Here we remarked a variety of beautiful _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 1 (of 2)

of an azure blue, which are exceedingly large, and between the showers

skimmed and hovered amongst the green boughs, to which their

ultramarine hue, brightened by the sun, bore the most enchanting

contrast: but as I could not catch one of them while I staid here, I

must defer the farther description to another part of the work.

This evening we heard the sound of a drum, which we could suppose to be

no other than that of the rebels; nevertheless we determined to

continue dressing our victuals ashore, still keeping on our guard,

according to the advice of Mr. Kleynhans.

On the 9th Mr. Macdonald was much worse; however, on seeing me receive

a letter from Colonel Fourgeoud, he seemed to revive, as we all did,

expecting now to be relieved from our horrid situation. But what was

our mortification, at reading that we were still to continue on this

forlorn station! This letter was accompanied by a present of fish-hooks

and tackle, to make up for the deficiency of other refreshments; and,

indeed, of salt provisions, which began daily to get both worse and

less—

Timeo Danæos et dona ferentes.

The receipt of such unwelcome intelligence made the whole crew declare

they were sacrificed for no manner of purpose; while the negroes

sighed, pronouncing the words, Ah! poty backera! Oh! poor Europeans! By

the distribution however of a few tamarinds, oranges, lemons, and

Madeira wine, which were by this opportunity sent me by my best friend

at Paramaribo, I found means to impart, not only to my officers, but

also to my drooping soldiers, some relief. But this cheering sun-shine

could not last long: and the day following we were as much distressed

as ever, when I had once more recourse to the nimble inhabitants of the

forest, and brought down two monkies with my gun from the top of the

mangroves, where they were sporting in flocks consisting of some

hundreds.

On the 11th, I sent two men sick to the hospital, and the same evening

we again heard the drums. On the following day, at noon, we were

disturbed by a hurricane; the Charon broke loose from her anchors, and

was driven ashore, her upper works being terribly damaged by the stumps

of trees, &c. that hung over the river, while the water from the clouds

broke in upon us like a torrent, and I expected no less than a

shipwreck.

On the 15th the other officer, Lieutenant Baron Owen, came down sick

from the Cerberus, and at his request I ventured to send him down to

Paramaribo. I now received another letter from Colonel Fourgeoud, with

a little money for the men to purchase refreshments, where nothing was

to be met with: but not a word intimating that we were to be relieved.

On the 20th I received a report, that the Cerberus, having only four

private men left, had retired to the post at La Rochelle; and, on the

21st, I sent two of my men to her assistance, and ordered her back to

her former station.

I now was myself at last attacked with a fever, and upon the whole felt

myself in a truly distressed condition; deprived by sickness of my two

only officers, and my serjeant. My men upon the three stations (viz.

the two barges and Devil’s Harwar together) melted down to fifteen,

from the number of forty-two, without a surgeon, or refreshment,

surrounded with a black forest, and exposed to the mercy of relentless

enemies; who must be formidable indeed, should they be informed by any

means of our defenceless situation. The remaining few were, with truth,

declaring they were doomed to destruction; insomuch, that they could

with difficulty be prevented from mutiny, and from proceeding down the

river Cottica with the Charon against my orders.

For my own part, I was not altogether free from uneasiness. In fact, a

few troops from all quarters ought to have marched against the enemy,

when they crossed the Patamaca Creek; that is, from La Rochelle,

Devil’s Harwar, and the river Pirica; when, being assailed at once from

three quarters, the rebels might have been, if not entirely routed, at

least severely punished for their presumption: not to speak of the

happy effect which such a check must have had in saving the lives and

property of those victims, who, after such incursions, are generally

devoted to their rage.

On the 23d I felt myself rather better; and between the fits of the

fever shot a couple of large black monkies to make some broth, to

supply the want of fresh provisions; but as the destruction of one of

these animals was attended with such circumstances, as for ever after

had almost deterred me from going a monkey-hunting, I must beg leave to

relate them as they happened:—Seeing me on the side of the river in the

canoe, the creature made a halt from skipping after his companions, and

being perched on a branch that hung over the water, examined me with

attention, and the strongest marks of curiosity: no doubt, taking me

for a giant of his own species; while he chattered prodigiously, and

kept dancing and shaking the bough on which he rested with incredible

strength and agility. At this time I laid my piece to my shoulder, and

brought him down from the tree into the stream;—but may I never again

be a witness to such a scene! The miserable animal was not dead, but

mortally wounded. I seized him by the tail, and taking it in both my

hands to end his torment, I swung him round, and hit his head against

the side of the canoe; but the poor creature still continued alive, and

looking at me in the most affecting manner that can be conceived, I

knew no other means to end this murder, than to hold him under water

till he was drowned, while my heart felt sick on his account: for his

dying little eyes still continued to follow me with seeming reproach,

till their light gradually forsook them, and the wretched animal

expired. I felt so much on this occasion, that I could neither taste of

him nor his companion, when they were dressed, though I saw that they

afforded to some others a delicious repast.

That monkies, especially when young, are no bad food, may easily be

accounted for, since they feed on nothing but fruits, nuts, eggs, young

birds, &c.; and indeed, in my opinion, all young quadrupeds are

eatable: but when one compares those which are killed in the woods to

those filthy and disgusting creatures that disgrace the streets, no

wonder that they should disgust the least delicate stomach. As for the

wild ones, I have eaten them boiled, roasted, and stewed, and found

their flesh white, juicy, and good: the only thing that disgusted me

was, their little hands and their heads, which when dressed, being

deprived of the skin, appeared like the hands and the skull of a young

infant. I have already observed that there are in Guiana many different

species, from the large ourang-outang to the very small sarcawinkee.

The former, however, I never have seen, nor heard described, while I

was in this country; as for the latter, I shall describe him on another

occasion, and shall only, for the present, give an account of those

which I met with on this cruise. That which I shot the second instant

is what is called in Surinam micoo: it is nearly the size of a fox, and

of a reddish grey colour, with a black head and very long tail. Those I

killed on the tenth were indeed exceedingly beautiful, and much more

delicate when dressed than the former: they are called the

keesee-keesee by the inhabitants, are about the size of a rabbit, and

most astonishingly nimble. The colour of their body is reddish, and the

tail, which is long, is black at the extremity; but the fore-feet are

orange colour. The head is very round, the face milk white, with a

round black patch in the middle, in which are the mouth and the

nostrils; and this disposition of the features give it the appearance

of a mask: the eyes are black, and remarkably lively. These monkies we

saw daily pass along the sides of the river, skipping from tree to

tree, but mostly about mid-day, and in very numerous bodies, regularly

following each other like a little army, with their young ones on their

backs, not unlike little knapsacks. Their manner of travelling is thus:

the foremost walks to the extremity of a bough, from which it bounds to

the extremity of one belonging to the next tree, often at a most

astonishing distance, and with such wonderful activity and precision,

that it never once misses its aim: the others one by one, and even the

females, with their little ones on their backs, which stick fast to the

mother, follow their leader, and perform the same leap with the

greatest seeming facility and safety: they also are remarkable for

climbing up the nebees or natural ropes, with which many parts of the

forest are interwoven. These nebees grow in such a manner as to afford

the appearance at first sight of a fleet at anchor.

The monkies, I am told, have sometimes two young ones sucking, like the

human species. I have been a witness how these animals towards sun-set

ascend to the tops of the palm-trees, some of which are above one

hundred feet in height, where they sleep safe in the large diverging

branches. The keesee-keesee is such a beautiful and delicate fond

creature, that it is by many people kept as a favourite, when it wears

a silver chain. Besides its mimic drolleries, it is remarkable for its

good-nature and chirruping voice, which pronounces peeteeco peeteeco

without intermission. They are easily tamed, and are taken by means of

a strong glue made by the Indians, which is something like our European

bird-lime.

The other species, of the shooting of which I have just given the

horrid account, were called by my negroes monkee-monkee. The only facts

which I can relate farther of them is, that they are in size between

the two former described, and all over black. One circumstance I ought

not to omit, which is very remarkable, viz. that one morning I saw from

my barge a monkey of this kind come down to the water’s edge, rinsing

his mouth, and appearing to clean his teeth with one of his fingers: he

was first discovered by one of the slaves, who pointed him out to my

great amusement.

Here I shall end the subject for the present, after adding that the

above animals are sociable, and that they are very tenacious of life,

as I have shewn. It is almost superfluous to mention, that the usual

distinction between what are called monkies and apes, consists in this,

that the first have all tails, of which the latter are divested; but

never having met with in Guiana any of the latter description, I

believe them more to be the inhabitants of Asia and Africa, than of the

part of the new world distinguished by the name of South America, The

monkies are often mischievous near the plantations, where they commit

depredations on the sugar-canes, &c. yet of this I but one time have

been a witness.

As I am speaking of the animals found in this part of the country, I

must not omit the otters here, called tavous, which in the Cormoetibo

Creek frequently attracted our attention by their disagreeable noise:

as they are amphibious, they live mostly on fish; they are about three

feet in length, grey-coloured, and all over spotted with white; their

legs are short, they are web-footed, and armed with five claws; the

head is round, the nose beset with whiskers like a cat; the eyes are

small, and placed above the ears; the tail is very short. This animal

moves aukwardly upon land, but in the rivers proceeds with great

velocity. In Guiana it is said there is another species of otters,

which are much larger, but these I never saw.

Notwithstanding the favourable appearances of the preceding day, I was,

on the 24th, exceedingly ill indeed, not being able to sit up in my

hammock, under which the black boy Quaco now lay, crying for his

master, and on the following day the poor lad himself fell sick; at the

same time I was also obliged to send three men in a fever to Devil’s

Harwar. As misfortunes often croud together, I received, at this fatal

period, the melancholy account that the officer, Mr. Ower, was also

dead, having expired on his passage downwards at the Alida estate,

where he was buried. My ensign, Mr. Cottenburgh, who had since gone to

Paramaribo, died next; and for myself no better was now to be expected.

In the height of a burning fever I now lay, forsaken by all my officers

and men, without a friend to comfort me, and without assistance of any

kind, except what the poor remaining negro slaves could afford me, by

boiling a little water to make some tea. In this situation the reader

may judge of the consolation which was afforded me, the very evening

when these accumulated misfortunes seemed to threaten our extinction,

by the receipt of an order from the Colonel, to come down with both the

barges to Devil’s Harwar, where I was again to take post on shore, and

relieve Captain Orzinga, of the Society service, who with his men was

to proceed to La Rochelle in Patamaca, to strengthen the troops already

there. Ill as I was, this had such a powerful effect on my spirits,

that I immediately ordered the Cerberus down to the mouth of the

Cormoetibo Creek, where she joined me that evening.

On the 26th, we bid farewel to this destructive place; and having

weighed anchor, rowed down as far as Barbacoeba, during which time a

circumstance happened, which will probably prove more entertaining than

the repeated accounts of sickness and deaths.

As I was resting in my hammock, between the paroxysms of my fever,

about half way between Cormoetibo and Barbacoeba, while the Charon was

floating down, the sentinel called to me that he had seen and

challenged something black and moving in the brushwood on the beach,

which gave no answer; but which, from its size, he concluded must be a

man. I immediately dropped anchor; and having manned the canoe, ill as

I was, I stepped into it, and rowed up to the place mentioned by the

sentinel. Here we all stepped ashore to reconnoitre, as I suspected it

to be no other than a rebel spy, or a straggling party detached by the

enemy; but one of my slaves, of the name of David, declared it was no

negro, but a large amphibious snake, which could not be far from the

beach, and I might have an opportunity of shooting it if I pleased. To

this, however, I had not the least inclination, from the uncommon size

of the creature, from my weakness, and the difficulty of getting

through the thicket, which seemed impenetrable to the water’s edge; and

therefore ordered all of them to return on board. The negro then asked

me liberty to step forward and shoot it himself, assuring me it could

not be at any great distance, and warranting me against all danger.

This declaration inspired me with so much pride and emulation, that I

determined to take his first advice, and kill it myself; provided he

would point it out to me, and be responsible for the hazard, by

standing at my side, from which I swore that if he dared to move, I

should level the piece at himself, and blow out his own brains.

