. Mongol had done
before, during Colonel Fourgeoud’s first campaign at the Wana.
In the beginning of September, the bloody flux raged in the camp to
such a degree, that the colonel saw himself obliged to send off all the
sick officers and privates, without exception, not to Paramaribo for
recovery in the grand hospital that is there, but to linger and die on
the banks of the rivers, where they relieved others to be encamped, and
undergo a similar wretchedness; the sick of his own regiment being
dispatched to Magdenburg in the Tempatee Creek, and those of the
Society troops to Vreedenberg in Cottica.
Colonel Fourgeoud’s inhumanity to the officers was now actually become
such, that he would not even permit those who were past recovery a
marine to attend them, whatever price they offered; some of whom I have
seen expanded between two trees, while the very filth, for want of
assistance, was dropping through their hammocks. Of this number was
Ensign Strows, who, in this dreadful situation, was ordered to be
transported in an open boat to Devil’s Harwar, where he died. At length
Colonel Fourgeoud himself was seized with this dreadful malady, and his
beloved ptisan proved to be of no more avail; yet he soon recovered, by
the plentiful use of claret and spices, which he seldom wanted, and
which his colleague Seyburg also employed as a preservative of his
health, though by swallowing too copious doses he frequently lost the
use of his reason. In such a situation, and in such a despicable
encampment, our commander in chief had the vanity to expect a
deputation from the court at Paramaribo, with congratulations on his
victory: in consequence of which he had built an elegant shed, and sent
for sheep and hogs to entertain them—but the expected deputies never
yet arrived.
On the 5th, therefore, the hogs and sheep were slaughtered, and, for
the first time in his life, he ordered one pound per man, bones and
all, to be distributed among the poor emaciated soldiers: indeed the
number able to partake of this bounty was at present very small.
On the following day a reinforcement of one hundred men arrived from
Magdenburg, in Comewina; and from the Society post Vreedenburg, in
Cottica, nearly as many. These confirmed the death of Ensign Strows,
besides of a great number of privates, who had assisted at the taking
of Gado-Saby, and who had expired in the boats during their removal
from Barbacoeba.
Intelligence arrived at the same time that the defeated rebels had
actually crossed the river Cottica below Pattamaca, intent on immediate
mischief, and that they were marching to the westward. In consequence
of this information, a captain and fifty men were immediately detached,
by water, to reconnoitre the banks near the Pinenburg Creek. This party
returned upon the 8th, and confirmed the intelligence. Our
indefatigable chief now again determined to pursue them; but the slaves
who were to carry the ammunition and provisions had been sent home to
their masters, nothing but skin and bones, to be exchanged for others,
not yet arrived, and to be starved in their turn. I shall therefore
relate what happened the two following days, until the arrival of these
unfortunate beasts of burden; for so they might with propriety be
called.
On the 9th were sold upon credit, and to the highest bidder, the
effects of the deceased Ensign Strows, when the poor soldiers,
regardless of price, and only wishing to obtain some cloaths and
refreshments to keep (in the vulgar phrase) soul and body together,
actually paid at the rate of 700 per cent. and this infamous debt was
accordingly stated in their accounts. I have seen, for instance, a
private marine pay five shillings for a pound of mouldered tobacco,
that might be worth six-pence, and double the prime value for a pair of
old stockings or shoes. A sick man paid one guinea for a couple of
meagre chickens; and for a broken bottle-case to hold his lumber,
another paid a similar sum. Thus were these poor dying half-starved
wretches deprived of the little property they had earned at the expence
of their blood and sweat, while this miserable necessity might have
been easily prevented by only supplying them with what was their due. A
private marine, of the name of Sem, at this time, swore, in the heat of
his resentment, that he would certainly shoot Fourgeoud, whenever he
had an opportunity; which being overheard, upon condition of
repentance, I bribed the evidence not to inform against him, and so
literally saved this poor rash fellow from dying on the gallows.
Fortunately, all the world did not possess this chieftain’s
insensibility, for this day the good Mrs. Godefroy once more sent up a
flat-bottomed barge, with a fat ox, oranges, and plantains for the
private soldiers, which was accordingly distributed amongst them. The
same evening a small supply of provisions also arrived for me, from
Joanna, with a few bottles of port wine; and though part was stolen,
and part was damaged by the way, it made me very happy, and I gave
nothing to Fourgeoud.
When we speak of provisions in the woods, we only mean sugar, tea,
coffee, Boston biscuit, cheese, rum, ham, or a keg of sausages, since
little else can be carried through the forest by a single slave, and we
were now allowed no more. Shirts, shoes, and stockings were also
usually accounted among the necessaries, but the last two articles I
did not use, being accustomed to walk barefooted, which I had now
practised for more than two years, and with great advantage to my
limbs, when I compared them with the diseased and ulcerated shanks of
my ghastly-looking companions.
On the 12th, the fresh supply of slaves being arrived, the necessary
preparations were made to pursue the rebels the next day, directing our
first course towards the spot formerly called Jerusalem, mentioned in
1773, when I commanded the fatal expedition in Upper Cottica; and on
the 13th, the baggage and provisions being sent before us by water to
Jerusalem, escorted by the sick officers and privates, we at last
decamped to follow them, and bidding a final farewell to Barbacoeba,
re-entered the woods, marching S. and S. E. the whole day, then passed
the night on the opposite bank of the Cassiporee Creek, where we
encamped.
Nothing could be more diabolically cruel, than the persecution of the
new slaves during this march; not only overloaded and starved, but beat
like mules or asses by every ill-tempered individual—for instance, I
saw Fourgeoud’s black favourite, Gousary, knock down a poor negro slave
for not taking up his load—and the chief himself knock him down for
taking it up too soon; when the wretch, not knowing what to do,
exclaimed, in hopes of pity, “O massera Jesus Christus!” and was
actually knocked down a third time by an enthusiast, for daring to
utter a name with which he was so little acquainted.
During the last day’s march, a large drove of Warre hogs or wild boars
broke through our line; several of them were cut down by our sabres,
and stabbed with the bayonets, the men having orders from the commander
in chief not to fire at any game whatever. The animals that were killed
were cut in pieces, and distributed among the troops, which proved,
though small, a very seasonable dainty. It is certainly very
remarkable, that if the first wild boar or leader passes through any
danger, all the others stupidly follow, in hopes of a similar escape,
which on the contrary, as I have said, frequently proves the cause of
their destruction.
On the 14th we marched S. W. till about noon, and arrived at Jerusalem,
which the van had reached about an hour before us, all thoroughly
soaked with mud and heavy rains, and several men unhappily with
ruptures in the groin, by falling over the roots of trees, large
stones, &c. Here just arrived, we found again, to my astonishment, the
identical Mr. Vinsack, with one hundred fresh rangers: he had heard, it
seems, of the rebels passing Upper Cottica, and had been prevailed upon
to resume his command by the governor; thus he now once more offered
his service to Colonel Fourgeoud, who was very happy indeed to accept
it.
Here, our camp being mostly overgrown with long coarse grass, one of
the slaves was unfortunately bitten in the foot by a small serpent,
called in Surinam the [7]Oroocookoo snake, from its colour, which
resembles an owl. In less than a minute the man’s leg began to swell,
when he was seized with excruciating pains, and soon fell into
convulsions. One of his companions, having killed the snake, made the
patient drink its gall, mixed with half a glass of spirits, which I
gave him. He seemed now (perhaps from imagination) to bear his
misfortune better; but the fits soon returned with increasing violence,
and he was instantly sent to his master’s plantation, where he expired.
That the gall of adders, externally applied, is efficacious, I have
often heard. In the Grand Magazine for April 1758, may be seen a
letter, signed J. H. and dated 24th March, which treats systematically
of the application of gall. But these investigations I must leave to
the learned of the medical profession; and only observe, in general,
that the smaller the snake, at least in Guiana, the more fatal the
poison; as is justly and beautifully observed by Thomson:
“——But still more direful he
The small, close-lurking minister of fate,
Whose high concocted venom through the veins
A rapid lightning darts, arresting swift
The vital current.”——
In this grassy wilderness one of the rangers also killed a snake,
called the whip-snake, from its resemblance to that instrument; it was
about five feet long, and not very much thicker than a swan’s quill;
the belly white, and the back a lead colour: concerning its bite, I can
say nothing. I was informed by the negroes, but I cannot speak from my
own observation, that it has the power of giving a very severe stroke
with its tail, like the lash of a whip, which it so much resembles.
I must also notice an amphibious animal which some of the negroes
killed this evening, called by them the Cabiai; it is a species of
water hog, and about the ordinary size of the land animal which goes
under that name; it is covered with grey bristles, and armed with a
number of very strong teeth; it has no tail; on each foot it has three
toes, webbed like those of a duck. This animal, it is said, goes ashore
only during the night, where it feeds on young grass, and other
vegetables. I have been told it is good food, but never tasted it
myself.
On the 16th, having rested one day at this place, Colonel Fourgeoud
detached two strong parties to reconnoitre, viz. Lieutenant Colonel de
Borgnes, with 100 men, was sent to the Wana Creek in Upper Cormoetibo;
and Colonel Seyburg, with an equal number, was ordered to the Creek
Pinenburg, in Upper Cottica. The latter returned about midnight with
two canoes, which he had found hauled ashore, on the opposite side of
the river, a little below the mouth of the Claas Creek. This convinced
us that the rebels were gone westward to plunder, and had brought their
empty canoes down the Claas Creek, from the rice country, in order to
send them back loaded with booty from the estates they intended to
pillage. In consequence, therefore, of this information, the proper
preparations were immediately made to pursue them with alacrity. Never
did the old warrior display more vigour than on this occasion, swearing
aloud that he now would be revenged of them all, coute qui coute.
“Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them;
though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down.”
But how far his generalship on this occasion proved to be a match for
that of Bonny, I must beg leave to reserve for the succeeding chapter.
CHAP. XXII.
Alarm in the Pirica River—A Detachment marches to its
Relief—Ambuscade—Wonderful Effect from the Biting of a Bat—Scene in
a Quagmire—Sketch of the Inquisition and Return of the Troops to
Cormoetibo Creek.
On the morning of the 19th of September 1775, just before sun-rise,
Colonel Seyburg marched with one hundred marines and forty rangers, who
did me the honour to fix upon me as one of the party, and was upon the
whole so polite, and his behaviour so contrary to what it had lately
been, that I knew not at all in what manner to account for it.
Having crossed the Cormoetibo Creek, we kept course S. W. and by S.
till we approached the river Cottica, where we encamped, having met
with nothing on our first day’s march worth describing, except a
species of ants, which were no less than one inch in length, and
perfectly black. These insects pillage a tree of all its leaves in a
short time, which they cut in small pieces the size of a six-pence, and
carry under-ground. It was indeed entertaining to see a whole army of
these creatures crawling perpetually the same way, each with his
green-leaf in a perpendicular direction. So general is the propensity
to the marvellous, that some have imagined that this devastation was to
feed a blind serpent under ground: but the truth is, that it serves for
nourishment to their young brood, who cannot help themselves, and are
sometimes lodged to the depth of eight feet in the earth. Madam Merian
says, they form themselves in chains from one branch to another, while
all the others pass over these temporary bridges; and that once a year
these formidable armies travel from house to house, killing all the
vermin, &c. that comes in their way; neither of which facts ever came
within the limits of my observation: but that they can bite
confoundedly I have found by experience, though their attack is not
nearly so painful as the bite of that diminutive insect the fire-ant
already described.
The following day we proceeded along the banks of the river Cottica,
till we came near the Claas Creek, (where I formerly swam across with
my sabre in my teeth) and early slung our hammocks; from whence I was
detached, with a few rangers, to lay in ambuscade in the mouth of the
creek till it was dark. Here, however, I discovered nothing, except
that the rangers were possessed of the same superstition as the rebels,
with regard to their amulets or obias making them invulnerable. They
told me that the latter mentioned procured them from their priest, and
that they themselves bought theirs from Graman Qwacy, a celebrated and
cunning old negro, whom I shall in a proper place circumstantially
describe.—When I asked them, “How came any of you, or of your
invulnerable adversaries, to be shot?” I was answered, “Because, like
you, Massera, they had no faith in the amulet or obia.” This piece of
policy in Mr. Qwacy, however, had the effect of making all his free
countrymen so undauntedly brave, that I must confess their valour had
often surprized me. However, this imposition, as shall be shewn
hereafter, besides respect and veneration, procured this dealer in
magic considerable both ease and wealth, which for a black man in
Surinam was indeed not very common.
In the mouth of this creek I again saw a quantity of nuts floating on
the surface of the water, such as I have before mentioned, when I was
informed that they were the real acajow or cashew nuts, which I have
partly described: to which I shall now add, that they grow on the edge
of a pulpy substance like a very large pear, which is produced on a
middle-sized tree, with a grey bark and large thick leaves. This
excellent nut will bear to be transported to any part of the globe, and
keep good for a considerable time; it is by some called the Anacardium
Occidentalis. From the tree exudes a transparent gum, which when
dissolved in water has the consistency of glue.
I also tasted here the eta-tree apple, of which the negroes seemed
extremely fond. This tree is of the palm kind, with large leaves, but
is less in size than the maurecee or the mountain cabbage-tree. The
fruit or apples are round, and grow in large clusters resembling
grape-shot. In the middle of each apple is a hard nut, in which is a
kernel, and this is covered near half an inch thick with an
orange-coloured pulp, that has a most agreeable acid taste. They are
seldom used till the apples by ripeness drop from the tree, when the
Indians steep them in water, and by maceration convert them into a most
healthy and agreeable beverage.
An express on the 21st arriving by water from Colonel Fourgeoud,
informing us that the alarm-guns [8] had been fired in the river
Pirica, we instantly crossed to the opposite or west shore of the river
Cottica, where the rangers, with a party of marines, were again ordered
to lie in ambuscade or under cover, in hopes of cutting off the rebels
on their retreat, when they returned to cross the Cottica river with
their booty. And this very afternoon a rebel negro was seen with a
green hamper, who, startled by the smell of tobacco (for some of the
rangers were smoking) stopt short of his own accord. He was instantly
fired at by me and one ranger: when the warimbo or hamper dropped to
the ground, but he himself escaped. This bundle we found stuffed with a
dozen of the finest table linen, a cocked gold-laced hat, and a couple
of superb India chintz petticoats, &c. the bulk of which I gave to my
black companion, reserving only the chintzes for another friend at
Paramaribo.
The free negroes now rushing forwards with unrestrained valour, I asked
Colonel Seyburg liberty to follow them; and calling for volunteers, a
great number presented themselves, which, however, the Colonel thought
proper to reduce to four only, with whom he sent me off; and having
scrambled through thorns and briars woven together like a net or a mat,
which tore one of my feet in a terrible manner, I overtook them at one
mile’s distance from the camp: shortly after we discovered thirteen
fresh huts, where the rebels, we conjectured, had slept but a few
nights before. In consequence of this, I now dispatched a ranger back
to Colonel Seyburg to give him intelligence, and ask permission for the
rangers and myself to march forward to Pirica without delay, in hopes
to meet the enemy: but the answer was a peremptory order instantly to
rejoin him with all hands. We now returned disgusted back to the camp;
my sable companions in particular extremely discontented, and making
many shrewd and sarcastic remarks.
Here we found a reinforcement just arrived from Jerusalem, consisting
of sixty men, black and white, with positive orders for us to break up
and march early the next morning for Pirica River, while this whole
night a strong party lay once more in ambush.
Accordingly at six o’clock, with the rising-sun, all was in readiness,
but by some unaccountable delay it was very late before we left the
camp; during which time we were informed that a canoe was seen crossing
the river with one single negro in it, who was no doubt the poor fellow
at whom the ranger and I had fired the preceding day.
I cannot here forbear relating a singular circumstance respecting
myself, viz. that on waking about four o’clock this morning in my
hammock, I was extremely alarmed at finding myself weltering in
congealed blood, and without feeling any pain whatever. Having started
up, and run for the surgeon, with a fire-brand in one hand, and all
over besmeared with gore; to which if added my pale face, short hair,
and tattered apparel, he might well ask the question,
“Be thou a Spirit of health or goblin damn’d,
Bring with thee airs of Heav’n or blasts from Hell!”
The mystery however was, that I had been bitten by the vampire or
spectre of Guiana, which is also called the flying-dog of New Spain,
and by the Spaniards perro-volador; this is no other than a bat of a
monstrous size, that sucks the blood from men and cattle when they are
fast asleep, even sometimes till they die; and as the manner in which
they proceed is truly wonderful, I shall endeavour to give a distinct
account of it.—Knowing by instinct that the person they intend to
attack is in a sound slumber, they generally alight near the feet,
where while the creature continues fanning with his enormous wings,
which keeps one cool, he bites a piece out of the tip of the great toe,
so very small indeed that the head of a pin could scarcely be received
into the wound, which is consequently not painful; yet through this
orifice he continues to suck the blood, until he is obliged to
disgorge. He then begins again, and thus continues sucking and
disgorging till he is scarcely able to fly, and the sufferer has often
been known to sleep from time into eternity. Cattle they generally bite
in the ear, but always in such places where the blood flows
spontaneously, perhaps in an artery—but this is entering rather on the
province of the medical faculty. Having applied tobacco-ashes as the
best remedy, and washed the gore from myself and from my hammock, I
observed several small heaps of congealed blood all round the place
where I had lain, upon the ground: upon examining which, the surgeon
judged that I had lost at least twelve or fourteen ounces during the
night.
As I have since had an opportunity of killing one of these bats, I cut
off his head, which I here present to the reader in its natural size,
and as a great curiosity, with the whole figure flying above it on a
smaller scale. Having measured this creature, I found it to be between
the tips of the wings thirty-two inches and a half; it is said that
some are above three feet, though nothing like in size to the bats of
Madagascar. The colour was a dark brown, nearly black, but lighter
under the belly. Its aspect was truly hideous upon the whole, but
particularly the head, which has an erect shining membrane above the
nose, terminating in a shrivelled point: the ears are long, rounded,
and transparent: the cutting teeth were four above and six below. I saw
no tail, but a skin, in the middle of which was a tendon. It had four
toes on each wing, with sharp nails divided like the web-foot of a duck
[9]; and on the extremity of each pinion, where the toes are joined,
was a nail or claw to assist it in crawling, like those of its hinder
feet, by which it hangs suspended when asleep to trees, rocks, roofs,
&c.
One of the marines having this morning taken a murine or mouse
oppossum, I shall also take the opportunity of describing it, and
present it to the reader as I designed it from the life. This animal
differs widely in some particulars from the description of the Count de
Buffon:—For instance, it was much swifter than any of the oppossums
that he speaks of, and had the whole tail covered over with hair
instead of scales, to the best of my remembrance; if, however, my sight
deceived me, I am not the only erroneous writer on the subject of this
animal. Linnæus, Seba, and Mr. Vormeer, with the last of whom I am
acquainted, consider it as common to both the old and new continent;
whereas all its species are most assuredly inhabitants of America only.
Linnæus is also mistaken when he asserts, that all bats have four
cutting teeth in each jaw.—(See Buffon, Vol. V. page 282.)
This murine oppossum was not more than the size of a very large mouse.
It was perfectly black, except the belly, the feet, and the extremity
of the tail, which were all buff-coloured, with a buff spot above each
eye, which resembled those of a rat: the ears were long, rounded, and
transparent: its toes were twenty in number, one on each foot being
placed behind, and serving as a thumb. It had ten or twelve paps, to
which the young ones stick fast, it is said, as soon as produced, when
they are not larger than small beetles; but it wanted that pouch which
is common to all other oppossums; in place of this there were two
longitudinal folds on the inside of each thigh, equally adapted to
preserve its offspring from every injury, which no tortures whatever,
not even fire, will make it forsake. I have only to add, that it
burrows in the ground, and often climbs trees; but it feeds like a
mouse on grain, fruits, and roots. Of the other species I shall defer
the description till chance affords me an opportunity.
Madam Merion mentions one kind of them, which, in time of danger,
carries its young ones upon its back: but this animal, I confess, I
never heard of in Surinam, and am persuaded of its non-existence.
I have already stated that, from some unaccountable delay, it was very
late this morning before we left the camp; we, nevertheless, all
started at last; I having the van-guard with the rangers, and the poor
marines loaded each man with nine days provisions on his back. In this
condition we had not proceeded long, when one of the rangers sounding
his horn, they spread, and I among them, all instantly falling flat
upon the ground, with our firelocks cocked, and ready to engage; but
this, however, proving to be a false alarm, by a stag rushing out
through the foliage, we soon rose, and after marching the whole day
through water and mire, at three in the afternoon encamped on a high
ridge, where not a drop of water was to be found till we had dug a hole
for that purpose, and this was so very thick and muddy, that we were
obliged to strain it through our neckcloths or shirt-sleeves before we
could drink it. Here I was once more accosted by the Lieutenant
Colonel, who invited me to some supper in his hut, and treated me upon
the whole with such very great civility as I could not account for
after his former behaviour.
On the succeeding day we marched again, keeping course W. and N. W.
with very heavy rain, while I had the rear-guard; and once more entered
on a quagmire, which cost me three hours time to bring up the rear to
the beach, this march being particularly distressing, as the negro
slaves, with their burdens, broke through the surface every moment,
while the loaded marines had enough to do to mind themselves, and I too
weak by my late loss of blood to afford them any assistance whatever.
At last, approaching the beach, I perceived the dead bodies of several
rebel negroes scattered on the ground, with their heads and right-hands
chopped off. These bodies being fresh, induced me to conclude, that
they must have been very lately killed, in some engagement with the
troops and rangers stationed on the Pirica river.—And here I must again
remark, that had I been allowed to pursue, on the 21st, with the
rangers, when I was ordered to march back, the enemy would have been
between two fires; in which case few could have escaped, and all the
plundered spoil must have been re-taken. The reader will probably
recollect a similar instance which occurred two years before, when I
was stationed at Devil’s Harwar. Had I at that time been provided with
men and ammunition to march, I might have rendered the colony a
material service. These two capital blunders I am sorry to relate, but
a regard to truth and impartiality obliges me to do it. Let not these
remarks, however, fix a stigma of cruelty on me in the eyes of the
world, since no man could more strongly feel at the sight of such manly
youths stretched dead among the surrounding foliage; and finer bodies
than two of them were in particular I never beheld in all my life.
“So two young mountain lions, nurs’d with blood,
In deep recesses of the gloomy wood,
Rush fearless to the plains, and uncontroul’d
Depopulate the stalls, and waste the fold;
Till pierc’d at distance from their native den,
O’erpower’d they fall beneath the force of men;
Prostrate on earth their beauteous bodies lay,
Like mountain firs, as tall and straight as they.”
While my mind was engaged by these and similar remarks, many of my
loaded slaves still remained entangled and struggling in the quagmire,
while the commanding officer, with all the other troops, having got on
a dry ridge, were quite out of sight and out of hearing, by which
separation the rear-guard not only ran the hazard of losing all the
provisions and the baggage, but of being cut to pieces, such was their
critical situation.
Having not a single European that had sufficient strength remaining to
overtake the party which had proceeded, I resigned the command to my
lieutenant, a Mr. de Losrios, and ventured forward alone through the
forest, till, greatly fatigued, I overtook them; when reporting the
situation of the rear-guard to Colonel Seyburg, I requested “he would
slacken his pace till they were able to extricate themselves and come
up from the bog, without which I could not be accountable for the
consequences.” To this the reply was, “That he would form his camp when
he met with good water;” and I instantly returned to the rear, where
having struggled until it was quite dark in a most distressed and
dangerous situation, the last man was dragged out of the mud at seven
o’clock at night, when we slowly proceeded on till we entered the camp.
My solicitude for the people, powder, and provisions, instead of
procuring me commendation from the person under whose command I then
happened to be, and who had lately been so very polite, brought me now
into such difficulties, and produced a misunderstanding of such a
serious nature, and so very distressing to my feelings, that it had
nearly terminated my existence. The reader may judge of my
mortification, when I inform him, that, instead of receiving the
approbation of my commander, as I certainly deserved, I was immediately
on my arrival in camp put under an arrest, to be tried by a
court-martial for disobedience of orders. Colonel Seyburg and I had
never been on amicable terms; and though, during the former part of
this march, he had treated me with apparent civility, yet from this
step it was evident that he was my mortal enemy. I must not omit, that
though a prisoner (strange to tell!) I was ordered to carry my own arms
and accoutrements, till further orders.
On the 24th, we took our departure very early, and directed our course
S. and S. by W. when we passed close by Pinenburg, a forsaken rebel
village formerly mentioned—I still a prisoner, in the most dejected
spirits.
On the following day our course was S. W. through a matakey or
trumpeter morass, which was very deep, and which we entered when we
were all in a violent sweat by advancing too fast while upon the hard
ground: but the health of our men was not made an object during this
expedition, though so much wanted to succeed.
Having got again upon a ridge, an accident had now nearly befallen me
incomparably greater than all my former misfortunes put together; this
was no less than, having fallen into a deep reverie, while I followed
the rearguard, I imperceptibly wandered away from the troops, till I
was entirely lost and by myself in an unbounded wilderness. Quaco no
sooner had missed me, than, poor fellow, at every hazard he rushed
through the wood to recover his master, and by a miracle saw me as I
was sitting under a tree, in the most dejected state of mind that it is
possible to conceive, immersed in grief and abandoned to despair. I had
this morning thought myself perfectly unhappy, but now would have given
the world once more to have been in the same situation. Good God!
entirely cut off from society, in a forest, surrounded by relentless
savages! while a deluge of rain poured from the heavens, and tigers,
famine, with every woe and every danger, stared me in the face.
Farewell, for ever Joanna!—Such was the picture of my mind, when on
discovering the boy, I started up from the ground, and a new life
instantly diffused itself through my whole frame. Having now straggled
backwards and forwards together for some time, I called to the lad that
I saw a pool through which the troops seemed to have passed, the water
being fresh clouded with mud; but to my utter disappointment, he
observed, that this puddle was only occasioned by a Tapira [10], and
shewed me the print of the animal’s foot in the surrounding mire. At
this time the boy shed tears, crying, “Massera, we deade, we deade!” In
the midst, however, of this distress, recollecting that, by the map,
the river Pirica was due west from us, I determined to lose no more
time, but to set forwards without delay. Thus having fresh primed my
fuzee, I ordered Quaco to follow me; but again to no purpose, my
compass being with the troops, and not a glimpse of sunshine, owing to
the heavy rain; till the black boy put me in mind that on the south
side the bark of the trees was usually most smooth. This in fact was a
fortunate hint, and we proceeded through thick and thin, till, overcome
by fatigue and hunger, we both sat down, and looked at each other,
exactly like two victims doomed to execution. During this last mournful
silence, we heard a sound like coughing and the rustling of arms,
which, thank Heaven! soon proved to be our own troops, luckily for us
resting near an old encampment, where the pursuing party from the river
Pirica had lately lodged. At this moment, notwithstanding my present
situation, I enjoyed an extraordinary degree of mental happiness; which
proves how much all good and evil are only of a relative nature. Having
now been heartily welcomed by the other officers, I partook of some
cold beef and bread, and a gourd full of grog, as did also my poor boy.
After this regale the party rose, and pursuing our march, we once more
entered a quagmire, or rather a mud-pool, the surface being too thin to
carry us; through which having waded till it was pitch dark, we were
obliged to encamp in the very middle of it, the troops by slinging
their hammocks in the trees, one above another, and the slaves on
temporary rafts made above the surface of the water, on which were also
placed the powder, the victuals, &c.
On the 26th, the good Colonel having now drank his coffee in his
hammock, while he kept the troops standing round it in water above
their middle, a whole hour before day-light, we again scrambled
forward, keeping our course, first W. and afterwards N. W. when the
road was so excessively bad, that many slaves let fall their burdens,
breaking, wetting, and spoiling every thing that was in them. At last,
having passed through a second deserted camp, we halted on the old
cordon, or path of communication on which I formerly discovered the
track of the rebels, when I commanded in Cottica river; and here,
having erected slight sheds, we passed the night—I still a prisoner.
At this time a small quadruped running through the camp with incredible
swiftness, it was cut down by one of the rangers with his sabre. This
proved to be the Paca or Spotted Cavey, called in Surinam the Aquatic
Hare. This animal is the size of a sucking pig, and extremely fat. The
under jaw is short, the nostrils large, the eyes black, and the ears
small and naked. It has five toes on each foot, a tail like the first
joint of a man’s thumb, and whiskers like a cat; the colour is an
earthen brown, with longitudinal rows of buff-coloured spots; the belly
is a dirty white, the hair all over coarse and short. The Paca is an
amphibious animal. On land it digs up the earth like a hog in quest of
food, and when in danger flies to the water for its safety;
notwithstanding this animal is so very plump and heavy, it runs swifter
than most other animals of its size in South America, contrary to the
account given of it in the supplement to the Count de Buffon’s
description [11], where it is said “not to be nimble, to run but
seldom, and then with a bad a grace;” which may all be the case in a
domestic state (for the Paca is capable of being tamed) but he is not
sluggish in a state of nature. This I know to be true, having seen him
run like a hare. We had this animal dressed for supper, and found him
even more delicious than the wood-rat, or even the warra-bocerra:
indeed, nothing can be better eating than the Paca or spotted Cavy.
The long-nosed Cavy, better known by the name of the Agouti Pacarara,
or Indian Coney, is also very common in Surinam: this is the size of a
large rabbit, its colour is an orange brown, the belly yellow; the legs
black and slender, with four toes on the fore-feet, and three on the
hindermost; the ears small, the eyes a bright black, the upper lip
divided; it has whiskers, and its tail is like that of the Paca. This
animal breeds very fast, and suckles its young, which are three or four
in number, in concealed holes of old trees, &c. where it also retires
for shelter if pursued; but it does not seek its food in the earth,
like the former. The Agouti is easily tamed, and feeds on fruits,
roots, nuts, &c. But its flesh, though very good, is not so delicious
as that of the Paca.
In Surinam I have been told there is still another species of the
Agouti, called the Indian Rat-Coney, on account of its having a long
tail. This I never saw, unless it is the same animal (which I apprehend
it to be) that I have described under the name of the bush-rat.
On the 27th we again broke up, and finally arrived in the forenoon, and
in a forlorn condition, at the estate Soribo, on the river Pirica, to
defend the plantations against Bonny and his rebel negroes.
The river Pirica by its many windings is thought to extend about
three-score miles. It is very deep but narrow, and has its banks, like
all the others, lined with fine coffee and sugar plantations; its
general course is from S. E. to N. W. We were scarcely arrived at this
post, than I was accosted by several deputies from Colonel Seyburg, who
earnestly intreated that I would only acknowledge myself to have been
in fault, assuring me that I should then be set at liberty, and all
would be forgotten. As I was conscious, however, of my own innocence, I
could not in common justice criminate myself in an instance, where even
my alledged crime amounted to no more than an anxious solicitude for
the poor men and the provisions who were entrusted to my care. I was,
therefore, placed under the guard of a sentinel, for what my commander
was pleased to term unpliant stubbornness, and disarmed. In the mean
time the marines caused me fresh uneasiness, and of the most poignant
kind, by loudly threatening to mutiny in my behalf; nor could any thing
have prevented them, but my decisive declaration, that as no cause
could justify military disobedience and rebellion, I should be under
the necessity myself (however injurious to my feelings) of taking an
active part against them, and seeing the ringleaders brought to condign
punishment. I felt that at this time I could war with all the world,
and nearly with myself—my heart was breaking apace—my life became a
burden:
“Dependants, friends, relations, love himself,
Savag’d by woe, forget the tender tie,
The sweet engagements of the feeling heart.”
The day after our arrival in this station, we received the particulars
of the Pirica news, which were, that on the 20th the estates Schoonhove
and Altona had been pillaged by the rebels whom we had routed at
Gado-Saby, but that at the plantation Poelwyk they had been beaten back
by the slaves: that the rangers stationed at an estate called Hagenbos
had pursued them on the 21st, overtaken them on the 23d, killed
several, and brought back most of the booty: that on the same day
another party of the rebels had made an attempt to seize the powder
magazine at Hagenbos (which was no bad plan) but that (while the
rangers were in pursuit of their associates) they had been repulsed by
the manly behaviour of a few armed slaves, one of whom, belonging to
the estate Timotibo, took an armed rebel himself, and next discovered
their camp at the back of his master’s plantations; for which he was
handsomely rewarded. From all which intelligence, there was now no
doubt remaining that if Seyburg’s detached party on the 16th had
marched forwards instead of backwards, by his orders, the above
mischief might have been prevented, and the enterprize of the rebels
entirely frustrated. It was also evident from this narrative, that the
man whom we fired at on the 21st was certainly one of the plunderers on
the 20th, and that the bodies found dead on the 23d had been shot the
very same day.
On the 29th, among other fruits, some dates were sent to me by a
Society officer. This tree is also of the Palmeto species, but not
extremely high; its leaves diverge from its summit, very thick, hanging
down in the form of an umbrella. The dates appear in large clusters,
being an oblong thin fruit like a man’s thumb, of a yellow colour, and
the pulp, which is fat, firm, and sweet, adheres to a hard
greyish-coloured stone, with longitudinal furrows.—I ought not to omit
mentioning, that this day sixty rangers going to reconnoitre,
discovered the old rebel camp at the back of Timotibo, which seemed to
have contained about sixty armed men.
On the morning of the 30th of September, having nothing more to do in
the neighbourhood of the Pirica River, we left it, and on the 1st of
October came to Devil’s Harwar much fatigued, nothing remarkable having
happened on our march. I had written on the preceding day to Colonel
Fourgeoud, informing him, that I was weary of existence in my present
state, and requesting that a court-martial might be immediately called;
and this letter I had sent by a slave to the commander in chief. On our
arrival at this station, I indeed found every hard means employed to
bring me to terms; and such was the severe usage I experienced, that
one of the rangers, called Captain Quaci, exclaimed, “If in this manner
these Europeans treat one another, is it to be wondered at that they
should take a pleasure in torturing us poor Africans?”
At Devil’s Harwar, however, my stormy voyage drew to a conclusion.
Colonel Seyburg was evidently convinced that he was wrong, and knowing
what must follow, now only wished for a handsome opportunity of
extricating himself from the effects of his unmanly passion. On the 2d
of October, therefore, he asked me with a smile, “If I had a heart to
forget and forgive?” To which I sternly answered, “No!”—He repeated the
question.—I then said, “I venerated truth, and would never confess
myself in an error, unless my heart coincided in the
acknowledgment—that this was a concession I would make to no man
living, and least of all to him.”—He here grasped my hand, begged me to
be pacified, and declared, “That he would make peace on any terms;”—but
I again drew back with contempt, and decidedly avowed, “That I could
not agree to any compromise, unless he owned his fault in the presence
of all the officers, with his own hands tearing from his journal every
sentence that could reflect upon my character.” The journals were
immediately produced, my arms were returned me, and my triumph was
attended with every circumstance that could add to my full
satisfaction. I then, frankly and sincerely gave my hand to Colonel
Seyburg, who gave a feast in honour of our reconciliation; and after
dinner, to my utter surprize, produced the letter which I had written
to Colonel Fourgeoud, which he acknowledged he had intercepted to
prevent the affair proceeding to extremities: at the same time he
acquainted me, that Fourgeoud was encamped at the Wana Creek, instead
of Lieutenant Colonel de Borgnes, who had fallen sick, and was gone to
Paramaribo. A perfect reconciliation having taken place, and every
thing being now adjusted, while the troops having had some rest, we set
out once more on the 4th for the head quarters at Jerusalem; but I was
obliged to leave poor Quaco, who was very ill, at Devil’s Harwar, under
care of the surgeon; and that evening we encamped opposite the mouth of
the Cormoetibo Creek.
On the following morning early, having crossed the River Cottica, the
troops marched back to Jerusalem; where I now had leisure to reflect on
the various evils which befal poor mortals, as well those who are
innocent of the difficulties they are brought into, as those (which are
the greater part) who have brought themselves into distress and even
despair by their own indiscretions. These reflections arose from
finding here, among others, a newly-arrived acquaintance, a Mr. P—t—r,
who having squandered away in Europe above thirty thousand pounds, and
lost a beautiful wife by elopement, was now reduced to the income of an
ensign in the Society troops. This gentleman having formerly possessed
considerable property in this very colony, his present situation could
not but be assuredly the more galling on that account.—Alas! unhappy
young fellow: well might you exclaim—
“Privé de tout mes biens,
Dans un climat funeste,
Je t’adore & te perds,
Le poignard seul me reste.
Mais, Oh! je suis P—t—r,
Reservé pour souffrir;
Je sçaurois vivre encore,
Et faire plus que mourir.”
These are the words which he spouted with a sigh, throwing the last
silver he had left among the slaves; and indeed nothing could be more
applicable to himself than the lines he quoted, or more lamentable than
this poor devil’s forlorn condition; which, however, created in me,
during my present humour, no other effect—than a loud and immoderate
fit of laughter.
CHAP. XXIII.
Second march to Gado-Saby—Account of a living Skeleton—Beautiful
Landscapes—The Commander in Chief falls sick, and leaves the
Camp—Some Rebels taken—Discourse on the Existence of Mermaids—Heavy
Rains—Disease—Famine—Misery.
On the 9th of October, 1775, Colonel Fourgeoud broke up the encampment
at the Wana Creek to join us at Jerusalem, having sent down the half of
his party sick in barges; and their number being greatly augmented by
the invalids from this place, they were all together transported to
receive the coup-de-grace in the hospital at Devil’s Harwar. The
rangers also took their leave, and marched, with Mr. Vinsack their
conductor, to guard the Pirica River.
Fourgeoud, during his last cruize, had discovered a hundred empty
houses, and seen some straggling rebels, but he had taken none. He had
also found a scalp fixed to the branch of a tree, which we justly
conjectured to be the remains of the unfortunate Schmidt, who was lost
[12].
On the 13th my black boy, Quaco, being perfectly recovered, arrived, to
my great satisfaction, as his fidelity to me was so steady and
unshaken. At the same time we received an account that Captain
Stoelman, with some rangers, had discovered a fresh settlement of the
rebels by a great smoke appearing at a distance in the forest, but had
not yet attacked them; that Captain Fredericy, with a party of black
volunteers, was scouring the sea-side below Paramaribo; that the two
men we had lost on the 18th of August had miraculously escaped, and
found their way to the post at the river Marawina; and that no less
than twelve fine negro slaves had just deserted from the Gold Mine
estate to join the rebels.
This news so much exasperated Colonel Fourgeoud, that the indefatigable
man again determined to persevere in pursuing his enemies. We
accordingly entered the woods very early on the morning of the 15th,
although he and his little army were at this time greatly reduced. He
buried but the evening before one of his countrymen, a volunteer,
called Matthew, and brother to the ensign: but death was now become so
familiar to us, that upon losing a friend or relation, the first
question generally was, “Has he left any brandy, rum, or
tobacco?”—“Pauvre Laurant!” said I, to his shrivelled valet-de-chambre,
“the brave Fourgeoud is like fire; he is to the colony an excellent
servant indeed; but I think to both you and myself but a roughish
master.” The poor fellow, shrugging up his shoulders, replied, with a
grin and a heavy sigh, “Oui, par ma foi!” and then treated me with a
pinch of his snuff. I must not omit that, a little before our
departure, seven more of our negro slaves did desert us, who went home
to their masters perfectly broken-hearted, emaciated, and nearly
starved; however, we proceeded, and marched directly N. E. during which
nothing happened, except my box with all my bottles being dashed to
pieces; and in the evening we encamped, though then unknown to us, near
the Cassipore Creek, where the dry season having commenced, we dug a
pit for water. Orders were also issued to the troops no more to build
huts, sheds, &c. as the rains were now less violent.
On the 16th we continued our route, marching N. E. as before, and
towards the evening arrived at the houses which Colonel Fourgeoud had
lately discovered, which proved since to be only a temporary
settlement, erected by the rebels as a shelter or asylum in their
expected retreat, before they were dislodged from Gado-Saby; and to
this little settlement they had given the name of Boossy Cry, that is,
“the woods lament.” Here we encamped, and took much notice of Bonny’s
house in particular, which was built like a watering machine, being
elevated from the ground, with two doors, so that he might the better
observe all around him, and prevent his being taken by surprize; it
also had more air, and, of course, was better calculated for his
health, he having in some late action received a very dangerous wound
in the groin, as we afterwards learned from a rebel negro prisoner.
Near to Bonny’s house were the private baths, where his women washed
themselves morning and evening, there being no river near this
settlement.
In this encampment one of our slaves presented me with a land-turtle,
which indeed we had met with several times before; but as I have never
described this animal, I will now endeavour to give some account of
it.—The land-turtle of Surinam is not more than eighteen or twenty
inches in length, and of an oval form; the shell is more convex than
that of the sea-turtle, and marked with thirteen elevated hexangular
shields, dark brown and yellow, so hard that it will bear almost any
weight without breaking; the under shell is a little concave, and of a
light yellow: the head of this animal resembles that of other turtles;
the tail is naked and short, but instead of fins or swimmers it has
four feet covered with scales, and armed with sharp claws to assist it
in crawling over the ground. When this poor creature sees any danger,
it instantly shrinks within its shell. In this situation the Indians
put it on the fire, where they broil it until it is drest, which is
known by the under shell separating from the upper, which serves for a
dish to hold the contents. A less barbarous way, and the way which I
always followed, is only to provoke the animal by the heat of the
embers to run away; when stretching out its head and neck, they are
easily chopped off, and the food extracted without additional torture.
I have known Mr. de Graaf keep three or four of these land-turtles for
above four months for transportation, during which time they lived
without any apparent nourishment whatever, yet still remained vigorous,
and even prone to copulation.
Another kind of land-turtle, called here the arlacacca, I have often
seen; this is less in circumference, very flat, of a disagreeable
greenish colour, and nothing like so good as the former.
On the 17th we continued our march N. and N. E. in hopes of more
discoveries, but without success. We this day passed some ant-hillocks
above six feet high, and, without exaggeration, above one hundred feet
in circumference. We also saw great quantities of valuable timber, and,
among the rest, the black-cabbage tree, the wood of which is of a deep
brown, and is in high estimation among carpenters and joiners. The
sand-booker tree was like-wise shewn me, which receives its name from
the fruit, which being divested of its seed, is used as a sand-box by
writers. It is of the shape of a large onion, with small holes in the
surface; the seed is both laxative and emetic, but the juice of the
pulp is a fatal poison. More than this I cannot say, having had neither
the time nor the power of examining it with the accuracy of a professed
botanist.
