Chapter XV: Page 378 (11)

At the Hope I found my friend Mr. Heneman (who was now made a captain) very sick, with several others. All these, as well as myself, were left without a surgeon, medicines, or money; while, as I stated before, the many hogsheads of wine sent from Amsterdam, together with scores of kegs containing preserved vegetables, and other fresh provisions, were forever kept invisible from the poor, emaciated, and languishing troops, for whom they had certainly been intended by that city. I indeed here made one more attempt to recover our property, but to no purpose; money, medicines, wine, and refreshments, were all kept back. Thus did we continue to pine and lose strength, instead of gaining it. I mean the greatest part of us: as for myself, I had the least cause to complain, being well attended by Joanna and my servants, who the next day all arrived from Egmond at the Hope, besides receiving presents, which were as usual sent me from all quarters. One additional inconvenience I however felt—my feet were infested with chigoes, which I partly impute to having, during my illness, worn stockings and shoes while at the good Frenchman’s estate Egmond. Of this troublesome insect I have already made some mention, as being extremely numerous at Devil’s Harwar, but now shall circumstantially describe it.

The chigoe is a kind of small sand-flea, that gets in between the skin and the flesh without its being felt, and generally under the nails of the toes; where, while it feeds, it keeps growing till it becomes the size of a large pea, causing no further pain than a disagreeable itching; in process of time it appears in the form of a small bladder, in which are deposited thousands of eggs or nits, and which, if it breaks, produce so many young chigoes, that in course of time create running ulcers, which are often of very dangerous consequence to the patient: so much so, indeed, that I have known a soldier, the soles of whose feet were obliged to be cut away with a razor, before he could recover; and some men have lost their limbs by amputation—nay even their lives, by having neglected in time to root out these abominable vermin. The moment, therefore, that one perceives a kind of itching and redness more than usual about the feet, it is time to begin extracting the chigoe that occasions it: this is done with a sharp-pointed needle, at which operation the black girls are extremely dexterous, taking every care not to occasion unnecessary pain, and to prevent the chigoo or bladder from breaking in the wound. The cure is to put tobacco-ashes in the orifice, by which in a little time it is perfectly healed. Being at this time, as I have just mentioned, infested with the chigoes, Joanna with her needle picked twenty-three of these insects out of my left foot; which being all hatched under the nails, caused, as may be imagined, the most terrible torment, but which I bore without flinching, with the resolution of an African negro. These are the insects called niquas by the Spaniards at Carthagena.

On the 21st I received a letter from the commander in chief, not an answer to my last, but orders to send him up to the estate Crawassibo (which was at present his head-quarters) all the provisions, kettles, axes, &c. that could be spared from the Hope, as he was preparing to re-enter the woods. I accordingly dispatched them the next day: but the supply of victuals was not great; for a whole barge, with beef and pork, bound for the Hope, had been shipwrecked in the river.

On the 25th Mr. Steger, the surgeon who had so nearly poisoned me that I could not yet get the better of the effects of his ignorance, was discharged from the regiment, as incapable of his profession. Still, notwithstanding my unsettled state of health, as several officers were going to join Fourgeoud about this time, and weak as I was, I intreated once more to be one of the party. But on the morning of the 26th, his adjutant, with another surgeon, visiting all the troops that were in Comewina, I was deemed totally incapable of supporting the fatigue: indeed so much so, that relapsing on the 29th, I was even glad to be superseded in the command of the river by the major, Mr. Medlar, who arrived at the Hope this day for that purpose. Nevertheless I was condemned to linger at this place, while one month at Paramaribo might have perfectly recovered me.—I had now nothing to do but to continue my drawings, for which the above gentleman at that time offered me one hundred crowns, but my desire was, if possible, to complete the collection; and when I had the strength, I walked round the plantation with my gun. Amongst others, I shot, on the 3d of September, a small bird, called kibry-fowlo, on account of its continuing in a manner constantly under cover. It was about the size of a thrush, and very much the colour of a quail, which it also exactly resembled in shape, but the limbs were rather longer, and the bill was extremely sharp-pointed. This bird is very seldom seen on the wing, but runs incredibly fast through the grass and savannas, where it hides itself the instant it is perceived. When dressed, it was as fat as a lump of butter, and as delicious as an European ortolan.

On the 11th of September, Fourgeoud at last broke up from Crawassibo, and, with all the able troops he could collect (which were now not much more than one hundred) he again marched into the forest after the enemy; having previously taken away the post from the Jew Savannah, which he placed at the forsaken estate Oranjebo, in the very upper parts of Rio Comewina, leaving the river Surinam to take care of itself.