To this the negro cheerfully agreed; and having loaded my gun with a

ball-cartridge, we proceeded; David cutting a path with a bill-hook,

and a marine following, with three more loaded firelocks to keep in

readiness. We had not gone above twenty yards through mud and water,

the negro looking every way with an uncommon degree of vivacity and

attention; when starting behind me, he called out, “Me see snakee!” and

in effect there lay the animal, rolled up under the fallen leaves and

rubbish of the trees; and so well covered, that it was some time before

I distinctly perceived the head of this monster, distant from me not

above sixteen feet, moving its forked tongue, while its eyes, from

their uncommon brightness, appeared to emit sparks of fire. I now,

resting my piece upon a branch, for the purpose of taking a surer aim,

fired; but missing the head, the ball went through the body, when the

animal struck round, and with such astonishing force as to cut away all

the underwood around him with the facility of a scythe mowing grass;

and by flouncing his tail, caused the mud and dirt to fly over our

heads to a considerable distance. Of this proceeding however we were

not torpid spectators, but took to our heels, and crouded into the

canoe. The negro now intreated me to renew the charge, alluring me the

snake would be quiet in a few minutes, and at any rate persisting in

the assertion that he was neither able nor inclined to pursue us; which

opinion he supported by walking before me, till I should be ready to

fire. And thus I again undertook to make the trial, especially as he

said that his first starting backwards had only proceeded from a desire

to make room for me. I now found the snake a little removed from his

former station, but very quiet, with his head as before, lying out

among the fallen leaves, rotten bark, and old moss. I fired at it

immediately, but with no better success than the other time: and now,

being but slightly wounded, he sent up such a cloud of dust and dirt,

as I never saw but in a whirlwind, and made us once more suddenly

retreat to our canoe; where now, being heartily tired of the exploit, I

gave orders to row towards the barge: but David still intreating me to

permit him to kill the animal, I was, by his persuasions, induced to

make a third and last attempt, in company with him. Thus, having once

more discovered the snake, we discharged both our pieces at once, and

with this good effect, that he was now by one of us shot through the

head. David, who was made completely happy by this successful

conclusion, ran leaping with joy, and lost no time in bringing the

boat-rope, in order to drag him down to the canoe; but this again

proved not a very easy undertaking, since the creature, notwithstanding

its being mortally wounded, still continued to wreath and twist about,

in such a manner as rendered it dangerous for any person to approach

him. The negro, however, having made a running noose on the rope, and

after some fruitless attempts to make an approach, threw it over his

head with much dexterity; and now, all taking hold of the rope, we

dragged him to the beach, and tied him to the stern of the canoe, to

take him in tow. Being still alive, he kept swimming like an eel; and I

having no relish for such a ship-mate on board, whose length

(notwithstanding to my astonishment all the negroes declared it to be

but a young one come to about its half growth) I found upon measuring

it to be twenty-two feet and some inches; and its thickness about that

of my black boy Quaco, who might then be about twelve years old, and

round whose waist I since measured the creature’s skin.

Being arrived along-side of the Charon, the next consideration was, how

to dispose of this immense animal; when it was at length determined to

bring him on shore at Barbacoeba, to have him skinned, and take out the

oil, &c. In order to effect this purpose, the negro David having

climbed up a tree with the end of the rope, let it down over a strong

forked bough, and the other negroes hoisted up the snake, and suspended

him from the tree. This done, David, with a sharp knife between his

teeth, now left the tree, and clung fast upon the monster, which was

still twisting, and began his operations by ripping it up, and

stripping down the skin as he descended. Though I perceived that the

animal was no longer able to do him any injury, I confess I could not

without emotion see a man stark naked, black and bloody, clinging with

arms and legs round the slimy and yet living monster. This labour,

however, was not without its use, since he not only dexterously

finished the operation, but provided me, besides the skin, with above

four gallons of fine clarified fat, or rather oil, though there was

wasted perhaps as much more. This I delivered to the surgeons at

Devil’s Harwar, for the use of the wounded men in the hospital, for

which I received their hearty thanks, it being considered, particularly

for bruises, a very excellent remedy. When I signified my surprize to

see the snake still living, after he was deprived of his intestines and

skin, Caramaca, the old negro, whether from experience or tradition,

assured me he would not die till after sun-set. The negroes now cut him

in slices, in order to dress and feast upon him, they all declaring

that he was exceedingly good and wholesome; but to their great

mortification I refused to give my concurrence, and we rowed down with

the skin to Devil’s Harwar.

Of this species several skins are preserved in the British and Mr.

Parkinson’s Museums. It is called by Mr. Westley Lyboija, and Boa in

the British Encyclopœdia, to which publication I refer the reader for a

perfect account, and an excellent engraving, of this wonderful

creature, which in the colony of Surinam is called Aboma. Its length,

when full grown, is said to be sometimes forty feet, and more than four

feet in circumference; its colour is a greenish black on the back; a

fine brownish yellow on the sides, and a dirty white under the belly:

the back and sides being spotted with irregular black rings, with a

pure white in the middle. Its head is broad and flat, small in

proportion to the body, with a large mouth, and a double row of teeth:

it has two bright prominent eyes; is covered all over with scales, some

about the size of a shilling; and under the body, near the tail, armed

with two strong claws like cock-spurs, to help it in seizing its prey.

It is an amphibious animal, that is, it delights in low and marshy

places, where it lies coiled up like a rope, and concealed under moss,

rotten timber, and dried leaves, to seize its prey by surprize, which

from its immense bulk it is not active enough to pursue. When hungry,

it will devour any animal that comes within its reach, and is

indifferent whether it is a sloth, a wild boar, a stag, or even a

tiger; round which having twisted itself by the help of its claws, so

that the creature cannot escape, it breaks, by its irresistible force,

every bone in the animal’s body, which it then covers over with a kind

of slime or slaver from its mouth, to make it slide; and at last

gradually sucks it in, till it disappears: after this, the aboma cannot

shift its situation, on account of the great knob or knot which the

swallowed prey occasions in that part of the body where it rests till

it is digested; for till then it would hinder the snake from sliding

along the ground. During that time the aboma wants no other

subsistence. I have been told of negroes being devoured by this animal,

and am disposed to credit the account; for should they chance to come

within its reach when hungry, it would as certainly seize them as any

other animal. I do not apprehend that its flesh, which is very white,

and looks like that of fish, is in any respect pernicious to the

stomach. I should have had no objection to the negroes eating it till

it was consumed, had I not observed a kind of dissatisfaction among the

remaining marines, who would not have been pleased with my giving the

negroes the use of the kettle to boil it. The bite of this snake is

said not to be venomous; nor do I believe it bites at all from any

other impulse than hunger.

I shall only add, that having nailed its skin on the bottom of the

canoe, and dried it in the sun, sprinkling it over with wood-ashes to

prevent it from corruption, I sent it to a friend at Paramaribo, whence

it was since sent to Holland as a curiosity.

However extraordinary this account may appear to many readers, let them

peruse the narrative which is related by a gentleman in the island of

Ceylon, who saw a tiger killed there by a snake he calls the anacunda,

but in a quite different manner, and their wonder will cease. I must

add, however, that this gentleman’s relation is so very marvellous,

that, notwithstanding what I have experienced, I must confess it very

greatly staggered my faith [20].

This business being ended, I also made an end of the cruise, by

dropping down before the Society post Devil’s Harwar, in order the next

day to assume the command.

CHAP. VIII.

Three Estates burnt, and the Inhabitants murdered by the

Rebels—Real Picture of Misery and Distress—Specimen of a March

through the Woods of Surinam—Colonel Fourgeoud and the remaining

Troops leave Paramaribo.

On the 27th of August I relieved Captain Orzinga with his men, and took

the command of Devil’s Harwar, having been on board the Charon exactly

fifty-six days, in the most wretched condition that can be described:

but I hoped now to get the better of my complaint by the help of a few

refreshments, such as milk, &c. which could not be obtained in our

former situation. The Society troops (above one hundred in number)

being to set off next day with my empty barges to La Rochelle, in

Patamaca, I reviewed my marines, when I found I had left out of five

officers but two, who were both sick, the three others being dead; I

had also only one serjeant, two corporals, and fifteen privates, out of

fifty-four healthy men, who embarked with me on the 2d day of last

July. This army was not more than sufficient to defend the hospital,

(which was crouded with sick) the ammunition and victualling magazine,

&c. on a spot where lately had been kept three hundred soldiers,

particularly while the enemy were certainly lurking not far off: in

consideration of which, the Society Captain reinforced me with twenty

of his men. The next evening he entertained me and my two subalterns

with a supper of fresh meat, both roast and boiled, to our great

comfort and surprize; but which, to my unspeakable mortification,

proved to be the individual poor cow with her calf, on whom we had

built all our hopes for a little relief. It appeared that one of his

sentinels, as concerted between them, had shot it by a wilful mistake.

Thus did Captain Orzinga, for the sake of a momentary gratification,

deprive us all of that lasting comfort on which we had so much

depended, and of which we had so much need, being altogether emaciated

for want of wholesome and nutritive food.

On the morning of the 28th the Society troops rowed to Patamaca, when,

examining the twenty soldiers they had left me, they proved to be the

refuse of the whole, part with agues, wounds, ruptures, and rotten

limbs, and most of them next day were obliged to enter the hospital.

On the 29th, having bastonaded my late pilot for stealing from the

soldiers, I dispatched the information to Colonel Fourgeoud, that I had

taken post, and acquainting him with my weak situation, requested a

proper reinforcement. In the evening two of my men died.

All things now being regulated and settled, I thanked Heaven in the

expectation of getting some rest, being still extremely weak; and with

these cheering hopes retired at ten o’clock at night to my hammock; but

this tranquillity was again of short duration, for having scarcely

closed my eyes I was awaked by my serjeant, and the following letter

put into my hand, sent by an express from the captain of the militia,

or bargers in Cottica.

“Sir,

“This is to acquaint you, that the rebels have burnt three estates

by your side, Suyingheyd, Peru, and L’Esperance, the ruins of which

are still smoking; and that they have cut the throats of all the

white inhabitants that fell in their way. As on their retreat they

must pass close by where you are posted, be on your guard.—I am in

haste.

“Your’s, &c.

(Signed) “Stoeleman.”

Conscious of my defenceless situation, I immediately started up; and

the express who brought the letter having spread the news the moment of

his landing, there was no necessity for beating to arms, since not only

the few soldiers who were well, but the whole hospital burst out; and

several of them, in spite of my opposition, crawling on their hands and

feet to their arms, dropped dead upon the spot.—May I never behold such

another scene of misery and distress! Lame, blind, sick, and wounded,

in the hope of preserving a wretched existence, rushed upon certain

death! They could only, in a word, be compared to the distressed army

and navy at Carthagena, commanded by the British Admiral Vernon, whom

Thomson describes—

—— —— —— “You, gallant Vernon, saw

The miserable scene, you pitying saw,

To infant weakness sunk, the warriour’s arm;

Saw the deep-racking pang, the ghastly form,

The lip pale quivering, and the beamless eye,

No more with ardour bright.”

For my own part, I was in a very weakly condition indeed; however, we

continued to lie all night on our arms, during which I pressed the

messenger to stay, in order to add one to our miserable number, being

determined to sell our lives as dearly as possible. But no enemy

appearing in the morning, we buried the dead in their hammocks, not

having a board to make a coffin on the whole post. In this situation I

lost all patience, and had the audacity to write to my commander, that

(besides what had happened) my last men stood upon the brink of the

grave, from hardships and for want of being properly supported; the

very waiters of the hospital having deserted on the moment of my

arrival here, and gone to Paramaribo. Our whole number, indeed, was now

melted down to twelve men, who were to protect twelve buildings, and

that with no more than two very small chests of ammunition, and no

retreat for the sick, as the barges were gone to Patamaca, and the last

canoe dispatched with my letter to Colonel Fourgeoud; for I had set

adrift that belonging to the express, who was a book-keeper of a

neighbouring plantation, in order to prevent him or any other from

making their escape. In this situation, I was now obliged to convert

the slaves into soldiers: these I armed with a hatchet, not daring to

trust them with a firelock. For this whole night we again watched under

arms, and in the morning found two more of our little party dead on the

ground.

I now began really to think we were all devoted to destruction, while

the men, regardless of all order (self-preservation excepted) threw out

the most bitter invectives against their persecutor, Fourgeoud, which I

could not prevent; nor can I help remarking the generalship of the

rebel negroes, who had kept lying quiet till the removal of the Society

troops from Devil’s Harwar, and seized the very first day of their

departure, convinced of its being guarded only by my sick and emaciated

soldiers, in order to commit their depredations on the Cottica estates.

