A considerable proportion of the officers’ mess, from the Lancaster barracks, have lately been to dine with Major Prauél, a pleasant inhabitant of this coast, whose plantation is only a short distance from the fort. The dinner was plentiful, and handsomely served in a large cotton logis, which had been prepared for the purpose, and, being spacious and cool, was far preferable to the house. As we returned in the evening, we witnessed a very grand and brilliant scene from the burning of a part of the forest, in order to clear an estate for cultivation. The trees were consuming with great rapidity, and from the fire increasing in brightness as the evening closed, it formed a most splendid and imposing spectacle. The major observed to us that this improvement of the picture was not the mere effect of viewing it through the surrounding darkness, it being a fact very generally known in this country that when any part of the wood is set on fire, it burns with more rapidity during the night than in the day-time. From the greater strength of the breeze between the early hours of the morning and evening, this might seem improbable: but your chemical reading will furnish you with an explanation of the fact, from the known tendency of light to preserve oxygen in its gaseous state, and to prevent the decomposition of the atmospheric air, which is so essential to combustion. The fire appeared very beautiful, and might be seen to the distance of many miles. It arrested our attention for a considerable time, and we contemplated it as an object of grandeur and novelty.

The officers kindly wishing to divert me, in some degree, from the severe fatigue and anxiety which I have lately undergone, and which, they insist, will destroy me, have prevailed upon me to accompany a party of them on a visit to Mynheer Bercheych, one of the most eccentric and remarkable characters residing upon this coast—an old gentleman, who by uncommon industry has formed a cotton plantation at the most remote point of the colony, where he lives, amidst negroes and wild Indians, almost secluded from the world.

We first rode the distance of some miles, across rich plains of cotton, to the house of Mr. Graham, situated immediately upon the bank of the river, about midway between the fort and M. Bercheych’s. Here we found a party of slaves in waiting, with a large handsome canoe, sent by M. Bercheych, for the purpose of conveying us the remainder of the journey. The tide serving, we made no delay, but taking Mr. Graham into the canoe with us, proceeded forthwith on our route. After an hour and quarter of hard paddling up the river, we turned into a narrow canal, and were pulled a considerable distance further, by the slaves, running upon the bank with a rope fastened to the canoe. This canal leads to the house, and serves as the boundary of M. Bercheych’s property. It is continued from a deep savanna at the back of the dwelling, and goes along the border of the plantation to the river, into which it conveys its waters, and prevents the inundation of the estate. At one spot we were obliged to quit the canoe, whilst the slaves dragged it over land, in order to pass a bridge and a sluice which interrupted our passage. On the other side of these we resumed our seats, and proceeded towards the house, which is at the further part of the estate. On seeing us approach, M. Bercheych walked out to meet us; and, on coming near, he hailed us with a most reverential salutation. We immediately left the canoe, and walked with him upon the bank of the canal to the house.

His person and address were strongly impressive, being at once graceful and dignified, although such as to convey an idea of the rigid precision of a formal old ’squire. Much had been reported to us of the situation also of the man, whose eccentricity is become proverbial in the colony. Our visit, therefore, was one of high curiosity, and we did not return without experiencing very ample gratification.

