Chapter XV: Page 378 (7)

On the 22d, the governor sent me a cotton twig, which I copied; and as I cannot have a better opportunity, I will now proceed to a description of that useful plant, which has only been cultivated in Surinam from about the year 1735, but not with advantage till about the years 1750 or 1752. There are several species of the cotton-tree, but I shall confine myself to that which is the most common and the most useful in this colony. This species of cotton, which grows upon a tree about six or eight feet high, bears before it is a year old, and produces two crops annually, each of about twenty ounces in weight; the leaves are something like those of the vine, of a bright green, and the fibres of a cinnamon colour. The cotton-balls, some of which are as large as a small hen’s egg, and divided in three parts, grow on a very long stalk, and in a triangular pod, which is first produced by a yellow flower, and when ripe opens of itself, and discloses the globular contents as white as flakes of snow; in the middle of these are contained small black seeds, formed not unlike those that are usually found in grapes. The cotton will prosper in any of the tropical soils, and produces a good profit if the crops are not spoiled by a too long rainy season, being cultivated with very little trouble and expence: all indeed that is required is, to plant the seeds at a little distance from each other, when each seed, as I have said, produces the first year it is put in the ground. The separation of the seeds from the pulp, is the work of one man only, by the help of a machine made for the purpose; after which the cotton has undergone all the necessary process, and is put in bales of between three and four hundred pounds weight each for transportation, which bales ought to be well moistened at the time of stowing it, to prevent the cotton from sticking to the canvas. In the year before my arrival in Surinam, near three thousand bales of cotton were exported from this colony to Amsterdam and Rotterdam alone, which produced about forty thousand pounds sterling. The best estates make twenty-five thousand pounds weight. The average prices have been from eight pence to twenty-two pence per pound. The raw material is spun in the West Indies by a rock and spindle, and extremely fine, when by the negro girls it is knit into stockings, &c. one pair of which are sometimes sold for the price of a Portuguese joe, or sometimes for two guineas. The Indians or natives of Guiana make very good hammocks of cotton, which they barter with the inhabitants at Paramaribo for other commodities.—In the annexed plate A is the twig itself, B the pod, C the cotton-ball, and D the seed, but on a smaller scale than nature. I should here also describe the coffee, cacao, sugar, and indigo plantations, but must reserve them till another occasion, having made it a rule to speak of things only as they occur, which is more pleasant to myself, and better adapted to diversify my narrative.

Being now perfectly recovered, I resolved to join Colonel Fourgeoud at the Wana Creek, without waiting his orders, and to accompany him on his excursions through the forest: in consequence of which, having first cropt my hair, as being more convenient in the woods as well as more cleanly, and provided myself with the necessary bush-equipage, such as jackets, trowsers, &c.; I waited on the governor to ask his commands; he entertained me in a most polite manner, and told me, that what I was now going to suffer would surpass what I had already undergone. I nevertheless persisted in wishing to go without waiting an order from the chief, and accordingly applied to the magistrates for a boat, and the necessary negroes to transport me; which being promised for the succeeding day, I transferred the colours and regiment’s cash, with the command of the remaining sick troops, to Lieutenant Meyer, the only healthy officer then at Paramaribo.

Indeed the colours, the cash, and the sick soldiers were nearly of equal use in Surinam, the first never having been displayed except at our landing, the second invisible to all except to Colonel Fourgeoud, and the third dying away one after another.

CHAP. X.

Colonel Fourgeoud marches to the Wana Creek—Harasses the
Enemy—Account of the Manicole Tree, with its various Uses—March to
the Mouth of Cormoetibo River—Some Rebels taken—Shocking treatment
of a wounded captive Negro.

On the 25th of October, being ready to proceed upon my second campaign, I repaired to the water-side at six o’clock in the evening; where, instead of a tent boat, I found a greasy yawl, with a few drunken Dutch sailors, to row me to an estate in the river Comewina, whence they were going to bring their captain back to Paramaribo, and from which place I might, if I pleased, beg the rest of my passage upwards, or manage for myself in the best manner I was able. I had already one foot in the boat, when, reflecting that I was going voluntarily on a hazardous expedition, without orders, and only from a desire to serve an ungrateful people, I repented, and stepped back upon the shore, where, positively declaring I would not move in their defence till I should be decently transported, should the whole colony be on fire, I was seconded by all the English and Americans in the town, and a general tumult took place. The Dutch exclaimed against the expence of a tent-boat which would cost them thirty shillings, when they could have the other for nothing; while the others declared they were a set of mean and parsimonious wretches, who deserved not the smallest protection from Colonel Fourgeoud’s troops. A mob collected, and a riot ensued, before Mr. Hardegen’s tavern, at the water-side, while hats, wigs, bottles, and glasses, flew out at his windows. The magistrates were next sent for, but to no purpose: and the fighting continued in the street till ten o’clock at night, when I with my friends fairly kept the field, having knocked down several sailors, planters, Jews, and overseers, and lost one of my pistols, which I threw after the rabble in a passion; nor would it have ended here, had not my friend Mr. Kennedy, who was member of the Court of Policy, and two or three more gentlemen whom he brought with him, found means to appease the disputants, by declaring I had been very ill treated, and should have a proper boat the next day.

