We rose with the sun in order to go round the plantation and the negro-yard previous to our departure, and before ten o’clock we took our seats in the boat, availing ourselves of the early tide, with the intention of hanging our hammocks at Mynheer Roboloski’s in the evening; and of proceeding on the morrow to New Amsterdam. M. Roboloski had made a visit to the British officers at the fort, and had very pressingly invited us to his plantation; which we understood to be situated on the opposite bank of the river, between Mynheer Abbensets’ and the town, and very conveniently for becoming the last place of rest upon our excursion. A little past noon we arrived at Essendam, intending to make only an en passant call upon Mynheer Abbensets; who received us with all the kindness and cordiality of a friend; nor would he hear of our going further, but insisted that we should pass the remainder of the day with him; and, the more effectually to reconcile the delay, he assured us that the tide would not carry us so far as M. Roboloski’s by night. Finding this to be the case, we yielded to his kind solicitations: and the more readily from our knowing that the town and the fort were still within the morrow’s journey; besides having proved by experience, that neither shore of the river could supply us with more desirable quarters. Having agreed to pass the night at Essendam, we rested for a short time, and then made an excursion across the river to offer thanks to M. Schneider, for the information he had given us respecting our journey; and to see the sugar-works at Mr. Blair’s estate. As soon as we returned, a well-served dinner, with plenty of good wines, was set before us: and the generous Abbensets warmly bade us welcome. It is not the custom in these colonies, as in England, to consume the whole of the afternoon over the bottle. Wine is taken liberally at dinner-time, and the party withdraw from the table very soon after. At M. Abbensets’, cards were introduced almost as soon as the cloth was removed. When the sun was declining we engaged in a pleasant promenade about the plantation, and proceeded as far as Sans Souci, the adjoining estate, to call on Mynheer Abbensets’ nephew.

Soon after we returned from our walk, the supper-board was spread, and to crown the evening, some very fine old Hollands, and the social pipe were introduced. You will perhaps be surprised to learn, that I was the only one who could not enjoy this part of the repast: most of the officers have acquired the habit of smoking, and some of them have become such adepts in this very dirty and inelegant, however social custom, that they can already drink gin, and whiff a pipe or sagar almost as well as any Dutchman of the colony! You will probably envy them the accomplishment as little as I do! We went to our hammocks very soon after supper, hoping, by a long sleep, to relieve the heavy fatigue of two disturbed and restless nights; but we were sadly disappointed!—the tormenting musquitoes again besieged us, and the third night proved no less sleepless than the two preceding. The heat and itching from former bitings, the pain of new and acute punctures, and the still more wearisome buzzing of the insects, in our ears, combined in such utter annoyance, as not only to deprive us of sleep, but of all ease and quiet. Even the power of lying still was unattainable. The irritation, caused by the pain and excessive itching, rendered us quite feverish, and with the weariness and languor arising from want of sleep, made us really ill. At length, grown impatient of suffering, and finding it impossible to rest in our hammocks, we got up, walked about the room, washed with cold water, rubbed ourselves with orange-juice, and with limes, then opened the windows, shook our hammocks, beat about the apartment with cloths and handkerchiefs, and tried various means of driving away the insects, and obtaining relief: but in vain; all our efforts failed of success; and we were compelled to drag out a most wearisome and comfortless night.

We left our room early in the morning oppressed with feverish feelings, and a sense of general stupor. Our eyelids were swoln and heavy; our faces inflamed and tumefied, and we were almost blind.

We breakfasted with M. Abbensets, and at nine o’clock embarked for New Amsterdam. The negroes took no rest between Essendam and the town. They cheerfully pulled the oars for five hours without intermission, in order to reach the landing-place before the turn of the tide; all the relief they sought, throughout the whole of this time, being that of occasionally taking up a handful of water from the river, and pouring it upon the oars, to prevent them from becoming hot and dry, and thereby blistering their hands. At two o’clock on the 23d of June we finished our journey, and were again safely on shore at the government landing-place, at New Amsterdam.

