Chapter XV: Page 378 (9)

On the 7th of January we marched again; and this day having caught one of those beautiful large butterflies of which I made mention during my cruize in the river Cottica, I will here attempt to give a more particular description of it, though I know nothing about their names. This fly measured, in the extension of the wings from tip to tip, about seven inches; the colour of both the superior and inferior wings is of such a vivid and splendid blue, as can only be compared to the azure sky in a bright day, to which not the purest ultramarine coloured sattin can approach: the under side is of a lovely brown variegated with spots. I cannot help repeating, that its skimming and hovering with such a magnitude, and such a hue, among the different shades of green, had the most enchanting effect. Of the antennæ, head, thorax, and abdomen, I shall only say that they were dark coloured. This fly, if I mistake not, is, according to the division of Linnæus, of the Danai species. I never saw the chrysalite or aurelia; but the caterpillar, which is of a yellowish grey colour, is as thick as a large man’s finger, and about four inches long. The annexed drawing I have improved from one of Miss Merian. Various and innumerable indeed are the butterflies with which the forests of Guiana abound; some people, in fact, who make fly-catching their business, get much money by it; and having arranged them in paper-boxes, with pins stuck through them, send them off to the different cabinets of Europe. Doctor Bancroft mentions, touching them with spirits of turpentine as necessary to preserve them, but fixing a piece of camphor in the box with the flies is quite sufficient.

This evening we encamped near the Patamaca Creek, where the poor negro woman cried bitterly, and scattered some victuals and water at the root of a tree by way of libation, as being the spot where her husband was interred, who had been shot in some former skirmish by the Europeans.

Here Captain Fredericy and myself, walking without the skirts of the camp in a sandy savannah, discovered the fresh footsteps of a large tiger with her young, at which time they are extremely ferocious: we thought it prudent therefore to make a sudden retreat. I measured the diameter of the dam’s claws printed in the sand, which were nearly of the dimensions of an ordinary pewter-plate.

Having marched a few hours longer the succeeding morning, we at last arrived at the Society post La Rochelle in Patamaca; such a display of meagre, starved, black, burnt, and ragged tatterdemallions, and mostly without shoes or hats, as I think were never before beheld in any country. They could be compared to nothing but a gang of gypsies, while their leader was not unlike Bampfield Moore Carew, and myself at best like the forlorn Crusoe in his worst condition, with my only check shirt and the one-half of my trowsers, the rest being torn away. Here we found a set of poor wretches ready to enter the woods which we had just left, and destined to undergo in the same manner the severest misery that ever was inflicted on sublunary beings. I have already mentioned the prickly heat, ring-worm, dry gripes, putrid fevers, biles, consaca, and bloody flux, to which human nature is exposed in this climate; also the musquitoes, Patat and Scrapat lice, chigoes, cock-roaches, ants, horse-flies, wild-bees, and bats, besides the thorns, briers, the alligators, and peree in the rivers; to which if we add the howling of the tigers, the hissing of serpents, and the growling of Fourgeoud, the dry sandy savannas, unfordable marshes, burning hot days, cold and damp nights, heavy rains, and short allowance, the reader may be astonished how any person was able to survive the trial. Notwithstanding this black catalogue, I solemnly declare I have omitted many other calamities that we suffered, as I wish to avoid prolixity, though perhaps I have been already too often guilty of it. I might have mentioned indeed lethargies, dropsies, &c. &c. besides the many small snakes, lizards, scorpions, locusts, bush-spiders, bush-worms, and centipedes, nay, even flying lice, with which the traveller is perpetually tormented, and by which he is constantly in danger of being stung; but the description of which cursed company I must defer to another opportunity.

The reader may form some conception of the famished state in which we came hither, when I inform him, that the moment of our arrival, observing a negro woman supping on plantain broth from a callibash, I gave her half-a-crown, and snatching the bason from her hands, I devoured the contents with a greater relish than I have ever tasted any delicacy before or since during my whole existence. I now observed to Colonel Fourgeoud, how pitiable it was, not to regale his remaining soldiers with vegetables and fresh beef or mutton, besides providing them with hats, stockings, shoes, &c.; but he replied, that Hannibal had lost his army at Capua by too much indulgence. In short, he quoted not only Hannibal but Horace for his example, according to the advice given in a certain pamphlet,

Ibit eo quo vis qui Zonam perdidit;

and appeared fully convinced, that no persons will behave so desperately in action as those who are tired of their lives.

On the 11th, the other party which had left Wana the day before ourselves, arrived, having, according to custom, neither taken nor seen any thing.

On the 12th, one of the rebels with his wife came to La Rochelle, and surrendered themselves voluntarily to the commander in chief. This day Fourgeoud acquainted me now himself, that I was at liberty to go and refit at Paramaribo when I thought proper. This proposal I gladly accepted, and that moment prepared for my departure, with some other officers, leaving behind us himself and a band of such scare-crows as would have disgraced the garden or field of any farmer in England. Among these was a Society captain, named Larcher, who declared to me he never combed, washed, shaved, or shifted, or even put off his boots, till all was rotted from his body. At last arrived the happy hour, when, taking leave of my tattered companions, I and five more, with a tent-boat and six oars, rowed strait down for Paramaribo, still in good health and in a flow of spirits, and at the very summit of contentment.