They well knew that my force was not sufficient to pursue them, nay,

hardly to stand in my own defence: all this, however, was but according

to my expectation; while, on the contrary, had my strength been

sufficient, they could never have escaped at least from being cut off

in their retreat, especially if the troops in Rio Perica had acted

conjointly with those in Cottica, by patroling the path between the two

rivers, across which the rebels were twice unavoidably obliged to pass.

On the 1st of September we waited once more till morning, and then

buried another of my poor men; while I yet cannot conceive how any one

was able to survive such a series of toil, in such a debilitated state,

and in a tropical climate; yet some did, though few. At length, being

persuaded that the rebels must have past the Cordon, without having

thought proper to pay us a visit on their retreat, I determined to let

the remaining few watch no longer, but permit them to die a natural

death. At last, in the evening, when all was too late, there came down

by water from the post La Rochelle to our assistance, one officer and

ten men.—I having had but nine left to do the duty at the time of their

arrival.

On the 2d another man died; and I once more reviewed my forces, which

now amounted exactly to seven marines, the few scarecrows of the

Society excepted; however, the chance of being massacred by the rebels

was at this time over, thanks alone to their pusillanimity, or rather

their hurry!

I now received a letter from Colonel Fourgeoud, condoling with me on

the loss of so many good officers, acquainting me that I was to be

reinforced; and that on my recommendation my serjeant, Mr. de Cabanus,

was appointed an ensign; which gave me pleasure, and took place at a

very suitable time, since this day my poor Ensign Macdonald was sent

down very sick to Paramaribo. I answered to all this, that I was

obliged to him; adding, that while I remained without reinforcement, I

could not be accountable for what consequences might happen, in a place

where I was left to defend a whole river with none but sick people; and

even these without sufficient ammunition, and hourly expiring for want

of proper medicines, or a surgeon to attend them, there being none here

but one or two surgeon’s mates belonging to the troops of the Society,

who could do little more than occasionally draw blood, and cut off a

beard or a corn.

On the 4th we buried another of my marines, and on the following day

another died; and I had not one now remaining who was not ill, or who

was not rendered unserviceable, by his feet being swelled with the

insects called chigoes: these poor men were mostly Germans, who had

been accustomed to a healthy climate in their own country. I began now

to be reconciled to putting my last man under ground, and almost

wishing to leap into the grave after him myself; when a barge arrived

from Paramaribo with the proper reinforcement, ammunition, provisions,

medicines, a surgeon, and an order from my chief to trace out the track

of the rebels immediately, on the former path of communication called

the Cordon, between Cottica and Perica, and to write him the result of

my discoveries; he intimated also that he intended to keep his

magazines at Devil’s Harwar, and that I was not to make use of the spot

I had found out for that purpose at Barbacoeba Creek.

On the 6th I prepared to march myself, having recovered a little

strength, on the grand project of discovery, and then placed the

ammunition in the magazine.

As the manner of marching in this country is so very different from

that in Europe, I shall, before we set out, endeavour briefly to

describe the nature of these expeditions.

In the first place, in Surinam no such thing is practicable as three or

even two ranks; thus there is no marching by divisions or platoons;—but

the whole party being dressed in one rank, face to the right, and every

man follows his leader, the negro slaves interspersed between the men,

in order to guard their persons as well as what they carry; and this

manner of marching is called Indian file. With a detachment of sixty

men, consisting of one captain, two subalterns, two serjeants, four

corporals, one surgeon, and fifty privates, twenty negro slaves at

least ought to be employed, for the use of whom their masters are paid

at the rate of two shillings sterling a day by the colony; and this is

a much greater expence than waggons and horses would be, which in this

country cannot be employed for military service.

The manner of interspersing them amongst the troops is as follows: The

foremost are generally two negroes, with bill-hooks to cut a way, so as

to make a practicable path, with one corporal and two men to

reconnoitre the front, and, in case of necessity, to give the alarm;

and then one subaltern, six privates, and a corporal, form the van.

Then follows, at some distance, the corps in two divisions; in the

first, one captain, one corporal, twelve privates, one surgeon, and two

negroes to carry the powder; in the second, is one serjeant and twelve

privates; and then again follows, at some distance, the rear guard,

consisting of one subaltern, one serjeant, one corporal, and eighteen

privates, with sixteen negroes to carry the medicines, beef, bread,

spades, axes, rum, &c.; the sick also are carried. The three last of

all being one corporal and two men at a distance, to give the alarm in

case of an attack, as the others had orders to do in the front, which

ends the train.

Every thing being ready, according to the above rules, for my small

party, which consisted of myself, an officer of the Society, Mr.

Hertsbergh, one surgeon’s mate, one guide, two serjeants, two

corporals, forty privates, and only eight negro slaves to cut open the

passage, and carry the baggage, we faced to the right at six o’clock in

the morning, and sallied forth into the woods, keeping our course

directly for the Perica river; and having marched till about eleven

o’clock on the Cordon, I discovered, as I had expected, the track of

the rebels by the marks of their footsteps in the mud, by the broken

bottles, plantain-shells, &c. and found that by appearance it bore

towards Pinneburgh, already mentioned.

I had now indeed found the nest, but the birds were flown. We continued

our march till eight o’clock, when we arrived at the Society post

Soribo, in Perica, in a most shocking condition, having waded through

water and mire above our hips, climbed over heaps of fallen trees, and

crept underneath on our bellies. This, however, was not the worst, for

our flesh was terribly mangled and torn by the thorns, and stung by the

Patat lice, ants, and wassy-wassy or wild bees. This last is an insect

not larger than an English blue-bottle fly, and is of a black colour,

quite different from our bees; they are never kept in hives, but swarm

wild in the forest, where they build in hollow trees or between the

branches; their nests being sometimes as large as an inflated cow’s

bladder, to which they bear no bad resemblance, both in colour and

smoothness, except in being less regularly oval; from these abodes

(when the nest or the branches are inadvertently touched) thousands of

warriors sally forth; and this little flying army is extremely

formidable, pitching always by instinct on the eyes, lips and hair,

whence they cannot easily be dislodged; their stings generally cause a

fever, and swell the parts so very much that they occasion blindness

for several hours; their honey is of a dark-brown colour, and so is

their wax, but gummy, being both of little value.

The worst of our sufferings, however, was the fatigue of marching in a

burning sun, and the last two hours in total darkness, holding each

other by the hand; and having left ten men behind, some with agues,

some stung blind, and some with their feet full of chigoes. Being in

the most hospitable manner received at Soribo by the commanding

officer, I went to my hammock very ill of a fever.

On the following morning I felt myself better for my night’s rest; but

neither myself nor my men were able to march back, wherefore the other

captain sent a small party of his soldiers to pick up the poor marines

I had lost the day before, and of whom they brought with them seven,

carried in hammocks tied to poles, each by two negroes, the other three

having scrambled back to Devil’s Harwar.

During our stay here I wrote a letter to Colonel Fourgeoud, couched in

such terms as few people in their full senses would do to their

commanders, viz. that I had found the path; that if I had had support

in time I might have cut off the enemy’s retreat, instead of finding

their foot-steps only; but that now all was too late, and the party all

knocked up to no purpose. This letter, I have been since told, incensed

him, as it is easy to suppose, in the highest degree. Being

sufficiently refreshed to renew my march, we left Soribo on the 9th, at

four o’clock in the morning, and at four o’clock P. M. arrived, after

indescribable sufferings, at Devil’s Harwar, covered over with mud and

blood, and our legs and thighs cut and torn by the thorns and branches;

most of the men being without shoes and stockings of necessity, while

I, who had gone this march in the same condition from choice, had

absolutely suffered the least of the whole party, by having inured

myself gradually to walk barefooted on the barges.

At Devil’s Harwar, I now found Lieutenant Colonel Westerloo and a

quarter-master arrived to take the command, his troops not being

expected till the next day. I was by this circumstance, however, made

exceedingly happy, hoping at last to meet with some relief; and having

ceded him my written orders, the magazine, hospital, &c. &c. I stripped

and plunged into the river to wash myself and take a swim, by which

(being before much over-heated) I found myself greatly refreshed, as

well as by receiving a quantity of fine fruit, Jamaica rum, wine and

sugar, from Joanna;—but how did my blood chill, when the quarter-master

told me, as a secret, that my serjeant, one Fowler, having first got

drunk with my wine, offered violence to this poor woman; and that he

was to be at Devil’s Harwar next day, when I should see the marks of

her just resentment on his face!

The reader will, I trust, excuse my violence, when I tell him, that I

vowed immediate destruction to the villain: and having ordered a negro

to cut twelve bamboo canes, I retired like a person deprived of his

senses, determined to punish him according to his supposed crime.

On the 10th there arrived two subalterns, with a second barge full of

men, ammunition, medicine, and provisions, which having marched into

quarters and stowed, I sent for the hapless Fowler, whose face being in

three places wounded, I locked him up in a room, and, without asking

one question, broke six of the bamboos over his head, till he escaped

all bloody out at the window, and my resentment gradually abated. He

certainly had suffered much, but nothing equal to what were my

sensations, at being still further informed, that Colonel Fourgeoud had

seized all my effects, which he had sealed and locked up in an empty

store-room, in expectation of my decease, which, according to all

appearances, might be looked for; while my house was given to another,

by which means I could not procure so much as a clean shirt to relieve

me from my disgraceful tatters: nevertheless, by the hope of going down

myself, my spirits were supported. The other news, of more importance,

was, that the hero in person, with most of the troops, had at last left

Paramaribo; that he had quartered them partly at Devil’s Harwar, in Rio

Cottica, the estate Bellair, in Rio Perica, and at the estates

Clarenbeek, and Cravassibo, in Rio Commewina; whence, conjunctly with

the troops of the Society and the Rangers, he intended to move in quest

of the rebels; that he had also ordered all the barges to be relieved

at last, and their remaining troops to reinforce the above-mentioned

posts, which I must remark was a very wise and well-planned regulation.

From Patamaca we were informed, that the rebels, on their repassing the

river above La Rochelle, had again destroyed a small estate, and

murdered its proprietor, a Mr. Nyboor.

It was either about this time, or very shortly after, that an overseer

escaped by the assistance of a negro boy, who, desiring him to leap

into a canoe, and lie down flat upon his belly, leaped himself into the

water, where, by swimming with one hand, and guiding the canoe with the

other, he ferried his master safe over the creek Patamaca, through a

shower of musquet bullets, the rebels firing upon them all the while,

but without execution; however, for this material piece of service, he

was recompensed the week after with three hundred lashes by the same

master, only for having forgotten to open one of the sluices or

flood-gates.—On this act of inhumanity I shall make no comment, but

proceed to my own miserable situation. Having remonstrated with

Lieutenant Colonel Westerloo on the state of my health, which disabled

me from joining the corps on their march, I requested that I might be

removed to Paramaribo for the chance of recovery; but this he

peremptorily refused to allow me, by Colonel Fourgeoud’s express

command. The refusal of so reasonable a request made me almost

distracted, and agitated my spirits so much, that on the morning of the

12th, determined to exchange my wretched existence one way or other, I

insisted on being immediately removed, or wished for death, which the

surgeons declared must be the consequence soon, if I was not permitted

to go down, and in the meanwhile I vowed that I should attribute my

decease to their unprecedented barbarity. A consultation was now held

on the subject; and at last, not without great difficulties, a boat was

ordered to row me down to Paramaribo, but no white servant was

permitted to attend me. Thus leaving the Lieutenant Colonel employed in

fortifying Devil’s Harwar with pallisadoes, where now also was a

numerous garrison, I at twelve o’clock at noon walked to the

water-side, supported by a negro, on whose shoulder I rested, till I at

length stepped into the boat, followed by my black boy Quaco, and

finally left the diabolical spot where I had buried so many brave

fellows.

On the 14th, having rowed day and night, at two o’clock in the morning,

we arrived at the town, extremely ill indeed; where, having no

residence of my own, I was hospitably received at the house of a Mr. De

La Marre, a merchant, this gentleman not only received me, but

immediately sent a servant for poor Joanna, who was at her mother’s,

and another for a physician to attend me, as my weak and hopeless

condition now required every assistance that the town of Paramaribo

could afford.

CHAP. IX.

Some Diseases peculiar to the Climate—Group of Negroes newly

imported going to be sold—Reflections on the Slave Trade—the Voyage

from Africa—Manner of selling them in the Colony—Description of a

Cotton Plantation.

September 15th, I found myself in an elegant and well-furnished

apartment, encouraged by the hopes given by the physician, caressed by

my friends, and supported by the care and attention of my incomparable

Mulatto.