On the 19th of this month in the forenoon, a herd of wild swine, called pingos, (more than two hundred in number) having lost their way in the forest, came to the Hope, galloping over the plantation, when above a score of them were killed by the negroes, who knocked them down with their bill-hooks and axes. In Surinam the wild boars are of three species; which I will embrace this opportunity to describe—these are the pingos or waree above-mentioned, the cras-pingo, and the Mexican hog, called the peccary. The pingos are about the size of our English small hogs; they are black, and have coarse bristles thinly scattered; they live in herds of sometimes above three hundred, in the thickest parts of the forest, and run always in a line, the one closely following the other; when the foremost or leader is shot, the line is instantly broken, and the whole herd is in confusion; for which reason the Indians take care (if possible) to knock their captain on the head before the rest; after this the others even often stand still, stupidly looking at one another, and allowing themselves to be killed one by one, of which I have been a witness. They do not attack the human species, nor make any resistance at all, like the European wild-boar, when wounded, as has been by some authors erroneously asserted. As for their attacking dogs, I can say nothing about it, never having had any with me when I met them.—The cras-pingos are large, armed with strong tusks, and their bristles still coarser than the former. This large species indeed are very dangerous, as well from their strength as their ferocity, attacking any thing that obstructs them in their way, especially when wounded. They move in the same manner, and in as large herds, as the former, but inhabit chiefly the more inland parts of the country. Both these species, when they hear the smallest noise in the forest that indicates danger, stop short in their course, form in a close body, and gnash their teeth, preparing themselves for defence against the enemy: I am of opinion that these are not natural to Guiana, but originally from Africa and Europe. Their flesh is eaten with avidity by the natives, and even esteemed by the white inhabitants, but is in my opinion dry, hard, and unsavoury.—That species which is called the peccary or Mexican-hog, is alone supposed to be indigenous to Guiana, and will not intermix with either the wild or domestic hogs. This animal is particularly remarkable by having an orifice on the back, which is vulgarly mistaken for its navel, and which, being about one inch deep, contains a stinking fetid liquor, which some compare to the smell of musk, but which is so very disagreeable, that the instant the animal is killed, the natives take care to cut away this part with a knife, to prevent its infesting the flesh, which it would soon do, making it so disgusting as not to be eatable. The length of the peccary is about three feet: it has no tail; fine limbs, short tusks, and yellowish grey bristles, much resembling those of an English hedge-hog; on the back they are very long, but on the sides and on the belly they are both short and very thinly scattered. This creature has a light-coloured spot that comes down from the shoulder on each side the breast, something like a horse-collar. Hogs of this species are more uncommon in the low and marshy countries than in the inland parts, where they prefer feeding amongst the mountains and dry savannas. The peccary is easily tamed, and in that state harmless and inoffensive, but not so stupid as is asserted by the Count de Buffon, who says, they know no person, and have no attachment to those that feed them; for Major Medlar had one at the Hope that followed him like a dog, and shewed the greatest delight in being caressed by its master. I ought also to observe that it is, when irritated, very vicious and mischievous. They go in large herds as the other species, produce many young at a time, and their grunting is extremely loud and disagreeable.

On the morning of the 29th, we again heard the report of several guns toward the river Cottica, where it since appeared the rebels were a second time beaten back from the plantation Merseille, by the fidelity and bravery of the slaves belonging to that estate.

On the 8th of the succeeding month, we received the news, that Colonel Fourgeoud, having discovered and destroyed some fields belonging to the enemy (who had again kept up a distant conversation with him) and having found the mangled remains of poor Schmidt, who had been murdered by the rebels, as I related above, was once more come with his troops to Magdenberg, where he encamped till the eleventh. He then re-entered the forest, previously sending to the Hope the sick, and with them a young officer under an arrest, in order to be tried for not being able to undergo the fatigues as well as himself. In other words, having been ordered to watch two days and two nights, the youth had proved unequal to the task, and had dropt asleep under arms, as he was sitting on the ground. The climate indeed was such that even without these trials nature was often overcome.

The preservation of Fourgeoud’s vigour hitherto may, in a great measure, be attributed to his continually drinking a medicine he called tisan, in large full basons, which had a most nauseous taste, and was composed of the jesuits bark, cream of tartar, and stick-liquorice, boiled together, which he drank as hot as he could bear it, and to which having accustomed his constitution, he could not do without it. In this, however, he was followed by none of the rest, as they were apprehensive that when this should once cease to operate, (which it must at last) all other medicines in time of real need would be ineffectual. As for my own part, I still continued to be so exceedingly weak, that I almost despaired of evermore recovering; while my depressed spirits, on account of Joanna’s critical and almost hopeless situation, greatly contributed to prevent the restoration of my health. These alarms were not diminished on the 21st, when, being visited by Mr. and Mrs. Lolkens at the Hope, this gentleman told me, that the whole estate Fauconberg was again transferred, with its dependants, since the death of Mr. Passalage; that the new proprietor was a Mr. Lude of Amsterdam, with whom he had not the smallest interest; and that there was in town a general report that we had both been poisoned. This sentence was, however, greatly alleviated by the kindness of his lady, who insisted that my Joanna should accompany her to Paramaribo immediately; where, at her own house, she should meet with every care and attention that her situation could require, till perfectly recovered: for this I thanked her in the best manner I was able, and poor Joanna wept with gratitude. Having therefore conducted them as far as their estate Killestyn-Nova, where we dined, I took my leave of them and Joanna, and bid them all an affectionate farewell for the present.