At Devil’s Harwar I met a cargo of tea, coffee, biscuit, butter, sugar, lemons, rum, and twenty bottles of claret, sent me by my friends, directed to La Rochelle, which I again, notwithstanding the barbarous usage that I had so lately met with, gave all in a present to poor Fourgeoud, twelve bottles of wine excepted, which we drank in the barge to the healths of our wives and mistresses; nor could I help pitying Colonel Fourgeoud, whose age (he being about sixty) and indefatigable exertions claimed the attention of the most indifferent: for during this trip, though but few rebels were taken, he had certainly scoured the forest from the river Comewina to the mouth of the Wana Creek, dispersed the enemy, and demolished their habitations, fields, and gardens, and thus cut them off from all prospect of support.

On the evening of the 13th, we supped at the estate Mondesire, and thence kept rowing down all night and day, shouting and singing till the 15th at noon, when, the tide serving, we went on shore at the fortress Amsterdam; whence crossing the river, we arrived before Mr. De Lamar’s door at Paramaribo. I stept ashore among a croud of friends, who all flocked round to see and to welcome me to town.

I next sent for my inestimable Joanna, who burst into tears the moment she beheld me, not only for joy at my still existing (for it had been reported that I was no more) but also from seeing my very distressed situation.—Thus ended my second campaign, and with this I put an end to the chapter.

CHAP. XII.

Description of the town of Paramaribo and Fort Zealandia—Colonel
Fourgeoud’s march to the river Marawina—A Captain wounded—Some
Privates shot—Strange Execution in the Capital—Account of Fort
Somelsdyk—Of the Hope in Rio Comewina.

Being once more arrived at Paramaribo, it will not be improper to introduce in this place some account of that beautiful town. Before I commence the description however, I must observe, that being long accustomed to walk bare-footed, I could not bear the confinement of shoes and stockings for some time, they heated and even swelled my feet so much, that, dining on the 16th of January with my friend Kennedy, I was actually obliged to throw them off at his house, whence he was so kind as to send me home in his whisky. I have already mentioned that Paramaribo is situated on the right side of the beautiful river Surinam, at about sixteen or eighteen miles distance from its mouth. It is built upon a kind of gravelly rock, which is level with the rest of the country, in the form of an oblong square, its length is about a mile and a half, and its breadth about half as much. All the streets, which are perfectly straight, are lined with orange, shaddock, tamarind, and lemon-trees, which appear in everlasting bloom; while at the same time their branches are weighed down with the richest clutters of odoriferous fruit. Neither stone nor brick is made use of here for pavement, the whole being one continued gravel, not inferior to the finest garden walks in England, and strewed on the surface with sea-shells. The houses, which are mostly of two, and some of three stories high, are all built of fine timber, a very few excepted; most of the foundations are of brick, and they are roofed with thin split boards, called shingles, instead of slates or tiles. Windows are very seldom seen in this country, glass being inconvenient on account of the heat, instead of which they use gauze frames; some have only the shutters, which are kept open from six o’clock in the morning until six at night. As for chimnies I never saw one in the colony, no fires being lighted except in the kitchens, which are always built at some distance from the dwelling-house, where the victuals are dressed upon the floor, and the smoke let out by a hole made in the roof: these timber houses are however very dear in Surinam, as may be evinced by that lately built by Governor Nepven, which he declared had cost him above £.15,000 sterling. There is no spring water to be met with in Paramaribo, most houses have wells dug in the rock, which afford but a brackish kind of beverage, only used for the negroes, cattle, &c. and the Europeans have reservoirs or cisterns, in which they preserve rain-water for their own consumption; those of nicer taste let it first drop through a filtering-stone into large jars or earthen pots, made by the native Indians on purpose, which they barter at Paramaribo for other commodities. The inhabitants of this country, of every denomination, sleep in hammocks, the negro slaves excepted, who mostly lie on the ground; the hammocks used by those in superior stations are made of cotton, ornamented with rich fringe; these are also made by the Indians, and sometimes worth above twenty guineas; neither bedding nor covering is necessary, except an awning to keep off the musquitoes. Some people indeed lie on bedsteads; in that case they are surrounded, instead of curtains, with gauze pavilions, which admit the air freely, and at the same time keep off the smallest insect. The houses in general at Paramaribo are elegantly furnished with paintings, gilding, crystal chandeliers, china jars, &c.; the rooms are never papered or plaistered, but beautifully wainscoted with cedar, Brazil, and mahogany wood.