A Captain Brant having at this time the command in Colonel Fourgeoud’s

absence, he sent, the morning after my arrival, my trunks and baggage,

which had been sealed up; but on looking into them, I found I had

enemies at home as well as abroad; since most of my shirts, books, &c.

were gnawed to dust by the blatta or cockroach, called Cackerlakke in

Surinam: nay, even my shoes were destroyed, of which I had brought with

me twelve pairs new from Europe, as they were extremely dear and bad in

this country.

This insect, which is of the beetle kind, is here one inch and

sometimes two inches long, oval, flat, and of a dark reddish colour. By

getting through the locks of chests or boxes, it not only deposits its

eggs there, but commits its ravages on linen, cloth, silk, or any thing

that comes in its way; by getting also into the victuals and drink of

every kind, it renders them extremely loathsome, for it leaves the most

nauseous smell, worse indeed than that of a bug. As most West-India

vessels (especially those loaded with sugar) bring them home in great

quantities, I shall say nothing more concerning them, only that they

are seldom seen to fly, but creep very fast; and that the best, and I

think the only way to keep the boxes free from them is, to place them

on four empty wine bottles kept free from dust, which, by their

smoothness, prevent the infects ascending to get through the key-holes,

or even the smallest openings in the bottoms; but this precaution had

been neglected by my good friend Colonel Fourgeoud. I found, however,

linen sufficient for present use, and by the industry of Joanna I was

soon provided with a new stock. None can conceive the comfort I felt in

being properly dressed and shifted; my mental faculties were recruiting

apace, and I felt with gratitude the blessing of a strong constitution;

but poor Macdonald was still ill at Mr. Kennedy’s, who had humanely

afforded him an asylum on his return from Devil’s Harwar.

Having now time, I inquired concerning Fowler’s conduct; when, to my

infinite surprize, I was informed that he had indeed got drunk, as was

reported to me, by which he had fallen amongst the bottles and cut his

face, but that he never had attempted the smallest rudeness: so much

indeed was his conduct the reverse of what had been reported, that his

inebriety had proceeded from his resentment at seeing both me and

Joanna ill treated, and my property transported away against his

inclination. I was now extremely chagrined at my past conduct, and was

gently reproved by the cause of it, to whom I promised to be Fowler’s

friend for ever after—and I kept my word. My fever was now much abated,

but I was infested with another disorder peculiar to this climate, and

which I am afraid I shall but indifferently describe: it is called in

Surinam the ring-worm, and consists of long scarlet irregular spots,

particularly on the under parts of the body, which increase in

magnitude from day to day, unless prevented by timely application.

Those spots are surrounded with a kind of hard callous border, and are

as troublesome by their itching as the prickly heat, or the sting of

the musquitoes; and so very infectious is this complaint, that if any

person seats himself by chance on a chair immediately after another who

has the disorder, he is almost certain to be infected with it: it is, I

believe, very difficult to get rid of; but the best cure is to rub the

spots with a composition of refined salt-petre, benzoin, flower of

brimstone, and white mercury, mixed with fresh butter or hog’s lard.

The numerous inconveniencies to which the inhabitants of this climate

are exposed, are almost inconceivable.

On the 26th I had a relapse, and was twice bled in one day. I was also

this morning visited by poor Mr. Heneman, a young volunteer I have not

before mentioned, who looked like a ghost, and was left sick at

Paramaribo to manage for himself.

On the 2d of October I was a little better, and was exalted from living

like a savage, to the temporary command of a few troops left at

Paramaribo, Captain Brant being ordered to join Fourgeoud in Rio

Comewina; when the colours, regiment’s cash, &c. were transmitted to my

own lodging, and a sentinel placed before my door.

The first exercise I made of my power was to discharge the sour wine,

which had been bought for the sick officers as well as the men, whom I

supplied, from the money now in my possession, with good wholesome

claret; but I was sorry not to be able also to exchange the salt beef,

pork, and pease, that were left at the hospital, for fresh provisions.

This step was however particularly forbidden by the commander; while

the butter, cheese, and tobacco were taken away, for which they got one

quart of oil amongst ten, and their bread reduced to two pounds each

man for a whole week. As to the officers, they were left to shift for

themselves, or submit to the same allowance, notwithstanding they kept

on paying their quota to a regimental mess, which now no longer

existed.

On the 3d, I took the air for the first time on horseback, in company

with Mr. Heneman, though we could not ride above three English miles

distance out of town, on a species of gravel that leads to the Wanica

Path, which I have already mentioned as communicating with the river

Seramica, and as the only passable road in the colony. During this

little ride, which (on account of the dry season being commenced) we

took at six o’clock in the morning, we observed a great number of those

large and elegant birds, known by the name of macaws, but in Surinam

called ravens, from their proportion to the parrots, which may be

looked upon as a kind of tropical crows.

The macaws are divided into different species, of which I shall only

describe two, wishing to say nothing for which I have not competent

authority, as I am sorry to observe too many authors have done, among

whom are men of genius and learning: some indeed may have erred from

ignorance or wrong information, but numbers for the gratification of

vanity have, I fear, been guilty of imposing on the too credulous

public.

The blue and yellow macaw is as large as a barn-door fowl, with short

legs and a crooked bill, like that of the common parrot; the former

dark coloured, with four black claws, two before and two behind; the

latter also black, the upper mandible alone moveable. Its tail is like

a wedge, and consists of a few very long and strait feathers. The back

of this bird, from the head (the top of which is a sea-green) to the

extremity of the tail, is a most beautiful azure blue, and, underneath,

its whole body is of a pale orange colour; round its eyes it is

perfectly white, interspersed with black rings, composed of very small

feathers.

The other is called in Surinam the Amazon macaw. This is rather less

than the former; its tail, legs, and bill, are formed in the same

manner, but the latter is of a dirty white; the head, the neck, and

breast of this bird are of a bright scarlet, the space round the eyes

only excepted, where it is white, with black rings; its wings may be

said to be divided by bars into four colours, being scarlet at the top,

next green, then yellow and blue, down to the extremity of the tail,

which in the sun shines with a brilliancy and effect unequalled by art.

The macaws fly in couples, and have a shrill disagreeable shriek, and

bite severely; their bill being very hard and sharp, which is of great

use to them in climbing: they are easily tamed, and may be taught to

speak like other parrots. The Indians frequently bring them to

Paramaribo, where they part with them for a bottle of rum, or for a few

fish-hooks.

This evening arrived sick, from the head-quarters at the estate

Crawasibo in Comewina, Colonel Texier, the commanding officer of the

Society troops. This gentleman had intended to have marched conjunctly

with Colonel Fourgeoud through the woods, in quest of the rebels; but

his constitution, already weak, not being able to support the regimen

of the commander in chief, and to live only on salt provisions, had

begun to flag from the beginning, till he was sent home to Paramaribo

in this drooping condition.

On the sixth of October the fever had left me, and the ring-worms began

to abate; but the misery and hardships which I had so lately undergone

still had an effect upon my constitution, and enormous boils broke out

on my left thigh, which entirely prevented me from walking. My

physician, however, ordering me daily to take the air, I had an

opportunity this day of waiting on his excellency the Governor of the

colony, by the help of my friend Kennedy’s chaise; and as I returned

homeward, I stopped the carriage at the water-side, to behold a group

of human beings, who had strongly attracted my attention. This group I

shall circumstantially endeavour to describe. They were a drove of

newly-imported negroes, men and women, with a few children, who were

just landed from on board a Guinea ship that lay at anchor in the

roads, to be sold for slaves. The whole party was such a set of

scarcely animated automatons, such a resurrection of skin and bones, as

forcibly reminded me of the last trumpet. These objects appeared that

moment to be risen from the grave, or escaped from Surgeon’s Hall; and

I confess I can give no better description of them, than by comparing

them to walking skeletons covered over with a piece of tanned leather.

“And the Lord caused me to pass by them round about, and behold there

were many in the open valley, and lo they were very dry.

“And he said unto me, Son of Man, can these bones live? And I answered,

O Lord God thou knowest.”—Ezekiel, xxxvii. ver. 2, 3.

Before these wretches, which might be in all about sixty in number,

walked a sailor, and another followed behind with a bamboo-rattan; the

one serving as a shepherd to lead them along, and the other as his dog

to worry them occasionally, should any one lag behind, or wander away

from the flock. At the same time, however, equity demands the

acknowledgment, that instead of all those horrid and dejected

countenances which are described in pamphlets and news-papers, I

perceived not one single downcast look amongst them all; and I must

add, that the punishment of the bamboo was inflicted with the utmost

moderation by the sailor who brought up the rear.

Having viewed this sad assemblage of my fellow-creatures with

amazement, I drove home to my lodgings in a state of perfect

humiliation; where I noted down, as I could learn it from the best

authority, both white and black, what is really the fate of these

people, from the last moment of their liberty in Africa, to the present

period of their slavery in America: and this I shall endeavour to

relate, preceded by a few of my own unbiassed sentiments upon the Slave

Trade, which has lately been the object of both public and private

investigation; and this, I trust, I shall do with that candour and

impartiality which not only every gentleman, but every man, should

think it necessary to be possessed of.

It has been said, Will you, for the sake of drinking rum, and

sweetening your coffee with sugar, persevere in the most unjust and

execrable barbarity?—To this it is answered, Take care, lest, under the

enthusiasm of humanity, you do not, at the expence of your neighbour,

and perhaps of your country, inconsiderately give up your advantages,

without the least chance of benefiting or improving the condition of

those, whom I most heartily join with you in calling our brethren.

After so many volumes which, within a few years, have been written on

this subject, it may appear great presumption in me to offer my poor

opinion: but I have made it a rule, among the various subjects I have

mentioned, to dwell on those only to which I have been an eye-witness;

and which I am convinced there are few others in this country that have

seen and so accurately observed. I have seen the most cruel tortures

inflicted, for submitting to the desire of a husband, or for refusing

the same to a libidinous master, and more frequently a rascally

overseer: nay, even on the most innocent, from the false accusations of

a lustful woman, prompted alone by jealousy. I have seen in other

places, negro slaves as well treated as the most favoured servants in

England; and as I have seen some sailors, soldiers, and apprentices,

most tyrannically treated when under the command of ill-tempered

despots, I must pronounce the condition of such not to be envied even

by negroes. If, therefore, so much depends on the disposition or humour

of those who are exercising a permanent or a temporary power, we must

duly consider, before we hastily judge the whole from partial

information.

Cruelty is too often exercised in our plantations; but if not so

shockingly to human nature as in other countries, what are we doing by

a sudden emancipation, but turning the poor creatures over to more

cruel masters? The quantum of sugar, &c. will be had, and must be

provided by negroes, natives of Africa, who alone are born to endure

labour under a vertical sun.

The national character of these people, as I have remarked it, where

they are as free to act by their own will and disposition as in Africa,

is perfectly savage; the twenty thousand Ouca and Seramica free negroes

have lived separated, and under no controul of Europeans, for a number

of years, and yet I have never seen any marks of civilization, order,

or government among them, but, on the contrary, many examples of

ungovernable passion, debauchery, and indolence.

I love the African negroes, and have shewn how sincerely I have felt

for them on many occasions; and whatever wrong construction may be put

on what I have said on this subject, I wish, from the bottom of my

heart, that my words could be submitted to the consideration of that

respectable body the British parliament; and so far be regarded, as to

prevent the fatal decision of a total abolition of slavery till 1800,

or the beginning of next century. For if such a measure should be

rashly enforced, I take the liberty to prophesy, that thousands and

thousands, both white and black, may repent, and more be ruined by it,

when the evil can no more be redressed.

From what I have learned by inquiry, from persons well informed on the

subject, it clearly appears, that numbers of the negroes offered for

sale have been taken in battles, and made prisoners of war; while many

others have been scandalously kidnapped, and some others transported

for offences, &c.; of all which I shall produce a few examples in

future.