At my return to the Hope, my indignation was scarcely to be restrained within the bounds of prudence, when I found myself upbraided by my mess-mates for taking care of my own offspring: “Do as we do,” said they, “Stedman, and never fear. If our children are slaves, they are provided for; and if they die, what care we, should they be d—n’d in the bargain? Therefore keep your sighs in your own belly, and your money in your pocket, my boy, that’s all.”—I repeat this in their own language, to shew how much my feeling must have been hurt and disgusted with similar consolation.

The following morning, awaking by day-break in my hammock, the first thing that I saw, when looking up, was a snake about two yards long, hanging with its head downwards like a rope, and straight above my face, from which he was not one foot distance, while his tail was twisted round the rafters under the thatch. Observing his eyes bright as stars, and his forked tongue in agitation, I was so distressed that I scarcely had power to avoid him, which however I did, by running out; after which, I heard a rustling in the dry thatch, where the negroes attempted to kill him, but in vain, he having escaped, and thus I cannot say what species he belonged to. Being now by myself, and rather startled by this unwelcome guest, I shut up my house, and lodged and messed with my friends the Major, Heneman, and Macdonald.

On visiting my boxes, I now found that great depredations had been committed by the ants, which are throughout all Guiana so very numerous, and of so many different species, that once I had a pair of new cotton stockings perfectly destroyed by them in one night only. Those which frequent the estates are generally small, but very troublesome. The only way possibly to keep them from the refined sugar, is by hanging the loaf to the ceiling on a nail, and making a ring of dry chalk around it, very thick, which crumbles down the moment the ants attempt to pass it. I imagined that placing my sugar-boxes in the middle of a tub, and on stone, surrounded with deep water, would have kept back this formidable enemy, but to no purpose: whole armies of the lighter sort (to my astonishment) marched over the surface, and but a very few of them were drowned. The main body constantly scaled the rock, and in spite of all my efforts made their entry through the key-holes; after which, the only way to clear the garrison is to expose it to a hot sun, which the invaders cannot bear, and all march off in a few minutes. That the ants provide for winter, as not only Dr. Bancroft and many others, but even King Solomon, reports, is found to be an error by the most modern investigation. In Surinam, indeed, there is no winter; but where there is, the ants lie dormant, during which torpid state they want no food.

My friend Captain Van Coeverden, at this time, marching in the woods, suffered a much worse depredation at Paramaribo, where not the ants, but the negro-slaves, had broken open his boxes, and robbed him of all his best effects, and near twenty guineas in money.

On the 6th, a marine drowned himself, in one of those phrenzy fevers which are so common in Guiana. About the same time another Society soldier was shot by order of a court-martial. Thus perished those men who were spared by the climate or the enemy.

Having written to a Mr. Seifke, to enquire whether it was not in the power of the Governor and Council to relieve a gentleman’s child from bondage, provided there was paid to its master such a ransom as their wisdom should judge adequate; I received for answer, that no money or interest could purchase its freedom, without the proprietor’s consent; since, according to law, it was just as much a slave as if it had been born in Africa; and imported from the coast of Guinea. This information now perfectly completed my misery, and I at last had recourse to drinking; which temporary relief, however, only caused my spirits to flow higher, in order to make them sink lower after its evaporation. During this conflict it happened that I was invited with the Major to dine, at an estate called Knoppemonbo, in the Casavinica Creek, where a Mr. De Graav, the proprietor, did every thing in his power to amuse me, but to no purpose.—At last, seeing me seated by myself on a small bridge that led to a grove of orange-trees, with a settled gloom on my countenance, he accosted me, and taking me by the hand, to my astonishment, pronounced the following words:

“Sir, I am acquainted by Mr. Lolkens with the cause of your just distress. Heaven never left a good intention unrewarded. I have now the pleasure to acquaint you, that Mr. Lude has chosen me for his administrator; and that from this day I shall pride myself in making it my business to render you any service with that gentleman, as well as the virtuous Joanna, whose deserving character has attracted the attention of so many people, while your laudable conduct redounds to your lasting honour throughout the colony.”

No angel descending from above could have brought me a more welcome message; and no criminal under sentence of death could have received a reprieve with greater joy. The weight of a mill-stone was removed from my labouring breast; and having made Mr. De Graav repeat his promise, I felt I should yet be happy. Soon after this I was surrounded by several gentlemen and ladies, to whom my friend had communicated his generous intentions. They congratulated me on my sensibility, and on having met with so valuable an acquaintance. All seemed to partake in the pleasure that I now felt; and the day being spent in mirth and conviviality, I returned to the Hope, much better pleased than when I left it, where next day the whole company was entertained by Major Medlar; nor did we separate, or cease feasting up and down the river, till the 13th, when we once more spent the day at Knoppemonbo.

Here Mr. De Graav, having bought some new slaves, gave a holiday to all the negroes on his estate; and here I had the opportunity of seeing the diversions peculiar to that people: but of these I must reserve the particular account to another occasion, and for the present only give a short description of the Loango dancing, as performed by the Loango negroes, male and female, and not by any others; which consists from first to last in such a scene of wanton and lascivious gestures, as nothing but a heated imagination and a constant practice could enable them to perform. These dances, which are performed to the sound of a drum, to which they strike time by clapping of hands, may properly be considered as a kind of play or pantomime divided into so many acts, which lasts for some hours. But the most remarkable is, that during this representation, the actors, instead of being fatigued, become more and more enlivened and animated, till they are bathed in sweat like post-horses, and their passions wound up to such a degree, that nature being overcome, they are ready to drop into convulsions.