The number of buildings in Paramaribo is computed at about one thousand four hundred, of which the principal is the governor’s palace, whence there is a private passage through the garden which communicates with Fort Zealandia.—This house, and that of the commandant, which has lately been burnt, were the only brick buildings in the colony. The town-hall is an elegant new building, and covered with tiles; here the different courts are held, and underneath are the prisons for European delinquents, the military excepted, who are confined in the citadel of Fort Zealandia. The Protestant church, where divine worship is performed both in French and Low Dutch, has a small spire with a clock; besides which there is a Lutheran chapel, and two elegant Jewish Synagogues, one German, the other Portuguese. Here is also a large hospital for the garrison, and this mansion is never empty. The military stores are kept in the fortress, where the Society soldiers are also lodged in barracks, with proper apartments for some officers. The town of Paramaribo has a noble road for shipping, the river before the town being above a mile in breadth, and containing sometimes above one hundred vessels of burthen, moored within a pistol shot of the shore; there are indeed seldom fewer there than fourscore ships loading coffee, sugar, cacao, cotton, and indigo, for Holland, including also the Guinea-men that bring slaves from Africa, and the North American and Leeward Island vessels, which bring flour, beef, pork, spirits, herrings, and mackarel salted, spermaceti-candles, horses, and lumber, for which they receive chiefly melasses to be distilled into rum. This town is not fortified, but is bounded by the river on the S. E.; by a large savannah on the W.; by an impenetrable wood on the N. E.; and is protected by Fort Zealandia on the east. This citadel is only separated from the town by a large esplanade, where the troops parade occasionally. The fort is a regular pentagon, with one gate fronting Paramaribo, and two bastions which command the river; it is very small but strong, being made of rock or hewn stone, surrounded by a broad fosse well supplied with water, besides some out-works. On the East side, fronting the river, is a battery of twenty-one pieces of cannon. On one of the bastions is a bell, which is struck with a hammer by the sentinel, who is directed by an hour-glass. On the other is planted a large ensign-staff, upon which a flag is hoisted upon the approach of ships of war, or on public rejoicing days. The walls are six feet thick, with embrasures but no parapet. I have already spoken of its antiquity.

Paramaribo is a very lively place, the streets being generally crouded with planters, sailors, soldiers, Jews, Indians, and Negroes, while the river is covered with canoes, barges, &c. constantly passing and repassing, like the wherries on the Thames, often accompanied with bands of music; the shipping also in the road adorned with their different flags, guns firing, &c.; not to mention the many groupes of boys and girls playing in the water, altogether form a pleasing appearance; and such gaiety and variety of objects serve, in some measure, to compensate for the many inconveniencies of the climate. Their carriages and dress are truly magnificent; silk embroidery, Genoa velvets, diamonds, gold and silver lace, being daily worn, and even the masters of trading ships appear with buttons and buckles of solid gold. They are equally expensive at their tables, where every thing that can be called delicate is produced at any price, and served up in plate and china of the newest fashion, and most exquisite workmanship. But nothing displays the luxury of the inhabitants of Surinam, more than the number of slaves by whom they are attended, often twenty or thirty in one family. White servants are seldom to be met with in this colony.

The current money, as I have already stated, are stamped cards of different value, from five shillings to fifty pounds: gold and silver is so scarce, that the exchange premium for specie is often above ten per cent. A base Dantzic coin called a bit, value something less than sixpence, is also current in Surinam. English and Portuguese coin are sometimes met with, but mostly used as ornaments by the Mulatto, Samboe, Quaderoon, and Negro girls. The Negro slaves never receive any paper money, for as they cannot read they do not understand its value; besides in their hands it would be liable to many accidents, from fire or children, and particularly from the rats, when it becomes a little greasy.

This town is well supplied with provisions, viz. butcher’s meat, fowls, fish and venison. Vegetables in particular the country abounds with; besides the luxuries peculiar to this climate, they import whatever Europe, Africa, and Asia can afford. Provisions, however, are excessively dear in general, especially those imported, which are mostly sold by the Jews and masters of ships. The first enjoy extraordinary privileges in this colony; the latter erect temporary warehouses for the purpose of trade, during the time their ships are loading with the productions of the climate. Wheat flour is sold from four pence to one shilling per pound; butter two shillings; butcher’s meat never under one shilling, and often at one shilling and six pence; ducks and fowls from three to four shillings a couple. A single turkey has cost me one guinea and a half; eggs are sold at the rate of five, and European potatoes twelve for six pence. Wine three shillings a bottle. Jamaica rum a crown a gallon. Fish and vegetables are cheap, and fruit almost for nothing. My black boy, Quaco, has often brought me forty oranges for six pence, and half a dozen pine-apples for the same price; while limes and tamarinds may be had for gathering. House-rent is excessively high. A small room unfurnished costs three or four guineas a month; and a house with two apartments on a floor, lets for one hundred guineas yearly. Shoes sell for half-a-guinea a pair; and a suit of cloaths, with silver binding, has cost me twenty guineas.

The wood with which the houses are generally built deserves also to be noticed, viz. the Wana, and the Cuppy. The Wana is a light durable timber of a coarse grain, and does not take the best polish; it is of a very pale red, approaching mahogany, and mostly used for doors and cupboards, also for boats and barges. This tree grows to a considerable height [23].

The Cuppy-tree resembles the wild chesnut, is hard, knotty, and durable; it is sawed into boards, and used to enclose the houses for fences, instead of brick and stone walls; the timber is of a brown colour, and takes a good polish.

For a better idea of this town, I shall refer the reader to the annexed plan; and proceed to give some further account of its inhabitants.