These groups of people are marched from every inland part, to the

factories erected by different nations upon the coast, where they are

sold, or more properly speaking, bartered, like the other productions

of their country, viz. gold, elephants teeth, &c. to the Europeans, for

bars of iron, fire-arms, carpenters tools, chests, linens, hats,

knives, glasses, tobacco, spirits, &c. Next they are embarked for

exportation, during which time they, without contradiction, feel all

the pangs that mental or corporeal misery can inflict. Being torn from

their country and dearest connections, stowed hundreds together in a

dark stinking hold, the sexes being separated; while the men are kept

in chains to prevent an insurrection. In this manner are they floated

over turbulent seas, not certain what is to be their destiny, and

generally fed during the passage with horse-beans and oil for their

whole subsistence. But these sufferings are often alleviated with

better food by the more humane: so far, that none or few of the cargo

die during the passage, and the whole crew arrive healthy in the West

Indies. I even remember one instance, where the captain, mate, and most

of the sailors, having expired at sea, so that the remaining few could

not work the ship without the negroes assistance, yet these last having

been well treated, helped at last to run the vessel on shore, by which

means they not only saved many lives, but tamely and even chearfully

allowed themselves to be fetched and sold to any person who would

please to buy them.—Having made these reflections, I shall now briefly

proceed with the manner in which the slaves are disposed of.

No sooner is a Guinea-ship arrived, than all the slaves are led upon

deck, where they are refreshed with pure air, plantains, bananas,

oranges, &c. and being properly cleaned, washed, and their hair shaved

in different figures of stars, half-moons, &c. which they generally do

the one to the other, (having no razors) by the help of a broken bottle

and without soap. After this operation, one part of them is sent ashore

for sale, decorated with pieces of cotton to serve as fig-leaves,

arm-bands, beads, &c. being all the captain’s property; while the

others spend the day in dancing, hallooing, and clapping hands on board

the vessel.

Having sufficiently described their figures after landing, we now may

suppose them walking along the water-side, and through the streets,

where every planter picks out that number which he stands in need of,

to supply those lost by death or desertion, and begins to make a

bargain with the captain. Good negroes are generally valued at from

fifty to a hundred pounds each. Amongst these, should a woman chance to

be pregnant, her price is augmented accordingly, for which reason I

have known the captain of a Dutch Guinea vessel, who acknowledged

himself to be the father, take advantage, with a brutality scarcely

credited in the story of Inkle and Yarico, of doubling the value, by

selling his own offspring to the best bidder; for which however he was

highly censured by his companions.

The next circumstance that takes place before the bargain is struck, is

to cause the negroes for sale, one after another, to mount on a

hogshead or a table, where they are visited by a surgeon, who obliges

them to make all the different gestures, with arms and legs, of a

Merry-Andrew upon the stage, to prove their soundness or unsoundness;

after which they are adopted by the buyer, or rejected, as he finds

them fit for his purpose, or otherwise. If he keeps them, the money is

paid down; and the new-bought negroes are immediately branded on the

breast or the thick part of the shoulder, by a stamp made of silver,

with the initial letters of the new master’s name, as we mark furniture

or any thing else to authenticate them properly. These hot letters,

which are about the size of a six-pence, occasion not that pain which

may be imagined, and the blisters being rubbed directly with a little

fresh butter, are perfectly well in the space of two or three days. No

sooner is this ceremony over, and a new name given to the newly-bought

slave, than he or she is delivered to an old one of the same sex, and

sent to the estate, where each is properly kept clean by his guardian,

instructed and well fed, without working, for the space of six weeks;

during which period, from living skeletons, they become plump and fat,

with a beautiful clean skin, till it is disfigured by the inhuman

flogging of some rascally proprietor, or rather his overseer.

Here I must leave them for some time, and continue my narrative, after

observing that the negroes are composed of different nations or casts,

such as the

Abo, Gango, Nago,

Conia, Konare, Papa,

Blitay, Riemba, Pombo,

Coromantin, Loango, Wanway,

Congo, N. Zoko, &c. &c.

With most of which I have found means to get acquainted, and of which I

shall speak more amply in another place of this narrative.

On the 10th, the surgeon having lanced my thigh, I scrambled out once

more, to witness the selling of slaves to the best bidder. After what

has been related, the reader may form some judgment of my surprize and

confusion, when I found among them my inestimable Joanna; the

sugar-estate Fauconberg, with its whole flock, being this day sold by

an execution, for the benefit of the creditors of its late possessor,

Mr. D. B. who had fled.

I now felt all the horrors of the damn’d. I bewailed again and again my

unlucky fortune, that did not enable me to become her proprietor

myself, and in my mind I continually painted her ensuing dreadful

situation. I fancied I saw her tortured, insulted, and bowing under the

weight of her chains, calling aloud, but in vain, for my assistance. I

was miserable, and indeed nearly deprived of all my faculties, till

restored by the assurances of my friend, Mr. Lolkens, who

providentially was appointed to continue administrator of the estate

during the absence of its new possessors, Messrs. Passelege and son, at

Amsterdam, who bought it and its dependants for only four thousand

pounds.

No sooner was he confirmed in his appointment, than this disinterested

and steady friend brought Joanna to my presence; and pledged himself,

that in every service which he could render to myself or her, and which

he had now more in his power than ever, no efforts on his side should

be wanting. This promise I desired him to keep in remembrance, and

accordingly he ever since most nobly persevered.

Being informed that Colonel Fourgeoud had left Crawassibo estate, and

entered the woods just above the plantation Clarenbeck, on his way to

the Wana Creek, to try if he could fall in with the rebels, I

requested, by a letter, that I might join him there as soon as I should

be recovered, and having shipped off for the last-mentioned estate

medicines and such surgeons of ours as had been left at Paramaribo, I

employed Mr. Greber, the surgeon of the Society, on my own authority,

and at the regiment’s expence, to attend the sick officers and

soldiers, who were left in town, destitute of cash, and now without

assistance. At the same time I also ordered to be purchased two more

ankers of the best claret for their support. Thus was I determined

properly to avail myself of my command, which at best could but last a

few days longer.

This evening my friend De La Mara took his departure, with his

twenty-five free mulattoes, for the river Surinam; he being a captain

of the militia, and they being infinitely preferable to the European

scarecrows.

I was so far recovered as to be able to ride out every morning, when

the following ludicrous adventure happened to me on the road that leads

to Wanica. In this place a Mr. Van de Velde, boasting how fast his

horse could gallop, proposed to me to run a race; to which I agreed,

allowing him the start at twenty paces distance. The start indeed he

had, but did not long retain his advantage, for my English horse

passing him with the rapidity of a cannon-shot, his galloway sprung,

rider and all, through a hedge of thick limes, and left poor Mr. Van de

Velde, not like Doctor Slop, in the dirt, but like Absalom, hanging

among the branches.

The horses in Surinam are little better or larger than asses (except

those which are brought from North America or Holland, the latter of

which are generally employed for carriages) yet they are useful in the

sugar-mills, where a number of mules are also employed. These last are

brought over from Barbary, and sometimes sold as high as fifty guineas.

None of these animals are indigenous to Guiana; but, as many other

animals have been imported, and become the inhabitants of the climate,

to save unnecessary repetition I here give the following list of such

quadrupeds as are not natives of the new continent:

The Elephant, Small Guinea Stag,

Hipopotamus, Ferret,

The Rhinoceros, Rat,

Cameleopard, Mouse,

Camel, Fat Squirrel,

Dromedary, Garden Squirrel,

Lion, Marmot,

Tiger, Horse,

Panther, Ass,

Sheep, Zebra,

Hog, Ox,

Goat, Buffalo,

Dog, Genett,

Badger, Civet,

Sable, Cat,

Stoat or Ermine, Antelope,

Hyæna, Chamois Goat,

Jackall, Ichneumon,

Wild Goat, Jerboa,

Rabbit, Maki; and several kinds of Monkies.

Should the number on this list seem rather great, I in that case refer

to the celebrated Count de Buffon, whence it was extracted.

On the 18th arrived sick from Devil’s Harwar Ensign Mathew, one of the

officers by whom I had been relieved; and the same day he was followed

by his commander and friend, Colonel Westerloo, supported by two

soldiers. They had ridiculed me for complaining, after a confinement of

so many weeks on board the barges; while these gentlemen had been out

but a few days and always on shore, the latter of them having attempted

to accompany the old Colonel Fourgeoud to Wana (whom he had joined at

La Rochelle in Patamaca) but was completely unfitted for proceeding by

his very first entry into the woods. I was at dinner with a Mr. Day,

when I saw him pass by a miserable spectacle, and chusing to forget

what had passed at Devil’s Harwar, and in reality having a regard for

this gentleman, I started up immediately, and got him a coach, in which

I accompanied him to his lodgings, where, having placed a centinel

before his chamber-door to keep out the rabble, I sent for a Doctor Van

Dam, as well as a Doctor Rissam, an American, to attend him, forbidding

all other communication, that of an old negro woman, his man servant,

and a black boy excepted, and by these means I apparently preserved his

life.

On the 20th, Lieutenant Count de Randwyk came down also indisposed with

Ensign Coene, and at last my poor old shipmate Lieutenant Hamer, who

had been kept at Devil’s Harwar near four months, till, overcome by

disease, he obtained leave to be transported to Paramaribo.

On the 22d, the governor sent me a cotton twig, which I copied; and as

I cannot have a better opportunity, I will now proceed to a description

of that useful plant, which has only been cultivated in Surinam from

about the year 1735, but not with advantage till about the years 1750

or 1752. There are several species of the cotton-tree, but I shall

confine myself to that which is the most common and the most useful in

this colony. This species of cotton, which grows upon a tree about six

or eight feet high, bears before it is a year old, and produces two

crops annually, each of about twenty ounces in weight; the leaves are

something like those of the vine, of a bright green, and the fibres of

a cinnamon colour. The cotton-balls, some of which are as large as a

small hen’s egg, and divided in three parts, grow on a very long stalk,

and in a triangular pod, which is first produced by a yellow flower,

and when ripe opens of itself, and discloses the globular contents as

white as flakes of snow; in the middle of these are contained small

black seeds, formed not unlike those that are usually found in grapes.

The cotton will prosper in any of the tropical soils, and produces a

good profit if the crops are not spoiled by a too long rainy season,

being cultivated with very little trouble and expence: all indeed that

is required is, to plant the seeds at a little distance from each

other, when each seed, as I have said, produces the first year it is

put in the ground. The separation of the seeds from the pulp, is the

work of one man only, by the help of a machine made for the purpose;

after which the cotton has undergone all the necessary process, and is

put in bales of between three and four hundred pounds weight each for

transportation, which bales ought to be well moistened at the time of

stowing it, to prevent the cotton from sticking to the canvas. In the

year before my arrival in Surinam, near three thousand bales of cotton

were exported from this colony to Amsterdam and Rotterdam alone, which

produced about forty thousand pounds sterling. The best estates make

twenty-five thousand pounds weight. The average prices have been from

eight pence to twenty-two pence per pound. The raw material is spun in

the West Indies by a rock and spindle, and extremely fine, when by the

negro girls it is knit into stockings, &c. one pair of which are

sometimes sold for the price of a Portuguese joe, or sometimes for two

guineas. The Indians or natives of Guiana make very good hammocks of

cotton, which they barter with the inhabitants at Paramaribo for other

commodities.—In the annexed plate A is the twig itself, B the pod, C

the cotton-ball, and D the seed, but on a smaller scale than nature. I

should here also describe the coffee, cacao, sugar, and indigo

plantations, but must reserve them till another occasion, having made

it a rule to speak of things only as they occur, which is more pleasant

to myself, and better adapted to diversify my narrative.

Being now perfectly recovered, I resolved to join Colonel Fourgeoud at

the Wana Creek, without waiting his orders, and to accompany him on his

excursions through the forest: in consequence of which, having first

cropt my hair, as being more convenient in the woods as well as more

cleanly, and provided myself with the necessary bush-equipage, such as

jackets, trowsers, &c.; I waited on the governor to ask his commands;

he entertained me in a most polite manner, and told me, that what I was

now going to suffer would surpass what I had already undergone. I

nevertheless persisted in wishing to go without waiting an order from

the chief, and accordingly applied to the magistrates for a boat, and

the necessary negroes to transport me; which being promised for the

succeeding day, I transferred the colours and regiment’s cash, with the

command of the remaining sick troops, to Lieutenant Meyer, the only

healthy officer then at Paramaribo.

Indeed the colours, the cash, and the sick soldiers were nearly of

equal use in Surinam, the first never having been displayed except at

our landing, the second invisible to all except to Colonel Fourgeoud,

and the third dying away one after another.

CHAP. X.

Colonel Fourgeoud marches to the Wana Creek—Harasses the

Enemy—Account of the Manicole Tree, with its various Uses—March to

the Mouth of Cormoetibo River—Some Rebels taken—Shocking treatment

of a wounded captive Negro.