Having now slept and refreshed myself a few hours, I was waited on by four American captains, viz. Captain Timmons of the Harmony, Captain Lewis of the Peggy, Captain Bogard of the Olive Branch, and Captain Minet of the America, who insisted on my refusing any vessel whatever from the colony this time, and offering to send me up in one of their own boats, manned by their own sailors only, to which each would equally contribute. I can aver, that notwithstanding the threatening rupture between Great Britain and her Colonies, which seemed then upon the eve of breaking out into open violence, nothing could surpass the warm and cordial friendship which these gentlemen possessed, not only for me, but for every individual that bore a British name, or had any connexion with that island; professing, that they still retained the greatest regard for every thing in Britain, but its administration. I accepted of their very polite proposal; after which, having received a letter from Mr. Kennedy, to be delivered to one of the militia captains, a Mr. N. Reeder, in the river Comewina, with orders to send me farther up in a proper tent-boat; and having arranged matters in such a manner at home, that neither Colonel Fourgeoud nor the cock-roaches could injure me, I shook hands with my Mulatta, and at six in the evening repaired once more to the water-side, escorted by my English and American friends, where, having drank a bowl of punch, we separated. I then departed for my station, they having hoisted the colours on board all their vessels in the road, and at the boat’s going off saluted me with three cheers, to my great satisfaction, and the mortification of the gaping multitude by which we were surrounded. We soon rowed beyond the view of Paramaribo.

Being arrived at the fortress of New Amsterdam, we were obliged to stop for the return of the tide, to row up the river Comewina. In this interval, I was genteelly entertained with a supper by the Society officers quartered there; but at twelve o’clock we got aboard, and having rowed all night, I breakfasted with Captain Macneyl, who was one of General Spork’s captains in 1751; after which we once more set out, and arrived at the plantation Charlottenburgh, where I delivered Mr. Kennedy’s letter to Mr. Reeder, who promised next morning to assist me. So much incensed was I at the usage I had met with at Paramaribo, and so well pleased with the English sailors, that I ordered the tars a dinner of twelve roasted ducks, and gave them thirty-six bottles of claret, being my whole stock, besides a guinea. With the ebb tide they took their leave, and rowed down to their vessels, as well pleased, and as drunk as wine or strong spirits could make them.

I now pursued my voyage upwards as far as the estate Mondesir; afterwards, having viewed the ruins of the three estates, Zuzingheyd, Peru, and L’Esperance, which had been burnt when I commanded at Devil’s Harwar, I arrived at Lepair. Here one of the overseers gave me an account of his miraculous escape from the rebels, which I shall relate in his own words.—“The rebels, Sir,” said he, “had already surrounded the dwelling-house in which I was, before I knew of their being in the plantation, and were employed in setting fire to the four corners of it, so that to run out of doors was rushing on certain death. In this dilemma I fled to the garret, where I laid myself flat upon one of the beams, in hopes of their dispersing soon, and that I might effect my escape before the building should be burnt down; but in this I was disappointed, as they still remained; and at the same time the flames encreased so fast, that the heat became insupportable in the place where I was, and I had no other alternative left, than to be burnt to death, or to leap from a high garret window into the midst of my exasperated enemies. This last measure, however, I resolved upon, and had not only the good fortune to light unhurt upon my feet, but to escape without a wound, from among so many men armed with sabres and bill-hooks. I flew to the river-side, into which I plunged headlong; however, not being able to swim, I immediately sunk to the bottom; but (said he) I still kept my full presence of mind, and while they concluded me to be drowned, found means, by the help of the moco-moco and mangrove roots, to bring myself not only under cover of the impending verdure, but just so far above water with my lips as to continue in a state of respiration till all was over. Having killed every other person, the rebels departed, and I was taken up by a boat from my very perilous situation.”

On the 30th I arrived at Devil’s Harwar, and the succeeding day rowed up the Cormoetibo Creek; where, having tied the boat to a tree which overspread it with thick branches, we quietly lay down to sleep during the night; myself and Quaco in the boat upon the benches, and the negroes under the seats, except those whom I ordered alternately to keep watch, and awake me if they heard the least rustling in the woods, forbidding them all absolutely to speak or make any noise, lest the rebels, who were hovering on both sides of the Creek, might hear and surprize us. As for myself, who was the only white person amongst them all, I was confident I should not, in such a case, escape their fury. After these precautions, we all lay down and slept soundly, from nine o’clock till about three in the morning, at which time Quaco and myself were both suddenly thrown down from our benches, by the boat all at once heeling upon one side, while all the negroes leaped overboard into the water. I instantly cocked my pistol, and jumping up, asked aloud what was the matter? positively determined to defend myself to the last extremity, rather than be taken alive by so relentless an enemy. For the space of a few seconds I obtained no answer, when again the boat suddenly rectifying itself (by the motion of which I was thrown off my feet) one of the swimming negroes called out, “Masera, da wan sea-cow;” and to my great happiness it proved to be no other than the manati, or sea-cow, which is called in Cayenne the lamentyn. By the account of the negroes it had slept under the boat, which, by the creature’s awaking, had been lifted up and thrown upon one side, and again replaced when the manati made its escape from underneath it. I did not so much as see the creature, nor indeed hardly had the negro, owing to the darkness of the night, which lasted some hours after; but during that time we had no further inclination to rest. At last the sun’s bright beams began to dart through the trees and gild the foliage; on which we cast off from our moorings, and continued rowing up Cormoetibo Creek (which was now very narrow) till near noon, when we discovered a smoak, and at last came to the mouth of the Wana Creek, which runs into the Marawina, and which was the place of rendezvous, where however the troops were not yet arrived; and opposite to which were encamped a few of the rangers, to guard the provisions that were waiting the arrival of Colonel Fourgeoud and his party from Crawassibo, and last from Patamaca.