The whites or Europeans in this colony, and who reside principally in town, are computed at five thousand, including the garrison. The negro slaves at about seventy-five thousand. The military mount guard every morning at eight o’clock, in the fortress; but the safety of the town is entrusted to the burghers or militia, who keep watch during the night. At six o’clock in the morning, and the same hour in the evening, the morning and evening guns are fired by the commanding ship in the harbour; at the evening signal, all the flags are instantly lowered on board the different vessels; their bells are set a ringing, whilst the drums and fifes beat the tattoo through the town. The watch is then set, and no negro of either sex is allowed to appear in the streets or on the river, without a proper pass signed by his owner; without this he is taken up, and infallibly flogged the next morning. At ten at night, a band of black drums beat the burgher, or militia retreat, through the streets of Paramaribo.

At this time the ladies begin to make their appearance, who are particularly fond of a tête-à-tête by moon-light, when they entertain with Sherbet, Sangaree [24], and wine and water; besides the most unreserved and unequivocal conversation concerning themselves, as well as the peculiar qualifications of their husbands, and the situation of their female slaves, whom they propose the acceptance of to the gentlemen they converse with at so much per week, according to their own estimation. Sometimes placing half a dozen of them in a row, the lady says, “Sir, this is a callebasee, that is a maid, and this is not”—thus are they not only unreserved in their conversation, but also profuse in their encomiums upon such gentlemen as have the honour of their instructive company, and whose person or figure meets with their approbation.

They are also rigid disciplinarians, as the backs of their poor slaves, male and female, sufficiently testify. Thus every country has its customs, and from these customs exceptions are to be made; for I have known ladies in Surinam, whose delicacy and polite conversation would have graced the first circles in Europe. Besides the amusements of feasting, dancing, riding, and cards, they have a small theatre, where the inhabitants of fashion act plays for their own amusement, and that of their friends. As they are elegant in their dress, so they keep their houses extremely clean. They use the finest linen, exquisitely well washed with Castile soap; its whiteness can only be compared to mountain snow, and would make the best bleached linen in Europe appear like canvass. Their parlour floors are always scoured with sour oranges cut through the middle, which gives the house an agreeable fragrance: the Negro girls taking one half in each hand, keep singing aloud while they rub the boards. Such is the town, and such are the inhabitants of Paramaribo, the capital of Surinam; and the character will apply to the natives of all the Dutch settlements in the West Indies. But to return to my narrative. Being once more reconciled to shoes, I visited Colonel Westerloo on board a West-India ship, bound for Holland. This gentleman, who had relieved me at Devil’s Harwar when I was ill, was now himself in a most miserable condition, having lost the use of his limbs. In this debilitated state, it was doubtful whether any thing but the air of his native country would recover him. Several officers were now under the necessity of selling their effects to procure a subsistence, not being able either to procure their pay or allowance from Fourgeoud. I felt this hard usage the less, from the kindness I experienced from my numerous friends.

On the 28th of January, as I was walking in the morning by the river side, I saw a fish brought ashore, that deserves to be mentioned for its size and goodness, being sometimes near two hundred pounds weight [25]. It is here called grow-muneck, or grey friar, and is said to be of the cod genus, to which it bears some resemblance in shape and colour, the back being a dark olive brown, and the belly white; it was soon cut up into large slices, several of which I purchased, and sent as presents to my friends; as it was, in my opinion, even superior to turbot. It is an inhabitant of the sea, but is sometimes to be met with in the rivers. The negroes here are the only fishermen, and are regularly trained up to this profession by their masters, who make them pay a certain sum weekly. If they are expert and industrious, they soon acquire money for themselves, and some even become rich; but, on the contrary, if they are indolent, and do not fulfil their weekly engagements, they are certain to be punished very severely.

This custom is also common to many other trades, and by perseverance and sobriety they are actually enabled to live happily. Thus I have known slaves in Surinam, who have bought slaves for their own use. Some purchase their freedom from their masters, whilst others keep their money, preferring to be the slave of an indulgent master; being, so long as they continue slaves, free from all duties and taxes, which, in case of manumission, they become liable to. A particular instance of this kind was a negro blacksmith, named Joseph, who being offered his liberty upon account of his long and faithful services, positively refused it, chusing rather to be the slave of a worthy master. This man had several slaves of his own, kept a decent house, with handsome furniture, and some plate; and when visited by his humane master or mistress, entertained them with Sangaree, port or claret. I must, however, acknowledge this to be a very singular instance; and observe, that although a few live comfortably at Paramaribo, the greatest number are wretched, particularly those governed by a lady, who have many wales to show, but not the smallest indulgence to boast of.

Among the slaves, those of the class called Quaderoons are in general much respected for their affinity to Europeans; a Quaderoon being the offspring of a white and a mulatto, and they are very numerous in this colony.

Here one not only meets with the white, the black, and olive, but with

“The Samboe dark, and the Mulatto brown,
The Mæsti fair [26], the well-limb’d Quaderoon.”

These boys are generally placed out to some good trade, such as cabinet-makers, silversmiths, or jewellers; whilst the girls are employed as waiting-women, and taught the arts of sewing, knitting, and embroidery, to perfection: they are generally handsome, and take much pride in the neatness and elegance of their dress.

