A Mrs. S—lk—r going to her estate in a tent-barge, a negro woman, with

her sucking infant, happened to be passengers, and were seated on the

bow or fore-part of the boat. The child crying, from pain perhaps, or

some other reason, could not be hushed; Mrs. S—lk—r, offended with the

cries of this innocent little creature, ordered the mother to bring it

aft, and deliver it into her hands; then, in the presence of the

distracted parent, she immediately thrust it out at one of the

tilt-windows, where she held it under water until it was drowned, and

then let it go. The fond mother, in a state of desperation, instantly

leapt overboard into the stream, where floated her beloved offspring,

in conjunction with which she was determined to finish her miserable

existence. In this, however, she was prevented by the exertions of the

negroes who rowed the boat, and was punished by her mistress with three

or four hundred lashes for her daring temerity.

Colonel Fourgeoud moved on the 20th, with all his troops, from

Magdenberg, in order to establish his head-quarters nearer the

infirmary. His army being in a very sickly condition, he fixed upon the

estate called New Rosenback, situated between the Hope and the

hospital, for his encampment. Thither I immediately repaired, to pay my

respects to the chief; when I saw the remainder of his miserable army

landed, and received a further detail of the campaign. I have already

mentioned Captain Fredericy’s being wounded; one man lost by neglect,

and another cut and disarmed; the captives running away, chains and

all; the hero scoffed at, and ridiculed by his sable enemies:—I shall

now add, that a sick marine was left to die or recover by himself; and

that one of the slaves, by bad usage, had his arm broke. The captive

negro woman was also gone, never more to return to her conqueror,

considerably increased in size from her connection with the troops, and

likely to present a new recruit to her dusky monarch. These were the

particulars of the last campaign. But I must mention the humanity of a

poor slave, who, at every hazard, deserted Fourgeoud to attend the

dying marine; and having performed the last sad office of friendship,

returned to receive his punishment, but to his infinite surprize was

pardoned.

In justice to Colonel Fourgeoud I must say, that upon such expeditions,

and in such a climate, many of these accidents cannot be prevented; and

that while he killed his troops by scores, without making captures on

the enemy, he nevertheless did the colony considerable service, by

disturbing, hunting, and harassing the rebels, and destroying their

fields and provisions. For, it is certain, no negro will ever return to

settle in those haunts from which he has been once expelled. Colonel

Fourgeoud’s partaking personally in every danger and fatigue at his

age, must make some amends for the other faults that stained his

character, and may even serve, in some measure, to establish his

reputation as a man of patience and fortitude. It would give me

infinitely more pleasure to write nothing but in his praise; but truth,

and the general benefit of mankind, requires, that whilst I display his

good qualities I also point out his failings, as they may serve to

correct others, and by these means even his vices may be rendered

useful. What could be more ridiculous, than paying his troops with

silver at Paramaribo, where paper was just as good? and now, while in

the rivers, giving them cards, for which they could not procure a yam

or a bunch of plantains, while he had whole chests of specie in his

possession? But his object was to gain a profit of ten per cent. on the

pay of the whole regiment, and for this he was justly blamed by the

corps in general.

On the 21st, several officers came to visit me at the Hope, whom I

entertained with a fish dinner—amongst which were the kawiry, the

lamper, and macrely-fisy, all which I shall briefly describe. The

kawiry is a small fish without scales, the head is large, with two long

antennæ or whiskers projecting from the upper jaw, and is very

plentiful in the rivers. The lamper is a species of the lampern, that

are caught in the Thames: those of Surinam are not large, but very fat,

of a round shape, slimy or glutinous; its colour a blueish green with

yellow spots, except the belly, which is white; this fish, like the

salmon, frequents both the sea and the rivers. The macrely-fisy

resembles a mackarel, whence it has its name, only its colour is more

blueish and not near so splendid.

We were very happy, and my guests perfectly satisfied with their

entertainment. But on the morning of the 22d my poor Joanna, who had

been our cook, was attacked with a violent fever; she desired to be

removed to Fauconberg, there to be attended by one of her female

relations, which I complied with. But on the evening of the 25th she

was so extremely ill, that I determined to visit her myself, but as

privately as possible, as Fourgeoud was to visit me at the Hope the

next day; for his satirical jokes upon such an occasion I could very

well dispense with; and I knew the most laudable motives were no

protection against the ungovernable sallies of his temper.

However difficult the undertaking, as I had to pass close to his post,

I like another Leander was determined to cross the Hellespont; of which

having informed my friend Heneman, I set out about eleven at night in

my own barge, when coming opposite New Rosenback, I heard Fourgeoud’s

voice very distinctly, as he walked on the beach with some other

officers, and immediately the boat was hailed by a sentinel, and

ordered to come ashore. I now thought all was over; but, persisting to

the last, I told the negroes to answer Killestyn Nova, the name of an

adjoining plantation, and thus got leave to proceed unmolested. Soon

after I arrived safe at Fauconberg, and found my dearest friend much

better.

But on the 26th, in the morning, mistaking the daylight for moon-shine,

I overslept myself, and knew not how to return to the Hope, as my barge

and negroes could now not pass without being well known to the Colonel.

Delay was useless; so out I set, trusting entirely to the ingenuity of

my slaves, who put me ashore just before we came in sight of the

head-quarters; when one of them escorted me through the woods, and I

arrived safe at the Hope. But here my barge soon followed under a

guard, and all my poor slaves prisoners, with an order from Fourgeoud

for me to flog every one of them, as they had been apprehended without

a pass, while their excuse was that they had been out a fishing for

their Massera.

Their fidelity to me upon this occasion was truly astonishing, as they

all declared they would have preferred being cut in pieces, rather than

betray the secrets of so good a master. However, the danger was soon

over, as I confirmed what they had said, and added, that the fish were

intended to regale the hero; after which I made a donation of two

gallons of rum among my sable privy-counsellors. This passage, however

trifling, may serve as a sample not only of European weakness, but of

African firmness and resolution.

Notwithstanding my preparation, still Colonel Fourgeoud did not visit

me on the 27th, but the next morning Joanna arrived, accompanied by a

stout black, who was her uncle, and whose arm was decorated with a

silver band, on which were engraved these words: “True to the

Europeans.” This man, who was named Cojo, having voluntarily fought

against the rebels, before his companions, by the inhuman treatment of

Mr. D. B. and his overseer, had been forced to join them. From these he

related to us the following remarkable story, having a little girl,

called Tamera, by the hand:—“This child’s father,” said he, “is one

whose name is Jolly Cœur, the first captain belonging to Baron’s men,

and, not without cause, one of the fiercest rebels in the forest, which

he has lately shewn on the neighbouring estate of New Rosenback, where

your colonel now commands. On that estate one Schults, a Jew, being the

manager at that time, who formerly was the manager of Fauconberg, the

rebels suddenly appeared, and took possession of the whole plantation.

Having tied the hands of Schults, and plundered the house, they next

began to feasting and dancing, before they thought proper to end his

miserable existence. In this deplorable situation now lay the victim,

only waiting Baron’s signal for death, when his eyes chancing to catch

the above captain’s, Jolly Cœur, he addressed him nearly in the

following words:—‘O Jolly Cœur, now remember Mr. Schults, who was once

your deputy-master; remember the dainties I gave you from my own table,

when you were only a child, and my favourite, my darling, among so many

others: remember this, and now spare my life by your powerful

intercession.’—The reply of Jolly Cœur was memorable:—I remember it

perfectly well: ‘But you, O tyrant, recollect how you ravished my poor

mother, and flogged my father for coming to her assistance. Recollect,

that the shameful act was perpetrated in my infant presence—Recollect

this—then die by my hands, and next be damn’d.’—Saying this, he severed

his head from his body with a hatchet at one blow; with which having

played at bowls upon the beach, he next cut the skin with a knife from

his back, which he spread over one of the cannon to keep the priming

dry.”—Thus ended the history of Mr. Schults; when Cojo, with young

Tamera, departed, and left me to go, with an increased impatience, to

receive the news, that I soon was to expect from Amsterdam, viz. when

the deserving Joanna should be free from the villainy of such pests of

human nature.

On the 28th, Colonel Fourgeoud arrived about ten o’clock with one of

his officers, and with the very devil painted in his countenance, which

alarmed me much. I, however, instantly introduced him to my cottage,

where he no sooner saw my mate, than the clouds (like a vapour by the

sun) were dispelled from his gloomy forehead: and I must confess, that

I never saw him behave with more civility.

——“Her heavenly form

Angelic, but more soft and feminine,

Her graceful innocence, her every air

Of gesture, or least action, over-aw’d

His malice; and with rapine sweet bereav’d

His fierceness of the fierce intent it brought.”

Milton.

Having entertained him in the best manner we were able, and now related

the story of the Hellespont, he laughed heartily at the stratagem, and

giving us both a shake by the hand departed to New Rosenback, in

good-humour and perfectly contented.—From all the preceding

circumstances, the above Chapter may be stiled the golden age of my

West India expedition.

CHAP. XIV.

Colonel Fourgeoud at Paramaribo—Example of Ignorance in a

Surgeon—Of Virtue in a Slave—Of Ferocity in a Commander—The Troops

re-enter the Woods—Account of Loango Dancing—Uncommon Proof of

Fidelity in a Negro.

Having delayed his departure to the 29th of April, Colonel Fourgeoud

now finally rowed down for Paramaribo, accompanied by a few of his

officers, to refresh themselves; of which, in truth, they had great

need, while an armed barge kept floating up and down the river, and

while the remaining emaciated troops (which were melted down to a very

small number, and unfit, till recruited in their constitutions, for any

further military service) greatly required some rest. Just before the

chief’s departure, he sent me (who now commanded the river) the

following very curious instructions, which, as a proof of his

generalship, I cannot help inserting: Amongst others, “to ask the

planters if the rebels were come to their estates, in which case to

attack and drive them away; but not to follow them, unless I was sure

that I certainly should conquer them, and for any miscarriage I should

be called to an account;” which is, in plain English, that “if I

attacked the enemy without success, I must be punished; and if I did

not attack them at all, I was to be called to account for neglect of

duty.” However judicious the other articles I had received, I could not

help thinking the above so very absurd, that I immediately returned

them back by an officer, and had the good fortune (at my request) to

get them changed into common sense.

How happy was I at this time in particular, who wanted for nothing, and

who had such an agreeable partner constantly near me, whose sweet

conversation was divine music to my ears, and whose presence banished

every languor and hardship from my mind!

One day, straying with me through a watery savanna, I shot a bird,

which I found to be the spur-winged water-hen of Edwards. This

beautiful creature is supposed to be of the plover kind, with the body

about the size of a pigeon, being of a deep cinnamon colour, between

red and a very rich orange; the neck and belly are perfectly black, the

larger feathers of the wings of a bright yellow, and armed on each

pinion with a short and sharp horny spur, which it uses for its

defence, as game-cocks use theirs in England. It has no tail; its bill

is near two inches in length; its legs are long, and, as well as the

bill, are of a yellowish green colour; its toes, especially the hinder

ones, are of a remarkable length, and seem calculated to support its

weight in the mud, where it is most frequently seen, if not wading in

the water to seek its food. These birds, like plovers, never swim; they

have a scarlet crest and small pearls (like those of the Muscovy duck)

separating the bill from the eyes; they are always seen in pairs, and

when they fly produce an agreeable whistling from their throats. The

spur-winged water-hen, on account of its great beauty, reminded me of

another fine bird I lately saw upon one of the neighbouring estates,

but which I had forgotten to mention: this was the Guiana curlew, here

called flamingo, from its great resemblance to the famous bird of that

name, seen in Canada and many parts of North and South America, and

which is supposed to be of the crane kind, with its body as large as

that of an European swan. This bird, however, is only the size of a

small heron; it has no tail, but a very long neck, and long limbs, with

four toes: the head is small, and the bill also long, round, and

arched. The flamingo lays always two eggs, which, when hatched, the

chickens appear black, next grey, then white, as they come nearer

maturity; and, finally, the whole bird becomes a bright scarlet or

crimson, some not lighter than the colour of blood. They live in

society like the storks, and mostly on the banks of rivers, or near the

sea, where they are seen in such amazing flocks, that the sands seem

dyed with vermilion; these birds, when young, are accounted very good

eating, and are so tame, that on the plantations they are frequently

seen walking and feeding among the poultry, though fish and animal food

they generally prefer.