You will feel that the excursion was, altogether, one of high interest and gratification: but I have proceeded in such minute, and (I fear you will say) tedious detail, that very little remains to be offered by way of general remark.

The novelty which presented itself to our observation was not more striking than the unbounded hospitality, which welcomed us at each place of call. Although unexpected intruders, we were every where received with a cordial urbanity, which is very inadequately expressed by the common term civility. It seemed to be the study of all, who should most serve, and oblige us. Not satisfied with administering the best accommodations of the house, whilst we remained with them, a generous regard for our comfort extended their liberality yet further, and they either openly, or privately contributed to our convenience, by adding to our travelling supply. Porter, wine, and spirits, food and fruit, and plantains for the negroes, all found their way into the boat.

Our mode of travelling was in itself highly commodious, and afforded many facilities. The party sat together as comfortably as if in a small room on shore; we advanced at ease, and were scarcely sensible of any motion: by the awning we were protected from the sun; and by means of the open windows at the sides, we had always a stream of cool air. Enough of space was afforded for provisions, wine, clothes, and all other stores of the journey; also convenient stowage for whatever specimens we might collect. Together with these accommodations a secure harbour was found for the boat at every plantation, and our slaves either fed themselves from the provisions of the vessel, or foraged among the negroes of the estates; so that we had no care concerning either servants or cattle, carriage or roads.

The variety in point of scenery, you will have perceived, was not very great, but the inanimate sameness of wood and water was pleasantly relieved by the occasional openings of the different plantations. In some parts of the river, the water was singularly still and clear, and, with its forest borders, exhibited a novelty of peculiar feature. Its smooth and lucid surface formed a perfect mirror, so completely reflecting every thing around, that it seemed difficult to discover how we were supported—by what means suspended, as it were, in the centre of space. At the sides of the river no line of termination could be distinguished. It was not seen where the water ceased, or where the land commenced; but the trees, on each border, being within the edge of the water, were so distinctly reflected as to convey the semblance of a forest, growing upwards and downwards from the same roots. The boat was reflected in a similar manner; as was likewise the unclouded canopy of the skies. The watery medium made no impression upon the eye; but the open azure expanse was seen the same, whether we looked upwards or downwards. We seemed suspended in the centre of a hollow globe, having the same concave arch above and below, with an inverted and an upright forest on either hand. At one spot we met a huge mass of earth resembling a small island, floating down the silent river, with a variety of plants and shrubs growing upon it; and from the water being invisible, the perfect reflection of this little plantation gave it the appearance of a clump of young trees calmly moving in a wide vacuum, with each plant growing perpendicularly upward and downward, in precise resemblance. If we held out a hand, or an oar over the side of the boat, the same was seen below, without discovering the limpid medium between them. In short, we seemed only to move, like our globe itself, in ethereal space.

The difficulties which many of the gentlemen of the colony had urged, as necessarily attendant upon the expedition, proved to be ideal. Until the last three nights, scarcely any thing occurred to interrupt the full enjoyment of the excursion. Indeed the torment of these nights served only as a variety, which placed in a stronger light the many facilities we had met with; for, amidst the woods, and at the estates far up the river, we had almost wholly escaped the annoyance of insects. Musquitoes did not seem to inhabit the depths of the forest. In these parts we had also found the air cooler, and the land less heated than where it was cleared of wood, and more open.

I must not neglect to inform you of a custom, which we observed to be very prevalent, it being an act of politeness quite novel to Europeans. As a mark of attention the gentlemen of the different plantations usually accompanied us to our sleeping-room, at the time of our going to bed, when, on taking their leave for the night, they concluded the compliments of the day in the following terms, “S’il y a d’autre chose, Messieurs, dont vous avez besoin, il n’en faut que demander au garçon—cela n’est pas mon affaire.” This was genuine West Indian complaisance; and it offered a lamentable proof of the absence of moral principle in a country degraded by the usages of slavery.