To give the reader a more lively idea of these people, I shall describe the figure and dress of a Quaderoon girl, as they usually appear in this colony. They are mostly tall, straight, and gracefully formed; rather more slender than the Mulattoes, and never go naked above the waist, like the former. Their dress commonly consists of a sattin petticoat, covered with flowered gauze; a close short jacket, made of best India chintz or silk, laced before, and shewing about an hand-breadth of a fine muslin shift between the jacket and the petticoat. As for stockings and shoes, the slaves in this country never wear them. Their heads are adorned with a fine bunch of black hair in short natural ringlets; they wear a black or white beaver hat, with a feather, or a gold loop and button: their neck, arms, and ancles are ornamented with chains, bracelets, gold medals, and beads. All these fine women have European husbands, to the no small mortification of the fair Creolians; yet should it be known that an European female had an intercourse with a slave of any denomination, she is for ever detested, and the slave loses his life without mercy.—Such are the despotic laws of men in Dutch Guiana over the weaker sex.

But to change the subject.—The tyranny of our commander, Colonel Fourgeoud, seemed daily to increase. Lieutenant Count Runtwick, who was to proceed for Holland with Colonel Westerloo, being sick, was ordered to remain in Surinam, for having only said that he had been ill treated by him. As a specimen of his justice, I will only observe, that all the officers had now subsisted a whole year upon a private soldier’s allowance of salt provisions, a few weeks at Paramaribo only excepted. This accommodation cost me thirty pounds; but I have already mentioned he kept back our money, and why should he not our allowance also, it not being the part of a good soldier to inquire after trifles?

On the 1st of February we, however, received notice that henceforth we should pay nothing, provided we could fast; but that if we could not, ten pounds yearly was to be the ne plus ultra of the expences for our salt beef and pork.

On the 2d I received intelligence that Lieutenant Colonel Becquer, scorning any longer to partake of Fourgeoud’s bounty, had suddenly given up the ghost, by which in rotation I became possessed of his vacant company. This was some compensation for so much trouble and fatigue. But to counterbalance this good fortune, a certain lady, whose husband had shewn me extraordinary civilities, now made me an offer, which I could not with honour accept; besides, I had been sworn at Highgate. But persisting in my refusal of her favours and golden presents, I at last felt the effects of a woman’s hatred and revenge. Her husband, who had lately been so much my friend, and whose honour I, in this instance, so much respected, was suddenly perverted into a bitter enemy. I bore their frowns with resignation, conscious of my own rectitude, in not committing a trespass of which too many others would have made a boast. Shortly after, however, this gentleman again became my friend, even more than before this affair happened, having been perfectly undeceived.

On the 6th, a poor drummer of the Society brought me a present of some alligato, or more properly avogato pears and oranges, for having supported him, he said, in Holland against my servant, who had knocked him down. This trait of gratitude afforded me more pleasure than the coolness of my late friend had given me pain.—The avogato pear grows on a tree above forty feet high, and not unlike a walnut-tree: the fruit, which is about the size and colour of a large pear, viz. a pale green, is the most exquisite, in my opinion, of any in the colony, or even in the world; the inside is yellow, and the kernel is inclosed in a soft rind like a chesnut. The pulp is so salubrious and nutritious, that it is often called the vegetable marrow, and is frequently eaten with pepper and salt: nor can I compare it to any thing so well as a peach, melting in the mouth in the same manner, not so sweet indeed, but incomparably more delicious.

The oranges in Surinam are of three different species; the sour, the bitter, and the sweet, all being originally imported from Spain or Portugal. The sour oranges are an excellent cure for sores and running ulcers, so common in this climate, but painful in the operation; for which reason they are only used for the negroes, who it is supposed may bear any thing. The bitter are only used for preserving: the sweet, which have a luscious taste and exquisite flavour, may be eaten freely, without any pernicious effects, which is not the case with that kind called the China apples, which I shall afterwards describe. The trees that bear all these species are truly beautiful, and never without fragrant blossoms or fruit throughout the year.

On the 16th, the news arrived that Colonel Fourgeoud, with the remaining troops, having marched from La Rochelle, had been attacked by the rebels; and amongst others Captain Fredericy, marching in the front, had been shot through both thighs. This brave officer, clapping both his hands on the wounds, and sitting in water up to his breast to conceal the bleeding, and prevent his misfortune from discouraging the troops, remained in this situation until the surgeon had dressed them, when he was carried in his hammock by two negroes.

Nothing, indeed, could exceed the zeal which both this officer, and Fourgeoud’s adjutant, Captain Vangewrike, shewed during the whole expedition; continually upon service, whether their constitutions could bear it or not. But honour was the only advantage they derived from a five years assiduous and extraordinary attendance. In my opinion, Colonel Fourgeoud never recompensed them according to their merit; while he treated the subalterns, and even some field officers, worse than ever I did my corporals.

I now made another offer to join him in the woods; but instead of permission, he sent me orders to hasten to L’Esperance, in English the Hope estate, as I shall henceforth call it, situated in the upper part of Rio Comewina, there to take the command of the whole river during his absence; which being new to me, I repaired to this post with the greater satisfaction.