One of the rangers having killed a tattu or armadillo, called in Surinam capasce, I shall embrace this opportunity of describing it.—This animal is with propriety sometimes stiled a hog-in-armour; its head and ears being much like those of a roasting pig, and its whole body covered over with hard shells like shields, sliding in moveable rings, like those of the quee-quee fish already mentioned, the one over the other, except on the shoulders and the rump, which are covered something like turtle, with one solid mass of unmoveable bone, called by some a cuirass and a helmet. Of this creature there are many species in Guiana, the largest being from the snout to the tip of the tail above three feet in length, of a reddish colour, and marked all over with hexangular figures. Its eyes are small, the tail long and thick at the root, and tapering gradually like a carrot towards the point, and is covered over like the body with moveable rings. This animal has four short legs with four toes, armed with two claws on the fore-feet, and five on those behind. The armadillo walks generally during the night, being seldom seen through the day, and sleeps in burrows under ground, which it makes with great facility, and in which it sticks so fast that the strongest man cannot draw it out, though he were to pull its tail with both hands. When attacked or terrified, it forms itself into a round ball like a hedge-hog, making its cuirass and helmet meet together, in which are enclosed its head, feet, and whole body. This creature feeds on roots, insects, fruits, birds, &c. and when dressed appeared to me a tolerably good dish, though in general by Europeans it is accounted no great delicacy; the Indians are, however, extremely fond of it.

I shall, in this place, also take the opportunity of mentioning the Guiana porcupine, which is frequently called here the adjora. This animal, which is from its muzzle to the root of the tail sometimes three feet in length, is covered with hard prickles, the feet, the face, and part of its tail excepted. These prickles are about three inches long, yellow at the root, a dark chesnut colour in the middle, and white at the points; they are extremely sharp, highly polished, and moveable, serving for the creature’s defence, which, when irritated, it dresses in array, and makes a formidable appearance before its adversary; at other times these prickles lie flat on its back, something like the bristles of a hog. The head of the porcupine is of a roundish make, and joined to the body by a remarkably thick short neck; its eyes are large, bright, and placed under the ears, which are very small and round; it never bites. On each side of its nose it has long whiskers, very like the otter or the cat; its feet are shaped much like those of a monkey, which assist it in climbing trees to seek for its food, in which its long tapering tail is also very serviceable, which, like a fifth limb, it twists about the branches, and which near the extremity is covered over with hair like the face, the under part near the tip only excepted, which is perfectly callous and black, as are also the inside of all its feet. The hedge-hog of this country is, I think, little different from that of the old continent, being about eight or ten inches in length, covered over with pale yellow prickles, but with hair on the face and under the belly, which is rather softer and longer than in the hedge-hog of Europe. It has dark brown spots like eye-brows over its eyes, and no ears but auditory holes, and five toes with bended claws on each foot; its tail is very short, and its defence consists in forming itself into a round ball in the manner of the armadillo. Its food consists of fruit, roots, vegetables, insects, &c. and its flesh is not disesteemed by the Indians or natives of the country.

Colonel Fourgeoud not having yet arrived, I amused myself with swimming, and paddling up the mouth of the deep Wana Creek, with a canoe; during which time a Mr. Rulagh, one of our officers who was with me, observed (in the top of a mangrove-tree) a battle between a snake and a frog; and for an additional proof that frogs are to be found in trees, I refer the reader to the Monthly Review for March 1785, page 199, where, in the Abbé Spallanzani’s Dissertation upon Frogs, the Tree Frog is particularly mentioned. But finding this animal amongst the branches did not so much excite my surprize, as the contest between a snake and a frog, which I shall distinctly relate, and in which the poor frog lost the battle. Indeed when I first perceived him, his head and shoulders were already in the jaws of the snake, which last appeared to me about the size of a large kitchen poker, and had its tail twisted round a tough limb of the mangrove; while the frog, who appeared to be the size of a man’s fist, had laid hold of a twig with the claws of its hinder legs, as with hands. In this position were they contending, the one for life, the other for his dinner, forming one straight line between the two branches, and thus I beheld them for some time, apparently stationary, and without a struggle. Still I was not without hope, that the poor frog might extricate himself by his exertions; but the reverse was the case, for the jaws of the snake gradually relaxing, and by their elasticity forming an incredible orifice, the body and fore-legs of the frog by little and little disappeared, till finally nothing more was seen than the hinder feet and claws, which were at last disengaged from the twig, and the poor creature was swallowed whole by suction down the throat of his formidable adversary, whence he was drawn some inches farther down the alimentary canal, and at last stuck, forming a knob or knot at least six times as thick as the snake, whose jaws and throat immediately contracted and re-assumed their former natural shape. The snake being out of our reach, we could not kill him, as we wished to do, to take a further examination. Thus we left him, continuing in the same attitude without moving, and twisted round the branch.