On the 18th we continued the same course for a few hours longer, when
we found a beaten path, which, though circuitous, seemed to be a
communication between Gado-Saby and Boossy-Cry. We followed this path,
which led us due W. for a few hours, when a poor rebel negro was found
by me covered with branches of the manicole-tree, and indeed barely
alive, being in appearance nothing but skin and bone, with one of his
eyes almost beaten out of the socket. I put my bottle to his mouth, he
swallowed a few drops of rum and water, and said with a faint voice,
which we could scarcely hear, “Dank ye, me Massera!” but could
articulate nothing more. Fourgeoud ordered this man to be carried with
us in a hammock; and we soon afterwards encamped near a biree-biree
swamp or quagmire. I ought not to forget that this day we saw some very
fine locust-trees, being eighty or a hundred feet high, and
prodigiously thick; the trunk is grey and very straight, with no
branches till near the top, on which the leaves are disposed two to
each stem: this is justly called the king of the forest, for a finer
tree cannot be found. The timber is of a beautiful cinnamon-colour, and
possesses every desirable quality of gravity, polish, grain, and
durability.—But what particularly attracted our notice was its seed,
like beans, three or four in number, enclosed in a broad light-brown
pod, that lay flattered in quantities at the root of the tree, upon the
ground, and tasted like some kinds of gingerbread. From the root of
this tree a gum exudes, which, properly prepared, affords a varnish
hitherto unequalled for transparency and effect.
Innumerable indeed are the various fine trees that this country
produces, and which may be had for the cutting; yet, when we consider
the distance they usually grow from navigable rivers, the great labour
in felling and working them, the vast number of slaves required to drag
them through the forest, where no horses can be employed, besides the
danger and loss of time, we may easily account for the enormous price
generally paid for the best timber in Guiana.
This march undoubtedly afforded us the most enchanting prospects that
can be imagined, in a luxuriant and ever-green forest, while the dry
season contributed greatly to beautify the scene; and simple nature by
far outshone the most strenuous endeavours of art. Here we met with
immense savannas of the most lovely verdure, interspersed with
meandring brooks of water, cool and clear as rock crystal; their
borders adorned with flowers of every lively hue and fragrance. In some
places we observed small clumps of elegant shrubs, or perhaps a single
tree, whose beauty would almost induce one to think they had been
designedly left growing to enrich the scene. The whole surrounded by a
vast wood of lofty palm-trees, waving their sea-green foliage above the
variegated copse of never-fading verdure, blossom, and fruit, as if to
invite the panting wanderer under its cooling shade, till in the later
hours he might enjoy the bracing pleasures of the limpid flood, and
contemplate nature’s beauties undisturbed.—When universal silence
reigned every where around, how often have I thought on my dear friend,
and wished with her to glide through life in these Elysian fields!—But
I must wave the pleasing recollection.
On the 19th we again marched, and fell in with our old path, which we
followed, leading directly to the fields of Gado-Saby, where quantities
of rice once more appeared in full bloom, which we cut down and burned
to ashes. Here, perceiving the poor rebel negro hopeless of recovery,
not absolutely to bury him alive, he was overspread with moss, leaves,
and green boughs; after which we slung our hammocks, being almost
choaked with smoke.
In these fields I saw a lizard above two feet long, which the negro
slaves killed and ate: they called it sapagala, it was of a brownish
green colour, but did not resemble the iguana. Among the ruins of the
consumed town we discovered some scolopendras, or centipedes, no less
than eight or ten inches in length; this odious reptile is of a
yellowish-brown colour, walks very fast backwards or forwards, and
bites so severely, that the venom it infuses, though not deemed fatal,
generally produces a fever. Some writers assign this reptile twenty
pair of legs, others forty; I never reckoned them, and can only
observe, that they appeared to me exactly to resemble the centipedes in
Europe. Some of our gentlemen formed large collections of these
curiosities, which were very valuable, whilst I contented myself with
the drawings and descriptions only of those I thought most uncommon.
On the 20th, we marched to visit Cofaay, when I perceiving the unhappy
negro captive still alive; after removing the branches, he was, at my
earnest intercession, once more carried along with us; but the slaves,
being discontented with such a load, took every opportunity, in my
absence, of torturing him, by knocking him against roots and stones,
and dragging him through mud and water as they went along. Different
patroles were now ordered out to reconnoitre the grounds, while the
remainder of the troops encamped in the west part of Cofaay; and these
patroles discovered no less than four beautiful fields in one chain,
situated due west from Cofaay, well stocked with cassava, yams,
plantains, pistachio nuts, with maize and pigeon peas: also were seen
several human carcases, the relicts of our late engagements in August.
We found here a species of medlars of a crimson colour, and of a taste
very much like that of strawberries. This fruit grows on a large green
shrub, and is cultivated in many gardens at Paramaribo. We also met
with a kind of wild plum-tree called monpe: the fruit is yellow,
oblong, and small; the stone is large, the pulp thin, and though of a
sharp acid has an agreeable flavour.
On the morning of the 21st, all these and every useful vegetable were
cut down, and again destroyed by fire; after which, returning to our
last night’s camp, we found it also in flames, and were obliged to
sling our hammocks in the east skirts of the woods. Here, recollecting
that the poor disabled rebel was left alone, I ran back west to the
burning camp to afford him assistance; but after seeking him in vain
through clouds of smoke and darkness, I was forced to consult my own
safety, by hastily returning to my companions; some blaming me much for
my temerity, others damning the skeleton, whether dead or alive.
The devastation being now compleated, we marched back to Jerusalem,
where on the 24th we arrived perfectly exhausted, and Fourgeoud at last
so ill with a phrenzy fever, that he was confined to his hammock, with
small hopes of surviving the night. But he however still continued to
command, and the next morning ordered a marine to be bastonaded, for
asking shoes, although he was bare-footed, and his feet tore to pieces;
while another was flogged for coughing, who had a severe cold; a
captain was dismissed from actual service, and confined in Fort
Zealandia, for having dared to marry without his consent.—Sickness and
death now raged through the camp, and every thing was in the utmost
confusion.
To compleat the whole, on the 1st of November, twenty-five more negro
slaves ran away; and on the 3d we received intelligence that no less
than fifty armed rebels had been seen swimming across the River
Cottica, about a musket-shot above Barbacoeba.
In consequence of this information, Colonel Seyburg was detached, with
the few men that remained able to carry arms, who through distress and
famine were now almost ready to attack their own officers; and who
being unsupplied with their favourite luxury, tobacco [13], sat smoking
grey paper, and chewing leaves and leather as a substitute for the want
of it. Few men, however, were worse off than I was at this time; since,
having neither provisions nor cloaths, I was almost naked as well as
starved, with a running ulcer in my left foot, ever since the ambuscade
and march to Pirica; nor had I a friend in the camp who could give me
the smallest assistance. To compleat my misery, the little blood I had
remaining was in two successive nights again nearly sucked away by the
vampire-bat, or spectre: thus I fainted away in my hammock, and was
almost sorry to recover, particularly upon being informed by a letter
that Joanna and her boy were dying with a putrid fever at Paramaribo.
At last, on the 12th, Serjeant Fowler arrived from Mocha, with one of
my boxes; when this poor fellow, notwithstanding my situation, made me
laugh aloud by producing a letter from his mother in Europe, which made
him extremely happy; and which I must beg leave verbatim to transcribe.
“Dair Shonny,
“I have relaved your girl from the Bridevail—and your shits from
the panbroker—the baby is died—blessed be Goat, while I hop yow be
living. I am your laffing mother tell death,
Maggy Fowler.”
The same evening Colonel Seyburg’s party returned, without having
obtained any further intelligence.
On the 14th Colonel Fourgeoud was so dangerously ill, that he at length
was obliged to relinquish his command, and proceed to town for his
recovery. Accordingly on the 15th, he set out by water for Paramaribo:
thus, after having sacrificed all his troops, he became himself finally
a victim to his unbounded ambition and obstinate perseverance in this
worst of all climates, while by toiling less and living better both he
and his soldiers might have rendered the colony, if not superior, at
least an equal service.—A barge loaded with sick and dying was at the
same time once more sent to the hospital at Devil’s Harwar.
The command of the remaining scarecrows now devolved upon the
Lieutenant Colonel, who (strange to tell!) that very evening inherited
the same distemper, as well as the chief command; the barge that rowed
off the old hero having but just disappeared, when this gentleman was
attacked also by the phrenzy fever; the above complaint was indeed at
this time very common amongst all ranks and degrees who were broiling
under a burning sun at Jerusalem; it being the dry season, when we
ought to have been in the woods—but for those expeditions, as I have
stated before, the rainy seasons were most unhappily preferred. Several
officers would have before now thrown up their military commissions,
could they with decency have taken such a measure, during an expedition
on actual service; nor, in my opinion, ought such to be granted, cases
of the very greatest necessity excepted. I could myself have wished to
go for some time to Paramaribo, but as this favour was not offered me,
while all the others, and even the slaves, were relieved, I scorned to
petition for it while I was able to stand.
On the 19th, however, my foot became so bad, that the surgeon reported
me unfit for duty; yet I still remained in the camp, where I could be
to none of any service.
A supply of fresh troops, slaves, and provisions being arrived on the
20th, Major Medlar, with 150 men, was detached to make new discoveries.
Among other plagues, the whole camp at this time swarmed with locusts,
which appeared every where in most formidable troops, devouring every
thing that lay in their way. Indeed the curse of Heaven seemed to visit
us here in various shapes, and every vermin were so plenty at this
time, that no exertion could keep us perfectly free. These locusts were
brown, two inches in length, and shaped like a grasshopper; they did
not fly, but crawled by millions on the very tables and seats as we sat
at dinner, and at night they tormented us by crawling over our faces by
scores.
The only desirable article we found at Jerusalem was fish, of which we
seldom wanted plenty, particularly newmara and warrappa, also the
patakee, and the old wifee, both very excellent; the former of which is
about two feet long, shaped like a whiting, the other is the size of a
large perch. A kind of needle-fish, called naaynaay-fisee, was found
here in great abundance, these were very thin, and about one foot in
length; also a kind of dung-fish, about the size of a small herring,
but these two last were only used by the negroes.
On the 3d of December, Major Medlar’s party returned, after fourteen
days absence, with a captive rebel woman and her boy about eight years
old, taken in a small field of bitter cassava. The poor woman was
pregnant, and under great alarms, but was tenderly treated by Medlar,
who was always a humane and well-disposed gentleman. He had, however,
unluckily lost two of his best men, one Schoelar, a corporal, the other
called Philip Van den Bos, a private marine, who having inadvertently
eaten a few roots of the above bitter cassava were poisoned, and died
during the same night with the most excruciating pain and convulsions:
the antidote is said to be Cayenne pepper and spirits, neither of which
were at that time to be procured.
The black woman confirmed the account that Bonny had been wounded; she
also told us the poor starved negro we had found was called Isaac, and
had been left for dead. That one Captain Arico had formed a new
settlement near the sea, called Fissy-Hollo; while Bonny, she assured
us, maintained the strictest discipline amongst his troops: he was, she
said, absolutely despotic, and had executed two of his men but three
days before we took Gado-Saby, viz. during the night of the 17th
August, when we heard the firing and shouting, only upon suspicion of
having hinted some few words in favour of the Europeans, and were the
heads which we found stuck on the stakes. She further assured us, that
none of his people were trusted with arms, until they had first served
him some years as slaves, and given him unquestionable proofs of
fidelity and resolution. But these, she observed, were but few in
number, when compared to his numerous vassals, who were bound to do
without murmuring whatever he thought proper to command them; yet that
he still was more beloved than he was feared, on account of his
inflexible justice and manly courage.
On the 4th December, this poor woman and her boy were sent to
Paramaribo, with Ensign de Cabanus, who had taken them: he had at the
same time nearly seized a young girl about fifteen, who by her great
agility, and being stark naked, slipped out of his hands:
——“Fugit ocior aurâ
Illa levi: neque ad hæc revocantis verba resistit:
Nympha, precor, Peneia, mane: non insequor hostis.
Nympha, mane.”——
Ovid.
It being proved at the court that the above woman had been forcibly
carried off by the rebels, though many years before, the poor creature
was pardoned, and joyfully returned with her child to her master’s
plantation. It is remarkable, that when the boy saw the first cow or
horse he almost fell into convulsions with terror; nor could he bear to
be touched by any white person, whom he never had seen before, and whom
he constantly called Yorica, which in his language signifies the devil.
About this time a dead sea-cow, or manatee, by the French called
Lamantin, floating past Jerusalem, the negro slaves fell upon it, like
so many crows upon a carrion, swimming round it, some with a rusty
knife, some with a bill-hook, and each carrying off a slice for his
dinner; at last they dragged the stinking animal on shore, of which I
instantly took a drawing. This manatee was exactly sixteen feet long,
almost shapeless, being an enormous lump of fat, tapering backwards to
a fleshy, broad, horizontal tail. It had a thick round head, a flattish
snout, large nostrils, with strong bristles both on its nose and chin,
small eyes, and auditory holes instead of ears. Instead of feet, it had
two excrescences or fleshy fins, like those of the sea-turtle,
projecting near its head; with these it swims, and moves awkwardly to
eat the grass on the banks of the rivers, being an amphibious animal.
The colour was a greenish black; the skin was hard and uneven, covered
with large knobs, circular wrinkles, and with a very few stiff hairs
thinly scattered. It had grinders but no fore-teeth, and a very short
tongue. The sea-cow or manatee is, like the whale, a viviparous animal,
the female suckling its young by the help of its swimmers. They are
very numerous in the river Amazons; their flesh, it is said, resembles
veal, and is very good food. This was, however, too far advanced in a
state of putridity, for me to taste it. It had the marks of being twice
shot, which must have been by the rebels on the 27th, when we heard the
report of two muskets at a distance.
As I am once more on the subject of natural history, I shall describe
another amphibious animal, called the tapira, which bears some distant
resemblance to the hippopotamus of the old continent, but it is a great
deal less. This creature is about the size of a small ass, but much
more clumsy. The head is not unlike that of a horse, but the upper lip
much longer, projecting something like the proboscis of an elephant,
and is also moveable, but too short to be of use, as is the trunk of
that animal; the ears are short, the tusks strong, and sometimes
visible, the mane is bristly and erect, the limbs are low and strong,
with a kind of hoof divided into four claws, and the tail is thick and
short, like that of the elephant. The skin of this creature is
excessively thick, of a brown colour, and when young it is marked with
white spots, like those of the stag or paca, proceeding in longitudinal
rows. It feeds on grass, and other herbs that grow in watery places,
and is so shy, that when alarmed by the smallest noise it plunges under
water, also like the paca, for security, where it remains for a
considerable time. The flesh of the tapira is delicate, being accounted
superior to the best ox-beef.—See both the above animals in the annexed
plate.
A Mr. Selefelder, of the Society service, at this time assured me, that
he saw quite a different river-horse in the River Marawina; and Major
Abercromby, of the same service, declared, that a mermaid was lately
seen in the River Surinam. Lord Monboddo also positively affirms the
existence of sea-women and sea-men, while he asserts that they were
seen so late as 1720. But, however respectable his lordship’s judgment
and authority may be on other subjects, I can no more agree with him,
as to men and women having fins and scales, than to their having tails.
The plain fact, in my humble opinion, is this, that in many rivers
between the Tropics, both on the coast of Africa and South America, a
fish sometimes appears half above the water, that bears a distant
resemblance of the human species, but is smaller, nearly such as in
1794 was exhibited in London. The colour is of a blackish green; the
head is round, with a deformed kind of a face; a strong fin runs from
near the eyes to the middle of the back, which something resembles
flowing hair: and the two supposed arms and hands, are two fleshy fins,
or rather digitated swimmers; the female has breasts assuredly like a
woman’s, being a viviparous animal; while the tail is exactly that of a
fish, in most of which properties it agrees with the seal, but this
last has no fin along the back, and is considerably larger, while it
never appears erect above the water, like the former. The above
information I had from several old negroes and Indians, who all agreed
perfectly in the description; some added, that they sang, which I
apprehend to be no other than a grunting noise which they emit like
most other tropical fish and amphibious animals.
They concluded by assuring me, that though they were scarce, nothing
was more dreaded by their wives and children, than the Watra Mama,
which signifies the mother of the waters; and by which name, strange to
tell, they distinguish their Sybils.—So much for the monsters of the
deep; and now I shall once more return to those infesting Terra Firma.
I have just mentioned, that, on account of a very bad foot, I had been
returned unfit for duty by the surgeon, on the 19th of November; yet
this day, December 5th, another surgeon, with two captains, and the
adjutant, were sent to inspect both me and Captain Perret, who was also
sick. The surgeon gave his declaration upon oath, that we were
incapable of walking without danger, much more of undergoing fatigue;
but Seyburg, who was still in his phrenzy fever, declared we should
instantly enter the woods, though he should see us carried in two
wheel-barrows. Poor Captain Perret complied to turn out, though he
looked like a ghost, and could scarcely stand; but I solemnly swore
that I would blow out the first man’s brains who dared disrespectfully
to touch me: in consequence of which I was close guarded by a sentinel;
while the whole camp, upon my soul, now seemed to be composed of none
but madmen.
On the 11th we received intelligence that a number of armed rebels had
been just seen opposite to Devil’s Harwar, and afterwards informed they
were upon their retreat from the Comawina River, where on the 5th they
had burnt to ashes the dwelling-house of the estate Killestyn Nova,
with Mr. Slighter the overseer in it, ransacked the whole plantation,
killed and carried off thirty-three women, and chopped off the limb of
a male mulatto child, to be revenged of its father; and that the Pirica
rangers were in pursuit of them. Captain Fredericy also arrived this
day, who had exchanged from the Society troops into Colonel Fourgeoud’s
regiment of marines, and confirmed to us the above unhappy news.
About this time, after having starved four months, my remaining stores
arrived at last from Mocha, but three-fourths rotted and destroyed by
the blata or cockroaches: the remaining part I distributed among the
sick people. But what proved truly acceptable, was the cheering account
that Joanna and Johnny were past danger, and recovering at Paramaribo.
This intelligence indeed so elevated my spirits, that the next morning
I reported myself fit for duty, though God knows that I was not; and to
this I was the more induced by the want of fresh air, of which I was
perfectly debarred in my confinement, and stood so much in need. The
same evening a boat full of Caribbee Indians rowed up Cormoetibo, for
the River Marawina, by the communication of the Wana Creek.
In eight days more, which was the 20th of December, being actually
recovered of the wound in my foot, and Seyburg of his phrenetic fever,
another officer and I played him the following trick, for his bad
usage. Having invited this gentleman, with his adjutant, and a few
more, to see us act a farce by candle-light, we affected to quarrel,
and beating out the candle, the door being well secured, laid on in the
dark with such success upon a certain somebody’s shoulders, that,
calling out Murder! he leaped out at the window. Nothing ever gave me
greater entertainment than to perceive his agility; but Colonel Seyburg
declared he would never more to our play be a spectator.
At this time orders arrived from Colonel Fourgeoud, who was also
better, to break up our camp at Jerusalem, and march once more to the
Wana Creek. In consequence the sick were again sent down in barges to
the hospital at Devil’s Harwar, which was nearly full, while several
were labouring under a disease something like the tympany, called here
the kook, being a prodigious hardness and swelling in the belly,
occasioned, it is said, by drinking muddy water without spirits, which
was indeed our daily and general beverage.
On the 22d, at six o’clock in the morning, we all decamped, and
scrambled up along the banks of the Cormoetibo Creek, through a perfect
bog, while one poor negro, who had his head fractured, was left behind,
and another knocked over-board one of the barges, who was drowned.
We this day again saw great numbers of pingoes or warree-hogs, which as
usual breaking through our line, were cut down by sabres and stabbed,
while some ran off with the bayonets sticking in their hams.
This march was peculiarly disagreeable, upon account of the heavy
rains, which now began to fall down in torrents, overflowing the banks
of all the rivers; and so cold were the damps in the morning,
contrasted with the late warm days, that we frequently lay shivering in
our hammocks as in frost, especially when sleeping in wet cloaths. This
inconvenience, however, I obviated to day by marching half naked, like
the rangers, and putting my shirt in one of the reversed kettles,
during the rain—thus my skin soon drying, after a shower, I again put
on my linen, and found myself much more comfortable than any of my
trembling ghastly looking companions.
On the evening of the 23d, we encamped near a rivulet called the
Caymans or Alligator Creek; where a tree called Monbiara afforded some
excellent fruit, but this was entirely stripped by the slaves before I
could either taste or even see it in perfection.
The rains continuing to pour down in a deluge, I again marched stripped
on the 24th, and we slung our hammocks in the evening, near a brook
called Yorica, or the Devil’s Creek, where we made huts or sheds to
cover us, and stowed the provisions upon rafters.
On the following day we once more laboured through deep mud and water,
in very heavy rains, and encamped at another small brook, called the
Java Creek, three miles below the Wana.
On the 26th I was selected, with a small party, to reconnoitre the old
camps at Wana Creek. In the evening we returned, half swimming through
mud and water, and having literally seen nothing, except some birds and
curious trees, which I cannot pass unnoticed. The birds were called the
Cromback, the Camawarry, and the Crocro. The first is a kind of large
snipe, the size of a woodcock, with a crooked bill. The second is also
a water fowl, but three times as large as the first: on account of
their swiftness, and disappearing in a moment, I can give but a very
imperfect description of them. The Crocro is something less than our
ravens, and I believe of the same species, being one of the most
voracious birds of the carnivorous tribe; in Guiana it is of a dark
blue colour, has a remarkably strong bill and limbs, and croaks
excessively loud and disagreeably, especially by night. The trees were
what the negroes called the Matakee, and the Markoory. The first is
remarkable for its roots, which spread above the ground in such a
manner, that they will conceal a score of men from each other; nay so
large are they sometimes, that a horseman may ride through between the
interstices, and one single piece is sufficient to make a table large
enough to hold twelve people.
For a better idea of this wonderful tree, I refer the reader to the
annexed plate; where I have placed it upon the opposite shore of the
encampment at Jerusalem. In the same plate, he is also presented with a
fair-weather view of the camp at Java Creek.
The other tree, called the Markoory, is truly formidable on account of
its poisonous qualities, which are of such a subtle nature, that the
very smoke of this wood, when on fire, is fatal to those animals that
receive it into their lungs; this is always seen to grow by itself, as
it infallibly kills every thing around it, nay even the slaves refuse
to cut it down on the plantations, so much are they afraid of touching,
or of even coming near to it. The Markoory is low, ugly, and uneven,
with very few branches, and a pale verdure. I have been told that some
of the Indians render their arrows fatal by dipping the barbs of them
in its sap.
On the 27th, another patrole was sent out, but to no better purpose
than the first. I have mentioned that my foot was recovered, and so it
was, but I had now extracted out of my right arm two dreadful insects,
which left behind them very deep ulcers. These are called in Surinam
the bush-worms, and are the shape and size of the aurelia of the common
butterfly, with a pointed tail and black head. They stuck extremely
fast in the flesh, and were extracted with a lancet. They breed
naturally in stagnated waters, in marching constantly through which
they had attached themselves to my flesh.
My heart now began to sink with accumulated disasters; my mind was
agitated and depressed with a constant train of tortures, to which I
could see no end, and I became weary of life. In this dreadful
situation I fell upon my naked knees, and invoked the malediction of
Heaven to fall on me, if I did not separate myself from my present
commanders and this service, the first honourable opportunity that
should offer itself;—how religiously I have persevered in observing
this vow, shall be seen in the sequel of these pages, before I take my
final farewell of my readers.
The place of our present encampment was now intolerable beyond every
description, being constantly overflowed, so that the ammunition and
provisions were stowed for preservation on wooden rafts; nor could we
step out of our hammocks without being up to the knees in mud and
water, where it was most shallow, while the gnats and other insects
devoured us alive. The consequence of all which was, that another barge
full of dying wretches was sent down the Cormoetibo Creek, bound for
the hospital at Devil’s Harwar; among whom the poor old negro with his
fractured skull, who had only yesterday rejoined us in his shocking
condition. This floating charnel-house weighed anchor on the last day
of the year 1775—with which I shall beg leave to conclude this gloomy
chapter.
CHAP. XXIV.
Two Volunteer Companies raised of free Mulattoes and
Negroes—Description of the Arrowouka Indian Nation—Colonel
Fourgeoud’s Regiment receives orders to sail for
Europe—Countermanded—Re-enter the Woods—Trade of the
Colony—Description of a Cacao Estate—Sample of Sable Heroism.
To what good star I was obliged, in the midst of all our confusion and
distress, I know not, but certain it is, that Colonel Seyburg having
sent for me on the first day of the new year, not only solicited my
future friendship, but declared he was sorry for all the ill-treatment
he had ever occasioned me, for which he principally blamed Mr. Gibhart,
his adjutant and spy; then taking me by the hand, as a proof of his
real regard, permitted me from that moment to go to Paramaribo, or
wherever I pleased, to refresh and refit until further orders; which
had such an effect on me, that having instantly converted every drop of
my rum into grog, we sat down, together with two other officers, and
drowned all former animosity in oblivion, till we could hardly see each
other. In this condition I took my leave that very evening of my new
friend and the camp at Java Creek, and rowed down in the best spirits
for Paramaribo.
Next morning, having slept during most of the passage, I breakfasted at
Devil’s Harwar, where I found that the unfortunate Gibhart had just set
sail for the other world. In the evening we arrived at the estate
Beekvlied, as my negroes had made extraordinary dispatch, summing
wattra [14] all the time to encourage each other.
On the 3d I arrived at the fortress Amsterdam, where I was entertained
with an excellent fish dinner, and where I must again intreat the
reader’s patience, while I attempt to describe the different species,
viz. the passessy, prare-prare, provost, and curema. The passary is
above two feet long, and weighs sometimes twenty pounds: the head is
broad and flat; it has two long barbs, and no scales, and is very
delicate eating. The prare-prare is about the same size, and equally
good. The provost is large, often five feet, and of a yellowish colour;
the flesh of this is less agreeable, but the oil it produces comes to
good account. As for the curema, this is a species of mullet, sometimes
above two feet in length, with large silvery eyes, and the under jaw
longer than the upper. Near this place are also found a kind of
sea-snails, of which Madam Merian makes mention; and the fore-part of
which exactly resembles those of a shrimp.
In the evening at six o’clock I arrived once more at Paramaribo, and
found Joanna with her little boy perfectly well, after having both been
blind for above three weeks; with whom being now invited to lodge, at
the house of my friend Mr. De Graaf, I was completely happy.
The following day I dined with Colonel Fourgeoud, who now also was as
sound as ever, and who gave me a very indifferent meal of salt
provisions [15], but an uncommonly hearty welcome. He acquainted me
that two new companies of free mulattoes, and two of free negroes, all
volunteers, had just been raised; that the Serameca and Owca negroes
encouraged and favoured the rebels, and were deceitful rascals; that a
few rebels had been killed in the Cassiwinica Creek; and that he was in
hopes of rooting out Fissy Hollo; that Bonny, with his people, were
almost starving in the forest, notwithstanding their late depredations,
which could not last much longer; and that he was fully determined, if
he should lose his last man, to make this rebel surrender, or harass
him till he and his gang, through hunger and distress, should be
obliged to quit the colony. I learned further from him, that a
Frenchman had just escaped hanging for betraying the state of the
fortifications, &c. to the governor of Cayenne; that he had pardoned
Captain Tulling for his clandestine marriage; and that Lieutenant
Colonel de Borgnes was just entered into matrimony with a rich widow, a
Mrs. Crawford.
The Colonel, in a word, was now quite the reverse of what he had been
before, and upon the whole so very agreeable in his manners, that I
would never wish to spend my time in better company; but how I should
become at once the favourite of both these rival commanders, was a
secret I could never yet discover, unless it might proceed from a
desire of gaining me from each other, as they still continued mutual
enemies: be that as it may, I resolved to preserve the most inflexible
neutrality, as I also did between them and the governor, where I was
invited next day, and dined not on salt-beef, but found as usual a
truly magnificent entertainment.
Thus I continued daily visiting my friends, viz. Mrs. Godefroy, the
Demellys, the Gordons, the Mac Neyls, &c. I also spent a very agreeable
day with the black Mrs. Sampson, or Zubly, who was now a widow.
I was present too at a mulatto ball, composed however not of slaves,
but of free independant settlers. Here the music, the lights, the
country dances, the supper, and, above all, the dresses were so superb,
and their behaviour so decent and genteel, that the whole might serve
as a model for decorum and etiquette to some of the fairer and more
polished inhabitants.
On the 20th, observing a number of Indians and black people of both
sexes swimming at the back of Fort Zelandia, young Donald Mac Neyl and
myself compleated the groupe, by stripping and getting in among them;
and I must confess I never beheld more surprising feats of activity in
the water, than were performed by the negroes, who fought a sham
battle, by plunging or rather tumbling like porpoises, when they struck
each other with their legs, as they never used their hands; while the
Indians, who were of the Arrowouka nation, swam and dived like
amphibious animals.
Being sufficiently refreshed, we sat down upon the beach, near the
twenty-one gun battery, where I had an opportunity of examining the
features and figure of one of their young females, as she approached
us, like Venus rising out of the sea. These people being very different
from all the other Indian nations that I have already described, I
shall embrace the opportunity of fulfilling my promise, and giving a
particular account of them.—In the first place, the skin of the young
woman who was now emerging clean from the river, and divested of
arnotta-paint, appeared much fairer than the copper-colour of the other
Indians; neither were her limbs deformed by those strait-laced
bracelets or cotton-bands so much in use with the rest; nor did her
hair hang down, but was neatly plaited close round the crown of her
head, and fastened in the centre with a broad silver plate [16]. Her
only dress consisted, both during the time she bathed and after, of a
small square apron made of beads, as I have mentioned before: in every
other respect she was perfectly naked: nor could a finer figure be
imagined—erect, vigorous, active, young, and healthy, which convinced
me that when the body is exposed, as it certainly was ordained by
nature, the face is but little noticed.
“——Such as Arcadian song
Transmits from ancient uncorrupted Time;
When tyrant Custom had not shackled Man,
But free to follow Nature was the mode.”
In her features was displayed that beautiful simplicity, that native
unsuspecting innocence, which cannot be put on where there is the
slightest consciousness of guilt. Nor is the olive-colour incompatible
with beauty, it is certainly the standard complexion of the human race,
while the black and white are supposed to be only gradations, produced
probably by the extremes of heat and cold. As this Indian girl was
perfectly handsome, so she seemed to be perfectly happy.—“Happiness,”
as the Abbe Reynal wisely observes, “is more frequently found in a pure
state of nature, than in that of the most refined civilization.” To be
sure an European woman would blush to her fingers ends at the very idea
of appearing publicly stark naked; but education and prejudice are
every thing, since it is an axiom, that where there is no feeling of
self-reproach, there can assuredly be no shame.
I remember to have seen an Indian youth, whose name was Weekee, at
Bergen-op-Zoom, where he was brought over from the colony Berbicè with
General Desalve, who cloathed and partly civilized him: amongst other
things, he learned cookery, and to be something of a taylor, at his own
request, that he might be enabled to provide both for his back and his
belly. After some time however, expressing a desire to return to the
colony, he no sooner touched American ground, than stripping himself of
his lumber, he launched naked into his native woods, where he ended his
days as he had begun them, amongst his beloved countrymen and
companions; like the Hottentot mentioned by Rousseau, in his celebrated
Discours sur l’Inegalité & Conditions, &c.——But to return to the
girl:—She had with her a live parrot, which she had stunned with a
blunt arrow from her bow, and for which I gave her a double-bladed
knife [17]. So wonderfully expert are the Arrowouka Indians at this
exercise, that they frequently bring down a macaw in full flight, or
even a pigeon.
I cannot conclude these remarks without adding a few words concerning
the unspotted moral character of these people, who not only live in
peace with most of the other Indian nations, but are peculiarly
attached to the Europeans, while these in return profess for them the
strongest esteem.
As a proof of their gratitude, I will only relate one instance:—Some
years ago an Indian woman being at Paramaribo, and far advanced in a
state of pregnancy, a Mr. Van der Mey humanely ordered his servants to
conduct her and her husband into his house, where, giving them a
private apartment, and every other conveniency, he wished them
good-night. Before the next morning the woman was delivered; but when
the servants went in to renew their offers of friendship, neither man,
wife, nor child were to be found, as they had before day-break quietly
marched into the forest [18]. Various were at this time the conjectures
concerning the boasted integrity of the Arrowouka Indians, until, no
less than eighteen months after, the same Indian returned to Mr. Van
der Mey, with a charming captive boy of the Accawau nation, that he had
taken in battle [19]; and whom presenting to his benefactor, he only
said, “That’s yours,” and without waiting for any answer
disappeared.—For this slave the above gentleman was offered £. 200,
which he refused, and treated him as well as if he had been free.
The education these people receive in their infancy being according to
the dictates only of simple nature, their minds or their bodies are
very seldom deformed, while a too nice attention to either is possibly
as detrimental as a total neglect. The ingenious Dr. Bancroft is of the
same opinion, which he supports (I think needlessly) by a quotation
from Quintilian.
Though the Arrowouka Indians live in perfect friendship and harmony
with us, and indeed with most of their neighbours, they yet sometimes
go to war when provoked, as I have just observed; in these combats they
use bows and arrows, and the club called abowtow [20]; but they do not
eat their prisoners like the Caribbee Indians, who even devoured the
negroes whom they killed at the insurrection in Berbicè.
Notwithstanding these people live at a greater distance from the sea
than the Warrows, &c. yet they have canoes, sometimes fourscore feet in
length, in which they paddle down the rivers. The Arrowouka Indians
particularly are great herbalists, and for all external accidents have
recourse to simples, with which the woods of all Terra Firma
abound.——But to proceed:
On the 25th I was seized with a fever, and blooded in the foot, in
which the orifice being struck too deep, for struck it was as they
bleed the horses, I again became lame; during which time Colonel
Seyburg arrived from the Java Creek to recover, he being at last also
taken very ill.
In the mean time Colonel Fourgeoud, while he was just ready to renew
his operations, having already sent a small detachment to the Jew
Savannah for intelligence, received letters from the Hague, with
express orders to abandon the expedition immediately, and with his few
remaining troops to sail for Holland without delay.
In consequence of these commands on the 27th, the transport ships were
put in commission, and all the officers and privates received their
clearance, which made them very happy; and indeed all at Paramaribo
were alive with joy, except some of the inhabitants and myself.
On the 14th of February, ill as I was with a bad foot, a sore arm, the
prickly heat, and all my teeth loose with the scurvy, I found means to
scramble out on crutches, with a thousand florins in my pocket, which
having divided between Fourgeoud and Mrs. Godefroy for the redemption
of the black boy Quaco, and my mulatto, I returned home without a
shilling in my purse; yet for this small sum of 500 florins, so
inadequate to 1800 which I owed that lady, she was induced generously
to renew her persuasions of carrying Joanna and the boy with me to
Holland. This, however, Joanna as nobly as firmly refused, declaring,
“that, independant of all other considerations, she could never think
of sacrificing one benefactor to the interest of another; and that her
own happiness or even mine, which was dearer to her than life, should
never have any weight, till the debt of her liberty was paid by me, or
by her own industry, to the utmost fraction, and which she did not
despair to see one day compleated.” She added, “our separation should
only be for a time, and that the greatest proof I could ever shew her
of my real esteem, was now to undergo this little trial of fortune like
a man, without so much as heaving a sigh in her presence;” which last
she spoke with a smile, next embraced her infant, then turned suddenly
round, and wept most bitterly.—At this moment I was called to Mr. de la
Mare’s, who was just dead, where my melancholy having surpassed all
description, I at last determined to weather one or two painful years
in her absence; and in the afternoon went to dissipate my mind at a Mr.
Roux’s cabinet of Indian curiosities; where, as my eye chanced to fall
on a rattle-snake, I will before I leave the colony describe this
dangerous reptile.
The rattle-snake of Surinam is sometimes eight or nine feet long, and
very thick about the middle, tapering towards the neck and tail. The
head is dreadfully deformed, being flat and broad, with two large
nostrils near the snout, and a large scale or knob like the alligator
above his eyes, which are jet-black and sparkling; at the extremity of
the tail are several thin horny shells joined together, which are very
dry, and which, when irritated, the animal shakes, sounding much like a
rattle, from which it derives its name. These shells augment, it is
said, in the proportion of one every year, by which it is supposed its
age may be ascertained. This whole snake is covered over with scales,
which on the ridge of the back it erects. The colour is a dirty orange
mixed with dark-brown and black spots, which last are also on its head,
appearing like velvet, and marked in a very conspicuous manner; the
belly is ash-coloured, with transverse scales like most other serpents.
When this animal is intent on mischief, it lies coiled like a rope,
with the tail a little in motion, which having rattled, it launches
forth upon its prey, making no farther reach than its own length; this
done, it coils a second time, and again projects itself. The bite of
the rattle-snake is accounted fatal, at least is thought very dangerous
over all America; but with regard to the fascinating qualities of its
eyes, such as the story of its causing mice, squirrels, and birds to
run into its mouth, I reject them as fables; the supposed charm
consisting in nothing more than this, that the poor animals, finding
themselves surprized by the impending danger, are seized with such a
trepidation and fear, that even the use of their limbs forsakes them,
and they are rivetted to the place till they die, or in the act of
leaping they are seized by their enemy [21].
In this cabinet I also saw the blue dipsas of Surinam, which had almost
the colour of ultramarine on the back; its sides were lighter, and the
belly nearly white. I did not learn that the bite of this reptile was
fatal, but that it occasions immoderate thirst in the patient, from
which it took its name; the word dipsa signifying thirst in the Greek
language. Another snake I also observed here, about three feet long,
being annulated with different colours, and called amphisbœna, from the
supposition of its having two heads; but the truth is, that from its
cylindrical form the head and tail so much resemble each other, that
the error is almost pardonable; besides which, the eyes are nearly
imperceptible. This is the snake which, being supposed blind, and
vulgarly said to be fed by the large ants already described, is in this
country honoured with the name of King of the Emmets [22].
Amongst Mr. Roux’s numerous collection of fine butterflies, one of a
middle size I thought peculiarly beautiful; all its wings, both above
and below, being elegantly streaked with transverse bars of velvet,
black, and a variegated bright green. The amazing height to which they
ascend, and the great velocity with which these insects fly, make them
so rare, being, for these reasons, but very seldom caught. The
caterpillar is a sea-green, and all covered over with hard feelers, not
unlike feathers.—For a better idea of the above snakes, and this fly,
see the plate annexed, where the last was improved from Madam Merian’s
collection.
I have just said that we were ordered to leave the colony, and that all
were overjoyed with the news, myself excepted. But on the 15th, by
letters from Holland to our chief, our return was again countermanded
for six months. My companions were therefore suddenly cast down with
disappointment, while I was as suddenly revived, and now determined to
save all my pay until Joanna’s redemption should be fully accomplished:
but what grieved me very much was the other news from Europe, viz. that
the Scots Brigade had been invited to England by his Britannic Majesty,
while I was lamenting that I could not possibly be one of the number
[23]. I at the same time had the offer of an American company under
General Washington, but this I refused without any hesitation, as may
be supposed.
In short, on the 18th of February, the poor dispirited men were again
sent up to Magdenburg, a large party still remaining at the Java Creek;
whilst the temper of the officers was now so ruffled, that a Mr. Fisher
of our corps fought no less than two duels in two succeeding days,
dangerously wounding both his antagonists, who were both officers of
the Society regiment.
As I was not yet recovered, I staid some time longer at Paramaribo,
where at the house of a Mr. Reynsdorp, I saw a Portuguese Jew teaching
his children the Christian religion, while the pious mother of the
charity-house kept flogging the poor slaves daily, because they were,
as she said, unbelievers. To one black woman, in particular, she
wantonly gave four hundred lashes, who bore them without a complaint.
But to change the disagreeable subject;—while I have the leisure and
the opportunity, I feel the inclination to state to the public a short
account of the trade and intrinsic value of this blood-spilling colony;
which still might be richer, did they not follow the example of the
woman in the fable with her golden eggs.
In the first place, in Surinam are computed to be about six or eight
hundred plantations, producing sugar, coffee, cacao, and cotton,
besides some indigo, and valuable timbers, &c.—The exportation of which
four first articles only, and their value, may be seen at one view in
the following table for four successive years.
+------+------------+------------+----------+---------+
| The | Barrels of | lbs. of | lbs. of | lbs. of |
|Years.| SUGAR. | COFFEE. | CACAO. | COTTON. |
+------+------------+------------+----------+---------+
| 1771 | 19,494 | 11,135,132 | 416,821 | 203,945 |
| 1772 | 19,260 | 12,267,134 | 354,935 | 90,035 |
| 1773 | 15,741 | 15,427,298 | 332,229 | 135,047 |
| 1774 | 15,111 | 11,016,518 | 506,610 | 105,126 |
+------+------------+------------+----------+---------+
|Total | 69,606 | 49,846,082 |1,610,595 | 534,153 |
+------+------------+------------+----------+---------+
69,606 barrels of sugar, at 60 florins per
barrel, make ƒ. 4,176,360 — —
49,846,082 lbs. of coffee, at 8½d. per lb.
make 21,184,584 17 —
1,610,595 lbs. of cacao, at 6½d. per lb.
make 523,443 7 8
534,153 lbs. of cotton, at 8d. per lb. make 212,661 4 —
Sum total ƒ. 26,097,049 8 8
Which makes in one year exactly ƒ. 6,524,262 7 2
But this average produce was shipped off for
the town of Amsterdam only.
If I now add what goes to Rotterdam and to
Zealand, besides the home consumption, and
the return of the rum and molasses, the
indigo at 4 ƒ. per lb. and the timber from 5
d. to five florins per cubic foot, it will
amount to as much more 6,524,262 7 2
---------------
Thus altogether ƒ. 13,048,524 14 4
Which, supposing it was but 11,000,000 ƒ. makes a yearly income of one
million neat in sterling money.
How the above sum is divided between the republic of Holland and this
colony, shall be my business to state in the second place.