On the 25th of October, being ready to proceed upon my second campaign,

I repaired to the water-side at six o’clock in the evening; where,

instead of a tent boat, I found a greasy yawl, with a few drunken Dutch

sailors, to row me to an estate in the river Comewina, whence they were

going to bring their captain back to Paramaribo, and from which place I

might, if I pleased, beg the rest of my passage upwards, or manage for

myself in the best manner I was able. I had already one foot in the

boat, when, reflecting that I was going voluntarily on a hazardous

expedition, without orders, and only from a desire to serve an

ungrateful people, I repented, and stepped back upon the shore, where,

positively declaring I would not move in their defence till I should be

decently transported, should the whole colony be on fire, I was

seconded by all the English and Americans in the town, and a general

tumult took place. The Dutch exclaimed against the expence of a

tent-boat which would cost them thirty shillings, when they could have

the other for nothing; while the others declared they were a set of

mean and parsimonious wretches, who deserved not the smallest

protection from Colonel Fourgeoud’s troops. A mob collected, and a riot

ensued, before Mr. Hardegen’s tavern, at the water-side, while hats,

wigs, bottles, and glasses, flew out at his windows. The magistrates

were next sent for, but to no purpose: and the fighting continued in

the street till ten o’clock at night, when I with my friends fairly

kept the field, having knocked down several sailors, planters, Jews,

and overseers, and lost one of my pistols, which I threw after the

rabble in a passion; nor would it have ended here, had not my friend

Mr. Kennedy, who was member of the Court of Policy, and two or three

more gentlemen whom he brought with him, found means to appease the

disputants, by declaring I had been very ill treated, and should have a

proper boat the next day.

Having now slept and refreshed myself a few hours, I was waited on by

four American captains, viz. Captain Timmons of the Harmony, Captain

Lewis of the Peggy, Captain Bogard of the Olive Branch, and Captain

Minet of the America, who insisted on my refusing any vessel whatever

from the colony this time, and offering to send me up in one of their

own boats, manned by their own sailors only, to which each would

equally contribute. I can aver, that notwithstanding the threatening

rupture between Great Britain and her Colonies, which seemed then upon

the eve of breaking out into open violence, nothing could surpass the

warm and cordial friendship which these gentlemen possessed, not only

for me, but for every individual that bore a British name, or had any

connexion with that island; professing, that they still retained the

greatest regard for every thing in Britain, but its administration. I

accepted of their very polite proposal; after which, having received a

letter from Mr. Kennedy, to be delivered to one of the militia

captains, a Mr. N. Reeder, in the river Comewina, with orders to send

me farther up in a proper tent-boat; and having arranged matters in

such a manner at home, that neither Colonel Fourgeoud nor the

cock-roaches could injure me, I shook hands with my Mulatta, and at six

in the evening repaired once more to the water-side, escorted by my

English and American friends, where, having drank a bowl of punch, we

separated. I then departed for my station, they having hoisted the

colours on board all their vessels in the road, and at the boat’s going

off saluted me with three cheers, to my great satisfaction, and the

mortification of the gaping multitude by which we were surrounded. We

soon rowed beyond the view of Paramaribo.

Being arrived at the fortress of New Amsterdam, we were obliged to stop

for the return of the tide, to row up the river Comewina. In this

interval, I was genteelly entertained with a supper by the Society

officers quartered there; but at twelve o’clock we got aboard, and

having rowed all night, I breakfasted with Captain Macneyl, who was one

of General Spork’s captains in 1751; after which we once more set out,

and arrived at the plantation Charlottenburgh, where I delivered Mr.

Kennedy’s letter to Mr. Reeder, who promised next morning to assist me.

So much incensed was I at the usage I had met with at Paramaribo, and

so well pleased with the English sailors, that I ordered the tars a

dinner of twelve roasted ducks, and gave them thirty-six bottles of

claret, being my whole stock, besides a guinea. With the ebb tide they

took their leave, and rowed down to their vessels, as well pleased, and

as drunk as wine or strong spirits could make them.

I now pursued my voyage upwards as far as the estate Mondesir;

afterwards, having viewed the ruins of the three estates, Zuzingheyd,

Peru, and L’Esperance, which had been burnt when I commanded at Devil’s

Harwar, I arrived at Lepair. Here one of the overseers gave me an

account of his miraculous escape from the rebels, which I shall relate

in his own words.—“The rebels, Sir,” said he, “had already surrounded

the dwelling-house in which I was, before I knew of their being in the

plantation, and were employed in setting fire to the four corners of

it, so that to run out of doors was rushing on certain death. In this

dilemma I fled to the garret, where I laid myself flat upon one of the

beams, in hopes of their dispersing soon, and that I might effect my

escape before the building should be burnt down; but in this I was

disappointed, as they still remained; and at the same time the flames

encreased so fast, that the heat became insupportable in the place

where I was, and I had no other alternative left, than to be burnt to

death, or to leap from a high garret window into the midst of my

exasperated enemies. This last measure, however, I resolved upon, and

had not only the good fortune to light unhurt upon my feet, but to

escape without a wound, from among so many men armed with sabres and

bill-hooks. I flew to the river-side, into which I plunged headlong;

however, not being able to swim, I immediately sunk to the bottom; but

(said he) I still kept my full presence of mind, and while they

concluded me to be drowned, found means, by the help of the moco-moco

and mangrove roots, to bring myself not only under cover of the

impending verdure, but just so far above water with my lips as to

continue in a state of respiration till all was over. Having killed

every other person, the rebels departed, and I was taken up by a boat

from my very perilous situation.”

On the 30th I arrived at Devil’s Harwar, and the succeeding day rowed

up the Cormoetibo Creek; where, having tied the boat to a tree which

overspread it with thick branches, we quietly lay down to sleep during

the night; myself and Quaco in the boat upon the benches, and the

negroes under the seats, except those whom I ordered alternately to

keep watch, and awake me if they heard the least rustling in the woods,

forbidding them all absolutely to speak or make any noise, lest the

rebels, who were hovering on both sides of the Creek, might hear and

surprize us. As for myself, who was the only white person amongst them

all, I was confident I should not, in such a case, escape their fury.

After these precautions, we all lay down and slept soundly, from nine

o’clock till about three in the morning, at which time Quaco and myself

were both suddenly thrown down from our benches, by the boat all at

once heeling upon one side, while all the negroes leaped overboard into

the water. I instantly cocked my pistol, and jumping up, asked aloud

what was the matter? positively determined to defend myself to the last

extremity, rather than be taken alive by so relentless an enemy. For

the space of a few seconds I obtained no answer, when again the boat

suddenly rectifying itself (by the motion of which I was thrown off my

feet) one of the swimming negroes called out, “Masera, da wan sea-cow;”

and to my great happiness it proved to be no other than the manati, or

sea-cow, which is called in Cayenne the lamentyn. By the account of the

negroes it had slept under the boat, which, by the creature’s awaking,

had been lifted up and thrown upon one side, and again replaced when

the manati made its escape from underneath it. I did not so much as see

the creature, nor indeed hardly had the negro, owing to the darkness of

the night, which lasted some hours after; but during that time we had

no further inclination to rest. At last the sun’s bright beams began to

dart through the trees and gild the foliage; on which we cast off from

our moorings, and continued rowing up Cormoetibo Creek (which was now

very narrow) till near noon, when we discovered a smoak, and at last

came to the mouth of the Wana Creek, which runs into the Marawina, and

which was the place of rendezvous, where however the troops were not

yet arrived; and opposite to which were encamped a few of the rangers,

to guard the provisions that were waiting the arrival of Colonel

Fourgeoud and his party from Crawassibo, and last from Patamaca.

One of the rangers having killed a tattu or armadillo, called in

Surinam capasce, I shall embrace this opportunity of describing

it.—This animal is with propriety sometimes stiled a hog-in-armour; its

head and ears being much like those of a roasting pig, and its whole

body covered over with hard shells like shields, sliding in moveable

rings, like those of the quee-quee fish already mentioned, the one over

the other, except on the shoulders and the rump, which are covered

something like turtle, with one solid mass of unmoveable bone, called

by some a cuirass and a helmet. Of this creature there are many species

in Guiana, the largest being from the snout to the tip of the tail

above three feet in length, of a reddish colour, and marked all over

with hexangular figures. Its eyes are small, the tail long and thick at

the root, and tapering gradually like a carrot towards the point, and

is covered over like the body with moveable rings. This animal has four

short legs with four toes, armed with two claws on the fore-feet, and

five on those behind. The armadillo walks generally during the night,

being seldom seen through the day, and sleeps in burrows under ground,

which it makes with great facility, and in which it sticks so fast that

the strongest man cannot draw it out, though he were to pull its tail

with both hands. When attacked or terrified, it forms itself into a

round ball like a hedge-hog, making its cuirass and helmet meet

together, in which are enclosed its head, feet, and whole body. This

creature feeds on roots, insects, fruits, birds, &c. and when dressed

appeared to me a tolerably good dish, though in general by Europeans it

is accounted no great delicacy; the Indians are, however, extremely

fond of it.

I shall, in this place, also take the opportunity of mentioning the

Guiana porcupine, which is frequently called here the adjora. This

animal, which is from its muzzle to the root of the tail sometimes

three feet in length, is covered with hard prickles, the feet, the

face, and part of its tail excepted. These prickles are about three

inches long, yellow at the root, a dark chesnut colour in the middle,

and white at the points; they are extremely sharp, highly polished, and

moveable, serving for the creature’s defence, which, when irritated, it

dresses in array, and makes a formidable appearance before its

adversary; at other times these prickles lie flat on its back,

something like the bristles of a hog. The head of the porcupine is of a

roundish make, and joined to the body by a remarkably thick short neck;

its eyes are large, bright, and placed under the ears, which are very

small and round; it never bites. On each side of its nose it has long

whiskers, very like the otter or the cat; its feet are shaped much like

those of a monkey, which assist it in climbing trees to seek for its

food, in which its long tapering tail is also very serviceable, which,

like a fifth limb, it twists about the branches, and which near the

extremity is covered over with hair like the face, the under part near

the tip only excepted, which is perfectly callous and black, as are

also the inside of all its feet. The hedge-hog of this country is, I

think, little different from that of the old continent, being about

eight or ten inches in length, covered over with pale yellow prickles,

but with hair on the face and under the belly, which is rather softer

and longer than in the hedge-hog of Europe. It has dark brown spots

like eye-brows over its eyes, and no ears but auditory holes, and five

toes with bended claws on each foot; its tail is very short, and its

defence consists in forming itself into a round ball in the manner of

the armadillo. Its food consists of fruit, roots, vegetables, insects,

&c. and its flesh is not disesteemed by the Indians or natives of the

country.

Colonel Fourgeoud not having yet arrived, I amused myself with

swimming, and paddling up the mouth of the deep Wana Creek, with a

canoe; during which time a Mr. Rulagh, one of our officers who was with

me, observed (in the top of a mangrove-tree) a battle between a snake

and a frog; and for an additional proof that frogs are to be found in

trees, I refer the reader to the Monthly Review for March 1785, page

199, where, in the Abbé Spallanzani’s Dissertation upon Frogs, the Tree

Frog is particularly mentioned. But finding this animal amongst the

branches did not so much excite my surprize, as the contest between a

snake and a frog, which I shall distinctly relate, and in which the

poor frog lost the battle. Indeed when I first perceived him, his head

and shoulders were already in the jaws of the snake, which last

appeared to me about the size of a large kitchen poker, and had its

tail twisted round a tough limb of the mangrove; while the frog, who

appeared to be the size of a man’s fist, had laid hold of a twig with

the claws of its hinder legs, as with hands. In this position were they

contending, the one for life, the other for his dinner, forming one

straight line between the two branches, and thus I beheld them for some

time, apparently stationary, and without a struggle. Still I was not

without hope, that the poor frog might extricate himself by his

exertions; but the reverse was the case, for the jaws of the snake

gradually relaxing, and by their elasticity forming an incredible

orifice, the body and fore-legs of the frog by little and little

disappeared, till finally nothing more was seen than the hinder feet

and claws, which were at last disengaged from the twig, and the poor

creature was swallowed whole by suction down the throat of his

formidable adversary, whence he was drawn some inches farther down the

alimentary canal, and at last stuck, forming a knob or knot at least

six times as thick as the snake, whose jaws and throat immediately

contracted and re-assumed their former natural shape. The snake being

out of our reach, we could not kill him, as we wished to do, to take a

further examination. Thus we left him, continuing in the same attitude

without moving, and twisted round the branch.