On the third of November, one party of the troops being arrived, and encamped on the south-west side of the Cormoetibo Creek, about one mile above the mouth of the Wana Creek, I went with a couple of rangers to pay them a visit; when Major Rughcop, the commanding officer, informed me that Colonel Fourgeoud had marched last from Patamaca in two columns, of which he led the one, while the other was hourly expected; and that the rest of the regiment was divided between the rivers Cottica, Perica, and Comewina, excepting those that were sick in the hospital at Paramaribo. I was now in excellent health and good spirits; and in the hopes of being reconciled to Fourgeoud by this voluntary proof of my zeal for the service, I returned to the rangers’ camp to wait his arrival. I was indeed well acquainted with his irreconcileable temper, and at the same time conscious of my own wild and ungovernable disposition, when I thought myself ill treated; but soon forgot trifling injuries, and was now determined, by my active and affable behaviour, to make him my friend if possible.

At length the wished-for hour arrived; and being apprized of Colonel Fourgeoud’s approach, I went half a mile from the camp to meet him, acquainting him that I was come pour participer de la gloire, and to serve under his immediate command, which he having answered with a bow, I returned it, and we marched together to the rangers’ camp.

The occurrences in this march were the troops taking from the enemy three villages, particularly one called the Rice Country, on account of the great quantity of rice which was found there, some ripe and some in full blossom, which we totally destroyed, after putting the rebels to flight. These were commanded by one Bonny, a relentless Mulatto, who was born in the forest, and was quite unconnected with Baron’s party, which had lately been driven from Boucou. We further learned that they had found seven human skulls stuck upon stakes, under which lay mouldering the bodies above ground, and part of the garments, (as may be seen in the annexed plate) and which proved them to be the remains of the unfortunate Lieutenant Lepper, with six of his unhappy men, most of whom being taken alive, had one by one been stripped naked by the rebel negroes at the arrival in their village, and (for the recreation of their wives and children) by Bonny’s orders flogged to death. This information we got from a rebel woman, who had been made a prisoner by Fourgeoud on his march through the above village or rice condre, and whom we treated with every kindness.

This inhuman conduct in Bonny was directly opposite to that of Baron, who, notwithstanding all his threats and menaces, it was well known had sent back to Paramaribo different soldiers, whom he might have killed. He even assisted in concealing them from his enraged accomplices, and furnished them with provisions, perfectly sensible that they were not the cause of the disturbance. But not a ranger, as I have said before, that had the misfortune to fall into his hands could escape his ungovernable fury.

On further conversation, we found that the whole party, being nearly starved, had conjunctly called out for bread, as it was known that there was plenty in the boxes, but that it had been kept back three days, and rice served out in its stead. To suppress this kind of mutiny, the officers had rushed in amongst the men with cocked pistols and drawn swords, and indiscriminately laying hold of the first in their way, had unluckily seized a poor man named Schmidt, whom, notwithstanding all the others averred to be innocent, they had, for an example to the rest, bastonaded between two corporals, till the blood gushed out of his mouth like a fountain;—and thus ended the revolt. One of the conductors, named Mangol, disdaining at all to serve under Colonel Fourgeoud’s command, had left him without asking his consent, after which he forsook the service entirely. These were the particulars of the march in both columns, from Crawassibo in Comewina to the Wana Creek.

Whilst I was now about noon resting in my hammock very contentedly, I was accosted by my friend Lieutenant Campbell, who acquainted me, with tears in his eyes, that the evening before Colonel Fourgeoud had given to the officers of the Surinam Society, not only of that brave and gallant corps the Scots brigade in the Dutch service, but of the British in general, the most unmerited character that could be invented. I immediately started up; and having got Campbell’s information confirmed, went to Fourgeoud, and asked him in public the cause of this unmanly slander. He replied with a stare, that his observations only regarded my petticoat-trowsers, which I wore for coolness and conveniency, as many British seamen do, and which he had never seen on the mountains of Switzerland. But as to the rest of what was said respecting us, he laid it totally to the charge of Mr. Stoelman, captain of the Cottica militia, who was absent. Thus I could only answer by denouncing, in the severest terms, vengeance upon this assassin of our reputation; and after promising to transform my short trowsers into long ones, we coolly separated.