The town of Amsterdam affords about
fifty ships, at an average of 400
tons burthen each, which receive,
for importation freight of various
commodities, the sum of ƒ. 6,000
For exportation freight of the above
productions, which grow in the colony [24] 32,000
------
Thus each vessel gets for freight ƒ. 38,000
Which, multiplied by the No of vessels 50
------
Makes exactly ƒ. 1,900,000 — —
For Rotterdam and Zealand I calculate
together about 30 vessels more of different
burdens: thus 1,200,000 — —
And for the brick that serves for ballast,
passengers, &c. 80,000 — —
Each Guinea ship, importing yearly
from 250 to 300 negroes, lowest
value, at ƒ. 120,000
Thus supposing the number of vessels [25] 6
--------
Amounts to 720,000 — —
To all these I shall add the merchandize
imported from Holland, such as wine, spirits,
beer, salt-beef, pork, and flour, silk,
cotton, and linen-manufactures; cloaths,
hats, shoes; gold, silver, and steel
ornaments; arms and ammunition; even masons
and carpenters tools, &c. &c. at an average
of about 50 per cent. profit. Besides
correspondents charges, insurance, duty,
store-house expences, porters fees, wharfage,
and package, which last articles cost the
inhabitants ten per cent. more.
Thus altogether 1,100,000 — —
=============
Which makes already the sum of ƒ. 5,000,000 — —
Still let me mention the interest of 6 per
cent. for the national debt of five millions
sterling, due by the colony, and what they
are defrauded of by usurers in Holland, where
prodigious other charges are brought in; and
where those who have made their fortunes go
to spend it; and the amount will be found to
produce at least 1,000,000 — —
=============
The whole of which items added together,
produce no less a sum yearly than ƒ. 6,000,000 — —
Which is clear profit to the republic, viz.
principally for Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and
Zealand. Thus the inhabitants of Surinam get,
for their share of the above treasure, only 5,000,000 — —
--------------
Which make together, as I said, one million
sterling, or ƒ. 11,000,000 — —
In the third place, I shall now show in what manner the internal
expence of the society of Surinam is defrayed by taxes; which amount to
no trifle, as shall be seen.
Having already mentioned, when speaking of the government, that the
public revenue officers were five in number, I will now point out how
they collect the cash respectively each, for the support of the above
expences.
The first of these is that of Importation and Exportation Duties.
To this is paid, viz.
By all Dutch vessels, } thus for
3 ƒ. per ton } tonnage, ƒ. 90,000
By Americans, &c. 6 ƒ. per ton }
By Americans, &c. for all
imports and exports, 5 per cent. 60,000
Sugar pays 1 ƒ. per thousand or }
barrel } in 1771
Coffee 15d. per 100 lb. weight } paid 260,000
Cacao 1 ƒ. 15d. per 100 lb. Do }
Cotton }
———————— ƒ. 410,000 — —
===========
Thus receives yearly about the
sum of ƒ. 410,000 — —
The second is the office of excise and small duties.
To this is paid, viz.
For a barrel of beer ƒ. 3 — —
A Do of claret 12 — —
A pipe of madeira 23 10 —
All wines, per quart bottle — — 1
The tax on publicans, is 600 — —
Do on small retailers 300 — —
And which amounts to a yearly
produce of at least 100,000 — —
Then follows thirdly the office for taxation on heads;
which receives for all inhabitants, black and white,
without exception, viz.
For or men and women ƒ. 2 10 { this produces 150,000 — —
For boys and girls under 12, ƒ. 1 5 { yearly
Next comes the office for sales and slaves,
which gets, viz.
For selling dead stock, }
including estates, &c. 5 per cent. } thus, 130,000 — —
For selling newly-arrived or }
imported negro slaves, 2½ per cent. }
And finally, the office for re-taking negro deserters,
which was then erected, the other taxes not being
sufficient; which produces yearly, viz.
By an additional tax on heads,
black and white, at 1 ƒ. is 80,000
By 4 per cent. of every profit
got during the year upon oath, is 400,000
Which makes exactly ------- 480,000 — —
Still let me not forget what is yearly paid for what
is called the support of the common or grass fields,
viz. For a house, according to its size.
For a coach 20 — —
For a whiskey 10 — —
For a saddle-horse 10 — —
Which add to the above impositions again 12,000 — —
-------------
And these, if summed together, make a yearly
revenue of no less than ƒ. 1,282,000 — —
Having now clearly demonstrated, partly by the assistance of Dr.
Fermyn’s Tableau de la Colonie de Surinam, and partly by my own
experience, that the intrinsic value of this settlement is worth yearly
above one million of sterling money, which, by proper management, might
be still increased; also that the greater part of it goes to the
republic, while the people are thus burthened on their estates by
almost insupportable taxation, which induces many to be rogues, who
would perhaps otherwise be honest; I shall, by way of appendix, give
some short account of the trade carried on in this colony by the North
Americans:—These people arrive with small brigs, sloops, and schooners
from Virginia, Rhode Island, New York, Boston, Jamaica, Grenada,
Antigua, Barbadoes, &c. from which places they export flour, beef,
pork, herrings, salt, mackarel, and leaf-tobacco for the negroes; also
fir-boards, English rum, and other spirits; loaf-sugar [26],
spermaceti-candles, onions, &c. Besides each vessel is bound to bring
in one horse [27], which they often supply by a head only; affirming,
that they put on board a horse, but that he died on the passage. For
the above commodities the American traders export all the melasses of
this colony to distil into rum at home, and frequently ship-loads of
other productions and merchandize, though this is done in a clandestine
manner, by which both the seller and buyer are considerable gainers,
being ready cash for the one, and a cheap bargain for the other. From
the Leeward Islands these vessels also import private mulatto and
quaderoon slaves, which being generally young and handsome, whatever
may be their moral character, sell for considerable prices.
Having thus shewn, according to the best information I was able to
acquire, in what the commerce and intrinsic wealth of this fine colony
consist; I will now take my leave of the subject, and continue my
narrative.
On the 21st of February, Mr. Reynsdorp, the son-in-law of Mrs.
Godefroy, took me in his sail barge for change of air to
Nuten-Schadelyk, one of his own coffee estates; where I saw a white man
who had lately lost both his eyes in one night by the bats or vampires,
as they are called; and the following day, sailing up Comewina River,
we proceeded to the delightful Cacao plantation Alkmaar, the property
of the above lady; where the negro slaves are treated like children by
the mistress, to whom they all look up as to their common parent.—Here
were no groans to be heard, no fetters to be met with, nor any marks of
severity to be seen—but all was harmony and content. The superb house
and other offices of this charming estate, where pleasure and
hospitality ever reign, I have already represented in plate No X.;
while the fields and gardens, nay, even the negro houses, bore all the
marks of perfect peace and plenty.
The cacao-trees are supplied from nurseries for the purpose, like
orchards in England, and planted very regularly at ten or twelve feet
distance from each other, where they grow to the height of our English
cherry-trees. But these plantations must be well sheltered, both from
the hard winds and scorching sun, when young; the roots not entering
deep into the ground to succour them, nor can they at that time bear
extraordinary heat; on which account the groves are filled up with
cassava-shrubs or plantain-trees for their shelter, and which at the
same time answer the purpose of killing the weeds, which grow so
luxuriantly in all the tropical climates;—by these attentions the trees
will bear fruit before they are three years old, when they afford two
crops annually, but they are in the highest perfection at the age of
twelve or fourteen. The leaf of the cacao-tree is above eight inches
long, and nearly three broad, thick-pointed, ribbed like the
laurel-time, and of a bright green-colour. The fruit is about the same
size, and when young resembles a cucumber; but when ripe it becomes
yellow like a large lemon, with ribs like the melon, and tubercles
which enclose the seed or nuts, near thirty in number: they lie
longitudinally in the fruit, and when fit for use are of the size of
olives, and purple-coloured. The trees are supposed to bear at each
crop from thirty to three hundred pods, each containing about thirty
nuts, weighing one pound, from which a calculation may be made how much
will be the produce of each harvest. After a few days the nuts are
extracted from the pods, and dried in the shade; during which time they
undergo a very strong perspiration, when they are put into barrels and
fit for transportation, to be converted into that well-known and
agreeable beverage called Chocolate.
It is said the cacao-trees are natives of Guiana, and grow wild in
large quantities near the river Amazon: be that as it may, Governor
Chatillon’s son planted the first tree in Surinam in 1684, and the
first crop was exported to Holland in 1733. A great advantage in
cultivating cacao-trees is, that fewer slaves are required than in any
other branch of the planting business. How considerable are the profits
will appear by the accounts of the year 1774, when 506,610 lbs. were
exported to Amsterdam alone, which produced 202,614 ƒ. Dutch money,
being equal to £. 18,419 sterling. The prices have been fluctuating
from 4d. to 9d. per lb. the average being about 6½d. The best estates,
of which Alkmaar is one, produce yearly above 80,000 lbs. weight.
In the plate annexed, A is the leaf above, B below [28]; C, the wood;
D, the flower; E, the young pulp; F, the same in perfection; and G, the
seeds or nuts to make the chocolate.
On the 27th we returned to town, where the day before a Society soldier
was shot for mutiny; and the day following a ship was burnt in the
roads. At this time the celebrated free negro Qwasi, who was the
prophet, priest, and king of the rangers, &c. went to Holland on a
visit to the Prince of Orange, with letters of recommendation from
Fourgeoud, whose praises he was to resound, as well as to complain of
the Governor for not treating him with due respect. This being the
period for the sessions, another negro’s leg was cut off for sculking
from a task to which he was unequal; while two more were condemned to
be hanged for running away altogether. The heroic behaviour of one of
these men before the court deserves particularly to be noticed:—He
begged only to be heard for a few moments; which being granted, he
proceeded thus:
“I was born in Africa, where, defending my prince during an engagement,
I was made a captive, and sold for a slave on the coast of Guinea by my
own countrymen.—One of your countrymen, who is now to be one of my
judges, became my purchaser, in whose service I was treated so cruelly
by his overseer, that I deserted, and joined the rebels in the
woods.—Here again I was condemned to be a slave to Bonny, their chief,
who treated me with even more severity than I had experienced from the
Europeans, till I was once more forced to elope, determined to shun
mankind for ever, and inoffensively to end my days by myself in the
forest. Two years had I persevered in this manner quite alone,
undergoing the greatest hardships and anxiety of mind, preserving life
only for the possibility of once more seeing my dear family, who were
perhaps starving on my account, in my own country; I say two miserable
years had just elapsed, when I was discovered by the rangers, taken,
and brought before this tribunal, who are now acquainted with the
history of my wretched life, and from whom the only favour I have to
ask is, that I may be executed next Saturday, or as soon as it may
possibly be convenient.”
This speech was uttered with the utmost moderation, by one of the
finest-looking negroes that was perhaps ever seen; to which his former
master, who, as he observed, was now one of the judges, made the
following laconic reply—“Rascal! that is not what we want to know; but
the torture this moment shall make you confess crimes as black as
yourself, as well as those of your hateful accomplices.” To which the
negro, who now swelled in every vein with indignation and ineffable
contempt: “Massera, the tigers have trembled for these hands,” holding
them up; “and dare you think to threaten me with your wretched
instrument? No, I despise the utmost tortures you can now invent, as
much as I do the pitiful wretch who is going to inflict them.” Saying
which, he threw himself down on the rack, where amidst the most
excruciating torments he remained with a smile, without uttering a
syllable; nor did he ever speak again, until he ended his unhappy days
at the gallows.
What good man can “reflect the tear-stain’d eye,
When blood attests even slaves for freedom die?
On cruel gibbets, high disclos’d they rest,
And scarce one groan escapes one bloated breast.
Here sable Cæsars [29] feel the Christian rod,
There Afric Platos, tortur’d hope a God,
While jetty Brutus for his country sighs,
And sooty Cato with his freedom dies!”
Having dined with Colonel Fourgeoud on the 8th of March, when we
celebrated the Prince of Orange’s birthday, while Mr. Reyndorp gave a
treat to all the soldiers, he acquainted me that the rangers were now
alone encamped at the Wana Creek; that the pestilential spot Devil’s
Harwar was at last entirely forsaken; and that the two lately raised
companies of sable volunteers had taken a few prisoners, and killed
others on the Wanica path, behind Paramaribo. I was at this time a good
deal better, but still, not being quite recovered, he who had formerly
treated me so severely, now even insisted on my staying some longer
time at Paramaribo: nay, gave me an offer to return to Europe, which I
absolutely refused; in short, about the middle of the month, I was as
well as ever I was in my life. At this time Colonel Fourgeoud and
myself were daily visitors of the ladies, in whose company no man could
behave better, while I could often not avoid disgust; indeed so languid
were many in their looks, and so unrestrained were some in their
conversation, that a Mrs. N—— even asked me, sans ceremonie, to supply
the place of her husband; while she might as well have asked me to
drink, for a relish, a tumbler of salts.
On the 17th, however, my eyes were better feasted, when, going to dine
with Colonel Texier of the Society troops, I first took a walk in the
orange grove and the governor’s gardens; here, peeping through the
foliage, I soon discovered two most elegant female figures after
bathing, the one a fine young Samboo, the other a blooming Quaderoon,
which last was so very fair complexioned, that she might have passed
for a native of Greece, while the roses that glowed in her cheek were
equal to those that blossomed in the shrubbery [30]. They were walking
hand in hand, and conversing with smiles near a flowery bank that
adorned the side of a crystal brook, in which they plunged the instant
they heard me rustling amongst the verdure, like two mermaids:
“Then to the flood they rush’d; the parted flood
Its lovely guests with closing waves receiv’d,
And every beauty soft’ning, every grace
Flushing anew, a mellow lustre shed.”
Leaving them to enjoy their innocent amusement of bathing, I spent the
remaining hour before dinner amongst the shady fruit-trees, blooming
bowers, and serpentine gravel walks; where indeed I saw greater variety
of European plants than I imagined were produced in a tropical climate,
such as mint, fennel, sage, rosemary, golden-rod and jessamine, the
sensitive plant, pomegranates, roses, figs, and even some grapes.—Of
the pomegranate flowers, a specimen may be seen in plate, No XXIX. The
figs are both within and without of a beautiful crimson colour; but the
roses are rather pale. Here were some beautiful pine-apples and melons,
which, though they are so generally known, I will nevertheless give
some account of. The imperial fruit, called Anana or pine-apple grows
in the centre of an elegant sea-green plant, on a stalk of the same
hue, about eight inches in length, its leaves diverging near the
surface of the earth, which are smooth, long, strong, pointed, and
dentulated with hard prickles. The shape of this fruit is nearly oval,
the size of a sugar-loaf, all over chequered, and of a most beautiful
orange or golden colour, being crowned with a sea-green tuft, of the
same leaves as the mother plant, and which when put in the ground
produces another pine-apple in the space of about eighteen months. The
delicious taste and flavour of this fruit has in the space of half a
century become so well known, that I have introduced it merely to
notice its plenty in the country I write of; for so spontaneously
indeed do the former grow in this climate, and of such different kinds,
without any cultivation, that on many estates they serve as a common
food for hogs.
The musk and water melons grow also plentifully in this country; the
first is of a globular form, large, like the crown of a small hat,
ribbed, buff colour, orange and green. The pulp is yellow, firm, sweet,
and succulent; still it is eaten with sugar, but more frequently with
black pepper and salt—the smell of this fruit is excellent.
The water-melon is of an oval or cylindrical shape, its colour is a
bright polished green, and partly a very pale buff; the pulp of this
fruit is a pink colour, and of a mellow watery substance; its taste is
sweet, exceedingly cooling, and of a most agreeable flavour.
Both the above melons are of the cucumber kind, growing on rough
stalks, with large leaves, that creep along the ground. It is
remarkable that the water-melon, which may be freely eaten in all
distempers without the least pernicious consequence, thrives best in
very dry and sandy places.—In the annexed plate may be seen the Anana
or pine-apple, with the musk and water-melon, besides the seed from
which this last is produced.
I sent about this period, to a Mr. Reygersman in Holland, a most
elegant collection of Surinam butterflies, which are here caught in
great abundance and variety, and by which alone some people make no
small profit; but the very idea of pinning them alive to a sheet of
paper, was sufficient to prevent me from becoming a fly-catcher:
“Lo! the poor beetle that we tread upon——
Feels a like pang, as when a giant falls.”
Now Captains Van Geurick and Fredericy, with Serjeant Fowler, were sent
on an embassy to the Owca and Sarameca free negroes, if possible to
procure their assistance against the rebels, which they always
continued to promise (while Colonel Fourgeoud gave them presents) but
never yet performed. A few of the other officers still stayed with us
gallanting at Paramaribo, amongst whom were Major Medler and Captain
Hamell [31], who had both been with General Desalve’s regiment, in the
colony Berbicè, and previous to that the first was in the Prussian
service. It was no small change of appearance for us, who had so little
a time before appeared like wild men, now to strut through Paramaribo,
dressed like so many French marquees.
Being a particular favourite of Governor Nepveu, I one day was induced
to ask him for a piece of uncultivated forest ground; when he readily
granted me 400 acres: but when I inconsiderately asked it of him, I had
not calculated how large a capital it required to clear away woods,
purchase negroes, and provide other necessaries for such an
undertaking; and when a little reflection convinced me how difficult it
would be to find a partner of abilities to assist me, I declined
accepting this mark of the governor’s regard.
Having on the 26th once more saved a poor black girl from receiving
some hundred lashes, by replacing a dozen of china, which she had
broken by accident; while another was stabbed by a Frenchman, who
immediately cut his own throat from remorse, and his companion, an
overseer, hanged himself; and having visited the poor negro whose leg
had lately been cut off by law, I packed my boxes to set out next
morning on my sixth campaign; and once more take the command of the
River Comewina: at which moment arrived at my lodgings six loaded negro
slaves with presents from my hospitable friends, of every kind that
Guiana could produce, and the colony of Surinam could afford me.
CHAP. XXV.
Singular Method of detecting a Theft—Rencounter between the Rangers
and Rebels—Amazonian Action of a black Girl—Wonderful Sagacity in
wild Bees—The Regiment receives a second Order to return to Europe.
On the 27th of March, 1776, adieu once more Paramaribo, my Joanna, and
my boy!
This morning, a little before I sat out, I saw a Mr. d’Halbergh
terribly bitten by a large iguana or lizard, at the very moment he was
pressing me and my companions to stay a few days, to be present at the
celebration of what he called his Silver-feast, being the twenty-fifth
anniversary of his marriage; but after condoling with him upon account
of the accident, we embarked in a tent-barge, and arrived that evening
at the Sporksgift estate in Matapica. Here we were entertained two days
by Captain Mac Neal, with the greatest hospitality. I was however
nearly suffocated by the steam of some green coffee, which was spread
on the floor of the lodge where I had slung my hammock.
Late on the evening of the 29th, we arrived at the Gold-mine
plantation, where we found a negro boy and girl, suspended by each
others side from a high beam, by a rope fastened to their thumbs, which
were tied behind their backs, this almost dislocated their shoulders,
and must have occasioned the most agonizing tortures. Thus I cut the
miserable victims down, without leave or ceremony, and swore that
instant to demolish the tyrannical overseer who had inflicted this new
mode of punishment, unless he promised immediately to forgive them;
which he miraculously did in my presence.
On the 30th, a little before we landed at the Hope, I discovered that
all my sugar, with the greatest part of my rum, was gone; and detected
the thief by the following laughable stratagem (though not my own
invention)—I told the negroes, six in number, that a parrot’s feather
was to grow within six minutes upon the tip of his nose who was most
guilty; at the same time pronouncing a few incoherent words, and making
two or three circles with my sabre, I shut myself within the tilt:
here, peeping through the key-hole, and observing the rowers with great
attention, without their perceiving me, I soon saw one of them, at
every stroke of the oar, put up his hand, and feel the tip of his nose;
upon which I instantly ran up to him, and cried, “I see the parrot’s
feather! Thou art the thief, thou rascal!” To which the poor
superstitious fellow instantly answered, “Yaw, me massera!” then
kneeling to the sorcerer for mercy, and the others also intreating me
to spare him, I pardoned the credulous thief and his accomplices, who
by their candid confession obtained a piece of salt beef for their
dinner, and a gourd full of good grog in the bargain.
Immediately on my arrival I took the command of the whole river, and
now was once more the Prince of Comewina. I also built an elevated
palace, in imitation of Prince Bonny’s at Boosy-Cry, on twelve strong
stakes; which aerial habitation I found very necessary, the whole post
being almost under water by the inundations, and by neglect become a
perfect mire-pool, while of my former cottage not a vestige was to be
seen. Here I found the marines in perfect misery, being almost naked,
and having sold their very shoes for a mouthful of fresh provisions.
These grievances, however, by my labour and intercession with Colonel
Fourgeoud, whose favourite I now became more and more, were speedily
redressed, and the Hope, in a little time, appeared like a paradise,
when compared with its former state.
Shooting was now, as formerly, my favourite diversion; and on the 4th I
brought home a kind of plover, a couple of red-breasts, and near a
dozen grass-sparrows.
The plover of Guiana is the size of a pigeon, its colour a dark-brown
and white, with transverse bars. The wet savannahs are full of them,
and they are delicate eating. The red-breast is a kind of large
bull-finch, with the upper part of its body a deep chesnut; and all the
rest a blood-colour: this is reckoned as good as an ortolan, and
abounds on all the plantations. The grass-sparrow, which I think is by
some called the anaca, is a beautiful little creature, like a paroquet;
these birds are perfectly green, with a white bill and red eyes. They
do much damage amongst the rice and Indian corn, flying in prodigious
flocks upon the plantations.
At the Hope the trochulus, or humming-birds, were so thick among the
tamarind-trees, that they resembled a swarm of bees; a Lieutenant
Swildens daily fetching down several of them, by blowing small peas or
Indian corn through a hollow reed.
Of all the tropical birds, this little creature is particularly worth
attention, not only on account of its beauty, but for its diminutive
size, being smaller than the first joint of a man’s finger; and when
deprived of its feathers not larger than a blue-bottle fly. However,
there are several species, and some twice as large. These birds vary
much in their colour: in the shade they appear generally of a deep
shining green; which, by the reflection of the sun, produces a splendid
purple brown and azure. The head is crested with a small tuft of
feathers, green, black, and gold; the tail and wings are a glossy
black; the bill is not much thicker than a pin, it is long, black, and
crooked at the end; the tongue is forked, and resembles a red silk
thread; with this they sip the nectar or honey from the flowers, during
which time they are stationary, exactly like bees, and this juice seems
to be the only nourishment of these little creatures. They often make
their nest on the leaf of a wild pine-apple, or dwarf aloe, which is
constructed mostly of cotton, and not larger than the husk of a walnut;
their eggs are about the size of peas, and only two in number. Madam
Merian says, that the humming-bird sits on four eggs; which, for my
part, I never saw or heard of during my residence in Guiana.
In the annexed plate I have endeavoured to represent them and their
little habitation in natural size; though I found it impossible to make
the drawing more perfect, their motion upon the wing being so very
quick, that the feathers are hardly perceptible; and this motion
occasions that humming noise, from which this delicate little creature
derives its name.
Here were also immense flocks of monkies: I have seen above two hundred
of them in a field of sugar-canes, where they make great devastation.
These wary animals place sentinels all round the field to give the
alarm; and I myself have been a witness with what sagacity and fidelity
they perform this duty, when the whole company hop into the forest,
each with his plunder in his paw.
Swimming was another of my favourite amusements, which contributed to
make me more healthy, and stronger than most of my companions; as it is
beautifully expressed by the author of the Seasons:—
“This is the purest exercise of health,
The kind refresher of the summer heats:
————Hence the limbs
Knit into force, and the same Roman arm
That rose victorious o’er the conquer’d earth,
First learn’d when tender to subdue the wave.”
On the 14th I shot an alligator; but returning from this excursion in a
boat, a packet of letters from Colonel Fourgeoud being reached me,
unfortunately fell overboard into the water, and sank immediately; some
officers, however, the next day coming to the Hope, informed me of the
principal contents, viz. that Colonel Fourgeoud, being determined once
more to scour the woods, had ordered me to send up all my spare men and
provisions, as also the Society troops who were now at Oranjebo, the
former to Magdenberg, and the latter to the river Pirica; which I
performed, retaining only twelve crippled soldiers at the Hope, and as
many at Clarenbeek, without either surgeon or medicines; nevertheless,
with this small number, I made daily patroles by land and water—they
also informed me of the death of ensign Van Halm, and that another ship
with sick was ordered shortly to set sail for Holland.
Colonel Fourgeoud, though he himself remained still at Paramaribo, yet
continued attentively to command. Thus, on the 23d, he ordered a
detachment of one hundred men to reconnoitre from Magdenberg to the
Wana Creek and Marawina river; but they returned without any new
discoveries.
As I was now likely to be continued at the Hope for some time, I sent
for my sheep and poultry, from the estate where I had left them,
presenting Mr. Gourly with a ram and a ewe, as being of a breed
superior to any in the colony; and I found with joy that my flocks had
considerably encreased in numbers.
On the 26th one of my men brought me a snake, which he had just killed;
it was about four feet long, and not thicker than the barrel of a
musket; when perceiving a knob near its middle, larger than my fist, I
had the curiosity to cut it open, and an enormous frog made its
appearance, perfectly alive and entire, a small spot on the back of its
head and neck excepted, which was blue and slimy, as if beginning to
putrify. For the sake of experiment, I fastened him with a string to
his foot upon a grass-plat near the river for three days; when finding
the poor animal hearty and well, I gave him his liberty, with a caution
to keep a better look-out for the future.
On the 28th I paid a visit to Thomas Palmer, Esq. late King’s
counsellor at Massachusett’s Bay, upon his estate called Fairfield.
Here both the master and his slaves were perfectly happy and contented,
chiefly owing to Mr. Palmer’s just and equitable administration to all
around him; and such were the consequences of his wise government, that
few plantations in the West Indies could boast of greater prosperity,
either in point of produce or population; while the courtesy and
hospitality of the gentleman-like proprietor to strangers, completed
his happy character, which shone conspicuously throughout the colony.
Upon my return to the Hope I received a letter from the commander in
chief, informing me that Mr. Vinsack with his rangers had killed
several rebels, and taken eleven prisoners; but that another party of
the rangers had been surprized by the enemy, and several of them shot
dead while asleep in their hammocks.
During these skirmishes, an instance of presence of mind was exhibited
by a rebel negro, I think but seldom equalled:—A ranger having levelled
his piece was just going to fire at him, when the man called out,
holding up his hand, “What, Sir, do you mean to kill one of your own
party?” Which the ranger believing him to be, replied, “God forbid!”
and dropping the muzzle of his piece, instantly received a ball through
the body from his adversary, which killed him; and who, having thus
saved himself, disappeared like a flash of lightning. One of the
captive negroes related, that the evening before they were taken, a
rebel, who had formerly deserted from Fauconberg was cut to pieces with
sabres, by Bonny’s command, as two others had been before we took
Gado-Saby.
On the 6th of May it blew a violent hurricane, accompanied with thunder
and lightning, so that many trees were torn up by the roots, and most
of the houses on the Hope blown down or unroofed; my aerial palace,
however, by good fortune, withstood this gale; and upon the 8th,
Joanna, with her boy, arriving at this place, I promised myself a scene
of happiness equal to that I experienced in 1774; especially as my
family, my sheep, and my poultry, were now doubled; besides, I had at
this time a beautiful garden, and if I could not with propriety be
called a planter, I might at least claim, with some degree of justice,
the name of a little farmer.
On the 9th we all dined with Mr. de Graaff, at his beautiful plantation
Knoppemombo, in Cassawina Creek, where this worthy man had foretold,
before the birth of my boy, that both he and his mother should one day
be happy and free. Here I saw the following roots and plants, which I
have not yet observed.—The tayers, which are the hearts of a
farinaceous green shrub, not above two or three feet high, with
remarkable large leaves, in the form of a heart, the trunk something
resembling that of a banana-tree. This plant being cut down, and with a
knife divested of its outer tegument, has the appearance and
consistency of a yam or potatoe, but is better eating, having a much
finer grain. The tayers are of different kinds; the smallest is
preferred, and made use of in the same manner as the above roots. I
have here also found a kind of real potatoe, and in large quantities,
but they are only used by the negroes, being inferior to the
hog-potatoes in Great Britain.
The tobacco plant grows here with large downy leaves, full of fibres;
it flowers almost continually, and will last for twelve or fourteen
years, but is so inferior to the Virginia tobacco, that it is only used
by the slaves. This plant derived its name from the island Tobago,
where it was first discovered, in 1560.
They have here also a kind of wild tea, which is accounted very
wholesome, but in my opinion is no better than English ground-ivy. I
found plenty of tomatè, which being produced in many British gardens, I
will not attempt to describe; but only observe that the Jews are
particularly fond of it, and stew it with butchers meat instead of
onions.
The physic-nut tree is likewise to be met with here; this is a knotty
shrub, that grows about ten or twelve feet in height, and very slender;
the nut that it produces has a kernel like an almond, and tastes as
well, provided it be deprived of a thin white skin that adheres to it,
otherwise a violent vomiting and purging is the immediate consequence
of swallowing it. They also shewed me several kinds of peas and beans,
and other fruits growing in pods; such as the cassia, a shining hard
yellow seed inclosed in a woody shell near sixteen inches long, and
very small, with a black soft pulp as sweet as honey: this is
considered as a very safe laxative: the cassia grows on a tree very
common in Guiana, and which is called soete boonties and cotiaan.
Another kind of pod, named seve-yaars boontie, is so called, because it
is said to be in blossom seven years before it produces. The shrub
called snakee weeree-weeree also grows here; they told me it was a
sovereign remedy for fevers, and I take it to be the same as the
serpentaria Virginiana, or Virginian snake-root. Lastly, I saw a
vegetable or flower here called seven-boom, which is too frequently
used by the young negro girls to promote abortion, as are also the
green pine-apples, which are said to have the same effect.
Thus having spent not only an agreeable but an instructive day at
Knoppemombo, we took leave of our very good friend in the evening, and
rowed contentedly back to the Hope, our boat being nearly loaded with
presents of every kind, amongst which were some fine cocoa-nuts, that
one of his slaves, after walking, I may say more properly than climbing
[32], up the tree, had brought down in my presence, and after a fierce
engagement with a black serpent upon the very top of it, which by the
help of his knife he vanquished, and to our admiration dropped it down
dead at our feet.
The slaves of the Hope and Fauconberg also testified their respect for
Joanna and her boy, by bringing in presents of fowls, fruit, eggs,
venison, and fish; and Mr. Palmer handsomely presented us with a large
quantity of Indian corn to feed our poultry. Thus every thing seemed to
contribute to our felicity, which was however considerably allayed by
the disagreeable news we received on the 18th, informing me of the
death of my dear friend, Mr. Walter Kennedy, shortly after his arrival
in Holland [33]: it was now also confirmed that the Dutch had refused
the Scots Brigade to his Britannic Majesty; which greatly surprized me,
as I considered it as a claim not only from affinity, but also by
treaty.
To amuse my mind from these unpleasing subjects, I now paid a short
visit to my French acquaintance Monsieur Cachelieu, at his plantation
Egmond. Here, amongst other company, I met with an Italian, a planter
called D’O—s, who had but one arm; with which, however, he took up a
knife at table, and without the smallest provocation, as I sat next
him, made a back thrust at me, to the astonishment of all who were
present. Having fortunately parried the blow by beating up his elbow,
which occasioned the point of his knife to pass over my shoulder, I
started up, and was going to put him instantly to death; but this being
prevented, I offered to fight him with one hand tied behind me, and
with any instrument he chose, fist, bludgeon, sword, pistol, or even
knife; this the cowardly assassin having refused, was kicked out of
company, and sent home to his plantation called Hazard.
So violent was this unhappy man’s disposition, that some little time
before, he ordered a poor negro woman, who was advanced eight months in
her pregnancy, to be flogged, until her intestines appeared, and that
only for breaking a tumbler. One of his male slaves, trying to evade
his severity, was shot dead on the spot; and there was not a slave
belonging to his estate but was cut by the lash of his whip from the
neck to the heel.
Colonel Fourgeoud now sending a proper supply of men, with a surgeon
and medicines, the Hope wore a more pleasing aspect, and health and
content began to be visible in every countenance. Amongst other things,
I encouraged the men to catch fish, which were here in abundance, and
the negroes taught them how to make the proper snares, such as the
spring-hook, and mansoa or spring-basket. I have given a representation
of both these in the plate annexed, where the spring-hook is expressed
by the letter A, being a long elastic pole, like a strong fishing-rod,
stuck in the ground under water, at the other end of which is fixed a
double line, the shortest having fastened to it a small stick, ten
inches long, and the other the same, but a little lower; while at the
extremity of this line is hooked a small fish by the fins, in such a
manner as to swim to and fro, and be a bait for the larger species. Two
long sticks being next placed in the ground so as to appear above
water, a third stick much shorter, forms them like a gallows; above
this gallows is bent and fixed the elastic pole, by means of the double
line and its beams; but in so very slight a manner, that upon the least
touch the whole apparatus gives way, and the large pole erects itself,
when the fish that occasioned the spring, by taking the bait, is
suspended to the hook in the air, as exhibited by the figure B.
The mansoa or spring-basket is much upon the same construction, and may
be seen by referring to letter C, where it is represented open and
under water, with the bait swimming in it. This basket is made of
warimbo reeds, in the form of a sugar-loaf (the above apparatus being
fixed to the middle) in the small end of which the elastic pole is
fastened, while at the other end is an open trap-door, the whole being
supported in an erect position by a forked stick. No sooner has a large
fish entered and taken the bait, than this pole, as in the former,
erects itself with a spring, and the snap or trap-door shuts on the
invader, and he is taken, as may be seen by letter D. This differs from
the former, no hook of any kind being necessary. An idea of the
ingenuity of the negroes may be formed from these constructions, as
this mode of catching their fish requires no attendance, for the snaps
being set at night, the fish is found in the morning, which is
generally the newmara or barracota already described.
Among the variety of fish caught here was the siliba, a small oval
fish, marked not unlike a pine-apple; the sokay, which is a large fish,
and very good eating; the torro-torro, and another called tarpoen; the
first three feet in length; the other, which is white, about two feet
six inches.
On the 26th, I saw a most surprising display of activity, strength, and
courage by a young female negro, called Clardina, at the Hope; where a
wild stag having strayed from the flock, at the moment it came bounding
over the foot-path she seized it in full speed by the hinder leg, but
not being able to stop it, she suffered herself to be dragged to a
considerable distance, nor until she was terribly wounded would she let
go her hold.
The Hope was now truly a charming habitation, being perfectly dry even
in spring-tides, and washed by pleasing canals that let in the
fresh-water every tide; while the hedges surrounding the fields and
gardens were neatly cut, and produced fruit and vegetables of many
species for our use. The houses and bridges were also all repaired,
while the strictest adherence to cleanliness was recommended and
enforced among the men: by these means not one sick person out of fifty
was now to be found, where sloth, stench, and disease had so lately
spread their destructive influence, and to which the land and
sea-scurvy had given the most fatal assistance. Of the above scorbutic
complaints, the former covers the body over with blotches, and the
latter chiefly affects the teeth and gums.
I now enjoyed the greatest flow of health and spirits, while most of my
old ship-mates were either dead or returned to Europe; not a single
officer at this time being in rank above me, except only such as had
been formerly inured to the West India climate.
But to return to my garden—this at present exhibited carrots, cabbages,
onions, cucumbers, lettuces, radishes, pepper, cresses, &c. all
thriving as well as in Europe; besides sorrel of two kinds, the common
and the red, this last grows upon a shrub, and is excellent for making
jam or marmalade. The jessamine also was found here of different
species, that growing on a small tree being most admired: it is of a
pale but beautiful red colour, and a most agreeable smell; the leaves
are thick, shining, and filled with a milky juice. A species of
sensitive shrub they call shame-shame, grew also here, as did the
sleeping plant, so called from its leaves, which are set in pairs,
clapping close together from sun-set to sun-rise, and appearing as if
the two were but one; but as soon as the sun is up they again open, and
resume their double form. The above-mentioned shrubs were all dispersed
through my hedges, besides pomegranates and Indian roses, which blow
every day; while a few elegant red-lilies, which also grow wild in the
savannas, adorned the banks of my canals, the leaves of which flower
have a very bright and beautiful green polish.
Thus situated, we were visited, amongst others, by a Madame de Z—e, in
company with her brother, and a Mr. Schadts, who were lately arrived
from Holland; this lady was supposed the finest woman that even Europe
produced, as well as the most accomplished. She spoke several
languages, and was a perfect mistress of music and painting; she danced
elegantly, and rode vastly well on horseback; she even excelled in
shooting and fencing, &c. In order to make her perfect mistress of all
the fashionable exercises, I offered her my assistance in teaching her
to swim, which, however, with a smile, she thought proper to refuse.
My soldiers, and even negroes, seemed now completely happy, amongst
whom the most perfect harmony subsisted; while I frequently indulged
them with a merry evening, and a grey-beard of rum.
One night, in the midst of this festivity, I secretly ordered the
sentinel to fire his piece, and cause a false alarm, as if the enemy
were on the estate; when I had the satisfaction to see them seize their
arms, and rush out with the utmost order and intrepidity. This
experiment I was the rather inclined to put in practice, as it was
reported that the rebels intended soon to pay a visit to the River
Comewina. But we soon experienced that no scene of perfect felicity can
be lasting, for the dry season now suddenly setting-in, disease and
mortality once more began to rage among us, ten or twelve men dying
daily at the Java Creek and Magdenburg, while those under my command at
the Hope diminished hourly.
On the 3d, the surgeon made me the following report, “That my Ensign,
Mr. Decabanes, had his anchor-a-peek, and would certainly set sail for
the other world with the ebb-tide;” which was really the case, for he
died that very evening. This grieved me the more, as he had obtained
his commission through my interest, and bore an excellent character.
On the 4th of June, the spring-flood broke down my dams while we were
drinking the King’s health, and laid the whole post under water, which
created vast confusion; and in this distress the overseer Blenderman
refused to lend me any assistance, which occasioned so violent a
quarrel, that he was glad to take to his heels, and make his escape
from the plantation. I shall never have done mentioning the insolence
of these savage brutes, who mostly are the refuse of the earth, brought
up in Germany, or elsewhere, under the cane of a corporal. “Well,” said
one of these miscreants ironically to an old free negro, “don’t you
believe that the monkies are a race of damn’d Christians, who have been
thus transformed for shewing so much lenity to such as you?”—“No, sir,”
replied the black man, “we do not think that the monkies are damn’d
Christians; but I, and all of us, believe that many who call themselves
Christians are a pack of damn’d monkies.”—Which pointed repartee
afforded me infinite satisfaction.
Of the administrators I shall say nothing, nor of the appraisers of
estates; having, I believe, already mentioned that the first got ten
per cent. of all the produce, and many of the latter enrich the
purchasers and themselves by selling under the value such property as
is entrusted to their care.
On the 7th, Mr. Moryn, administrator of the Hope, being in a piece of
newly-cultivated ground on the opposite shore, I rowed over to obtain
satisfaction of the impertinent Blenderman, who was along with him; but
this fellow’s cowardice being equal to his insolence and barbarity, he
made every concession, and promised likewise to repair my dams, rather
than run the risque of broken bones—thus a reconciliation was
established.
Walking through these new fields, where a neat house was already built,
I saw some beautiful birds, amongst which was the wood-pecker. I ought
indeed to have described this bird before, and another, the name
unknown to me, having had an opportunity of doing it when I was at
Magdenburg, but I then took only drawings of them. The wood-pecker is
about the size of a thrush, and of an elegant cinnamon-colour, speckled
with dark brown and yellow; near the rump it is entirely yellow; the
head is crested with a fine crown of small feathers, of the same colour
as the body: the tail is long and black; the bill is straight, and of a
sea-green colour, as are the legs and iris of the eyes, under which on
each side are two spots of beautiful crimson.
The anonymous bird, which, however, the negroes called
woodo-louso-fowlo, from its feeding on wood-lice, is larger than the
former, and uncommonly brilliant in its plumage; the head and upper
part of its body being of a rich grass green; the breast and belly
crimson, divided by an ash-coloured bar. The tail is long, and of a
dark blue, as are the prime feathers in the wings, which are also
divided from the green by another ash-coloured bar; the bill is yellow
and hooked, being surrounded by a number of small black feathers, as
are the eyes, the iris of which is of a blood colour. (Both these birds
may be seen in the annexed plate.)—As I have already observed, however
rich and beautiful the plumage may be which decorates the groves of
Surinam, the melodious song there is but seldom heard. They had also
here the tame galinas, or Guinea-hens, called tokay, which being so
well known in England, require no particular description.
Among the plants which I saw here was the American aloe, above half a
foot in thickness, and twenty feet high; it is an ever-green, pithy
within and without, covered with sharp-pointed follicles, growing less
as they approach the summit. This tree has numerous thick leaves
diverging at its base, like the pine-apple plant, which are very long,
broad pointed, and dentulated with strong prickles. On the top grows a
cluster of yellow flowers, whose pedicles contain the seed of future
aloes, and which never fail to come to perfection in the space of two
months.
In the skirts of the surrounding woods I saw also the vanillas, or
banilla, which is a shrub that climbs up along the trunks of other
trees, adhering to the bark like nebees or ivy, by the help of its
tendrils: the leaves are prodigiously thick, and dark green, the fruit
consisting of a triangular pod six or eight inches long, and filled
with small polished seeds. These pods, being dried a fortnight in the
sun, become brown, and have a fat rich aromatic taste, and most
agreeable flavour; on which account they are used to scent the
chocolate. There are different kinds of vanilla, but that is most
esteemed which has its pods the most long and most slender. The negroes
shewed me here also a small sweetish seed, which they called bongora.
As I returned to the Hope, I met Cojo, Joanna’s uncle, who had shot one
of the howling baboons, which he brought to the Hope to shew it me.
These animals are the size of a small bull-dog, and the colour a
reddish-brown, with long hair; they have also a beard, and are upon the
whole extremely ugly; but what chiefly distinguishes them from other
monkies is their abominable howl, which they perform in chorus whole
groupes together, and so loud, that it may be heard above a mile; these
discordant concerts, the negroes told me, they generally repeat, both
night and day, at the time of high water, which, it is supposed, the
baboons know by instinct.—When speaking of instinct in animals, I
cannot omit relating the following singular fact; after which I shall
return to the historical part of my narrative.