On the third of November, one party of the troops being arrived, and

encamped on the south-west side of the Cormoetibo Creek, about one mile

above the mouth of the Wana Creek, I went with a couple of rangers to

pay them a visit; when Major Rughcop, the commanding officer, informed

me that Colonel Fourgeoud had marched last from Patamaca in two

columns, of which he led the one, while the other was hourly expected;

and that the rest of the regiment was divided between the rivers

Cottica, Perica, and Comewina, excepting those that were sick in the

hospital at Paramaribo. I was now in excellent health and good spirits;

and in the hopes of being reconciled to Fourgeoud by this voluntary

proof of my zeal for the service, I returned to the rangers’ camp to

wait his arrival. I was indeed well acquainted with his irreconcileable

temper, and at the same time conscious of my own wild and ungovernable

disposition, when I thought myself ill treated; but soon forgot

trifling injuries, and was now determined, by my active and affable

behaviour, to make him my friend if possible.

At length the wished-for hour arrived; and being apprized of Colonel

Fourgeoud’s approach, I went half a mile from the camp to meet him,

acquainting him that I was come pour participer de la gloire, and to

serve under his immediate command, which he having answered with a bow,

I returned it, and we marched together to the rangers’ camp.

The occurrences in this march were the troops taking from the enemy

three villages, particularly one called the Rice Country, on account of

the great quantity of rice which was found there, some ripe and some in

full blossom, which we totally destroyed, after putting the rebels to

flight. These were commanded by one Bonny, a relentless Mulatto, who

was born in the forest, and was quite unconnected with Baron’s party,

which had lately been driven from Boucou. We further learned that they

had found seven human skulls stuck upon stakes, under which lay

mouldering the bodies above ground, and part of the garments, (as may

be seen in the annexed plate) and which proved them to be the remains

of the unfortunate Lieutenant Lepper, with six of his unhappy men, most

of whom being taken alive, had one by one been stripped naked by the

rebel negroes at the arrival in their village, and (for the recreation

of their wives and children) by Bonny’s orders flogged to death. This

information we got from a rebel woman, who had been made a prisoner by

Fourgeoud on his march through the above village or rice condre, and

whom we treated with every kindness.

This inhuman conduct in Bonny was directly opposite to that of Baron,

who, notwithstanding all his threats and menaces, it was well known had

sent back to Paramaribo different soldiers, whom he might have killed.

He even assisted in concealing them from his enraged accomplices, and

furnished them with provisions, perfectly sensible that they were not

the cause of the disturbance. But not a ranger, as I have said before,

that had the misfortune to fall into his hands could escape his

ungovernable fury.

On further conversation, we found that the whole party, being nearly

starved, had conjunctly called out for bread, as it was known that

there was plenty in the boxes, but that it had been kept back three

days, and rice served out in its stead. To suppress this kind of

mutiny, the officers had rushed in amongst the men with cocked pistols

and drawn swords, and indiscriminately laying hold of the first in

their way, had unluckily seized a poor man named Schmidt, whom,

notwithstanding all the others averred to be innocent, they had, for an

example to the rest, bastonaded between two corporals, till the blood

gushed out of his mouth like a fountain;—and thus ended the revolt. One

of the conductors, named Mangol, disdaining at all to serve under

Colonel Fourgeoud’s command, had left him without asking his consent,

after which he forsook the service entirely. These were the particulars

of the march in both columns, from Crawassibo in Comewina to the Wana

Creek.

Whilst I was now about noon resting in my hammock very contentedly, I

was accosted by my friend Lieutenant Campbell, who acquainted me, with

tears in his eyes, that the evening before Colonel Fourgeoud had given

to the officers of the Surinam Society, not only of that brave and

gallant corps the Scots brigade in the Dutch service, but of the

British in general, the most unmerited character that could be

invented. I immediately started up; and having got Campbell’s

information confirmed, went to Fourgeoud, and asked him in public the

cause of this unmanly slander. He replied with a stare, that his

observations only regarded my petticoat-trowsers, which I wore for

coolness and conveniency, as many British seamen do, and which he had

never seen on the mountains of Switzerland. But as to the rest of what

was said respecting us, he laid it totally to the charge of Mr.

Stoelman, captain of the Cottica militia, who was absent. Thus I could

only answer by denouncing, in the severest terms, vengeance upon this

assassin of our reputation; and after promising to transform my short

trowsers into long ones, we coolly separated.

An hour however after this, I received a sudden order to cross the

Cormoetibo River, and be henceforth under the command of Major Rughcop,

who was with his party or column at this time encamped on the

south-side at the mouth of Wana Creek. “Force is indeed the ruling

principle in military affairs,” says a certain author; and, upon the

whole, could the ingenious advice given to a commander in chief, as

published in a late pamphlet, have been read by Colonel Fourgeoud, I

must have imagined he had studied it, sentence after sentence, since

nothing could better correspond with his general character.

Being arrived in Major Rughcop’s camp, and having got a couple of

negroes to serve me, the next measure was to build a hut, or, more

properly speaking, a shed over my hammock, to keep me free from the

rain and the sun, which was done within the space of one hour. As these

huts are of very material and of general use in tropical marches and

campaigns, where no tents can be pitched, and where (as I have seen, so

many thousands of these temporary erections) I will describe the manner

in which they are constructed, being not only extremely curious, but

very useful on different occasions—curious, because neither hammers nor

nails, nor indeed any kind of carpenter’s tools are required; a strong

cutlass or bill-hook being all that is wanted,—and useful, as they are

instantly raised, and form not only lasting, but the most delightful

and convenient habitations, with even two stories, one above the other,

if required.—For these erections not more than two articles are

wanting; the first the manicole, by the French called latanie, and here

parasalla, or the pine-tree; and the second the nebees, called by the

French liannes, by the Spaniards bejucos, and in Surinam tay-tay.

The manicole-tree, which is of the palm-tree species, is mostly found

in marshy places, and is always a proof of a rich and luxurious soil.

It is about the thickness of a man’s thigh, very strait, and grows to

the height of from thirty to fifty feet from the ground: the trunk,

which is jointed at the distance of two or three feet, is of a

light-brown colour, hard externally for the thickness of half an inch,

but pithy, like the English elder, and good for nothing within, except

near the top, where the wood becomes green, and incloses a delicious

kind of white fruit, called cabbage, and which, being peculiar to all

the palm-trees, I shall on another occasion amply describe. On the top

of all this the manicole-tree spreads in beautiful green boughs, with

leaves hanging strait downwards like silk ribbons, which form a kind of

umbrella. The manner of using it for building huts or cottages, is by

cutting the trunk in pieces of as many feet long as you wish to have

the partition high; for instance, seven feet, which pieces are next

split into small boards, the breadth of a man’s hand, and divested of

their pithy substance, and then they are fit for immediate use. Having

cut and prepared as many of these laths as you wanted to surround the

dwelling, nothing remains but to lash them in a perpendicular position

and close to each other to two cross bars of the same tree fixed to the

corner posts, and the whole is cut and shaped with the bill-hook alone,

and tied together by the nebees or tay-tay, which I think have derived

their name from our verb to tie, since the English had possession of

the colony. The nebees are a kind of ligneous ropes of all sizes, both

as to length and thickness, that grow in the woods, and climb up along

the trees in all directions: they are so plentiful and wonderfully

dispersed, that, like the ligneous cordage of the mangrove, they make

the forest appear like a large fleet at anchor, killing many of the

trees by mere compression, and entwining themselves with each other to

the thickness of a ship’s cable, without any kind of foliage, which

gives them sometimes a wonderful appearance, particularly when

ascending lofty trunks in a spiral manner to the top, from which they

next hang down to the earth, take root, and re-ascend. Sometimes the

thin nebees are so closely interwoven, that they have the appearance of

fishing nets, and game cannot get through them. These nebees are

exceedingly tough, and may be used for mooring large vessels to the

shore. Having only to add, that some of the species are poisonous,

especially those that are flat, grooved, or angular, I shall proceed to

the roofing of the cottage.

This is done by the green boughs or branches of the same manicole-tree

that made the walls, and in the following manner: each bough, which I

can compare to nothing so well as to the shape of a feather, and which

is as large as a man, must be split from the top to the bottom in two

equal parts, as you would split a pen, when a number of these half

boughs are tied together by their own verdure, and form a bunch; you

next take these bunches, and tie them with nebees one above another

upon the roof of your cottage, as thick as you please, and in such a

manner that the verdure, which looks like the mane of a horse, hangs

downwards. This covering, which at first is green, but soon takes the

colour of the English reed-thatching, is very beautiful, lasting and

close, and finishes your house, as I have said, without the help of a

hammer or nails; the doors and windows, tables, seats, &c. are made in

the same manner, so are the inclosures for gardens, or other places for

keeping cattle; and by this conveniency it is that the rebel negroes

never want good houses, which, if burnt to ashes one day, are again

perfectly rebuilt the next, though they never rebuild them exactly in

the places where they have once been discovered by Europeans. The

Indians, instead of the manicoles, generally cover their wigwams with

tas or with trooly, of which I shall speak on another occasion. I ought

not to forget, that the seeds of these trees are contained in a spatha,

near the top, of thirty or forty knotty fibres, forming a species of

broom, for which they are used throughout the colony; thus, while the

manicole supplies the materials for a house, it affords also the means

of keeping it clean. This tree produces also the cabbage, which, as I

have said, is found in all the other palm-trees, &c. The hut that I now

lay under was not built in the convenient manner above described; it

was not requisite, for the short time we generally continued in one

place: my habitation consisted only of a roof or cover without any

walls. The manner of erecting these little sheds, which every private

soldier builds for himself, is simply by planting four forked poles in

the ground, at such a distance that a hammock can conveniently hang

between them; next, to rest two short poles, strong enough to support

the weight of the body in the above forks, the one at the head and the

other at the feet, to which are fastened the clews of the hammock. On

the other extremities of these are laid two long sticks, and on them

again two short ones, and thus alternately two long and two short, all

which diminish by degrees. When the whole is finished, the top must be

covered with branches from the manicole, exactly as they grow, without

either splitting or tying them, and as thick as the season may require.

When this temporary fabric is completely finished, it will not only

keep dry both the inhabitants and their boxes, but (by the help of the

nebees) fuzees, swords, pistols, &c. may be suspended from the rafters.

As I have been describing the manicole, I am induced also to mention

the cocoa-nut tree, as I think it resembles that more than any of the

palm species. This tree, which is so much celebrated, as affording to

man food, clothing, shelter, &c. possesses not, in my opinion, all

those qualities, but still is well worthy of notice. It grows like the

former, in a tall jointed trunk, sometimes from sixty to above eighty

feet high, and is thick in proportion, but seldom perpendicularly

straight: its bark is of a grey colour; the wood is hard without, but

pithy within, like the elder in Great Britain; its branches are larger,

and of a deeper green, than those of the manicole-tree, but are equally

divided, with pinnated leaves on both sides, which in the other I

compared to green ribbons; but they neither hang so straight downwards,

nor are the branches regularly arched, which gives them the appearance

of large feathers, and they spring up at the top, in proportion as they

fade and go off at the bottom: the cocoa-tree also produces a cabbage

at its summit, but is too valuable to be cut down for the sake of a

prize so inadequate to the loss of its other produce. It bears the nuts

when six or eight years old, after which period it is never seen

without them; they grow usually six or eight on one stalk, which

diverges from the heart of the tree; they are the size of a man’s head,

but more conical. The nut, it is well known, when divested of its husk,

is exceedingly hard, and requires a hammer to break it, or to be sawed

through the middle to procure the nourishment it affords; when young,

this consists of a white liquid, which I can compare to nothing better

than to milk and water mixed with sugar, and which is an exceedingly

cool and agreeable beverage; but at a riper period this is formed into

a crisp kernel, which adheres close to the inside of the shell for

about half an inch thick, while it remains perfectly hollow within.

This kernel, which has a fine flavour, and tastes like the liquid, is

good eating, as most of my readers have probably experienced.

In the plate annexed, A, is the manicole-tree; B, the trunk split into

laths; C, the nebees to tie them together; D, the leaf split from the

top downwards; and E, the same tied into bunches; F, is the cocoa-nut

tree; G, the figure of one of its branches; H, the cocoa-nut in the

green husk; and I, the same diverted of that outer substance.