An hour however after this, I received a sudden order to cross the Cormoetibo River, and be henceforth under the command of Major Rughcop, who was with his party or column at this time encamped on the south-side at the mouth of Wana Creek. “Force is indeed the ruling principle in military affairs,” says a certain author; and, upon the whole, could the ingenious advice given to a commander in chief, as published in a late pamphlet, have been read by Colonel Fourgeoud, I must have imagined he had studied it, sentence after sentence, since nothing could better correspond with his general character.

Being arrived in Major Rughcop’s camp, and having got a couple of negroes to serve me, the next measure was to build a hut, or, more properly speaking, a shed over my hammock, to keep me free from the rain and the sun, which was done within the space of one hour. As these huts are of very material and of general use in tropical marches and campaigns, where no tents can be pitched, and where (as I have seen, so many thousands of these temporary erections) I will describe the manner in which they are constructed, being not only extremely curious, but very useful on different occasions—curious, because neither hammers nor nails, nor indeed any kind of carpenter’s tools are required; a strong cutlass or bill-hook being all that is wanted,—and useful, as they are instantly raised, and form not only lasting, but the most delightful and convenient habitations, with even two stories, one above the other, if required.—For these erections not more than two articles are wanting; the first the manicole, by the French called latanie, and here parasalla, or the pine-tree; and the second the nebees, called by the French liannes, by the Spaniards bejucos, and in Surinam tay-tay.

The manicole-tree, which is of the palm-tree species, is mostly found in marshy places, and is always a proof of a rich and luxurious soil. It is about the thickness of a man’s thigh, very strait, and grows to the height of from thirty to fifty feet from the ground: the trunk, which is jointed at the distance of two or three feet, is of a light-brown colour, hard externally for the thickness of half an inch, but pithy, like the English elder, and good for nothing within, except near the top, where the wood becomes green, and incloses a delicious kind of white fruit, called cabbage, and which, being peculiar to all the palm-trees, I shall on another occasion amply describe. On the top of all this the manicole-tree spreads in beautiful green boughs, with leaves hanging strait downwards like silk ribbons, which form a kind of umbrella. The manner of using it for building huts or cottages, is by cutting the trunk in pieces of as many feet long as you wish to have the partition high; for instance, seven feet, which pieces are next split into small boards, the breadth of a man’s hand, and divested of their pithy substance, and then they are fit for immediate use. Having cut and prepared as many of these laths as you wanted to surround the dwelling, nothing remains but to lash them in a perpendicular position and close to each other to two cross bars of the same tree fixed to the corner posts, and the whole is cut and shaped with the bill-hook alone, and tied together by the nebees or tay-tay, which I think have derived their name from our verb to tie, since the English had possession of the colony. The nebees are a kind of ligneous ropes of all sizes, both as to length and thickness, that grow in the woods, and climb up along the trees in all directions: they are so plentiful and wonderfully dispersed, that, like the ligneous cordage of the mangrove, they make the forest appear like a large fleet at anchor, killing many of the trees by mere compression, and entwining themselves with each other to the thickness of a ship’s cable, without any kind of foliage, which gives them sometimes a wonderful appearance, particularly when ascending lofty trunks in a spiral manner to the top, from which they next hang down to the earth, take root, and re-ascend. Sometimes the thin nebees are so closely interwoven, that they have the appearance of fishing nets, and game cannot get through them. These nebees are exceedingly tough, and may be used for mooring large vessels to the shore. Having only to add, that some of the species are poisonous, especially those that are flat, grooved, or angular, I shall proceed to the roofing of the cottage.

This is done by the green boughs or branches of the same manicole-tree that made the walls, and in the following manner: each bough, which I can compare to nothing so well as to the shape of a feather, and which is as large as a man, must be split from the top to the bottom in two equal parts, as you would split a pen, when a number of these half boughs are tied together by their own verdure, and form a bunch; you next take these bunches, and tie them with nebees one above another upon the roof of your cottage, as thick as you please, and in such a manner that the verdure, which looks like the mane of a horse, hangs downwards. This covering, which at first is green, but soon takes the colour of the English reed-thatching, is very beautiful, lasting and close, and finishes your house, as I have said, without the help of a hammer or nails; the doors and windows, tables, seats, &c. are made in the same manner, so are the inclosures for gardens, or other places for keeping cattle; and by this conveniency it is that the rebel negroes never want good houses, which, if burnt to ashes one day, are again perfectly rebuilt the next, though they never rebuild them exactly in the places where they have once been discovered by Europeans. The Indians, instead of the manicoles, generally cover their wigwams with tas or with trooly, of which I shall speak on another occasion. I ought not to forget, that the seeds of these trees are contained in a spatha, near the top, of thirty or forty knotty fibres, forming a species of broom, for which they are used throughout the colony; thus, while the manicole supplies the materials for a house, it affords also the means of keeping it clean. This tree produces also the cabbage, which, as I have said, is found in all the other palm-trees, &c. The hut that I now lay under was not built in the convenient manner above described; it was not requisite, for the short time we generally continued in one place: my habitation consisted only of a roof or cover without any walls. The manner of erecting these little sheds, which every private soldier builds for himself, is simply by planting four forked poles in the ground, at such a distance that a hammock can conveniently hang between them; next, to rest two short poles, strong enough to support the weight of the body in the above forks, the one at the head and the other at the feet, to which are fastened the clews of the hammock. On the other extremities of these are laid two long sticks, and on them again two short ones, and thus alternately two long and two short, all which diminish by degrees. When the whole is finished, the top must be covered with branches from the manicole, exactly as they grow, without either splitting or tying them, and as thick as the season may require.

