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 [339]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 [340]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.

[341]

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 [342]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, [343]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 [344]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 [345]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 [346]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, [347]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 [348]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 [349]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 [350]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 [351]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 [352]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 [353]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 [354]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 [355]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 [356]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, [357]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 [358]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 [359]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 [360]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 [361]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. [362]

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 [363]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 [364]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 [365]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 universe1. [366]

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 [367]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 [368]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 [369]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 [370]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. [371]

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 [372]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 [373]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 water2, 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 [374]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 [375]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 nature3.

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 [376]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 [377]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. [378]