Mahaica, Sept. 4.
An opportunity now offers of addressing you by a conveyance which holds
out every probability of my letter reaching you in safety. The 93d and
99th regiments being draughted into the 39th, the officers are about to
return to England, and I commit my letter to the care of one of these
gentlemen, who will be good enough to see it delivered. I wish I could
propose any means equally secure of my receiving tidings from you! But I
am sorry to observe, that all our uncertainties continue. We are still
in the same state of suspense; placed between the two staffs of the
Charibbee islands and of St. Domingo, as if belonging to neither:
expecting daily to be ordered to Hispaniola, yet without any intimation
when we are to be relieved. Under these circumstances, I can only say as
before, continue to address to me at the head-quarters of the St.
Domingo army: I may then have the hope of meeting some day or other all
your remembrances.
Of news you will expect but little from this region. We hold quiet
possession of the colonies which surrendered to us, and the cultivation
and commerce is prosecuted with as much industry as if we were resting
in the bosom of peace. Great numbers of slaves have been imported, since
our arrival, and British property is embarked to extend and improve the
settlements, with no less ardor than might be expected if these valuable
possessions were confirmed to England by a definitive treaty, guaranteed
by the strongest powers in Europe.
I lament exceedingly that it is not in my power to announce to you, by
the present occasion, some progress in the health-improvement which we
are led to anticipate: we observe that the men are most frequently
attacked during, or immediately after exposure to great heat or fatigue.
The more robust and plethoric—those occupied as cooks, or blacksmiths,
boat parties, men engaged in fishing, non-commissioned officers,
sentinels, and those who have acted as servants to officers, have been
most subject to the disease. In particular a boat party, employed to
fetch water down the river for the use of the hospital and the barracks,
have been so invariably attacked in a kind of succession upon that duty,
that it has been found necessary to procure a crew of negroes expressly
for this purpose. It has also been deemed requisite to abandon the
comfort derived from the occasional supply of an article of fresh
provision, in consequence of the men whose business it was to draw the
seine for fish, being found peculiarly susceptible of the fever.
The speed with which the attack succeeds the exposure to great heat and
fatigue is no less remarkable, in many instances, than the rapidity with
which, in these or other cases, the disease runs on to death. Only
yesterday morning, in returning from the hospital to my breakfast, I was
accosted, on passing the soldiers’ barrack, and requested to visit the
drum-major, whom I found dangerously ill with fever; although on my way
to the hospital, but a short time before, I had seen him walking in the
cotton-field apparently, and to his own belief, as well as any man in
the regiment. At the same time I was desired to look at a soldier, who
was lying at the side of the drum-major, and was said to be complaining.
This man also proved to be in a dangerous state of fever, and I learned
that he had been attacked the day before, immediately after hurrying
nearly a mile to fetch some porter. I likewise saw two or three others,
in the same barrack, who had been suddenly taken ill on guard, and were
now about to increase our crowded list at the hospital.
A few days ago, on my passing by the guard-house, I observed a soldier,
named Chapman, sitting among the men who were upon guard, seemingly
unwell; and on my asking him if he felt ill, he answered in a firm
strong voice, that he felt “_a little poorly with head-ach, but not
ill_;” still I perceived that he had more of indisposition about him
than he was aware of, and I was particularly led to notice any symptoms
of disease in this man, from his having been repeatedly an object of
conversation and remark, in health. He was a hardy robust grenadier,
and, from having been much exposed on fatigue-duty, in Ireland, during
the time of the sickness which the troops had experienced at Spike
Island and at Cove; from having supported much of similar duty on the
passage; and also a considerable share since his arrival in the West
Indies, without suffering from it, the officers had pointed him out to
me, as a person who was “secure against _even yellow fever and the
doctors_.” He was sitting in his usual clothing, talking to the men of
the guard, sensible only of slight head-ach, and lassitude; but as I saw
evidently that it was an attack of fever, I hinted, without mentioning
this to him, that it would be better he should go to the hospital, if he
were at all unwell, in order that he might have the benefit of medical
attendance, and of such remedies as his case required. He instantly
expressed great alarm, and said, “_I am not ill: if you take me to the
hospital, I shall catch the fever and die_.” On my stating the
impropriety of his remaining among the men in health, and not using the
proper means of recovery, he replied, “_I am not sick, and only want an
appetite to be quite well_;” and when I urged him further to go into the
hospital, he answered with quickness, “_Indeed I am not bad, and if I