When this temporary fabric is completely finished, it will not only keep dry both the inhabitants and their boxes, but (by the help of the nebees) fuzees, swords, pistols, &c. may be suspended from the rafters. As I have been describing the manicole, I am induced also to mention the cocoa-nut tree, as I think it resembles that more than any of the palm species. This tree, which is so much celebrated, as affording to man food, clothing, shelter, &c. possesses not, in my opinion, all those qualities, but still is well worthy of notice. It grows like the former, in a tall jointed trunk, sometimes from sixty to above eighty feet high, and is thick in proportion, but seldom perpendicularly straight: its bark is of a grey colour; the wood is hard without, but pithy within, like the elder in Great Britain; its branches are larger, and of a deeper green, than those of the manicole-tree, but are equally divided, with pinnated leaves on both sides, which in the other I compared to green ribbons; but they neither hang so straight downwards, nor are the branches regularly arched, which gives them the appearance of large feathers, and they spring up at the top, in proportion as they fade and go off at the bottom: the cocoa-tree also produces a cabbage at its summit, but is too valuable to be cut down for the sake of a prize so inadequate to the loss of its other produce. It bears the nuts when six or eight years old, after which period it is never seen without them; they grow usually six or eight on one stalk, which diverges from the heart of the tree; they are the size of a man’s head, but more conical. The nut, it is well known, when divested of its husk, is exceedingly hard, and requires a hammer to break it, or to be sawed through the middle to procure the nourishment it affords; when young, this consists of a white liquid, which I can compare to nothing better than to milk and water mixed with sugar, and which is an exceedingly cool and agreeable beverage; but at a riper period this is formed into a crisp kernel, which adheres close to the inside of the shell for about half an inch thick, while it remains perfectly hollow within. This kernel, which has a fine flavour, and tastes like the liquid, is good eating, as most of my readers have probably experienced.

In the plate annexed, A, is the manicole-tree; B, the trunk split into laths; C, the nebees to tie them together; D, the leaf split from the top downwards; and E, the same tied into bunches; F, is the cocoa-nut tree; G, the figure of one of its branches; H, the cocoa-nut in the green husk; and I, the same diverted of that outer substance.

But to proceed with my narrative.—While we continued in this station, one morning, being returned from a patrole, with twenty marines and twenty rangers, and sitting round a species of table to take some dinner with the other officers, I was rudely insulted by a Captain Meyland, of the Society troops, who, as I said, with Lieutenant Fredericy, had taken Boucou, and who was Colonel Fourgeoud’s countryman and friend. The affront consisted in Meyland’s handing round to each a drop of claret, he having indeed but one bottle left, and, in an impertinent manner, excepting me alone, although I held the glass in my hand to receive it. Justly suspecting this insult to originate from my commander in chief, rather than appear to seek a quarrel, I endeavoured to make an apology, telling him, I had inadvertently erred in holding out my glass, not imagining I was to be distinguished from the other officers; assuring him it was not for the value of his wine, which I politely relinquished to my next neighbour; but this concession had no other effect than to increase the wrath of my fierce adversary, who, apparently mistaking it for pusillanimity, became overbearing and scurrilous, in which he was seconded by all the other Swiss and Germans without exception. I said no more, and having tore away a wing of a boiled bird called powese, that stood before me (which bird had been shot by one of the rangers) I devoured it with little ceremony, and left the table, with a determination to support my character or die. Thus resolved, I first went to the hut of a sick soldier, whose sabre I borrowed (my own being broken) on pretence of going out to cut a few sticks; after this I went in quest of Mr. Meyland, and found him contentedly smoking his pipe by the water-side, looking at one of his friends who was angling. Having tapped him on the shoulder, I hastily told him, before the other, that now if he did not fight me that instant like a gentleman, I was determined to take revenge another way, with the flat of my sabre, where he stood. He at first declared that he had only meant a joke, and seemed for peace; but perceiving that I persisted, he with great sang froid knocked the tobacco-ashes from his pipe against the heel of his shoe; then having brought his sabre, we walked together without seconds about half a mile into the wood: here I stopt the captain short, and drawing my weapon, now desired him to stand on his defence; this he did, but at the same time observed, that as the point of his sword was broken off, we were unequally armed; and so indeed we were, his being still near one foot longer than my own; therefore calling to him that sabres were not made to thrust, but to cut with, I offered to make an exchange; but he refusing, I dropped mine on the ground, and eagerly with both hands endeavoured to wrest his from him, till (as I had hold of it by the blade) I saw the blood trickle down all my fingers, and I was obliged to let go. I now grasped my own sabre, with which I struck at him many times, but without the least effect, as he parried every blow with the utmost facility; at last, with all his force, he made a cut at my head, which, being conscious I could not ward off by my skill, I bowed under it, and at the same instant striking sideways for his throat, had the good fortune to make a gash in the thick part of his right arm at least six inches long, the two lips of which appeared through his blue jacket, and in consequence of which his right-hand came down dangling by his side. I had, however, not escaped entirely unhurt, for his sabre, having passed through my hat without touching my scull, had glanced to my right shoulder, and cut it about one inch deep. At this time I insisted on his asking my pardon, or on firing both our pistols left-handed; but he chose the first, which ended the battle. I now reminded him that such Swiss jokes were always too serious to Englishmen; when we shook hands, and I conducted him, covered with blood, to the surgeon of his own corps, who having sewed up the wound, he went to his hammock, and for the space of several weeks performed no duty. Thus was I reconciled to Captain Meyland; and what gave me the greatest satisfaction, was his acknowledging the affront was offered, as finding it would be agreeable to Fourgeoud to have me mortified; and indeed ever after this acknowledgment we lived in the utmost intimacy. Peace, however, was not yet decreed to be my lot, for that very afternoon I found myself under the necessity of challenging two other officers, who had espoused Meyland’s quarrel against me at dinner; but in this I had the satisfaction of establishing my character without violence or bloodshed, both of the gentlemen acknowledged their error; and I became at once the favourite of the camp.