On the 16th I was visited by a neighbouring gentleman, whom I conducted
up my ladder; but he had no sooner entered my aerial dwelling, than he
leapt down from the top to the ground, roaring like a madman with agony
and pain, after which he instantly plunged his head into the river; but
looking up, I soon discovered the cause of his distress to be an
enormous nest of wild bees or wassee-wassee, in the thatch, directly
above my head, as I stood within my door; when I immediately took to my
heels as he had done, and ordered them to be demolished by my slaves
without delay. A tar mop was now brought, and the devastation just
going to commence, when an old negro stepped up, and offered to receive
any punishment I should decree if ever one of these bees should sting
me in person. “Massera,” said he, “they would have stung you long ere
now had you been a stranger to them; but they being your tenants, that
is gradually allowed to build upon your premisses, they assuredly know
both you and your’s, and will never hurt either you or them.” I
instantly assented to the proposition, and tying the old black man to a
tree, ordered my boy Quaco to ascend the ladder quite naked, which he
did, and was not stung; I then ventured to follow, and I declare upon
my honour, that even after shaking the nest, which made its inhabitants
buz about my ears, not a single bee attempted to sting me. I next
released the old negro, and rewarded him with a gallon of rum and five
shillings for the discovery. This swarm of bees I since kept unhurt, as
my body-guards, and they have made many overseers take a desperate leap
for my amusement, as I generally sent them up my ladder upon some
frivolous message, when I wished to punish them for injustice and
cruelty, which was not seldom.
The above negro assured me, that on his master’s estate was an ancient
tree, in which had been lodged ever since he could remember, a society
of birds, and another of bees, who lived in the greatest harmony
together; but should any strange birds come to disturb or feed upon the
bees, they were instantly repulsed by their feathered allies, and if
strange bees dared to venture near the birds nests, the native swarm
attacked the invaders, and stung them to death: that his master and
family had so much respect for the above association, that the tree was
considered as sacred, and was not to be touched by an axe until it
should yield to all-destroying time.
On the 22d, a patrole arrived from Rietwyk, in Pirica, who informed me,
that a party of our troops were just returned to Java Creek from a
cruize to Vredenburg, at the Marawina; and that, in conjunction with
the rangers, they had during this campaign destroyed many fields of
provisions belonging to the rebels: also, that for their faithful
services, our sable allies had been complimented by the Society with
new arms, and, for the first time, cloathed in green uniform jackets. I
further learned that the ambassadors to the Owca and Serameca negroes
were returned after a fruitless journey, as neither of these
associations would lend the smallest assistance. In consequence of this
refusal, Colonel Fourgeoud, being wearied himself, and having exhausted
his troops in destroying most of the rebel settlements, at length
determined to relinquish the whole expedition; which resolution he
previously communicated to his Serene Highness the Prince of Orange at
the Hague.
On the 23d I received positive orders to prepare and be ready on the
15th of July, to break up, with all the troops under my command, leave
the River Comewina, and row down to Paramaribo, where the transport
ships were put in commission to convey us back to Holland. This order I
instantly read before the front to all my men, who received it with
unbounded joy and three cheers—but I alone sighed bitterly.—Oh my
Joanna! Oh my boy! who were at this time both dangerously ill, the one
with a fever, the other with convulsions, so that neither were expected
to survive. Add to this, that I ran a nail quite through my foot—thus
was completely miserable.
During this scene of sickness and distress, the strix or night-owl of
Guiana regularly paid us his nocturnal visits, even in the apartment
where we lay, pouring out his melancholy hootings, until be was killed
by one of my black attendants. This bird is here called Ooroocoocoo,
from its note, to which this word has some affinity. It is about the
size of a pigeon; the bill is yellow, and hooked like that of a
sparrow-hawk; the eyes are also yellow; the tongue is cloven; the ears
very visible; the legs strong, short, and armed with sharp claws: the
general colour of this bird is a pale brown, except the breast and
belly, which are white, intermixed with some spots of amber. The
superstitious negroes generally believe that where the night-owl makes
his appearance mortality must ensue: which prejudice is the more
excusable, as this creature only frequents the apartments of the sick;
but the real cause which attracts the animal, I apprehend to be the
lights that upon these occasions are generally kept burning all night,
or possibly the morbid, and putrid air, which excites its appetite for
prey.
An old Indian woman of Joanna’s acquaintance being now sent for to the
Hope, I myself was soon cured by her skill and attention; but my little
family continued so very unwell, that I thought it right to send them
to Paramaribo before it was too late. And on the 10th of July I sent
all my sheep and poultry to Fauconberg, one couple of fat ewes
excepted, which I killed, and with which, by the addition of fish and
venison, I entertained for two days following twenty-four of the most
respectable inhabitants in the river, while the white bread, fruit, and
Spanish wines to help out the feast, I received as a present from my
very worthy friend, Mr. James Gourland, at Berghoven.
On the 13th I ordered down the troops from Clarenbeek, where an
hospital had been a second time erected, and they this evening anchored
off the Hope.
On the 14th, an officer of the Honourable Society troops arrived to
relieve me in the command of the river; and his men from that moment
began to perform the duty.
I now removed my flag from the Hope to the barges; and in the evening
took my last farewel of Joanna’s relations on the Fauconberg estate;
who, crouding round me, expressed their sorrow aloud for my departure,
and with tears invoked the protection of Heaven for my safe and
prosperous voyage.
On the 15th we finally left the Hope, having marched my troops on board
the barges at ten o’clock, A.M.; and at noon I fired my pistol as a
signal to weigh anchor, when we immediately proceeded down the River
Comewina for the roads of Paramaribo, to be embarked on board the
transport ships for Europe.
CHAP. XXVI.
The Troops on Board—Again ordered to disembark—Great
Dejection—Mutiny—Insolent Conduct of an Owca Negro Captain—Near two
hundred Sick sent to Holland—General Description of the African
Negroes.
On the evening of the 15th of July, we anchored off the estate
Berkshoven, where I spent the night ashore with my friend Gourley; and
in the morning we continued to row down the river, when I took my last
farewel of Mr. Palmer. I passed the evening of the 17th with Captain
Mac Neyl; and, on the 18th, the whole fleet, consisting of my own
barges, together with three from Magdenberg, and those from the River
Cottica, arrived safe at anchor in the roads of Paramaribo, where three
transports lay ready to receive us, on board of which vessels I
immediately embarked all the troops that had come down under my
command.
This service being accomplished, I went ashore, and made my report to
Colonel Fourgeoud; after which I went to visit Joanna and her boy,
whom, to my great joy, I found very much recovered.
The following day I was again sent on board, to make the necessary
arrangements for the voyage; and on the 20th I dined with Colonel
Fourgeoud, where, to my surprize, I found two species of fish, which I
have never mentioned; the one is called the haddock, being much like
ours, but rather larger and whiter coloured: the other the separee,
which a little resembles the skait. At the dessert was a fruit called
in Surinam zurzacka, which I believe by the English is called the
sour-sap. It grows upon a tree of a moderate size, with a grey bark,
and leaves like those of the orange-tree, but set in pairs; the fruit
is of a pyramidical form, heavier than the largest pear, and all
covered over with inoffensive prickles: the skin is very thin, the pulp
a soft pithy substance as white as milk, and of a sweet taste, mixed
with a most agreeable acid, in which are seeds like the large kernels
of an apple. Another species of small zurzacka grows in this country,
something resembling hops, but is of no use whatever. We had also the
fruit called sabatille, which grows on a large tree, the leaves like
those of the laurel. This fruit is the size of a peach, very round, and
of a brown colour, covered over with a soft down: when cut in two, the
pulp is not unlike marmalade, in which are found the seeds; it is such
a luscious sweet, that to many palates it is even disagreeable.
On the 21st we once more received our clearance, but in card money, by
which we all lost very considerably; however, I instantly went to Mrs.
Godefroy, and again gave her all the money that was in my pocket, being
no more than £. 40. This excellent woman now renewed her entreaties
that I should carry my boy and his mother with me to Holland, but to no
purpose; Joanna was perfectly immoveable, even to a degree of heroism,
and no persuasion could make the least impression upon her, until her
redemption should be made complete by the payment of the very last
farthing. In this situation we affected to bear our fate with perfect
resignation, though what each of us felt in particular may much more
easily be imagined than described.
The regiment’s colours were now carried on board on the 23d in great
state, which put a final close to the expedition, but without receiving
any honours from Fort Zealandia, not a single gun being fired, nor even
the flag hoisted on the occasion, to the great mortification of Colonel
Fourgeoud, though in effect it was chiefly owing to his own neglect, as
he had never given the Governor official notice of his intended
departure. The baggage was also sent on board the ships; and a
gentleman of the name of Van Heyst entertained the marines at his
private expence with three hundred bottles of wine, fruit, &c.
I have often remarked the hospitality and generosity of these people,
which I now also once more experienced, receiving various presents of
fruits and preserves from my numerous friends, to refresh me at sea
while on the voyage; amongst the preserves were the female pappayas,
the male bearing no fruit. This grows on a grey trunk, near twenty feet
high, straight, and pithy within, the top being covered with a crown,
and only fourteen or sixteen diverging leaves, extremely large and
digitated. The fruit grows close to the trunk; the flower or blossom
has a most delicious fragrance. When ripe, it is the size and shape of
a water-melon, and turns from green to yellow, but its pulp is more
firm and solid: the inner pulp is soft and slimy, filled with
innumerable seeds. This fruit at full maturity is cut in pieces and
boiled, when it eats like English turnips; but they use it principally
for confectionary and sweetmeats, when young, and with its blossoms
being both extremely delicate and wholesome. I had also sent me some
fine preserved ginger; this is the root of a kind of reedy stalk, that
never exceeds two feet in height, with long, narrow pointed leaves.
These roots are tuberous, flattish, small, and clustered in many
different shapes, not unlike pig-potatoes, and of nearly the same
colour in the inside, but fibrous, acid, hot, and aromatic; the smell
is highly fragrant: it is well known to be not only an agreeable
preserve, but in many cases an excellent medicine.——But to proceed.
On the 24th of July, the sails being bent to the yards, we at last
proceeded in corps to take leave of his Excellency the Governor of the
colony, who, while he still received us with the greatest politeness,
yet gave our hero to understand, that were his colours now to be sent
on board, they should most certainly be saluted with those honours
which indisputably were their due. After which he sent the whole corps
of Society officers to the head-quarters in state, to wish us a
prosperous voyage to Holland; and in this contest of etiquette his
Excellency most assuredly led the van; for hinting which, however, to
some of Fourgeoud’s favourites, I had nearly engaged myself once more
in a serious quarrel. Our men, who had been on board since the 18th,
being now joined by their officers, the poor remains of this fine
regiment were thus finally embarked, and in the highest flow of
spirits, expecting to set sail the following day for Europe; while (one
alone excepted) every countenance wore the appearance of happiness and
joy; and nothing indeed could equal the exultation of the few surviving
troops, when the next morning the orders were issued for the ships to
weigh anchor and put to sea.
But it was by fate ordained that their eager hopes and expectations
once more should be blasted: for on the very moment of departure, a
ship entered the river with dispatches, inclosing an order for the
regiment immediately to re-enter the woods, and remain in the colony
until relieved by fresh troops to be sent out from Holland for that
purpose. The SINCERE THANKS of his Serene Highness the Prince of Orange
were now read to the men from the quarter-deck of each vessel, “for the
manly and spirited conduct they had displayed during so long a trial,
and so many great and unprecedented hardships;” but as they concluded
with orders for the troops to disembark, and remain in this dreadful
service, I never saw dejection, disappointment, and despair so strongly
marked: while at this moment I, who but just before had been completely
miserable, was now in turn the only one who was not depressed with
sorrow.
In the midst of this gloomy scene, the men were ordered to give three
cheers, which the marines on board one of the vessels absolutely
refused to comply with: Colonel Seyburg, and unluckily myself, were in
consequence ordered to compel them; which he undertook, with a cane in
one hand, and a loaded pistol cocked in the other. Knowing his temper
to be fiery and irascible, what did I not feel at this moment? I
suddenly leapt into the boat that lay along-side, where, after
haranguing those few that leaned over the gunwale, I promised the
ship’s crew twenty gallons of Holland’s gin if they would only begin
the melancholy chorus. Then mounting again the quarter-deck, I
acquainted the Colonel that all were now ready and willing to obey his
commands; we then re-entered the boat, and in shoving off had the
satisfaction to receive three hearty cheers from the sailors, in which
joined a few marines, but with such languid looks and heavy hearts as
cannot be described.
At this time however the Prince of Orange’s goodness of heart appeared
in a conspicuous light, as he ordered all private accounts due by the
troops to surgeons and physicians to be paid by the treasury; which,
however trifling it may appear, was no trifle to many of the officers,
&c. and evinced an attention in his Serene Highness which is not always
to be found in princes, while all knew his sorrow for the hard lot of
his soldiers, but which could not yet be dispensed with, consistent
with the general good.
If our disembarkation distressed the troops, it afforded joy to most of
the colonists; as indeed a petition, signed by the principal
inhabitants, had been presented to Colonel Fourgeoud but two days
before, “praying that our regiment might stay some time longer, and
give the finishing stroke to the rebels, as we had so gloriously begun,
and persevered in routing and harassing them;” which indeed was
certainly true, for our regiment, in conjunction with the Society and
rangers, had demolished most settlements the rebels possessed in the
colony, and had driven them to so considerable a distance, that their
depredations, and the desertion of slaves, were incomparably less than
upon our arrival; and this was assuredly much better than the Dutch
making a shameful peace with them, as had been done with the rebels of
the Owca and Sarameca settlements before, yet which would probably
again have been the consequence had we not landed in Guiana.
As an instance of the insolence of savages, when perfectly independant,
I must relate a conversation which passed between one of this
description and myself at Paramaribo, where the troops were allowed
some time to refresh themselves before they again retook the
field:—Dining one day at Captain Mac Neyl’s, who was now come to town
from his estate, a captain of the Owca negroes, our supposed allies,
came in to demand money from his lady; and being very importunate, I
desired her in English to “give him a dram, and he would be gone;”
which the fellow understanding, called me without the door, and lifting
up his silver-headed cane, asked me, “If that house was my own? and if
not, what business I had to interfere? I am,” said he, in a thundering
voice, “Captain Fortune Dago-So; and, if I had you in my country at
Owca, I would make the very earth drink up your blood.” To which I
replied, drawing my sword, “That my name was Stedman; and that if he
dared to utter one insolent expression more, my weapon should find the
shortest way through his body.” Upon which he snapped his fingers, and
marched off, leaving me much displeased, and blaming Fourgeoud for
shewing so much indulgence to such a set of banditti. In the evening,
as I returned from dinner, I met the same black fellow again, who,
stepping short up to me, said, “Massera, you are a man, a very brave
fellow; won’t you now give some money to the Owca Captain?” This I
sternly refused; he then kissed my hand, and shewed his teeth (he said)
in token of reconciliation, promising to send me a present of
pistachio-nuts, which, however, never did arrive, nor indeed should I
have tasted.
Though we continued in Surinam some time longer, our future services
could add but very little to its prosperity, as our numbers were now so
very few, and out of this number, small as it was, nine officers and
above one hundred and sixty privates, all sick and incurable, embarked
again for Holland on the 1st of August. I was ill with an ague at this
time, and had the offer of making one of the party, but declined it,
being determined to see the end of the expedition if I could; I however
availed myself of the opportunity to send some presents to my friends
in Europe; amongst these were a couple of beautiful parrots, two
curious monkies, an elegant collection of fine butterflies, three
chests of sweetmeats, and some pickles, all shipped on board the ship
Paramaribo, and under the care of Serjeant Fowler, who was, poor
fellow, one of the invalids bound for Amsterdam.
Major Medlar being quite emaciated with fatigue and hardships, now also
sailed for Holland; thus, during his absence acting as major, I began
to entertain an expectation that I should one day carry home the
regiment myself, so very rapidly were our officers daily diminishing;
and yet amongst those few who remained two had the courage at this time
to venture upon matrimony, and married two Creole ladies, both widows.
Every thing now being peaceable and quiet, I recovered my strength so
far as on the 10th to walk to Mrs. Godefroy, when I acquainted her that
I wished much to emancipate at least Johnny Stedman; and requested her
to become bail before the court, for the usual sum of £. 300, as he
should never be any charge to the colony of Surinam. But this she
peremptorily declined, though there was no risque, it being only a
matter of form; at which I could not help feeling some astonishment,
till I was acquainted that she had actually refused the same favour to
her own son.
The mention of slavery reminds me of a debt which I seem to have
incurred to my reader. I have from time to time given some account of
the mode in which slaves are brought to this market, and of the manner
in which they are treated—But I feel that I have not been sufficiently
full upon this subject; and I am the more disposed to bring forward all
the information that I have gained concerning the negroes, because I
flatter myself that I shall be able to bring some truths to light, that
have hitherto been unobserved or imperfectly related, at least to the
generality of Europeans.
In the first place, as to the complexion of a negro, this, as I have
observed before, is I am persuaded entirely owing to the burning
climate in which he lives, and an atmosphere still more heated by the
sandy desarts, over which the trade winds pass before they reach the
habitable parts. The Indians of America, on the contrary, who indeed
live under the same degree of latitude, have this wind refreshed by the
Atlantic Ocean, and are copper-coloured; and the inhabitants of
Abyssinia, who receive it cooled by the Arabian and the Indian Seas,
are entirely olive. Thus north of the great River Senegal the
complexion changes from black to brown amongst the Moors, as it does
toward the south amongst the Caffrarians and the Hottentots; and I am
of opinion, that the woolly texture of their hair is an effect
proceeding from the same cause. The epidermis or cuticle of the negroes
I have seen dissected more than once; it is clear and transparent, but
between this and the real skin lies a thin follicle, which is perfectly
black, which being removed by severe flagellation, or by scalding,
exposes a complexion not inferior to that of an European.
On the estate Vossenbergh, in Surinam, were born two white negroes,
whose parents were both perfectly black; the one was a female, sent to
Paris in 1734; the other a boy, born in March 1738. And in 1794, a
similar woman, Emelia Lewsam, was exhibited in England, whose children
(though she is married to an European) are all mulattoes. The skin of
these people is not of the European white, but more resembles chalk;
their hair the same; their eyes are often red [34], and they see very
little in the sun-shine, neither are they fit for any kind of labour;
while their mental faculties, I have been told, usually correspond with
the debility of their bodies.
With respect to the shape of the African negroes, it is from head to
foot certainly different from the European mould, though not, in my
opinion, in any degree inferior, prejudice being laid aside. Their
strong features, flat noses, thick lips, and high cheek bones, may
appear deformities to us, and yet amongst themselves may be esteemed
the reverse; their bright black eyes, and fine white teeth, we are
forced to admire; and one decided advantage in a black complexion is,
that all those languid pale sickly-looking countenances, so common in
Europe, are never exhibited among them, nor are the wrinkles and
ravages of age equally conspicuous; though I must confess that when a
negro is very ill, his black changes to a very disagreeable sallow
olive.
For exertion and activity, their shape is assuredly preferable to ours,
being generally strong and muscular near the trunk, and slender towards
the extremities; they have mostly a remarkable fine chest, but are
small about the hips; their buttocks are more prominent, and their
necks are thicker than ours; the thighs are strong, as also the arms
above the elbow, but the wrists and lower part of the legs are very
slender; and a good deal indeed of the Herculean make of the late
Broughton the pugilist may be traced in the form of a vigorous negro.
As to the crookedness of their limbs, it is to be accounted for by the
manner in which they are carried whilst infants upon the mother’s back,
their tender legs being tied close round each side of her waist, which
occasions that unnatural bent, with which they are not born: nor are
their children ever taught to walk, but left to creep amongst the sand
and grass, until they gradually acquire strength and inclination to
erect themselves, which they do very soon; by this custom, however, the
position of their feet is much neglected, yet by exercise, and daily
bathing, they acquire that strength and agility, for which they are so
remarkable.
Another custom which, in their opinion, conduces much to their health
and vigour is, that, during the two years in which the mothers suckle
their children, they frequently make them swallow large quantities of
water, after which they shake them twice a day, with much violence;
they are then taken by a leg or an arm, and tossed into the river, to
be well scoured outwardly; nor are the females exempt from this mode of
rearing youth, which renders them not inferior to the men, in size
alone excepted, while some in running, swimming, climbing, and dancing,
as well as wrestling, are even their superiors: thus, that it depends
on education to form a race of Amazonian females, is a proposition of
which I have very little doubt.
Nor are these hardy daughters of the Torrid Zone less remarkable for
propagation. I knew a female servant at Mr. de Graaf’s, called
Lesperanza, who actually bore nine children in the course of three
years, the first year four, the next two, and the third three. They
bring their offspring into the world without pain, and like the Indian
women resuming their domestic employments even the same day. During the
first week their infants are as fair as any Europeans, except that in
the males there is a little appearance of black in a certain part, and
the whole body becomes gradually of that colour. Their females arrive
early at the age of puberty; but, as in the fruits of this climate,
this early maturity is succeeded by a sudden decay. Many of the
negroes, however, live to a very considerable age: I have seen one or
two that were above one hundred; and the London. Chronicle for October
5, 1780, makes mention of a negro woman, called Louisa Truxo, at
Tucomea, in South America, still living, at the surprizing age of one
hundred and seventy-five years. In what tables of longevity is there
such an European to be found? though most probably this venerable
person spent her youth in hard labour, like other slaves; which, though
a negro can bear much better in a tropical climate than a native of
Europe, yet cannot be natural, either on the coast of Guinea or Guiana,
where, without toil, the necessaries of life are produced, and
vegetation flourishes spontaneously for ever.
In the constitution of the negroes I have still observed this
singularity, that while they bear the fatigue of labour in the hottest
days, they can also bear the cold and damp better than an European, at
least better than I could; sleeping all night on the wet grass,
perfectly naked, without any injury to their health, while I have been
glad, especially early in the morning, to have a fire lit under my
hammock, and while the marines for want of it lay in a shiver. They
also bear hunger and thirst, and pain or sickness, with the greatest
patience and resolution.
I have formerly mentioned the names of more than a dozen of negro
tribes: all these know each other by the different marks and incisions
made on their bodies—for instance, the Coromantyn negroes, who are most
esteemed, cut three or four long gashes on each of their cheeks, as
represented in the face of the armed free negro or ranger, in plate
VII.
The Loango negroes, who are reckoned the worst, distinguish themselves
by puncturing or marking the skin of their sides, arms, and thighs with
square elevated figures, something like dice. (See plate LXVIII.) These
also cut their fore-teeth to a sharp point, which gives them a
frightful appearance, resembling in some degree those of a shark: and
all their males are circumcised, after the manner of the Jews.
Among the strange productions of nature, a species of people known by
the name of Accorees, deserves to be particularly noticed.—The
Accorees, or Two-fingers, live amongst the Seramaca negroes, in the
very upper parts of the river of that name. This heterogeneous tribe
are so deformed in their hands and feet, that while some have three or
four fingers and toes on each hand and foot, others have only two,
which resemble the claws of a lobster, or rather limbs that have been
cured after mutilation by fire, or some other accident. This deformity
in one person would cause but small admiration; but that a whole
community should be afflicted with this singularity, is certainly a
most wonderful phænomenon. Having seen but two myself, and that at too
great a distance to take a drawing of them, I cannot pretend to vouch
for the truth of what I have only heard; but an engraving of one of
these figures was positively sent to the Society of Arts and Sciences
at Haerlem; while I beg leave to introduce, as a further voucher, the
following extract from an old book of surgery and anatomy, procured me
by the ingenious and learned Owen Cambridge, Esquire, of Twickenham.
“After Michaelmas term, in the year 1629, a body was brought from the
place of execution to the College of Physicians, to be cut up for an
anatomy; and by chance the officer of the college brought the body of a
cruel wretch, who had murdered the son of one Master Scot, a surgeon of
good note in this city. This wretch was of a very truculent countenance
and aspect; his hair was black and curled, not very long, but thick and
bushy; his forehead little above an inch high; his brows great and
prominent; his eyes set deep in their sockets; his nose crooked, with a
round knob or button at the end, which also somewhat turned upwards; on
his upper lip he had some quantity of black hair, on his chin very few,
straggling, black and stiff; and his nether lip was as big as three
lips. Such was his face: but the greatest deformity was his feet, and
that almost to admiration; for they were both cloven, but not alike.
One foot was equally divided between four and five inches deep into two
toes, jointed like other men’s toes, but as large each of them as half
the foot could make them, with nails proportionable. The left foot was
divided likewise in the middle, but the division was not above three
inches deep, or scarce so much; the one half, which was towards the
body, made one large toe, with a nail proportionable, like the inward
half of the right foot; but the outward half was compounded of two
toes, yet growing close and fast together. This monstrous shape of a
man I have thought good to give this relation of, from certain
knowledge, for there were a thousand witnesses of it present.”
With the languages of the African negroes I am but little acquainted;
as a specimen, however, I will insert a few sentences of that called
the Coromantyn, upon the credit of my boy Quaco, who belonged to that
nation, together with a translation in English; and only observe, that
they break off their words very short, in a kind of guttural manner,
which I cannot easily describe:—For instance—“Co fa ansyo, na baramon
bra, Go to the river, and bring me some water.”—“Mee yeree, nacomeda
mee, My wife, I want some food.”—So much for the Coromantyn language,
as spoken by the negroes on the coast of Guinea.
But as to that spoken by the black people in Surinam, I consider myself
a perfect master, it being a compound of Dutch, French, Spanish,
Portuguese, and English. The latter they like best, and consequently
use the most. It has been already observed, that the English were the
first Europeans who possessed this colony, hence probably the
predilection for that language, which they have still retained. In this
mixed dialect, for which I have seen a printed grammar, the words end
mostly with a vowel, like the Indian and Italian, and it is so sweet,
so sonorous and soft, that the genteelest Europeans in Surinam speak
little else; it is also wonderfully expressive and sentimental, such
as, “Good eating, sweety-muffo.”—“Gun-powder, man sanny.”—“I will love
you, with all my heart, so long as I live, Mee saloby you, langa alla
mee hatty, so langa me leeby.”—“A pleasing tale, ananassy tory.”—“I am
very angry, me hatty brun.”—“Live long, so long until your hair become
white as cotton, Lebee langa, tay, tay, ta-y you weeree weeree tan wity
likee catoo.”—“Small, peekeen.”—“Very small, peekeeneenee.”—“Farewel!
Good-bye! I am dying, and going to my God, Adioso, cerroboay, mee de go
dede, me de go na mee Gado.”—In this sample, many corrupt English words
are perceptible, which however begin to grow out of use near the
capital, but are still retained in the distant plantations; for
instance, at the estate Goet-Accoord, in Cottica, I have heard an old
negro woman say, “We lobee so lebee togeddere,” by which she meant, we
love to live together; and at Paramaribo to express the same sentence,
“Wee looko for tanna macandera.”
Their vocal music is like that of the birds, melodious, but without
time, and in other respects not unlike that of a clerk performing to
the congregation, one person constantly pronouncing a sentence
extempore, which he next hums or whistles, and then all the others
repeat the same in chorus; another sentence is then spoken, and the
chorus is a second time renewed, &c.
This kind of singing is much practised by the barge rowers or boat
negroes on the water, especially during the night in a clear moonshine;
it is to them peculiarly animating, and may, together with the sound of
their oars, be heard at a considerable distance.
As a specimen, I have tried to set the following words to music,
supposing a ranger going to battle, and thus taking leave of his girl:
Oan bus adiosi-o da so adiosso me de-go me loby so fighty me man o
One buss good-by o ’tis so good-by girl I must go I love for to
fight like a man o
Amimba me dego na boosy o da so adiosso me do go.
Amimba I go to the woods o ’tis so good-by girl, I must go.
Such is their vocal melody; and of their instrumental music, and
dancing, which is perfectly to time, I shall speak hereafter, having
already given a short account of that which is practised by the Loango
negroes. That these people are neither divested of a good ear, nor
poetical genius, has been frequently proved, when they have had the
advantages of a good education. Amongst others, Phillis Wheatley, who
was a slave at Boston in New England, learned the Latin language, and
wrote thirty-eight elegant pieces of poetry on different subjects,
which were published in 1773. As a specimen, I cannot refrain here
inserting the following extract from that entitled, “Thoughts on
Imagination.”
“Now here, now there, the roving fancy flies,
Till some lov’d object strikes her wand’ring eyes,
Whose silken fetters all the senses bind,
And soft captivity invades the mind.
“Imagination! who can sing thy force?
Or where describe the swiftness of thy course?
Soaring through air to find the bright abode,
Th’ imperial palace of the thundering God.
“We on thy pinions can surpass the wind,
And leave the rolling universe behind.
From star to star the mental optics rove,
Measure the skies, and range the realms above;
There in one view we grasp the mighty whole,
Or with new worlds amaze th’ unbounded soul.”
What can be more beautiful and sublime?——
Ignatius Sancho, a negro, many years servant to the Duke of Montagu,
whose sentimental letters, so generally known, would not disgrace the
pen of an European, may also be mentioned on this occasion; and with
regard to their powers of memory and calculation, I shall only notice
Thomas Fuller, a negro, the property of a Mrs. Cox in Maryland, North
America; and quote one singular anecdote, as it is related by Dr. Rush
of Philadelphia, in a letter to a gentleman at Manchester.
“Being travelling,” says the Doctor, “with some other gentlemen of this
city, through Maryland, and having heard of the astonishing powers of
memory in arithmetical calculation possessed by Thomas Fuller, a negro,
we sent for him; when one of the gentlemen in company asked him, how
many seconds a man of seventy years, some odd months, weeks and days,
had lived? He told the exact number in a minute and a half. When the
gentleman who had asked the question took his pen, and having
calculated the same by figures, told the negro he must be mistaken, as
the number he had mentioned was certainly too great. ‘Top, Massera,’
said the negro, ‘you have omitted the leap-years;’ when having
calculated the seconds contained in the number of leap-years, and added
them, the number was found exactly the same as that calculated by the
negro. This same man multiplied nine figures by nine, by memory, before
another company.” Another lately repeated the Alcoran from recollection
only.—What amazing mental faculties in African negroes, who could
neither read nor write! Yet that such things are, is well
authenticated.
To what I have already advanced, I may add, that all negroes firmly
believe the being of a God, upon whose goodness they rely, and whose
power they adore, while they have no fear of death, and never taste
food without offering a libation. In the rivers Gambia and Senegal they
are mostly Mahometans; but generally the worship and religious
ceremonies of the Africans vary, as do the numberless superstitious
practices of all savages, and indeed of too many Europeans. Perceiving
that it was their custom to bring their offerings to the wild
cotton-tree [35], I enquired of an old negro, why they paid such
particular reverence and veneration to this growing piece of timber.
“This proceeds (said he) massera, from the following cause: having no
churches nor places built for public worship (as you have) on the Coast
of Guinea, and this tree being the largest and most beautiful growing
there, our people, assembling under its branches when they are going to
be instructed, are defended by it from the heavy rains and scorching
sun. Under this tree our gadoman, or priest, delivers his lectures; and
for this reason our common people have so much veneration for it, that
they will not cut it down upon any account whatever.”
No people can be more superstitious than the generality of negroes; and
their Locomen, or pretended prophets, find their interest in
encouraging this superstition, by selling them obias or amulets, as I
have already mentioned, and as some hypocrites sell absolution in
Europe, for a comfortable living. These people have also amongst them a
kind of Sibyls, who deal in oracles; these sage matrons dancing and
whirling round in the middle of an assembly, with amazing rapidity,
until they foam at the mouth, and drop down as convulsed. Whatever the
prophetess orders to be done during this paroxism, is most sacredly
performed by the surrounding multitude; which renders these meetings
extremely dangerous, as she frequently enjoins them to murder their
masters, or desert to the woods; upon which account this scene of
excessive fanaticism is forbidden by law in the colony of Surinam, upon
pain of the most rigorous punishment: yet it is often practised in
private places, and is very common amongst the Owca and Seramica
negroes, where captains Fredericy and Van Geurick told me they had seen
it performed. It is here called the winty-play, or the dance of the
mermaid, and has existed from time immemorial; as even the classic
authors make frequent mention of this extraordinary practice. Virgil,
in his sixth book, makes Eneas visit the Sibyl of Cuma; and Ovid also
mentions the same subject, lib. 14. where Eneas wishes to visit the
ghost of his father.
But what is still more strange, these unaccountable women by their
voice know how to charm the ammodytes, [36] or papaw serpent, down from
the tree. This is an absolute fact; nor is this snake ever killed or
hurt by the negroes, who, on the contrary, esteem it as their friend
and guardian, and are happy to see it enter their huts. When these
sibyls have charmed or conjured down the ammodytes serpent from the
tree, it is common to see this reptile twine and wreathe about their
arms, neck and breast, as if the creature took delight in hearing her
voice, while the woman strokes and caresses it with her hand. The
sacred writers speak of the charming of adders and serpents in many
places, which I mention only to prove the antiquity of the practice
[37]; for nothing is more notorious, than that the Eastern Indians will
rid the houses of the most venomous snakes by charming them with the
sound of a flute, which calls them out of their holes. And it is not
many years since an Italian woman brought over three tame snakes, which
crawled about her neck and arms: they were four or five feet long, but
not venomous.
Another instance of superstition amongst the negroes I must relate;
there is a direct prohibition in every family, handed down from father
to son, against the eating of some one kind of animal food, which they
call treff; this may be either fowl, fish, or quadruped, but whatever
it is, no negro will touch it; though I have seen some good Catholics
eat roast-beef in Lent, and a religious Jew devouring a slice from a
fat flitch of bacon.
However ridiculous some of the above rites may appear, yet amongst the
African blacks they are certainly necessary, to keep the rabble in
subjection; and their gadomen or priests know this as well as the
infallible Pontiff of the Roman church. These illiterate mortals
differ, however, in this respect from the modern Europeans, that
whatever they believe, they do it firmly, and are never staggered by
the doubts of scepticism, nor troubled with the qualms of conscience;
but whether they are, upon this account, better or worse, I will not
pretend to determine.—I however think that they are a happy people, and
possess so much friendship for one another, that they need not be told
to “love their neighbour as themselves;” since the poorest negro,
having only an egg, scorns to eat it alone; but were a dozen present,
and every one a stranger, he would cut or break it into just as many
shares; or were there one single dram of rum, he would divide it among
the same number: this is not done, however, until a few drops are first
sprinkled on the ground, as an oblation to the gods.—Approach then
here, thou canting hypocrite, and take an example from thy illiterate
sable brother!—From what I sometimes throw out, however, let it not be
understood that I am an enemy to religious worship—God forbid! But I
ever will profess myself the greatest friend to those whose actions
best correspond with their doctrine; which, I am sorry to say, is too
seldom the case amongst those nations who pretend most to civilization.
If savage nations be commonly generous and faithful, they are not,
however, without their dark shades; and among these, the most
conspicuous is a proneness to anger and revenge. I never knew a negro
indeed forgive those who had wilfully offended him. The strength of
this passion can only be equalled by their gratitude; for, amongst
them, it may be truly said, that
“A generous friendship no cold medium knows,
But with one love, with one resentment glows.”
Their abominable cruelties also, like those of all barbarous nations,
are truly shocking. In the colony of Berbicè, during the late revolt,
they made no scruple of cutting up their mistresses with child, even in
their master’s presence, with many other savage devices too dreadful to
relate [38].—In the art of poisoning, not even the Accawaw Indians are
more expert; they can carry it under their nails, and by only dipping
their thumb into a tumbler of water, which they offer as a beverage to
the object of their revenge, they infuse a slow but certain death [39].
Whole estates, as well as private families, have become the victims of
their fury, and experienced their fatal vengeance, even putting to
death scores of their own friends and relations, with the double view
of depriving their proprietors of their most valuable possessions.
These monsters are distinguished by the name of Wissy-men, perhaps from
wise, or knowing, and by their fatal genius carry destruction to a most
dreadful length before they are detected.
All barbarous and uneducated people have indistinct notions of
property; nor can we wonder that slaves, who in their own persons
suffer the most flagrant violation of every right, should be disposed
to retaliate. The slaves on the plantations are therefore too commonly
thieves, plundering whatever they can lay their hands upon with
impunity; nor can any bounds be set to their intemperance, especially
in drinking. I have seen a negro girl empty a china-bowl at one
draught, containing two bottles of claret, which I had given her by way
of experiment, till she could no more stand.
I should not forget to mention that the Gango negroes are supposed to
be anthropophagi or cannibals, like the Caribbee Indians, instigated by
habitual and implacable revenge. Amongst the rebels of this tribe,
after the taking of Boucou, some pots were found on the fire with human
flesh; which one of the officers had the curiosity to taste, and
declared it was not inferior to some kinds of beef or pork.
I have been since assured by a Mr. Vangills, an American, that having
travelled for a great number of miles inland in Africa, he at length
came to a place where human legs, arms, and thighs hung upon wooden
shambles, and were exposed to sale, like butchers meat in Leadenhall
market. And Captain John Keene, formerly of the Dolphin cutter, but
late of the Naimbana schooner, in the Sierra Leona company’s service,
positively assured me, that when he, a few years since, was on the
coast of Africa, in the brig Fame, from Bristol, Mr. Samuel Biggs
owner, trading for wood, iron, and gold-dust, a Captain Dunnigen, with
his whole crew, belonging to the Nassau schooner, which was her tender,
were cut in pieces, salted, and eaten by the negroes of Great Drewin,
about thirty miles North of the River St. Andrew’s; who having torn the
copper off her bottom, burned the vessel.
But from these deformities of character I will now relieve the
attention of the reader, and proceed in justice to dispel the gloomy
cloud, by introducing the sun-shine of their virtues.
Their genius has been already treated of, so has their gratitude; which
last they carry to such a length, that they will even die for those who
have shewn them any particular favour. Nothing can exceed the fidelity
and attachment they have for those matters who use them well, which
proves that their affection is as strong as their hatred. Negroes are
generally good-natured, particularly the Coromantyn, and those of Nago.
They are also susceptible of the tender passion, and jealousy in their
breasts has produced the most dreadful effects. The delicacy of these
people deserves likewise to be noticed: I do not remember, amongst the
many thousands I have seen during several years residence among them,
ever to have observed even an offer to kiss a woman in public. Maternal
tenderness for their children is also natural to the females, for in
general, during the two years which they usually suckle them, they
never cohabit with their husbands; this they consider as unnatural, and
prejudicial to the infants: and the case of Lesperanza (who bore so
many children in a short time) is no exception, as her children died
almost as soon as they came into the world. The cleanliness of the
negro nation is peculiarly remarkable, as they bathe above three times
a day. The Congo tribe in particular are so fond of the water, that
they may, not improperly, be called amphibious animals.
The negroes are likewise spirited and brave, patient in adversity,
meeting death and torture with the most undaunted fortitude. Their
conduct, in the most trying situations, approaching even to heroism; no
negro sighs, groans, or complains, though expiring in the midst of
surrounding flames. Nor do I remember, upon any occasion whatever, to
have seen an African shed a tear, though they beg for mercy with the
greatest earnestness when ordered to be flogged for offences which they
are conscious deserve to be punished; but if they think their
punishment unmerited, immediate suicide is too often the fatal
consequence, especially amongst the Coromantyn negroes, who frequently,
during the act of flagellation, throw back their heads in the neck, and
swallow their tongue, which choaks them upon the spot, when they drop
dead in the presence of their masters. But when negroes are sensible of
having deserved correction, no people can be more humble, or bear their
unhappy fate with greater resignation. The swallowing of the tongue,
which they only practise during the moments of severe discipline, has
of late been prevented in Surinam by the humane method of holding a
fire-brand to the victim’s mouth, which answers the double purpose of
burning his face, and diverting his attention from the execution of his
fatal determination. Some have a practice of eating common earth, by
which the stomach is prevented from performing its ordinary functions,
and thus dispatch themselves without any immediate pain, but linger
perhaps for a twelvemonth in the most debilitated and shocking
condition. Against these ground-eaters the severest punishments are
decreed by the laws, but without much effect, as they are seldom
detected in this act of desperation.
After these general remarks upon the mental and bodily faculties of the
African negroes, we shall next proceed to view them in a state of
bondage, under all the oppression they are exposed to from the rod of
barbarous tyranny; then, rescuing them from this horrid scene, we will
next consider them as protected by impartial justice, and fostered by
the mild hand of tenderness and humanity.
The reader may remember that I have already introduced the slaves as
landing from on board the Guinea ships, and generally shocking
instances of debility and misery:—
“Their visage is blacker than a coal, they are not known in the
streets, their skin cleaveth to their bones, it is withered, it
is become like a stick.”
I have also observed, that under the care of some old negroes,
appointed for that purpose, they soon become fat and sleek, and learn
the language of the colony: they then are sent to work in the fields,
to which they chearfully submit; though I have seen some instances of
newly-imported negroes refusing to work, nor could promises, threats,
rewards, nor even blows prevail; but these had been princes or people
of the first rank in their native country, who by the casualties of war
had the misfortune to become slaves, and whose heroic sentiments still
preferred instant death to the baseness and miseries of servitude. Upon
these occasions I have seen the other slaves fall upon their knees, and
intreat the master to permit them to do the work required, in addition
to their own tasks; which being sometimes granted, they continued to
shew the same respect for the captive prince that he had been
accustomed to receive in his own country. I remember once to have had a
remarkable good-looking new negro to attend me, whose ancles and wrists
being much galled by chains, I enquired the cause. “My father,” said
he, “was a king, and treacherously murdered by the sons of a
neighbouring prince. To revenge his death, I daily went a hunting with
some men, in hopes of retaliating upon his assassins; but I had the
misfortune to be surprized, taken, and bound; hence these ignoble
scars. I was afterwards sold to your European countrymen on the coast
of Guiana—a punishment which was deemed greater than instant death.”