However indelicate the above exhibitions may be, fashion has rendered them no more disgusting than any other diversions to the European and Creole ladies, who in company with the gentlemen croud about them without the least reserve, to enjoy what they call a hearty laugh; while such scenes would change an English woman’s face from white to scarlet.

That custom and habit give a sanction, and render familiar, in some countries, many things which would be considered as preposterous in others, is an observation, which is more or less verified, in proportion to the variety of places which the traveller has visited. An officer in the India service has, in a late publication, described the variety of attitudes, gestures, looks, sighs, expressions of desire, fear, hope, trepidation, and every gradation of passion, which is acted by the dancing-girls in the East Indies; and yet, though these young women are exerting all their faculties for promoting wantonness in the beholders, to obtain a living, the whole race of Gentoo women are most remarkable for the purest minds of any people in the universe [31].

On the 14th I returned to the Hope, where I saw my cottage unroofed by a storm; but which now expecting no more to inhabit, I permitted to go to ruin—

“The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces, &c. shall dissolve.”

Be that as it may, I had passed in it the happiest days of my whole life-time.

On the 26th Colonel Fourgeoud marched once more to the Wana Creek; but having taken the troops from the Jew Savannah, the rebels availed themselves of their absence, and not only pillaged a plantation in the river Surinam, but burnt several dwellings in the Creek Casavinica. From the above river they were bravely pursued by a feeble Society-detachment, which chanced to be there, but without success; two soldiers were killed, and Mr. Negle their leader, with several others, wounded. The major now broke up the new post formed at Oranjebo, which he also dispatched after the enemy; and having ranged a whole week in the forest, also returned without any manner of success. These frequent miscarriages evince how difficult it is for European troops to carry on a war in the forests of South America.

The 30th of this month being the anniversary of St. Andrew, and now finding myself in excellent spirits, I roasted a whole sheep, with which I entertained all the officers on the Hope, as well as with a couple of gallons of good Jamaica rum in punch, which we drank to the healths of all our friends on the old continent. This festivity I repeated on December the 4th, on receiving the tidings that my Joanna was delivered of a strong and beautiful boy. That very morning I dispatched another letter to Mr. Lude at Amsterdam, to obtain her manumission, couched much in the same terms as that which I had written to his predecessor Mr. Passalage, only praying for dispatch, as I was now uncertain how much longer the expedition was to last; in which request I was again seconded by my new friend Mr. De Graav, as I had been before by Mr. Lolkens; after which I entertained the sick with a dozen of old Rhenish, received from the former gentleman, which had been in his cellar from one thousand seven hundred and twenty-six.

Walking round the plantation the morning of the 10th with my gun, I found the whole of the slaves on the estate in a mutiny, on account of the cruel usage inflicted by the managers: happily for all parties the interference of the military soon ended this matter to mutual satisfaction. These frequent disturbances, which I have at different times mentioned, plainly indicate the inclination of the negroes to break out in an open rebellion; and this would certainly have been more often attempted, had they not been awed by the troops. The same morning I brought home two birds, the one called toreman, the other a species of grass-snipe. The toreman, or banaquaw, is a shining black bird, as large as a pullet, with grey legs, and a bill of a dark brown colour; it is very good eating, and easily discovered in the trees (where it perches on the highest branches) by its note repeating distinctly the word banaquaw, banaquaw, at the approach of any person in the forest; which has also occasioned the name of toreman, and which signifies, in the negro language of Surinam, a tale-bearer or a spy; on this account the rebels in particular have an invincible hatred against it.

The grass-snipe is something less than a woodcock, of a beautiful silver-grey colour, and in shape much like the snipes of Europe. This bird is mostly found in the wet savannahs; it is very plump, and exquisitely delicate food.

On the 11th the estate Rectwyk in Pirica was attacked, but the enemy was beaten back by the military.