Having provided myself with a compleat camp-equipage, and purchased provisions, I was soon ready to depart for my new station. But before I leave Paramaribo, I must remark, that during my stay there no less than nine negroes had each a leg cut off, for running away from their masters. This punishment is a part of the Surinam administration of justice, and is performed at the desire of the proprietor, and was executed by a Mr. Greuber, the surgeon of the hospital. During this inhuman operation, the poor sufferers very deliberately smoaked their pipe of tobacco. For this service the surgeon received about six pounds a limb: but, notwithstanding his great abilities, four of them died immediately after the operation. A fifth destroyed himself, by plucking away the bandages and bleeding to death during the night. These amputated negroes are common in this colony, and are employed in rowing the boats and barges of their masters. Others are seen deprived of an arm; and this is the forfeit for daring to raise it against an European.

I embarked on the 17th of February for the Hope, in the river Comewina, on board a decent tent-boat rowed by six negroes, having once more bid adieu to my beloved Joanna. In the evening I passed the Sporksgift estate, in the Matapica Creek; the next day I arrived at Arentrust in Comewina, having passed the Orelana Creek and the fortress Somelsdyk, which is about sixteen miles above Fort Amsterdam, and forms the separation between that and the river Cottica, commanding the two opposite shores by the fire of its cannon. This fortress was built in the year 1684 by Governor Somelsdyk, whose name it still bears. It is built in the form of a pentagon, having five bastions mounted with artillery; it has a fosse, and is well provided with military stores: though it is not large, it is well defended, especially by its low and marshy situation. Not far above this, to the right, is a fine creek, called Comete-Wana.

On the 19th, about noon, I reached the Hope; having found this river still more charming than the river Cottica, both being bordered with beautiful estates of coffee and sugar, the first of which abounds principally near its mouth. About half way up both these rivers are also in each a Protestant church, where the plantation people resort to hear divine worship: the expence of the parson, &c. being paid by the planters.

The estate L’Esperance, or the Hope, where I now took the command, is a valuable sugar-plantation, situated on the left side of the Comewina, at the mouth of a rivulet called Bottle Creek, and almost opposite to another creek called Cassivinica: the Bottle Creek communicating with the Comewina and Pirica, as the Wana Creek does with Cormoetibo and Rio-Marawina.

Here the troops were lodged in temporary houses built with the manicole-tree; but the situation was so low and marshy as at spring-tides to be entirely under water. The officers were all crowded in one apartment of the same construction; while the planter’s fine house, which might have been serviceable for the pleasure and health of these gentlemen, was made use of by nobody but the overseer of the estate.

About a cannon-shot higher up the river is the estate Clarenbeek; where I went, on the 22d, to examine the state of the hospital, and where I found the troops more disagreeably quartered than at the Hope, owing chiefly to the amazing number of rats with which this place was infested, destroying the men’s clothes and provisions, and running over their faces by dozens as they lay in their hammocks. The only mode of remedying this horrid inconvenience, was to break holes in the bottoms of quart bottles, and then string them like beads upon the lashings of each hammock, both at head and foot: when this was properly done, their polish rendered it impossible for the rats to reach the canvas.

Here the crowded hospital afforded a melancholy spectacle, by the miserable objects it presented. Humanity suffers so much from such scenes, that I felt myself happy upon my return to the Hope. My orders here were much the same as they had been at Cottica, viz. to protect the estates from the enemy: the parole or watchword was regularly sent me by Colonel Fourgeoud. One of the Berbice negro captains, before mentioned, named Ackeraw, here discovered an old decrepid slave called Paulus, belonging to this estate, to be his brother. He acknowledged him with cordial affection, and treated him with much kindness: the scene of their meeting was of course very interesting. In my walks round this plantation, I had an opportunity of observing several curious birds, which I shall now embrace the opportunity to describe.

The queese-queedee, so called on account of its note, is about the size of a thrush, and of a brown colour, except the breast and belly, which are of a beautiful yellow: it is very mischievous, and an unwelcome guest upon the plantations. The wild pigeons are also common here. I shot one that was very large, and resembling what is called the ring-tail pigeon of Jamaica. Its back and sides were of an ash colour; the tail a lead colour; the belly white; the neck reflecting a changeable green and purple; the iris and feet of this pigeon were red. I have also seen the dwarf pigeons here walking in pairs. They are about the size of an English sparrow, and rather of a lighter colour. I take these to be the picui-nima of Marcgrave. The eyes were bright, with a yellow iris, and upon the whole these diminutive creatures are very pretty. They are called steen-duyfie by the Dutch, because they are frequently found amongst stones and gravel. [27]Turtles are also found in Guiana, but seldom near the plantations, as they delight chiefly in the deepest recesses of the forest. They build their nests in trees of the thickest foliage, where I have found them, and even stroked them with my hand, without their attempting to fly away. They are little different from those in Europe in point of colour, but rather less, and their wings of a more considerable length than those of any other dove or pigeon whatever.

I became daily more charmed with my situation; I was at liberty to breathe freely, and my prospects of future contentment promised amply to compensate for my past hardships and mortifications. Respected as the prince of the river; caressed by the neighbouring planters, who plentifully supplied me with presents of game, fish, fruit, and vegetables, I was scarcely the same man, and had very few wishes unsatisfied.

One day (the 5th of March) during my residence here, I was surprised by the waving of a white handkerchief from a tent-boat that was rowing up the river; when, to augment my happiness, it unexpectedly proved to be my Mulatto, accompanied by her aunt, who now preferred Fauconberg estate, four miles above the Hope, to residing in the town; and to this plantation I immediately accompanied them.

