Since I last addressed you I have experienced a sad disappointment, in having to make my congé to the general, on his return to the islands. After all my expectations of being soon at St. Domingo, I am left behind with instructions to continue in the direction of the medical department of these colonies, until our detachment shall be relieved from the staff of the Charibbee Islands.
Instead of my being permitted to proceed to head quarters, it is found requisite that the branch of the hospital staff, serving here, should be augmented. I have made out a return of the medical establishment, which seems necessary for these colonies, and still hope that we may soon be relieved, and allowed to proceed to our original destination.
In consequence of the sick list becoming numerous, we are compelled to employ the medical officers of the regiments in the duties of the general hospital.
I have great pleasure in remarking to you, that General Whyte has been particularly attentive to the comfort of the sick, and the accommodation of the hospital department. In every thing proposed for the benefit of the suffering soldiers, we have always been happy enough to meet with his full and ready acquiescence. It has only been necessary to point out what was required, and every attention was immediately given to the representation. You will believe that this has been highly gratifying to me, and the more so, when I add that the measures proposed have not been indifferently acceded to, but examined with a degree of attentive consideration, not less honorable to the general than satisfactory to myself.
It is also with much pleasure that I am enabled to add that Colonel Hislop, who succeeds to the command, is a man of great humanity and benevolence, and that we have every prospect of finding him desirous to follow a good example in promoting the comfort and well-being of those who are in sickness.
Before he left us, General Whyte gave orders that a large cotton logis at La Bourgade should be fitted up as an hospital, and that a house near to it should be appropriated to the use of the medical officers. Thus have we the satisfaction of seeing the sick, and the whole of the department, very conveniently accommodated; the patients being lodged in a spacious and well-aired building; and their attendants having commodious quarters immediately near to them, with proper offices, and what is of consequence in this climate, a large cistern for fresh water adjoining.
Here we are stationed, as a distinct department, quiet, and secluded, free from the noise and hurry both of the town and the fort, and nearly equidistant from the one and the other. The public road, from the fort to the town, passes close by the gates; and within less than a hundred yards from the road is the sea, or rather the opening of the river, so that the sick are readily brought to us on either side, by land, or by water. Perhaps another situation, equally commodious for the purposes of the medical department, could not have been found in the colony.
I have already changed my quarters from Stabroek to our new home at La Bourgade; but it does not seem probable that I shall long remain stationary, for I have received instructions to proceed to the colony of Berbische, to make arrangements for the hospitals there, as soon as I shall have brought these at La Bourgade into a proper establishment.
I now suffer considerably from the “prickly heat,” but this would be very supportable were it not for the still greater torment of musquitoes, ants, centipedes, jack-spaniards[10], and the multitudes of other insects biting, buzzing about our ears, crawling upon every thing we touch, and as it were filling and vivifying the whole atmosphere around us.
As I am to note all occurrences, I must not omit the following, although it may seem to border upon the incredible. A few days ago I was applied to by the wife of a colonist to request that I would make some complaint to her husband, against the slaves of the house, very humanely urging as a reason for imposing upon me so grateful a task, that she wished “to get them a good flogging!” I trust that neither you, nor any of our fair friends, on the European shore of the Atlantic, will condemn my want of gallantry in resisting the solicitation. It was not even contended that any specific fault had been committed to justify the punishment, but this was to be invented, and merely because some idle whim, some fit of caprice, or ill humour had led the mistress, of these poor slaves to wish them “a good flogging!”
You have probably read that in the woods of these colonies there are numbers of men called “Bush-negroes.” These are mostly runaway slaves who have revolted from their masters, and having collected together in the forest, have there formed themselves into bodies, under certain captains or leaders; and have established various habitations and encampments in the thickest parts of what is termed “the Bush;” where they now live in all the bad habits of savage nature; and are become mere hordes of brigands or marauders.
They are negroes of the worst description, cruel, blood-thirsty and revengeful: men whose crimes in European, and all well-ordered states, would have been punished with death. Many have murdered white inhabitants, massacred their masters, or revolted in combination, plotting the destruction of the planters, in order to take the colony into their own possession; but being frustrated in their designs, have saved themselves from punishment, by flying into the hidden recesses of the forest; from whence they issue only to ravage and plunder.