On the 9th of November both columns met, and encamped together on the north side of the Wana Creek, near its mouth, where it runs into the Cormoetibo, placing advanced guards at both creeks, at one mile distance from it; and this very evening I took the opportunity of acquainting Colonel Fourgeoud, that I had nearly cut off the head of his beloved countryman in a duel (well knowing he must be informed of it by others); which trespass he was not only pleased graciously to pardon, but to tell me with a smile that I was a brave garçon, but in those smiles I put no more trust than I would in the tears of a crocodile.

My doubts of his friendship were soon confirmed, since my only true friend, Campbell, going down sick to Devil’s Harwar, he would not so much as allow the boat or ponkee to wait till I had finished a letter, directed to Joanna, for some clean linen; however, a ranger (of which corps I by this time was become a remarkable favourite) found means to enable me to overtake this poor young man in a corialla or small canoe, composed of one single piece of timber; when, shaking hands with Campbell, we separated with tears, and I never saw him more, for he died in a few days after. Colonel Fourgeoud now being determined to scour the north banks of the Cormoetibo, we broke up in two columns, viz. his own first, and that of Major Rughcop, to which last I still belonged, following; we left behind a strong guard, with the provisions for the sick. Before we set out, I shall specify the substance of our orders to be observed on a march, as issued since by the chief on the 15th of August 1774 at Caravassibo, and which, though nine months after this date, (being rather late) are so judicious, that they do infinite honour to his Adjutant Captain Van Giurike, who had the principal share in their composition: in

Article I. Quietness and sobriety was strongly recommended.

Article II. On pain of death none to fire without receiving orders.

Article III. Also death to whoever quits or loses his arms.

Article IV. The same punishment for those who dare to plunder while they are engaging the enemy.

Article V. An officer and serjeant to inspect the distribution of the victuals at all times; and

Article VI. Each officer to be limited in the number of his black attendants.

The other orders were, “That in case our marines marched in two or three divisions or columns, they were to mark the trees with a sabre or bill-hook, to give intelligence to each other where they had passed, in the manner noticed on Plate XX. where A, B, and C, denote the marks cut by our first, second, and third division or column, and D, E, and F, the marks made by the several divisions or columns of the troops of the Surinam society; which marks were to be cut in such trees only as were on the left side in marching. Also when the troops marched over sandy desarts, heaths, or savannahs, they were occasionally to drop small twigs or reeds, tied together in the form of a cross: and in each camp, on the troops leaving it, were to be left a bottle and blank paper; but if any thing particular should happen, the same to be specified thereon. In case of the troops being attacked on a march, a small entrenchment was to be formed of the baggage-boxes, at the back of which the negro slaves were to lie flat on the ground; and this entrenchment to be defended by the rear-guard only, while the other troops had orders not to linger on the defensive, but vigorously, with bayonets fixed, to rush in upon the enemy’s fire; nevertheless humanely giving quarter to all such as should be taken alive, or surrender themselves to the troops.” These were the stated rules of our future military conduct; but for the present I beg leave to observe, that every thing was in the most unaccountable hurry and confusion. In this way, however, we proceeded, keeping our course toward the mouth of the Cormoetibo Creek, each officer provided with a pocket compass, by which we were to steer, like sailors, through a dark wood, where nothing is to be seen but the heavens, as at sea nothing appears but clouds and water: thus those who were acquainted with navigation were the best qualified for marching, and ran the least hazard of losing themselves in a black unbounded forest. But those wretches who most deservedly attracted my pity, were the miserable negro slaves, who were bending under their loads; whose heads, on which they carry all burthens, bore the bald marks of their servitude;—they were driven forward like oxen, and condemned to subsist on half allowance, while they performed double drudgery. In short, to increase our misfortune, though in the dry season, the rains began to pour down from the heavens like a torrent, continuing all night: during this deluge (according to Colonel Fourgeoud’s order) we were all ordered to encamp without huts or other covering of any kind, slinging our hammocks between two trees, under which, upon two small forked sticks, were placed our fire-arms, as the only method of keeping the priming-powder dry in the pan; above this piece of architecture did I hang, like Mahomet betwixt the two loadstones, with my sabre and pistols in my bosom, and, in spite of wind and weather, fell most profoundly asleep.

