Plantation Hope, Mahaica, Oct. 21, 1796.
If I had not already endeavoured to do justice to the universal
hospitality which prevails in these colonies, I might enumerate, in
proof of it, the many instances of friendly attention which I have
experienced during the convalescence from my late attack of fever. Every
table was at my command, every house my home, and every planter my
friend. If it were not an injustice to particularize, I might mention to
you the signal obligations I owe to Captain Mac-Rae, one of the
gentlemen of the colony, now holding a company in the corps of South
American rangers, and to his brother, from whose house I have now the
pleasure to address you. The captain made me daily visits, and watched
me with all the care of fraternal solicitude, during my sickness; and as
soon as he saw me able to be moved, he not only proposed that I should
make his brother’s house my convalescent abode, but, without any trouble
or concern on my own part, provided me the means of conveyance, and
himself accompanied me hither; where I have been received with the most
cordial welcome, entertained with unaffected urbanity, and, I may say,
nursed with sincere and affectionate attention by his brother; for not
only have all the accommodations of the house been mine, but the
friendship of this generous man has led him to procure also the best
restoratives of the neighbourhood for the re-establishment of my health,
and the recovery of my lost strength.
Since my arrival here, I have felt very strong symptoms of relapse, but,
by the powerful aid of bark and Madeira wine, the threatened return of
fever has been successfully resisted. I had been strongly cautioned, by
the gentlemen of the colony, to “beware of _the springs_,”—implying that
the disease would be likely to renew its attack at the full of the moon:
I was prepared, therefore, to meet the first uneasy sensations with the
appropriate remedies. On the 14th instant my head was in pain, my limbs
ached, and I had general feelings of languor and restlessness; when,
recollecting the remark so often made to me, and which had been in some
measure confirmed by my own observations in the hospitals, I turned to
the almanack, and found that the moon was to be at the full on the
sixteenth: without delay, therefore, I had recourse to the bark, and
drank a twofold portion of wine, but the symptoms continued to menace me
with a renewal of fever until the eighteenth, after which they subsided,
precisely as I had been assured would happen, with _the decline of the
spring-tides_.
I am extremely sorry to inform you that, since my last letter giving you
an account of my own illness, Mr. Blackader, to whose unwearied
attentions I was so essentially indebted during my confinement, has
received a rude visit from our common enemy: at the same time it gives
me sincere pleasure to add that he is recovered, and that the disease
has been slighter, and his sufferings less severe, than in my own case;
which I think we are justified in attributing to the attack being less
insidious, and his having been twice blooded within the first twelve
hours of the disease. We were both of opinion that if I had used
venæsection earlier I should have suffered less, and it is probable that
if I had not been blooded at all, I should not have held the pen to you
now: accordingly we employed our means with more boldness and
promptitude, when Mr. Blackader was seized, and thereby prevented the
consuming action of the fever from producing the still more destructive
symptoms of exhaustion. Others, I am aware, might tell you that the
extreme languor and prostration of strength, which sunk me so near to
the grave, were _induced_ by the bleeding; although I feel but little
doubt that they proceeded from the _neglect_ of it, and were the effect
of the exhausting symptoms which prevailed at the commencement of the
disease; but which might have been moderated by an earlier loss of
blood, and prevented from throwing the system into a state of debility,
which rendered my situation nearly as hopeless as it was alarming. After
all, I lament that this is only matter of opinion, however much
experience may have confirmed it, in my mind, as an established fact.
It is now said to be the short dry season; but within the few last days
we have had many heavy showers of rain, and more wet has fallen than is
common in this month. Still the weather, and our muddy roads are greatly
improved, and what is more important, we have far less of sickness. On
my removal, from La Bourgade to Mr. Mac-Rae’s, I resumed my attendance
at the Mahaica hospital, and I have great satisfaction in being able to
remark that the number of patients is not one-sixth so great, nor their
diseases by any means so malignant, as when I was here before.
Since my arrival at my friendly convalescent quarters, at the Hope, two
circumstances have offered to my notice, which afford very striking
examples of the character of slaves, and which you would not excuse me
if I were to omit noting. A French privateer, which, for some time past,
had been lurking about the leeward coast of these colonies, had captured
a considerable number of small vessels, and, in particular, several
which the planters had been in the habit of sending down to Essequibo to
fetch plantains, as provisions for the slaves. Among these, two boats
lately fell into their hands, belonging to Mr. Kendall and Mr. Green,
the latter of whom resides not far distant from the Hope; but on account
of the privateer not having hands enough, on board, to man all her
prizes, the negroes of Mr. Kendall’s boat were put on board that
belonging to Mr. Green, and three or four sailors sent from the
privateer to carry them into Trinidad. On the passage the Frenchmen
talked much to the negroes about _liberty_, _equality_, and the _rights
of man_, in all the common jargon of the revolution; holding out to them
the high enjoyment of gaining their freedom; and assuring them that they
would be carried from Trinidad to Guadaloupe, where they would be
released from their slavery, become fellow-citizens, and remain in
future _their own masters_. But these poor blacks, having been treated
with great kindness and humanity by their owners, and not having been
bred in the modern Gallic school, could not be made to comprehend the
fascinating doctrine of _equality_. They rejected therefore the
proffered _French liberty_; and instead of rejoicing, as it was supposed
they would, to accept their freedom from the hands of these
revolutionists, they concerted a plan to rescue the boat, and take it
back to their masters; in which attempt they met with complete success;
but unhappily it was attended with that savage inhumanity which
characterizes the Africans. A little before they came within sight of
Trinidad they seized an opportunity of rising upon the Frenchmen, and,
not satisfied with subduing them, they murdered every one of them, and
threw their mangled bodies into the sea: then, like faithful slaves, put
the boat about, and made the best of their way up the coast, returning,
much pleased, to their owners, and to their task of slavery. The party
consisted of five negroes belonging to Mr. Kendall, and three (two men
and a boy) belonging to Mr. Green. On my asking them why they did not
bring the Frenchmen on shore as prisoners, instead of killing them,
their reply spake one of the unhappy truths of slavery, and proved that
the lives of these unfortunate Frenchmen were sacrificed to an unjust
law always operating against the negroes. “_Ah Massa_,” said they, “_we
’fraid ’em tell lies upon us, and him people always believe backra man
sooner as negro ... so we tink it best for kill ’em all_.” These poor
slaves were aware that against the evidence of a white man, whether it
were true or false, they could not be heard; therefore, to prevent the
possibility of any incorrect reports of their prisoners operating to
their prejudice, they deemed it wise to secure themselves the privilege
of giving their testimony in the cause of truth, by destroying those
whose voices might have prevented it.
The other circumstance was likewise one in which the blacks were equally
true to each other, and equally acted in concert; but it was in a widely
different case. Two negroes who had stolen a trunk from their master,
containing clothes, a brace of pistols, and a pocket-book, with notes
and bills to the amount of 2000_l._ submitted repeatedly to severe
punishment, and would probably have suffered death, rather than have
broken the faith which they had pledged to one another: but a wily old
slave, by means of a well-devised stratagem, obtained a confession of
the theft from each of them, separately; and prevented the necessity of
extorting it, by a further infliction of the chastisement.