They had subjected themselves to a sort of regular discipline under their captains and lieutenants, and the lower orders of them (for there are distinctions even among runaway slaves) were compelled to toil in the night, by going out of the woods, in parties, to steal plantains and other provisions from the estates; but the labour to which they were exposed, by this night duty, was so much more severe than that required of them, in their common round, as slaves upon the plantations, that some of them have been known to desert back from the woods, and return to a state of slavery, after having fled from their masters to live in idleness, as they had expected, with their brethren in “the Bush.”
I wish I could repeat to you, as eloquently as I heard it related, the very interesting detail of an expedition sent into the woods against these Bush-negroes, last year, under the command of Major M‘Grah, and Captain Dougan. Many persons had been robbed, and had their property otherwise injured by their predatory excursions; indeed the whole colony was disturbed, and, from the increasing number of these sanguinary hordes, was threatened with eventual destruction. It was resolved therefore that a body of troops should be sent into the woods to search for their places of resort, and to endeavour to subdue or exterminate them. A party of the Dutch soldiers of the garrison was, accordingly, equipped for this duty; and marched in due military order into the forest.
But this was not the species of force calculated for such an enterprise: from not having observed all the minute precautions required, in this new and hazardous warfare, they were surprised and defeated by the blacks; and very few of the soldiers escaped, most of them being killed, and their scalps, or bodies, fixed against the trees, to serve as examples of what others were to expect who should venture on a similar service[11].
The government and the colonists having discovered, from fatal experience, that the Bush-negroes were more formidable than had been imagined; and finding that regular European troops were not the best fitted for this kind of duty, raised a corps of blacks from among the most faithful of the slaves; and also engaged in their interest a party of Indians from the woods, who, happily for the planters, hold the Bush-negroes in great abhorrence.
Well provided and equipped, this second expedition, commanded as above mentioned, separated into two parties, and boldly advanced into the forest to form a combined attack. Upon their march they passed the dead bodies of the Dutch soldiers, tied to the trees at the sides of a narrow path. Not deterred by this horrid scene, they proceeded onward, having the sagacious Indians on their flanks; by whose acuteness and penetration they discovered the various situations, where the different companies of the brigands had taken up their residence, and, by well-concerted attacks, defeated and routed them wheresoever they met them. As an encouragement to the able and new-raised troops, a premium was offered for every right hand of a Bush-negro that should be brought in; and, when they returned from the woods, they appeared with seventy black arms displayed upon the points of their bayonets, causing a very singular and shocking spectacle to the beholders. Three hundred guilders each had been fixed as the price, but it was found necessary to reduce the premium, lest the slaves should kill their prisoners, or even destroy each other to obtain it.
The exertion and fatigue required in such a movement cannot well be conceived by those who are accustomed only to regular and systematic warfare: nor is it probable that such a service could have been supported in this climate by European soldiers. In addition to all the difficulties of making their way through the unknown and almost impenetrable woods, they knew not where to find the enemy’s posts; and were, at every minute, liable to be fallen upon by surprise.
At first entering the Bush, the march was continued for a great distance, nearly knee-deep in water: when further advanced, the troops had to scramble through the thickets, or follow each other, by a confined path, in Indian file; and, after the harassing march of the day, to lie down at night, on the bare ground, under the trees, the officers suspending their hammocks from bough to bough in the open air. They had, moreover, to carry the whole of their provisions, arms, ammunition, and every other necessary required for the success of the enterprise, upon their backs.
But for the assistance given by the Indians, the brigands would, probably, never have been subdued; perhaps not found! The expertness of these men, in such a pursuit, is peculiar, and beyond all that could be imagined, by those who live in crowded society. They not only hear sounds in the woods, which are imperceptible to others, but judge, with surprising accuracy, of the distance and direction from whence they proceed. The position of a fallen leaf, or the bending of a bramble, too slight to be noticed by an European eye, conveys to them certain intelligence respecting the route taken by those, whom they pursue. From constant practice and observation, their organs of sense become highly improved, and they hear with an acuteness, and see with a precision truly surprising to those who are unacquainted with their habits, and their vigilance. With such guides, the corps moved in confidence, and was conducted with safety. Seven encampments of the brigands were discovered, and completely routed; some of which had existed during fifteen years, concealed in the profoundest gloom of the forest.