Thus I daily found some new object to describe, and spent the most

agreeable hours, constantly accompanied by my young mulatto, upon this

Elysian plantation—but alas! all at once, in the midst of my hopes, my

truly halcyon days were blasted, and I was almost plunged into despair,

by receiving the fatal news of the death of Mr. Passalage at Amsterdam,

to whom I had written to obtain my mulatto’s manumission; and what must

certainly redouble my distress, was the situation in which she proved

to be, promising fair to become a mother in the space of a few months.

It was now that I saw a thousand horrors intrude all at once upon my

dejected spirits; not only my friend but my offspring to be a slave,

and a slave under such a government!—Mr. Passalage, on whom I relied,

dead—the whole estate going to be sold to a new master—I could not bear

it, and was totally distracted; nay, must have died of grief, had not

the mildness of her temper supported me, by suggesting the flattering

hopes that Lolkens would still be our friend. In the midst of these

reflections, on the evening of the 4th, we heard the report of several

alarm-guns towards the North East, on which, by day-break next morning,

I sent a detachment to Rio-Pirica, which returned about noon with the

account of the rebels attacking the estate Merseille, in the river

Cottica; but that they had been beaten back by the plantation slaves,

as they had before by those of Kortenduur. The other news was, that

they had ill treated a party of poor Indians, suspecting them to have

assisted the estates in making their defence; also that at Paramaribo,

an insurrection was discovered among the negroes, who had determined to

join the rebels, after first having massacred all the inhabitants;

that, however, they were detected, and the ringleaders executed.

On the morning of the 6th, we again heard several musquet-shot in the

woods, which apprehending to be some European party that had lost their

way, I made my sentinel answer the signals of distress, by firing his

piece alternately with theirs, shot for shot, to which I added two

drums, that kept beating for several hours without intermission, when

the report of their fire-arms gradually approached nearer and nearer:

and now at length appeared a Society serjeant and six privates that

belonged to Reedwyk in Pirica, and had been lost in the forest for

three days, nearly starved, without hammocks, meat, or drink, excepting

water. Having refreshed them in the best manner I was able, they all

recovered to my very great satisfaction, though one of them remained

perfectly blind for several hours, with the sting of a kind of wasps,

which are known in this country by the name of marobonso; of which the

only thing that I can say is, that they are extremely large, live in

hollow trees, are the strongest of the bee kind, and sting so

violently, that the pain is excruciating, and always occasions a fever.

Having, on the 12th, swam twice across the river Cottica, which is

above half a mile broad, I came home in a shiver, and next day had an

intermitting fever: by abstaining, however, from animal food, and using

plenty of acid with my drink, I had no doubt of getting well in a few

days; the more so, as tamarinds grew here in profusion.

Indeed, on the 16th, I was almost perfectly recovered, (weakness

excepted) when about ten in the morning, as I was sitting with Joanna

before my cottage, I had an unexpected visit from a Mr. Steger, who

happened to be one of our surgeons. After having felt my pulse, and

examined my tongue, he declared without ceremony that I should be dead

before the morrow, unless without further delay I made use of his

prescription. I acknowledge the sentence staggered me so much that,

though at other times I never used medicines at all, I instantly

swallowed the dose, which he had prepared for me in a tumbler, without

hesitation, but almost as instantly I dropped down on the ground.

In this manner I lay till the 20th, being four days before I came to my

senses, when I found myself stretched on a mattrass in my little house,

with poor Joanna sitting by me alone, and bathed in tears, who begged

of me at that time to ask no questions, for fear of hurting my spirits,

but who next day related to me the dismal transaction, viz. that the

moment I fell, four strong negroes had taken me up, and by her

direction placed me where I now was; that the surgeon having put

blisters on several parts of my body, had finally declared that I was

dead, and had suddenly left the plantation, when a grave and coffin

were ordered for my burial on the 17th, which she had prevented by

dropping upon her knees to implore a delay; that she had dispatched a

black to her aunt at Fauconberg for wine-vinegar, and a bottle of old

Rhenish, with the first of which she had constantly bathed my temples,

wrists, and feet, by keeping without intermission five wet hankerchiefs

tied about them, while with a tea-spoon she had found means to make me

swallow a few drops of the wine mulled; that I had lain motionless

during all that time; while she had day and night, by the help of Quaco

and an old negro, attended me, still hoping for my recovery: for which

she now thanked her God. To all this I could only answer by the tear of

sympathy that started from my eyes, and a feeble squeeze of my hand.

I had, however, the good fortune to recover, but so slowly that,

notwithstanding the great care that was taken of me by that excellent

young woman, (to whom alone I owed my life) it was the 15th of June

before I could walk by myself, during all which time I was carried on a

species of chair by two negroes, supported on two poles like a sedan,

and fed like an infant, being so lame and enervated that I was not able

to bring my hand to my mouth; while poor Joanna (who had suffered too

much on my account) was for several days following very ill herself.

Great was the change from what I had been but so shortly before—then

the most healthy and most happy in body and mind, and now depressed to

the lowest ebb, in my constitution and my spirits. My friend Heneman,

who visited me every day, at this time told me that upon information he

had discovered the medicine which had so nearly killed me to be only

tartar-emetick and ipecacuanha, but in too great a quantity, viz. four

grains of the first, mixed with forty grains of the latter; the surgeon

having measured my constitution by my size, which is above six feet. I

was so much incensed at this piece of stupidity, that on the 4th of

June, having drank his Britannic Majesty’s health in a rummer of

Madeira, and the fatal surgeon coming to make me a bow, he no sooner

put his foot on the landing-place, where I was sitting in my palanquin

or chair for air, than, having previously clubbed one of the poles that

carried me, upon my shoulder, I let it fall upon his guilty

pericranium, my strength being as yet too feeble to aim a blow. The

poor fellow no sooner felt the weight of the pole, than forgetting the

rest of his compliments, he skipped back into his boat with all

expedition, with which he decamped as fast as the negroes could row

him, to our no small entertainment, who saluted him with three cheers.

About this time, while the troops were doing nothing, two of the

bravest men in the colony, with the rangers, entered the woods, viz.

Captain Fredericy, and the militia captain, Stoelman; they killed three

or four of the rebels, and took a few more prisoners, who had been

starving for want of subsistence ever since Fourgeoud had ransacked the

surrounding forest, and destroyed their fields. In the creek Patamaca,

also two rebel negroes, attempting to plunder Mr. Winey’s plantation,

were shot by his slaves, who sent their right hands barbacued to

Paramaribo.

Being still so weak that I was unfit for any duty, even at the Hope, I

now surrendered the command of that post to the next officer in rank:

and expecting that a change of air would be beneficial to me, with the

previous knowledge of Colonel Fourgeoud, I went on a visit to a

neighbouring estate, called Egmond, where the planter, Monsieur de

Cachelieu, a French gentleman, had given me a most hearty invitation,

with Joanna, my boy Quaco, and a white servant. At this place I was

extremely comfortable, and nothing could be better calculated for my

speedy recovery than this Frenchman’s hospitality and good-humour. How

inconsistent with this was his injustice and severity to his slaves!

For instance, two young negroes, who well deserved a flogging, by

breaking in and robbing their master’s store-house, came off with a few

lashes; while two old ones, for a trifling dispute, were each condemned

to receive no less than three hundred.

On my asking the cause of this partiality, I was answered by Mons. de

Cachelieu, that the young ones had still a very good skin, and might do

much work; whereas the old ones had long been disfigured, worn out, and

almost unfit for any service; nay, that killing them altogether would

be a benefit to the estate.—At Arentrust, a few plantations lower down,

some days before, a poor negro was sent with a letter from his

proprietor to the manager there—this last, not liking the contents,

gave the messenger four hundred lashes, telling the innocent man, at

the same time, to carry that for the answer to his master.

But to return to my French host, (who was, in this alone excepted, as

polite, hospitable, and well-bred a man as ever I would wish to

converse with) I must mention some particulars of his remarkable

œconomy, viz. a West-India rabbit, called in Surinam coney coney, and

by the Indians puccarara, but properly the agouti, I saw one day come

roasted to the table. Of this, he and I eat one quarter. Next day it

made its appearance a la crapodine, that is, with salt and pepper on

the gridiron. The third day the remaining half entered in the form of a

French fricasee; and a fourth, the last quarter was converted into what

I call meagre soup.

This I relate as a fact; and though the planter, his overseer, his dog,

and his two cats, could not weigh fourteen stone amongst them all, no

family in Surinam could be more healthy or contented.—As an instance of

abstemiousness, the overseer, Mr. Bodewyn, declared that he never had

fought a battle, fired a musquet, mounted a horse, or taken any illicit

freedom; though he acknowledged he was every day dressed and shaved by

the soft hand of a young negro female.

Nothing could be better than the oranges and china apples that I found

on this estate.—The first I have already described; and, though often

confounded with the latter, it is a very distinct fruit upon the whole.

The china apples, or civil oranges, as they are usually called, differ

in this from the other oranges, that they are more lucid, and of a more

savoury taste; that the shell is smoother, thinner, and not so deep

coloured; and particularly, that while the oranges may be eaten in any

quantity, without pernicious consequences, the immoderate use of the

china apples is by long experience in this colony found to produce very

dangerous effects. This fruit being here much the same as that which

comes from Lisbon, it is supposed to have been imported at first (as

was the other) by the Portuguese or the Spaniards; and it may well be

conceived, that in those countries, where it drops ripe from the trees

in golden clusters, it must be incomparably more delicious than it can

ever be tasted in Great Britain, being sent thither green, after which

it indeed becomes orange, but can never arrive to its proper state of

maturity. As for the fine fragrance that is diffused through all this

colony, by the continued groves of orange-blossoms and odoriferous

fruits that it produces, it can be more easily conceived than

described. I also found some fine lemons on this estate, which however

are here thick shelled, but very large. There are also a species of

sweet ones, which are smaller, and which have, in my opinion, a very

insipid taste.

Having mentioned Mons. de Cachelieu’s fine fruit, I ought not to forget

his excellent French wines, which were perfectly unadulterated and

truly delicious, particularly his muscadell. But in spite of all these

good things, I still continued a valetudinarian, being oppressed with

weakness and indigestion. Thus, in hopes that exercise on horseback

might do me good, I determined to take leave of my hospitable French

friend, and ask leave of absence to go for some time to Paramaribo.

In consequence, on the 9th, Colonel Fourgeoud arriving in the river at

the estate Crawassibo, and expecting soon to renew his manœuvres, I, on

the 10th, wrote him a letter for the above purpose, and also for above

six months pay, which was due to me. I was answered, on the 12th, not

only with a negative to both my requests, which had been granted to

other officers, but in so truly impertinent a style, as I could not,

even from himself, have expected—such as calling in question my zeal,

though he knew I was sick; and refusing me my own money, or even the

proper remedies and means of recovering. This incensed me so much, that

I wrote him a second letter, to let him know I was incapable of doing

or asking any thing unbecoming my character, but on the contrary (ill

as I was) ready to give him such proofs of my honour as should leave

him no farther room to doubt of it, should he be pleased to put it to

the proof. This epistle, weak and unfit as I was for service, I

followed in person two days after, with my French friend Cachelieu for

my companion and voucher, who gave me the use of his tilt-barge with

eight oars for the purpose.

On our arrival I expected to see Fourgeoud raging with resentment, that

he would put me under an arrest, and ask an explanation of our last

correspondence. But I dreaded not the worst that he could do, after the

many trials to ruin me which he had already put in execution, and death

itself was almost preferable to his cruelty.

Monsieur de Cachelieu and I, however, were both disappointed. He not

only took us politely by the hand, but solicited us to dine with him,

as if nothing had happened. But this affectation I despised, and

refused to accept of his invitation with contempt, in which I was

followed by the French planter. When, in my turn, I enquired for the

cause of his refusing my request, and sending me so strange a letter,

this was the answer—That thirty or forty of the Ouca negroes, who were

our allies by treaty, had deceived him, in doing nothing while they had

been in the woods, and during the time he had been at Paramaribo: that

he was in consequence determined to push on the war with double vigour;

on which account he had not only forbidden me to go to town, but had

since ordered even all the sick officers to come up and to follow the

enemy, while they had strength or breath remaining, not so much as

leaving one at Paramaribo to guard the colours and the regiment’s

chest, which had both been left to the care of a quarter-master.—This,

indeed, was literally the fact; but to this he might safely, and

without hurting his conscience, have added, the inveteracy of his

disposition, with which he had determined to persecute me and some

others to annihilation. I ought to mention, that it was not till about

this time that he issued orders to be observed on a march, and that

previous to this every thing was performed in perfect hurry and

confusion, which indeed even afterwards was too frequently the case.