Colonel Fourgeoud being now again arrived at Magdenberg, and I at last, being perfectly recovered, after seven months illness, I ventured to propose, by another letter to the commander, that I might accompany him on his future excursions in the woods, or go for some time to Paramaribo; but neither the one or the other request was yet granted. In this situation I wrote a letter to town, to inform my poor friend that I was well, with which I went to the river side to look out for a boat, and towards noon hailed the tent-barge belonging to Fauconberg, which was rowing with the overseer to Paramaribo. This was, unfortunately, a new superintendant; and not knowing me, he refused to come ashore for the message. However, seeing the negroes rest upon their oars, I took the letter in my teeth, and leaped instantly into the river to dispatch it, knowing they would put me again on terra-firma. Having thus swam with the stream, in my shirt and trowsers, till I came within two oars length of the boat, I held up the letter in my hand, and called out, “Who the devil are you, that refuse to take on board a piece of paper?” When, being answered in French, “Je suis Jean Bearnee, paysan de Guascogne, à votre service,” I had the mortification to see them pull away without a possibility of overtaking them, or returning. In this distress I had now nothing left but to perish, it being impossible to swim against the stream, especially as I was incumbered with my clothes. I struggled, however, but sunk twice to the bottom in the attempt; and must inevitably have been drowned, had I not caught hold of a projecting paleing that was erected in the river for the purpose of catching fish. To this I remained sticking fast; when a Dutch carpenter, who observed me from the top of the sugar-mill, called out, that the English captain was trying to kill himself. On this news a dozen stout negroes immediately leapt into the river, and having dragged me safe ashore (under the direction of my good friend Medlar, who was inclined to believe the report) lifted me upon their shoulders to carry me home. The disappointment, the danger, the anger, vexation, and shame (for there was no contradicting them) had by this time wound up my passions to such a height, and made such an impression on my spirits, that I became perfectly mad, and had almost perpetrated the act of which I was accused; since, on crossing over a small bridge, I actually gave a sudden twist, and, from their shoulders, threw myself with a jerk headlong over the balustrades once more into the water. Here a second time I was picked up by the negroes; and now the suspicion being confirmed that I intended suicide, I was put to my hammock, with two sentinels appointed to guard me during the night, while several of my friends were shedding tears around me. Having, however, drank some mulled wine, I enjoyed a sound nap till morning; when appearing calm and perfectly composed, my words, to my great joy, began to gain credit, and the apprehensions of my companions were dispelled.—Such was the danger to which I was exposed by the unkind and inhospitable behaviour of this Frenchman, who nearly obliterated the memory of this transaction by his many succeeding instances of unprecedented brutality. The following day, however, by one of my negroes and a small canoe, I sent my letter to Paramaribo. Seeing now about noon a melasses-boat at anchor before the Hope, in which was broiling in the sun an English sailor and two negroes, I made the first come ashore, and entertained the poor fellow with a bowl of punch and a good meal of eggs and bacon, to his great surprize, he not having expected this kindness, or to be accosted in his own country language at this place. What were this man’s grateful acknowledgments, whose name was Charles Macdonald, will be seen in the sequel of my work.

A melasses-boat is a barge rowed by two oars, which fetches this commodity in large hogsheads from the sugar plantations, and delivers it on board the English-American vessels for exportation, to be distilled into rum in the islands; for which they pay the Dutch, on an average, three guineas per hogshead.

On the 16th another officer arrived from our hero under an arrest (the first was a Mr. Geelguin, and this was a Mr. Neys), for the crime of contending with the free negro Goasary for a bunch of plantains. Both these young men were afterwards sent to Europe by Fourgeoud, in expectation that they would be broke by a court-martial; but, after a very short confinement, they were honourably acquitted, to the joy of the whole corps, and the mortification of this hectoring Swiss. Such was the inveteracy of this old gentleman, who had not the smallest consideration for the foibles of youth; and who constantly saw the mote in the eye of his neighbour, overlooking the beam that appeared so conspicuously in his own. As I have been speaking of plantains, I shall take this occasion to give some account of a production, which, in fact, I ought to have described long before.

This is rather a plant than a tree, as the trunk has neither wood nor bark, but consists of a stamen enwrapped by green vascular hulks, succeeding each other in the manner of an onion, and above ten inches in diameter. These hulks rise alternately about fourteen feet distance from the ground, and form not in branches, but in leaves, that spread like an umbrella, about twelve or fourteen in number, so as to cover the tallest person. They are of a shining sea-green till they fade, and hang down in tatters, as their places are supplied by the young ones. From the centre of all this there grows a strong stalk, about three feet long, and bending downwards by the weight of a purple spatha, something like a calf’s heart; and on this stalk grows the fruit called plantains, in the shape of cucumbers, and above one hundred in number, which is usually called a bunch. Each tree, or plant, bears but one of these bunches at a time. When it is cut down, it is speedily supplied by the young shoots, which spring from its bulbous root, and which in the space of ten months time are ready to undergo the same operation. It requires a rich nourishing soil to make it prosper, without which it never arrives at proper maturity. This fruit being divested of its tegument when green, has in the inside a pale yellow farinaceous substance, and supplies (as I have already intimated) the want of bread, when either boiled or roasted: it has an agreeable taste, and is very wholesome; when the shell becomes yellow the inside is soft, and then may be eaten raw, having much the taste of a very ripe pear; but when arrived at that degree of maturity it is only used by way of dessert.

Another species resembling this, is the banana, which only differs from the plantain, in its fruit being less, and more oval, and this species is never eaten till it is yellow and fully ripe. The former is most useful in point of food; but this last, which has the flavour of musk, is accounted by far the most delicate. For a more perfect idea, however, than I am capable of giving by description, I refer the curious to the annexed plate; where A is the plantain-tree with its fruit; B the young shoots that succeed it; C the fruit in its green tegument; D the same, cut through the middle; and E the fruit called banana, in full maturity. In Surinam the first is known by the name of banana, and the second goes by that of bacooba.