were, I would rather stab myself at once, than go where so many are
dying every day of yellow fever_.” Poor fellow! he was wholly
unconscious, that the disease, he so much dreaded, was upon him; and as
I found that his terror of the hospital was quite insurmountable, I did
not augment his alarm, either by insisting upon his being carried
thither, or by telling him that the fever had already seized him; but in
order that he might be removed from the guard-room, I gave directions
for a hammock to be put up under the piazza of the house, where he might
be in quiet, and alone. This being done, without delay, I prevailed upon
him to go directly, and lie down, and was glad to see him safe in bed;
for, in my conversation with him, I had discovered enough to cause
strong apprehensions lest he should die, before we could have him
removed! Although he felt so little of illness, and those around him
were so wholly insensible of his peril, there was an indescribable
something about him, particularly in his countenance, which bespake
extreme danger; and from which an experienced observer might see that he
was soon to die! After having him placed in the hammock, and prescribing
for him such remedies as were necessary, I instructed the medical
gentleman, who had lately arrived at this post to give me assistance, to
pay particular attention to his case, remarking, that from his present
appearance, I should not be surprised if, in the course of an hour or
two, I should learn that he was dead. The event verified my suspicions:
a convulsive tremor quickly seized him, and at noon he was a corpse!
Such are the fevers of this climate! Often a man is well in the morning,
and at night is no more: nor is it possible for any one, who has not
seen many cases of the disease, to judge of the degree of danger which
threatens those who are attacked. Chapman had been one of the party
employed to drag the fishing-net in the sea, and I have been the more
minute in relating his case, because, in him, the circumstances I have
mentioned were strikingly exemplified. He was a man who possessed great
strength of constitution; he had been exposed to the heat of the sun
immediately previous to the attack; and was very rapidly destroyed by
the disease.
But you will tell me not to dwell on tales of sadness and distress; I
obey, and hasten to lead you to a scene of gladness, in which I am sure
your heart will cordially participate. I had ordered the convalescents
to be assembled, from all the different wards and hospitals, and paraded
upon the beach, that I might carefully inspect them, in order to
ascertain the number fit to be removed to a distant post for change of
air and place; and to give room at the hospital for the better
accommodation of the sick; and the pleasure which I witnessed upon the
countenances of these poor men, and which throbbed at my own heart, on
the occasion, was far greater than words can tell. A very considerable
number of pale, feeble, and emaciated beings were brought together, and,
being drawn up, on the parade, they hailed each other, in cheerful
greetings, like men raised from the dead. Joy gladdened every eye; the
comrade hailed his friend as one returned from the grave; all were
happy, and the delight of again seeing each other, shone in every face.
The meeting was an exhilarating cordial to them. Mirth and liveliness
spread around; wit and rapartee prevailed; and they addressed one
another in quaint jokes, and comic gratulations, descriptive of their
late dangers, and their present escape. This effect of bringing them
together gave me great satisfaction: seeing so numerous a body saved
from the very jaws of death, I was no less gratified than the happiest
of the party. Their appearance was distressful, and their pallid ghastly
visages, and wasted figures, to men less conversant with the more
direful examples of disease, might have conveyed the idea of speedy
dissolution, rather than of approaching health: but, to those who had
themselves been in a far worse state, and who had long been lying,
surrounded with the sick and the dying, nothing in their looks could be
dispiriting, whilst they and their comrades were able to support
themselves upon their legs.
We are told by the planters, that since the arrival of the English in
these settlements, the people of colour are grown unusually disobedient,
and even insolent; which is attributed to our being more lenient towards
them, than their Dutch masters were. Whether or not this he admitted as
the cause, several recent instances have occurred in proof of the fact,
and which have made it necessary to use means of correcting their
presumption. Consistently with the rules of the fort, the officer on
guard is instructed to examine every vessel that passes; but some boats
going from Mahaica creek, worked by people of colour, have resisted the
orders of the guard, and, in defiance of the sentinel, attempted to pass
without bringing to.
We are informed that a system of smuggling was carried on to a great
extent upon this coast, previous to its falling into our possession, and
that a very considerable proportion of the produce found its way to the
English market, notwithstanding the watchfulness of the Dutch local
government: possibly it was from this adventurous traffic that the
slaves acquired a disrespect of orders, rather than from the lenity of
the present rulers of the colonies.