Having now been near two months on the estate Egmond, where I could not

recover, and not being permitted to go to Paramaribo, I preferred

returning back again to take the command at the Hope; where having

entertained Monsieur de Cachelieu in the best manner I was able, this

gentleman in the evening returned to his plantation.

At the Hope I found my friend Mr. Heneman (who was now made a captain)

very sick, with several others. All these, as well as myself, were left

without a surgeon, medicines, or money; while, as I stated before, the

many hogsheads of wine sent from Amsterdam, together with scores of

kegs containing preserved vegetables, and other fresh provisions, were

forever kept invisible from the poor, emaciated, and languishing

troops, for whom they had certainly been intended by that city. I

indeed here made one more attempt to recover our property, but to no

purpose; money, medicines, wine, and refreshments, were all kept back.

Thus did we continue to pine and lose strength, instead of gaining it.

I mean the greatest part of us: as for myself, I had the least cause to

complain, being well attended by Joanna and my servants, who the next

day all arrived from Egmond at the Hope, besides receiving presents,

which were as usual sent me from all quarters. One additional

inconvenience I however felt—my feet were infested with chigoes, which

I partly impute to having, during my illness, worn stockings and shoes

while at the good Frenchman’s estate Egmond. Of this troublesome insect

I have already made some mention, as being extremely numerous at

Devil’s Harwar, but now shall circumstantially describe it.

The chigoe is a kind of small sand-flea, that gets in between the skin

and the flesh without its being felt, and generally under the nails of

the toes; where, while it feeds, it keeps growing till it becomes the

size of a large pea, causing no further pain than a disagreeable

itching; in process of time it appears in the form of a small bladder,

in which are deposited thousands of eggs or nits, and which, if it

breaks, produce so many young chigoes, that in course of time create

running ulcers, which are often of very dangerous consequence to the

patient: so much so, indeed, that I have known a soldier, the soles of

whose feet were obliged to be cut away with a razor, before he could

recover; and some men have lost their limbs by amputation—nay even

their lives, by having neglected in time to root out these abominable

vermin. The moment, therefore, that one perceives a kind of itching and

redness more than usual about the feet, it is time to begin extracting

the chigoe that occasions it: this is done with a sharp-pointed needle,

at which operation the black girls are extremely dexterous, taking

every care not to occasion unnecessary pain, and to prevent the chigoo

or bladder from breaking in the wound. The cure is to put tobacco-ashes

in the orifice, by which in a little time it is perfectly healed. Being

at this time, as I have just mentioned, infested with the chigoes,

Joanna with her needle picked twenty-three of these insects out of my

left foot; which being all hatched under the nails, caused, as may be

imagined, the most terrible torment, but which I bore without

flinching, with the resolution of an African negro. These are the

insects called niquas by the Spaniards at Carthagena.

On the 21st I received a letter from the commander in chief, not an

answer to my last, but orders to send him up to the estate Crawassibo

(which was at present his head-quarters) all the provisions, kettles,

axes, &c. that could be spared from the Hope, as he was preparing to

re-enter the woods. I accordingly dispatched them the next day: but the

supply of victuals was not great; for a whole barge, with beef and

pork, bound for the Hope, had been shipwrecked in the river.

On the 25th Mr. Steger, the surgeon who had so nearly poisoned me that

I could not yet get the better of the effects of his ignorance, was

discharged from the regiment, as incapable of his profession. Still,

notwithstanding my unsettled state of health, as several officers were

going to join Fourgeoud about this time, and weak as I was, I intreated

once more to be one of the party. But on the morning of the 26th, his

adjutant, with another surgeon, visiting all the troops that were in

Comewina, I was deemed totally incapable of supporting the fatigue:

indeed so much so, that relapsing on the 29th, I was even glad to be

superseded in the command of the river by the major, Mr. Medlar, who

arrived at the Hope this day for that purpose. Nevertheless I was

condemned to linger at this place, while one month at Paramaribo might

have perfectly recovered me.—I had now nothing to do but to continue my

drawings, for which the above gentleman at that time offered me one

hundred crowns, but my desire was, if possible, to complete the

collection; and when I had the strength, I walked round the plantation

with my gun. Amongst others, I shot, on the 3d of September, a small

bird, called kibry-fowlo, on account of its continuing in a manner

constantly under cover. It was about the size of a thrush, and very

much the colour of a quail, which it also exactly resembled in shape,

but the limbs were rather longer, and the bill was extremely

sharp-pointed. This bird is very seldom seen on the wing, but runs

incredibly fast through the grass and savannas, where it hides itself

the instant it is perceived. When dressed, it was as fat as a lump of

butter, and as delicious as an European ortolan.

On the 11th of September, Fourgeoud at last broke up from Crawassibo,

and, with all the able troops he could collect (which were now not much

more than one hundred) he again marched into the forest after the

enemy; having previously taken away the post from the Jew Savannah,

which he placed at the forsaken estate Oranjebo, in the very upper

parts of Rio Comewina, leaving the river Surinam to take care of

itself.

On the 19th of this month in the forenoon, a herd of wild swine, called

pingos, (more than two hundred in number) having lost their way in the

forest, came to the Hope, galloping over the plantation, when above a

score of them were killed by the negroes, who knocked them down with

their bill-hooks and axes. In Surinam the wild boars are of three

species; which I will embrace this opportunity to describe—these are

the pingos or waree above-mentioned, the cras-pingo, and the Mexican

hog, called the peccary. The pingos are about the size of our English

small hogs; they are black, and have coarse bristles thinly scattered;

they live in herds of sometimes above three hundred, in the thickest

parts of the forest, and run always in a line, the one closely

following the other; when the foremost or leader is shot, the line is

instantly broken, and the whole herd is in confusion; for which reason

the Indians take care (if possible) to knock their captain on the head

before the rest; after this the others even often stand still, stupidly

looking at one another, and allowing themselves to be killed one by

one, of which I have been a witness. They do not attack the human

species, nor make any resistance at all, like the European wild-boar,

when wounded, as has been by some authors erroneously asserted. As for

their attacking dogs, I can say nothing about it, never having had any

with me when I met them.—The cras-pingos are large, armed with strong

tusks, and their bristles still coarser than the former. This large

species indeed are very dangerous, as well from their strength as their

ferocity, attacking any thing that obstructs them in their way,

especially when wounded. They move in the same manner, and in as large

herds, as the former, but inhabit chiefly the more inland parts of the

country. Both these species, when they hear the smallest noise in the

forest that indicates danger, stop short in their course, form in a

close body, and gnash their teeth, preparing themselves for defence

against the enemy: I am of opinion that these are not natural to

Guiana, but originally from Africa and Europe. Their flesh is eaten

with avidity by the natives, and even esteemed by the white

inhabitants, but is in my opinion dry, hard, and unsavoury.—That

species which is called the peccary or Mexican-hog, is alone supposed

to be indigenous to Guiana, and will not intermix with either the wild

or domestic hogs. This animal is particularly remarkable by having an

orifice on the back, which is vulgarly mistaken for its navel, and

which, being about one inch deep, contains a stinking fetid liquor,

which some compare to the smell of musk, but which is so very

disagreeable, that the instant the animal is killed, the natives take

care to cut away this part with a knife, to prevent its infesting the

flesh, which it would soon do, making it so disgusting as not to be

eatable. The length of the peccary is about three feet: it has no tail;

fine limbs, short tusks, and yellowish grey bristles, much resembling

those of an English hedge-hog; on the back they are very long, but on

the sides and on the belly they are both short and very thinly

scattered. This creature has a light-coloured spot that comes down from

the shoulder on each side the breast, something like a horse-collar.

Hogs of this species are more uncommon in the low and marshy countries

than in the inland parts, where they prefer feeding amongst the

mountains and dry savannas. The peccary is easily tamed, and in that

state harmless and inoffensive, but not so stupid as is asserted by the

Count de Buffon, who says, they know no person, and have no attachment

to those that feed them; for Major Medlar had one at the Hope that

followed him like a dog, and shewed the greatest delight in being

caressed by its master. I ought also to observe that it is, when

irritated, very vicious and mischievous. They go in large herds as the

other species, produce many young at a time, and their grunting is

extremely loud and disagreeable.

On the morning of the 29th, we again heard the report of several guns

toward the river Cottica, where it since appeared the rebels were a

second time beaten back from the plantation Merseille, by the fidelity

and bravery of the slaves belonging to that estate.

On the 8th of the succeeding month, we received the news, that Colonel

Fourgeoud, having discovered and destroyed some fields belonging to the

enemy (who had again kept up a distant conversation with him) and

having found the mangled remains of poor Schmidt, who had been murdered

by the rebels, as I related above, was once more come with his troops

to Magdenberg, where he encamped till the eleventh. He then re-entered

the forest, previously sending to the Hope the sick, and with them a

young officer under an arrest, in order to be tried for not being able

to undergo the fatigues as well as himself. In other words, having been

ordered to watch two days and two nights, the youth had proved unequal

to the task, and had dropt asleep under arms, as he was sitting on the

ground. The climate indeed was such that even without these trials

nature was often overcome.

The preservation of Fourgeoud’s vigour hitherto may, in a great

measure, be attributed to his continually drinking a medicine he called

tisan, in large full basons, which had a most nauseous taste, and was

composed of the jesuits bark, cream of tartar, and stick-liquorice,

boiled together, which he drank as hot as he could bear it, and to

which having accustomed his constitution, he could not do without it.

In this, however, he was followed by none of the rest, as they were

apprehensive that when this should once cease to operate, (which it

must at last) all other medicines in time of real need would be

ineffectual. As for my own part, I still continued to be so exceedingly

weak, that I almost despaired of evermore recovering; while my

depressed spirits, on account of Joanna’s critical and almost hopeless

situation, greatly contributed to prevent the restoration of my health.

These alarms were not diminished on the 21st, when, being visited by

Mr. and Mrs. Lolkens at the Hope, this gentleman told me, that the

whole estate Fauconberg was again transferred, with its dependants,

since the death of Mr. Passalage; that the new proprietor was a Mr.

Lude of Amsterdam, with whom he had not the smallest interest; and that

there was in town a general report that we had both been poisoned. This

sentence was, however, greatly alleviated by the kindness of his lady,

who insisted that my Joanna should accompany her to Paramaribo

immediately; where, at her own house, she should meet with every care

and attention that her situation could require, till perfectly

recovered: for this I thanked her in the best manner I was able, and

poor Joanna wept with gratitude. Having therefore conducted them as far

as their estate Killestyn-Nova, where we dined, I took my leave of them

and Joanna, and bid them all an affectionate farewell for the present.

At my return to the Hope, my indignation was scarcely to be restrained

within the bounds of prudence, when I found myself upbraided by my

mess-mates for taking care of my own offspring: “Do as we do,” said

they, “Stedman, and never fear. If our children are slaves, they are

provided for; and if they die, what care we, should they be d—n’d in

the bargain? Therefore keep your sighs in your own belly, and your

money in your pocket, my boy, that’s all.”—I repeat this in their own

language, to shew how much my feeling must have been hurt and disgusted

with similar consolation.

The following morning, awaking by day-break in my hammock, the first

thing that I saw, when looking up, was a snake about two yards long,

hanging with its head downwards like a rope, and straight above my

face, from which he was not one foot distance, while his tail was

twisted round the rafters under the thatch. Observing his eyes bright

as stars, and his forked tongue in agitation, I was so distressed that

I scarcely had power to avoid him, which however I did, by running out;

after which, I heard a rustling in the dry thatch, where the negroes

attempted to kill him, but in vain, he having escaped, and thus I

cannot say what species he belonged to. Being now by myself, and rather

startled by this unwelcome guest, I shut up my house, and lodged and

messed with my friends the Major, Heneman, and Macdonald.