M. Bercheych is a remarkably fine man. He is robust and well-built, of hale countenance and sturdy form, very erect in his carriage, and possessing uncommon activity, together with great bodily strength, and vast energy of mind. From his figure and the formality of his address, he appears to be stern and unbending, but in reality he is affable, jocose, and communicative, and has nothing of the cold reserve of his country about him. He met us dressed in coat, waistcoat, and breeches of nankeen, all cut in the true antique; a very large and almost cardinal hat, of white beaver; shoes well squared at the extremities, and fastened with a pair of plain small buckles; a long staff in his hand, and his knuckles ornamented with deep ruffles. As he walked, his staff and right hand ruffle made an extensive sweep, describing a wide circle; his step was firm and decisive, the tail of his coat moved with an important swing from side to side, in unison with the majestic sway of his body—his general air was commanding and dignified. On arriving at the house, he welcomed all the party individually, going through the ceremony of deliberately taking each by the hand, and bowing to him with the profoundest politeness: showing at the same time, every mark of respect and hospitality to the whole body. Wine was immediately set before us, for our refreshment after the journey, and we took our seats in a cool romantic little cottage, which, in appearance, and in the simplicity of its structure, might have vied with the dwelling of a hermit. Its walls were built with the caudices of the leaves of a fine species of palm, called Eta, which in substance are lighter than cane. These were placed together perpendicularly, and resembled a number of well-arranged columns or small pillars, which were divided and supported, at intervals, by others of the bamboo, somewhat larger; nor were any of them concealed or defaced with paint, paper, or stucco, but all were exposed in the naked simplicity of their original form. The partitions dividing the rooms were of similar structure; the floors were of brick; the windows, simple openings in the walls; and the furniture, of plain wood, unadorned. In point of situation too, this native little cottage might have been a hermit’s fit abode; for it is placed at the border of a wild savanna, overhung with heavy and impenetrable forests, and far removed from the busy tumult of the world.

The estate is at the greatest depth from the sea, being the most distant that has yet been cultivated upon the Mahaica creek, consequently it is nearest to the forest, and its naked inhabitants. Deep and unexplored woods approach almost to the door; before the windows grow cotton bushes and bananas: a small canal passes by the side of the cottage: and the only extensive view is over a large savanna, carrying the eye to its utmost reach, in unbroken range between the rude forests.

Here dwells a man of refined manners, and a most active mind, cultivated by education, and improved by having lived in polished society. M. Bercheych is one of the oldest inhabitants of the colony of Demarara, having resided in this settlement when it consisted of only two plantations; but since that period he has passed fifteen years in Holland, where he lived in considerable splendour, spent his time amidst the best society, and entered into all the gaiety and dissipation of the Hague. After his return to this coast, he occupied himself in cultivating a large estate called Gorcum, and, personally, engaged in all the toil and fatigue of a planter. At that time his great amusement, and the chief relaxation from his labours consisted in domesticating fishes, and the wild birds of the forest, in which he succeeded to the astonishment of all who visited his abode.

By whistling when he fed them, he trained the fishes not barely to rise to the surface of the water at his call, but even to leap from the pond, and eat out of his hand: and from taking the eggs of the birds and breeding up their young, or taking the young, and breeding them in the house, then suffering them to hop out and in at pleasure, and to fly to the woods as soon as they were able, he taught them to return freely for food; in which visits they were sometimes accompanied by others, who came to partake of their fare; and thus by constant feeding and attention, he, at length, brought many of them to be so tame that they would fly in at the window of his room, and sit upon pegs, fixed up for the purpose, to warble a song: or, at his time of dinner, they would come in, and perch upon his head or his shoulder to participate in his meal.

You will grieve to hear that after he had built the house, cultivated the fields, and ornamented the garden—after he had trained the fishes into acquaintances, and taught the birds to be his companions—in short, after he had adorned this delightful residence, and fashioned it to his taste, he was compelled, by hard necessity, to dispose of the heart-loved abode which his hands had formed, in order to defray the incumbrances its improvements had created.

Being deprived of his favorite Gorcum, his active mind, ever fertile in resources, sought new employment in the cultivation of the rude spot which forms his present home, and which is now so improved as to yield a large produce in cotton. Until very recently he lived at a different part of the estate, where he had erected a house, and near to it formed a garden which yielded a plentiful supply of choice fruits and vegetables; but from the plantation becoming extensive, he finds it expedient to establish his residence at a more central part of it: he has therefore built this romantic cottage, to serve as a temporary home, from whence he may conveniently superintend the erection of a more spacious, and more permanent abode, at a spot already marked out for that purpose.