I now, obtaining my friend Medlar’s concurrence, took a trip on the 18th to Paramaribo; where I found my boy bathing in Madeira wine and water [32], while his mother was happy, and perfectly recovered. Having seen them well, and presented Joanna with a gold medal, that my father had given my mother on the day of my birth, also thanked Mrs. Lolkens for her very great kindness, I immediately returned to the Hope, where I arrived on the 22d.

The poor negro whom I had sent before me with a letter had been less fortunate than I was, having his canoe overset in the middle of the river Surinam, by the roughness of the water. With great address, however, he kept himself in an erect posture (for this man could not swim), and by the buoyancy and resistance of the boat against his feet, he was enabled just to keep his head above the water, while the weight of his body kept the sunk canoe from moving. In this precarious attitude, he was picked up by a man-of-war’s boat; who, taking away the canoe for their trouble, put him on shore at Paramaribo. He kept the letter, however surprising, still in his mouth, and being eager to deliver it, he accidentally ran into a wrong house; where, being taken for a thief (for refusing to let them read it), he was tied up to receive four hundred lashes; but, fortunately, was reprieved by the intercession of an English merchant of the name of Gordon, who was my particular friend, and knew the negro. Thus did the poor fellow escape drowning, and being flogged, either of which he would have undergone, sooner than disclose what he called the secrets of his masera.—Query, How many Europeans are possessed of equal fidelity and fortitude?

Having lately mentioned the mode of catching fish by means of a projecting paleing, it will probably not be disagreeable to the reader to have some account of it, particularly as on many different occasions it helped me to a comfortable dinner. It consists simply of a kind of square enclosure, that juts out into the river, surrounded by long palisadoes of the manicole-tree, tied very close together by nebees. In this fence is a large door, which is left open with the flood, and shut at high water, to prevent the enclosed fish from escaping; and by this simple contrivance the negroes and Indians frequently catch very large quantities. Amongst those taken lately, were the logo-logo and matuary. The first is a species of eel, and is sometimes two feet long, and very thick; dark blue on the back and sides, but whitish on the belly: it is extremely fat, and very good eating. The other is a small sweet fish without scales; but one thing very remarkable is, that in Surinam most fishes, the moment they are out of the water, begin to make a noise, not unlike the grunting of a small pig: and that fish have hearing (after many doubts and disputes) has of late been clearly demonstrated by the most able inquirers into the history of nature [33].

Having on the 23d dined at the estate Knoppemonbo, I will also mention two birds, which attracted my particular attention. The one on account of the very great peculiarity of its nest; it is called in this country lipee-banana, as supposed to feed much on the ripe bananas. Whether this is the mock-bird of Dr. Bancroft, I know not, but in some particulars it approaches his description.

These birds that I speak of had taken possession of a large tree near the water-side, which the negroes told me they had frequented undisturbed for many years; they were at least above two hundred in number, about the size of English thrushes, some were a shining black, with the tails and part of the wings of a bright crimson; the others were also black, but their tails and wings of a fine yellow colour. The first I was informed were the males, and the latter the females of the same species: they indeed whistled a variety of notes, but neither had that melody or imitation of other songsters, which is so generally ascribed to the mock-bird, and which, besides, I never heard mentioned in Surinam. These birds had their nests (above threescore in number) fixed to the extremity of the branches, where they were dangling in the wind, resembling egg-nets stuffed with hay, of which, indeed, they were built; and about the middle of them there was a small hole, at which the birds enter and go out. The bottom is built wide, and perfectly round; there they lay their eggs, and hatch their young ones, while the spiral roof protects them from birds of prey, and from the weather. But what is of more consequence, the monkeys, which are so numerous in this country, are, by such a situation, prevented from destroying them, since the branches or twigs from which they depend, though strong enough to support the nests, and what is in them, are too weak to bear the load of more weighty invaders; and, for greater security, I may add, they are mostly built depending over water.—(See the nests in Plate XLV.) The other bird which I shot in returning home, was the Surinam falcon or hawk. Its size and shape was like those of the same species in England: its colour light brown, variegated on the breast and tail with specks of red, black, and yellow; its tongue was cloven, its eyes remarkably bright, its legs a citron colour, and its talons armed with long and sharp-pointed claws. This bird is exceedingly destructive to the plantations, committing great ravages amongst the poultry, &c.

But I must once more return to the operations of our commander in chief, who having rested a few days at Magdenberg, again marched, on Christmas-day, with the remaining handful of his men, to the Jew Savannah, whence he returned (having seen nothing) back to Magdenberg, with the new title of being himself the wandering Jew. This did not prevent me and Major Medlar from renewing our solicitations to accompany him in his expeditions; but we were still prevented by his going to town, where about this time a fresh supply of troops was hourly expected to arrive from Europe. At last, however, he gave me leave to follow him, with some other officers who were actually in want, at a time when fifteen hogsheads of fine claret, and fifteen thousand florins in specie, were waiting his commands at Paramaribo.

CHAP. XV.

Description of the Indians, Aborigines of Guiana—Their
Food—Arms—Ornaments—Employments—Diversions—Passions—Religion—Marriages—Funerals,
&c.—Of the Caribbee Indians in particular—Their Trade with the
Europeans.