The history of Quaco, my black boy, was still more extraordinary:—“My
parents,” said he, “lived by hunting and fishing: I was stolen from
them very young, whilst playing on the sands with two little brothers;
I was put into a sack, and carried for several miles. I afterwards
became the slave of a king on the coast of Guinea, with several
hundreds more. When our master died, the principal part of his slaves
were beheaded and buried along with him; I, with some other children of
my age, were bestowed as presents to the different captains of his
army; and the master of a Dutch ship afterwards had me, in exchange for
a musket and some gun-powder.”—Each loves his country best, if mild its
laws, or rigid:
“The naked negro, panting at the line,
Boasts of his golden sands and palmy wine;
Basks in the glare, or stems the tepid wave,
And thanks his gods for all the good they gave:—
Such is the patriot’s boast, where’er he roam,
His first best country ever is at home.”
No sooner do these wretched strangers begin to flag at their labour,
than whips, cow-skins, bamboos, ropes, fetters, and chains are
introduced, until they are ready to sink under accumulated oppression.
With some masters their tasks can never be performed, as they must toil
on, day and night, even Sundays not excepted. I recollect a strong
young negro, called Marquis, who had a wife he loved, with two fine
children; he laboured hard, and generally finished his task of digging
a trench of five hundred feet by four o’clock in the afternoon, that he
might have some time to cultivate his little garden, and go to fish or
fowl to support his beloved family: hard did Marquis strive to earn
this additional pittance, when his humane master, apprized of his
industry, for his encouragement informed him, that if he could delve
five hundred feet by four o’clock, he could certainly finish six
hundred before sun-set; and this task the unfortunate young man was
condemned from that day ever since to perform.
In Surinam the slaves are kept nearly naked, and their daily food
consists of little more than a few yams and plantains; perhaps twice a
year they may receive a scanty allowance of salt-fish, with a few
leaves of tobacco, which they call sweety-muffo, and this is all: but
what is peculiarly provoking to them is, that if a negro and his wife
have ever so great an attachment for each other, the woman, if
handsome, must yield to the loathsome embrace of an adulterous and
licentious manager, or see her husband cut to pieces for endeavouring
to prevent it. This, in frequent instances, has driven them to
distraction, and been the cause of many murders.
It is in consequence of these complicated evils, that so many also
destroy themselves by suicide, run away to the woods to join their
countrymen in rebellion, or if they stay, grow sad and spiritless, and
languish under diseases, the effects of bad usage; such as the lota,
which is a white scorbutic spot that externally covers the body. The
crassy-crassy, or itch, which with us comes from poorness of diet, is
of course very common with them. The yaws, a most disagreeable
disorder, by many compared to the venereal disease, which renders the
patient a shocking spectacle, all covered over with yellow ulcers. To
this last-mentioned loathsome malady most negroes are subject, yet but
only once in their lives, in which, and being very infectious, it
resembles the small-pox: indeed if a fly which has been feeding upon
the diseased (and they are generally covered with them) lights upon the
slightest scratch on a healthy person, it communicates this dreadful
disorder, which always confines him for several months. The most
general cure for the yaws in Surinam, is salivation and spare diet,
with continual exercise to promote perspiration; and, during this
process, the poor wretches absolutely look like decayed carcases.
Still more dreadful is the boassy, or leprosy, which is deemed
incurable: the face and limbs in this complaint swell, and the whole
body is covered with scales and ulcers; the breath stinks, the hair
falls off, the fingers and toes become putrid, and drop away joint
after joint. The worst of which is, that though the disease is
hopeless, the unhappy sufferer may linger sometimes for many years. The
lepers are naturally lascivious, and the disease being infectious, they
are of necessity separated from all society, and condemned to a
perpetual exile in some remote corner of the plantations.
The clabba-yaws, or tubboes, is also a very troublesome and tedious
disorder; it occasions painful sores about the feet, mostly in the
soles, between the skin and the flesh. The usual remedy in this case
is, to burn out the morbid part with a red-hot iron, or cut it out with
a lancet; and then the warm juice of roasted limes is introduced into
the wound, though with great pain yet with great success.
The African negroes are also subject to many species of worms, both
extraneous and internal, owing to the wading much in stagnated waters,
and to the crudity of their diet. Of the former species is the Guinea
or tape-worm, which breeds between the skin and the flesh, and is
sometimes two yards in length, of a shining silvery colour, and not
thicker than the second string of a bass-viol. It occasions dangerous
and painful swellings where-ever it inserts itself, which is mostly
about the legs. The method of cure, is to seize the head of the worm
when it appears above the skin, and extract it by winding it gently
round a stick or card; this operation cannot be performed with too much
caution, for if it breaks, the loss of the limb, or even of life
itself, is frequently the fatal consequence. Some are infested with
seven or eight of these worms at a time.
Besides these dreadful calamities, peculiar to themselves, the negroes
are subject to every complaint common to the Europeans; who, in their
turn, are not exempt in Guiana from the afflicting and dangerous
distempers I have just described.
It is therefore not to be wondered at if many of the plantations are
crouded with miserable objects, left under the care of the dressy negro
or black surgeon only, whose whole skill consists in administering a
dose of salts, or spreading a plaister. As to the numbers who are
excoriated from their neck to their heel, by constant whipping, they
may cure themselves, or do their work without a skin, if they think
proper.
Thus from accumulated miseries, some naturally succeeding from the
climate and their poor diet, but more from the inordinate cruelty of
managers, it must follow that numerous slaves become unfit for work,
many from weakness and depression of spirits, and others from extreme
labour becoming old before their time. But for all these evils, this
plantation despot finds an infallible remedy, which is no other than to
put them to death at once: the loss does not affect him but his master,
and he is proud of shewing only such negroes as are able to do their
task, assuring the owner that they mostly died by the venereal disease;
and the word of the human carcase-butcher is quite sufficient, as no
negro is allowed to give evidence in any case whatever.
“Dictio testimonii non est servo homini.”
Yet should some fair European by accident prove the murder, the
delinquent escapes, as I have observed, by paying a fine of £. 50 and
the value of the slave, if the owner requires it; and for this price of
blood he may slaughter the poor wretches whenever a temporary passion
or a habit of cruelty, which is too commonly generated in this
situation, prompts his rage.
They have moreover many stratagems to evade the penalty, should even
the magistrates be present. I have known it happen when one of these
scourges of the human race became tired of a negro, that he has taken
him out with him a shooting; and ordering him to discover the game, the
first bird that started he has shot the poor man dead upon the spot.
This was called an accident, and no farther enquiry was made concerning
it. Others have been dispatched by the following method:—A stake being
fastened in the middle of an open plain, the slave is chained to it,
and exposed to the burning sun, where one jill of water and a single
plantain is brought him daily, until he pines to death. But this is not
called starving, as his master declares that he neither wanted victuals
nor drink until he expired—thus he is honourably acquitted.
Another plan of murdering with impunity has often been put in practice.
The slave is fastened naked to a tree in the forest, with his arms and
legs extended, under pretence of stretching his limbs; but here he is
left, and regularly fed, until he is actually stung to death by the
musquitoes and other insects—a most infernal punishment, and such as
may be with truth ascribed to the instigation of the devil! Drowning
them, by kicking them overboard with a weight chained to their legs, is
called accidental death. It has been known that by the orders of a
woman, negro slaves have been privately burnt to death, miserably
chained in a surrounding pile of flaming faggots. As to the breaking
out of their teeth, merely for tasting the sugar-cane cultivated by
themselves, slitting up their noses, and cutting off their ears, from
private pique, these are accounted mere sport, and not worthy to be
mentioned.
By such inhuman usage this unhappy race of men are sometimes driven to
such a height of desperation, that to finish their days, and be
relieved from worse than Egyptian bondage, some even have leaped into
the caldrons of boiling sugar, thus at once depriving the tyrant of his
crop and of his servant.
From these sketches can it be a matter of surprize, that armies of
rebels are assembled in the forest, and at every opportunity thirsting
for revenge?
I shall now conclude this dreadful scene by one general remark, shewing
how far population is affected by this most infamous treatment.
In Surinam there are, upon an average, about 75,000 negro slaves, as I
have stated; from which if we subtract children, and superannuated men
and women, there will not be found above 50,000 really fit for labour.
There are from six to twelve Guinea ships, that import from 250 to 300
slaves each from Africa annually: we may therefore compute the yearly
importation at an average of 2,500, necessary to supply and keep
complete the above 50,000; so that the annual deaths exceed the births
by the number of 2,500, though each man negro has a wife or two if he
chuses, which is, upon the mass, just 5 per cent. and consequently
proves that the whole race of healthy slaves, consisting of 50,000, are
totally extinct once every twenty years.
Truth and justice however oblige me to declare, that the inhuman
barbarities I have been just describing are not universal.
Compassionate Heaven has ordained some exceptions, as I shall
impartially shew, by reversing the picture: not, like some writers who
have treated this subject, and carefully concealed the most pleasing
touches of goodness and humanity, whilst only the darkest shades have
been exposed to the public eye, but by candidly exhibiting both sides
with equal justice and precision; and it is indeed with pleasure I can
affirm, that the negro slaves on some estates are treated, in my
opinion, as men ought to be treated; and this mode of conduct might
still be more general, by amending the laws, which ought not corruptly
to invest human nature with what it is certain to abuse—an authority
completely despotic. No master surely ought to be entrusted with the
dangerous power of taking away the life of his slaves with impunity;
and it ought to be considered an equal crime in the eye of the law to
kill a negro or a white man, as it is equally murder in the sight of
God.
I shall now introduce to the reader’s acquaintance a negro family in
that state of tranquil happiness, which they always enjoy under a
humane and indulgent master. The figures in the plate are supposed to
be of the Loango nation, by the marks on the man’s body, while on his
breast may be seen J. G. S. in a cypher, by which his owner may
ascertain his property. He carries a basket with small fish, and a net
upon his head, with a large fish in his hand, caught by himself in the
river. His wife, who is pregnant, is employed in carrying different
kinds of fruit, spinning a thread of cotton upon her distaff, and
comfortably smoking her pipe of tobacco. Besides all this, she has a
boy upon her back, and another playing by her side. Thus, under a mild
master and an honest overseer, a negro’s labour is no more than a
healthy exercise, which ends at the setting-sun, and the remaining time
is his own, which he employs in hunting, fishing, cultivating his
garden, or making baskets and fish-nets for sale; with this money he
buys a hog or two, sometimes fowls or ducks, all which he fattens upon
the spontaneous growth of the soil, without expence, and very little
trouble, and, in the end, they afford him considerable profit. Thus
pleasantly situated, he is exempt from every anxiety, and pays no
taxes, but looks up to his master as the only protector of him and his
family. He adores him, not from fear, but from a conviction that he is
indebted to his goodness for all the comforts he enjoys. He breathes in
a luxurious warm climate, like his own, which renders clothes
unnecessary, and he finds himself more healthy, as well as more at his
ease, by going naked. His house he may build after his own fancy. The
forest affords him every necessary material for the cutting. His bed is
a hammock, or a mat called papaya. His pots he manufactures himself,
and his dishes are gourds, which grow in his garden. He never lives
with a wife he does not love, exchanging for another the moment either
he or she becomes tired, though this separation happens less frequently
here than divorces do in Europe. Besides the regular allowance given
him by his master weekly, his female friend has the art of making many
savoury dishes; such as braf, or a hodge-podge of plantains and yams
boiled with salt meat, barbacued fish, and Cayenne pepper. Tom-tom is a
very good pudding, composed of the flour of Indian corn, boiled with
flesh, fowl, fish, Cayenne pepper, and the young pods of the ocra or
althea plant. Pepper-pot is a dish of boiled fish and capsicum, eaten
with roasted plantains. Gangotay is made of dried, and asosoo of green
plantains. Acansa and doquenoo are composed of the flour of maize, and
the latter is eaten with molasses. His common drink is the limpid
stream, sometimes corrected by a little rum. If he is accidentally
wounded or indisposed, he is cured for nothing; but it is very seldom
he troubles the faculty, being tolerably skilled in herbs and simples,
besides scarifying and puckering the skin, which serves instead of
bleeding. The inconvenience of vermin he remedies without a comb, by
plaistering up his hair with clay, which being dried on the head, and
then washed with soap and water, makes him clean beyond conception; his
teeth are constantly kept as white as ivory; for this purpose he uses
nothing but a sprig of orange-tree, bitten at one end, until the fibres
resemble a small brush; and no negro, male or female, is to be seen
without this little instrument, which has besides the virtue of
sweetening the breath.
So much for his body; and with regard to his soul, it is seldom
troubled with any qualms of conscience, or fear of death, as I have
stated, being firm and unshaken in what he was taught to believe, which
is indeed little, but plain; and when he is no more, his companions or
relations carry him to some grove of orange-trees, where he is not
interred without expence, being generally put in a coffin of the very
best wood and workmanship, while the cries and lamentations of his
surviving friends, who sing a dirge, pierce the sky. The grave being
filled up, and a green turf neatly spread over it, a couple of large
gourds are put by the side, the one with water, the other with boiled
fowls, pork, cassava, &c. as a libation, not from a superstitious
notion, as some believe, that he will eat or drink it, but as a
testimony of that regard which they have for his memory and ashes;
while some even add the little furniture that he left behind, breaking
it in pieces over the grave. This done, every one takes his last
farewell, speaking to him as if alive, and testifying their sorrow at
his departure; adding, that they hope to see him, not in Guinea, as
some have written, but in that better place, where he now enjoys the
pleasant company of his parents, friends, and ancestors; when another
dismal yell ends the ceremony, and all return home. Next a fat hog
being killed, with fowls, ducks, &c. a general feast is given by his
friends to all the other negroes, which concludes not till the
following day. The nearest connections and relations of the deceased,
both male and female, now cut their hair [40] and shave their heads,
round which having tied a dark blue handkerchief, they wear this
mourning for a whole year; after which, once more visiting the grave,
they offer a last libation, and taking their final farewell, another
hog and fowls being killed, the funeral rites are quite ended by a
second feast, which finishes with a joyful dance, and songs in memory
and praise of their dear departed friend or relation.
No people can more esteem or have a greater friendship for one another
than the negro slaves; they appear to have unbounded enjoyment in each
other’s company, and are not destitute of social amusements, such as
the soesa, which consists in footing opposite to each other, and
clapping with their hands upon their sides to keep in time. So very
eager are they at this animating play, in which sometimes six or eight
couple are engaged at once, that the violent exercise having been known
to kill some of the negroes, it is forbidden by the magistrates at
Paramaribo. Awaree is an innocent amusement, consisting in pitching
with a large kind of marbles, in defect of which they use the awaree
nuts or large pebbles.
The men also cudgel and wrestle; yet at this I think them inferior to
either those of Cornwall or Devon. Most negroes are strong and active
[41]. But swimming is their favourite diversion, which they practise
every day at least twice or thrice, promiscuously, in groupes of boys
and girls, like the Indians, when both sexes exhibit astonishing feats
of courage, strength, and activity. I have not only seen a negro girl
beat a hardy youth in swimming across the River Comewina (while I was
one of the party) but on landing challenge him to run a two mile race,
and beat him again, naked as they were; while all ideas of shame on the
one side, and of insult on the other, are totally unknown.—I shall now
say something of their instrumental music and dancing. I have already
mentioned the singing and the dancing of the Loango tribe in
particular; and will now describe that practised by the other negro
nations in general.
Their instruments of music, which are not a little ingenious, are all
made by themselves, and consist of those represented in the annexed
plate; where
No 1, which is called qua-qua, is a hard sounding-board, elevated on
one side like a boot-jack, on which they beat time as on a drum, with
two pieces of iron, or two bones.
No 2, is the kiemba-toetoe, or hollow reed, which is blown through the
nostrils, like the nasal flute of Otaheite: it has but two holes, one
at each end, the one serving to sound it, the other to be touched by
the finger.
No 3, is the Ansokko-baina, which is a hard board, supported on both
sides like a low seat, on which are placed small blocks of different
sizes, which being struck with two small sticks like a dulcimer, give
different sounds, that are not at all disagreeable.
No 4, is the great Creole drum, being a hollow tree, open at one end,
and covered at the other with a sheep-skin, on which they sit astride,
and so beat time with the palms of their hands; answering the effect of
a bass-viol to the qua-qua board.
No 5, is the great Loango drum, being covered at both ends, and serves
the same purpose as a bass drum.
No 6, is the Papa drum, beaten as the others.
No 7, is the small Loango drum, beaten together with the great one.
No 8, the small Creole drum, for the same use.
No 9, is called coeroema; this is a wooden cup, ingeniously made,
covered also with a sheep-skin, and beaten with two small rods or
drum-sticks, after the manner of the qua-qua board.
No 10, is the Loango-bania. This I thought exceedingly curious, being a
dry board, on which are laced, and kept down by a transverse bar,
different sized elastic splinters of the palm-tree, like pieces of
whalebone, in such a manner that both ends are elevated by two other
bars that are fixed under them; and the above apparatus being placed on
No 11, which is a large empty callebash to promote the sound; the
extremities of the splinters are snapt by the fingers, something in the
manner of a piano-forte, when the music has a soft and very pleasing
effect.
No 12, is called by the negroes saka-saka, being a hollow gourd, with a
stick and handle fixed through it, and filled with small pebbles and
pease, not unlike the magic shell of the Indians. This they hold above
their heads, and while they dance rattle it to measure.
No 13, is a conch, or sea-shell, which by blowing they sound, for
pleasure, or to cause an alarm, &c. but is not used as an accompaniment
to dancing.
No 14, is called benta, being a branch bent like a bow by means of a
slip of dry reed or warimbo; which cord, when held to the teeth, is
beaten with a short stick, and by being shifted backwards and forwards
sounds not unlike a jew’s-harp.
No 15, is the Creole-bania, this is like a mandoline or guitar, being
made of a half gourd covered with a sheep-skin, to which is fixed a
very long neck or handle. This instrument has but four strings, three
long and one short, which is thick, and serves for a bass; it is played
by the fingers, and has a very agreeable sound, but more so when
accompanied by a song.
No 16, is the trumpet of war, to command advancing, retreating, &c. and
is called by the negroes the too-too.
No 17, is a horn used to supply the place of the other, or on the
plantations to call the slaves to work.
No 18, is the Loango too-too or flute, which they blow as the Europeans
do, after the common way. It has but four holes for the fingers, and
yet they make it produce a variety of sounds.—Such are the musical
instruments of our African brethren, to which they dance with more
spirit than we do to the best band in Europe.
To what I have stated, I will only add, that they always use full or
half measure, but never triple time, in their dancing music, which is
not unlike that of a baker’s bunt, when he separates the flour from the
bran, sounding tuckety-tuck and tuckety-tuck ad perpetuum. To this
noise they dance with uncommon pleasure, and most times foot it away
with great art and dexterity.
“Saltantes satiros imitabitur Alphisibœus.”
Every Saturday evening, the slaves who are well treated close the week
with an entertainment of this kind, and generally once a quarter are
indulged with a grand ball, to which the neighbouring slaves are
invited; the master often contributing to their happiness by his
presence, or at least by sending them a present of a few jugs of new
rum.
At these grand balls the slaves are remarkably neat, the women
appearing in their best chintz petticoats, and many of the men in fine
Holland trowsers. So indefatigable are they at this diversion, that I
have known the drums continue beating without intermission from six
o’clock on Saturday night till the sun made its appearance on the
Monday morning; thus had passed six-and-thirty hours in dancing,
cheering, hallooing, and clapping of hands. The negroes dance always in
couples, the men figuring and footing, while the women turn round like
a top, their petticoats expanding like an umbrella; and this they call
waey-cotto. During this, the by-standing youths fill about the liquor,
while the girls encourage the performance, and wipe the sweat from the
brows and sides of the unwearied musicians.
It is indeed upon the whole astonishing to see with what good-nature
and even good-manners these dancing societies are kept up, of which I
repeat it they are so fond, that I have known a newly-imported negro,
for want of a partner, figure and foot it for nearly the space of two
hours, to his shadow against the wall.
If to what I have stated relative to negro slaves, when under a candid
and humane master, we further add, their never being separated from
each other; parents seeing their children around them, sometimes till
the third and fourth generation, besides the confidence that they are
all provided for to the end of their lives;—then if we draw the
comparison between this class of people, and the numberless wretched
objects that disgrace the streets of Europe, we can assuredly not call
those Africans who fall under the above description—unhappy.
And now, to sum up all I have to say on the subject of slaves in the
fewest words, for the sake of the reader, and also for my own, lest I
should seem to contradict myself, by having so frequently animadverted
on the shocking cruelties of some masters, and occasionally done
justice to the humane and liberal dispositions of others, I beg leave
to say one word more on the projected abolition.—Could we persuade all
our commercial neighbours to join in that measure, the case would be
different: but since I have seen cruelties exercised so commonly in
Surinam, which I never heard of in the British islands, and from my
certain observation have declared the soil of that country to be so
much more rich and productive than our West Indies, shall we not drive
our planters from their worn-out lands, to settle on the more fertile
spot, under a government which will allow a free importation of
negroes, while our object (if we knew how to compass it) is to reduce
an unlimited infliction of punishment, which indeed our planters have
by their own laws most humanely restrained [42]?
Such is indeed the love and confidence of some planters for their
slaves, that they often entrust their infants to a negro wet-nurse, in
preference to an European, where both may be had; and such the
attachment of some slaves to their masters, that I have known many
refuse to accept of their emancipation, and even some, who had their
liberty, voluntarily return to dependence. No one is perfectly free in
this world, all mankind is depending upon one another—while I will beg
leave to conclude this laborious chapter, by this general remark, that
all sublunary happiness exists only in imagination, and may ever be
obtained, where health of body and peace of mind are not crushed by
despotic oppression.
CHAP. XXVII.
The Rape of the Sabines—Shocking Execution, and African
Fortitude—Description of an Indigo Plantation—The Spanso Bocko, a
Punishment—The Troops again re-enter the Woods—The Expedition draws
to a Conclusion.
Notwithstanding the successive defeats and repeated distresses of the
rebels, news was brought to Paramaribo, on the 12th of August, that
they had fallen upon the estate Bergendal, or the Blue Bergh, which is
also called Mount Parnassus, situated in the higher parts of the River
Surinam, and carried away all the black women, although a military post
was stationed near the above place, but without committing any kind of
cruelty, as too generally had been their custom. Upon this intelligence
a party of the rangers was instantly detached thither to assist in
pursuing them; and about this same time the long-projected cordon, or
path of circumvallation round the colony, was also began to be cut, by
seven hundred negro slaves; which path was henceforth to be manned with
military piquets at proper distances, to defend the estates against any
farther invasions from without, and to prevent desertion to the enemy
from within.
Mount Parnassus, which was the scene of the late rape of the Sabines,
is situated on the west side of the River Surinam, distant from
Paramaribo, if we include the windings of the river, above one hundred
miles; and as the situation is pleasant, I present the reader with a
view of it, in the plate annexed, as also of the village, called the
Jews Savannah, which is distant from town, in a straight line,
something more than forty, but by water above sixty English miles. Here
the Jews have a beautiful synagogue, and keep their solemn fasts and
festivals; here they also have their capital schools and seminaries,
for at this village reside some very respectable Jewish families. These
people possess particular rights and privileges in this colony, with
which they were endowed by King Charles the Second, when the settlement
of Surinam was English; and such are these privileges I never knew Jews
to possess in any other part of the world whatever.
From Paramaribo, or rather from the fortress New Amsterdam, the River
Surinam, like those of Cottica and Comawina, is beautifully bordered
with sugar and coffee plantations, as are also several creeks or small
rivers that communicate with it; such as the Pawlus, the Para, the
Cropina, and the Pararac creeks; but above Mount Parnassus not a single
estate, that may be so called, is to be found; neither is the river any
longer navigable, even for small craft, on account of the prodigious
rocks, and cascades or water-falls, with which it is obstructed as it
winds through excessively high mountains and an impenetrable forest.
While therefore they form an enchantingly romantic scene to the eye,
these natural bulwarks prevent the possessors of the colony from making
such discoveries as might perhaps reward their labour with very
considerable riches.
If, as I have just mentioned, cruelties were become less common in the
rivers by the rebels, barbarities still continued in a shocking degree
in the metropolis; where my ears were deafened with the clang of the
whip, and the shrieks of the negroes. Among the most eminent of these
tyrants was a Miss Sp—n, who lived next door to Mr. de Graav, and who I
saw with horror from my window give orders that a young black woman
should be flogged principally across the breasts, at which she seemed
to enjoy peculiar satisfaction. To dissipate the impression this scene
had left on my mind, I got into a whiskey, and rode out; when the first
thing I saw was a negro girl fall naked from a garret window on a heap
of broken bottles: this was indeed an accident, but she was so mangled,
though not dead, that she exhibited a spectacle nearly as wretched as
the other.—Cursing my unlucky fate, I turned the horses, and drove to
the beach, as the only place to avoid every scene of cruelty and
misery; but here I had the mortification to see two Philadelphia
sailors (while they were fighting on the forecastle of their vessel)
both fall over the ship’s bow into the stream, where they sunk, and
were no more seen. On board another American brig, I discovered a
little tar defending himself from the cross-trees with a hatchet,
against a serjeant and four armed men, for a considerable time; till
they threatening to shoot him out of the rigging, he at last
surrendered, and being brought ashore, was dragged to fort Zelandia, in
company with two others, by a file of musketeers, where, for having
been drunk on duty, they received a fire-cant each, at the captain’s
request; that is, they were bastinadoed or beaten on the shoulders by
two corporals with bamboo canes, till their backs were black, and
swelled like a cushion. However arbitrary this mode of correction, the
captain endeavoured to explain the necessity of it; the private
American sailors being of a turbulent spirit indeed when drunk,
although when sober they may be fairly classed among the best seamen in
the world.
Early the next morning, while musing on all the different dangers and
chastisements to which the lower class of people are exposed, I heard a
crowd pass under my window. Curiosity made me start up, dress in a
hurry, and follow them: when I discovered three negroes in chains,
surrounded by a guard, going to be executed in the savannah. Their
undaunted look, however averse I may be to the sight of cruelties, so
attracted my attention, as to determine me to see the result, which was
thus:—The sentence being read in Low Dutch (which they did not
understand) one was condemned to be flogged below the gallows, and his
accomplice to have his head struck off with an ax, for having shot a
slave who had come to steal plantains on the estate of his mistress.
The truth however was, that this had been done by that lady’s absolute
command; but the murder being discovered, she, in the hopes of saving
her character, besides the expence of paying the penalties, gave up her
valuable slave, and permitted the unhappy man to be thus sacrificed. He
laid his head upon the block with great indifference, stretching out
his neck; when, with one blow of the ax, it was severed from his body.
The third negro, whose name was Neptune, was no slave, but his own
master, and a carpenter by trade; he was young and handsome, but having
killed the overseer of the estate Altona, in the Para Creek, in
consequence of some dispute, he justly forfeited his life. The
particulars, however, are worth relating: This man having stolen a
sheep, to entertain a favourite young woman, the overseer, who burnt
with jealousy, had determined to see him hanged; to prevent which, the
negro shot him dead among the sugar-canes; for these offences of course
he was sentenced to be broken alive upon the rack, without the benefit
of the coup de grace or mercy-stroke. Informed of the dreadful
sentence, he composedly laid himself down on his back on a strong
cross, on which, with arms and legs expanded, he was fastened by ropes:
the executioner, also a black man, having now with a hatchet chopped
off his left hand, next took up a heavy iron bar, with which, by
repeated blows, he broke his bones to shivers, till the marrow, blood,
and splinters flew about the field; but the prisoner never uttered a
groan nor a sigh. The ropes being next unlashed, I imagined him dead,
and felt happy; till the magistrates stirring to depart, he writhed
himself from the cross, when he fell on the grass, and damned them all,
as a set of barbarous rascals; at the same time removing his right hand
by the help of his teeth, he rested his head on part of the timber, and
asked the by-standers for a pipe of tobacco, which was infamously
answered by kicking and spitting on him; till I, with some American
seamen, thought proper to prevent it. He then begged that his head
might be chopped off; but to no purpose. At last, seeing no end to his
misery, he declared, “that though he had deserved death, he had not
expected to die so many deaths: however, (said he) you christians have
missed your aim at last, and I now care not, were I to remain thus one
month longer.” After which he sung two extempore songs (with a clear
voice) the subjects of which were, to bid adieu to his living friends,
and to acquaint his deceased relations that in a very little time he
should be with them, to enjoy their company for ever in a better place.
This done, he calmly entered into conversation with some gentlemen
concerning his trial; relating every particular with uncommon
tranquillity—“But,” said he abruptly, “by the sun it must be eight
o’clock; and by any longer discourse I should be sorry to be the cause
of your losing your breakfast.” Then, casting his eyes on a Jew, whose
name was De Vries, “A-propos, sir,” said he, “won’t you please to pay
me the ten shillings you owe me?”—“For what to do?”—“To buy meat and
drink, to be sure—don’t you perceive I am to be kept alive?” Which
speech, on seeing the Jew stare like a fool, this mangled wretch
accompanied with a loud and hearty laugh. Next, observing the soldier
that stood sentinel over him biting occasionally on a piece of dry
bread, he asked him “how it came to pass, that he, a white man, should
have no meat to eat along with it?”—“Because I am not so rich,”
answered the soldier.—“Then I will make you a present, sir,” said the
negro; “first, pick my hand that was chopped off clean to the bones,
next begin to devour my body, till you are glutted; when you will have
both bread and meat, as best becomes you;”—which piece of humour was
followed by a second laugh; and thus he continued, until I left him,
which was about three hours after the dreadful execution.
Wonderful it is indeed, that human nature should be able to endure so
much torture, which assuredly could only be supported by a mixture of
rage, contempt, pride, and the glory of braving his tormentors, from
whom he was so soon to escape [43].
Though I never recal to my remembrance, without the most painful
sensation, this horrid scene, which must revolt the feelings of all who
have one spark of humanity, I cannot forbear exhibiting to the public
the dreadful spectacle in the annexed drawing. If the reader, however,
should be offended with this shocking exhibition, and my dwelling so
long on this unpleasant subject, let it be some relief to his
reflection, to consider this punishment not inflicted as a wanton and
unprovoked act of cruelty, but as the extreme severity of the Surinam
laws, on a desperate wretch, suffering as an example to others for
complicated crimes; while at the same time it cannot but give me, and I
hope many others, some consolation to reflect that the above barbarous
mode of punishment was hitherto never put in practice in the British
colonies.
I must now relate an incident, which, as it had a momentary effect on
my imagination, might have had a lasting one on some who had not
investigated the real cause of it, and which it gave me no small
satisfaction to discover. About three in the afternoon, walking towards
the place of execution, with my thoughts full of the affecting scene,
and the image of the sufferer fresh in my mind, the first object I saw
was his head at some distance, placed on a stake, nodding to me
backwards and forwards, as if he had really been alive. I instantly
stopped short, and seeing no person in the savannah, nor a breath of
wind sufficient to move a leaf or a feather, I acknowledge that I was
rivetted to the ground, where I stood without having the resolution of
advancing one step for some time; till reflecting that I must be weak
indeed not to approach this dead skull, and find out the wonderful
phenomenon, if possible, I boldly walked up, and instantly discovered
the natural cause, by the return of a vulture to the gallows, who
perched upon it, as if he meant to dispute with me for this feast of
carrion; which bird, having already picked out one of the eyes, had
fled at my first approach, and striking the skull with his talons, as
he took his sudden flight, occasioned the motion already described. I
shall now only add, that this poor wretch, after living near six hours,
had been knocked on the head by the commiserating sentinel, the marks
of whose musket were perfectly visible by a large open fracture in the
skull.
Vultures are compared by some to the eagle, though those of Surinam
possess very opposite qualities. They are indeed birds of prey, but
instead of feeding on what they kill, like the other noble animal,
their chief pursuit is carrion; wherefore they generally resort to
burial-grounds and places of execution, which they discover by their
very acute smell, so much so, that by the negroes they are called
tingee-fowlo, or the stinking bird. The Guiana vultures are the size of
a common turkey; they are of a dark-grey colour, with black wings and
tail; the bill is straight with a crooked point, and very strong; the
tongue is cloven, the neck without feathers, and the legs very short.
Besides carrion, these birds will often destroy and eat serpents, and
indeed every thing that comes in their way, until they are so much
gorged that they can hardly fly.
The bird called the king of the vultures is not very common in Surinam,
though sometimes the Indians bring one or two to Paramaribo for sale,
on account of its great beauty. This is larger than any turkey-cock,
with a naked head and neck, the skin of which is partly brown, yellow,
and scarlet: round its neck it has a dusky, long, feathered collar, in
which it can at pleasure withdraw, and so far hide its neck, that
nothing but part of the head is perceptible. This bird likewise feeds
on carrion, serpents, rats, toads, and even excrements.
Among the other birds of prey in the forest of Surinam, is found the
crested eagle. This is a very fierce bird, and also very strong; the
back is black, but yellowish at the base; the breast and belly white,
with black spots, as are its thighs, and even the feathers of its legs;
the rest of the body is entirely brown, and the claws perfectly yellow.
The head of this bird is flat, ornamented with four feathers, two long
and two short, which it can erect or depress at pleasure.
About this time the Hind, an English frigate, with her tender, were on
the coast, looking out for American prizes.
The 24th, being the Prince of Orange’s birth-day, the whole corps of
officers were entertained with salt beef, salt pork, barley puddings,
and hard pease, by Colonel Fourgeoud. And this day (poor Joanna being
inflexible in her resolutions) I ratified the agreement with the good
Mrs. Godefroy, in presence of her mother and other relations, whereby
the above lady bound herself “never to part with her, except to myself
alone, as long as she lived; and that upon her death, not only her full
liberty, but a spot of ground for cultivation, besides a neat house
built upon it, should be her portion for ever, to dispose of as she
pleased.” After this she returned my remaining bond of 900 florins, and
gave Joanna a purse with gold containing near twenty ducats, besides a
couple of pieces of East India chintz, advising me at the same time “to
give in a request to the court for little Johnny’s immediate
manumission; which,” she observed, “was a necessary form, whether I
should be able to obtain the bail usually required or not; and without
which formality, even if I had the bail ready to appear, nothing would
be done in the course of business.”
Having both of us thanked this most excellent woman, I went to sup with
the Governor, where being transported with joy, I gave him my request
in full form, which he coolly put in his pocket with one hand, while he
gave me a hearty squeeze with the other; and shaking his head, told me
frankly, “that he would lay it before the court; but at the same time
was perfectly convinced my boy must die a slave, unless I could find
the necessary bail, which he was at the same time well persuaded very
few people would wish to appear for.” Thus, after spending so much time
and labour, besides the expence of above a hundred guineas already
paid, I had still the inexpressible mortification to see this dear
little fellow, of whom I was both the father and the master, exposed to
perhaps eternal servitude; as for Joanna, she was now perfectly safe,
to my heartfelt satisfaction.
One consolation, however, in the midst of this disappointment, most
opportunely presented itself. The famous negro, Graman-Qwacy, formerly
mentioned, who was just returned from Holland, brought the news, that
partly by his interest a new law was there enacted, by which all slaves
were to be free six months after their landing at the Texel; which,
indeed, on application of their masters, might be extended to twelve,
but not a single day longer on any account whatsoever.—Thus being
persuaded that I should one day joyfully carry both him and his mother
over the Atlantic, my heart was greatly relieved.
Of this Graman-Qwacy I will beg leave to give a short account, before I
take farewell of the reader. Suffice it for the present to say, that
the Prince of Orange, besides paying his out and homeward passage, and
giving him several presents, sent him back to Surinam dressed in a suit
of blue and scarlet, trimmed over with broad gold lace: on his hat he
wore a white feather, and looked upon the whole not unlike one of the
Dutch generals; which goodness made this king of the negroes, however,
very proud, and even frequently very saucy.
On the 25th, the Governor of the colony gave a very sumptuous feast to
several of his friends at his indigo-plantation, which was situated but
a few miles at the back of his palace, where I had the honour to be
invited as one of the party, and had the pleasure of inspecting the
process of making indigo, a detail of which will probably be
acceptable.
In the first place, therefore, I shall present the curious with a
drawing of the indigo plant, which is a knotty shrub produced from
seed, which grows to about two feet from the ground, and comes to
perfection in the space of two months. This plant requires a very rich
soil, which besides ought to be kept perfectly clean from weeds. In the
plate, A is the colour of the sprig; B, the leaves above; C, the same
below; D, the seed inclosed in small brown pods; E, the size of the
leaf as it grows; F, a piece of indigo ready made for use. The above
sprig was designed from nature on the spot, but on a small scale: it
has something the appearance of the tamarind branch, principally in the
size of the leaf, which also grows in pairs, and is darker above than
below; but at the extremity of each shoot in this shrub, one leaf grows
single, which is not the case in the other. The young shoot in the
tamarind-trees also appears at the extremity of the branches; but in
this they spring forth, as may be seen, from the base.
The mode in which this plant is converted into indigo is as
follows:—When all the verdure is cut off, the whole crop is tied in
bunches, and put into a very large tub with water, covered over with
very heavy logs of wood by way of pressers: thus kept, it begins to
ferment; in less than eighteen hours the water seems to boil, and
becomes of a violet or garter blue colour, extracting all the grain or
colouring matter from the plant: in this situation the liquor is drawn
off into another tub, which is something less, when the remaining trash
is carefully picked up and thrown away; and the very noxious smell of
this refuse it is that occasions the peculiar unhealthiness which is
always incident to this business. Being now in the second tub, the mash
is agitated by paddles adapted for the purpose, till by a skilful
maceration all the grain separates from the water, the first sinking
like mud to the bottom, while the latter appears clear and transparent
on the surface: this water, being carefully removed till near the
coloured mass, the remaining liquor is drawn off into a third tub, to
let what indigo it may contain also settle in the bottom; after which,
the last drops of water here being also removed, the sediment or indigo
is put into proper vessels to dry, where being divested of its last
remaining moisture, and formed into small, round, and oblong square
pieces, it is become a beautiful dark blue, and fit for exportation.
The best indigo ought to be light, hard, and sparkling. In Surinam but
little of it is cultivated, for what reason I know not, since one pound
is sold for about four florins, which is about seven shillings in
sterling money.
It is said this article was first introduced by one Destrades, who
called himself a French officer, and must have brought it from the
island of St. Domingo very lately, since I myself was well acquainted
with this poor fellow, who since shot himself through the head with a
pistol at Demerary.—As the circumstances of his death were somewhat
remarkable, I cannot resist the temptation of relating them. Having
involved himself in debt, he turned to ready money his remaining
effects, and fled from Surinam: next setting up in the Spanish
contraband trade, his all was taken. Deprived of every thing, he now
applied for protection to a friend at Demerary, who humanely gave him
shelter: at this time an abscess gathering in his shoulder, every
assistance was offered, but in vain, Mr. Destrades refusing to let it
be even examined; his shoulder therefore grew worse, and even
dangerous, but he persisted in not permitting it to be uncovered; till
one day, having dressed himself in his best apparel, the family was
alarmed by the report of fire-arms, when they found him weltering in
his blood, with a pistol by his side; and then, to their surprize,
having stripped him, the mark of V. for voleur, or thief, was
discovered on the very shoulder he had attempted to conceal.—Thus ended
the life of this poor wretch, who had for years at Paramaribo supported
the character of a polite and well-bred gentleman, where he had indeed
been universally respected.
Dinner being over at the Governor’s indigo-plantation, I now departed
in his excellency’s coach to the waterside, where a tent-barge and
eight oars lay in waiting to row me down to the estate Catwyk, in the
River Comewina, whither I was invited by Mr. Goetzee, a Dutch naval
officer, who was the proprietor of this beautiful country-seat. In this
charming situation, no amusements were wanting. There were carriages,
saddle-horses, sail-boats, billiard-tables, &c. all ready for immediate
use. But what embittered the pleasure was, the inhuman disposition of
Mr. Goetzee’s lady, who flogged her negro slaves for every little
trifle. For instance, one of the foot-boys, called Jacky, not having
rinsed the glasses according to her mind, she ordered him to be whipped
the next morning; but the unfortunate youth soon put himself beyond the
reach of her resentment: for, having taken farewell of the other
negroes on the estate, he went up stairs, laid himself down upon his
master’s own bed, where, placing the muzzle of a loaded fowling-piece
in his mouth, by the help of his toe he drew the trigger, and put an
end to his existence. A couple of stout negroes were now sent up to see
what was the matter; who, finding the bed all over bespattered with
blood and brains, got orders to throw the body out of the window to the
dogs, while the master and mistress were so very much alarmed, that
they never got the better of it [44]; nor would any person consent to
lie in the same apartment, till I chose it in preference to any other,
being assuredly the most pleasant room, and the very best bed, in the
house. What added much to the alarm of the family, was the circumstance
of a favourite child lying fast asleep in the same apartment where this
shocking catastrophe happened. They were, however, relieved from their
alarms on this score, by being informed that it had not received the
smallest injury.
I had not been fourteen days on this plantation, when a female mulatto
slave, called Yettee, for having jocosely said “her mistress had some
debt as well as herself,” was stripped stark naked, and in a very
indecent as well as inhuman manner flogged by two stout negroes before
the dwelling-house door (while both her feet were locked to a heavy
iron bolt) until hardly any skin was left on her thighs or sides. Five
days after this I had the good fortune, however, to get her relieved
from the iron-bolt, which was locked across her shins: but a Mrs. Van
Eys, alledging she had affronted her also by her saucy looks, prevailed
on Mrs. Goetzee to renew the punishment the same week; when she was
actually so cruelly beaten, that I expected she could not have survived
it.
Disgusted with this barbarity, I left the estate Catwyk, determined
never more to return to it: but I still accompanying Mr. Goetzee to
visit some of his other plantations from curiosity, in Cottica and
Pirica Rivers, at one of these, called the Alia, a new-born female
infant was presented me by way of compliment, to give it a name, which
I called Charlotte. But the next morning, during breakfast, seven
negroes were here again tied up and flogged, some with a cow-skin,
which is very terrible.—Hence I made my retreat to the estate
Sgraven-Hague, and there, meeting a mulatto youth in chains, whose name
was Douglas, I with horror recollected his unhappy father, who had been
obliged to leave him a slave, and was now dead. Heartily tired of my
excursion, I was now glad to make haste back to Paramaribo; where, as
soon as I arrived, the first news I heard was that Colonel Fourgeoud’s
French valet-de-chambre, poor Monsieur Laurant, had actually been
buried before he was quite dead;—and that, for having been found drunk
in an ale-house, no less than thirteen of our men had most severely run
the gauntlet, and as many been terribly bastinadoed, the greatest
number of which no more saw Europe;—also, that a Quaderoon youth and a
Dutch sailor were found murdered on the beach.—I was now proceeding to
take a walk on the plain or esplanade, but here I was called in by Mr.