On visiting my boxes, I now found that great depredations had been

committed by the ants, which are throughout all Guiana so very

numerous, and of so many different species, that once I had a pair of

new cotton stockings perfectly destroyed by them in one night only.

Those which frequent the estates are generally small, but very

troublesome. The only way possibly to keep them from the refined sugar,

is by hanging the loaf to the ceiling on a nail, and making a ring of

dry chalk around it, very thick, which crumbles down the moment the

ants attempt to pass it. I imagined that placing my sugar-boxes in the

middle of a tub, and on stone, surrounded with deep water, would have

kept back this formidable enemy, but to no purpose: whole armies of the

lighter sort (to my astonishment) marched over the surface, and but a

very few of them were drowned. The main body constantly scaled the

rock, and in spite of all my efforts made their entry through the

key-holes; after which, the only way to clear the garrison is to expose

it to a hot sun, which the invaders cannot bear, and all march off in a

few minutes. That the ants provide for winter, as not only Dr. Bancroft

and many others, but even King Solomon, reports, is found to be an

error by the most modern investigation. In Surinam, indeed, there is no

winter; but where there is, the ants lie dormant, during which torpid

state they want no food.

My friend Captain Van Coeverden, at this time, marching in the woods,

suffered a much worse depredation at Paramaribo, where not the ants,

but the negro-slaves, had broken open his boxes, and robbed him of all

his best effects, and near twenty guineas in money.

On the 6th, a marine drowned himself, in one of those phrenzy fevers

which are so common in Guiana. About the same time another Society

soldier was shot by order of a court-martial. Thus perished those men

who were spared by the climate or the enemy.

Having written to a Mr. Seifke, to enquire whether it was not in the

power of the Governor and Council to relieve a gentleman’s child from

bondage, provided there was paid to its master such a ransom as their

wisdom should judge adequate; I received for answer, that no money or

interest could purchase its freedom, without the proprietor’s consent;

since, according to law, it was just as much a slave as if it had been

born in Africa; and imported from the coast of Guinea. This information

now perfectly completed my misery, and I at last had recourse to

drinking; which temporary relief, however, only caused my spirits to

flow higher, in order to make them sink lower after its evaporation.

During this conflict it happened that I was invited with the Major to

dine, at an estate called Knoppemonbo, in the Casavinica Creek, where a

Mr. De Graav, the proprietor, did every thing in his power to amuse me,

but to no purpose.—At last, seeing me seated by myself on a small

bridge that led to a grove of orange-trees, with a settled gloom on my

countenance, he accosted me, and taking me by the hand, to my

astonishment, pronounced the following words:

“Sir, I am acquainted by Mr. Lolkens with the cause of your just

distress. Heaven never left a good intention unrewarded. I have now the

pleasure to acquaint you, that Mr. Lude has chosen me for his

administrator; and that from this day I shall pride myself in making it

my business to render you any service with that gentleman, as well as

the virtuous Joanna, whose deserving character has attracted the

attention of so many people, while your laudable conduct redounds to

your lasting honour throughout the colony.”

No angel descending from above could have brought me a more welcome

message; and no criminal under sentence of death could have received a

reprieve with greater joy. The weight of a mill-stone was removed from

my labouring breast; and having made Mr. De Graav repeat his promise, I

felt I should yet be happy. Soon after this I was surrounded by several

gentlemen and ladies, to whom my friend had communicated his generous

intentions. They congratulated me on my sensibility, and on having met

with so valuable an acquaintance. All seemed to partake in the pleasure

that I now felt; and the day being spent in mirth and conviviality, I

returned to the Hope, much better pleased than when I left it, where

next day the whole company was entertained by Major Medlar; nor did we

separate, or cease feasting up and down the river, till the 13th, when

we once more spent the day at Knoppemonbo.

Here Mr. De Graav, having bought some new slaves, gave a holiday to all

the negroes on his estate; and here I had the opportunity of seeing the

diversions peculiar to that people: but of these I must reserve the

particular account to another occasion, and for the present only give a

short description of the Loango dancing, as performed by the Loango

negroes, male and female, and not by any others; which consists from

first to last in such a scene of wanton and lascivious gestures, as

nothing but a heated imagination and a constant practice could enable

them to perform. These dances, which are performed to the sound of a

drum, to which they strike time by clapping of hands, may properly be

considered as a kind of play or pantomime divided into so many acts,

which lasts for some hours. But the most remarkable is, that during

this representation, the actors, instead of being fatigued, become more

and more enlivened and animated, till they are bathed in sweat like

post-horses, and their passions wound up to such a degree, that nature

being overcome, they are ready to drop into convulsions.

However indelicate the above exhibitions may be, fashion has rendered

them no more disgusting than any other diversions to the European and

Creole ladies, who in company with the gentlemen croud about them

without the least reserve, to enjoy what they call a hearty laugh;

while such scenes would change an English woman’s face from white to

scarlet.

That custom and habit give a sanction, and render familiar, in some

countries, many things which would be considered as preposterous in

others, is an observation, which is more or less verified, in

proportion to the variety of places which the traveller has visited. An

officer in the India service has, in a late publication, described the

variety of attitudes, gestures, looks, sighs, expressions of desire,

fear, hope, trepidation, and every gradation of passion, which is acted

by the dancing-girls in the East Indies; and yet, though these young

women are exerting all their faculties for promoting wantonness in the

beholders, to obtain a living, the whole race of Gentoo women are most

remarkable for the purest minds of any people in the universe [31].

On the 14th I returned to the Hope, where I saw my cottage unroofed by

a storm; but which now expecting no more to inhabit, I permitted to go

to ruin—

“The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces, &c. shall dissolve.”

Be that as it may, I had passed in it the happiest days of my whole

life-time.

On the 26th Colonel Fourgeoud marched once more to the Wana Creek; but

having taken the troops from the Jew Savannah, the rebels availed

themselves of their absence, and not only pillaged a plantation in the

river Surinam, but burnt several dwellings in the Creek Casavinica.

From the above river they were bravely pursued by a feeble

Society-detachment, which chanced to be there, but without success; two

soldiers were killed, and Mr. Negle their leader, with several others,

wounded. The major now broke up the new post formed at Oranjebo, which

he also dispatched after the enemy; and having ranged a whole week in

the forest, also returned without any manner of success. These frequent

miscarriages evince how difficult it is for European troops to carry on

a war in the forests of South America.

The 30th of this month being the anniversary of St. Andrew, and now

finding myself in excellent spirits, I roasted a whole sheep, with

which I entertained all the officers on the Hope, as well as with a

couple of gallons of good Jamaica rum in punch, which we drank to the

healths of all our friends on the old continent. This festivity I

repeated on December the 4th, on receiving the tidings that my Joanna

was delivered of a strong and beautiful boy. That very morning I

dispatched another letter to Mr. Lude at Amsterdam, to obtain her

manumission, couched much in the same terms as that which I had written

to his predecessor Mr. Passalage, only praying for dispatch, as I was

now uncertain how much longer the expedition was to last; in which

request I was again seconded by my new friend Mr. De Graav, as I had

been before by Mr. Lolkens; after which I entertained the sick with a

dozen of old Rhenish, received from the former gentleman, which had

been in his cellar from one thousand seven hundred and twenty-six.

Walking round the plantation the morning of the 10th with my gun, I

found the whole of the slaves on the estate in a mutiny, on account of

the cruel usage inflicted by the managers: happily for all parties the

interference of the military soon ended this matter to mutual

satisfaction. These frequent disturbances, which I have at different

times mentioned, plainly indicate the inclination of the negroes to

break out in an open rebellion; and this would certainly have been more

often attempted, had they not been awed by the troops. The same morning

I brought home two birds, the one called toreman, the other a species

of grass-snipe. The toreman, or banaquaw, is a shining black bird, as

large as a pullet, with grey legs, and a bill of a dark brown colour;

it is very good eating, and easily discovered in the trees (where it

perches on the highest branches) by its note repeating distinctly the

word banaquaw, banaquaw, at the approach of any person in the forest;

which has also occasioned the name of toreman, and which signifies, in

the negro language of Surinam, a tale-bearer or a spy; on this account

the rebels in particular have an invincible hatred against it.

The grass-snipe is something less than a woodcock, of a beautiful

silver-grey colour, and in shape much like the snipes of Europe. This

bird is mostly found in the wet savannahs; it is very plump, and

exquisitely delicate food.

On the 11th the estate Rectwyk in Pirica was attacked, but the enemy

was beaten back by the military.

Colonel Fourgeoud being now again arrived at Magdenberg, and I at last,

being perfectly recovered, after seven months illness, I ventured to

propose, by another letter to the commander, that I might accompany him

on his future excursions in the woods, or go for some time to

Paramaribo; but neither the one or the other request was yet granted.

In this situation I wrote a letter to town, to inform my poor friend

that I was well, with which I went to the river side to look out for a

boat, and towards noon hailed the tent-barge belonging to Fauconberg,

which was rowing with the overseer to Paramaribo. This was,

unfortunately, a new superintendant; and not knowing me, he refused to

come ashore for the message. However, seeing the negroes rest upon

their oars, I took the letter in my teeth, and leaped instantly into

the river to dispatch it, knowing they would put me again on

terra-firma. Having thus swam with the stream, in my shirt and

trowsers, till I came within two oars length of the boat, I held up the

letter in my hand, and called out, “Who the devil are you, that refuse

to take on board a piece of paper?” When, being answered in French, “Je

suis Jean Bearnee, paysan de Guascogne, à votre service,” I had the

mortification to see them pull away without a possibility of overtaking

them, or returning. In this distress I had now nothing left but to

perish, it being impossible to swim against the stream, especially as I

was incumbered with my clothes. I struggled, however, but sunk twice to

the bottom in the attempt; and must inevitably have been drowned, had I

not caught hold of a projecting paleing that was erected in the river

for the purpose of catching fish. To this I remained sticking fast;

when a Dutch carpenter, who observed me from the top of the sugar-mill,

called out, that the English captain was trying to kill himself. On

this news a dozen stout negroes immediately leapt into the river, and

having dragged me safe ashore (under the direction of my good friend

Medlar, who was inclined to believe the report) lifted me upon their

shoulders to carry me home. The disappointment, the danger, the anger,

vexation, and shame (for there was no contradicting them) had by this

time wound up my passions to such a height, and made such an impression

on my spirits, that I became perfectly mad, and had almost perpetrated

the act of which I was accused; since, on crossing over a small bridge,

I actually gave a sudden twist, and, from their shoulders, threw myself

with a jerk headlong over the balustrades once more into the water.

Here a second time I was picked up by the negroes; and now the

suspicion being confirmed that I intended suicide, I was put to my

hammock, with two sentinels appointed to guard me during the night,

while several of my friends were shedding tears around me. Having,

however, drank some mulled wine, I enjoyed a sound nap till morning;

when appearing calm and perfectly composed, my words, to my great joy,

began to gain credit, and the apprehensions of my companions were

dispelled.—Such was the danger to which I was exposed by the unkind and

inhospitable behaviour of this Frenchman, who nearly obliterated the

memory of this transaction by his many succeeding instances of

unprecedented brutality. The following day, however, by one of my

negroes and a small canoe, I sent my letter to Paramaribo. Seeing now

about noon a melasses-boat at anchor before the Hope, in which was

broiling in the sun an English sailor and two negroes, I made the first

come ashore, and entertained the poor fellow with a bowl of punch and a

good meal of eggs and bacon, to his great surprize, he not having

expected this kindness, or to be accosted in his own country language

at this place. What were this man’s grateful acknowledgments, whose

name was Charles Macdonald, will be seen in the sequel of my work.

A melasses-boat is a barge rowed by two oars, which fetches this

commodity in large hogsheads from the sugar plantations, and delivers

it on board the English-American vessels for exportation, to be

distilled into rum in the islands; for which they pay the Dutch, on an

average, three guineas per hogshead.

On the 16th another officer arrived from our hero under an arrest (the

first was a Mr. Geelguin, and this was a Mr. Neys), for the crime of

contending with the free negro Goasary for a bunch of plantains. Both

these young men were afterwards sent to Europe by Fourgeoud, in

expectation that they would be broke by a court-martial; but, after a

very short confinement, they were honourably acquitted, to the joy of

the whole corps, and the mortification of this hectoring Swiss. Such

was the inveteracy of this old gentleman, who had not the smallest

consideration for the foibles of youth; and who constantly saw the mote

in the eye of his neighbour, overlooking the beam that appeared so

conspicuously in his own. As I have been speaking of plantains, I shall

take this occasion to give some account of a production, which, in

fact, I ought to have described long before.