Here Joanna introduced me to a venerable old slave, her grandfather, who made me a present of half a dozen fowls. He was grey-headed and blind, but had been comfortably supported for many years through the kind attention of his numerous offspring. He told me he was born in Africa, where he had once been more respected than any of his Surinam masters ever were in their country.

It will no doubt appear surprising to many of my readers to find me mention this female slave so often, and with so much respect; but I cannot speak with indifference of an object so deserving of attention, and whose affectionate attachment alone counter-balanced all my other misfortunes. Her virtue, youth, and beauty gained more and more my esteem; while the lowness of her birth and condition, instead of diminishing, served to increase my affection.—What can I say farther upon this subject?—Nothing; but content myself with the consolation given by Horace to Phocius, the Roman soldier:

“Ne sit ancillæ tibi amor pudori, &c.”

“Let not my Phocius think it shame
For a fair slave to own his flame;
A slave could stern Achilles move,
And bend his haughty soul to love:
Ajax, invincible in arms,
Was captiv’d by his captive’s charms.

“Atrides ’midst his triumph mourn’d,
And for a ravish’d virgin burn’d;
What time the fierce barbarian bands
Fell by Pelides’ conquering hands,
And Troy (her Hector swept away)
Became to Greece an easier prey.

“Who knows, when Phillis is your bride,
To what high rank you’ll be allied?
Her parents dear, of gentle race,
Shall not their son-in-law disgrace.
She sprung from kings, or nothing less,
And weeps the family’s distress.”

On the 6th of March I returned to the Hope, loaded with fowls, aubergines, brocoli, agoma, and a few Surinam cherries. The aubergines are a species of fruit which grows in the shape of a cucumber; they are of a purple colour without, and white within; they are cut in slices and eaten like sallad, sometimes stewed: they are very good and wholesome. The leaves of the tree which bears this fruit are large and green, covered with a purple-coloured down. The agoma is a bitterish vegetable: the brocoli as in Europe, but scarce. The cherries are ribbed, very sour, and unless very ripe fit only for preserving.

On the prince of Orange’s anniversary, the 8th of March, I invited some company to drink his health, whilst Colonel Fourgeoud kept scouring the bushes; but the sum of his operations amounted only to having some of his men shot by the negroes, some lost in the woods; whilst the rebel Cupido escaped with all his chains. Of two men he sent me for the hospital at Clarenbeek, one was terribly cut by the rebels.

I received a present of a haunch of venison on the 17th from a Mr. D’Onis; and one of my slaves presented me with a lizard called sapagala, which is less in size and less agreeable food than the iguana, which I have already described, and which the Indians call wayamaka. Of this last dainty I did not partake, but gave it to the overseer, while with the venison I entertained all my officers.

Of the deer species there are two kinds; the stag or largest, called the bajew, is about the size of the English roebuck, with short curvated horns; the eyes are bright, and full of fire; the tail short; the hair a reddish brown, except the belly, which is white. These animals, when pursued, run with amazing strength and velocity. They are frequently seen near the plantations, where they commit great devastations among the sugar-canes; they are often shot by the negro or Indian huntsmen, which the planters keep on purpose. Hunting is impracticable as a sport to Europeans in this country, owing to the thickness of the woods. The deer are sometimes taken alive in crossing rivers, which they often take to when over-heated, or to escape their enemies. The flesh of this stag is neither fat, tender, nor juicy, being much inferior to the European venison, though greatly esteemed by the inhabitants of Surinam. The other species the negroes call boosee-cabritta; the Indians wirrebocerra. These are much smaller, and more nimble in leaping; their colour a yellowish brown, covered with small white spots; their eyes lively and piercing; their ears narrow and short; they have no antlers; their limbs are small, but nervous and strong; and their flesh more delicate than any other venison I ever tasted.

On the 21st, having visited Mr. and Mrs. Lolkens at Fauconberg, we, after dinner, walked to a brick-manufactory, called Appe-cappe, which lies in the neighbourhood, and belongs to Governor Nepveu; where they make as good brick, and as expeditiously, as in Europe. It is also a profitable business, not being common in Surinam. This I only relate as a proof of the abundant advantages of this country; where, moreover, the wood for burning the bricks may be had for cutting, if the inhabitants chuse to be industrious. We were here, however, so pestered with clouds of insects, called monpeira, that I was glad to take my leave, and return to the Hope. The monpeira are the smallest kind of gnats, but equally troublesome with the larger species called musquitoes. They fly so thick and close together, that they appear like a cloud of black smoke: they are so small that numbers of them stick in the eyes, whence they cannot be extracted without pain, and even danger.

I always visited by water, having at the Hope an elegant tent-boat, with half a dozen negroes at my command, who also shot and fished for me. Upon the whole, I was here so happy and so much respected, that I could almost have engaged never more to change my situation.

CHAP. XIII.

A Sugar Plantation described—Domestic Happiness in a
Cottage—Further Account of Fourgeoud’s Operations—Dreadful
Cruelties inflicted by some Overseers—Instance of Resentment in a
Rebel Negro Captain.