St—k—r, who conducting me three stories high: “From this window” (said
he) “a few days since, leaped one of my black boys, to escape a gentle
flogging; however, having only fainted in consequence of his fall, we
soon brought him to life again by a hearty scouring on the ribs, so he
did not escape; after which, for having risked himself, that is to say
his master’s property, and frightened my wife, she ordered him to be
sent to Fort Zelandia, where he received the interest, that is a most
confounded spanso-bocko.”
The punishment called spanso-bocko is extremely severe indeed, and is
executed in the following manner:—The prisoner’s hands being lashed
together, he is laid down on the ground on one side, with his knees
thrust between his arms, and these confined by a strong stake, which
separates them from his wrists, and is driven perpendicularly into the
ground, insomuch that he can no more stir than if he was dead. In this
locked position, trussed like a fowl, he is beaten on one side of his
breech by a strong negro, with a handful of knotty tamarind branches,
till the very flesh is cut away; he is then turned over on the other
side, where the same dreadful flagellation is inflicted, till not a bit
of skin is left, and the place of execution is dyed with blood: after
which the raw lacerated wound is immediately washed with lemon-juice
and gun-powder to prevent mortification, and then he is sent home to
recover as well as he can.
The above cruel and indecent punishment is sometimes repeated at every
street in the town of Paramaribo, to men and women indiscriminately,
which is a severity absolutely beyond conception; however, it is never
thus inflicted without a condemnation from the court. But a single
spanso-bocko, without regard to age or sex, as I have just mentioned,
may be ordered by any proprietor, either at home, or by sending the
victim to the fortress, with a note to the public executioner, to whom
some trifle in money is paid as a fee of office.
I next was addressed by a Monsieur Rochetaux, whose Coromantyn cook,
having spoiled his ragout, had just cut his own throat to prevent a
whipping; and Mr. Charles Reynsdorp’s lately did the same.
After these facts, can it be a matter of surprize, that the negro
slaves rise up in rebellion against masters who treat them with so very
much severity?
As I do not recollect that I have described in what manner these
insurgents generally attack the estates, I cannot introduce it on a
more proper occasion.
Having lain during the night lurking in the bushes that surround the
estate, they always appear a little before day-break, when unexpectedly
falling on and massacring the Europeans, they plunder the
dwelling-house, which they next set on fire, and then carry off the
negro women, whom they load with the spoil, and treat with the utmost
insolence should they make opposition [45].
And now farewell, I hope, ye wretched objects, who have not made the
least conspicuous figure in these bloody pages! for which I should be
more ready to apologize to the reader, had I not been induced to make
cruelty ashamed of itself, and humanity gain ground: that at last, in
some measure, my motive may be crowned with success, I most sincerely
wish, abhorring every act of barbarity from the very bottom of my soul.
“Why, Christians, rage thine insolence and scorn,
Why burst thy vengeance on the wretch forlorn?
The cheerless captive, to slow death consign’d,
Weigh’d down with chains, in prison glooms confin’d;
Of hope bereft, who, by thy minions curs’d,
With hunger famish’d, and consum’d with thirst,
Without one friend, when Death’s last horror stung,
Roll’d the wild eye, and gnaw’d the anguish’d tongue.”
I have already stated that on the 24th of August I gave in a hopeless
request to the Governor for my boy’s emancipation; and on the 8th of
October I saw with equal joy and surprize the following advertisement
posted up, “That if any one could give in a lawful objection why John
Stedman, a Quaderoon infant, the son of Captain Stedman, should not be
presented with the blessing of freedom, such person or persons to
appear before January 1st, 1777.”—I no sooner read it, than I ran with
the good news to my good friend, Mr. Palmer, who assured me, “that the
above was no more than a form, put in practice on the supposition of my
producing the bail required, which undoubtedly they expected, from my
having so boldly given in my request to the Governor of the
colony.”—Without being able to utter one syllable in reply, I retired
to the company of Joanna, who, with a smile, bid me “never to despair,
that Johnny certainly one day would be free;” nor did she ever fail in
giving me some consolation, whatever desperate were my expectations.
About this time we were informed, that in the Utrecht paper an
impertinent libel had appeared against the good Fourgeoud, ridiculing
him for his embassy to the Owca and Serameca negroes: which gentleman,
though he had no assistance from these allies to expect, and his troops
now melted down almost to nothing, nevertheless scorned to keep those
that could stand upon their feet inactive. Thus, having provided the
few remaining privates with new cloathes (the first they had received
since 1772); besides new sabres, bill-hooks, &c. he sent them all once
more up, accompanied only by the subalterns, to be encamped at the
mouth of the Cassipore Creek, in the upper parts of the Cottica river;
the staff officers and captains being ordered soon to follow: and on
the 7th we were treated by our commander, for the first time, with a
sirloin of good roast-beef, which, however, was sent him from
Amsterdam, prepared as I have already described. At the dessert was a
kind of fruit called in Surinam pomme de canelle, or cinnamon-apple: it
grows on a shrub in most gardens at Paramaribo, and has something the
appearance of a young artichoke, being covered with a kind of green
scales. The skin of this fruit is half an inch thick, and the pulp like
clotted cream mixed with brown sugar: it is very sweet, but not much
esteemed by many palates, being rather too luscious; the seeds, which
are black, hard, and large, are contained in the pulp or creamy
substance.
Having now prepared myself once more for actual service, and again
received a profusion of wine, spirits, and refreshments of every kind,
to carry with me to the woods, from different friends at Paramaribo; I
left my dear mulatto and her boy to the care of that excellent woman
Mrs. Godefroy, in order the following day to set out on my seventh
campaign, and help, if possible, to compleat that business we had so
long and so ardently undertaken, for the safety and welfare of this
valuable colony, and its lawful inhabitants of every denomination;
while happily my health and my spirits were at this time once more just
as vigorous and as strong, with all my limbs as perfectly sound, as the
very first day that I landed, with Colonel Fourgeoud and his regiment
of marines, in Terra Firma.
CHAP. XXVIII.
The Rebels fly for Protection to Cayenne—Third March to Gado-Saby—A
second Re-inforcement of Troops arrive from Holland—Shipwreck of
the Transport Paramaribo—March to Rio Comewina—Dismal Picture of
Distress and of Mortality—The Peace of the Colony restored.
On the 10th of November, in company with several other gentlemen, I now
once more set out in a tent barge for the encampment at the Casseepore
Creek; and this day the whole colony was full of smoke, the woods
having taken fire near the sea side by some unknown accident. On our
passage we met Colonel Texier, who came from the post Vredenburgh, at
the Marawina, with a detachment; and assured us, that since the blow we
gave to the rebels at Gado-Saby, they were mostly fled to the other
side of that great river, where they found refuge amongst the French,
who were settled in Cayenne; he had, however, taken a woman, and
lieutenant Keen took two men, and killed two more, while the two new
black volunteer companies supported the honour of their colours, which
they had received with so much ceremony from the governor, by
occasionally bringing in captives from the sea shore behind Paramaribo,
in which they were assisted by the Indians, who had voluntarily fought
and defeated the enemy there, more than once. Thus every thing promised
fair to crown our endeavours with success, and finally to re-establish
safety and tranquillity in the colony.
On our passage we stopped at the estate Saardam, the proprietor of
which (by a late marriage) was our Lieutenant Colonel Des Borgnes. I
found here an American sailor who came to load molasses, and having an
inclination to try the skill of the new planter (and his overseer) in
rum, I desired the tar to colour a couple of gallons of kill-devil made
at the very same plantation, and bring them ashore as rum brought from
Antigua. He did so, and they gave him in exchange for it a six gallon
keg of the very same spirits; declaring it was much better than their
own, and then drank the contents in punch, to my very great
entertainment. The sailor said he should colour the six gallons also,
and did not doubt of loading his boat to the water’s edge before he
reached Paramaribo.—Such, in all countries, is the force of prejudice.
Having been very well entertained at Saardam, we set forward, and
arrived safe in the encampment at the Casseepore Creek, in Cottica
River, on the 13th; where, in stepping ashore, being without shoes and
stockings, I narrowly escaped being bitten by a land-scorpion. This
insect is of the size of a small cray-fish, and has an oval body; its
colour is like that of soot, and it is jointed in moveable rings: it
has eight legs, divided by joints, and two jointed claws projecting
from the head, appearing like part of the body, with such small eyes
that they are hardly perceptible: the tail is formed by seven globular
divisions like beads, which terminate in a double sting; this it bends
over its back, to protect its young ones from the attacks of other
insects: for to the creature’s back the young resort, after being
hatched from eggs like pin-heads, in a small web spun by the female.
The sting of the land-scorpion is not accounted fatal, but occasions a
violent pain, and throws the patient into a fever: it is said they
change their skins, as crabs do their shells. The scorpions generally
frequent old trees and old furniture, and are often found amongst dry
rubbish and faded grass.
Almost the first accidents that I saw here was a poor fellow, a marine,
going to bathe in the river, who was instantly snapt away by a large
alligator. I no sooner beheld him sink and disappear, than having
stripped, I actually dived after the poor man, by the help of a long
oar, which a negro held perpendicular under water for the purpose,
constantly taking care to keep all my limbs in motion. However I found
him not, and tugging the oar as a signal to pull it up, the fellow, by
miscomprehension, pushed both it and myself down with such violence,
that we did not rise again to the surface till near the middle of the
stream, which carried down the oar, while I regained the shore by
swimming and very great exertion.
On the 20th, being now once more ordered to march on discovery to
Gado-Saby, I set out at six o’clock in the morning, with two subaltern
officers, three serjeants, seven corporals, and fifty privates, besides
a surgeon, and the noted free negro Gousary (whom we lost for three or
four hours) and encamped near the banks of the same creek, not having
been able to advance above six miles due west from its mouth.
On the 21st we marched north for about seven or eight miles, without
meeting with one drop of water to alleviate our burning thirst, it
being at this time in the very heart of the dry season, which this year
was more scorching than I ever remembered it before.
Having now changed my course to the north-east, and passed the
quagmire, about noon the following day we marched dry through the late
fatal marsh, and an hour after we kept due west; when, falling in with
a large field of yams, we demolished it; then proceeding forward, I
encamped in the old settlement Cofaay, almost choked for want of water,
not having met with any thing like it from the moment we sat out. Here,
however, the negro slaves found means to procure us some, which, though
stagnant and stinking like a kennel, we drank, straining it through our
shirt-sleeves.
During this march, I nevertheless took notice of the following trees,
not yet described, viz. the canavatepy, and the berklack, which are
extremely fit for domestic use. The first is beautifully striped, black
and brown, and has much the appearance of that usually called brazil,
while it diffuses a smell in working not inferior to that of a
carnation. The second is a pale red or pink colour, and is equally good
for almost every purpose. I was this day also presented with a singular
kind of fruit, called here the marmalade box, being about the size of a
large apple, rather oval, and all covered over with down. This fruit in
the beginning is green, and when ripe it turns to a brown colour: the
husk is hard, and by a certain motion opens in halves like a walnut,
when the pulp appears like that of a medlar, being a sweet brown
substance, and adhering to large kernels, which the inhabitants suck
off with avidity; and from this it derives the above name. As I took no
particular notice of the tree, I am sorry not to have it in my power to
give any account of it whatsoever.
The 23d I marched east from Cofaay, with a view of obtaining some fresh
accounts of the rebels; and proceeded by a path of communication
through cultivated fields, but fell in with nothing, some delightful
views, and a large herd of warree hogs, excepted, which from the
gnashing of their teeth and their stamping the ground before we saw
them, we had actually mistaken for a straggling party of the enemy, and
had consequently fresh-primed, and prepared to engage them.
About noon we returned to Gado-Saby, where, sitting down to rest from
our fatigue, a tall old rebel negro appeared suddenly in the very midst
of us, with a long white beard, a white cotton sheet tied about his
shoulders, and a broken cutlass in his hand. Seeing this venerable
apparition, I instantly started up, and forbidding my people to fire at
him, I civilly desired him to approach me, pledging myself that no
person under my command should dare to hurt him; but that he should
have every thing for his relief that I could afford.—He answered, “No,
no, massera!” with the utmost deliberation, and shaking his head in an
instant disappeared; while two of my men (contrary to my orders) fired
after him, at the distance of perhaps six paces only, yet both missed
their object, to my great satisfaction, he being a poor forsaken
creature, that had been left behind the rest, gleaning a precarious
subsistence from his own deserted fields which we had formerly
destroyed. What renders the negroes so difficult to hit with a ball is
this, that they never run straight forward, but zig-zag, like the
forked lightning in the elements.
I now, to fulfil my orders, once more ransacked Cofaay, with its
adjoining plains, though with a sore heart, on account of the poor
lonely old rebel. Here, having cut down several cotton and
plantain-trees, okero or althea, pigeon-pease, maize, pine-apples, and
some rice, most of which had spontaneously sprung up again since our
last devastation, I could not help leaving, before a little shed, where
was some fresh ashes and banana shells, a few rusk biscuits and a good
piece of salt beef, as also a bottle of new rum, for the unfortunate
solitary old man, this being his retreat; after which we once more
encamped in the fields of Cofaay.
Having so frequently mentioned rice, it may be expected that I should
say something concerning its growth and cultivation. It rises to the
height of four feet, with furrowed stalks, and in appearance is not
unlike wheat, but the stalks are knotted by intervals, and stronger;
the leaves are like those of reeds: the seeds are produced somewhat
like barley, and grow on each side of the spikes or ears alternately.
The oryza or rice is cultivated in a warm and marshy soil; the grains
are oval, and if good ought to be white, hard, and transparent. As for
the use of this commodity for food, it is so well known, that I shall
only say, that without this grain our poor marines must long ago have
all been starved, particularly in August 1775; when, for all allowance,
they got per day one rusk biscuit, and three spikes of maize or Indian
corn, for five men; rice alone supplying, as I have intimated, the rest
of the allowance.
Having now fully compleated my commission, I, with my detachment,
marched back for the Casseepore Creek, directing my course through the
ruined fields of Gado-Saby, which were at present choked up to a
perfect wilderness. Hence we kept first to the south-west, and then due
south, after which we slung our hammocks near a former encampment. It
is to be observed, that at this time all the marshes were nearly dry,
on account of the hottest season I ever remember; while the fœtid smell
occasioned by the quantities of dead warrapa fish, that had been
deserted by the water, was an intolerable nuisance. From amongst these
putrid fishes, our negro slaves nevertheless selected the most
tolerable, which, fried in the evening, served them for a delicate
morsel.
The morning following we again marched south-west by west, when we
slung our hammocks not above four miles from the Cassepore Creek; and
on the 26th (keeping south-south-west) we arrived in the grand camp,
much fatigued and emaciated, myself with a swelled face or erysipelas;
when I gave in my journal to Lieutenant-Colonel de Borgnes, who
commanded [46]: and I believe, upon my honour, that had we been ordered
to remain twenty years on this expedition, with a possibility of saving
our lives, the different diseases, plagues, and torments, would still
have accumulated and varied without end.
A detachment of fifty men was next sent out to reconnoitre at
Jerusalem, &c.; and on the 6th of December the long-expected relief,
consisting of three hundred and fifty men, arrived in the river Surinam
from Holland, after a voyage of nine weeks and three days, of which
they spent a fortnight at Plymouth.
By these the unfortunate account was brought, that Captain Jochem Meyer
(who had on board a considerable sum of money for our troops) was taken
by the Moors, and carried with his crew to Morocco, where they were
condemned to be slaves to the emperor [47]; and that the ship
Paramaribo, Captain Spruyt (being one of the vessels that carried over
the sick in the beginning of August) was wrecked and entirely lost in
the channel, on the rocks of Ushant; but that, by the exertions of some
French fishing-boats, the crew and troops had all been saved, and
carried into Brest, whence they had taken a fresh passage for the
Texel; after which the Prince of Orange (who was ever distinguished for
benevolence, and doing good and humane actions) ordered the officers
and private men, above one hundred in number, to receive the following
sums, by way of defraying their loss, viz. each marine received about
four, the subalterns thirty, the captains forty, and Major Medlar, who
commanded, fifty pounds sterling. However, by this shipwreck, I lost
all my three chests of sweetmeats and pickles, besides parrots,
butterflies, monkies, &c. intended as presents to my friends in Europe,
which indiscriminately went to the bottom, to my no small
mortification.
Having now for above a month been lodged in a paltry hut, beaten by the
wind and showers of rain (which began to set in unexpectedly); and
being informed, that notwithstanding the arrival of the relief, we were
still to stay some time longer in the woods, which broke many hearts;
I, on the 12th of December, earnestly set about building for myself a
comfortable house, and which was finished, without either nail or
hammer, in less than six days, though it had two rooms, a piazza with
rails, and a small kitchen, besides a garden, in which I sowed, in
pepper-cresses, the names of Joanna and John; while my next-door
neighbour, who was my friend Captain Bolts, made shift to keep a goat,
and thus we lived not altogether uncomfortably. Others kept hens and
ducks, but not a cock was to be seen in the camp; for these, having
first had all their tongues cut out to prevent their crowing (though to
no purpose) had been since condemned to lose their heads. In short, our
gentlemen built a row of very curious houses indeed, all projecting
from the beech; while, on the opposite side, above a hundred green huts
being constructed to receive the new-come troops, the whole together
formed no contemptible street, though it must be confessed its
inhabitants were little better than scare-crows.
What was most remarkable in my own habitation, however, was its entry,
which was not by the door, nor yet by the window, but only by the roof,
where I crept in and out, allowing absolutely no other admittance; and
by this contrivance alone I was effectually guarded from those frequent
visitors who smelt my pancakes, and used to make too free with my eggs
and bacon, besides interrupting me while I was drawing, writing, or
reading. Upon the whole, I must acknowledge, that this encampment was
agreeable enough (more so as being on elevated ground), had it not been
for the pestilential damps and mephitic vapours that exhale constantly
from the earth, and had already sent numbers to the other world.
During this short space of tranquillity I constructed in miniature my
cottage in which I lived at the Hope, on an oblong board of about
eighteen inches by twelve, which being entirely made of the
manicole-tree and branches, like the original, was esteemed a
master-piece; and this I sent as a present to my friend Mr. de Graaff
at Paramaribo, who since placed it in a cabinet of natural curiosities
at Amsterdam. As I am upon this subject, I am tempted to present the
reader with a view of two of my habitations, the one that at the Hope,
where I spent such happy days; and the other temporary, such as in the
woods we constructed to be sheltered from the weather:—the first may be
considered as the emblem of domestic felicity; the second of rustick
hardship and fatigue.
The troops of the Society of Surinam, who had been encamped at the Wana
Creek (the rainy season prematurely setting in) now wisely broke up,
and on the 26th passing by us, rowed down the river Cottica on their
way to the plantations in the Pirica Creek; but as for us, we were as
usual condemned to linger in the Cassipore camp, while Fourgeoud still
kept snug at Paramaribo. With the above officers we received
intelligence that a few more rebels had been taken at the Marawina;
while we ourselves daily continued to send out patroles to the right
and left, but met with nothing to capture.
At last, on the 29th, six barges came to an anchor before our
encampment, with part of the fresh troops that were arrived from
Holland for our relief; which I could not help viewing with compassion,
and not without a cause, many of them being already attacked with the
scurvy, and other loathsome diseases. We however sent for bricks, and
built an oven to bake fresh bread, &c. and did all that was in our
power to comfort them: having received also a supply of wine for my own
use, I gave a hearty welcome to all the officers, to cheer their
spirits; but this ill-fated liquor had an effect far different from
what I intended on one of our captains, P——t by name, who, from some
misunderstanding, challenged me to fight him instantly. Having retired
to some distance from the camp, and drawing our sabres, he burst out
into an immoderate fit of laughter, and throwing away his weapon,
desired me “to cut away; but that for his part he had such a real
regard for me, that he felt it was impossible for him to make any
resistance:” after which, catching me in both his arms, he gave me so
hearty an embrace, that he had nearly stifled me, and I could not
without the greatest difficulty get disentangled. Being recovered from
my surprize, I could not help smiling in my turn; and after a friendly
reprimand re-conducted my valiant opponent to the company, where we
closed the year with the greatest mirth and conviviality.
A confounded tumble through my hammock having ushered in the morning of
1777, we went to the commanding officer of the camp, to pay him the
compliments of the season; where I was shown the philander, or Mexican
oppossum, here called awaree, which had been just taken alive, and with
all its young.
I have already mentioned the murine oppossum; thus shall now only
describe such peculiarities as I was able to remark, and which were
indeed but few in number, the animal being in the bottom of an empty
hogshead when I saw it, its biting preventing me to take it in my
hand.—In the first place, it was much larger than the former, this
being the size of an over-grown Norway rat: the colour was a yellowish
grey all over, and the belly and limbs a dirty white; the muzzle was
more blunt than that of the murine oppossum, with long whiskers; its
eyes not black but transparent, with a black ring round the iris; the
tail extremely long, thick, and hairy, particularly near the root, and
its smell was very offensive. This oppossum had a pouch under its
belly, formed by the folding of the skin, which is hairy within as well
as without; from this pouch I saw the young ones (five or six in
number) several times run out, when the mother was not disturbed, and
as often run into it upon the smallest noise, or shaking the
hogshead.—As I pitied the poor creature, after its having been so long
tormented, I suddenly kicked up the hogshead, when the oppossum with
all its young escaped, and ran swiftly up a very high tree before
Colonel Seyburg’s cottage, and there it hung by the tail to one of the
branches; but as it is a dreadful destroyer of poultry, and the Colonel
apprehended that it would kill every one of his fowls, he ordered it,
to my sorrow, to be shot down, with all its young ones.—The Virginian
oppossum I never saw; and my only further remark on this shall be, that
its activity very much surprized me, as many writers have denied it
this quality. For further particulars, I refer the reader to the murine
or mouse oppossum above-mentioned, as in most circumstances these two
animals perfectly agree.
Among the destroyers of poultry, there is another animal in this
country, known by the name of quacy-quacy: some call it the racoon, but
which properly is the coatimondi, or Brasilian weasel; though many
people, with some degree of propriety, compare it to a fox, as it is
often able to carry away a goose or a turkey, and is also extremely
cunning. This creature is sometimes near two feet long, the body shaped
like that of a dog, and commonly black, or rather dark brown, though
many are of a bright bay colour: the tail is long, hairy, and annulated
with black, and a deep buff; the breast and belly are a dirty white;
the head is a light brown, with long jaws, and a black snout that
projects upwards for near two inches, and is moveable like that of the
tapira; the eyes are small, the ears are short and rounded, while on
each side a curved stripe connects them and the muzzle; the legs of the
coati are short, especially the foremost; the feet are very long, with
five toes on each, and long claws, while the animal, like the bear,
always walks on the heel, and stands on those behind. No quadrupeds
(the monkies not excepted) are better climbers on the trees, where
these creatures commit dreadful ravages amongst birds-nests, every
small animal which they can conquer becoming their prey. In the
poultry-yards in particular they commit great devastations, on which
account every contrivance that can be invented is put in practice to
destroy them.
As I am upon the subject of animals, before I leave the woods I must
describe another creature, which inhabits them, and which (though more
than twice the size of the last) lives chiefly on ants; this is the
great ant-eater, or ant-bear, called also the tamanoir, and by the
Spaniards the osa palmera. The body of this animal is covered over with
very long shaggy hair; on the back and belly it is black, and on the
neck and sides a grey or yellowish white; the head is extremely long
and slender, of a light bay colour, with very small eyes; the ears are
short and round, and the mouth (which has no teeth) just large enough
to admit its tongue; the tail is of an enormous size, with very long
black hair, something like that of a horse: with this extraordinary
tail, when asleep (which is generally in the day time, or during a hard
shower of rain) the animal covers itself like a squirrel; at other
times he trails it along, and sweeps the ground. The limbs are slender,
but covered with long hair; the hindmost legs being shortest and black,
with five claws; those before are of a dirty white, with but four
claws, the two middle claws being of an extraordinary length.
The great ant-eater is a very bad walker, resting always on the heel of
his awkward long feet, like the coati and bear; but he is a better
climber, and so good a fighter, that no dog will hunt him, since
whatever animal he catches between his fore claws (nay even the jaguar
or tiger) he will not release while he has life. His food, as I have
said, consists of ants, which he takes in the following manner:—when he
comes to an ant-hillock, he unfolds his slender tongue, which is about
twenty inches long, most exactly resembling a worm; this being covered
over with a clammy matter or saliva, the ants get upon it in great
numbers, and by drawing it into his mouth, he swallows thousands all
alive, and renews the operation, till no more are to be found, when he
marches in quest of another mountain, and in the same manner destroys
the unwary inhabitants. He also climbs in quest of wood-lice and wild
honey; but should he meet with little success in his devastations, he
is able to fast a considerable time without the smallest inconvenience.
It is said that the great ant-bear is tameable, and that then he will
pick crumbs of bread, and small pieces of flesh; also that when killed,
he affords good food to the Indians and negroes, the last of which I
have seen devour his flesh with pleasure. Some ant-bears measure, from
the snout to the tip of the tail, no less than eight feet.—See the two
last-described animals in the plate annexed.
A small species of ant-bear, called the tamandua, is also found in
Surinam, though not very common. This differs from the former in having
twenty toes, the head being thicker in proportion, and the tail
smaller, which is variegated with bands of black and yellowish white.—A
lesser species still is called the fourmillier, which, however, never
came within my observation.—But to proceed.
On the 3d, six more barges with troops came up from Paramaribo, which
compleated the number of three hundred and fifty men arrived from
Holland. Amongst these, being informed there was a Captain Charles
Small, come from the Scots Brigade, this gentleman having exchanged
with poor Ensign Macdonald (who was sent over sick) I instantly sculled
down the river alone in a canoe to meet him, and offer him my
assistance. I had no sooner got on board his barge, than I found him
suspended in a hammock with a burning fever. He, not knowing me on
account of my dress, which was no better than that of the most ragged
sailor, asked me what I wanted; but when he saw in me his poor friend
Stedman, changed from a stout sprightly young fellow, to a miserable
debilitated tatterdemallion, he grasped me by the hand, without
uttering a word, and burst into tears: which agitation, while it
increased his illness, shewed the goodness of his heart to me, more
than any thing he could have uttered on the subject.—“D—n your
blubbering, Charles!” said I; “turn out of this stinking cockle-shell:
I’ll presently cure thee;”—and getting him hoisted into my canoe, I
brought him on shore to my own habitation, but with the greatest
difficulty, being obliged to thrust him through a crevice made on
purpose, as the hole in the roof was not calculated even for any
healthy person’s admittance, myself excepted. Having here slung his
hammock near to my own, and boiled some water, I treated him with warm
grog and a toasted biscuit, and he became much better from that very
moment. He now acquainted me that one of his men was drowned on the
passage; and that Colonel Fourgeoud having entertained the officers
with a ball after their landing, at which one of his cooks, and a
couple of meagre marines, had been the fidlers, he concluded his
illness to be the consequence of too much dancing. A little after this,
Colonel Fourgeoud himself appearing in person in the camp amongst us,
he soon, however, entertained us with musick of a different kind; which
was no less than the discouraging news, that by the newly-arrived corps
of officers several of us had lost our rank (both in the regiment and
in the army) after parching above four years in a burning sun, toiling
ourselves almost to death, and subsisting upon stinking meat and black
rusk. To add to this grievance, while the above gentlemen usurped our
preferment, we were, instead of being relieved, ordered to continue in
the woods, in order to teach them their duty.
During the above unpleasing probation, the major’s duty again fell to
my share; which was at this time extremely disagreeable, being obliged
daily to chastise the men, many of whom pilfered the magazine to
alleviate hunger, having been without the article of bread for seven
days, the oven being dropped to pieces. Amongst others, one poor fellow
was nearly flogged to death for having borrowed one of the colonel’s
Bologna sausages; for, let it be remembered, that our commander in
chief, whatever might be the distress and hardships of the rest, never
forgot to support his own dignity, by at least half a dozen of stout
negroes loaded with bacon hams, Bologna sausages, bullocks tongues,
tea, coffee, sugar, Madeira wine, Holland’s gin, &c.—
Courage may prompt, but, ebbing out his strength,
Mere unsupported man must yield at length:
Shrunk with dry famine, and with toils declin’d,
The drooping body will desert the mind;
But built anew with health-conferring fare,
With limbs and soul untam’d, he tires a war.
At length, on the 8th, a barge arrived, not only with a supply of salt
beef and rusk, but a bullock and two hogs, as a present from Mr.
Felman, who, accompanied by his lady, &c. came actually on a visit to
Fourgeoud, in this very strange encampment. The above animals being
immediately killed, they were distributed among four hundred people; so
that it may well be conceived the shares, though sweet, were not very
large, after which the company walked about to view our different
habitations. Being arrived at my dwelling, Fourgeoud led them round and
round, but seeing no door to get in, he called out, “Nobody at home?”
When I instantly thrust my head through the thatch, with a pancake in
my hand, and offered to haul in the ladies; but this they civilly
declined. I never saw Fourgeoud laugh so much in my life. As soon,
however, as he was able to recover his gravity, he exclaimed, “Sacre
Dieu! Il faut être Stedman,—il faut être original comme lui;” and
re-conducted the company to his own apartment, where he gave me an
invitation to follow them. Indeed, when Captain Small and I went out,
we generally spent our time in a beautiful savannah, where we had
erected a green shed, to be free in conversation, and called it
Ranelagh; here we caroused and cracked a bottle in private, till we
could crack no longer, having lived so well that in a little time more
than a week my cheese and bacon hams quite disappeared, and not a drop
of wine or rum was left in the flasks.—After this he, as well as I,
were obliged to live on short allowance; while Small had the
satisfaction, however, to see his ship-mates do the same: who, not
being acquainted with the œconomy necessary in a forest, had made all
their flour into plum-pudding, and were already obliged to break their
teeth on a piece of rye rusk.
In short, so early as the 12th, one hundred and fifty of these
newly-arrived people were already ordered to march; when, by the way of
seasoning them, besides heavy accoutrements and a hammock, they had
orders each man to carry a stuffed knapsack on his back. Of this party,
my friend Small happened to be one, who being as corpulent as Sir John
Falstaff, and I having accoutred him in the above manner, the poor
fellow could hardly walk at all; till declaring to Fourgeoud that I
must roll him along like a hogshead, he got leave to be disengaged from
a part of his unweildy encumbrances.
Every thing being ready, this loaded detachment now faced to the right,
and set out, with Colonel Fourgeoud at their head, for the river
Marawina: and while I must here acknowledge that this chief was now
become to myself as civil as I could expect or desire, yet justice
compels me to add, that to all others he remained just as inflexible a
tyrant as ever I had known him; which character he unhappily seemed to
think incompatible with his rank.
During their absence, I crossed the water, and cut down a cabbage-tree
on the other side of the river Cottica, not only for the cabbage, but
for the sake of the groe-groe worms, with which I knew it would swarm
in about a fortnight.
Straying here through the woods with my black boy Quaco, I met with the
following trees, still left for description, viz. the cedar, the
brown-heart, and the bullet-tree. The first, though it bears that name,
is different from the cedars of Lebanon, which grow in a pyramidical
form. The Surinam cedar, however, grows also to a great height, but is
principally esteemed because the wood is never eaten by the worms or
other insects, on account of its great bitterness; it has also a most
agreeable smell, and is therefore used in preference to most others for
making chests, cupboards, lockers, and all sorts of joinery; besides
which, it is employed in making the tent-barges and other boats. The
colour of the timber is a pale orange: it is both hard and light, and
from the trunk exudes a gum (not unlike the gum Arabic) which is
transparent, and diffuses a most agreeable flavour.
The brown-heart is in hardness of the same consistency as the
purple-heart, and the green-heart already mentioned, and is shaped into
heavy timber for the same purposes, such as constructing sugar-mills,
&c.: the colour of this wood is a beautiful brown.—The other is the
bullet-tree; this tree grows sometimes to sixty feet, but is not so
thick in proportion as many others: the bark is grey and smooth, the
timber brown, variegated or powdered with white specks. No wood in the
forest is equal to this in weight, being heavier than sea-water, and so
very durable, that when exposed to the open air neither rain or sun
have any effect on it; for this reason, besides its other various uses,
it is split into shingles to roof the houses, instead of slates or
tiles, which, as I formerly mentioned, would be too heavy and too hot.
These shingles are sold for £. 4 sterling a thousand at Paramaribo, and
continue sometimes twenty-four years before they are renewed.
I ought to mention also a kind of mahogany, which is found in the woods
of Guiana, called the ducolla-bolla, and which is of a superior quality
to any which is imported here, being of a deeper red colour, and of a
finer, more equal, and compact grain; also of greater hardness and
weight, and thus capable of receiving a more elegant polish.
About this period the whole camp was infested with a kind of wood-lice,
so called in Surinam, but with more propriety they might be termed
white ants, resembling them almost in every particular, except that the
ants dwell in the ground, and these build their nests on the trunks of
trees: these nests, being black, round, and irregular, are not unlike
the woolly head of a negro, but sometimes as large as the half of a
hogshead, and composed of a rust-coloured incrustated earth, which is
extremely hard, and impenetrable to the weather. In this mass, which
internally consists of innumerable cross roads, each the size of a
goose-quill, they live together in myriads, whence they sally forth,
and commit their depredations, unequalled by any other infest in
Guiana, piercing through the hardest wood, leather, linen, or whatever
comes in their way. They also frequently get into the houses by an
incrusted covered road made against the wall, resembling the half of a
sliding pencil, which is with its windings sometimes several hundred
feet long: if this is not destroyed upon its first appearance (which
must be done by arsenick or the oil of turpentine) as they crumble
every thing to dust, whole dwellings will be entirely demolished, and
come down to the ground in rubbish. These insects (notwithstanding
their fetid abominable smell) are reckoned a very good food for
poultry, who are said to thrive on them even better than on Indian
corn. I ought not to forget their extreme industry in repairing their
habitation when injured, and their wonderful power of propagation,
which (let ever such numbers be destroyed) brings them in a very short
time to their former unaccountable multiplicity.
To another pest we were also frequently subjected in this camp, and
this was no less than clouds of flying lice, which covered our clothes
sometimes so thick, that they absolutely gave them the appearance of
grey cloth. This was owing to the shedding of their wings, which, being
four in number; they generally left behind them after they alighted,
and being thus without the means of flying off again, they remained on
our jackets; except however thus covering us all over, they caused us
no other inconvenience. It is the opinion of some naturalists, that
these flying lice are no other than the above-mentioned wood-lice,
which when they become old get wings, leave their nests, and fly about,
like some other ants, both in Europe and in America.
About this time the discipline was peculiarly strict in the camp, so
that whoever made the very least noise was most severely punished, nay,
threatened to be shot; and even the sentinels were ordered to challenge
rounds and patrols by no other sound than whistling, which was answered
in the same manner.
On the 18th, one of these being condemned to be flogged for speaking
loud, I however found means (Fourgeoud not being yet returned) to get
him pardoned, after he was already stripped. The following day,
nevertheless, evinced that I could punish when things were carried too
far; for seeing a large piece of boiled pork (about two pounds weight)
flying past me with great velocity, and finding it was thrown by one
marine to another, while they had got a quarrel, I instantly ordered
them to pick it up, and (having cut it in two) I stood over them myself
till they swallowed every morsel of it in my presence, sand and all,
without either bread or drink: which they since declared was such a
punishment as surpassed my conception, and they should remember it to
the end of their lives.
On the 23d, I received from town a well-timed supply of wine and fresh
provisions; and the same day Colonel Fourgeoud, with his detachment,
arrived from the Marawina. During this trip, our active commander had
again discovered and destroyed fifty-nine houses, besides three fields
of provisions. This certainly gave the finishing blow to the rebel
negroes, since, having no further supply on this side the water, they
entirely abandoned it, and went to settle in the French colony Cayenne.
In this hard though necessary service the men had suffered
prodigiously, especially those newly arrived; numbers of whom were
carried in hammocks on poles, while near thirty were left sick at the
Marawina, and my friend Small was at least one stone lighter.
At this time, in the camp hospital, above one hundred were also
dangerously ill. Nothing was heard but sighs and the shrieking of the
strix or Guiana owl, which for ever kept them company during the dismal
nights. Cramps, so common in Surinam, also infested those that were
able to do duty; and there reigned a general melancholy all around.
————“The circling sky,
The wide enlivening air, is full of fate;
And, struck by turns, in solitary pangs
They fall, untended and unmourn’d.”
Here one man was to be seen covered over with bloody boils from head to
foot; there another led along by two of his comrades in a deep
lethargy, who, in spite of pinching and pricking, dosed into eternity;
a third, swelled by the dropsy, and imploring the surgeon in vain to
tap off the water (who generally answered that it was too late) was
left to expire by suffocation. In the hospital some were observed
clasping their hands, and praying aloud to God to be relieved; while
others lay at their side in a frenzy fever, tearing their hair,
blaspheming Providence, and cursing the day that they were born.—In
short, all was dreadful beyond description, by the pen of a Milton
excepted.
————“Sad noisome dark,
A lazar-house it seem’d, wherein were laid
Numbers of all, diseas’d: all maladies
Of ghastly spasm or racking torture; qualms
Of heart-sick agony, all feverous kinds,
Convulsions, epilepsies, fierce catarrhs;
Demoniac frenzy, moping melancholy,
And moon-struck madness; pining atrophy,
Dropsies, and asthmas, and joint-racking rheums:
Dire was the tossing, deep the groans; despair
Tended the sick, busiest from couch to couch.
And over them triumphant Death his dart
Shook, but delay’d to strike, though oft invok’d
With vows, as their chief good and final hope.”
From day to day mortality now gained ground, while by some accident, to
compleat the distress, part of the camp got on fire; but this was
fortunately extinguished without any material ill consequences, by the
activity and exertions of the poor negroes.
On the 26th my misery, however, drew towards an end, when, to my
astonishment, and without my asking it, Colonel Fourgeoud gave me a
leave of absence, if I chose it, to accompany him, and stay henceforth
at Paramaribo; which, without hesitation, I most joyfully accepted.
Thus, having made my friend Captain Small a present of my house, my
Ranelagh, and all my fresh provisions, besides entertained him and some
other officers on a dish of mountain-cabbage, and my groe-groe worms,
which were just come to perfection, besides a hearty glass of wine, I
took my last adieu from them all; and at midnight, with Colonel
Fourgeoud, rowed down the River Cottica in an elegant barge with ten
oars, in company with two more of his officers.—And now farewell once
more, ye shady woods, thou pleasing gloomy forest, pregnant with so
many wonders, and so many plagues, and which, in the opinion of so many
sufferers, even surpassed the ten plagues of Egypt! [48]
————“I have sent among you the pestilence after the
manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword—
I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your
nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.”
The boat being shoved off, Colonel Fourgeoud now declared to us, that
having ransacked the forest in every direction, and driven the rebels
over the Marawina in Cayenne, he was determined no more to return to
the woods, but in a few weeks to draw the long and painful expedition
to a conclusion.
Now, reader, it remains with you to acknowledge that I have not led you
about the bush, but through it, with indefatigable perseverance: the
more so, when it is to be considered that in the middle of the above
hurry and distress, under which so many have sunk, I have often been
deprived of pen, ink, and paper to make proper annotations; which last
defect I have even more than once supplied by writing with a pencil on
my cartridges, or on a bleached bone: had this not been unavoidably the
case, more accuracy and many more remarks might with justice have been
expected, which one need never be at a loss to make in a country so
replete with different objects for speculation.
Having rowed all night, and breakfasted at the new cordon (which was
begun to be cut not far from our former post Devil’s Harwar) on a dram
and a biscuit, we came about noon to the estate Lapaix, where we dined
with the planter, Monsieur Rivieres; after which Fourgeoud, with his
adjutant, proceeded on their voyage to town, while I with another
officer went to the sea-side at the back of the plantation to shoot
snipes and curlews.
On our march thither and back again, passing two posts of the Society,
the flag was hoisted, refreshments offered us, and every other civility
shewn us that was in the power of the commanding officers. In shooting,
however, we had very little sport, except that of killing some snipes,
which flew in such clouds that they almost darkened the sky; so that by
only firing from time to time above our heads at random, we brought
down scores at every shot, but they were of such a diminutive species,
that they were scarcely worth the picking up. We might have here killed
birds of greater size, such as spoon-bills, cranes, red curlews, and
wild ducks of many kinds, had we not unluckily been cut off from the
banks on which they were scattered, by the sea overflowing the
quicksands betwixt us and them. They afforded us, nevertheless, a most
delightful view, the beech appearing at a distance like a sheet of
scarlet and purple, embroidered with every other colour.
The shoveler or spoon-bill (which has some affinity to the cranes) is
about the size of a goose: the legs are not very long, and it is
web-footed but for a little way between the toes: the feathers are a
beautiful rose-colour, though they are white when young; but the bill
is truly remarkable in this bird, being flat, much broader before than
at any other part, and circular, in some degree resembling a spoon,
from which it takes its name. They are said to feed on frogs, rats, and
lizards, yet fish is evidently their principal nourishment, from their
frequenting the sea-side, and having a fishy taste when they are
killed.
The crane or jabiru of Surinam, I can best compare to a stork, of which
it has much the appearance, but is larger. The body of this bird is
milk white, but the prime feathers of the wings and tail are black: the
limbs and toes are excessively long; but I observed one peculiarity
which distinguishes it from all other birds, viz. that it frequently
sits upon the heel: the neck and bill are of an uncommon length, the
latter being strong, and a little hooked at the point. The head of the
crane or jabiru is perfectly black, on account of which, among the
Dutch, it obtained the appellation of a negro-cop. It frequents the
coast, like the others above mentioned, and lives entirely on fish:
this bird is easily tamed. I have seen a couple of them in the
poultry-yard belonging to Colonel Fourgeoud.—(See both these species of
sea-fowls in the plate annexed, where the last is represented sitting
in the posture I have described.)