This is rather a plant than a tree, as the trunk has neither wood nor

bark, but consists of a stamen enwrapped by green vascular hulks,

succeeding each other in the manner of an onion, and above ten inches

in diameter. These hulks rise alternately about fourteen feet distance

from the ground, and form not in branches, but in leaves, that spread

like an umbrella, about twelve or fourteen in number, so as to cover

the tallest person. They are of a shining sea-green till they fade, and

hang down in tatters, as their places are supplied by the young ones.

From the centre of all this there grows a strong stalk, about three

feet long, and bending downwards by the weight of a purple spatha,

something like a calf’s heart; and on this stalk grows the fruit called

plantains, in the shape of cucumbers, and above one hundred in number,

which is usually called a bunch. Each tree, or plant, bears but one of

these bunches at a time. When it is cut down, it is speedily supplied

by the young shoots, which spring from its bulbous root, and which in

the space of ten months time are ready to undergo the same operation.

It requires a rich nourishing soil to make it prosper, without which it

never arrives at proper maturity. This fruit being divested of its

tegument when green, has in the inside a pale yellow farinaceous

substance, and supplies (as I have already intimated) the want of

bread, when either boiled or roasted: it has an agreeable taste, and is

very wholesome; when the shell becomes yellow the inside is soft, and

then may be eaten raw, having much the taste of a very ripe pear; but

when arrived at that degree of maturity it is only used by way of

dessert.

Another species resembling this, is the banana, which only differs from

the plantain, in its fruit being less, and more oval, and this species

is never eaten till it is yellow and fully ripe. The former is most

useful in point of food; but this last, which has the flavour of musk,

is accounted by far the most delicate. For a more perfect idea,

however, than I am capable of giving by description, I refer the

curious to the annexed plate; where A is the plantain-tree with its

fruit; B the young shoots that succeed it; C the fruit in its green

tegument; D the same, cut through the middle; and E the fruit called

banana, in full maturity. In Surinam the first is known by the name of

banana, and the second goes by that of bacooba.

I now, obtaining my friend Medlar’s concurrence, took a trip on the

18th to Paramaribo; where I found my boy bathing in Madeira wine and

water [32], while his mother was happy, and perfectly recovered. Having

seen them well, and presented Joanna with a gold medal, that my father

had given my mother on the day of my birth, also thanked Mrs. Lolkens

for her very great kindness, I immediately returned to the Hope, where

I arrived on the 22d.

The poor negro whom I had sent before me with a letter had been less

fortunate than I was, having his canoe overset in the middle of the

river Surinam, by the roughness of the water. With great address,

however, he kept himself in an erect posture (for this man could not

swim), and by the buoyancy and resistance of the boat against his feet,

he was enabled just to keep his head above the water, while the weight

of his body kept the sunk canoe from moving. In this precarious

attitude, he was picked up by a man-of-war’s boat; who, taking away the

canoe for their trouble, put him on shore at Paramaribo. He kept the

letter, however surprising, still in his mouth, and being eager to

deliver it, he accidentally ran into a wrong house; where, being taken

for a thief (for refusing to let them read it), he was tied up to

receive four hundred lashes; but, fortunately, was reprieved by the

intercession of an English merchant of the name of Gordon, who was my

particular friend, and knew the negro. Thus did the poor fellow escape

drowning, and being flogged, either of which he would have undergone,

sooner than disclose what he called the secrets of his masera.—Query,

How many Europeans are possessed of equal fidelity and fortitude?

Having lately mentioned the mode of catching fish by means of a

projecting paleing, it will probably not be disagreeable to the reader

to have some account of it, particularly as on many different occasions

it helped me to a comfortable dinner. It consists simply of a kind of

square enclosure, that juts out into the river, surrounded by long

palisadoes of the manicole-tree, tied very close together by nebees. In

this fence is a large door, which is left open with the flood, and shut

at high water, to prevent the enclosed fish from escaping; and by this

simple contrivance the negroes and Indians frequently catch very large

quantities. Amongst those taken lately, were the logo-logo and matuary.

The first is a species of eel, and is sometimes two feet long, and very

thick; dark blue on the back and sides, but whitish on the belly: it is

extremely fat, and very good eating. The other is a small sweet fish

without scales; but one thing very remarkable is, that in Surinam most

fishes, the moment they are out of the water, begin to make a noise,

not unlike the grunting of a small pig: and that fish have hearing

(after many doubts and disputes) has of late been clearly demonstrated

by the most able inquirers into the history of nature [33].

Having on the 23d dined at the estate Knoppemonbo, I will also mention

two birds, which attracted my particular attention. The one on account

of the very great peculiarity of its nest; it is called in this country

lipee-banana, as supposed to feed much on the ripe bananas. Whether

this is the mock-bird of Dr. Bancroft, I know not, but in some

particulars it approaches his description.

These birds that I speak of had taken possession of a large tree near

the water-side, which the negroes told me they had frequented

undisturbed for many years; they were at least above two hundred in

number, about the size of English thrushes, some were a shining black,

with the tails and part of the wings of a bright crimson; the others

were also black, but their tails and wings of a fine yellow colour. The

first I was informed were the males, and the latter the females of the

same species: they indeed whistled a variety of notes, but neither had

that melody or imitation of other songsters, which is so generally

ascribed to the mock-bird, and which, besides, I never heard mentioned

in Surinam. These birds had their nests (above threescore in number)

fixed to the extremity of the branches, where they were dangling in the

wind, resembling egg-nets stuffed with hay, of which, indeed, they were

built; and about the middle of them there was a small hole, at which

the birds enter and go out. The bottom is built wide, and perfectly

round; there they lay their eggs, and hatch their young ones, while the

spiral roof protects them from birds of prey, and from the weather. But

what is of more consequence, the monkeys, which are so numerous in this

country, are, by such a situation, prevented from destroying them,

since the branches or twigs from which they depend, though strong

enough to support the nests, and what is in them, are too weak to bear

the load of more weighty invaders; and, for greater security, I may

add, they are mostly built depending over water.—(See the nests in

Plate XLV.) The other bird which I shot in returning home, was the

Surinam falcon or hawk. Its size and shape was like those of the same

species in England: its colour light brown, variegated on the breast

and tail with specks of red, black, and yellow; its tongue was cloven,

its eyes remarkably bright, its legs a citron colour, and its talons

armed with long and sharp-pointed claws. This bird is exceedingly

destructive to the plantations, committing great ravages amongst the

poultry, &c.

But I must once more return to the operations of our commander in

chief, who having rested a few days at Magdenberg, again marched, on

Christmas-day, with the remaining handful of his men, to the Jew

Savannah, whence he returned (having seen nothing) back to Magdenberg,

with the new title of being himself the wandering Jew. This did not

prevent me and Major Medlar from renewing our solicitations to

accompany him in his expeditions; but we were still prevented by his

going to town, where about this time a fresh supply of troops was

hourly expected to arrive from Europe. At last, however, he gave me

leave to follow him, with some other officers who were actually in

want, at a time when fifteen hogsheads of fine claret, and fifteen

thousand florins in specie, were waiting his commands at Paramaribo.

CHAP. XV.

Description of the Indians, Aborigines of Guiana—Their

Food—Arms—Ornaments—Employments—Diversions—Passions—Religion—Marriages—Funerals,

&c.—Of the Caribbee Indians in particular—Their Trade with the

Europeans.

On the 18th of January 1774, I at last bid farewell to the Hope, of

which I am convinced the reader by this time is as tired as I have

been. Thence rowing down, I slept at the estate Arentlust, and next day

dined at the beautiful plantation Catwyk. In this place I had nearly

ended all my travels; for Mr. Goetzee, the owner, having lent me one of

his horses to ride round the estate, the animal and I both at once

disappeared: a wooden bridge over which we passed being rotten, the

part under us gave way, and we dropped through into the canal. With

much exertion however (being alone) I got ashore, and having run to

call some negroes, the horse, which stuck in the mud, was (though with

great difficulty) extricated.

In the evening I rowed to Paramaribo with the ebb tide, which gave me

an opportunity of seeing the mangroves that line the banks of the river

Surinam full of oysters, stuck in the branches like fruit, from the

water’s edge up to high-water mark. These oysters attaching themselves

to trees as they do to rocks, has given rise to the vulgar error that

they grow, or vegetate like fruit; but it is not more extraordinary

that they should stick on any one substance than on another, for many

species of shell-fish are as commonly found to adhere to ships’ bottoms

as to rocks. These oysters, which at some distance look like mushrooms,

are, indeed, very small and trifling; for one hundred are not

comparable to one dozen that come from Colchester. In Surinam are also

a kind of muscles, but these are so small and insipid, that they are

scarcely worthy of mention.

The day after my arrival I visited the governor: as also Mr. Kennedy,

Mrs. Lolkens, Mrs. De Melley, &c. who all congratulated me on my

acquaintance with Mr. De Graav, and highly honoured me, and approved of

what I had done for my Mulatto and her infant.

On the 22d, our few remaining troops being mostly at Paramaribo, a Mr.

Van Eys gave an entertainment to the whole corps.

On the 25th a great number of Indians, or natives, arrived at

Paramaribo; which afforded me an opportunity of seeing and describing

this people, who are the aborigines of the country. These Indians, who

appear the happiest creatures under the sun, are divided into many

casts or tribes, such as the

Caribbees, Arrowouks,

Accawaus, Taiiras, and

Worrows, Piannacotaus;

besides which, there are many others whose manners are unknown to us.

All these tribes of Indians are in general of a copper-colour; while

the negroes of Africa, that live under the same degree of latitude, are

perfectly black. This, however inconceivable it may appear, is easily

accounted for, when one considers, first, that the American Indians in

Guiana are constantly refreshed by the cooling sea breeze, or easterly

wind, that blows between the tropics; and that those who dwell in

Terra-Firma and Peru, on the West coast, enjoy that same easterly

breeze, still kept cool by the great chain of inland mountains over

which it passes, and which have their summits perpetually covered with

snow. While the inhabitants of Africa, south of the river Senegal, get

the same east wind rather heated than cooled, by the prodigious

quantity of inland, hot, sandy deserts over which it passes.

These are the most probable reasons why the Americans are of a

copper-colour or red, and the inhabitants of Africa, called Negroes,

are black, viz. the one being more burnt by the sun than the other, and

not because they are two distinct races of people: since no person who

examines and reflects, can avoid seeing that there is but one race of

people on the earth, who differ from each other only according to the

soil and the climate in which they live. I am further of opinion, that

these aborigines, or Indian natives, will appear to have still less

title to be called a distinct people from those of the old continent,

when we consider the proximity of Russia to North America, whence

apparently they have emigrated, and hitherto but thinly peopled the New

World, the Mexicans and a few others excepted, till they were butchered

by Spanish avarice and superstition. A happy people I call them still,

whose peace and genuine morals have not been contaminated with European

vices; and whose errors are only the errors of ignorance, and not the

rooted depravity of a pretended civilization, and a spurious and mock

Christianity.

“Lo! the poor Indian, whose untutor’d mind

Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind

His soul, proud science never taught to stray,

Far as the solar walk, or milky way;

Yet simple nature to his hope has giv’n,

Behind the cloud-topt hill, an humbler heav’n;

Some safer world, in depth of woods embrac’d,

Some happier island in the wat’ry waste;

Where slaves once more their native land behold,

No fiends torment, no Christians thirst for gold.

To be, contents his natural desire,

He asks no Angel’s wing, no Seraph’s fire;

But thinks, admitted to that equal sky,

His faithful dog shall bear him company.

Go, wiser thou! and, in thy scale of sense,

Weigh thy opinion against Providence.”

For my part I must say, with Socrates, that this kind of poverty is

alone the truest kind of riches; as those who want least approach

nearest to the gods, who want nothing. This naturally leads me to the

speech of an Indian, in reply to a sermon preached by a Swedish

minister at an Indian treaty, held at Covestogue, of which the

principal substance was as follows:

“Do you then really believe, that we and our forefathers are all, as

you would teach us, condemned to suffer eternal torments in another

world, because we have not been taught your mysterious novelties? Are

we not the work of God? And can the Almighty not manifest his will

without the help of a book? If this is true, and God is just, then how

is it consistent with his justice to force life upon us without our

consent, and then to condemn us all to eternal damnation, because we

did not meet with you. No, Sir, we are convinced that the Christians

are more depraved in their morals than we Indians, if we may judge of

their doctrines by the general badness of their lives.”