The following was the mode usually observed in establishing these places of residence and resort. Having fixed upon the spot most convenient for their purpose, a circular piece of ground was cleared of its wood: in the centre of this, they built huts, and formed the encampment, planting around the buildings, oranges, bananas, plantains, yams, eddoes, and other kinds of provisions; thus, in addition to the trees of the forest, procuring themselves further concealment by the plantations which save them food. The eddoes were found in great plenty, and seemed to constitute their principal diet. Round the exterior of the circular spot was cut a deep and wide ditch, which, being filled with water, and stuck, at the sides and bottom, with sharp-pointed stakes, served as a formidable barrier of defence. The path across this ditch was placed two or three feet below the surface, and wholly concealed from the eye by the water being always thick and muddy. Leaves were strewed, and steppings, similar in their kind, made to the edges of the ditch, at various parts, as a precaution, to deceive any who might approach, respecting the real situation of the path. But the proper place of crossing was found out by the sagacity of the Indians, who soon discovered that to attempt to pass at any other part, was to be empaled alive.
It was found that the brigands had eight of these encampments, or points of rendezvous in the woods, one of which is supposed still to remain undiscovered. After much fatigue in endeavouring to find it, the search was relinquished, in the idea that some of the prisoners, either by indulgence or torture, would be induced to make it known: but this expectation has only led to disappointment. All the means used have failed, and the prisoners, faithful to their cause, have suffered torture and death without betraying their forest-associates.
The cruel severities inflicted upon these miserable blacks have been such as you will scarcely believe could have been practised by any well-ordered government: for, however strongly punishment was merited, the refinement of torture, with which it was employed, ought never to have been tolerated in any state professing to be civilized. Humanity shudders at the bare recital of it.
Most of the ringleaders were taken, and brought to Stabroek, where they were afterwards tried and executed, the majority of them suffering with a degree of fortitude and heroism worthy a better cause. One in particular, named Amsterdam, supported the extreme of punishment with a firmness truly astonishing. He was subjected to the most shocking torture, in the hope of compelling him to give information regarding the remaining encampment—but in vain! He despised the severest suffering, and nothing could induce him to betray his late companions, or to make known their yet undiscovered retreat.
He was sentenced to be burnt alive, first having his flesh torn from his limbs with red-hot pincers; and in order to render his punishment still more terrible, he was compelled to sit by, and see thirteen others broken upon the wheel and hung; and then, in being conducted to execution, was made to walk over the thirteen dead bodies of his comrades. Being fastened to an iron stake, surrounded with the consuming pile, which was about to be illumined, he regarded the by-standers with all the complacency of heroic fortitude, and exhibiting the most unyielding courage, resolved that all the torture ingenuity or cruelty might invent should not extort from him a single groan; or a syllable that could in any way impeach his friends.
With the first pair of pincers, the executioner tore the flesh from one of his arms. The sudden infliction of pain caused him to recede, in a slight degree, from the irons; and he drew in his breath, as if to form it into a sigh, but he instantly recovered himself—his countenance indicated self-reproach, and he manifestly took shame for having betrayed even the slightest sense of suffering; then, resuming more, if possible, than his former composure, he patiently waited the approach of the next irons, and, on these being brought towards him, he steadfastly cast his eye upon them, inclined a little forward, and with an unshaken firmness of countenance, deliberately met their burning grasp! From that moment he showed himself capable of despising the severest pain. Not a feature was afterwards disturbed, and he preserved a degree of tranquillity implying absolute contempt of torture and of death.
Finally, when the destructive pile was set in flames, his body spun round the iron stake, with the mouth open, until his head fell back, and life was extinguished. I am told, by a gentleman who had the melancholy task to attend the execution, that the most horrid stench continued for many hours, to issue from the roasting body, and was extremely offensive throughout the town, penetrating so strongly into the houses to leeward, as to make many persons sick, and prevent them from taking food during the remainder of the day.
Another of the chiefs, or captains, who was taken, is still in confinement at the fort, under sentence of death. His execution has been delayed in the hope of learning, from him, the situation of the yet remaining encampment; but, hitherto, to no purpose; and from his present conduct, it may be expected that he will die as firm and dauntless as his comrade Amsterdam.