To delineate the different species of wild ducks that are in Surinam
with any degree of accuracy, is a talk which I acknowledge to be far
beyond my reach. Suffice it therefore to say, that in general they are
not very large, but adorned with the most splendid tints and most
beautiful plumage that can be imagined, particularly those they call
the cawereerkee, the sookooroorkee, and the annakee, which last are the
smallest. No water-fowl of any kind, without exception, can be more
delicate eating than all those I have just mentioned; while some of
them are tameable, and frequently seen amongst the poultry on the
plantations.
Having the following day the opportunity of a boat, I prosecuted my
voyage down the Cottica River till I came to Paramaribo, where in fine
spirits and perfect health (however strange) I arrived that very same
evening, and where I was most heartily welcomed by my many friends with
the warmest congratulations on my still existing, after having escaped
so many dangers, and been so long deprived of every comfort—torn by
thorns, stung by insects—starved, tormented, emaciated, and
wounded—often without clothes, health, rest, money, refreshments,
medicines, or friends;—and after having lost so many of my brave
companions, who lay buried in the dust.——Thus ended my seventh and last
campaign in the forest of Guiana.
CHAP. XXIX.
Some Account of a remarkable Negro.—The Troops prepare for
Europe.—Description of a Coffee Plantation.—Plan of Reform for the
Increase of Population, and universal Happiness.—One more Instance
of horrid Barbarity; and Example of Humanity.—The Regiment embarks.
Being now once more arrived in town, and wishing to be no longer
troublesome to any body, I hired a very neat small house by the
water-side, in which we lived nearly as happy as we had done at the
Hope.
The first person that visited me here was the American Captain Lewis,
of the Peggy, who, to my great concern, told me, that poor Macdonald,
the grateful sailor, had died on the homeward passage, after being
twelve days at sea; and desired him in his last words to return me,
with his good wishes, the mother-of-pearl cork-screw I had formerly
given him. He farther acquainted me also, to my sorrow, that three
English vessels had been captured by the American Revenue privateer
sloop, which lay at this time, with her prizes, in the road before
Paramaribo; one of which, belonging to Ireland, was valued at above £.
50,000 sterling.
Having been waited on by a number of planters and others with
congratulations on our success against the rebels; amongst the rest
appeared the celebrated Gramman Quacy, who came to shew me his fine
coat, gold medal, &c. which he had received as a present from the
Prince of Orange, in Holland. This man, being one of the most
extraordinary characters of all the negroes in Surinam, or perhaps in
the world, I cannot proceed without giving some account of him; the
more so, as he has made his appearance once or twice already in the
course of this history.—This African (for he was born on the coast of
Guinea) by his insinuating temper and industry, not only obtained his
freedom from a state of slavery, but by his wonderful ingenuity and
artful conduct found the means of procuring a very competent
subsistence.
Having got the name of a lockoman, or sorcerer, among the lower slaves,
no crime of any consequence was committed, especially at the
plantations, but Gramman Quacy, which signifies Great-man Quacy, was
instantly sent for to discover the perpetrators, which he so very
seldom missed, owing, in fact, to their faith in his sorceries, added
to his penetrating look [49] and authority among them, that he has
often prevented farther mischief to their masters; and, for these
services, occasionally received very capital rewards. The corps of
rangers, and all fighting free negroes, are under his influence; to
whom he sells his obias or amulets, in order to make them invulnerable,
and, of course, to engage without fear: by which deceit he has most
certainly done much good to the colony, and at the same time filled his
pockets with no inconsiderable profit to himself; while his person by
the blacks is adored and respected like a God. The trash of which his
amulets are made costs him in reality nothing; being neither more nor
less than a collection of small pebbles, sea-shells, cut hair,
fish-bones, feathers, &c. the whole sewed up together in small packets,
which are tied with a string of cotton round the neck, or some other
part of the bodies of his credulous votaries.
But besides these, and many other artful contrivances, he had the good
fortune, in 1730, to find out the valuable root known by the name of
Quaciæ bitter, of which he was actually the first discoverer, and from
which it took its name: and, notwithstanding this medicine is now less
in repute in England than formerly, it is highly esteemed in many other
parts of the world for its efficacy in strengthening the stomach and
restoring the appetite. It has, besides this valuable property, that of
being a powerful febrifuge, and may be successfully used when the bark
is nauseated, as is frequently the case.
In 1761, it was made known to Linnæus by Mr. d’Ahlberg, formerly
mentioned; and the Swedish naturalist has since written a treatise upon
it. By this drug alone Quacy might have amassed riches, were he not
entirely abandoned to indolence and dissipation; the consequence of
which is, a complication of loathsome distempers, of which the leprosy
is one: and that disorder is, as I have already stated, absolutely
incurable. Nevertheless his age, though he could not exactly ascertain
it, must have been very great, since he used frequently to repeat that
he acted as drummer, and beat the alarm on his master’s estate, when
the French commodore, Jacques Cassard, put the colony under
contribution, in the year 1712.
Having taken a portrait of this extraordinary man, with his grey head
of hair, and dressed in his blue and scarlet with gold lace, I, in the
annexed plate, beg leave to introduce it to the reader.
This very same week we had indeed a fresh proof of the good effects of
Gramman Quacy’s animating obias or amulets, a captain of the rangers,
named Hannibal, bringing in the barbacued hands of two rebel negroes,
which he had himself encountered and shot; and one of these hands
proved to be that of the noted rebel Cupido, formerly taken, in 1774,
and brought to Colonel Fourgeoud in the forest, but from whom he had
since that time, though loaded with chains, found means to run away.
In returning the visits of my friends, I paid one to Mr. Andrew
Reynsdorp, who shewed me the loop and button of his hat, which being
diamond, had cost him two hundred guineas—such is the luxury of
Surinam. But even this is exceeded by the magnificence of M.
d’Ahlbergh, who, when I waited on him, besides a gold snuff-box set
with brilliants, value six hundred pounds sterling, made me remark two
silver bits (small pieces of money) set in gold, and surrounded with
diamonds, with this inscription:
“Soli Deo Gloria. Fortuna beaticum, &c.”
Having signified my surprize at this peculiar attention and respect to
two sixpences, he declared to me that they were all the money he had in
the world when he first came to Surinam from his own country,
Sweden.—“Did you work?” said I.—“No.”—“Did you beg?”—“No.”—“You did not
steal, sir?”—“No: but, entre nous, I whined and acted the enthusiast,
which sometimes is very necessary, and I found preferable to the other
three.”—To which I answered, “Sir, your candid confession brings back
to my remembrance your usage of your negro slave, Baron, after having
promised him his manumission in Amsterdam, and fully proves what you
have just asserted.”—One instance more of the extravagance and folly of
the inhabitants of this colony, and I have done: Two of them disputing
about a most elegant and expensive carriage that was imported from
Holland, a law-suit ensued immediately, to determine who was to possess
it, during which time the coach was left uncovered in the street till
it fell to pieces, and was totally destroyed.
On the 10th of February, most of our officers being now arrived at
Paramaribo from the camp, Colonel Fourgeoud entertained the whole with
a feast, as he was pleased to call it, at the head-quarters; an old
stable lanthorn, with broken panes of glass, hanging over our heads,
which I expected every moment to drop into the soup. And here he
acquainted us, with evident marks of satisfaction, that he had at last
put a final end to the expedition; having, notwithstanding there was so
little blood-shed, perfectly accomplished his aim in rooting out the
rebels, by destroying TWENTY-ONE TOWNS or VILLAGES, and demolishing TWO
HUNDRED FIELDS with vegetables of every kind, on which they depended
for subsistence: also, that the intelligence was now confirmed, that
the negroes were to a man fled over the River Marawina, where they and
their friends were settled, and protected by the French colony of
Cayenne, who not only gave them shelter, but supplied them with every
thing they wanted. On which good news we all heartily congratulated
him, and drank further prosperity to the colony of Surinam with three
cheers; the future safety of which now depended on the new cordon or
path of circumvallation, defended by the troops of the Society, and the
corps of black soldiers or rangers.
In Dr. Firmyn’s works, Colonel Fourgeoud and his troops are twice
mentioned as the saviours of the colony; and by the Abbé Reynal they
are noticed as a very brave and valiant corps: compliments to which
they are with truth entitled. And what cannot but redound to his
honour, is, that at the time he imposed such hardships on his own
troops, he never deliberately put a rebel negro captive to death, nor
even, if he could avoid it, delivered them into the hands of justice;
well knowing, that while it was his duty to expel them, nothing but the
most barbarous usage and tyranny had driven these poor people to this
last extremity. Indeed I myself, whom during the first three years he
persecuted with unremitting severity, must do him the justice to say,
that he was indefatigable in doing his duty; and that, though confused,
I believe him at bottom to have been an undaunted and very BRAVE
OFFICER.
He further acquainted us, that the vessels, with a fresh supply of
provisions from Holland, had been cast on the lee-shore in the Texel
Roads, one of them having her upper cabin stove away, with the second
mate and three of her men washed overboard; he added, however, that
part of the stores had been saved, and loaded on board two bilanders,
which were this very day arrived in the River Surinam. And now, so much
in particular was I become his favourite, that he even made me his
confidant; and declared, that he proposed keeping the last arrived
troops, however fast they were dying away (and who had lately lost a
man by straying in the woods) encamped for many months after our
departure. He then began to tell me what officers he meant, if
possible, to ruin on their return, and which, by his recommendation, he
intended to promote: but here I took the liberty to stop him short, by
declaring, upon my honour, that those very gentlemen should be apprised
by myself of their impending danger, if he persisted in carrying this
cruel plan in execution. This at least had the effect to end the
disagreeable conversation: when, in my turn, I added, “Sir, permit me
farther to put you in remembrance of these very troops you have just
mentioned, in regard to their truly distressed situation at the
Casseepore Creek; while their surgeon is gaining gold watches and
diamond rings by curing fashionable diseases among the gentry at
Paramaribo.” To which he replied, “Vous êtes un brave garçon;” and
promised to take my hints into consideration.
I was now invited once more by Captain Mackneal to spend a few days on
his coffee estate, Sporksgift; but though I was prevented on this
occasion from accepting the invitation, I will take this opportunity to
describe that useful berry, which, not being a native of Guiana, it is
said was first planted in Surinam by the Count de Neale, though others
ascribe it to one Hansbach, a silver-smith, in 1720 [50].
The coffee-berry is the produce of an elegant tree, which is seldom
allowed to grow higher than a man can reach, in order to facilitate the
gathering of it. The bark of this tree is light brown, and the leaves
like laurel, having a beautiful polish; with these it is thickly
covered, the branches diverging from near the surface of the earth to
the summit. The berries, which are oval, are first green, and gradually
change their colour, till they are ripe, when they acquire a bright
crimson hue, like that of a cherry. In each of these berries are two
kernels resembling beans, lying flat upon each other. Of these a good
tree is said to produce three or four pounds weight at each crop; for
this tree, like most other vegetable productions in this luxuriant
climate, bears two crops every year.
To give the curious a better idea of this useful plant, I present him
with a sprig of it, copied from nature in the annexed plate;—in which
the figure A refers to the wood, where it was cut off; B is the upper
side of the leaf; C the lower side of the same; D is the berry just
beginning to change; E the same in full perfection, being of a
beautiful crimson; and F the kernels or beans as they appear when they
are divested of their husk, and ready for exportation.
The buildings on a coffee estate are, first, the dwelling house, which
is usually situated for pleasure near the banks of a river; and for
convenience adjoining to it are erected the outhouses for the overseer
and book-keeper, with store-houses and small offices: the other
necessary buildings are a carpenter’s lodge, a dock and boat-house, and
two capital coffee-lodges, the one to bruise and separate the pulp from
the berries, the other to dry them; the rest consist of negro-houses, a
stable, hospital, and warehouses, which altogether appear like a small
village. The coffee-lodge alone sometimes costs five thousand pounds
sterling, and sometimes more. But to give a more complete idea of the
whole apparatus, I must refer to the plate, where all the buildings,
fields, paths, gardens, floodgates, and canals are marked, and
explained by the necessary references. The plan, as exhibited in this
plate, is intended to unite at once elegance, convenience, and safety.
It is elegant, as being perfectly regular; convenient, as having every
thing at hand and under the planter’s own inspection; and safe, being
surrounded by a broad canal, which by floodgates lets in the water
fresh from the river, besides a draw-bridge, which during the night
cuts off all communication from without.
I shall now proceed to the planting-ground, which is divided into large
square pieces, in each of which are generally two thousand beautiful
coffee-trees, growing at eight or ten feet distance from each other.
These trees, which begin to bear at about the age of three years, are
in their prime at six, and continue to produce fruit till they are
thirty; the manner of supplying them being from good nurseries, which
no coffee estate is ever without, having already mentioned that they
afford two crops every year, which is about Midsummer and Christmas.
At the times of harvest, it is not unpleasing to see the negroes
picking the crimson berries among the polished green, where all ages
and sexes are employed to fulfil their task with ardour, when the youth
who having first filled their baskets, wantonly run naked, and play
amongst the luxuriant foliage.
I will now conduct them before the overseer’s presence, where, all the
baskets being inspected, the flogging commences, which is mostly
inflicted with impartial severity on all who have not fulfilled their
tasks, whether from idleness or incapacity. This ceremony concluded,
the berries are carried home into the bruising-lodge, and the slaves
return home to their houses. The berries being bruised in a mill for
that purpose, in the above lodge, to separate the kernels from the
husks or pulpy substance, they are next steeped in water one night to
cleanse them, and then spread on the drying-floor, which is exposed to
the open air, and is constructed of flat stones; after which they are
spread on garrets made for the purpose, to let them evaporate and dry
internally, during which time they must be turned over every day with
wooden shovels: this done, they are once more dried in large coolers or
drawers, that run easily on rollers in and out of the windows, to
prevent them from being overtaken by showers of rain: then they are put
into wooden mortars, and beaten by candle-light with heavy wooden
pestles, like the rice at Gado-Saby, to divest them of a thin coat or
pellicle that unites the two kernels in the pulp. At this exercise the
negroes wonderfully keep time, and always sing a chorus. Being next
separated from the chaff through a bunt-mill, once more thoroughly
dried on the coolers, and the whole beans picked from the bruised,
which last are consumed in the colony: they are finally put into casks
or barrels, of about three or four hundred, weight each, for
exportation.
I shall only farther observe, that in Surinam some coffee plantations
produce above 150,000 pounds weight per annum; and that, as I have
already mentioned, in the year before our arrival no less was exported
to Amsterdam alone than 12,267,134 pounds of this valuable article, the
prices of which have fluctuated, from three-pence halfpenny to eighteen
pence; but which, calculated at the average price of eight-pence
halfpenny, produces a yearly income of not less than 400,000 pounds
sterling; (which, is no despicable revenue) besides what goes to
Rotterdam and Zealand.
This is sufficient to prove that the cultivation of coffee is highly
worthy the attention of the planters: and as for the virtues of this
excellent berry, without entering into particulars, I will only refer
the reader to that highly-approved pamphlet, entitled “A Treatise
concerning the Properties and Effects of Coffee; by Benjamin Mosely, M.
D. Author of Observations on the Dysentery of the West Indies;” from
which I cannot resist the temptation of extracting the following
passage:—“Bacon says, coffee comforts the head and heart, and helps
digestion. Doctor Willis says, being daily drunk, it wonderfully clears
and enlivens each part of the soul, and disperses all the clouds of
every function. The celebrated Doctor Harvey used it often. Voltaire
lived almost entirely on it; and the learned and sedentary of every
country have recourse to it to refresh the brain, oppressed by study
and contemplation.”
With the above description I must conclude the observations which I
have been able to make on such of the vegetable productions of this
colony, as have offered themselves to my examination. But so abundant
is the variety, and so extraordinary the properties, of the trees,
plants, roots, &c. of this country, that by far the greater number are
as yet perfectly unknown to the oldest inhabitants of this settlement,
and to all the world besides.
A few years ago a Count Gentelly, an ingenious nobleman, travelled
through the desarts of Guiana with some Indians, and had acquired
considerable knowledge in this his favourite study. But alas! his
labours, which promised fair to be of material benefit to the Botanic
Society, and to mankind in general, were interrupted by a fever, which,
owing to his excessive fatigue, he caught at the River Correntine, and
cut him off in the midst of his useful and entertaining researches.
Having now concluded my account of the different productions of the
colony, particularly cotton, sugar, cacao, indigo, and coffee, to which
it is indebted for its riches; and having once more repeated that the
different trees, shrubs, plants, roots, gums, and perfumes, are equally
as innumerable as they are excellent; I cannot have a fairer
opportunity of fulfilling my promise of submitting to the reader a few
considerations, by an attention to which I cannot help thinking that
not only Surinam, but the West India colonies in general, might
accumulate wealth to themselves, and promote the permanent happiness of
the slaves that are under their subjection, without having recourse to
the Coast of Guinea to supply the almost hourly consumption of that
unfortunate people. But before I proceed, it will be necessary to state
the manner in which the negro slaves are distributed and treated, by
the customs of this settlement only, without adverting to the
distribution or government of them in other colonies; from which,
however, those may equally derive some profit;—and then I shall
endeavour to point out how, in my opinion, they ought to be distributed
and treated, according to the laws, not only of humanity but of common
sense.
I have before observed that in Surinam there are supposed to be on an
average about 75,000 negro slaves of all denominations, which (allowing
them, for the sake of a round number, to amount to 80,000) are here
distributed in the following extraordinary manner, viz. The
plantations, being about 800 in number, though some have but 24
negroes, and others 400, we will suppose them to possess 100 slaves
each, which complement is exactly the above number of 80,000 people.
These are employed in this settlement as follows; the first column of
figures alluding to one estate, the second ditto to eight hundred.
EMPLOYMENTS.
On One On 800
Estate. Estates.
Four boys or male servants to attend about
the house 4 3,200
Maids or female servants to wash, sew,
iron, &c. 4 3,200
A cook for the planter, overseer, &c. 1 800
A fowler, or huntsman, to provide game for
the table 1 800
A fishing negro to provide fish for ditto 1 800
A gardener to provide the table and the
flower garden 1 800
To attend the bullocks and horses on the
estate 1 800
To attend the sheep on the estate 1 800
To attend the hogs on the estate 1 800
To attend the poultry that is on the
estate 1 800
Carpenter negroes, to build, houses,
boats, &c. 6 4,800
Cooper negroes, to make and repair
hogsheads 2 1,600
A mason, to build and repair the brick
foundations 1 800
At Paramaribo, some to trades, others for
shew 15 12,000
A negro surgeon, to attend the sick
negroes 1 800
Sick and incurable, that are in the
hospitals 10 8,000
A nurse for the negro children that cannot
be with their parents 1 800
Children under age, that can do no work of
any kind 16 12,800
Superannuated negroes, worn out by slavery 7 5,600
To work in the fields no more than 25 25 20,000
miserable wretches 25 20,000
--- ------
Total, or compleat number of slaves in the
colony 100 80,000
By this it appears, that no more than 20,000, or only one-fourth of the
whole number, are condemned to do all the labour of the fields, on whom
it may be said chiefly falls the dreadful lot of untimely mortality
that I have formerly mentioned. Now it is evident, that if the 50,000
able-bodied slaves that are in the colony of Surinam were put to equal
drudgery, the mortality, which is now at the rate of five per cent.
would then increase to at least the number of twelve out of every
hundred, and would compleatly extirpate the whole mass in little more
than eight years time.
Having thus at an average demonstrated how they are distributed, I must
briefly observe, that while full 30,000 live better than the common
people of England, and near 30,000 are kept in idleness, and do no work
in the fields; the remaining 20,000 may be classed (that is in general)
among the most miserable wretches on earth; and are worked, starved,
insulted, and flogged to death, without being so much as allowed to
complain for redress, without being heard in their own defence, without
receiving common justice on any occasion, and thus may be considered as
dead-alive, since cut off from all the common privileges of human
society.
I will now proceed, by candidly asking the world, If the above is not
an improper and senseless misapplication, not only of wealth, but of
human life and labour; which, only by a proper distribution and
management, might accumulate the one and relieve the other?
Now would this inconsiderate colony but give up their habits of pride
and luxury, nay, in a moderate degree, 20,000 negroes at least might be
added to those now labouring in the fields, which (providing the whole
were treated with less severity) must at the same time keep the above
superfluous number of idlers employed; and by assisting the others in
their necessary occupations, could not but tend greatly to prevent that
shocking mortality, to which they are at present exposed by unbounded
ill-usage and barbarity.
But every reform must begin at that which is the source of manners as
well as of justice; and those therefore who are entrusted with the
executive government should have no temptation to overlook the breaches
of a law, while it ought to be a sacred and invariable rule never to
allow either the governor or the magistrates of such a colony to be the
proprietors of more slaves than merely a limited number, to attend on
their persons, according to their ranks: since more than once, even to
my observation, it has occurred that those who made, and those who were
appointed to enforce the laws, have been the first that broke them, for
the paltry benefit of causing their negroes to work on a Sunday, or to
follow the bent of their unbounded passions; from which shameful
example from the magistrate, the contagion must necessarily spread
among the individuals.
Let the governor and principal magistrates, therefore, be sent out from
Europe; let them be gentlemen of fortune and education; and, above all,
men of liberal minds, men that are firm and proof against the
allurement of a bribe, or the glittering of gold, and whose passions
are restrained by sentiment and manly feelings. Let these men be
handsomely rewarded by that nation whom they so materially serve, and
the colony which they so conspicuously protect; but let their salaries
be ascertained, without depending on the blood and sweat of the
miserable Africans. Then let such men enact impartial regulations, by
which the negro slaves are to perform no more than their fair task and
labour a reasonable number of hours in the twenty-four: let these be
followed by protecting laws, and let them be no longer racked,
tormented, wantonly murdered, or infamously robbed of all that is dear
to the human affections, their wives and daughters. Let regulations be
adopted, by which they may be properly fed; and attended to when sick
or indisposed; and, above all, let equal justice be administered;
suffer them, when outraged or plundered, to obtain a hearing; permit
them to complain, and enable them to prove by evidence the grievances
by which they are oppressed. Even give them what we so much value
ourselves, AN INDEPENDANT JUDGE, and AN IMPARTIAL JURY, nay, partly
composed of their own sable companions. Thus, would you have them work
and act like men, first suffer them to be such.
When regulations conform to these shall be adopted and enforced, then I
venture to say, that nations will feel the benefit of their
colonies—then planters will become rich, and their overseers become
honest; then slavery will be little more than a name; and subjects
will, with pleasure, fulfil their limited task: then, and not till
then, will population sufficiently encrease for the necessary work, and
the execrable Guinea trade be totally abolished, which is now too
frequently carried on with barbarity and unbounded usurpation. Then the
master will with pleasure look on his sable subjects as on his
children, and the principal source of his happiness, while the negroes
will bless the day their ancestors did first set foot on American
ground.
Having thus, according to my opinion, pointed out the way, and the only
way (if well considered) to redress the grievances of this and many
other colonies, I would also recommend to planters and overseers in
general, to peruse with attention a small work, entitled “Letters to a
young Planter; or Observations on the Management of a Sugar Plantation:
to which is added, the Planter’s Calendar. Written on the Island of
Grenada, by an old Planter,” and published in London in 1785, 8vo.
price One Shilling and Sixpence, and sold by Strachan.
Let them next take an example by that incomparable woman Mrs. Godefroy,
by Mr. Thomas Palmer, and a few others, who consider their slaves as
their fellow-creatures, without paying the smallest regard either to
their paganism or complexion; and who increase both their wealth and
their happiness by their humanity.—I will now once more proceed with my
narrative.
On the 16th, being invited to dine with his excellency the governor, I
laid before him my collection of drawings, and remarks on the colony of
Surinam, which I had the satisfaction to see him honour with the
highest approbation. I then returned him my thanks, not only for the
material assistance he had afforded me in completing this work, but for
the unlimited marks of regard and distinction with which he had treated
me from first to last, during the whole time I resided in Guiana.
Availing myself of his friendship, I ventured, two days after, to give
him the following very uncommon request, praying him to lay it before
the court; which, with a smile on his countenance, and a hearty shake
by the hand, he actually promised me to perform; viz.
“I, the under-subscribed, do pledge my word of honour, (being all I
possess in the world besides my pay) as bail, that if my late
ardent request to the court for the emancipation of my dear boy
Johnny Stedman be granted, the said boy shall never to the end of
his life become a charge to the colony of Surinam.
(Signed) John G. Stedman.”
“Paramaribo,
Feb. 18th, 1777.”
Having now done the utmost that lay in my power, I for several days
waited the result with anxiety, but without meeting with the smallest
hopes of success; thus, with a broken heart, I was obliged at last to
give him (sweet fellow) over for lost, or take him with me to Europe,
which must have been plunging a dagger in the bosom of his mother.
While I remained in this situation, the transport ships were put in
commission on the 26th for our departure, and I myself ordered as one
of the commissaries to see them wooded and watered; the officers were
also cleared their arrears, and thirteen men discharged at their own
desire, to push their fortune at Paramaribo. I ought here not to omit,
that the industrious Colonel Fourgeoud once more paid us all in paper,
by which, as usual, we lost ten per cent.; which, by letting the Jews
have the gold and silver, he prudently lodged in his own pocket; and
while the many hundreds of florins allowed us by government to defray
excise duties, taxes, &c. were never brought to account, or, rather, we
were forbidden to enquire after them at all. These were trifles indeed,
when divided among so many gentlemen; but, in one solid mass, they were
no contemptible picking.
On the 1st of March a serjeant arrived from the camp at the Casseepore
Creek, in Rio Cottica, where the last-arrived troops were hourly dying
away; and brought the almost incredible account, that the man I
mentioned to have been lost in the woods on the 10th of February, was
actually returned, after having been missing six-and-twenty days, nine
of which he subsisted on a few pounds of rusk biscuit, and seventeen on
nothing at all but water. He added, that he had entirely lost his
voice, and was reduced to a perfect skeleton: however, by the care
taken of him by the officers, there were still hopes of his life.
Should any person hesitate to believe this extraordinary fact, let them
read Monsieur Godin’s well-authenticated letter to his friend Monsieur
de la Condamine, wherein he gives an account of the dreadful sufferings
of his lady during her route from Rio Hamba to Laguna, through the
woods of South America, in October 1769; where a delicate woman, after
being deserted by the Indian guides, and after both her brothers had
fallen martyrs to their hardships and misery, subsisted ten days alone
in a wild forest without food, without knowing where she was, and
surrounded with tigers, serpents, and dangers of every description: I
say, let them only read the narrative of this lady’s sufferings, and
their credulity will no longer be staggered at what I myself have
related. I have, indeed, even omitted facts, which, on account of their
singularity, must in the eyes of some have appeared to border on the
marvellous. But in the forests of South America such extraordinary
realities are to be found, that there is assuredly no need to have
recourse to fiction or the least exaggeration.
Who, for instance, would believe, that almost a whole detachment of
eighty marines, one day marching through a thick wood, imagined to a
man that they were stepping one after another over a large fallen tree,
that obstructed their way; till at length it began to move, and proved
to be no other than a full grown serpent of the aboma kind, measuring,
according to Colonel Fourgeoud’s computation, between thirty and forty
feet in length? yet this is an indubitable truth. The above animal was
neither killed nor hurt; the Colonel ordering the remaining party to
form in a half circle and march around it, in order that they
themselves at the same time might escape every danger from the
monster’s matchless strength.
In this place I shall mention another extraordinary circumstance, which
is, that one morning Colonel Fourgeoud resting in his hammock, with one
hand carelessly leaning over the side, a large rattle-snake that lay
coiled up among the long grass which was under it, was actually severed
in two by the sentinel, during the very moment of action that it made a
spring to bite him: of which the soldier, whose name was John
Kiefhaber, had been apprised first by the sound of its rattle, and next
by seeing the snake’s head erected, while it was brandishing its forked
tongue.
As I am treating of these reptiles, I cannot resist the temptation of
inserting a fact, which I learned from Mr. Francis Rowe of
Philadelphia, a respectable old man; who informed me, that riding out
one morning to visit a friend, his horse refused to go forward, being
terrified at a large rattle-snake that lay across the road. Mr. Rowe
having heard of its power of fascination, in which he was a believer,
alighted to lead the animal round it; but during that time the snake,
having coiled himself up, sounded its rattle, and stared him so full in
the face, and with such fire in its eyes, that the cold sweat broke out
upon him; thus, whilst he durst neither retreat or advance, he imagined
himself gradually rivetted to the spot. “However,” continued he, “my
reason remained; and my resolution getting the better of my alarm, I
suddenly approached him, and with one stroke of my cudgel knocked out
his brains.”
On the 3d of March my friend de Graaf sailed for Holland, but first for
St. Eustatia, where his brother was governor; and to my great
satisfaction took with him Joanna’s youngest brother, Henry, for whom
he has since obtained his freedom. I sailed with them down the river as
far as Bram’s Point, and wished them a successful voyage. As I here
went ashore in a fishing-boat, I was tempted to leap into the sea, and
enjoy the cooling and healthy pleasure of swimming in the Atlantic
ocean. The fisher-men having caught a quantity of large fish, I
discovered one among them not yet mentioned in my narrative, this was
the yellow-back, between two and three feet long, thus called from its
colour, which almost resembles that of a lemon, but the belly is white:
the head is very large, with two long barbs; but the body is small, and
without scales, like the cod; it is, however, not near so good, being
coarse and insipid eating. Two other small fishes I also saw in the
boat, the one called here the weepee, resembling a whip-lash; the other
waracoo, which is a delicate eating, but has nothing in its form or
habits deserving a particular description.
The 8th of March, being the Prince of Orange’s birthday, it was
celebrated at the head quarters; where, after dinner, in the court
ledge, hearing Captain Bolts in an undeserved manner censured by the
colonel’s adjutant, for recommending one of the young volunteers of an
excellent character, but who had no friends to support him [51], I
broke through the ring that surrounded them in a passion, and not being
able to restrain myself, publicly reproved the aggressor, even in
Fourgeoud’s presence, when a furious altercation and very high words
immediately ensued; the consequence of which was, that next morning at
sun-rise we walked to the savannah without seconds, where, near the
gallows, we drew our small swords, and after making a few passes at
each other, Captain Van Geurick’s point met my shell, which having
nearly pierced, his blade snapped in two pieces, and the fortune of war
put him entirely in my power. Disdaining, however, to take a mean
advantage, I instantly dropped my small sword, and desired him to step
home and replace his own, in order to renew the battle: but this
proposal he was pleased to call so generous, that taking me by the
hand, he requested a renewal of friendship; thus acknowledging we had
been too hasty on both sides, we went to visit poor Bolts, who knew
nothing of our morning’s walk, and was (though not without difficulty)
persuaded also to enter into the amicable treaty: by which a second
rencounter was happily prevented, and a general reconciliation took
place.
On the 10th, having spent most of the day with the governor, I in the
evening went on board the ships with Captain Bolts, to inspect the
preparations for the voyage; where we found that the mice and rats had
made such havock among our provision, with which we were now very well
stocked, that I was under the necessity of procuring half a dozen cats
to destroy them, which useful animals are in Surinam neither so plenty,
nor so good, as in Europe, being lazy and indolent, on account of the
climate. I observed they were also smaller and ranker, with remarkably
long muzzles and sharp ears.
The following day I was shocked and surprised beyond the power of
expression, at seeing a Miss Jettee de la Mare, daughter to the lately
deceased gentleman of that name, a lovely mulatto girl, aged fourteen,
who had been christened in 1775, and educated as a young lady, dragged
to court in chains, with her mother and a few more of her relations,
the whole surrounded by a military guard. I had almost attempted a
rescue, when, having enquired the cause, she called out to me herself,
weeping most bitterly; and informed me, that “she was going to be tried
by Mr. Schouten, her mother’s master, for refusing to perform the work
of a common slave, which she was utterly unable to perform, and could
never have expected, from the footing upon which she had been educated
till that unhappy moment.”
By the laws of the country, however, she was not only obliged to
submit, but at his desire was condemned, for disobedience, together
with her poor mother, and all her relations, who had presumed to
support her claim to liberty, to be privately whipped; and had it not
been for the humanity of Mr. Wickers, who was at that time the fiscal
or town clerk, and since was governor, this infamous sentence would
most certainly have been put in execution. The unfortunate Miss Jettee
de la Mare was, from this period, nevertheless forced to submit to the
tyranny of her unmanly master, while pitied by all her acquaintance,
and lamented by every stranger that was a witness to the inhuman
transaction.
Such were the fatal consequences of not having been timely emancipated;
and such were they indeed, that they made me tremble for my little boy.
Happily my uneasiness was not of long duration; for, however improbable
and unexpected, I was surprized on the very same day with a polite
message from the governor and the court, acquainting me that, “having
taken my former services into consideration, together with my humanity
and gallantry, in offering my honour as bail to see my child, before I
left him, made a free citizen of the world; they had unanimously
decreed, without farther ceremony or expence, to compliment me with a
letter, which was at the same time officially presented to me,
containing HIS EMANCIPATION FROM THAT DAY, FOR EVER AFTER.”
No man could be more suddenly transported from woe to happiness than I
was at this moment; while his poor mother shed tears for joy and
gratitude; the more so, as we had lost all hopes, and the favour came
perfectly unexpected, and while near forty beautiful boys and girls
were left to perpetual slavery by their parents of my acquaintance, and
many of them without being so much as once enquired after at all.
What is most extraordinary indeed is, that while the well-thinking few
highly applauded my sensibility, many not only blamed, but publicly
derided me for my paternal affection, which was called a weakness, a
whim. So extravagant was my joy on this day, however, at having acted
the reverse part of Inkle to Yarico, that I became like one frantic
with pleasure. I not only made my will in his favour (though, God
knows, I had little to dispose of) but I appointed my friends Mr.
Robert Gordon and Mr. James Gourlay to be my executors and his
guardians during my absence, in whose hands I left all my papers
sealed, till I should demand them again, or they should be informed of
my death: I then ordered all my sheep, poultry, &c. which had
prodigiously encreased, to be transported, and put under their care;
and making a new suit of cloaths for the occasion, which cost me twenty
guineas, I waited on a Mr. Snyderhans, one of the clergymen at
Paramaribo, to appoint a day when my boy, my Johnny Stedman, should be
made a Christian [52].
On the 18th Colonel Fourgeoud’s remaining troops at last came down from
the encampments at Casseepore Creek, and every preparation was made for
our departure. At the same time, the extacy of the few surviving
marines at their quitting this country was so great, having now also
received part of their clearance, that such intemperance, riot, and
disorder ensued as produced the most formidable quarrels between them
and the troops of the Society, till, some being wounded and some being
flogged, peace was finally, though with difficulty, re-established.
This same day a poor sailor, while I was on board, was drowned in my
presence, who fell from the gunwale into the river, with the sheet
anchor, which had been neglected to be lashed to the ringbolts. I
instantly leaped into a boat to try to save him, but could only get his
hat; the man went to the bottom, and never more was seen.
The day of our departure now approached fast, and I gave up my house;
when, at Mrs. Godefroy’s pressing invitation, I spent the few remaining
moments in that which she had prepared for the reception of Joanna and
her boy, in her beautiful garden, charmingly situated under the shade
of tamarind and orange trees; which house she also had neatly furnished
with every accommodation that could be desired, besides allowing Joanna
a negro woman and a girl to attend on her for life. Thus situated, how
blest should I have been in this spot to end my days!—But fate ordained
it otherwise.
On the 22d, I made it my business with Captain Small (who was come down
with leave of absence) to wait on the Reverend Mr. Snyderhans,
according to appointment, but who, to both our great surprize,
peremptorily refused to christen the boy; alledging for his reason,
that as I was going to Holland, I could not answer for his christian
education. We replied, that he was under two very proper guardians: the
blacksmith’s son (for such was this divine) persisted, and we
remonstrated, but to no purpose, for he was just as deaf as his
father’s anvil, and I believe, upon my soul, quite as empty as his
bellows; till at length, wearied out with his fanatical impertinence, I
swore that I would sooner see the boy die a heathen, than christened by
such a blockhead; while my friend Small could not help bellowing on him
a hearty curse, and, slapping the door with a vengeance, we departed.
Feasting and conviviality now prevailed once more at Paramaribo, as on
our first arrival. Grand dinners, suppers, and balls were heard of in
every quarter. But I only visited a few of my select friends, amongst
which number had constantly been Governor Nepveu, and where, for the
last time, I made one of the company at a truly magnificent
entertainment, which ended the scene of liberality and hospitality, for
which the inhabitants of Surinam are so justly conspicuous; and on the
25th the baggage was shipped on board the vessels.
Numberless, indeed, were the presents for the voyage, with which I in
particular was now overstocked from every quarter; and my provisions of
live cattle, poultry, wine, rum, &c. &c. were almost sufficient to
carry me round the globe: amongst the rest, in a small bottle case,
containing liquors, I found a crystal phial filled with essential oil
of orange, and a parcel of what they called here tonquin beans.—The
first is extracted from the rind or peel of the oranges: which is done
here by the tedious and laborious method of squeezing it between the
finger and thumb. A few drops of this on a small piece of sugar, is
said to be an excellent remedy to strengthen the stomach, create an
appetite, and help digestion; and one single drop smells so strong,
that it is sufficient to perfume a whole apartment. The tonquin beans
are said to grow in a thick pulp, something like a walnut, and on a
large tree. I never saw them otherwise than dried, when they bear some
resemblance to a prune or dried plumb, and are made use of to scent
snuff and tobacco, to which they impart a most agreeable odour.
On the 26th, we took our last leave of his Excellency the Governor, en
corps, as assuredly was his due; after which all the officers of the
Society troops waited on Colonel Fourgeoud, at the head quarters, to
wish us a prosperous voyage to Holland, and the day was spent by a
regale, en militaire, viz. a dinner, as usual, of salt provisions; but
I must acknowledge, accompanied with as much good liquor of every kind,
as Surinam could furnish, and a very hearty welcome.
I believe that now a hundred times Fourgeoud shook me by the hand,
declaring, “That there was not a young man he loved better in the
world; that had he commanded me to march through fire as well as water,
he was convinced I should never have left it, without accomplishing his
orders;” with many other fine compliments. But I must candidly
acknowledge, that though I had a heart to forgive, my mind would never
permit me to forget the many and unnecessary difficulties and miseries
to which I had been too wantonly exposed. At the same time he informed
me, that he did not propose to depart with us, but intended to follow
the regiment very soon, with the remains of the last-come relief, when
he would render me every service in his power. Whatever were his real
motives for such a sudden change in his disposition towards me, suffice
it to say, that few people at this time were better friends, than were
the old Colonel Fourgeoud and Captain Stedman.
In the evening I went to take a short farewell of my most valuable
acquaintances, such as Mrs. Godefroy, Mr. and Mrs. Demelley, Mr. and
Mrs. Lolkens, Mr. and Mrs. Gordon, Mr. Gourlay, Captain Mackneal,
Doctor Kissam, &c. who had all (besides Mr. Kennedy and Mr. de Graaf,
now gone to Holland) treated me with the most constant and
distinguished civility since I had been in the colony: but my soul was
too full of a friend that was still dearer, to be impressed with that
sensibility on separating from them, that it must have felt on another
occasion.—And here I cannot in justice omit remarking, that while I
gave the most impetuous vent to my feelings, not the smallest
expression of poignant sorrow, or even of dejection, escaped from
Joanna’s lips; while her good sense and fortitude even restrained the
tear from starting in my afflicted presence. I now once more earnestly
pressed her to accompany me, in which I was seconded by the inestimable
Mrs. Godefroy and all her friends; but she remained equally inflexible,
and her steady answer was as before—“That, dreadful as appeared the
fatal separation, perhaps never more to meet, yet she could not but
prefer remaining in Surinam: first, from a consciousness that, with
propriety, she had not the disposal of herself; and, secondly, from
pride, wishing in her present condition rather to be one of the first
among her own class in America, than a reflection or burthen on me in
Europe, as she was convinced must be the case, unless our circumstances
became one day more independent.” Here Joanna shewed great emotion, but
immediately retired to weep in private.—What could I say or do?—Not
knowing how to answer, or sufficiently to admire her firmness and
resignation, which so greatly exceeded my own, I determined, if
possible, to imitate her conduct, and calmly to resign myself to my
fate, preparing for the fatal moment, when my heart forebode me we were
to pronounce the LAST ADIEU, and separate for ever.
“Zaïre, il est trop vrai que l’honneur me l’ordonne,
Que je vous adorai! que je vous abandonne!
Que je renonce a vous! que vous le désirer!
Que fous un autre loix——Zaïre vous pleurer.”
The whole corps being ordered, at seven o’clock on the morning of the
27th, to wait on Colonel Fourgeoud at the head quarters, I tore myself
away from all that was dear to me in this world without disturbing
them, in order to prevent the tender scene of parting. He then
conducted us to the water-side, where the boats lay in waiting; and we
were immediately embarked, under a general salute, and colours flying,
from the fortress and the vessels in the roads. The whole corps now
having dined on board the staff-ship with Lieutenant Colonel de
Borgnes, Colonel Fourgeoud politely invited me to accompany him back to
town till next morning; but which, with a broken heart, I thought best
to decline. He then took his final leave, and wishing us all a safe and
prosperous voyage to Europe, he returned, under a salute of nine guns
and three cheers, with Captain Van Geurike, his adjutant, back to
Paramaribo.
On the 29th of March, at midnight, the signal-gun being fired, the two
ships got under way, and dropped down till before the fortress New
Amsterdam, where they once more came to an anchor.
Here my friends Gordon and Gourlay, the guardians of my boy, after the
convivial Colonel Seyburg (for such he certainly was) had entertained
them on board his vessel, the Hollandia, affectionately coming to visit
me, they did no less than actually prevail on me to accompany them back
to Paramaribo. My soul could not resist this second invitation of once
more beholding what was so dear to me.—I went, and, must I say
it?—found Joanna, who had displayed so much fortitude in my presence,
now bathing in tears, and scarcely alive, so much was she become the
victim of melancholy and despair. Nor had she partaken of food, or
sleep, since my departure, nor spoken to any living creature, indeed
not stirred from the spot where I had left her on the morning of the
27th.