On the 14th, at five o’clock in the morning, I was awaked by the sound of Up! up! up! when the rain still continuing, the half of the officers and men were sick, and I rose from my hammock soaked as in a wash-tub; having secured the lock of my firelock, in imitation of the rangers, with a piece of the bark of a palm-tree, and swallowing a dram, with a piece of dry rusk biscuit, for my breakfast, we again marched on. But I ought not to forget mentioning the negroes, who had the whole night slept in the water on the ground, and yet were in better health than any of the Europeans. Had we now been attacked by the enemy, we must inevitably have been all cut to pieces, being disabled from resisting with our firearms, in which not only the priming but even many of the cartridges were completely wet; this might have been prevented by having cased and waxed down our arms, as is practised by the buccaneers of America; but these were trifles not to be thought of: one thing, however, now happened which threatened to be no trifle, and that was, that the provisions were gone, and those we expected to meet us in the creek not arrived, having by some mistake been neglected. By this accident we were now reduced, officers and men without exception, to subsist on one rusk biscuit and water for our allowance for twenty-four hours, to keep us from starving [21]: while it is to be remarked, that Monsieur Laurant, our hero’s French valet-de-chambre, who had charge of the provision, was blown down to Baram’s point, and another time sunk with all the provisions; which produced the impertinent remark from some of the soldiers, that the devil had mistaken him for his master. In the midst however of this distress, we were again presented by one of the rangers with a large bird, called here boossy-calcoo, being a species of wild turkey; of this fortunate acquisition it was resolved in the evening to make broth, each throwing a piece of his rusk biscuit into the kettle, and (standing round the fire) beginning to ladle away as soon as the broth began to boil, which had another virtue, viz. notwithstanding its being put over at six o’clock in the evening, at twelve o’clock at midnight the kettle was just as full as the first moment we had begun supper, though the broth was rather weaker I must acknowledge, the heavy rain having dashed into it without intermission. During this severe storm we were as destitute of huts as the night before, but I availed myself once more of my English petticoat trowsers, which, loosening from my middle, I hung about my shoulders, and continuing to turn round before the fire (like a fowl roasting on a string) I passed the hours with rather more comfort than my miserable coughing companions. All I can say of the bird above mentioned is, that I thought it differed little from the common turkeys, which here frequently weigh above twenty pounds.

The largest bird in Guiana is there called tuyew, and by others emu. It is a middle species between the ostrich and the cassowary, as I was told, for I never saw one in the country: it is said to be about six feet high, from the top of the head to the ground; its head is small, its bill flat, the neck and limbs long, the body round, without a tail, and of a whitish grey colour; its thighs are remarkably thick and strong, and it has three toes on each foot, while the ostrich has but two. This bird, it is said, cannot fly at all, but runs very swiftly; and, like the ostrich, assists its motion with its wings: it is mostly found near the upper parts of the rivers Marawina and Seramica. When speaking about birds, notwithstanding few of them sing here with any degree of melody, for which the beauty of their plumage is thought by some to compensate; I was, during this march, so much charmed with two in particular, that I was induced to put their sweet notes to music. Those of the first Rather quick [Music]. The second slow [Music]. These notes they sung so true, so soft, and to such proper time, that in any other place I should have been inclined to believe they were the performance of a human artist upon his flute. As I never saw either of those birds but imperfectly and at a distance, I can say nothing more concerning them, than that they are frequently heard in marshy situations.

On the succeeding morning we marched again through very heavy rains, which by this time had swelled the water so high in the woods that it reached above our knees, and prevented us from crossing a small creek in our way, without the help of a temporary bridge.

I prevailed therefore on the rangers, with the help of a few slaves, to erect one, which they did in the space of forty minutes, by cutting down a straight tree, which fell directly across the creek, to this they also made a kind of railing; but still with this our commander Rughcop, whose temper was soured by misery, and whose constitution was already broken by hardships, was not pleased. He paid the rangers for their pains with oaths and reproaches, who, with a smile of contempt, left him swearing, and crossed the creek, some by swimming, and others by climbing up a tree whose branches hung over it, from which they dropped down on the opposite shore; in this I followed their example: and here we stopped till the arrival of the poor trembling and debilitated Major Rughcop, with two-thirds of his troops as sick as himself.