But to proceed with my narrative.—While we continued in this station,

one morning, being returned from a patrole, with twenty marines and

twenty rangers, and sitting round a species of table to take some

dinner with the other officers, I was rudely insulted by a Captain

Meyland, of the Society troops, who, as I said, with Lieutenant

Fredericy, had taken Boucou, and who was Colonel Fourgeoud’s countryman

and friend. The affront consisted in Meyland’s handing round to each a

drop of claret, he having indeed but one bottle left, and, in an

impertinent manner, excepting me alone, although I held the glass in my

hand to receive it. Justly suspecting this insult to originate from my

commander in chief, rather than appear to seek a quarrel, I endeavoured

to make an apology, telling him, I had inadvertently erred in holding

out my glass, not imagining I was to be distinguished from the other

officers; assuring him it was not for the value of his wine, which I

politely relinquished to my next neighbour; but this concession had no

other effect than to increase the wrath of my fierce adversary, who,

apparently mistaking it for pusillanimity, became overbearing and

scurrilous, in which he was seconded by all the other Swiss and Germans

without exception. I said no more, and having tore away a wing of a

boiled bird called powese, that stood before me (which bird had been

shot by one of the rangers) I devoured it with little ceremony, and

left the table, with a determination to support my character or die.

Thus resolved, I first went to the hut of a sick soldier, whose sabre I

borrowed (my own being broken) on pretence of going out to cut a few

sticks; after this I went in quest of Mr. Meyland, and found him

contentedly smoking his pipe by the water-side, looking at one of his

friends who was angling. Having tapped him on the shoulder, I hastily

told him, before the other, that now if he did not fight me that

instant like a gentleman, I was determined to take revenge another way,

with the flat of my sabre, where he stood. He at first declared that he

had only meant a joke, and seemed for peace; but perceiving that I

persisted, he with great sang froid knocked the tobacco-ashes from his

pipe against the heel of his shoe; then having brought his sabre, we

walked together without seconds about half a mile into the wood: here I

stopt the captain short, and drawing my weapon, now desired him to

stand on his defence; this he did, but at the same time observed, that

as the point of his sword was broken off, we were unequally armed; and

so indeed we were, his being still near one foot longer than my own;

therefore calling to him that sabres were not made to thrust, but to

cut with, I offered to make an exchange; but he refusing, I dropped

mine on the ground, and eagerly with both hands endeavoured to wrest

his from him, till (as I had hold of it by the blade) I saw the blood

trickle down all my fingers, and I was obliged to let go. I now grasped

my own sabre, with which I struck at him many times, but without the

least effect, as he parried every blow with the utmost facility; at

last, with all his force, he made a cut at my head, which, being

conscious I could not ward off by my skill, I bowed under it, and at

the same instant striking sideways for his throat, had the good fortune

to make a gash in the thick part of his right arm at least six inches

long, the two lips of which appeared through his blue jacket, and in

consequence of which his right-hand came down dangling by his side. I

had, however, not escaped entirely unhurt, for his sabre, having passed

through my hat without touching my scull, had glanced to my right

shoulder, and cut it about one inch deep. At this time I insisted on

his asking my pardon, or on firing both our pistols left-handed; but he

chose the first, which ended the battle. I now reminded him that such

Swiss jokes were always too serious to Englishmen; when we shook hands,

and I conducted him, covered with blood, to the surgeon of his own

corps, who having sewed up the wound, he went to his hammock, and for

the space of several weeks performed no duty. Thus was I reconciled to

Captain Meyland; and what gave me the greatest satisfaction, was his

acknowledging the affront was offered, as finding it would be agreeable

to Fourgeoud to have me mortified; and indeed ever after this

acknowledgment we lived in the utmost intimacy. Peace, however, was not

yet decreed to be my lot, for that very afternoon I found myself under

the necessity of challenging two other officers, who had espoused

Meyland’s quarrel against me at dinner; but in this I had the

satisfaction of establishing my character without violence or

bloodshed, both of the gentlemen acknowledged their error; and I became

at once the favourite of the camp.

On the 9th of November both columns met, and encamped together on the

north side of the Wana Creek, near its mouth, where it runs into the

Cormoetibo, placing advanced guards at both creeks, at one mile

distance from it; and this very evening I took the opportunity of

acquainting Colonel Fourgeoud, that I had nearly cut off the head of

his beloved countryman in a duel (well knowing he must be informed of

it by others); which trespass he was not only pleased graciously to

pardon, but to tell me with a smile that I was a brave garçon, but in

those smiles I put no more trust than I would in the tears of a

crocodile.

My doubts of his friendship were soon confirmed, since my only true

friend, Campbell, going down sick to Devil’s Harwar, he would not so

much as allow the boat or ponkee to wait till I had finished a letter,

directed to Joanna, for some clean linen; however, a ranger (of which

corps I by this time was become a remarkable favourite) found means to

enable me to overtake this poor young man in a corialla or small canoe,

composed of one single piece of timber; when, shaking hands with

Campbell, we separated with tears, and I never saw him more, for he

died in a few days after. Colonel Fourgeoud now being determined to

scour the north banks of the Cormoetibo, we broke up in two columns,

viz. his own first, and that of Major Rughcop, to which last I still

belonged, following; we left behind a strong guard, with the provisions

for the sick. Before we set out, I shall specify the substance of our

orders to be observed on a march, as issued since by the chief on the

15th of August 1774 at Caravassibo, and which, though nine months after

this date, (being rather late) are so judicious, that they do infinite

honour to his Adjutant Captain Van Giurike, who had the principal share

in their composition: in

Article I. Quietness and sobriety was strongly recommended.

Article II. On pain of death none to fire without receiving orders.

Article III. Also death to whoever quits or loses his arms.

Article IV. The same punishment for those who dare to plunder while

they are engaging the enemy.

Article V. An officer and serjeant to inspect the distribution of the

victuals at all times; and

Article VI. Each officer to be limited in the number of his black

attendants.

The other orders were, “That in case our marines marched in two or

three divisions or columns, they were to mark the trees with a sabre or

bill-hook, to give intelligence to each other where they had passed, in

the manner noticed on Plate XX. where A, B, and C, denote the marks cut

by our first, second, and third division or column, and D, E, and F,

the marks made by the several divisions or columns of the troops of the

Surinam society; which marks were to be cut in such trees only as were

on the left side in marching. Also when the troops marched over sandy

desarts, heaths, or savannahs, they were occasionally to drop small

twigs or reeds, tied together in the form of a cross: and in each camp,

on the troops leaving it, were to be left a bottle and blank paper; but

if any thing particular should happen, the same to be specified

thereon. In case of the troops being attacked on a march, a small

entrenchment was to be formed of the baggage-boxes, at the back of

which the negro slaves were to lie flat on the ground; and this

entrenchment to be defended by the rear-guard only, while the other

troops had orders not to linger on the defensive, but vigorously, with

bayonets fixed, to rush in upon the enemy’s fire; nevertheless humanely

giving quarter to all such as should be taken alive, or surrender

themselves to the troops.” These were the stated rules of our future

military conduct; but for the present I beg leave to observe, that

every thing was in the most unaccountable hurry and confusion. In this

way, however, we proceeded, keeping our course toward the mouth of the

Cormoetibo Creek, each officer provided with a pocket compass, by which

we were to steer, like sailors, through a dark wood, where nothing is

to be seen but the heavens, as at sea nothing appears but clouds and

water: thus those who were acquainted with navigation were the best

qualified for marching, and ran the least hazard of losing themselves

in a black unbounded forest. But those wretches who most deservedly

attracted my pity, were the miserable negro slaves, who were bending

under their loads; whose heads, on which they carry all burthens, bore

the bald marks of their servitude;—they were driven forward like oxen,

and condemned to subsist on half allowance, while they performed double

drudgery. In short, to increase our misfortune, though in the dry

season, the rains began to pour down from the heavens like a torrent,

continuing all night: during this deluge (according to Colonel

Fourgeoud’s order) we were all ordered to encamp without huts or other

covering of any kind, slinging our hammocks between two trees, under

which, upon two small forked sticks, were placed our fire-arms, as the

only method of keeping the priming-powder dry in the pan; above this

piece of architecture did I hang, like Mahomet betwixt the two

loadstones, with my sabre and pistols in my bosom, and, in spite of

wind and weather, fell most profoundly asleep.

On the 14th, at five o’clock in the morning, I was awaked by the sound

of Up! up! up! when the rain still continuing, the half of the officers

and men were sick, and I rose from my hammock soaked as in a wash-tub;

having secured the lock of my firelock, in imitation of the rangers,

with a piece of the bark of a palm-tree, and swallowing a dram, with a

piece of dry rusk biscuit, for my breakfast, we again marched on. But I

ought not to forget mentioning the negroes, who had the whole night

slept in the water on the ground, and yet were in better health than

any of the Europeans. Had we now been attacked by the enemy, we must

inevitably have been all cut to pieces, being disabled from resisting

with our firearms, in which not only the priming but even many of the

cartridges were completely wet; this might have been prevented by

having cased and waxed down our arms, as is practised by the buccaneers

of America; but these were trifles not to be thought of: one thing,

however, now happened which threatened to be no trifle, and that was,

that the provisions were gone, and those we expected to meet us in the

creek not arrived, having by some mistake been neglected. By this

accident we were now reduced, officers and men without exception, to

subsist on one rusk biscuit and water for our allowance for twenty-four

hours, to keep us from starving [21]: while it is to be remarked, that

Monsieur Laurant, our hero’s French valet-de-chambre, who had charge of

the provision, was blown down to Baram’s point, and another time sunk

with all the provisions; which produced the impertinent remark from

some of the soldiers, that the devil had mistaken him for his master.

In the midst however of this distress, we were again presented by one

of the rangers with a large bird, called here boossy-calcoo, being a

species of wild turkey; of this fortunate acquisition it was resolved

in the evening to make broth, each throwing a piece of his rusk biscuit

into the kettle, and (standing round the fire) beginning to ladle away

as soon as the broth began to boil, which had another virtue, viz.

notwithstanding its being put over at six o’clock in the evening, at

twelve o’clock at midnight the kettle was just as full as the first

moment we had begun supper, though the broth was rather weaker I must

acknowledge, the heavy rain having dashed into it without intermission.

During this severe storm we were as destitute of huts as the night

before, but I availed myself once more of my English petticoat

trowsers, which, loosening from my middle, I hung about my shoulders,

and continuing to turn round before the fire (like a fowl roasting on a

string) I passed the hours with rather more comfort than my miserable

coughing companions. All I can say of the bird above mentioned is, that

I thought it differed little from the common turkeys, which here

frequently weigh above twenty pounds.

The largest bird in Guiana is there called tuyew, and by others emu. It

is a middle species between the ostrich and the cassowary, as I was

told, for I never saw one in the country: it is said to be about six

feet high, from the top of the head to the ground; its head is small,

its bill flat, the neck and limbs long, the body round, without a tail,

and of a whitish grey colour; its thighs are remarkably thick and

strong, and it has three toes on each foot, while the ostrich has but

two. This bird, it is said, cannot fly at all, but runs very swiftly;

and, like the ostrich, assists its motion with its wings: it is mostly

found near the upper parts of the rivers Marawina and Seramica. When

speaking about birds, notwithstanding few of them sing here with any

degree of melody, for which the beauty of their plumage is thought by

some to compensate; I was, during this march, so much charmed with two

in particular, that I was induced to put their sweet notes to music.

Those of the first Rather quick [Music]. The second slow [Music].

These notes they sung so true, so soft, and to such proper time, that

in any other place I should have been inclined to believe they were the

performance of a human artist upon his flute. As I never saw either of

those birds but imperfectly and at a distance, I can say nothing more

concerning them, than that they are frequently heard in marshy

situations.

On the succeeding morning we marched again through very heavy rains,

which by this time had swelled the water so high in the woods that it

reached above our knees, and prevented us from crossing a small creek

in our way, without the help of a temporary bridge.

I prevailed therefore on the rangers, with the help of a few slaves, to

erect one, which they did in the space of forty minutes, by cutting

down a straight tree, which fell directly across the creek, to this

they also made a kind of railing; but still with this our commander

Rughcop, whose temper was soured by misery, and whose constitution was

already broken by hardships, was not pleased. He paid the rangers for

their pains with oaths and reproaches, who, with a smile of contempt,

left him swearing, and crossed the creek, some by swimming, and others

by climbing up a tree whose branches hung over it, from which they

dropped down on the opposite shore; in this I followed their example:

and here we stopped till the arrival of the poor trembling and

debilitated Major Rughcop, with two-thirds of his troops as sick as

himself.

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 1 (of 2) · 第 17 / 19 章

Here we remarked a variety of beautiful butterflies, particularly some