The ships not being quite ready to go to sea till two days after, I was
prevailed upon to stay on shore a little longer, with poor Joanna and
her boy, which seemed to chear her: But, alas! too dear we paid for
this too short reprieve! since, but few hours had elapsed, when a
sailor abruptly came in, with the message that the ship’s boat lay in
waiting that minute to carry me on board.—At that instant—Heavens! what
were my feelings!—Joanna’s mother took the infant from her arms, the
all-worthy Mrs. Godefroy supporting herself——her brothers and sisters
hung around me, crying, and invoking Heaven aloud for my safety—while
the unfortunate Joanna (now but nineteen) gazing on me, and holding me
by the hand, with a look ten thousand times more dejected than Sterne’s
Maria,—was unable to utter one word!!!——I perceived she was
distracted—the hour was come—I exchanged a ringlet of their hair, and
fondly pressed them both to my bosom:—the power of speech also forsook
me, and my heart tacitly invoked the protection of Providence to
befriend them.—Joanna now shut her beauteous eyes—her lips turned the
pale colour of death—she bowed her head, and motionless sunk in the
arms of HER ADOPTED MOTHER:—Here I roused all my remaining fortitude,
and leaving them surrounded by every care and attention departed, and
bid God bless them!!!
The boat still delaying a few moments, I now stepped up to poor
Fourgeoud, surrounded by my friends, and grasping his veteran hand, I
could not, for my soul, but forgive him all the hardships he had ever
occasioned me.—He was affected.—This was a debt he owed me.—I wished
him every good, and finally rowed down the river Surinam.
At this time the ships were riding off Bram’s Point, where Mr. Texier,
the deputy governor, came on board to wish us a prosperous voyage; and,
after dinner, under a salute of seven guns, together with Captains
Small and Fredericy, who had accompanied me hither, he returned back to
Paramaribo.
CHAP. XXX.
The Ships weigh Anchor, and put to Sea—Review of the Troops—Account
of the Voyage—The Arrival in the Texel—Description of the Pampus
near Amsterdam—Final Debarkation in the Town of Bois-le-Duc—The
Death of Colonel Fourgeoud—End of the Expedition—Short History of
the late Scotch Brigade—Conclusion.
Every thing being at last perfectly adjusted for our departure, both
vessels, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel des Borgnes, weighed
anchor on the morning of the 1st of April, 1777, when, with a fresh
breeze at E. we put to sea, and kept course N. and N. W.—Motionless and
speechless, I hung over the ship’s stern till the land quite
disappeared. After some days, however, by considerable exertions, I got
the better of my melancholy, though not of my affection, and my mind
became once more composed and calm. What chiefly contributed to the
restoring of my peace, was the comfortable reflection, that if I had in
some measure injured myself, I had at least done good to a few others,
by relieving three [53] innocent and deserving young people from a
state of bondage. Yet, for this action, I was assuredly most amply
rewarded by the preservation of my life, principally owing to their
unremitting care and attention, while such numbers fell all around me,
and more were ruined in their constitution, the victims of the climate
and the service, some having lost the use of their limbs, and some of
their memory; nay, one or two were entirely deprived of their mental
faculties, and continued in a state of incurable insanity for ever.
In short, out of the number of near twelve hundred able-bodied men, not
one hundred returned to their friends and their country: and perhaps
not twenty amongst these were to be found in perfect health. Among the
dead were (including the surgeons) between twenty and thirty officers;
three of which number were colonels, and one a major. So very
destructive was the service to Europeans in such a climate; and such
ever must be the result of the most successful operations in the
unwholesome atmosphere of woods and marshes.
One or two remarks I must make before I conclude this subject, which
are:—First, that among the officers and private men who had formerly
been in the West Indies, none died, while among the whole number of
above one thousand privates, I can only recollect one single marine who
escaped from sickness; and next, that of the few belonging to the corps
that were now on their voyage for the Texel (those gentlemen alone
excepted, who at this time belonged to the staff) I myself was the only
officer who had sailed out with the regiment in 1772. This last was a
pleasing reflection indeed, and which could not but render me sincerely
thankful to Providence.
About the 14th of April, having passed the Tropicks, and changed course
to N. N. E. and N. E. we were becalmed for some days. I ought not to
omit that when in about 15 degrees N. latitude, we sailed through what
is vulgarly called the Grass Sea, from its being covered over with a
floating kind of green and yellow weed, called gulph weeds; some of
which, when dried in the sun, and spread between two sheets of paper,
are very curious, resembling trees, flowers, shrubs, &c. and in which
are harboured small crustaceous fish, scollops, muscles, and shells of
many thousand different species. Among the last is often found that
wonderful sea reptile, called the hippocampus, or sea-horse, which I
could compare to nothing better than the chevalier of a chess-board;
though it is generally larger, and sometimes eight or nine inches in
length. The body is composed of cartilaginous rings: the head, snout,
and mane are incrusted all over; and the tail, which is curvated
upwards in the figure of an S, terminates in a point.
On the 19th, the calm still continuing, we were daily entertained by
swarms of flying fish, and several doradoes and grampusses swimming and
tumbling before and after the ships, as if delighting to keep us
company. The grampus is a fish of the cetaceous kind, something
resembling the dolphin, but much larger, and approaching the whale in
size, some being near twenty feet in length, and prodigiously fat. This
fish has forty strong teeth; is of a dark brown colour, and spouts
water with considerable force. We also saw at some distance from the
vessels several times above the water a large north-caper. This fish,
which very much resembles the Greenland whale, is more dangerous, on
account of its being more active, which proceeds from the body being
smaller and flatter than that of the former. The jaw is shorter, with
very small barbs: the skin is whiter, and the produce of its blubber
amounts seldom to more than thirty tons.
About the 22d, the weather began to change considerably, and the whole
ship’s company were attacked with a severe cold and cough, and many
also with the ague.
On the 30th, the crew was so weak as to be hardly able to do their
duty; two of them indeed, and one marine, were already dead and
overboard. Colonel de Borgnes was also at this time so much indisposed,
that the command devolved upon me for a few days during his illness,
when observing the other ship ahead, and almost out of sight, I availed
myself of my commodoreship, by hoisting a flag at the main-top, and
firing a gun to windward to bring her to, which she punctually obeyed.
A large shark now swimming alongside the ship, we did all that lay in
our power to take it, but to no purpose. Sharks are in these seas of
different kinds; but what is generally called the white shark is the
most terrible of its species, on account of its size, weighing often
one thousand pounds, and measuring sixteen or eighteen feet in length;
the head, which is something depressed, is large; it has two spouting
holes, and prominent eyes, which it can turn in every direction, and
bespeak the malignity of its all-devouring nature; nearly under these
are its mouth and throat, of such an enormous size, that it will
swallow a bull-dog: its teeth, which are placed in five or six rows,
are so sharp and strong, that they will snap off a man’s arm or his leg
with ease, which has very frequently happened. The whole shape of this
fish is in every respect like that of the dog-fish, found in the North
Seas, with very strong fins, one dorsal, two ventral, and two
abdominal: the tail is bifurcated, the upper part being longest; the
skin is slimy, rough, and used for what we call shagreen. The shark
always swims with velocity, but must turn upon its side to take its
prey, by which many fish escape its jaws.
The remora, or sucking-fish, is frequently found sticking to sharks,
and to ships bottoms: this fish is ash-coloured, and long, about twenty
inches; the body roundish, and tapering near the tail; the fins are
placed as those of the shark, and the under skin is projecting; its
sucker is, however, what makes it most remarkable, being an oval
gristly plate above its head, with transverse bars, like the palate of
a sheep. This sucker has so much attraction, that no waves, however
violent, can beat it off.—(For both these fishes, see the Plate
annexed.)
The pilot-fish ought here also to be noticed: this is small, with
brilliant colours, and is said not only to feed upon the gills of the
shark, but to direct it to its prey, from which singularity originates
its name.
On the 1st of May, being exactly one month at sea, during which time,
by way of making a trial, I had continued bare-footed and bare-headed,
without catching cold; I this day, for the first time, not only dressed
like my ship-mates, but wore every thing double, and some things
triple, which I found exceedingly comfortable.
About this time a Mr. Neyseus, one of our surgeons, having on board a
crabbodago or grisson (whose ferocity I have already described) to
carry home as a curiosity, the mischievous creature broke loose, and in
one night murdered all the monkies, parrots, poultry, and other animals
that were upon deck, while it drove most of the crew who had the watch
down the hatchway; till luckily one of them with a hand-spike knocked
out his brains.
On the 3d, we had hard gales and heavy showers at S. E. Latitude about
40°. From this time the gale daily encreased, till the ninth, when the
weather began to moderate.
We now saw several porpoises, herring-gulls, &c. The first is a fish
about five or six feet long, excessively fat, of a bluish black colour,
and without scales; the head has small eyes, and no gills, but a long
snout, and sharp teeth. The fins are but one dorsal, and two ventral,
and the tail is horizontal, to enable it to leap above the water, which
it does frequently to blow or breathe, at which time its snorting may
be heard at a great distance. The flesh of the porpoise when killed is
red, and looks like some kinds of pork.
The herring-gull is a bird as large as a tame duck, perfectly white,
part of the beak and prime feathers excepted, which are of a dark
ash-colour; the eyes are grey, the bill and feet are yellow; the claws
are black, and the length of its wings is between four and five feet,
from the extremity of the one to the other.
On the 13th, in the morning-watch, being not far from the Azores or
Western Isles, the vessel was nearly laid on her beam-ends, though then
under double-reefed topsails, by a sudden squall at E. At this time a
broken top-gallant-mast, a new hand-spike, &c. floated past the ship,
the melancholy remains of a shipwreck, which we since were informed to
be a Dutch homeward-bound East Indiaman, that had foundered with all
the crew near the island of Terceira.
On the 14th the wind was violent, carrying away our
fore-top-gallant-mast, and splitting the main-sail, while the other
vessel lost her bowsprit, &c.; and on the evening of the 15th it blew a
perfect storm, accompanied with thunder and lightening, and very heavy
rain, which continued during the night, and which brought our
main-top-mast by the board, while the ship’s crew were so very much
reduced as to be hardly able to clear the wreck, in which I cheerfully
assisted, by cutting away with a hatchet.
The two following days we continued scudding before the wind, with a
reef in the fore-sail, the sea running mountains high, and constantly
breaking over the vessel—pumps going day and night; soon after which we
saluted the Alarm frigate from Holland, which compliment they returned.
At length, the weather becoming fair, we were carried within soundings,
on the 19th, when we hove the lead in ninety fathom water; but the wind
shifting to the N. E. with foul weather, we beat about in the chops of
the Channel, till the morning of the 21st, when at half past one a
signal gun was fired for the other vessel, that we saw the light off
Scilly; and at four o’clock P.M. got the pilot on board.
Having been becalmed two days off Dover, it was the 27th before we
first saw the Dutch coast: here we purchased some excellent fish from a
Schevelin boat, with which we entertained the whole crew, though during
this sea voyage no ship’s company could be better provided.
Having kept off shore during the night, we at last doubled Keykduyn and
the Helder; and on the 28th, at three o’clock P.M. both ships, under a
discharge of nine guns, dropped anchor in the Texel roads.
On the 30th, having passed the small island of Urk, in the Zuyder Sea,
which is the only rock in the province of Holland, both vessels running
before the wind with a fine breeze, premeditatedly stuck fast upon the
Pampus—this is a large bank of soft mire, covered with shoal water, and
not far from Amsterdam, which it naturally protects like a barrier from
all foreign invaders; since all ships whatever must either be lifted
over or dragged through this bank of mud.
The first is done by sinking two concave vessels, called camels, which
being chained together under the bottom of an Indiaman or man-of-war,
of whatever burthen, the water is pumped out of them, when rising
gradually to the surface with their burthen, they carry it to where
there is to be found sufficient depth to keep it afloat.
The second method is practised on smaller vessels, and consists of half
a dozen sail boats, called water-manakins, towing them through the mud,
which can never be done but when straight before the wind: at which
time not only the ship itself, but the boats that have her in tow, must
crowd all the sail they possibly can carry.
On the morning of the 31st, having been becalmed all night, a fresh
breeze at E. again sprung up, when we fired a gun as a signal, and five
or six water-manakins instantly came off, by the help of which we were
dragged over the Pampus, not at the rate of fourteen knots an hour, but
at that of fourteen hours a knot, since we did not get clear of it in
less than three days sailing, though not four miles in length: however,
I must confess, that the last day we had scarcely any wind at all.
During this tedious passage, it was no bad entertainment, to observe
the contrast between some newly-arrived Norwegians and us; those people
sitting upon deck in their shirts, and wiping off the perspiration,
while we were strutting in great coats and fur caps, like so many
Muscovites, to keep us from the cold.
Having at this time received a considerable present of refreshments,
sent by the city of Amsterdam to the deliverers of their favourite
colony, and being so near revisiting their old friends and
acquaintances, all on board were in the highest flow of spirits, and
exulting with gladness—excepting one!—from whose mind every happiness
was banished.
I must here still relate the following singular circumstance: A
man-of-war’s boat coming alongside the Hollandia, the officer and crew
no sooner entered on board, than one of them, without speaking, ran up
aloft, with a knife in his teeth, to cut down the pennant. At this time
Lieutenant Colonel Seyburg, presenting a musquet, and swearing he would
shoot him out of the rigging, the poor fellow came down by the
back-stays like a shot, to our great entertainment; next, having
explained to him that both vessels had been put in commission by the
Prince of Orange, the amazed lieutenant made a handsome apology, and
left the ship.
On the 3d of June, every thing being in readiness, the troops were put
on board six lighters, appointed to transport them to Bois-le-Duc, in
which town they were next to be compleated, and do the duty as part of
the garrison. On leaving the vessels we were once more saluted with
nine guns from each; which having returned with three cheers, we set
sail for the place above mentioned. As we passed in the lighters
through the inland towns, such as Saardam, Haerlem, and Tergow, I
thought them truly magnificent, particularly the glass painting in the
great church of the latter; but their inhabitants, who crouded about
us, from curiosity to see us, appeared but a disgusting assemblage of
ill-formed and ill-dressed rabble, so much had my prejudices been
changed by living among the Indians and blacks: their eyes seemed to
resemble those of a pig; their complexions were like the colour of foul
linen; they seemed to have no teeth, and to be covered over with rags
and dirt. This prejudice, however, was not against these people only,
but against all Europeans in general, when compared to the sparkling
eyes, ivory teeth, shining skin, and remarkable cleanliness of those I
had left behind me. But the most ludicrous circumstance was, that
during all this we never once considered the truly extraordinary figure
that we made ourselves, being so much sun-burnt and so pale, that we
were nearly the colour of dried parchment, by heat and fatigue; and so
thin, that we looked like moving skeletons; to which I may add, that
having lived so long in the woods, we had perfectly the appearance of
wild people; and I in particular, very deservedly, obtained the
characteristic title of le Sauvage Anglois, or the English savage.
In this state we arrived, on the 9th, at the town of Bois-le-Duc, where
the troops were finally disembarked.
“Per varios casus, & tot discrimina rerum,
Pervenimus ad Latium.”———
———“Olim meminisse juvabit.”
Thus ended, perhaps, one of the most extraordinary expeditions that was
ever undertaken by European troops; and to which only the exploits of
the American Buccaneers have any, and even that a very distant,
resemblance.
On our arrival I found that Lieutenant Colonel Westerlo, who went sick
to Europe, in 1773, was not yet quite recovered. This gentleman now
invited me, in company with some others, to dine with him at the public
mess; where, while some Dutch officers complained that the soup was
smoaky, and the beef was tough, we adventurers declared that we never
had tasted a more delicious repast; and at the same time, while they
praised the strawberries, cherries, and other European fruits, we
thought them very indifferent, and greatly inferior to the
avogado-pear, the water-melon, and the pine-apple, to which we had been
lately accustomed—which shews that every thing in this world is only
good or bad by comparison.
The following day we were introduced, on the parade, to the Lieutenant
Governor, General Hardenbrook, and spent the evening at his lady’s card
assembly, where I must acknowledge I was charmed with some very sweet
faces, fresh as the rose and the lily, while they were no less
entertained with our grotesque appearance, though we had now borrowed
the assistance of powder and pomatum.
On the 18th the troops were finally cleared with, and paid their
remaining arrears, and those who chose it permitted to return to their
former regiments. Some of the privates had from thirty to forty pounds
to receive, which, sailor-like, having earned it like horses, they
spent like asses. Among others, a young fellow of my company, whose
late regiment chanced to be quartered in the very same town, hired
three post-chaises to carry him the length of one street only, ordering
a couple of drunken fiddlers in the first, his knapsack in the second,
and placing himself in the third, supported by a brace of the frail
sisterhood: he was, however, unfortunately shipwrecked in his course,
being run foul of by the major de place, who, having broken the
fiddles, and set the ladies adrift, towed the roaring adventurer
himself, after a hard tug, to the quarter-guard, where he came to an
anchor in the bilboes, till the gale of his dissipation was quite
spent, and he had got rid of all his cargo. In a similar manner went
most of the money which had been earned with so much danger, hardship,
and fatigue.
Now came the time to keep my long-made resolution of bidding a lasting
farewell to Colonel Fourgeoud’s regiment; from which, on the 10th day
of August, I obtained my free dismission, having requested it,
immediately after my debarkation, from the Prince of Orange, who at the
same time honoured me with a fresh Captain’s commission in the
Honourable General Stuart’s regiment, which I had left in September
1772; while from that date to this very day my full pay had amounted to
little more than four hundred and fifty pounds sterling, having
regularly been stopped out of this sum ten pounds per annum for the
putrid beef, pork, rusk-bread, and hard pease, that so miraculously had
kept soul and body together.
Let me not, however, be considered as wishing to cast a reflection on
the Dutch nation in general, who indeed omitted nothing for our
preservation and encouragement during this long and painful service: a
people whose virtues have been for ages as conspicuous as their
valour—one man alone was the cause of all our sufferings.
Having now exchanged my blue coat for a scarlet one, bought a very
handsome horse, and put Quaco in a brilliant livery, I for the last
time entertained my ship-mates, with whom, without exception, I drank
an everlasting friendship: then taking my final farewell of them all, I
the next morning set out to rejoin the old Scotch regiment, where I was
received with the strongest marks of joy and unfeigned friendship by
the corps.
Going now to take my leave of Surinam, after all the horrors and
cruelties with which I must have hurt both the eye and the heart of the
feeling reader, I will close the scene with an emblematical picture of
Europe supported by Africa and America, accompanied by an ardent wish
that in the friendly manner as they are represented, they may
henceforth and to all eternity be the props of each other. I might have
included Asia, but this I omitted, as having no connection with the
present narrative: we only differ in colour, but are certainly all
created by the same Hand. Thus, if it has not pleased fortune to make
us equal in rank and authority, let us at least use the superiority we
possess with moderation, and not only proffer that happiness which we
have to bestow on our equals, but let us extend it with chearfulness to
the lowest of our deserving dependants.
On the 25th of August I repaired to the palace of Loo, in Guelderland,
where, by the Colonel of the regiment, I was introduced to his Serene
Highness the Stadtholder; who not only was pleased to give me a
gracious reception, remarking, that by my looks I must have suffered
much, but soon after promoted me to the rank of Major in the same
Scottish regiment.
As I had now the pleasure also to see a few others of my fellow
sufferers recompensed after their hardships, I had reason to think the
less of our former troubles; thus, instead of indulging in censure, I
found a more solid consolation in the triumph of truth, which was
brought to light without my farther interference.
“Magna est veritas & prevalebit.”
On the 24th of September I went to the Hague, where I presented his
Serene Highness with eighteen figures in wax, made by myself, for his
museum, which were most graciously accepted. They represented the free
Indians of Guiana, and negro slaves of Surinam, engaged in different
occupations, on an island, supported by a crystal mirror, and
ornamented with gold.
I now also, with his own consent, made a present of my faithful black
boy, Quaco, to the Countess of Rosendaal, to whose family I was under
very great obligations; and who since, on account of his honesty and
sober conduct, not only christened him, by the name of Stedman, at my
desire, but promoted him to be their butler, with a promise to take
care of him as long as he lived; which was particularly grateful to me,
being such advantages as I could never have procured for him myself.
Here I cannot omit an anecdote of attachment in this boy:—Having set
out by myself on a short journey, I found a crown-piece more than I
expected in my purse, and for which I was at a loss to account; till on
my return, when I questioned Quaco, he said, “that fearing I might be
short of cash, where people seemed so fond of it, he had put his
five-shilling piece in my pocket.”—This action was the more generous,
not only in the manner it was done, but being at that time the only
crown poor Quaco possessed in this world.
About the latter end of October, I was offered by the directors of the
settlement to be sent over as a lieutenant governor to the colony of
Berbicè, situated next to Surinam. In consequence, I immediately went
to Amsterdam, to wait on them, and hear the proposals, in which they
indeed offered me a higher salary, and greater advantages, than they
had ever offered to any other gentleman in that situation; but I
insisted on having either the government if I survived, or a decent
pension after a certain number of years at my return; which being out
of their power, they said, to grant, I declined accepting of the offer
altogether, judging it more prudent to recover my health and vigour in
Europe with a Scottish company, than to parch any longer under the
Torrid Zone, without a prospect of settling at home with honour and a
competent fortune. Nor was it long before I perfectly recovered, and
became as stout and healthy as I had ever been in all my life: a
happiness of which not one among one hundred of my late ship-mates
could boast.
Among others, poor Colonel Fourgeoud did not long enjoy his good
fortune; for he was scarcely arrived in Holland, with the remaining few
who stayed some time behind us, than his beloved ptisan having failed
him, he was one morning found dead in his bed, attended only by a
negro, and buried with military honours at the Hague.
Not long after this, expired also in Surinam Fourgeoud’s mortal enemy,
the Governor of the colony; which vacancy was most worthily filled up
by Colonel Texier, and since by the deserving Mr. Wichers [54].
From this period nothing worth recording occurred till the year 1782,
when the Emperor of Germany having retaken the barrier towns from the
States of Holland, General Stuart’s regiment was the last that
evacuated the city of Namur, and on the same day the Imperial troops
marched in to take possession: after which the Emperor ordered, in the
year 1783, all the fortifications to be demolished. Soon after this,
the Scotch brigade, the privates of which now consisted of all nations,
was naturalized by the States of Holland, that is, formed into three
Dutch regiments, on account of the war with Great Britain; and this
circumstance induced myself and most of the principal officers
immediately to resign—as we refused to serve against our King and
Country.
Having thus left the Dutch service, on which day, by the Prince of
Orange, I was complimented with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, the
above gentlemen went to England, where, in consequence of their
loyalty, they were taken under his Britannic Majesty’s protection; and,
on the 18th of June, eleven of them, of which number I was so happy to
make one, were, by General Conway, introduced at St. James’s, where we
had the honour to kiss his Majesty’s hand.
On the 27th of the same month, the half-pay was voted for them all by
the British House of Commons, according to the rank in which each
individual had actually served while abroad [55].—But, that the reader
may have some idea of what is meant by the Scotch Brigade, and of what
they formerly consisted, I will beg leave to insert the following
particulars:
“In 1570 this ancient corps first landed in Holland, as independent
companies, commanded by some of the first noblemen in Scotland.
“In the year 1578 their gallant behaviour, together with the English,
at the battle of Reminat, near Mechlin, is mentioned particularly by
Strada.
“In 1579 Menin was surprised, and the Spanish and Walloon guards taken
prisoners by Colonel Balfour, with his regiment alone.
“In 1588, at the memorable blockade of Bergen-op-Zoom by the Prince of
Parma, the Scots, under the command of General Balfour and Colonel
Scott, made a sortie, and demolished the greatest part of the Spanish
lines, by which the enemy were forced to break up the siege, with
considerable loss of men and ammunition.
“In 1590, at the siege of Zutphen-Deventer, Nimeguen and Hulst, their
bravery is well known.
“In 1593 they shared so much of the glory at the taking of
Gertrudenberg, that both General Balfour and his regiment were highly
distinguished by Prince Maurice. The general he made governor to
command the garrison, instead of his brother Prince Henry; and the
regiment he appointed, as the most spirited corps, to defend it.
“In 1599, at the taking of Bommel, the Scots suffered most
considerably.
“In 1600 two field officers, eight captains, with above six hundred
private men, were left dead on the field, after the famous Battle of
the Downs, near Nieuport, where both they and the English behaved with
the greatest gallantry; and to the valour of these united bands was
attributed the success of the day.
“In 1601, at the siege of Ostend, which lasted three years, and at
which was levelled the whole power of Spain, nothing could equal the
valour and courage both of the Scotch and English, the first commanded
by Generals Balfour and St. Clair, the latter by Lords Willoughby and
Vere; who, after a great slaughter of the Spaniards (including all
their best officers) forced the assailants to raise the siege, and
retreat with great shame and confusion.
“During the government of the three first Princes of Orange, William,
Maurice, and Frederick-Henry, the Scotch behaved with so much bravery,
honour and reputation, that by the last prince (besides many other
marks of distinction which he conferred on them) they were called the
bulwarks of the republick.
“The necessary limits of this chapter compel me to omit many memorable
services which were rendered by this distinguished body of men to the
provinces of Holland; but I cannot overlook the last siege of
Bergen-op-Zoom by the French, in 1747; where, while others shamefully
ran away, one regiment of Scots in the middle of the town, having twice
repulsed the enemy, fought alone till they were nearly cut to pieces,
leaving fifteen officers and above five hundred privates on the
field.”—Such is the history of the late Scotch brigade in the Dutch
service; and such were the outlines of its military character, till the
day of its dissolution, in 1783.
I must now draw this narrative to a conclusion, by once more mentioning
the name of Joanna, and acquaint the reader, that, alas!——Joanna is no
more!!!——
In the month of August 1783, I received the melancholy tidings from Mr.
Gourlay (which pierced me to the soul) that on the fatal fifth of
November this virtuous young woman departed this life, as some
suspected by poison [56], administered by the hand of jealousy and
envy, on account of her prosperity, and the marks of distinction which
her superior merit had so justly attracted from the respectable part of
the colony.
But she is no more!—Reader!—the virtuous Joanna, who so often saved my
life, is no more!!!—Her adopted mother, Mrs. Godefroy, who bedewed her
beauteous body with tears, ordered it to be interred with every mark of
respect, under the grove of orange-trees where she had lived. Her
lovely boy was sent to me, with a bill of near two hundred pounds, his
private property, by inheritance from his mother.—Soon after which
expired both his very faithful guardians.
This CHARMING YOUTH, having made a most commendable progress in his
education in Devon, went two West India voyages, with the highest
character as a sailor; and during the Spanish troubles served with
honour as a midshipman on board his Majesty’s ships Southampton and
Lizard, ever ready to engage in any service that the advantage of his
king and country called for.—But, Oh!—he also is no more, having since
perished at sea off the island of Jamaica.
The effect which the following lines had on the sympathetic and
ingenious Mrs. Cowley, could alone induce me to intrude them on the
Public.—Let this be my apology——Oh! more than bitter task!!!——
An Elegy ON MY SAILOR.
Loud sounds the tempest!—peals of thunder roar;
Tremendous lightnings flash from shore to shore:
Seas dash the shaking rocks—seas mount the flaming sky,
And elements convuls’d, speak dissolution nigh.
Such scenes as these (while tossing on the waves,
True to his duty still) the manly sailor braves;
Such was my Boy—(whose eyes could never weep
But for his neighbour’s woes) now swallow’d in the deep.
Oh! agonizing pain—pain never felt before—
My manly boy—my John—my Sailor is no more;
Still let me mourn with hope——and God adore:
With hope, to see my sailor once again
Floating on seas of bliss, thro’ th’ azure main:
Till then a short farewell—my lovely boy,
Thy shipmates darling, and thy father’s joy.
Yet one small comfort soothes (while doom’d to part,
Dear gallant youth!) thy parent’s broken heart;
No more thy tender frame, thy blooming age,
Shall be the sport of Ocean’s turb’lent rage:
No more thy olive beauties on the waves
Shall be the scorn of some European slaves;
Whose optics, blind to merit, ne’er could spy
That sterling worth could bloom beneath a western sky.
No more, my dear—no more—(while such were scar’d)
Undaunted shalt thou rock upon the yard;
There, while the silver moon gleam’d thro’ the gale,
With manly skill and courage hand the sail.
When Fame, who scann’d the value of her Tar,
Did make thee shine on board a man-of-war
With honor [57]—while, with equal glory fir’d,
To please a parent, brother, friend, thou e’er aspir’d;
Till Death—relentless Death—none can withstand,
To cut thy cable————gave the LAST COMMAND!!!
Soar now, my angel, to thy Maker’s shrine,
There reap that prize, due to such worth as thine.
Fly, gentle shade—fly to that blest abode,
There view thy mother—and adore thy God:
There, Oh! my Boy!——on that celestial shore,
Oh! may we gladly meet—and part no more!!!
A Parent.
And now farewell, my friends, who have been pleased to peruse this
narrative of my distresses with sympathetic sensibility; particularly
those whose goodness of heart can forgive my inaccuracies and
foibles.—I say, farewell: claiming no other merit whatever throughout
these pages, than that of having spoke the simple truth; which, if I
wilfully have violated, may these volumes perish, and be forgotten with
their author!—But should this treasure, TRUTH, so rarely to be met
with, be found in this performance:—
“Let one poor sprig of bays around my head
Bloom while I live; and point me out when dead.”
THE END.
DIRECTIONS FOR PLACING THE PLATES.
VOL. II.
Plate XLI. View of the Hope and Clarenbeck, in Comewina facing Page 4
—— XLII. The Quato and Sarcawinkee Monkeys 10
—— XLIII. Sprig of the Arnotta or Roucou Tree 20
—— XLIV. The blue and crimson Butterfly, and Palm-tree Worms 22
—— XLV. The Anamoe and green Parrots of Guiana 32
—— XLVI. The Wood Rat, and Crabbo-dago or Grisson 42
—— XLVII. The Dago Fissee, and the Newmara Fish 46
—— XLVIII. The Jaguar and Tiger Cat of Surinam 50
—— XLIX. A Surinam Planter in his Morning Dress 56
—— L. The Mountain Cabbage and Maureecee Tree 68
—— LI. View of Magdenberg and Calays, in Cosaweenica 71
—— LII. Limes, Capsicum, Mammy Apple, &c. 74
—— LIII. A rebel Negro armed, and on his Guard 88
—— LIV. Manner of Bush-fighting, and Gradation of Shades 98
—— LV. March through a Swamp in Terra Firma 104
—— LVI. Plan of the principal Field of Action 126
—— LVII. The Murine Oppossum and Vampier Bat 142
—— LVIII. The Agouti and spotted Cavey 152
—— LIX. The Hippopotamus and Manati of Guiana, 176
—— LX. The Camp at Java Creek, and Encampment at Jerusalem 182
—— LXI. Indian Female of the Arrowauka Nation 190
—— LXII. Green Butterfly and Rattle Snake, &c. 196
—— LXIII. Sprig of the Cacao Tree 208
—— LXIV. Musk and Water Melons, and Pine Apple 214
—— LXV. The Humming Bird, with its Nest, &c. 220
—— LXVI. Manner of catching Fish by the Spring Hook, &c. 228
—— LXVII. The yellow Woodpecker, &c. 234
—— LXVIII. A Family of Loango Negroes 280
—— LXIX. Musical Instruments of the African Negroes 286
—— LXX. View of the Jews Savannah, and Mount Blue Bergh 292
—— LXXI. Execution of breaking on the Rack 296
—— LXXII. Sprig of the Indigo Plant 304
—— LXXIII. Manner of sleeping in the Woods—the Cottage 324
—— LXXIV. The Tamandua and Coati Mondi 328
—— LXXV. The Spoonbill and Crane of Guiana 343
—— LXXVI. The celebrated Graman Quacy 348
—— LXXVII. Sprig of the Coffee Tree 353
—— LXXVIII. Plan of a regular Coffee Plantation 354
—— LXXIX. The Shark and Remora fish 384
—— LXXX. Europe, supported by Africa and America 394
ERRATA.
VOL. II.
Page 16, line 7, for Tisan, read Ptisan.
28, — 15, — Siliqua-hirsuta, — Siliqua hirsulæ.
31, — 13, — Ajuriicura, — Ajurucura.
51, — 10, — Jaguanetta, — Jaguaretta.
59, — 22, — Godfrey, — Godefroy.
127, — 13, — dele and as was mentioned.
141, — 6, — thighs — feet.
153, — 8, — warrabosena, — warrabocerra.
174, — 12, — de Cabaines, — de Cabanus.
186, — 4, — Beekslied, — Beekvlied.
186, — 10, — Passary, — Passessy.
214, — 19, — Hemmet, — Hamell.
235, — 10, — the back, — the bark.
315, — 4, — Saardan, — Saardam.
319, — 19, — Okeor, — Okero.
NOTES
[1] It is most probable, that Ulloa took the account from Acosta’s
History of the West Indies. This is his account, taken from a
translation printed in 1604.
“They leap where they list, winding their tails about a branch to shake
it, when they will leap farther than they can at once; they use a
pretty device, tying themselves by the tails one of another, and by
this means make as it were a chain of many, then do they launch
themselves forth.”
Acosta does not say he saw this himself; but to the following he
professes he was an eye-witness. These are his words—“I saw one in
Carthagene, in the governor’s house, so taught, as the things he did
seemed incredible. They sent him to the tavern for wine, putting the
pot in one hand and the money in the other; they could not possibly get
the money out of his hand before he had his pot full of wine. If any
children met him in the street, and threw stones at him, he would set
his pot down and cast stones against the children, till he had assured
his way; then would he return to carry home his pot. And, which is
more, although he were a good bibber of wine, yet he would never touch
it till leave was given him.”
[2] The Dutch edition. Vol. XV.
[3] Without the consent of parents, brothers, and sisters, no
respectable slaves are individually sold in Surinam.
[4] I have already mentioned that Joanna was by birth a gentleman’s
daughter from Holland; and her mother’s family were most distinguished
people on the coast of Africa.
[5] It is a maxim with the rangers to chop off the right hand of every
rebel negro they kill, for which they receive twenty-five florins; and
for every one they send in alive fifty florins; also for finding a town
or village one thousand florins Hollands.
[6] The negroes have a savage custom of mangling and tearing the dead
bodies of their enemies; some even devouring part of them with their
teeth, like the Caribbee Indians.
[7] This, I apprehend, is the snake which Dr. Bancroft calls the small
Labora, and which he mentions as having killed a negro in less than
five minutes when he was at Demerara.
[8] By this is meant minute-guns, which are fired on the estates when
in danger. These, being regularly answered by the neighbouring
plantations, soon alarm the whole river, and bring assistance from
every quarter.
[9] In Vol. IV. plate the 83d, by the Count de Buffon, a bat is
represented with only three toes on each wing.
[10] By some called the Hippopotamus of South America, which I will
describe in a proper place.
[11] See Buffon’s Natural History, Vol. V. page 39.
[12] This was the more surprising, as we were at peace with all the
Indians, and scalping was never practised by the negroes.
[13] All sailors, soldiers, and negroes are particularly miserable
without tobacco: it keeps up their spirits, they say, and some almost
prefer it to bread.
[14] That is, one of the rowers beating the water with his oar at every
stroke, in such a manner that it sounds different from the rest, to
which the others sing a chorus.
[15] This he absolutely held as the best regimen for health,
notwithstanding he had brought three cooks from Europe.
[16] This, at other times, they supply by a shell, a fish-bone, or the
tooth of a tiger, &c.
[17] The general traffick carried on between all the Indian nations and
the Europeans consists in balsam-capivi, arroco-cerra, oil of carrabba,
arnotta, and bees-wax, besides pieces of Brazil and ebony; the roots
hiaree and varnillas, canoes, hammocks, slaves, monkies, parrots, and
paroquets; for which they receive fire-arms, knives, hatchets,
fish-hooks, combs, coral and glass beads, blue cotton, looking-glasses,
&c.
[18] I have mentioned before that the Indians are exempt from pain in
labour.
[19] This is however extremely uncommon, as a more peaceable people
does not exist in the universe.
[20] The New Zealanders call their clubs pato-patoo; which affinity is
remarkable, on account of their very great distance.
[21] See a letter to the editors of the New Universal Magazine for
October 1787.
[22] How Madam Merian should call this reptile an oviparous viper,
surpasses my comprehension.
[23] The King’s demand was negatived by the States of Holland.
[24] Sugar pays about 3 l. per barrel, and coffee about as much per
thousand; other commodities in proportion.—N.B. This I insert
unauthenticated, thus errors excepted.
[25] There are some years but four, and some ten, &c.
[26] I have said they can make no rum here; neither do they refine
sugar.
[27] Mr. Hartzink mentions four horses, but this is a mistake.
[28] Drs. Bancroft and Brooke say, the leaf is light above and dark
below, which in my original drawing is quite the reverse.
[29] The above names, with such as Nero, Pluto, Charon, Cerberus,
Proserpine, Medusa, &c. are usually given to negro slaves, in exchange
for Quacco, Quacy, Quamy, Quamina, Quasiba, Adjuba, &c.
[30] It is to be remarked, that though Europeans look pale under the
torrid zone, the native inhabitants have often a freshness peculiarly
engaging, particularly mulattoes and quaderoons.
[31] The latter gentleman, in the year 1783, sailed from the Texel to
the Molucca islands; where, as commander in chief, he killed the king
of Pongue, with his three sons, and 600 men; and dethroned also the
king of Salangoo, whose land he captured for the Dutch East-India
Company, besides taking 127 pieces of cannon, &c.
[32] See Vol. II. page 69. plate L.
[33] This gentleman a little before his departure shewed me a letter
from the unhappy youth Campbell; which, after thanking him for every
civility, and acquainting him with his dissolution (which he had felt
approach) was signed, “Your’s to eternity, R. C.;” and to his father he
had wrote the same.
[34] This is well known to be the case with many other animals, as
rabbits, mice, &c. that are perfectly white, to have their eyes
blood-coloured.
[35] This tree grows to a considerable height and thickness, very
straight, and covered with a strong grey prickly bark. The boughs
spread very much, with small digitated leaves. The cotton, which it
produces triennally, is neither white nor plentiful, which, makes it
little sought after. It bears some resemblance to the British oak, the
largest of which it surpasses both in elegance and magnitude.
[36] This creature is from three to five feet long, and perfectly
harmless; it has not the least apprehension of being hurt even by man;
while the unparalleled brilliancy of its colours may be another
inducement for the adoration of the negroes.
[37] See the 58th Psalm, ver. 4, and 5: “They are like the deaf adder,
that stoppeth her ear; which will not hearken to the voice of charmers,
charming never so wisely.”—Jerem. chap. viii. ver. 17,—and the Book of
Ecclesiastes, chap. x. ver. 11, &c.
[38] It is a well-known fact, that a negro, having been ill-treated by
the family in which he lived as a servant, one day took the following
desperate revenge:—The master and mistress being from home, he, having
locked all the doors, at their return presented himself with their
three fine children on the platform on the top of the house. When asked
why he did not give admittance, he only answered by throwing an infant
baby to the ground: they threatened—he tossed down the brother: they
intreated, but to no purpose, the third sharing the same fate, who all
lay dead at their parents’ feet—then calling out to them that he was
now fully revenged, leaped down himself, and dashed out his own brains
amongst the amazed spectators.——Another stabbed the inoffensive husband
to be revenged on the guilty wife; declaring, that to kill herself was
only temporary, but to lose all that was dear to her must be eternal
bitterness, while to himself it was the sweetest satisfaction.
[39] After the most scrupulous enquiry, and even ocular demonstration,
I can assert the above as literally true.
[40] We are told Job did the same.
[41] Witness Jas Jackson, the equestrian rider, London, &c.
[42] By a law passed in the council of Jamaica, the punishment of a
negro is usually limited to twelve lashes, but never exceeding
thirty-nine. In Surinam I have known two hundred inflicted on a female;
and was once the unfortunate occasion of seeing it immediately
repeated. (See Plate XXXV. Vol. I.)
[43] At Demerary, so late as October, 1789, thirty-two wretches were
executed in three days, sixteen of whom suffered in the manner just
described, with no less fortitude, and without uttering one single
complaint.
[44] The above unhappy people were poisoned by their slaves about six
years after this happened.
[45] For minute particulars I cannot do better than refer the curious
to Mr. Belknap’s History of New Hampshire; where he describes the
insurrection of the American Indians, which are almost perfectly
similar to those of the African negroes.
[46] See the above route, and all the others to Gado-Saby, in Plate
LVI. where they are by different lines distinctly marked.
[47] The above captain and his crew were since set at liberty, having
been ransomed by the Dutch.
[48] Should it be remarked that during this expedition some
unchristian-like expressions have escaped, let it be at the same time
recollected, that while surgeons and even cooks, though both of little
use, had been provided, nothing like a parson was ever seen amongst us,
from the day we sailed from the Texel.
[49] See in Chapter XXV. the manner in which I myself discovered a
thief.
[50] In 1554, the coffee berry first came to Constantinople from
Arabia.—About the middle of the 16th century it was introduced in
London; and in 1728, by Sir Nicholas Laws, it was planted in the island
of Jamaica.
[51] A Mr. Sheffer, already named, who had served with honour from
first to last, on the pay of a private soldier, during this painful
expedition.
[52] I should not here omit to mention that in the colony of Surinam
all emancipated slaves are under the following restrictions, viz.
They are (if males) bound to help in defending the settlement against
all home and foreign enemies.
No emancipated slave, male or female, can ever go to law at all against
their former master or mistress.
And finally, if any emancipated slave, male or female, dies in the
colony, and leaves behind any possessions whatever, in that case one
quarter of the property also goes to his former owners, either male or
female.
[53] Joanna, Johnny, and Quaco.
[54] This gentleman having also resigned, I have the pleasure to
acquaint my readers, that in the year 1792, that gallant officer, Mr.
F. Fredericy (so frequently mentioned in this narrative) and who had
some time before re-entered into the service of the Society troops, was
appointed Governor of the colony of Surinam.
[55] The above gentlemen, who were looked upon as being the real
representatives of his Majesty’s Scotch brigade, had their loyalty
further rewarded by the revival of that old and honourable corps in
Britain, which was since re-embodied under the command of General
Francis Dundas, and sent to garrison Gibraltar.
[56] Her emancipated brother Henry underwent the same melancholy fate.
[57] Since the above lines were written, the last of his commanders,
the gallant Captain John Hutt, lost his life in the memorable action,
fought under Admiral Lord Howe, against the French, on the 1st of June
1794.—This officer loved my Sailor well; nor was he less esteemed by
Captain Richard Keates, from whom he had the honour to receive his
first naval education.
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