On the 18th of January 1774, I at last bid farewell to the Hope, of which I am convinced the reader by this time is as tired as I have been. Thence rowing down, I slept at the estate Arentlust, and next day dined at the beautiful plantation Catwyk. In this place I had nearly ended all my travels; for Mr. Goetzee, the owner, having lent me one of his horses to ride round the estate, the animal and I both at once disappeared: a wooden bridge over which we passed being rotten, the part under us gave way, and we dropped through into the canal. With much exertion however (being alone) I got ashore, and having run to call some negroes, the horse, which stuck in the mud, was (though with great difficulty) extricated.

In the evening I rowed to Paramaribo with the ebb tide, which gave me an opportunity of seeing the mangroves that line the banks of the river Surinam full of oysters, stuck in the branches like fruit, from the water’s edge up to high-water mark. These oysters attaching themselves to trees as they do to rocks, has given rise to the vulgar error that they grow, or vegetate like fruit; but it is not more extraordinary that they should stick on any one substance than on another, for many species of shell-fish are as commonly found to adhere to ships’ bottoms as to rocks. These oysters, which at some distance look like mushrooms, are, indeed, very small and trifling; for one hundred are not comparable to one dozen that come from Colchester. In Surinam are also a kind of muscles, but these are so small and insipid, that they are scarcely worthy of mention.

The day after my arrival I visited the governor: as also Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. Lolkens, Mrs. De Melley, &c. who all congratulated me on my acquaintance with Mr. De Graav, and highly honoured me, and approved of what I had done for my Mulatto and her infant.

On the 22d, our few remaining troops being mostly at Paramaribo, a Mr. Van Eys gave an entertainment to the whole corps.

On the 25th a great number of Indians, or natives, arrived at Paramaribo; which afforded me an opportunity of seeing and describing this people, who are the aborigines of the country. These Indians, who appear the happiest creatures under the sun, are divided into many casts or tribes, such as the

Caribbees, Arrowouks,
Accawaus, Taiiras, and
Worrows, Piannacotaus;

besides which, there are many others whose manners are unknown to us. All these tribes of Indians are in general of a copper-colour; while the negroes of Africa, that live under the same degree of latitude, are perfectly black. This, however inconceivable it may appear, is easily accounted for, when one considers, first, that the American Indians in Guiana are constantly refreshed by the cooling sea breeze, or easterly wind, that blows between the tropics; and that those who dwell in Terra-Firma and Peru, on the West coast, enjoy that same easterly breeze, still kept cool by the great chain of inland mountains over which it passes, and which have their summits perpetually covered with snow. While the inhabitants of Africa, south of the river Senegal, get the same east wind rather heated than cooled, by the prodigious quantity of inland, hot, sandy deserts over which it passes.

These are the most probable reasons why the Americans are of a copper-colour or red, and the inhabitants of Africa, called Negroes, are black, viz. the one being more burnt by the sun than the other, and not because they are two distinct races of people: since no person who examines and reflects, can avoid seeing that there is but one race of people on the earth, who differ from each other only according to the soil and the climate in which they live. I am further of opinion, that these aborigines, or Indian natives, will appear to have still less title to be called a distinct people from those of the old continent, when we consider the proximity of Russia to North America, whence apparently they have emigrated, and hitherto but thinly peopled the New World, the Mexicans and a few others excepted, till they were butchered by Spanish avarice and superstition. A happy people I call them still, whose peace and genuine morals have not been contaminated with European vices; and whose errors are only the errors of ignorance, and not the rooted depravity of a pretended civilization, and a spurious and mock Christianity.

“Lo! the poor Indian, whose untutor’d mind
Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind
His soul, proud science never taught to stray,
Far as the solar walk, or milky way;
Yet simple nature to his hope has giv’n,
Behind the cloud-topt hill, an humbler heav’n;
Some safer world, in depth of woods embrac’d,
Some happier island in the wat’ry waste;
Where slaves once more their native land behold,
No fiends torment, no Christians thirst for gold.
To be, contents his natural desire,
He asks no Angel’s wing, no Seraph’s fire;
But thinks, admitted to that equal sky,
His faithful dog shall bear him company.
Go, wiser thou! and, in thy scale of sense,
Weigh thy opinion against Providence.”

For my part I must say, with Socrates, that this kind of poverty is alone the truest kind of riches; as those who want least approach nearest to the gods, who want nothing. This naturally leads me to the speech of an Indian, in reply to a sermon preached by a Swedish minister at an Indian treaty, held at Covestogue, of which the principal substance was as follows:

“Do you then really believe, that we and our forefathers are all, as you would teach us, condemned to suffer eternal torments in another world, because we have not been taught your mysterious novelties? Are we not the work of God? And can the Almighty not manifest his will without the help of a book? If this is true, and God is just, then how is it consistent with his justice to force life upon us without our consent, and then to condemn us all to eternal damnation, because we did not meet with you. No, Sir, we are convinced that the Christians are more depraved in their morals than we Indians, if we may judge of their doctrines by the general badness of their lives.”