I have already said that I was happy at the Hope; but how was my felicity augmented, when Mr. and Mrs. Lolkens came to visit me one evening, and not only gave me the address of Messrs. Passalage and Son at Amsterdam, the new proprietors of my Mulatto, but even desired me to take her to the Hope, where she would be more agreeably situated than either at Fauconberg or Paramaribo. This desire was unquestionably most readily complied with by me; and I immediately set my slaves to work, to build a house of manicole-trees for her reception.

In the mean time I wrote the following letter to Messrs. Passalage and Son.

“Gentlemen,

“Being informed by Mr. Lolkens, the administrator of the estate
Fauconberg, that you are the present proprietors; and being under
great obligations to one of your Mulatto slaves named Joanna, who
is the daughter of the late Mr. Kruythoff, particularly for having
attended me during sickness; I in gratitude request of you, who are
her masters, to let me purchase her liberty without delay: which
favour shall be ever thankfully acknowledged, and the money for her
ransom immediately paid, by

Gentlemen,
Your most obedient servant,
John Gabriel Stedman,
Captain in Colonel Fourgeoud’s
Corps of Marines.”

This letter was accompanied by another from my friend Lolkens, who much cheared my prospects by the assurance of success.

Having dispatched these letters to Holland, I had now the opportunity of observing the whole process of a sugar-plantation; of which I shall endeavour to give an accurate description.

The buildings usually consist of an elegant dwelling-house for the planter, outhouses for the overseer and book-keeper, besides a carpenter’s lodge, kitchens, store-houses, and stables, if the sugar-mills be wrought by horses or mules; but on the Hope these are not requisite, as the wheels move by water, stored in canals during the spring-tide by means of sluices, which being opened at low water pour out like a deluge, and set the machinery in motion. A sugar-mill is built at the expence of four thousand, nay sometimes seven or eight thousand pounds.

A particular description of its construction might be too tedious. I shall only observe, that the large water-wheel moves perpendicularly, and corresponds with another large wheel placed in an horizontal direction, and this again acts upon three cylinders or rollers of cast-iron, supported underneath by a strong beam, so close together that when the whole is in motion, they draw in and squeeze as thin as paper, whatever comes between them. In this manner the sugar-cane is bruised, to separate the juice or liquor from the trash.

Those mills that are wrought by cattle are constructed, upon the same principles, only the horses or mules answer the purpose of the horizontal wheel, by dragging round a large lever. If the water-mills work the fastest, and be the cheapest, yet as they must wait for the tides, they can only work part of the day; whereas the cattle-mills are always ready whenever the proprietor finds it convenient to use them. Adjoining to the mill-house is a large apartment, also built of brick, in which are fixed the coppers or large cauldrons to boil the liquid sugar. These are usually five in number; opposite to these are the coolers, which are large square flat-bottomed wooden vessels, into which the sugar is put from the cauldrons to cool before it is put into hogsheads, which are placed near the coolers upon strong channeled rafters, that receive the melasses as it drops from the sugar, and convey it into a square cistern placed underneath to receive it. The distillery joins this apartment, where the dross or scum of the boiling sugar is converted into a kind of rum, mentioned before, and known by the name of kill-devil. Every estate in Surinam keeps a tent-boat and several other craft, for the conveyance of their produce; they have also a covered dock, to keep them dry and repair them.

The sugar estates in this colony contain five or six hundred acres; the parts for cultivation being divided into squares, where pieces of cane, about one foot long, are stuck into the ground in an oblique position, in rows straight and parallel. They usually plant them in the rainy season, when the earth is well soaked and rich. The shoots that spring from these joints are about twelve or sixteen months in arriving at maturity, when they become yellow, and of the thickness of a German flute, and from six to ten feet in height, and jointed, forming a very beautiful appearance, with pale green leaves like those of a leek, but longer and denticulated, and which hang down as the crop becomes ready for cutting. The principal business of the slaves during the growth of the canes is pulling up the weeds, which would otherwise impoverish them.

Some sugar estates have above four hundred slaves. The expence of purchasing these, and erecting the buildings, frequently amounts to twenty or five-and-twenty thousand pounds sterling, exclusive of the value of the ground.

But to give the reader a clearer idea of the sugar-cane, which is supposed to be a native of Guiana, I refer him to the annexed plate, where he may view it in the different stages, though on a smaller scale than nature; A being its first appearance above the ground; B the cane come to half maturity; C the same with drooping leaves, when fully ripe; D a piece cut off at one end, and broken off at the other.

We shall now examine its progress through the mill: here it is bruised between the three cylinders or rollers through which it passes twice, once it enters, and once it returns, when it is changed to trash, and its pithy substance into liquid, which is conducted as extracted, through a grooved beam, from the mill to the boiling-house, where it is received into a kind of wooden cistern.

So very dangerous is the work of those negroes who attend the rollers, that should one of their fingers be caught between them, which frequently happens through inadvertency, the whole arm is instantly shattered to pieces, if not part of the body. A hatchet is generally kept ready to chop off the limb, before the working of the mill can be stopped. Another danger is, that should a poor slave dare to taste that sugar which he produces by the sweat of his brow, he runs the risk of receiving some hundred lashes, or having all his teeth knocked out by the overseer.—Such are the hardships and dangers to which the sugar-making negroes are exposed.