Of his mode of living the shortness of our visit allowed us but little opportunity to judge. If not sumptuous, it was at least liberal, for his garden and estate afford a very ample store of plain and wholesome provisions. His flocks and herds were numerous, and his plantation exhibited a more abundant stock of cows, sheep, and poultry, than was common at other estates. For dinner he gave us both mutton and beef, each very excellent of its kind. The dessert consisted of eggs and some uncommonly fine figs. Madeira wine was our drink. This and water form the whole list of liqueurs at the home of the hospitable Bercheych. Neither rum, brandy, Hollands, nor any other kind of spirit does he ever use: beer is not seen at his table: punch he never drinks, and he remarked that he had, therefore, no occasion for sugar, which is accordingly unknown in his family as an article of consumption. Not being in the habit of using any, he does not buy it, nor is a grain of it to be found in his house. But what will be deemed still more strange, is that, although a Dutchman, he never smokes; nor has under his roof either pipes or tobacco.

We were served only by females of colour, of whom M. Bercheych has the finest assemblage I have yet seen. We learned that it was one of the peculiarities of our host not to suffer a male to inhabit his house. His attendants are all of the feminine gender, and, from their hands, both himself and his guests receive the offerings of his bounty. His habits are social: but men are only admitted as visitors. In other respects also he differs from those lonely beings to whom, from its retirement and simplicity, his neat little cell might have belonged. He is not a solitary recluse, nor does he deny himself the enjoyments of life. For the beau sexe he has strong attachments, and he does not hold it needful to forego his gratifications. His cottage is a rich seraglio—himself the sultan. A more choice collection of half-naked belles it were difficult to meet with. They consist of Indians, negroes, mulattoes, and a finely formed race between the inhabitants of the woods and the blacks. One of the mulattoes, from her dress and ornaments, appeared to be the reigning sultana of the day. The number of females about the cottage was sixteen or seventeen, all well selected, and the most beautiful of their race. Six or seven of them are of an age to acknowledge the kind smiles of their lord; the others are advancing towards womanhood, in succession, so that each in her turn will probably become the favorite slave of their majestic seignor. A Turkish sultan, gleaning from his best dominions, might not boast of more inviting forms, or of more obedient and devoted slaves than these of the stately Bercheych; who has all the advantage of seeing the virgins of his harem grow up under his own eye, knowing them to be his sole and absolute property—not merely the slaves of his passions, but also of his caprice and his fortune.

Among the female property of M. Bercheych we saw an uncommonly handsome family of negroes, consisting of three generations, very strongly resembling each other in feature, from the grand-daughter of three years old, to the grandmother upwards of sixty. They were all well formed, and in face very unlike the common race of negroes, having neither the thick lip, the large mouth, nor the wide flat nose. Their lineaments were regular, their noses prominent, and slightly aquiline, and their teeth and eyes peculiarly fine. The old woman was strong and healthy, of active upright figure, and without any marks of advanced age. The daughter was the cottage-cook, a tall clean-looking woman about thirty years old, whose countenance and person were strikingly handsome. Four of the grand-daughters were present—all pretty, and the very images of the mother and grandmother: the eldest was about sixteen years of age, and both in face and form by far the loveliest nymph we had seen of her colour—so beautiful indeed as to dispute the palm of the seraglio. No doubt the good old grandmother will have early occasion to witness the further diffusion of her semblance in the fourth generation. The whole family were peculiarly neat in their persons, and highly respectful in their behaviour towards others. Although slaves, they were as respectable, and observed as much of propriety and decorum in their conduct, as the best regulated domestics of Europe: they did honor to the excellent regulations and discipline of their owner.

The old gentleman is strict and imperative towards his slaves, but his government is so tempered with kindness and humanity, that he is obeyed more from esteem, than from fear or compulsion. In the observances of politeness Mynheer Bercheych descends to the correctest minutiæ. From his appearance, his manners, address, and stately carriage, he might pass for an old English baron. The formal system of bowing, he supports with the tenacity of a Dutchman. Not a true-born son of all-bowing hat-lifting Leyden, could be more precisely polite. He requires and returns a ceremonious salutation every time that he is met by any of his slaves; not one of whom dares to go by him without being uncovered. A negro belonging to another planter attempted to pass him, without offering the necessary salute; he immediately gave him a stripe with his cane, observing that if he did not know good manners he must be taught; then turning to us, he said, “Gentlemen, if the lowest slave bow to me, I take off my own hat in return, because I would not suffer a negro to show more of politeness and good manners than myself; but if he walk by me without proper observance, I always deem it right to instruct him that respect is due to the whites.”