There cannot indeed be a more laudable undertaking, than the endeavour

to engraft divine truths on the pure minds of these innocent people, so

worthy of instruction; but I fear, and it is too observable, that the

words of one good man will have but little effect, when the practice of

the far greater number of Moravian preachers settled amongst them on

the banks of the Seramica rivers, where they endeavour to convert the

negroes as well as the Indians, is in direct contradiction to his life

and precepts.

All the Guiana Indians believe in God as the supreme author of every

good, and never inclined to do them an injury; but they worship the

devil, whom they call Yawahoo, to prevent his afflicting them with

evil, and to whom they ascribe pain, disease, wounds, and death; and

where an Indian dies, in order to avert future fatality, the whole

family, soon after, leave the spot as a place of residence.

The Guiana Indians are a perfectly free people, that is, they have no

division of land, and are without any government, excepting that in

most families the oldest acts as captain, priest, and physician, to

whom they pay a reverential obedience: these men are called Peii or

Pagayers, and, as in some civilized nations, live better than all

others.

Polygamy is admitted among them, and every Indian is allowed to take as

many wives as he can provide for, though he generally takes but one, of

whom he is extremely jealous, and whom he knocks on the head the moment

he receives a decided proof of her incontinency. These Indians never

beat their children on any account whatever, nor give them any

education, except in hunting, fishing, running, and swimming; yet they

never use abusive language to each other, nor steal; and a lye is

totally unknown among them. To which I may add, that no people can be

more grateful when treated with civility, of which I shall in future

relate a remarkable instance: but I must not forget that, on the other

hand, they are extremely revengeful, especially when, as they suppose,

they are injured without just provocation.

The only vices with which to my knowledge they are acquainted, if such

amongst them they may be called, are excessive drinking when

opportunity offers, and an unaccountable indolence: an Indian’s only

occupation, when he is not hunting or fishing, being to lounge in his

hammock, picking his teeth, plucking the hairs from his beard,

examining his face in a bit of broken looking-glass, &c.

The Indians in general are a very cleanly people, bathing twice or

thrice every day in the river, or the sea. They have all thick hair,

which never turns grey, and the head never becomes bald; both sexes

pluck out every vestige of hair on their bodies, that on the head only

excepted: it is of a shining black, which the men wear short, but the

women very long, hanging over the back and shoulders to their middle;

as if they had studied the scriptures, where it is said that long hair

is an ornament to a woman, but a disgrace to a man.

The Guiana Indians are neither tall, strong, nor muscular: but they are

straight, active, and generally in a good state of health. Their faces

have no expression whatever, that of a placid good-nature and content

excepted; and their features are beautifully regular, with small black

eyes, thin lips, and very white teeth. However, all the Guiana Indians

disfigure themselves more or less by the use of arnotta or rocow, by

them called cosowee, and by the Dutch orlean. The seeds of the arnotta

being macerated in the juice of lemon, and mixed with water, and gum

that exudes from the mawna tree, or with the oil of castor, composes a

scarlet paint, with which all the Indians anoint their bodies, and even

the men their hair, which gives their skin the appearance of a boiled

lobster; they also rub their naked bodies with caraba or crab-oil.

This, it must be allowed, is extremely useful in scorching climates,

where the inhabitants of both sexes go almost naked. One day, laughing

at a young man who came from the neighbourhood of Cayenne, he answered

me in French, saying, “My skin, sir, is kept soft, too great

perspiration is prevented, and the musquitoes do not sting me as they

do you: besides its beauty, this is the use of my painting red. Now

what is the reason of your painting white?” [meaning powder in the

hair] “You are, without any reason, wasting your flour, dirtying your

coat, and making yourself look grey before your time.”

These Indians also make use of a deep purple blue, which they call

tapowripa; but this is purely for ornament, and is absolutely indelible

for about nine days. It is the juice of a fruit in size like a small

apple that grows on the lawna tree, and which is bruised and macerated

in water. With this these people make figures on their faces, and all

over their bodies, resembling hieroglyphicks, like those that were a

few years since called à la Grec in Europe, and are still cut in

coal-grates, fenders, &c. But for a more correct idea I must refer the

reader to the annexed plate, where the children alone are not painted.

So very permanently does this paint adhere to the skin, that one of our

officers, who could not believe the fact, having by way of a frolic

made a pair of enormous whiskers with it on his face, was obliged, to

our great amusement, to parade Paramaribo with them for above a week,

and wait till they gradually disappeared.

The only dress worn by these Indians consists of a slip of black or

blue cotton worn by the men to cover their nakedness, and called

camisa; something like that of the negroes. Being wound round their

loins, it passes through between their thighs, and the ends of it,

which are very long, they either throw over their shoulders, or

negligently let them trail on the ground. For the same purpose, the

women wear an apron of cotton, with party-coloured glass beads strung

upon it, which they call queiou. This covering is of no great size,

being only about one foot in breadth by eight inches in length,

ornamented with fringes, and fastened round the waist with cotton

strings; but being heavy, though of no larger dimensions, it answers

all the purposes for which it was intended. Many also wear a girdle

made of human hair round their waist, through which, before and behind,

they fasten a square broad piece of black cotton, but lighter, and

without a train, like the camisa of the men: both sexes wearing these

belts or girdles so low, that they almost slide down over their

buttocks, and make their bodies appear wonderfully long.

In the inland parts, many Indians of both sexes go quite naked, without

any covering whatever. The Indian women also, by way of ornament, often

cut small holes in their ears and their lips, in the first of which

they wear corks or small pieces of light wood, and through their lips

they stick thorns, and sometimes all the pins they can lay hold of,

with the heads inside against the gums, and the points like a beard

dangling down upon their chins. Some wear feathers through their cheeks

and through their noses, though this is but seldom. But the most

unaccountable ornament in my opinion is, that the girls at ten or

twelve years old work a kind of cotton garter round their ankles, and

the same below the knee; which being very tight, and remaining for

ever, occasions their calves to swell to an enormous size by the time

they are grown women, and gives their limbs a very odd and unnatural

appearance. They also wear girdles, bands, and bracelets, of various

coloured beads, shells, and fish-teeth, about their necks, across their

shoulders, or round their arms, but generally above the elbow. Upon the

whole, the Indian women, naturally disagreeable in their shapes, with

their toes turned inwards, are still less attractive by their

ornaments. But from this general description I must exempt one cast in

particular, called Arrowouks, whom I shall describe in their proper

place.

The ornaments of the men consist of crowns of various coloured

feathers, or a sash of boars or tygers teeth across one shoulder, as a

token of their valour and activity. The chiefs of families sometimes

wear the skin of a tyger, and a silver plate resembling a croissant,

called by them a caracoly; they also frequently have small oval bits of

silver in the cartilaginous separation of their noses, and sometimes a

green or yellow coloured stone. All these nations live in the forest,

near rivers, and along the sea-coast, where they are scattered in small

villages or hamlets. Their houses or wigwams, which they call carbets,

are built as I have already described those of the negroes; but instead

of being covered with the leaves of the manicole-tree, they are covered

with the leaves of rattans or jointed canes, here called tas, which

grow in clusters in all marshy places: but they mostly use troolies,

which are leaves that diverge immediately from the root, and are no

less than twenty or twenty-four feet in length, and from two to three

in breadth, and this will for years effectually exclude all

inclemencies of weather.

Their furniture is very simple, but sufficient for their wants,

consisting of a few black earthen pots of their own making; a few

callebashes or gourds; a few baskets, called pagala; a stone to grind,

called matta, and another to bake their cassava bread; a fan to blow

the fire; a wooden stool or mulee; a sieve they call manary; a press to

squeeze the wet cassava, called matappy; and a cotton hammock or net

for them to sleep in.

Besides these, since their intercourse with the Europeans, many of them

are furnished with a hatchet and a knife, which last, like a dagger,

the Indians always wear by their side. But I must not forget that every

Indian family is provided with a large boat or canoe to carry all that

they possess when they travel by water, which is not unfrequent.

The only vegetables cultivated by these people are the yams, plantains,

and bananas, already described, and particularly cassava or manioc.

This last is a shrub, which grows about three feet high, of a grey

colour, and knotted; the leaves are digitated and large, and supported

by cinnamon-coloured foot-stalks. Of this shrub there are two species,

distinguished by the appellation of the sweet and the bitter cassava,

of which the roots alone are for use. These are soft and farinaceous;

and in colour, size, and shape, much resemble European parsnips. The

sweet cassava, roasted in hot ashes, like the green plantains, and

eaten with butter, is an agreeable and healthy food, tasting much like

the chesnut. But the bitter cassava, which when raw is the most fatal

poison both to man and beast, is (however strange it may seem) when

prepared by fire, not only a very safe food, but the most natural bread

of the Indians in this country, as well as of several Europeans and

negroes. The manner in which the Indians prepare it is first by

grinding or grating these roots on the matta or rough stone: after

which they put it in a press, to separate the juice from the meal. This

press is a kind of long tube, made of warimbo or reeds; which being

hung to a tree, and filled with ground cassava, a heavy stone or log of

wood is fixed to the bottom, the weight of which gradually lengthens

the tube, which is compressed in proportion, and the liquid substance

is squeezed through the plated reeds. This done, the meal is baked on a

hot stone in thin round cakes, until it becomes brown and crisp, and

then it is a wholesome food, that will keep good for half a year; yet I

must acknowledge that the taste, which by that process becomes

sweetish, is at the same time extremely insipid. The extracted water of

this root, if not carefully prevented by the slaves, is sometimes drunk

by cattle, and poultry on the estates, whom it instantly kills with

convulsive tortures and swelling; yet this very liquid, if boiled with

pepper, butcher’s meat, &c. is frequently made use of for soup. None

should use the cassava root for food but such as are perfectly

acquainted with it: many people having been poisoned, to my knowledge,

by using the one species for the other; the distinction between the two

consisting chiefly in a tough ligneous fibre or cord running through

the heart of the sweet or innocent cassava root, which the fatal or

bitter has not. The acajou nuts are also used by the Indians; and they

often bring them to Paramaribo, where they are called inginotto. The

kernels of these nuts are in size and shape very like lambs kidneys,

and are exceedingly delicate. They grow very far inland upon high

trees, which having never seen, I cannot describe.

The other food of the Indian consists of sea and land turtle, and

crabs, called seereeca, which last are seen in great quantities in the

mud all along the coast of Guiana at low water. Of these they are

extremely fond, as also of the river lobsters called sarasara, which

are here in great abundance. But nothing pleases them so much as the

iguana or wayamacca lizards, that I have already described: every thing

they eat is so highly seasoned with Cayenne pepper, that the mere

tasting of their food excoriates the mouth of an European. They use

little or no salt, but barbacue their game and fish in the smoke, which

equally preserves it from putrefaction; and if an Indian has neglected

to provide food by hunting or fishing, his hunger is asswaged by eating

the seeds of the green-heart or the eta tree, or of similar productions

of the forest.

Their drink consists of various fluids, such as the juice of the coumoo

fruit. The coumoo tree is one of the smallest of the palm kind. Its

seed grows in bunches of purple blue berries, resembling grapes, the

pulp of which thinly adheres to a round hard stone, about the size of a

pistol bullet. These berries are dissolved and macerated in boiling

water; which beverage, when mixed with sugar and cinnamon, is

frequently used by the fair inhabitants: it tastes very much like

chocolate. A drink they call piworree is a composition of the cassava

bread, chewed by the females, and fermented with water, when it has

something of the taste of ale, and will intoxicate. It appears at first

very extraordinary, that what has been within the teeth, mixed with the

saliva, and spit from the mouths of others, should be drank without

loathing by the people of any country: but those who have read Cook’s

Voyages will find that this practice was so common in the islands he

discovered, that had he not complied with it, his refusal might have

fatally offended the inhabitants. His officers, indeed, did not think

it so necessary for them to comply, and therefore excused themselves

from the disgusting draught. A beverage nearly of the same kind they

compose from the maize, or Indian corn, which is first ground and baked

into bread, after which it is crumbled and macerated with water till it

ferments like the former, and this they call chiacoar. Another drink

called cassiree is also much used by these Indians, being a composition

of yams, cassava, sour oranges, and sugar or treacle, well macerated,

and fermented with water. I shall only add, that all these beverages

are inebriating, if used beyond moderation, which is frequently the

case with both males and females among the copper-coloured generation I

am speaking of. This is the only time when they are unruly, and when

quarrels arise among themselves.