There cannot indeed be a more laudable undertaking, than the endeavour to engraft divine truths on the pure minds of these innocent people, so worthy of instruction; but I fear, and it is too observable, that the words of one good man will have but little effect, when the practice of the far greater number of Moravian preachers settled amongst them on the banks of the Seramica rivers, where they endeavour to convert the negroes as well as the Indians, is in direct contradiction to his life and precepts.

All the Guiana Indians believe in God as the supreme author of every good, and never inclined to do them an injury; but they worship the devil, whom they call Yawahoo, to prevent his afflicting them with evil, and to whom they ascribe pain, disease, wounds, and death; and where an Indian dies, in order to avert future fatality, the whole family, soon after, leave the spot as a place of residence.

The Guiana Indians are a perfectly free people, that is, they have no division of land, and are without any government, excepting that in most families the oldest acts as captain, priest, and physician, to whom they pay a reverential obedience: these men are called Peii or Pagayers, and, as in some civilized nations, live better than all others.

Polygamy is admitted among them, and every Indian is allowed to take as many wives as he can provide for, though he generally takes but one, of whom he is extremely jealous, and whom he knocks on the head the moment he receives a decided proof of her incontinency. These Indians never beat their children on any account whatever, nor give them any education, except in hunting, fishing, running, and swimming; yet they never use abusive language to each other, nor steal; and a lye is totally unknown among them. To which I may add, that no people can be more grateful when treated with civility, of which I shall in future relate a remarkable instance: but I must not forget that, on the other hand, they are extremely revengeful, especially when, as they suppose, they are injured without just provocation.

The only vices with which to my knowledge they are acquainted, if such amongst them they may be called, are excessive drinking when opportunity offers, and an unaccountable indolence: an Indian’s only occupation, when he is not hunting or fishing, being to lounge in his hammock, picking his teeth, plucking the hairs from his beard, examining his face in a bit of broken looking-glass, &c.

The Indians in general are a very cleanly people, bathing twice or thrice every day in the river, or the sea. They have all thick hair, which never turns grey, and the head never becomes bald; both sexes pluck out every vestige of hair on their bodies, that on the head only excepted: it is of a shining black, which the men wear short, but the women very long, hanging over the back and shoulders to their middle; as if they had studied the scriptures, where it is said that long hair is an ornament to a woman, but a disgrace to a man.

The Guiana Indians are neither tall, strong, nor muscular: but they are straight, active, and generally in a good state of health. Their faces have no expression whatever, that of a placid good-nature and content excepted; and their features are beautifully regular, with small black eyes, thin lips, and very white teeth. However, all the Guiana Indians disfigure themselves more or less by the use of arnotta or rocow, by them called cosowee, and by the Dutch orlean. The seeds of the arnotta being macerated in the juice of lemon, and mixed with water, and gum that exudes from the mawna tree, or with the oil of castor, composes a scarlet paint, with which all the Indians anoint their bodies, and even the men their hair, which gives their skin the appearance of a boiled lobster; they also rub their naked bodies with caraba or crab-oil. This, it must be allowed, is extremely useful in scorching climates, where the inhabitants of both sexes go almost naked. One day, laughing at a young man who came from the neighbourhood of Cayenne, he answered me in French, saying, “My skin, sir, is kept soft, too great perspiration is prevented, and the musquitoes do not sting me as they do you: besides its beauty, this is the use of my painting red. Now what is the reason of your painting white?” [meaning powder in the hair] “You are, without any reason, wasting your flour, dirtying your coat, and making yourself look grey before your time.”

These Indians also make use of a deep purple blue, which they call tapowripa; but this is purely for ornament, and is absolutely indelible for about nine days. It is the juice of a fruit in size like a small apple that grows on the lawna tree, and which is bruised and macerated in water. With this these people make figures on their faces, and all over their bodies, resembling hieroglyphicks, like those that were a few years since called à la Grec in Europe, and are still cut in coal-grates, fenders, &c. But for a more correct idea I must refer the reader to the annexed plate, where the children alone are not painted. So very permanently does this paint adhere to the skin, that one of our officers, who could not believe the fact, having by way of a frolic made a pair of enormous whiskers with it on his face, was obliged, to our great amusement, to parade Paramaribo with them for above a week, and wait till they gradually disappeared.

The only dress worn by these Indians consists of a slip of black or blue cotton worn by the men to cover their nakedness, and called camisa; something like that of the negroes. Being wound round their loins, it passes through between their thighs, and the ends of it, which are very long, they either throw over their shoulders, or negligently let them trail on the ground. For the same purpose, the women wear an apron of cotton, with party-coloured glass beads strung upon it, which they call queiou. This covering is of no great size, being only about one foot in breadth by eight inches in length, ornamented with fringes, and fastened round the waist with cotton strings; but being heavy, though of no larger dimensions, it answers all the purposes for which it was intended. Many also wear a girdle made of human hair round their waist, through which, before and behind, they fasten a square broad piece of black cotton, but lighter, and without a train, like the camisa of the men: both sexes wearing these belts or girdles so low, that they almost slide down over their buttocks, and make their bodies appear wonderfully long.