The afternoon glided away very pleasantly, the conversation being enlivened by the sprightliness and vivacity of our host, who entertained us with a fund of anecdote regarding a variety of subjects, such as the negroes and Indians—his own situation and pursuits—his talents in shooting, as well with the common arrow, and the poisoned arrow, as with the gun and the pistol—his industry in cultivating new land—his perseverance in domesticating birds and fishes—the treatment of his slaves—his conduct respecting his son, and many other topics. We found him a well-bred intelligent man, and were pleased to remark, that although he lives in a manner secluded from the world, amidst wild men and slaves, and uncultured beings of various crosses and complexions, giving loose to his favorite passion, and indulging his appetites in all their native freedom, he still preserves the dignity of a gentleman, and displays all the superiority of a well-educated and enlightened mind. From his manners, and his years, he is highly respectable, as also from his talents, and unwearied industry. The first impression, arising from his figure and address, is that of a stern justice of the peace, or a rigid country esquire of the old English school: but the reserve of his exterior is soon removed by the ease and affability of his conversation. He is particularly well versed in the history and policy of these settlements, and we derived much instruction and amusement from his remarks. Indeed we found him altogether so interesting as to wish the hours we spent in his society could have been lengthened into days, and were grieved when the moment arrived for taking our departure.

Nothing could exceed the neatness of arrangement which displayed itself about his little cottage home. Plainness and simplicity prevailed throughout, but a palace could not be cleaner, nor maintained in greater order. A small dairy, of exquisite contrivance, was most delicately fitted up, and appeared delightfully fresh and cool; a little poultry-yard, enclosed with a fancy paling, was a perfect model of taste; and every thing around exhibited some mark of excellence—some testimony of having been improved by the ingenious hand of its industrious and eccentric owner.

Surrounding the cottage is cut a deep wet fosse, which forms a protecting barrier, and prevents any person from approaching his residence, except by passing over a narrow plank placed across the ditch, directly in front of the dwelling; and so extremely rigid is he in his exclusion of male-beings, that not even a negro is allowed to cross this plank without expressly obtaining his leave. In the plan of the new house which he intends to erect, is an encircling ditch or moat of fourteen or sixteen feet wide, which he expects will be a complete defence to his retired seraglio.

From living so much among the Indians M. Bercheych is well acquainted with their manners and customs, and feels himself quite at home amidst them. He amused us by shooting with the bow and arrow, and we were surprised to observe with what accuracy he was able to hit his mark. He very kindly presented me with some specimens in natural history; also some of the simple productions of Indian manufacture, and very obligingly offered to procure me a model of their dwellings, made by the Bucks.

Delighted with the cottage, and still more interested with the man, we let the evening close in upon our reluctant departure, and had to avail ourselves of the moon, as a guide in our return down the river. We walked some distance at the side of the canal before we came to the canoe; and were accompanied to the place of embarkation by M. Bercheych, followed by two of his fine cottage nymphs, who were directed to attend with some wine-glasses and two bottles of Madeira. One of these was to be emptied to the success of the new home, on reaching the place, where it was to be erected: the other was to supply the parting glass on our stepping into the canoe. These ceremonies were accordingly observed in due form, and after seeing us safely seated and afloat, the friendly Bercheych bade us cordially good night, earnestly intreating us soon to repeat our visit. He then bowed to us as profoundly as on our arrival, and placing himself between his two tender supporters, trod back his path in sultanic step, to his sequestered retreat.

The tide being again in our favor, the slaves paddled us with great speed down the river as far as Mr. Graham’s; where, quitting the canoe, the major and myself took our chaise, and the other gentlemen their horses, and we finished this delightful day by a pleasant moonlight ride across the cotton fields to our quarters.