In pronunciation the language of the Indians in general much resembles

the Italian, their words being sonorous and harmonious, mostly

terminating with a vowel, as may be observed by the few specimens

above. They have no calculation of time, a string with some knots being

the only calendar they are acquainted with. Their musical instruments

consist of a kind of flute called too-too, and made of a single piece

of thick reed, on which they make a sound no better than the lowing of

an ox, without either measure or variety.—Another instrument is also

used by them to blow upon, called quarta (by Ovid a sirinx; by some

poets Pan’s chaunter) and consists of reeds of different lengths, that

are joined together like the pipes of an organ, but even at the top,

which they hold with both hands to the lips, and which, by shifting

from side to side, produces a warbling of clear but discordant sounds,

agreeable to none but themselves; nor have I seen a better

representation of the god Pan playing on his chaunter, than a naked

Indian among the verdant foliage playing upon one of those reedy pipes.

They also make flutes of the bones of their enemies, of which I have

one now in my possession. Their dancing, if such it may be called,

consists in stamping on the ground, balancing on one foot, and

staggering round in different attitudes for many hours, as if

intoxicated.

The Indians are a very sociable people among themselves, and frequently

meet together in a large wigwam or carbet that is in every hamlet for

the purpose, where, if they do not play or dance, they amuse each other

with fictitious stories, generally concerning ghosts, witches, or

dreams, during which they frequently burst out into immoderate fits of

laughter. They greatly delight in bathing, which they do twice at least

every day, men, women, boys, and girls, promiscuously together. They

are all excellent swimmers without exception. Among these parties not

the smallest indecency is committed, in either words or actions.

The employments of the men are, as I have stated, but very few, and,

indeed, may be comprized in two words, hunting and fishing: at both of

these exercises they are indisputably more expert than any other nation

whatever. For the first they are provided with bows and arrows of their

own manufacturing, the arrows being of different kinds for different

purposes. The Indian bows are all made of the hardest and toughest kind

of wood, about five or six feet in length, and wonderfully well

polished; and this is effected by means of a stone. In the middle they

are wound round with cotton, and strung with chords made of silk-grass.

The arrows are generally about four feet long, made of a very straight

and strong kind of reed, to the end of which is fixed a thin twig about

one foot long, to balance them; this is armed with a point made of

steel or of fish-bone, generally barbed. Some of the Indian arrows are

pointed like a lance, others are doubly and trebly barbed, and so

contrived as to stick in the wound when the reedy part is pulled back.

These are used mostly for game and fish; for though they be not mortal,

they encumber the first, and being buoyant bring the latter to the

surface, till both are taken. These arrows, like all others, are stuck

with feathers six or seven inches long. Some arrows have blunted heads

instead of points, about the size of a large chesnut, like what our

ancestors called bolts; with these they do not kill, but stun the

macaws, parrots, and small monkeys, so that they can take them with

their hands, soon after which they recover, and are sent alive to

Paramaribo. Some of the arrows for killing fish have the appearance of

a trident, three and sometimes five barbed sticks being fixed to the

reed instead of one, which enables them to shoot fish even at random. A

few of the above arrows are frequently dipped in the woorara poison

[34], which is instantaneously fatal: but when intent on certain

destruction, this people make use of another kind of arrow that is not

above ten or twelve inches long, extremely thin, and made of the hard

splinters of the palm-tree bark, having, instead of feathers, one end

wound round with a tuft of raw cotton, so as to fill up a hollow tube

made of reed near six feet in length, through which they blow them with

their breath. These little implements of death will carry to the

distance of forty paces, and with so much certainty, that the intended

victims never escape, the points being dipped in the woorara poison. As

an instance of the dreadful effects of this poison, I shall only

mention a negro woman, who, during the late rebellion in Berbicè, being

slightly wounded by a poisoned arrow, not only almost instantly

expired, but her sucking infant, though not touched by the arrow, lost

its life by tasting her milk.

Their manner of catching fish is much the same as I have described at

the Hope, by inclosing the entry of small creeks or shoal water with a

paleing, shooting them with their trident arrows, or poisoning the

water by throwing in it the roots of hiaree [35], in Surinam called

tringee-woodo or konamee, by which the fish become stupified, and are

taken by the hand, while they float on the surface of the water; as

boys in England, who by mixing the Coculus Indicus, or drugs of similar

effect, with baits which the fish will take, find them soon after rise

to the surface, whence, if they are not speedily taken, they will

recover and escape, the drugs only stupifying them for a while. These

are the only occupations of the men, except making their furniture,

ornaments, and arms.

I must not forget that every Indian carries a club, which they call

apootoo, for their defence. These clubs are made of the heaviest wood

in the forest; they are about eighteen inches long, flat at both ends,

and square, but heavier at the one end than the other. In the middle

they are thinner, and are wound about with strong cotton threads, so as

to be grasped, having a loop to secure them round the wrist, as the

sword-tassels are used by some cavalry. One blow with this club, in

which is frequently fixed a sharp stone, scatters the brains. They are

used by the Guiana Indians like the tomahawk by the Cherokees, on

which, besides other hieroglyphical figures, they often carve the

number of persons they have slain in battle. The manner of fixing the

stone in the club or apootoo is by sticking it in the tree while it is

yet growing, where it soon becomes so fast that it cannot be forced

out; after which the wood is cut, and shaped according to fancy.

The women are occupied in planting cassava, plantains, and other roots,

besides yams, &c. in dressing the victuals, and in making earthen pots,

bracelets, baskets, or cotton hammocks. Their best baskets are called

pagala, and are formed of a double matting of rushes called warimbo,

some white, some brown, between which is a separation of tas, or

trooly-leaves, to keep out the wet. The covering is usually larger and

deeper than the basket itself, which it altogether envelopes, and thus

makes it stronger; the whole resting on two cross pieces of wood fixed

to the bottom. Their hammocks are woven, which must require a

considerable portion of time and trouble, being done thread after

thread, traversing the warp in the manner that a hole is darned in a

stocking; after which they are stained with the juices of trees

according to fancy.

The Indian girls arrive at the time of puberty before twelve years old,

indeed commonly much sooner, at which time they are married. The

ceremony consists simply in the young man’s offering a quantity of game

and fish of his own catching, which, if she accepts, he next proposes

the question, “Will you be my wife?” If she answers in the affirmative,

the matter is settled, and the nuptials celebrated in a drunken feast,

when a house and furniture is provided for the young couple. Their

women are delivered without any assistance, and with so little

inconvenience or suffering, that they seem exempt from the curse of

Eve. They go about the menial services for their husbands the day after

their delivery; then, however ridiculous and incredible it may appear,

it is an absolute fact, that every one of these gentlemen lie in their

hammocks for above a month, groaning and grunting as if they had been

themselves in labour, during which time all the women must attend them

with extraordinary care and the best food. This the Indian calls

enjoying himself, and resting from his labour. Most of these people

esteeming a flat forehead a mark of beauty, they compress the heads of

their children, it is said, immediately after their birth, like the

Chactaws of North America.

No Indian wife eats with her husband, but serves him as a slave: for

this reason they can take but very little care of their infants, which,

nevertheless, are always healthy and undeformed. When they travel, they

carry them in small hammocks slung over one shoulder, in which sits the

child, having one leg before and the other behind the mother. For an

emetic they use the juice of tobacco, which they seldom smoke.

When the Indians are dying, either from sickness or old age, the latter

of which is most frequently the cause, the devil or Yawahoo is at

midnight exorcised by the peii or priest, by means of rattling a

calibash filled with small stones, peas, and beads, accompanied by a

long speech. This office is hereditary, and by these pretended divines

no animal food, as I have before said, is publicly tasted, and yet on

the whole they live better than all the others. When an Indian is dead,

being first washed and anointed, he is buried naked, in a new cotton

bag, in a sitting attitude, his head resting on the palms of his hands,

his elbows on his knees, and all his implements of war and hunting by

his side; during which time his relations and neighbours rend the air

by their dismal lamentations; but soon after, by a general drunken

riot, they drown their sorrows till the following year. This practice,

by the way, bears some affinity to Dr. Smollet’s description of a

burial in the Highlands of Scotland. At the expiration of the year, the

body, being rotten, is dug up, and the bones distributed to all the

friends and acquaintance, during which ceremony the former rites are

repeated for the last time, and the whole neighbourhood look out for

another settlement. Some tribes of Indians, having put their deceased

friends in the above posture, place them naked for a few days under

water, where the bones being picked clean by the piree and other fish,

the skeleton is dried in the sun, and hung up to the ceiling of their

houses or wigwams; and this is done as the strongest instance of their

great regard for their departed friend.

When these Indians travel by land, their canoe, which is made of a

large tree hollowed by means of fire, is always carried along with them

to transport their luggage across swamps, creeks, and rivers; it is,

like themselves, all over besmeared with arnotta. If they travel in the

rivers, they generally paddle against the tide, to have a better

opportunity of shooting such game as they see in the trees or on the

banks; whereas, if they went with the current, the rapidity of the

stream would often make them run past it. When travelling on the coast,

it frequently happens that these canoes ship a sea which fills them,

but no such thing as a shipwreck is heard of: both sexes immediately

leaping over-board; then with one hand they hang by the canoe, with the

other, and by means of calibashes, they throw out the water.

Notwithstanding the Guiana Indians are upon the whole a peaceable

people, they sometimes go to war among themselves, purely for the sake

of capturing prisoners, to which they are too much encouraged by the

Christians, who receive them in exchange for other commodities, and

make them slaves, which is too frequently practised. But these kind of

slaves are only for shew and parade, as they absolutely refuse to work,

and if at all ill-treated, or especially if beaten, they pine and

languish like caged turtles, even refusing food, till by affliction and

want they are exhausted, and finally expire.

The Indians always fight their battles by midnight: indeed their

contests resemble more a siege than a battle, as these broils consist

only in surrounding the hamlets of their enemies while they are asleep,

making prisoners of the women, boys, and girls, while they shoot the

men with poisoned arrows, or with their clubs or apootoos divide their

sculls when they come to close quarters; they also scalp their male

prisoners, bring home their hair, and even their bones, as trophies of

war, and presents to their wives, unless they intend to sell them to

the Europeans at Paramaribo. In their open rencounters, which happen

very seldom, the bows and barbed arrows are their principal weapons of

offence; with these they often kill at the distance of sixty paces;

nay, the swiftest bird in its flight, provided it has the magnitude of

a crow, seldom escapes them. In truth, such is the skill of these

people at these manly exercises, that the best archers at Cressy,

Poictiers, and Agincourt, must have yielded to their superiority.

Now with full force the yielding bow he bends,

Drawn to an arch, and joins the doubling ends;

Close to his breast he strains the nerve below,

’Till the barb’d point approach the circling bow.

Th’ impatient weapon whizzes on the wing,

Sounds the tough bow, and twangs the quivering string.

Pope’s Homer.

I shall only add farther on this subject, that when these Indians go to

war they chuse one general commander, whom they distinguish by the

title of Uill.

The trade or traffic which the Indians of Guiana carry on with the

Dutch consists chiefly in slaves, earthen jars, canoes, hammocks,

baskets, Brazil-wood, hiaree-roots, macaws, parrots, monkeys, balsam

capivi, arracocerra, caraba or crab oil, and arnotta, for which they

receive in return checquered cloth, fire-arms, gun-powder, hatchets,

knives, scissars, different coloured beads, looking-glasses,

fish-hooks, combs, needles, pins, &c. The balsam capivi exudes from the

bark of a thick tree that grows far inland, with large pointed leaves,

bearing a fruit like a cucumber. This gum is yellow, hard, and

transparent, resembling amber; when melted, it has an agreeable smell:

its uses are for varnish, and to stop diuretic complaints, &c. The gum

called arracocerra exudes from an inland tree also; it is yellow as the

former, but tenacious and soft; it has a most fragrant smell, and is

held in great esteem by the Europeans as well as Indians, on account of

its efficacy in curing wounds, and many other complaints. The caraba or

crab oil is made by bruising, macerating, and boiling the kernels that

grow on the crab-tree in brown angular nuts, much about the size of a

large chesnut; this oil, which is bitter, besides anointing the

Indians, is used for many purposes by the Europeans. The tree grows to

near fifty feet high, with leaves resembling those of the laurel; but

as I neither have seen this nor the two former growing, to my

knowledge, I can say nothing more concerning them. The mawna tree is

high, straight, and light brown coloured; its leaves are oval; its nuts

resembling nutmegs, but without either taste or flavour. The gum

exuding from its trunk by incisions in the bark is dissolved by the

Indians in water, and, as I have said, mixed with arnotta to anoint

them. The castor or palmachristi bush, by botanists called the ricinus,

is a shrub about four feet high, jointed, being covered with large

digitated leaves on long foot-stalks, viz. both the stem and the

branches. This shrub consists of the red and the white, and produces

triangular nuts inclosed in a green hulk, which, when ripe, turns to

brown, and falls off. From these nuts is expressed the castor oil; in

Surinam it is called carrapat oil; it is very like that made of olives,

and, as I have mentioned before, is much used by the Indians to paint

themselves with.

Among all the Indian nations, the Caribs are the most numerous, active,

and brave. These reside in great numbers near the Spanish settlements,

which they often harass, in immortal revenge for the inhuman cruelties

inflicted on their forefathers at Mexico and Peru. They are commanded

by a captain, and assemble by the blowing of a conch or sea-shell; they

have also frequent battles with neighbouring Indians; but what

disgraces them above all others in Terra Firma is, that however

unnatural it may seem, and however much it has been contradicted, they

are anthropophagi or cannibals; at least they most certainly feast on

their enemies, whose flesh they tear and devour with the avidity of

wolves, though this is generally supposed to be more from a spirit of

revenge than from any depravity in their taste.

The Accawaw Indians are few in number, and live farther distant from

the sea than the former. Though like these they live in friendship with

the Dutch, they are both treacherous in administering slow poison

concealed under their nails, and very distrustful, as they palisade the

ground round their hamlets with poisoned spikes.

The Worrow Indians, if not the most cruel, are the most despicable of

any in Guiana. These are settled along the coast from the river

Oronoque to Surinam; they are dark-coloured and extremely ugly; though

strong they are pusillanimous, and withal so very lazy and indolent,

that their poverty will scarcely afford them a covering to hide their

nakedness, which they often supply by the web-like bark of the

palm-tree. They often go quite naked, and are stinkingly dirty; from

their sluggish inactivity they are reduced to live mostly upon crabs

and water. If it should seem strange to have called these people happy,

let it be recollected that their wishes are confined to their

enjoyments, and that no Indian was ever heard to complain that he was

unhappy.

The Taiiras are settled also on the sea-coast between Surinam and the

river Amazon. These are exceedingly numerous, being computed, in this

settlement alone, to amount to near twenty thousand: they are a very

peaceable but indolent people, and in many particulars resemble the

Worrows.

The Piannacotaus live very far inland, and are enemies to the

Europeans, with whom they refuse all connection or dealings whatever:

of this tribe the only thing that I can say farther is, that they would

murder all the Christians in Guiana, if they had an opportunity.

The only Indian nation within my knowledge now remaining to be

mentioned are the Arrowouks, my favourites;—but as this Chapter is

already swelled to a considerable length, I must defer them to another

opportunity.——Thus for the present do I take my leave of this happy

people, who with the distinctions of rank or land (the causes of

contention in more enlightened states) are unacquainted; who know no

evil but pain and want, with which they are very seldom afflicted in

this ever-verdant, this ever-blooming climate; who, while their wishes

are so very limited, possess all that they desire in this world: and

who, while they expect a future state, never give their minds the

smallest uneasiness, but die in peace; nay, who seldom think upon

to-morrow. But while I allow them this species of negative happiness,

let it not be understood that to the contented European I have held up

their condition as an object of envy.

For a better idea of their furniture, ornaments, and arms, I refer the

curious to the annexed plate, where

No 1. is an Indian coriala or canoe, which is generally made of one

tree.

2. Paddles in place of oars.

3. A sieve called manary.

4. An Indian fan, or way-way.

5. A stool called mulee.

6. A pagala or basket.

7. A matappy or cassava press.

8. An Indian bow.

9. Arrows for shooting fish.

10. A blunted arrow for birds.

11. Common arrows barbed.

12. Small poisoned arrows.

13. The pipe or tube to blow them.

14. A crown of various feathers.

15. An apron called queiou.

16. An Indian earthen pot.

17. An apootoo or Indian club.

18. An Indian cotton hammock.

19. A sash of tigers or wild boars teeth.

20. A magic shell or gourd.

21. An Indian flute called too-too.

22. A flute made of the human bone of an enemy.

23. An Indian flute or syrinx called quarta.

24. A stone to grind cassava, called matta.

For a fuller botanical description than either my knowledge or my

limits will allow, I refer the reader to the ingenious Dr. Bancroft,

whose merit in this particular is perhaps known by few, but who claims

every attention from having lived so long in Demerary; and to whom the

thanks of the world in general are due, for his ingenious “Letters to

Dr. Pitcairn, F. R. C. P. &c.” published in 1766.

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

NOTES

[1] Each officer was permitted to re-enter his former regiment, if he

survived the expedition, and returned to Europe, a vacancy being there

preserved for him during his absence.

[2] The Stormy Petrel of Pennant.

[3] I have never seen this necessity properly accounted for: probably

the mucus which covers the fins or wings may become so consolidated by

the heat of the sun, and the action of the air, that it may impede

their motion; or it may be that the fish itself cannot endure to be

long out of its proper element: either of these suppositions will

account for its dropping so often as it were involuntarily on board

ships, and into the mouth of its enemies, the dolphin, dorado, &c.

[4] ——Exotic of Cerean dye,

Sweet acid offspring of an injur’d sky;

O Shaddock! like thy country, captive led,

And doom’d to grace the board her children spread.

[5] I cannot but notice in this place a strange error, into which Mr.

Guthrie has inadvertently fallen, in dating the commencement of the dry

season at the north tropic, from the time when the sun is vertical at

the tropic of Capricorn; and describing it as continuing till the sun

is again vertical at Cancer, or from the beginning of January to the

latter end of May.

[6] See the Map prefixed to this work.

[7] Of this extraordinary enterprize the curious reader may see a full

account, written by Sir Walter Raleigh himself, as it was published by

Dr. Birch, in 1751, among the rest of Raleigh’s works, printed for

Dodsley, in two vols. octavo.

[8] Somelsdyk had the character of a tyrant; he was, under the cloak of

religion, despotic, passionate, brutal, and cruel; he even ordered an

Indian chief’s head to be struck off for some domestic misdemeanour,

for which he could not produce, especially in those days, the smallest

shadow of authority.

[9] In the year 1667, Captain Abraham Cruisen gave the town the name of

new Middleburg; but it was before and after called nothing but

Paramaribo, which is said to be the true Indian name, and should

signify The Spot of Flowers. This is the general account. But in my

opinion not only Parham’s Point, but the Para Creek, and the town of

Paramaribo, nay, even the great water called the Golden Parima, on

Parham Lake, took their names from Francis Lord Willoughby of Parham;

who, as I have mentioned, received this settlement from Charles the

Second, and was one of the first possessors of this beautiful country.

Surinam is also called a province by the Dutch, but mostly known by the

name of colony, settlement, &c.

[10] This fact is noticed by the Abbé Raynal.

[11] A corps of European chasseurs, or rifle-men, was since added to

these troops, after the manner of the light infantry in England.

[12] Blood-hounds were also proposed, to discover and attack the rebel

negroes in the woods, but never adopted, from the difficulty of their

proper training, &c.

[13] In Surinam all such children go with their mothers; that is, if

she is in slavery, her offspring are her master’s property, should

their father be a prince, unless he obtains them by purchase.

[14] A samboe is between a mulatto and a negro.

[15] A ponkee is a flat-bottomed boat of four or six oars, something

like a square-toed shoe; sometimes it has a tilt, and sometimes not.

[16] Kill-devil is a species of rum which is distilled from the scum

and dregs of sugar cauldrons. This is much drunk in this colony, and

the only spirits allowed the negroes; many Europeans also, from a point

of œconomy, make use of it, to whom it proves no better than a slow but

fatal poison.

[17] This gentleman formerly belonged to the life-guards in Holland,

from which he fled, after thrusting his antagonist through the heart

with his sword in a duel.

[18] This I am astonished to see contradicted by Dr. Bancroft, who says

they improve in South America, while one bullock of Smithfield market

assuredly weighs down two of the largest in Guiana.

[19] Mr. Greenwood, of Leicester Fields, has told me himself that he

killed one of eleven feet long.

[20] Doctor Bancroft mentions the power of fascination in the aboma.

This I am obliged to contradict. Nor can I, without great difficulty,

attribute this quality even to the rattle-snake.

[21] This rusk biscuit is made of a coarse rye loaf, cut in two, and

baked as hard as a stone; I often broke it with my fuzee, and was glad

to eat it, though mouldered, and impregnated with worms, spiders,

gravel, and even broken bottles.

[22] The largest of all the palm species.

[23] This Dr. Bancroft, I think, calls the Tetermer.

[24] Water, Madeira wine, nutmeg and sugar.

[25] Dr. Fermyn is mistaken, when he says this fish weighs but forty

pounds.

[26] The offspring of an European and of a Quaderoon.

[27] Dr. Bancroft erroneously calls this bird the only dove in Guiana.

[28] The first sugar was refined anno 1659.

[29] Sometimes from ten to twenty thousand pounds weight.

[30] These triangles have three long barbed spikes, like small

grapplings, projecting from an iron collar.

[31] Not to go so far eastward, it is notorious that nearly similar to

these dances are those which we find practised on a part of this

continent. They are called fandangos, and are said to have been brought

from Peru to Spain. As I have been favoured with a very accurate and

curious description of them, extracted from a collection of letters of

Emanuel Martinus, dean of Alicant, I shall venture to insert it as it

came to my hands, since I doubt not but it may afford amusement to some

of my readers, while I hope the admission of it will not be offensive

to others; it being my wish and desire to please all, by bringing to

light whatever might otherwise escape observation.

E.M. I.A. suo.

I nunc, et veterum morum licentiam accusa, nostrorum verecundiam lauda.

Nosti saltationem illam Gaditanam, obscœnitate suâ per omne ævum

famosam. At qui hodiè ipsammet per omnia hujus urbis compita, per omnia

cubicula, cum incredibili astantium plausu, saltari videas. Nec inter

Æthiopas tantum et obscuros homines, sed inter honestissimas fœminas,

ac nobili loco natas.

Saltationis modus hoc ritu peragitur. Saltant vir et fœmina vel bini

vel plures. Corpora ad musicos modos per omnia libidinum irritamenta

versantur. Membrorum mollissimi flexus, clunium motationes, micationes

femorum, salacium insultuum imagines, omnia denique turgentis lasciviæ

solertissimo studio expressa simulacra. Videas cevere virum, et cum

quodam gannitu, crissare fœminam, eo lepore ac venustate, ut ineptæ

profecto ac rusticæ tibi viderentur tremulæ nates Photidos Appuleianæ.

Interea omnia constrepunt cachinnis et ronchis. Quin spectatores ipsi

satyricæ atellanæque ορχησεως furore correpti, in ipso simulatæ

libidinis campo, leni quodam gestu nutuque, velitantur ac fluctuant.

[32] This, however uncommon it may appear to an European, is often

practised in Surinam by such as can afford it; amongst which class was

the hospitable Mrs. Lolkens, who generously presented Joanna with the

wine.

[33] See the account given to the Members of the Royal Society, by John

Hunter, Esq; F. R. S.

[34] The bark of a tree so called, mixed with others; but for a very

particular description of this acute poison, viz. of its composition,

and of its dire effects, I refer the reader to Dr. Bancroft, and the

repeated experiments which that gentleman has made to ascertain its

instant fatality.

[35] This tree is much sought after by the Indians, who send quantities

of it to Paramaribo and the plantations.